Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 17, 2007 / Notices 2021 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the 

Commission has determined that the 

granting of this exemption will not have 

a significant effect on the quality of the 

human environment (71 FR 58014). 

This exemption is effective upon 

issuance. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day 

of January 2007. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

John W. Lubinski, 

Acting Director, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. E7–501 Filed 1–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 030–07517] 

Issuance of Environmental 

Assessment and Finding of No 

Significant Impact for Amendment to 

Byproduct Materials License 53–

00017–23 for the University of Hawaii 

in Honolulu, HI 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Issuance of Environmental 

Assessment and Finding of No 

Significant Impact for License 

Amendment. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: D. 

Blair Spitzberg, PhD., Chief, Fuel Cycle 

and Decommissioning Branch, Division 

of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region IV, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Arlington, Texas 76011. Telephone: 

(817) 860–8191; fax number: (817) 860–

8188; or by e-mail: dbs@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is considering the 

issuance of an amendment to Material 

License No. 53–00017–23. This license 

is held by the University of Hawaii (the 

Licensee), School of Medicine, located 

at Queen’s Medical Center, University 

Towers in Honolulu, Hawaii (the 

Facility). Issuance of the amendment 

would authorize release of the Facility’s 

7th floor for unrestricted use. The 

Licensee requested this action in a letter 

dated January 19, 2006. The NRC has 

prepared an Environmental Assessment 

(EA) in support of this proposed action 

in accordance with the requirements of 

Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations 

(CFR), Part 51 (10 CFR Part 51). Based 

on the EA, the NRC has concluded that 

a Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI) is appropriate with respect to 

the proposed action. The amendment 

will be issued to the Licensee following 

the publication of this FONSI and EA in 

the Federal Register. 

II. Environmental Assessment (EA) 

Identification of Proposed Action: The 

proposed action is to approve the 

Licensee’s January 19, 2006, license 

amendment request, resulting in release 

of the Facility’s 7th floor, for 

unrestricted use. License No. 53–00017–

23 was issued on July 29, 1991, 

pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30, and has 

been amended periodically since that 

time. This license authorized the 

Licensee to use byproduct material for 

purposes of research and development, 

calibration of instruments, instructional 

purposes, and for use in portable 

gauges. 

The Facility is situated in three 

laboratory rooms (717, 720, and 722) of 

the University Towers. The Facility is 

located in a commercial area of 

Honolulu. Within the Facility, use of 

licensed material was confined to these 

three rooms. 

During December 2002, the Licensee 

ceased licensed activities. The Licensee 

initiated a survey of the Facility during 

June-July 2004. Based on the Licensee’s 

historical knowledge of the site and the 

conditions of the Facility, the Licensee 

determined that only routine 

decontamination activities, in 

accordance with their NRC-approved, 

operating radiation safety procedures, 

were required. The Licensee was not 

required to submit a decommissioning 

plan to the NRC because worker cleanup 

activities and procedures are consistent 

with those approved for routine 

operations. The Licensee conducted 

surveys of the Facility and provided 

information to the NRC to demonstrate 

that it meets the criteria in Subpart E of 

10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release. 

The Need for the Proposed Action: 

The Licensee has ceased conducting 

licensed activities at this Facility and 

seeks its unrestricted use. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Proposed Action: The historical review 

of licensed activities conducted at the 

Facility shows that such activities 

involved use of the following 

radionuclides with half-lives greater 

than 120 days: hydrogen-3 and carbon14. Prior to performing the final status 

survey, the Licensee conducted 

decontamination activities, as 

necessary, in the areas of the Facility 

affected by these radionuclides. 

The Licensee conducted a final status 

survey during June-July 2004. This 

survey covered Rooms 717, 720, and 

722 in the University Towers. The final 

status survey report was attached to the 

Licensee’s amendment request dated 

January 19, 2006. The Licensee elected 

to demonstrate compliance with the 

radiological criteria for unrestricted 

release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 

by using the screening approach 

described in NUREG–1757, 

‘‘Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning 

Guidance,’’ Volume 2. The Licensee 

used the radionuclide-specific derived 

concentration guideline levels (DCGLs), 

developed by the NRC, which comply 

with the dose criterion in 10 CFR 

20.1402. These DCGLs define the 

maximum amount of residual 

radioactivity on building surfaces, 

equipment, and materials, and in soils, 

that will satisfy the NRC requirements 

in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for 

unrestricted release. The Licensee’s 

final status survey results were below 

these DCGLs and are in compliance 

with the As Low As Reasonably 

Achievable (ALARA) requirement of 10 

CFR 20.1402. The NRC thus finds that 

the Licensee’s final status survey results 

are acceptable. 

Based on its review, the staff has 

determined that the affected 

environment and any environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action are bounded by the impacts 

evaluated by the ‘‘Generic 

Environmental Impact Statement in 

Support of Rulemaking on Radiological 

Criteria for License Termination of NRCLicensed Nuclear Facilities’’ (NUREG–

1496) Volumes 1–3 (ML042310492, 

ML042320379, and ML042330385). The 

staff finds there were no significant 

environmental impacts from the use of 

radioactive material at the Facility. The 

NRC staff reviewed the docket file 

records and the final status survey 

report to identify any non-radiological 

hazards that may have impacted the 

environment surrounding the Facility. 

No such hazards or impacts to the 

environment were identified. The NRC 

has identified no other radiological or 

non-radiological activities in the area 

that could result in cumulative 

environmental impacts. 

The NRC staff finds that the proposed 

release of the Facility for unrestricted 

use and the termination of the NRC 

materials license is in compliance with 

10 CFR 20.1402. Although the Licensee 

will continue to perform licensed 

activities at other locations specified in 

the license, the Licensee must ensure 

that the Facility does not become 

recontaminated. Before the license can 

be terminated, the Licensee will be 

required to show that all areas in which 

licensed activities took place, including 

previously-released areas, comply with 

the radiological criteria in 10 CFR 

20.1402. Based on its review, the staff 

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2022 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 17, 2007 / Notices 

considered the impact of the residual 

radioactivity at the Facility and 

concluded that the proposed action will 

not have a significant effect on the 

quality of the human environment. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action: 

Due to the largely administrative nature 

of the proposed action, its 

environmental impacts are small. 

Therefore, the only alternative the staff 

considered is the no-action alternative, 

under which the staff would leave 

things as they are by simply denying the 

amendment request. This no-action 

alternative is not feasible because it 

conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d), 

requiring that decommissioning of 

byproduct material facilities be 

completed and approved by the NRC 

after licensed activities cease. The 

NRC’s analysis of the Licensee’s final 

status survey data confirmed that the 

Facility meets the requirements of 10 

CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. 

Additionally, denying the amendment 

request would result in no change in 

current environmental impacts. The 

environmental impacts of the proposed 

action and the no-action alternative are 

therefore similar, and the no-action 

alternative is accordingly not further 

considered. 

Conclusion: The NRC staff has 

concluded that the proposed action is 

consistent with the NRC’s unrestricted 

release criteria specified in 10 CFR 

20.1402. Because the proposed action 

will not significantly impact the quality 

of the human environment, the NRC 

staff concludes that the proposed action 

is the preferred alternative. 

Agencies and Persons Contacted: NRC 

provided a draft of this EA to the State 

of Hawaii for review on October 23, 

2006. On November 6, 2006, the State of 

Hawaii responded by letter. The State 

had no additional comments. 

The NRC staff has determined that the 

proposed action is of a procedural 

nature, and will not affect listed species 

or critical habitat. Therefore, no further 

consultation is required under Section 7 

of the Endangered Species Act. The 

NRC staff has also determined that the 

proposed action is not the type of 

activity that has the potential to cause 

effects on historic properties. Therefore, 

no further consultation is required 

under Section 106 of the National 

Historic Preservation Act. 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

The NRC staff has prepared this EA in 

support of the proposed action. On the 

basis of this EA, the NRC finds that 

there are no significant environmental 

impacts from the proposed action, and 

that preparation of an environmental 

impact statement is not warranted. 

Accordingly, the NRC has determined 

that a Finding of No Significant Impact 

is appropriate. 

IV. Further Information 

Documents related to this action, 

including the application for 

amendment and supporting 

documentation, are available 

electronically at the NRC’s Electronic 

Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/ 

reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, 

you can access the NRC’s Agencywide 

Document Access and Management 

System (ADAMS), which provides text 

and image files of NRC’s public 

documents. The documents related to 

this action are listed below, along with 

their ADAMS accession numbers. 

1. NRC, ‘‘Generic Environmental 

Impact Statement in Support of 

Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for 

License Termination of NRC-Licensed 

Nuclear Facilities,’’ NUREG–1496, July 

1997 (ML042310492, ML042320379, 

and ML042330385). 

2. NRC, ‘‘Consolidated NMSS 

Decommissioning Guidance,’’ NUREG–

1757, Volume 1, Revision 1, September 

2003 (ML053260027). 

3. Title 10 Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 

‘‘Radiological Criteria for License 

Termination.’’

4. Title 10, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 51, ‘‘Environmental 

Protection Regulations for Domestic 

Licensing and Related Regulatory 

Functions.’’

5. Miyake, Nancy, University of 

Hawaii, Queen’s Tower 

Decommissioning Report, January 19, 

2006 (ML0604106581). 

6. Whitten, Jack E., Acknowledgment 

of Receipt of Final Status Survey, June 

21, 2006 (ML061740111). 

7. Whitten, Jack E., Request for 

Comments on Draft Environmental 

Assessment for Decommissioning of the 

University of Hawaii, School of 

Medicine, Queen’s Medical Center, 

University Towers, October 23, 2006 

(ML0629803480). 

8. Takata, Russell S., Concerning the 

Request for Comments on Draft 

Environmental Assessment, November 

6, 2006 (ML063340094). 

If you do not have access to ADAMS 

or if there are problems in accessing the 

documents located in ADAMS, contact 

the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) 

Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–

415–4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. 

These documents may also be viewed 

electronically on public computers 

located at the NRC’s PDR, O 1 F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 

reproduction contractor will copy 

documents for a fee. 

Dated at Arlington, Texas, this 8th day of 

January, 2007. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

D. Blair Spitzberg, 

Chief, Fuel Cycle & Decommissioning Branch, 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 

IV. 

[FR Doc. E7–507 Filed 1–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

Notice of Availability of Technical 

Specification Improvement To Modify 

Requirements Regarding Control 

Room Envelope Habitability Using the 

Consolidated Line Item Improvement 

Process 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the staff of the Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) has prepared and is 

making available a model safety 

evaluation (SE) and a model nosignificant-hazards-consideration 

(NSHC) determination relating to the 

modification of technical specification 

(TS) requirements regarding the 

habitability of the control room 

envelope (CRE) for referencing in 

license amendment requests (LARs). 

The NRC staff is also making available 

an associated model LAR for use by 

licensees to prepare such LARs. The TS 

modification is based on NRC staff 

approved changes to the improved 

standard technical specifications (STS) 

(NUREGs 1430–1434) that were 

proposed by the pressurized and boiling 

water reactor owners groups’ Technical 

Specifications Task Force (TSTF) on 

behalf of the commercial nuclear 

electrical power generation industry, in 

STS change traveler TSTF–448, 

Revision 3 (Rev 3). Previously, on 

October 17, 2006, drafts of the model 

SE, model NSHC determination, and 

model LAR were published in the 

Federal Register for public comment (71 

FR 61075). Based on its evaluation of 

the public comments received in 

response to that notice, the NRC staff 

made appropriate changes to the 

models, and is including the final 

versions of the models in this notice. 

This notice also contains a description 

of each public comment and its 

disposition by the NRC staff. Based on 

its evaluation of the public comments, 

the NRC staff has decided to announce 

the availability of the model SE and 

mstockstill on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES