This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

10401 

Vol. 77, No. 35 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Part 61 

RIN–3150–AI92 

[NRC–2011–0012] 

Low-Level Radioactive Waste 

Management Issues 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Public meeting; request for 

comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC or the Commission) 

plans to conduct a public meeting to 

discuss possible revisions to the 

regulatory framework for the 

management of commercial low-level 

radioactive waste (LLW). The purpose of 

this public meeting is to gather 

information and receive feedback from 

stakeholders and other interested 

members of the public concerning 

specific proposed revisions to the 

Commission’s LLW regulations. 

Consistent with Commission direction, 

the NRC staff plans to hold a series of 

three public meetings in 2012 on the 

proposed revisions to Commission’s 

LLW regulations. This is the first of 

those public meetings. 

DATES: The first public meeting will be 

held on March 2, 2012, in Phoenix, 

Arizona. Comments on the issues and 

questions presented in Section V of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document should be submitted by 

July 31, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be 

held on March 2, 2012, from 8 a.m. to 

4 p.m. at the Marriott Renaissance 

Phoenix Downtown Hotel, 50 East 

Adams Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85004. 

The NRC will accept written comments 

at the public meeting and welcomes 

active participation from those 

attending. You may access information 

and comment submissions related to 

this document, which the NRC 

possesses and is publicly-available, by 

searching on http://www.regulations.gov 

under Docket ID NRC–2011–0012. You 

may submit comments by the following 

methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2011–0012. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Carol 

Gallagher; telephone: (301) 492–3668; 

email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 

• Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, 

Chief, Rules, Announcements, and 

Directives Branch (RADB), Office of 

Administration, Mail Stop: TWB–05– 

B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001. 

• Fax comments to: RADB at 301– 

492–3446. 

For additional direction on accessing 

information and submitting comments, 

see ‘‘Accessing Information and 

Submitting Comments’’ in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael P. Lee, Ph.D., Office of Federal 

and State Materials and Environmental 

Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001; telephone: (301) 415– 

6887; email: Mike.Lee@nrc.gov; or 

Tarsha Moon, Office of Federal and 

State Materials and Environmental 

Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001; telephone: (301) 415– 

6745; email: Tarsha.Moon@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Accessing Information and 

Submitting Comments 

A. Accessing Information 

Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2011– 

0012 when contacting the NRC about 

the availability of information regarding 

this document. You may access 

information related to this document, 

which the NRC possesses and is 

publicly-available, by the following 

methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2011–0012. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may access publiclyavailable documents online in the NRC 

Library at http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. To begin the search, 

select ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and 

then select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS 

Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, 

please contact the NRC’s Public 

Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 

1–(800) 397–4209, (301) 415–4737, or by 

email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 

ADAMS accession number for each 

document referenced in this document 

is provided the first time that a 

document is referenced. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

B. Submitting Comments 

Please include Docket ID NRC–2011– 

0012 in the subject line of your 

comment submission, in order to ensure 

that the NRC is able to make your 

comment submission available to the 

public in this docket. 

The NRC cautions you not to include 

identifying or contact information in 

comment submissions that you do not 

want to be publicly disclosed. The NRC 

posts all comment submissions at 

http://www.regulations.gov as well as 

entering the comment submissions into 

ADAMS, and the NRC does not edit 

comment submissions to remove 

identifying or contact information. 

If you are requesting or aggregating 

comments from other persons for 

submission to the NRC, then you should 

inform those persons not to include 

identifying or contact information in 

their comment submissions that they do 

not want to be publicly disclosed. Your 

request should state that the NRC will 

not edit comment submissions to 

remove such information before making 

the comment submissions available to 

the public or entering the comment 

submissions into ADAMS. 

II. Background 

The Commission’s licensing 

requirements for the disposal of LLW in 

near-surface [approximately the 

uppermost 30 meters (100 feet)] 

facilities reside in Title 10 of the Code 

of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 61, 

‘‘Licensing Requirements for Land 

Disposal of Radioactive Waste.’’ These 

regulations were published in the 

Federal Register on December 27, 1982 

(47 FR 57446). The rule applies to any 

near-surface LLW disposal technology, 

including shallow-land burial, 

engineered land disposal methods such 

as below-ground vaults, earth-mounded 

concrete bunkers, and augured holes. 

The regulations emphasize an integrated 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
10402 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 22, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

1See http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/commission/srm/2008/2008– 

0147srm.pdf. 

2See http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/commission/srm/2010/2010- 

0043srm.pdf. 

3See http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/commission/comm-secy/2011/2011– 

0002comgeawdm-srm.pdf. 

systems approach to the disposal of 

commercial LLW, including site 

selection, disposal facility design and 

operation, minimum waste form 

requirements, and disposal facility 

closure. To lessen the burden on society 

over the long periods of time 

contemplated for the control of the 

radioactive material, and thus lessen 

reliance on institutional controls, 10 

CFR Part 61 emphasizes passive rather 

than active systems to limit and retard 

releases to the environment. 

Development of the 10 CFR Part 61 

regulation in the early 1980s was based 

on several assumptions as to the types 

of wastes likely to go into a commercial 

LLW disposal facility. To better 

understand what the likely inventory of 

wastes available for disposal might be, 

the NRC conducted a survey of existing 

LLW generators. The survey, 

documented in Chapter 3 of NUREG– 

0782, Draft 10 CFR Part 61 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), 

‘‘Licensing Requirements for Land 

Disposal of Radioactive Waste’’ 

(ADAMS Accession No. 

ML052590347)—revealed that there 

were about 37 distinct commercial 

waste streams consisting of about 25 

radionuclides of potential regulatory 

interest. The specific waste streams in 

question were representative of the 

types of commercial LLW being 

generated at the time. Waste streams 

associated with the U.S. Department of 

Energy’s (DOE’s) nuclear defense 

complex were not considered as part of 

the survey, since disposal of those 

wastes, at that time, was to be 

conducted at the DOE-operated sites. 

Over the last several years there have 

been a number of developments that 

have called into question some of the 

key assumptions made in connection 

with the earlier 10 CFR Part 61 DEIS, 

including: 

• The emergence of potential LLW 

streams that were not considered in the 

original 10 CFR Part 61 rulemaking, 

including large quantities of depleted 

uranium (DU), and possibly incidental 

wastes associated with the commercial 

reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel; 

• The DOE’s increasing use of 

commercial facilities for the disposal of 

defense-related LLW streams; and 

• Extensive international operational 

experience in the management of LLW 

and intermediate-level radioactive 

wastes that did not exist at the time 10 

CFR Part 61 was promulgated. 

The developments previously 

described will need to be considered if 

the staff undertakes a revision of 10 CFR 

Part 61. Waste from the Nation’s defense 

programs has been managed by DOE 

and is not subject to regulation under 10 

CFR Part 61. Instead, DOE has relied on 

Order 435.1 to specify the disposal 

requirements for this waste. The current 

version of this Order has been in place 

for about 11 years and applies to 

management of radioactive waste within 

the DOE complex. Like 10 CFR Part 61, 

Order 435.1 places a heavy emphasis on 

performance assessment as part of its 

radioactive waste management decisionmaking. The DOE recently started a 

comprehensive revision of Order 435.1, 

which it plans to complete sometime in 

2012. 

III. Recent Commission Direction to the 

NRC Staff 

In a March 18, 2009, staff 

requirements memorandum (SRM) 

SRM–SECY–08–0147,1 the Commission 

directed the NRC staff to proceed with 

a 10 CFR Part 61 rulemaking to specify 

a requirement for a site-specific analysis 

for the disposal of large quantities of DU 

including the technical requirements for 

such an analysis, and to develop a 

guidance document for public comment 

that outlines the parameters and 

assumptions to be used in conducting 

such site-specific analyses. In a second 

SRM, SRM SECY–10–0043,2 the staff 

was also directed to include blended 

LLW streams as part of this rulemaking 

initiative. Following the solicitation of 

early public input in 2009 (74 FR 30175; 

Docket ID NRC–2009–0257), the NRC 

staff subsequently developed a technical 

basis document for the rulemaking 

amendment (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML111040419), shared it with the NRC 

Agreement States, and proceeded to 

develop a proposed rulemaking 

package. In connection with the 

rulemaking effort, the NRC staff also 

proposed a two-tier approach for 

evaluating compliance with 10 CFR Part 

61’s overall system performance 

objectives: An assessment that extends 

to 20,000 years as well as an assessment 

that extends beyond 20,000 years to the 

time of peak dose. In May 2011, the 

NRC staff sought public feedback (76 FR 

24831) on the preliminary proposed 

rulemaking language (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML111150205), as well 

as the technical basis for the time of 

compliance recommendation (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML111030586) after 

these materials were made publicly 

available. (See http://www.nrc.gov/ 

about-nrc/regulatory/rulemaking/ 

potential-rulemaking/uw-streams.html.) 

Later in 2011, the staff also briefed the 

Advisory Committee on Reactor 

Safeguards (ACRS) on the preliminary 

proposed rulemaking language for 

which a Committee Letter Report dated 

September 22, 2011 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML11256A191) was issued to the 

Commission. 

More recently, in a SRM, dated 

January 19, 2012,3 the Commission 

provided additional direction to the 

NRC staff concerning this particular 

rulemaking. Specifically, the NRC staff 

was directed to amend the existing draft 

rulemaking to include the following: 

• Allowing licensees the flexibility to 

use ICRP dose methodologies in a sitespecific performance assessment for the 

disposal of all radioactive waste. 

• A two tiered approach that 

establishes a compliance period that 

covers the reasonably foreseeable future 

and a longer period of performance that 

is not a priori and is established to 

evaluate the performance of the site over 

longer timeframes. The period of 

performance is developed based on the 

candidate site characteristics (waste 

package, waste form, disposal 

technology, cover technology and geohydrology) and the peak dose to a 

designated receptor 

• Flexibility for disposal facilities to 

establish site-specific waste acceptance 

criteria based on the results of the site’s 

performance assessment and intruder 

assessment. 

• A compatibility category for the 

elements of the revised rule that 

establish the requirements for sitespecific performance assessments and 

the development of the site-specific 

waste acceptance criteria that ensures 

alignment between the States and 

Federal government on safety 

fundamentals, while providing the 

States with the flexibility to determine 

how to implement these safety 

requirements. 

In the January 2012 SRM, the 

Commission also directed the NRC staff 

to engage stakeholders and other 

members of the interested public to 

discuss and finalize the NRC’s approach 

to address the matters raised by the 

Commission. The Commission also 

noted that it would reserve judgment on 

the regulatory form these elements 

should take in any final rule following 

NRC staff evaluation of stakeholder 

input. Accordingly, the NRC staff plans 

to hold a series of three public meetings 

in March, May, and July 2012 on the 

proposed revisions to 10 CFR Part 61. 

After completion of the public outreach 

campaign, the staff will prepare an 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 22, 2012 / Proposed Rules 10403 

4See http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/commission/secys/2010/secy2010-0165/ 

2010-0165scy.pdf. 

amended technical basis document and 

commence with the rulemaking. 

Changes will also need to be made to 

any 10 CFR Part 61 performance 

assessment companion guidance 

document to address the recent June 

2012 direction. The completion date for 

submittal of a revised rulemaking 

package is currently July 19, 2013. 

The Commission also directed the 

staff to gather information on the 

options presented in SECY–10–0165, 

dated December 27, 2010,4 concerning 

the staff’s approach to a risk-informing 

10 CFR Part 61. Previously, the NRC 

staff sponsored an earlier workshop on 

SECY–10–0165, on March 4, 2011 (76 

FR 10810). The staff intends to seek the 

public’s views on earlier stakeholder 

comments received as well as other 

proposals for a risk-informed revision of 

10 CFR Part 61. 

IV. Emerging Issues Concerning Part 61 

The NRC staff has also conducted 

other activities related to 10 CFR Part 

61. These include revisions to the 

Commission’s LLW Volume Reduction 

Policy Statement (76 FR 50500; August 

15, 2011); and the Concentration 

Averaging Branch Technical Position 

(76 FR 4739; January 26, 2011). Through 

the course of those stakeholder 

interactions, the staff received 

comments and suggestions relevant to 

the more comprehensive revision of 10 

CFR Part 61. For example, stakeholders 

have recommended changes that would 

lengthen the period of institutional 

controls and allow a site-specific 

intruder assessment. Some stakeholders 

have questioned basic fundamental 

tenets of 10 CFR Part 61 including the 

need to protect the inadvertent intruder. 

The staff intends to seek the public’s 

views on these and other stakeholder 

comments. 

V. NRC Public Meeting 

The purpose of this public meeting is 

to gather information from stakeholders 

and other interested members of the 

public concerning the rulemaking 

proposals identified by the Commission 

in its January 2012 SRM. This overall 

approach is consistent with NRC’s 

openness policy and is consistent with 

the type of public outreach initiative 

originally used by the NRC staff to 

develop 10 CFR Part 61. The March 2, 

2012, public meeting will be organized 

into three parts. In the first part, the 

NRC staff will seek public feedback on 

the pros and cons of the four technical 

issues specifically identified by the 

Commission in its January 2012 SRM. In 

the second part, the staff will identify 

other technical issues identified by 

stakeholders bearing on the 10 CFR Part 

61 rule and seek public feedback on the 

merits of these (additional) changes that 

have been suggested in connection with 

other on-going LLW regulatory 

initiatives. In the third session, the staff 

will seek public feedback on the options 

proposed in SECY–10–0165 and accept 

other proposals for a comprehensive 

revision of 10 CFR Part 61. 

The public meeting will be held on 

March 2, 2012, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 

the Marriott Renaissance Phoenix 

Downtown Hotel, 50 East Adams Street, 

Phoenix, Arizona 85004. Pre-registration 

for this meeting is not necessary. 

Members of the public choosing to 

participate in this meeting remotely can 

do so in one of two ways—online, or via 

a telephone (audio) connection. 

Instructions for remote participation in 

this meeting follow. 

Interested members of the public can 

also participate in this meeting via 

webinar. The webinar meeting 

registration link can be found at: 

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/ 

191710105. After registering, 

instructions for joining the webinar 

(including a teleconference number and 

pass code) will be provided via email. 

All participants will be in ‘‘listen-only’’ 

mode during the presentation. 

Participants will have a chance to pose 

questions either orally after the 

presentation or in writing during the 

webinar. 

To receive a call back, provide your 

phone number when you join the 

meeting, or call the following number 

and enter the access code: 

Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada): 

1–888–942–8392, access code: 8568781. 

The agenda for the public meeting 

will be noticed no fewer than ten (10) 

days prior to the meeting on the NRC’s 

Public Meeting Schedule Web site at 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/ 

public-meetings/index.cfm. Subsequent 

public meetings are tentatively planned 

for Dallas, Texas, on May 15, 2012 and 

late July in Rockville, Maryland. 

Comments may be sent to the address 

listed in the ADDRESSES section of this 

document. 

Questions about participation in the 

public meetings should be directed to 

the points of contact listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 

this document. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day 

of February 2012. 

For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

Andrew Persinko, 

Deputy Director, Environmental Protection 

and Performance Assessment Directorate, 

Division of Waste Management and 

Environmental Protection, Office of Federal 

and State Materials and Environmental 

Management Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4090 Filed 2–21–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2012–0145; Directorate 

Identifier 2011–NM–066–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing 

Company Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: We propose to supersede an 

existing airworthiness directive (AD) 

that applies to certain The Boeing 

Company Model 767 airplanes. The 

existing AD currently requires revising 

the Airworthiness Limitations Section 

of the maintenance planning data (MPD) 

document. Since we issued that AD, a 

re-evaluation of certain doors and flaps 

was done based on their fatigue-critical 

nature. This proposed AD would revise 

the maintenance program to incorporate 

an additional limitation, and would add 

airplanes to the applicability. We are 

proposing this AD to detect and correct 

fatigue cracking of the principal 

structural element (PSEs), which could 

adversely affect the structural integrity 

of the airplane. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by April 9, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

using the procedures found in 14 CFR 

11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, 

M–30, West Building Ground Floor, 

Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail 

address above between 9 a.m. and 

5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS