Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 121 /Wednesday, June 24, 1998 / Proposed Rules 34347

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 194

[FRL–6114–5]

RIN 2060–AG85

Quality Assurance and Waste

Characterization Program Documents

Applicable to Transuranic Radioactive

Waste From the Idaho National

Environmental and Engineering

Laboratory Proposed for Disposal at

the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability; opening

of public comment period.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) is announcing the

availability of, and soliciting public

comments for 30 days on, Department of

Energy (DOE) documents on quality

assurance and waste characterization

programs applicable to transuranic

(TRU) radioactive waste at the Idaho

National Environmental and

Engineering Laboratory (INEEL)

proposed for disposal at the Waste

Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The

documents include: ‘‘Idaho National

Environmental and Engineering

Laboratory Quality Assurance Project

Plan For The Transuranic Waste

Characterization Program’’ (dated

August 31, 1997), ‘‘Program Plan for

Certification of INEEL Contact-Handled

Stored Transuranic Waste’’ (dated

October 1997), and ‘‘INEEL TRU Waste

Characterization, Transportation, and

Certification Quality Program Plan’’

(dated December 1997). These

documents are available for review in

the public dockets listed in ADDRESSES.

The EPA will use these documents to

evaluate INEEL’s quality assurance and

waste characterization programs and

processes for compliance with the WIPP

compliance criteria. The EPA will

conduct a review at DOE’s Carlsbad

Area Office the week of July 6, 1998, to

verify the proper establishment of

applicable nuclear quality assurance

(QA) requirements and QA procedures

of INEEL, and to review documents

regarding the capability of INEEL to

properly perform waste

characterization. The EPA will perform

an inspection at INEEL the week of July

27, 1998, for the purpose of evaluating

the implementation of these programs.

This notice of the inspection and

comment period accords with the EPA’s

WIPP compliance criteria at 40 CFR Part

194.

DATES: The EPA is requesting public

comment on these documents.

Comments must be received by the

EPA’s official Air Docket on or before

July 24, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

submitted to: Docket No. A–93–02, Air

Docket, Room M–1500 (LE–131), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, 401

M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460.

The DOE documents, ‘‘Idaho National

Environmental and Engineering

Laboratory Quality Assurance Project

Plan For The Transuranic Waste

Characterization Program’’ (dated

August 31, 1997), ‘‘Program Plan for

Certification of INEEL Contact-Handled

Stored Transuranic Waste’’ (dated

October, 1997), and ‘‘INEEL TRU Waste

Characterization, Transportation, and

Certification Quality Program Plan’’

(dated December 1997), are available for

review in the official EPA Air Docket in

Washington, D.C., Docket No. A–93–02,

Category X-B, and at the following three

EPA WIPP informational docket

locations in New Mexico: in Carlsbad at

the Municipal Library, Hours: MondayThursday, 10am-9pm, Friday-Saturday,

10am-6pm, and Sunday 1pm-5pm; in

Albuquerque at the Government

Publications Department, Zimmerman

Library, University of New Mexico,

Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8am-9pm,

Friday, 8am-5pm, Saturday-Sunday,

1pm-5pm; and in Santa Fe at the

Fogelson Library, College of Santa Fe,

Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8am-12pm,

Friday, 8am-5pm, Saturday, 9am-5pm,

and Sunday, 1pm-9pm.

As provided in the EPA’s regulations

at 40 CFR Part 2, and in accordance

with normal EPA docket procedures, if

copies of any docket materials are

requested, a reasonable fee may be

charged for photocopying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chuck Byrum, Office of Radiation and

Indoor Air, (505) 665–7555, or call the

EPA’s 24-hour toll-free WIPP

Information Line, 1–800–331–WIPP.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The DOE is developing the WIPP near

Carlsbad in southeastern New Mexico as

a deep geologic repository for disposal

of TRU radioactive waste. As defined by

the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act (LWA)

of 1992 (Pub. L. No. 102–579), as

amended (Pub. L. No. 104–201), TRU

waste consists of materials containing

elements having atomic numbers greater

than 92 (with half-lives greater than

twenty years), in concentrations greater

than 100 nanocuries of alpha-emitting

TRU isotopes per gram of waste. Most

TRU waste consists of items

contaminated during the production of

nuclear weapons, such as rags,

equipment, tools, and organic and

inorganic sludges.

On May 13, 1998, the EPA announced

its final compliance certification

decision to the Secretary of Energy

(published May 18, 1998, 63 FR 27354).

This decision states that the WIPP will

comply with the EPA’s radioactive

waste disposal regulations at 40 CFR

Part 191, subparts B and C.

The final WIPP certification decision

includes conditions that (1) prohibit

shipment of TRU waste for disposal at

WIPP from any site other than the Los

Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

until the EPA determines that the site

has established and executed a quality

assurance program, in accordance with

§§ 194.22(a)(2)(i), 194.24(c)(3), and

194.24(c)(5) for waste characterization

activities and assumptions (condition 2

of Appendix A to 40 CFR Part 194); and

(2) prohibit shipment of TRU waste for

disposal at WIPP from any site other

than LANL until the EPA has approved

the procedures developed to comply

with the waste characterization

requirements of § 194.24(c)(4)

(condition 3 of Appendix A to 40 CFR

Part 194). The EPA’s approval process

for waste generator sites is described in

§ 194.8. As part of the EPA’s decisionmaking process, the DOE is required to

submit to the EPA appropriate

documentation of quality assurance and

waste characterization programs at each

DOE waste generator site seeking

approval for shipment of TRU

radioactive waste to WIPP. In

accordance with § 194.8, the EPA will

place such documentation in the official

Air Docket in Washington, D.C., and

informational dockets in the State of

New Mexico for public review and

comment.

The documents submitted to the EPA

for INEEL are: ‘‘Idaho National

Environmental and Engineering

Laboratory Quality Assurance Project

Plan For The Transuranic Waste

Characterization Program’’ (dated

August 31, 1997), ‘‘Program Plan for

Certification of INEEL Contact-Handled

Stored Transuranic Waste,’’ (dated

October, 1997), and ‘‘INEEL TRU Waste

Characterization, Transportation, and

Certification Quality Program Plan,’’

(dated December 1997). The ‘‘Idaho

National Environmental and

Engineering Laboratory Quality

Assurance Project Plan For The

Transuranic Waste Characterization

Program’’ sets forth the waste

characterization procedures for TRU

wastes at INEEL. The ‘‘Program Plan for

Certification of INEEL Contact-Handled

Stored Transuranic Waste’’ sets forth the
34348 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 121 /Wednesday, June 24, 1998 / Proposed Rules

procedures to certify contact-handled

stored TRU waste. The ‘‘INEEL TRU

Waste Characterization, Transportation,

and Certification Quality Program Plan’’

sets forth the quality assurance program

that the DOE purports to comply with

the requirements of § 194.22. After the

EPA reviews these documents for

adequacy, the EPA will conduct an

inspection of a DOE audit of the site to

determine whether the requirements set

out in these documents are being

adequately implemented in accordance

with Conditions 2 and 3 of the EPA’s

WIPP certification decision (Appendix

A to 40 CFR Part 194). In accordance

with § 194.8 of the WIPP compliance

criteria, the EPA is providing the public

30 days to comment on the documents

placed in the EPA’s docket relevant to

the site approval process.

If the EPA determines that the

provisions in the documents are

adequately implemented, the EPA will

notify the DOE by letter and place the

letter in the official Air Docket in

Washington, D.C., and in the

informational docket locations in New

Mexico. A positive approval letter will

allow the DOE to begin shipping TRU

waste from INEEL. The EPA will not

make a determination of compliance

prior to the inspection or before the 30-

day comment period has closed.

Information on the EPA’s radioactive

waste disposal standards (40 CFR Part

191), the compliance criteria (40 CFR

Part 194), and the EPA’s certification

decision is filed in the official EPA Air

Docket, Dockets No. R–89–01, A–92–56,

and A–93–02, respectively, and is

available for review in Washington,

D.C., and at the three EPA WIPP

informational docket locations in New

Mexico. The dockets in New Mexico

contain only major items from the

official Air Docket in Washington, D.C.,

plus those documents added to the

official Air Docket after the October

1992 enactment of the WIPP LWA.

Dated: June 16, 1998.

Richard D. Wilson,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and

Radiation.

[FR Doc. 98–16798 Filed 6–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 763

[OPPTS–62155; FRL–5762–3]

Asbestos-Containing Materials in

Schools; State Request for Waiver

from Requirements

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed waiver.

SUMMARY: EPA has received from the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts a

request for a waiver from the

requirements of 40 CFR part 763,

subpart E, Asbestos-Containing

Materials in Schools regulations. This

document announces an opportunity for

public review and comment on the

Massachusetts waiver request.

DATES: Comments on the waiver request

must be received by July 24, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments must be

sent in triplicate, identified by the

docket control number OPPTS–62155

to: James M. Bryson, Regional

Abatement Coordinator, Environmental

Protection Agency, Office of Ecosystem

Protection, CPT Region 1, John F.

Kennedy Federal Building, Boston, MA

02203-0001. Copies of the

Massachusetts waiver request are on file

and may be reviewed at the EPA Region

I Office.

Comments and data may also be

submitted electronically to

bryson.jamesm@epamail.epa.gov.

Follow the instructions under

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION of

this document. No Confidential

Business Information (CBI) should be

submitted through e-mail.

All comments which contain

information claimed as CBI must be

clearly marked as such. Three sanitized

copies of any comments containing

information claimed as CBI must also be

submitted and will be placed in the

public record for this document.

Persons submitting information on any

portion of which they believe is entitled

to treatment as CBI by EPA must assert

a business confidentiality claim in

accordance with 40 CFR 2.203(b) for

each such portion. This claim must be

made at the time that the information is

submitted to EPA. If a submitter does

not assert a confidentiality claim at the

time of submission, EPA will consider

this as a waiver of any confidentiality

claim and the information may be made

available to the public by EPA without

further notice to the submitter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James M. Bryson at 617–565–3836.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

document is issued under the authority

of Title II of the Toxic Substances

Control Act (TSCA), 15 U.S.C. 2641, et

seq. TSCA Title II was enacted as part

of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency

Response Act (AHERA), Pub. L. 99-519.

AHERA is the name commonly used to

refer to the statutory authority for EPA’s

rules affecting asbestos in schools. For

purposes of this document, EPA will

use the AHERA designation.

In the Federal Register of October 30,

1987 (52 FR 41946), EPA issued a final

rule as required in AHERA, the

Asbestos-Containing Materials in

Schools Rule (40 CFR part 763, subpart

E), which requires all Local Education

Agencies (LEAs) to identify AsbestosContaining Building Materials (ACBMs)

in their school buildings and to take

appropriate actions to control the

release of asbestos fibers. The LEAs are

required to describe their asbestos

control activities in management plans,

which must be available to all

concerned persons and submitted to the

State Governor’s Designee. The rule

requires LEAs to use specially trained

and accredited persons to conduct

inspections for asbestos, develop

management plans, and design and

conduct actions to control asbestos. The

recordkeeping and reporting burden

associated with waiver requests was

approved under OMB control number

2070-0091. This document merely

announces the Agency’s receipt of a

waiver request and therefore, imposes

no additional burden beyond that which

was covered under existing OMB

control number 2070-0091. Send any

comments regarding the burden

estimate or any other aspect of this

collection to Chief, Information Policy

Branch (2136), Environmental

Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW.,

Washington, DC 20460 and to the Office

of Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget,

Washington, DC 20503, ‘‘Attention:

Desk Officer.’’

Under section 203 of AHERA, EPA

may, upon request of a State Governor

and after notice and comment and

opportunity for a public hearing in the

State, waive in whole or in part the

requirements of the rule promulgated

under section 203, if the State has

established and is implementing or

intends to implement a program of

asbestos inspection and management

which is at least as stringent as the

requirements of 40 CFR part 763,

subpart E. The AHERA rule requires

that specific information be included in

a waiver request. The rule establishes a

process for EPA to review waiver

requests, and sets forth procedures for