[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 1, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11060-11061]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5026]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 194

RIN 2060-AE30
[FRL-5162-9]


Criteria for the Certification and Determination of the Waste 
Isolation Pilot Plant's Compliance With Environmental Standards for the 
Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and 
Transuranic Radioactive Wastes--Proposed Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of public hearings on proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Land 
Withdrawal Act of 1992 [Pub. L. 102-579], EPA has developed proposed 
criteria which will be used by the Agency in certifying whether or not 
the WIPP facility complies with 40 CFR part 191, ``Environmental 
Standards for the Management and Disposal of Spent 
[[Page 11061]] Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive 
Wastes.'' These criteria were proposed at 60 FR 5766 and were published 
in Part II of the Federal Register on January 30, 1995. The Agency 
intends to issue final compliance criteria in February 1996, 
approximately one year after this proposal.

DATES: EPA will conduct public hearings on the Proposed Compliance 
Criteria Rule in Carlsbad, NM on March 21, 1995 from noon to 9:00 p.m. 
Public hearings will be held in Albuquerque, NM on March 22, from noon 
to 9:00 p.m. Public hearings will be held in Santa Fe, NM on Wednesday, 
March 23, from noon to 9:00 p.m. and on March 24 from 9:00 a.m. to 
12:00 p.m. In all cases, there will be a dinner break from 5:00 p.m. to 
6:30 p.m.

    For speakers to receive scheduled times to testify, requests to 
testify must be received on or before March 14, 1995, in order to 
guarantee an opportunity to testify. Speakers not registered on or 
before March 14 may register at the door and will be scheduled to 
testify if time permits.

ADDRESSES: The Proposed Compliance Criteria Rule public hearings will 
be held March 21, 1995, at the Quality Inn (formerly the Park Inn 
International), 3706 National Parks Highway, Carlsbad, NM; March 22 at 
the Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 Second Street NW., Albuquerque, 
NM; and March 23 and 24 at the High Mesa Inn, 3347 Cerillos Road, Santa 
Fe, NM.

    To register to testify telephone Kelly Rose or Ed Lyons of AST, 
Inc. at (301) 670-8344 or fax your request directly to AST at (301) 
670-4099 to their attention. When registering by phone or fax, please 
provide the following information: Name, Address, Organizational 
Affiliation (only if testifying as spokesperson or official 
representative for the company), desired date, hearing location, times 
available to testify, and a daytime telephone number. Registrations 
must be made by March 14, 1995, in order to be guaranteed an 
opportunity to testify. Testifiers not registered on or before March 14 
may register at the door and will be scheduled if time permits.

    Individual speakers will be allocated 5 minutes and individuals 
testifying as the official representative or spokesperson on behalf of 
groups and organizations will be allocated 10 minutes for an oral 
presentation exclusive of any time consumed by questions from the 
government panel and answers to these questions.

    Information on EPA's proposed compliance criteria rule (40 CFR Part 
194) is listed under Docket No. A-92-56 and is available for review at 
the following three EPA WIPP docket locations in New Mexico: in 
Carlsbad at the Municipal Library, Hours: Mon-Thu, 10-9, Fri-Sat, 10-6, 
and Sun 1-5; in Albuquerque at the Government Publications Department, 
Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, Hours: Mon-Thu, 8-9, Fri, 
8-5, Sat-Sun, 1-5; and in Santa Fe at the Fogelson Library, College of 
Santa Fe, Hours: Mon-Thu, 8-12 Midnight, Fri, 8-5, Sat, 9-5, and Sun, 
1-9. For purposes of judicial review, EPA's official docket for the 
compliance criteria rulemaking, Docket No. A-92-56, is located in 
Washington, DC in the Air Docket, Room M1500, Mailcode 6102, U.S. EPA, 
401 M Street SW., Washington, DC 20460.

    EPA also established separate official dockets for other rulemaking 
activities under the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act at 
the Washington, DC (WDC) location. The following is a list of EPA's 
radioactive waste dockets: Radioactive Waste (40 CFR Part 191)--Docket 
No. R-89-01; Compliance Criteria (40 CFR Part 194)--Docket No. A-92-56; 
Test and Retrieval Plans Review--Docket No. A-92-57; Compliance 
Determination--Docket No. A-93-02. [Note: The dockets in New Mexico 
only contain major items from the official docket (WDC) plus all those 
documents added to the official docket since October 1992 when the WIPP 
Land Withdrawal Act was enacted.]

    As provided in 40 CFR part 2, a reasonable fee may be charged for 
photocopying docket materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rafaela Ferguson, Office of Radiation 
and Indoor Air, (202) 233-9362 or call EPA's 24-hour toll-free WIPP 
Information Line, 1-800-331-WIPP.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Department of Energy is developing 
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad in southeastern 
New Mexico as a deep geologic repository for disposal of transuranic 
(TRU) radioactive waste. TRU wastes are materials containing elements 
having atomic numbers greater than 92 in concentrations greater than 
100 nanocuries of alpha-emitting TRU isotopes, with half-lives greater 
than twenty years, per gram of waste. Most TRU wastes are items that 
have become associated with the production of nuclear weapons; e.g., 
rags, equipment, tools, and contaminated organic and inorganic sludges.

    On October 30, 1992, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land 
Withdrawal Act (Pub. L. 102-579) was enacted. Among other things, the 
law specifies the terms and conditions for the DOE's activities at the 
WIPP and the regulatory requirements which apply throughout various 
stages of the repository's development including the requirement that 
before beginning disposal of radioactive wastes at the WIPP, DOE must 
demonstrate that the WIPP will comply with the Environmental Protection 
Agency's (EPA) radioactive wastes disposal standards, e.g., 
``Environmental Standards for the Management and Disposal of Spent 
Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes'' (40 CFR 
part 191).

    Under the Act, EPA is required to develop criteria for the 
Administrator's certification of compliance with the 40 CFR part 191 
disposal standards. On February 11, 1993, EPA published an Advance 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 58 FR 8029, in the Federal Register 
requesting information and comments pertinent to the development of the 
compliance criteria.

    On January 11, 1995, EPA Administrator Carol Browner signed the 
proposed compliance criteria rule. The 90-day public comment period 
began on January 30, the date the proposed compliance criteria rule 
notice appeared at 60 FR 5766 in Part II of the Federal Register, and 
ends on May 1, 1995. EPA intends to issue final compliance criteria one 
year after prosposal in the Federal Register. The WIPP Land Withdrawal 
Act requires the DOE to demonstrate compliance with EPA's disposal 
standards and to submit an application for certification of WIPP's 
compliance to the EPA Administrator. In submitting such an application, 
the DOE must meet the requirements of the EPA compliance criteria 
because EPA will use these criteria in certifying whether or not the 
WIPP complies with the disposal standards.

    Dated: February 23, 1995.

Mary D. Nichols,

Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.

[FR Doc. 95-5026 Filed 2-28-95; 8:45 am]

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