Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Title 310 CMR 43.00 - Site Selection Criteria For Low-level Radioactive Waste Management Facilities › Section 43.50 - Application Guidelines and Procedures for Use in Preparation of the Report Identifying Possible Locations

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1)
Objective
. The objective of the Report Identifying
			 Possible Locations is to identify those areas of the Commonwealth where there
			 is a reasonable likelihood, based on the data available to the Board at the
			 time the report is issued, of identifying one or more sites that will meet the
			 criterion at
			 310 CMR
			 43.41(1)(a) and
			 (b).
(2)
Data Collection and
			 Evaluation Protocols.
(a) The
			 Report Identifying Possible Locations may be prepared on the basis of data
			 available from any credible public or private source as well as data obtained
			 by the Board on the basis of its own investigation. Such information may
			 include, without limitation, the sources set forth at
			 310
			 CMR 43.44, municipal sources, aerial
			 photography, windshield surveys, walkovers or other surficial field
			 investigation to identify apparent exclusion factors not shown on existing
			 maps. Installation of ground water wells is not required.
(b) Exclusion factors which were not applied
			 in the Statewide Mapping and Screening Report because of size consideration,
			 data availability or qualifications or interpretation of regulatory
			 requirements should be applied to the extent those restrictions have been
			 overcome by further investigation by the Board. In addition, conditional
			 consideration criteria should also be evaluated to the extent that data is
			 available and can be analyzed in accordance with the procedures established
			 herein within the time limit established by M.G.L. c. 111H. The Board may
			 include any site as a possible site even though it exhibits a conditional
			 consideration criterion if the Board determines that further characterization
			 of the site is advisable based on the likelihood that the condition will be
			 satisfied upon further characterization.
(c) Lack of uniform coverage of the State
			 with respect to certain data requirements shall not be a cause to fail to use
			 data that are available provided that the Board should use reasonable efforts
			 to obtain statewide data on criteria which form the basis of a decision to
			 screen out a site. The further specific guidelines of
			 310
			 CMR 43.51 shall also be observed.
(d) Although the Report should reflect the
			 data and analysis of only the exclusion and conditional consideration criteria
			 the Board may collect and analyze preference data for future use.
(e) The factors to be applied may reflect
			 land areas that are of sufficient size and extent to be mapped on a statewide
			 or regional basis as deemed appropriate to most accurate delineation. The
			 specific mapping accuracy should be commensurate with the map scales employed
			 and the accuracy of the data sets. As a general matter the scale of the map
			 should be consistent with the scale at which the data was entered. Mapping
			 scales down to 1:24,000 may be utilized.
(f) The Board shall not be responsible to
			 verify the accuracy of data provided through federal and state agencies but it
			 should identify the sources of all the data and discuss the estimated quality
			 of data and the sensitivity of the results to data uncertainty and data gaps.
			 The Board should be responsible to verify through implementation of the quality
			 assurance program all data collected through its own investigation.