New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 6 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION › Chapter IV - QUALITY SERVICES › Subchapter C - RADIATION › Part 383 - Regulations For Low-level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities Financial Assurance Requirements › Subpart 383-2 - Definitions › Section 383-2.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
For the purposes of this Part, the definitions in Part 382
						of this Title are applicable except as otherwise indicated, and the following
						terms shall have the following meanings when used in this Part.
(1)
Acceptance of waste
means
					 the acceptance of waste for disposal after receipt and completion of inspection
					 and examination of the waste and a determination of compliance with applicable
					 regulations and the permit.
(2)
Alert
means a situation in which events may occur, are in
					 progress, or have occurred on the disposal site that could lead to a release of
					 radioactive materials, but that the release is not expected to require a response
					 by off-site emergency responders to protect individuals off the site.
(3)
Applicant
means the person
					 applying for a permit under this Part and must be the owner of the proposed land
					 disposal facility.
(4)
Associated facilities
means common support facilities in
					 addition to the disposal units that are located at the disposal site and are
					 necessary for the construction, operation, closure, and/or post-closure
					 monitoring and maintenance of the land disposal facility.
(5)
Becquerel
means the unit
					 of radioactivity equal to one disintegration per second.
(6)
Borehole
means an
					 exploratory hole drilled to determine subsurface conditions at a particular
					 location.
(7)
Byproduct
					 material
means any radioactive material (except special nuclear
					 material) yielded in or made radioactive by exposure to the radiation incident to
					 the process of producing or utilizing special nuclear material.
(8)
CFR
means the
Code
					 of Federal Regulations.
(9)
Chelating agent
means amine polycarboxylic acids (
e.g.,
EDTA, DTPA), hydroxy-carboxylic acids, and polycarboxylic
					 acids (
e.g.,
citric acid, carbolic acid, and glucinic
					 acid).
(10)
Closure
					 period
means the period of time after the operation period during which
					 facility closure is carried out and site closure and stabilization is
					 completed.
(11)
Commencement
					 of construction
means any clearing of land, excavation, or other
					 substantial action that would adversely affect the existing environment of a
					 proposed site for a land disposal facility. The term does not mean site
					 exploration, necessary roads for site exploration, borings to determine
					 foundation conditions, or other preconstruction monitoring or testing to
					 establish background information related to the suitability of a site or the
					 protection of environmental values.
(12)
Construction
means any
					 physical modification to the site at which a potential or proposed land disposal
					 facility is to be located, including, but not limited to, site preparation
					 (
e.g.,
clearing, grading, and excavation).
(13)
Custodial agency
means an
					 agency of the government designated to act on behalf of the government owner of
					 the disposal site.
(14)
Design basis major phenomena
means the technical and engineering
					 assumptions and values utilized in the development of calculations for the land
					 disposal facility considering the anticipated natural or man-made events that
					 could occur. The phenomena include earthquakes, floods, fires and
					 explosions.
(15)
Disposal
					 unit closure
means those measures that are undertaken to close and
					 stabilize the disposal unit when no more waste is to be placed in it. Disposal
					 unit closure includes closing entrances and exits, emplacing or constructing any
					 required intruder barriers, and, for disposal units used for belowground
					 disposal, constructing the earthen cover over the disposal unit. Disposal unit
					 closure occurs at intervals during the operational period, as each disposal unit
					 is filled or when a decision is made to place no more waste in a disposal unit,
					 and is part of site closure and stabilization.
(16)
Facility closure
means
					 that part of site closure and stabilization that is undertaken when no more waste
					 is to be accepted for disposal at the land disposal facility. Facility closure
					 includes any needed decontamination of the site and structures, removal of
					 equipment that is no longer needed, dismantlement and removal of unneeded
					 structures or conversion of those structures to other uses, and stabilization of
					 the disposal site to prepare it for institutional control and to provide
					 reasonable assurance that it will remain stable and will not need ongoing active
					 maintenance.
(17)
Generator
means any person who produces, generates or possesses
					 low-level radioactive waste in the course of or as an incident to manufacturing,
					 power generation, processing, medical diagnosis and treatment, research, other
					 industrial or commercial activity or who consolidates LLRW shipments for
					 transport, or whose act first causes a low-level radioactive waste to be subject
					 to regulation. For the purposes of this Part, the operator or owner of a land
					 disposal facility shall not be considered the generator of any waste that it
					 accepts for disposal at that facility.
(18)
Geologic unit
means a
					 stratigraphic unit of rock, sediments or soils grouped together for description,
					 mapping, correlation or similar purposes.
(19)
Government agency
means
					 any office, department, board, commission, bureau, division, council, authority,
					 corporation, agency, or instrumentality of the State of New York.
(20)
Groundwater
means water
					 below the land surface in the saturated zone of the soil or rock. This includes
					 perched water separated from the main body of groundwater by an unsaturated
					 zone.
(21)
Groundwater
					 table
means the seasonally high surface of groundwater at which it is
					 subjected to atmospheric pressure. Groundwater table does not include the
					 potentiometric head level in a confined aquifer.
(22)
Hazardous waste
means
					 those hazardous wastes identified or listed as hazardous by Part 371 of this
					 Title.
(23)
Incinerator
means an enclosed device using controlled flame
					 combustion to thermally break down low-level radioactive waste to an ash residue
					 that contains little or no combustible material.
(24)
Including
means including
					 but not limited to.
(25)
Licensed engineer
means an individual who is licensed or
					 otherwise authorized under article 145 of the Education Law to practice
					 engineering in the State of New York.
(26)
Licensed landscape
					 architect
means an individual licensed, or otherwise authorized under
					 article 148 of the Education Law, to practice landscape architecture in the State
					 of New York.
(27)
Maximum
					 credible earthquake (MCE)
is the largest magnitude earthquake that can
					 reasonably be expected to occur under the current tectonic framework at a
					 potential earthquake source. The MCE for each potential facility is defined by
					 magnitude or intensity, focal depth, and epicentral distance relative to the
					 disposal facility. Properties such as fault length, size of seismic source zone,
					 and rates of historical seismicity, in conjunction with appropriate scaling
					 relations, may be used in estimating the MCE.
(28)
Mixed waste
means mixed
					 low-level radioactive and hazardous waste.
(29)
Nonroutine releases
means
					 the release of any contaminant to the environment which is not regulated or
					 approved by a permit and which does not occur as part of the normal operations of
					 the land disposal facility.
(30)
NYCRR
means the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New
					 York.
(31)
On-site
					 environmental monitor
means an employee of the department assigned to
					 monitor and inspect a facility to determine whether it is complying with the
					 applicable laws and regulations and the permit.
(32)
Operation period
means
					 the period of time from initial receipt of waste at the land disposal facility
					 until the closure period begins.
(33)
Operator
means the person who is in charge of a land disposal
					 facility and has the responsibility, authority, and knowledge to make and
					 implement decisions regarding operating conditions at the land disposal
					 facility.
(34)
Owner
means the person who owns a land disposal facility.
(35)
Performance objectives
means the performance objectives defined in sections
					 382.11
					 through
					 382.15 
					 of this Title.
(36)
Permit
means a permit for a land disposal facility issued
					 pursuant to this Part and the terms and conditions of that permit.
(37)
Permittee
means the
					 person who has been issued a permit pursuant to this Part. During the operation,
					 closure, and post-closure periods, the permittee is the owner of the land
					 disposal facility). During the institutional control period, the permittee is the
					 custodial agency.
(38)
Polymeric sheet membrane
means an essentially impermeable
					 manufactured membrane used as an integral part of a structure or system designed
					 to limit the movement of liquid or gas in the system.
(39)
Post-closure period
means
					 the period of time after completion of facility closure and before the beginning
					 of the institutional control period during which the permittee maintains control
					 of the land disposal facility and carries out a program of monitoring and
					 maintenance as required by Subpart 383-9 of this Part to ensure that the land
					 disposal facility is stable and ready for institutional control.
(40)
Quality control
means the
					 application of standards and procedures to measure and regulate the
					 characteristics of an item or service to contractual and regulatory requirements.
					 Quality control includes those actions taken during site characterization,
					 design, construction, operation, and closure to ensure that the materials and/or
					 workmanship comply with department-approved quality control plan, engineering
					 plans, reports, and specifications.
(41)
Radioactive materials
					 licensee
means the holder of a license to possess radioactive material
					 issued by the New York State Department of Health, New York City Department of
					 Health, New York State Department of Labor, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
					 or licensing agency of an agreement state as defined in section
					 381.4  of this
					 Title.
(42)
Receipt of
					 waste
means the receipt of waste at the land disposal facility for the
					 purpose of inspection to determine whether or not it is acceptable for
					 disposal.
(43)
Shaft
means a passage used to provide access and/or ventilation from the ground surface
					 to an underground mined repository.
(44)
Site area emergency
means
					 a situation in which events may occur, are in progress, or have occurred on the
					 disposal site that could lead to a significant release of radioactive material
					 and that could require a response by off-site emergency responders to protect
					 individuals off the site.
(45)
Site-specific engineering properties
means engineering
					 information and test results obtained directly from the geologic and
					 hydrogeologic units in which the underground mined repository is to be
					 constructed or in the area where another type of land disposal facility is to be
					 constructed.
(46)
Source
					 material
means:
(46)
(i) uranium or thorium, or any combination
					 thereof, in any physical or chemical form; or