Washington Administrative Code › Title 246 - Health, Department of › RADIATION › Chapter 246-235 - Radioactive materials - Specific licenses › FEES › Section 246-235-086 - Special requirements for environmentally significant licensing actions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
In addition to the requirements set forth in WAC
					 246-235-020,
					 a specific license for any activity within the licensing authority of the
					 department which the department determines will significantly affect the
					 radiological quality of the human environment, including those specified in WAC
					 197-11-845(1) and
					 246-03-030(1)(a)(ii) (i.e., licenses to operate low level waste burial facilities or licenses to
					 operate or expand beyond the design capacity, mineral processing facilities or
					 their tailings areas, whose products, or by-products, have concentrations of
					 naturally occurring radioactive material in excess of exempt concentrations as
					 specified in WAC
					 246-232-130,
					 Schedule C), will be issued if the following conditions are met:
(1) Environmental impact statement.
(a) The application for a license or license
				  amendment (other than administrative amendments) is accompanied or preceded by
				  a final environmental impact statement or final declaration of nonsignificance
				  completed in accordance with the SEPA procedures and guidelines specified in
				  chapters 197-11 and 246-03 WAC. For any uranium or thorium mill in operation on
				  or before the effective date of this regulation for which an environmental
				  impact statement has not been prepared previously, an application for license
				  renewal must be accompanied or preceded by a final environmental impact
				  statement or final declaration of nonsignificance completed in accordance with
				  SEPA guidelines. No construction shall be commenced until the license has been
				  issued or unless an emergency exemption from SEPA requirements is granted in
				  accordance with WAC
				  197-11-880. For the
				  purposes of this subsection, the terms "commencement of construction" and
				  "construction" have the same meaning as that defined in WAC
				  246-220-010.
				  In the case where an exemption is granted, the applicant shall assume all
				  financial risk for construction activity; waive any claim of entitlement to the
				  issuance of a license based solely upon the grant of the exemption or the
				  commencement of construction pursuant thereto; and furnish, if the
				  circumstances warrant and the department so requires, a financial surety
				  arrangement to ensure the protection of the public health, safety, and the
				  environment in the event of abandonment, default, or inability of the licensed
				  applicant to meet the requirements of the act or these regulations.
(b) In addition to the information required
				  in chapter 197-11 WAC, the following additional areas must be addressed in the
				  final environmental impact statement:
(i)
				  Alternative sites to those chosen by the applicant must include all alternative
				  sites, whether or not those sites are under the control or ownership of the
				  applicant.
(ii) Long-term impacts
				  must include, but not be limited to, decommissioning, decontamination,
				  reclamation impacts and material management associated with the proposed
				  activities.
(iii) Environmental
				  reviews, dose assessments, ecology, construction effects on biota, impact on
				  the environment from the use of chemicals, and socioeconomic effects must be
				  addressed.
(iv) Alternative
				  disposal sites and techniques for disposal must be evaluated to determine if a
				  site or technique is clearly superior.