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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY40 CFR Part 194[FRL- ]RIN 2060-AG85Criteria for the Certification and Re-Certification of the WasteIsolation Pilot Plant’s Compliance with the 40 CFR Part 191Disposal Regulations: Certification DecisionAGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.ACTION: Proposed rule. Opening of public comment period.SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) isproposing to certify that the Department of Energy's (“DOE”)Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (“WIPP”) will comply with theradioactive waste disposal regulations set forth at 40 CFR Part191 (Environmental Standards for the Management and Disposal ofSpent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic RadioactiveWaste). EPA is required to evaluate whether the WIPP will complywith EPA’s standards for the disposal of radioactive waste by theWIPP Land Withdrawal Act (“LWA”) of 1992, as amended. EPA’scertification of compliance, if finalized, would allow theemplacement of radioactive waste in the WIPP to begin, providedthat all other applicable health and safety standards have beenmet. The proposed certification would allow Los Alamos National1Laboratory to ship TRU waste from specific waste streams fordisposal at the WIPP. However, the proposed certification issubject to several conditions, notably that EPA must approvesite-specific waste characterization measures and qualityassurance plans before allowing other waste generator sites toship waste for disposal at the ...

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 194
[FRL- ]
RIN 2060-AG85
Criteria for the Certification and Re-Certification of the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant’s Compliance with the 40 CFR Part 191
Disposal Regulations: Certification Decision
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Proposed rule. Opening of public comment period.
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is
proposing to certify that the Department of Energy's (“DOE”)
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (“WIPP”) will comply with the
radioactive waste disposal regulations set forth at 40 CFR Part
191 (Environmental Standards for the Management and Disposal of
Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive
Waste). EPA is required to evaluate whether the WIPP will comply
with EPA’s standards for the disposal of radioactive waste by the
WIPP Land Withdrawal Act (“LWA”) of 1992, as amended. EPA’s
certification of compliance, if finalized, would allow the
emplacement of radioactive waste in the WIPP to begin, provided
that all other applicable health and safety standards have been
met. The proposed certification would allow Los Alamos National
1Laboratory to ship TRU waste from specific waste streams for
disposal at the WIPP. However, the proposed certification is
subject to several conditions, notably that EPA must approve
site-specific waste characterization measures and quality
assurance plans before allowing other waste generator sites to
ship waste for disposal at the WIPP. The Agency proposes to
amend 40 CFR Part 194 by adding an appendix describing EPA’s
certification, and by adding a definition. Finally, EPA is
proposing its decision, also pursuant to the LWA, that DOE does
not need to acquire existing oil and gas leases near the WIPP in
order to meet the disposal regulations. Today’s notice marks the
beginning of a 120-day public comment period on EPA’s proposed
certification decision, and on the other proposed actions
described above.
DATES: Comments on today’s proposal must be received by
[Insert date 120 days from publication in the Federal Register
notice]. Public hearings on today’s proposal will be held in New
Mexico. A separate announcement will be published in the Federal
Register to provide public hearing information.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted, in duplicate, to:
Docket No. A-93-02, Air Docket, Room M-1500 (LE-131), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington,
2DC 20460. See additional docket information in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betsy Forinash or Scott
Monroe; telephone number (202) 233-9310; address: Radiation
Protection Division, Center for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant,
Mail Code 6602-J, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M
Street SW., Washington, DC 20460. For copies of the Compliance
Application Review Documents supporting today’s proposal, contact
Scott Monroe at the above phone number and address.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. Statutory Authority
III. Purpose and Scope of Today’s Action
IV. Limits of EPA’s Regulatory Authority at the WIPP
V. Public Participation
A. Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)
B. Public Hearings on ANPR
C. Additional Public Input
D. Public Comments on ANPR
E. Completeness Determination
F. Public Comments on Completeness
G. Proposed Certification Decision
H. Final Certification Decision
I. Dockets
VI. National Academy of Sciences Report on the WIPP
VII. Codification of EPA’s Certification Decision
VIII. Determination of Whether the WIPP Complies with the
Disposal Regulations
A. Basis for EPA’s Compliance Determination
B. Compliance Application Review Documents (CARDs)
IX. Section 194.14, Content of Compliance Certification
Application
3A. Site Characterization
B. Disposal System Design
C. Results of Assessments
D. Input Parameters to Performance Assessments
E. Assurance Requirements
F. Waste Acceptance Criteria
G. Background Radiation
H. Topographic Maps
I. Past and Current Meteorological Conditions
J. Other Information Needed for Demonstration of
Compliance
K. Conclusion
X. General Requirements
A. Section 194.22, Quality Assurance
B. Section 194.23, Models and Computer Codes
1. Conceptual models
a. Description of conceptual models
b. Alternative conceptual models
c. Future states of the disposal system and peer
review
d. Public comments
2. Progression from conceptual models to computer
codes
a. Mathematical models
b. Public comments on mathematical models
c. Numerical models
d. Computer codes
3. Quality assurance
4. Documentation of models and codes
a. Theoretical background
b. Descriptions of models
c. Parameters
d. Public comments on parameter values
e. Software licenses
f. Parameter correlation
5. EPA’s independent testing
C. Section 194.24, Waste Characterization
D. Section 194.25, Future State Assumptions
E. Section 194.26, Expert Judgment
F. Section 194.27, Peer Review
XI. Containment Requirements
A. Section 194.31, Application of Release Limits
B. Section 194.32, Scope of Performance Assessments (PA)
C. Section 194.33, Consideration of Drilling Events in PA
4D. Section 194.34, Results of PA
1. Complementary cumulative distribution functions
(CCDFs)
2. Generation of the full range of CCDFs
3. Probability distributions and random sampling of
uncertain parameters
4. Sufficient number of CCDFs generated
5. Compliance of the mean CCDF
XII. Assurance Requirements
A. Section 194.41, Active Institutional Controls
B. Section 194.42, Monitoring
C. Section 194.43, Passive Institutional Controls
D. Section 194.44, Engineered Barriers
E. Section 194.45, Consideration of the Presence of
Resources
F. Section 194.46, Removal of Waste
XIII. Individual and Ground-water Protection Requirements
A. Section 194.51, Consideration of Protected Individual
B. Section 194.52, Consideration of Exposure Pathways
C. Section 194.53, Consideration of Underground Sources of
Drinking Water
D. Section 194.54, Scope of Compliance Assessments (CA)
E. Section 194.55, Results of CA
1. Uncertainty of CA
2. Probability distributions for uncertain parameters
3. Sampling of uncertain parameters
4. Sufficient number of estimates generated
5. Display full range of CA results
6. Compliance with radiation dose and radionuclide
concentration limits
XIV. Land Withdrawal Act Section 4(b)(5)(B) Leases
XV. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order 12866
B. Regulatory Flexibility
C. Paperwork Reduction Act
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
E. Executive Order 12898
I. Background
Congress authorized development and construction of the
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (“WIPP”) in 1980 “for the express
5purpose of providing a research and development facility to
demonstrate the safe disposal of radioactive wastes resulting
1
from the defense activities and programs of the United States.”
The U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE” or “the Department”) is
developing the WIPP near Carlsbad in southeastern New Mexico as a
potential deep geologic repository for the disposal of defense
transuranic (“TRU”) radioactive waste. TRU waste consists of
materials containing alpha-emitting radio-isotopes, with half-
lives greater than twenty years and atomic numbers greater than
92, in concentrations greater than 100 nano-curies per gram of
2
waste. Most TRU waste proposed for disposal at the WIPP
consists of items that have become contaminated as a result of
activities associated with the production of nuclear weapons,
e.g., rags, equipment, tools, protective gear, and organic or
inorganic sludges. Some TRU waste is mixed with hazardous
chemicals. Some of the waste proposed for disposal at the WIPP
is currently stored on Federal lands across the United States,
including locations in Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio,
1 Department of Energy National Security and Military
Applications of Nuclear Energy Authorization Act of 1980, Pub. L.
96-164, section 213.
2 WIPP Land Withdrawal Act, Pub. L. 102-579, section
2(18), as amended by the 1996 WIPP LWA Amendments, Pub. L. 104-
201.
6South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. Much of the waste
proposed for disposal at the WIPP will be generated in the future
as weapons are disassembled and additional facilities are
decontaminated and decommissioned.
Before disposal of radioactive waste can begin at the WIPP,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or “the Agency”)
must certify that the WIPP facility will comply with EPA’s
3radioactive waste disposal regulations. The purpose of today’s
action is to propose EPA’s certification decision.
II. Statutory Authority
EPA’s oversight of the WIPP facility is governed by the WIPP
Land Withdrawal Act (“LWA”), passed initially by Congress in 1992
and amended in 1996. The LWA delegates to EPA three main tasks,
to be completed sequentially, for reaching a compliance
certification decision. First, EPA must finalize general
regulations which apply to all sites -- except Yucca mountain --
4
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