[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 98 (Friday, May 21, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27828-27829]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12901]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Number 40-8102]
Exxon Corp., Highlands, WY
AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final finding of no significant impact.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) proposes to amend Exxon Corporation's (Exxon's) Source
Material License SUA-1139, to allow alternate concentration limits
(ACLs) for groundwater hazardous constituents at the Highland uranium
mill site in Converse County, Wyoming. An Environmental Assessment (EA)
was performed by the NRC staff in accordance with the requirements of
10 CFR part 51. The conclusion of the EA is a Finding of No Significant
Impact (FONSI) for this licensing action.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
By letter of December 18, 1998, Exxon requested that Source
Material License SUA-1139 be amended to allow ACLs for groundwater
constituents, nickel, radium-226 & 228 combined, and natural uranium,
at Exxon's Highland uranium mill site. Exxon's application for ACLs
proposed discontinuing the site groundwater corrective action program
(CAP) in order to complete placement of the final radon barrier over
the tailings and complete reclamation of the site. In order to
terminate the CAP, the licensee must meet 10 CFR part 40, appendix A,
Criterion 5B(5), which requires that, at the point of compliance (POC),
the concentration of a hazardous constituent must not exceed the
established background concentration of that constituent, the maximum
concentration limits (MCLs) given in Table 5C of Appendix A, or an
alternate concentration limit established by the NRC. The receipt of
Exxon's request by NRC and a Notice of Opportunity for a Hearing were
published in the Federal Register on January 13, 1999.
[[Page 27829]]
Summary of the Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action is an amendment to SUA-1139 to allow the
application of ACLs for groundwater hazardous constituents, nickel,
radium-226 & 228 combined, and uranium at the Exxon Highland facility,
as provided in 10 CFR part 40, appendix A, Criterion 5B(5). The NRC
staff's review was conducted in accordance with the ``Staff Technical
Position, Alternate Concentration Limits for Title II Uranium Mills,''
dated January 1996.
Based on its evaluation of Exxon's amendment request, the NRC staff
has concluded that granting Exxon the request for ACLs will not result
in significant impacts. The staff decision was based on information
provided by Exxon, demonstrating that its proposed ACLs would not pose
a substantial present or potential future hazard to human health and
the environment, and are as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA). A
review of alternatives to the requested action indicates that
implementation of alternate methods would result in little net
reduction of groundwater constituent concentrations.
Conclusion
The NRC staff concludes that approval of Exxon's amendment request
to allow ACLs for groundwater hazardous constituents will not cause
significant health or environmental impacts.
The following statements summarize the conclusions resulting from
the EA:
1. Currently, all concentrations of hazardous constituents of
concern to NRC meet the proposed groundwater ACLs for the site at the
POC wells.
2. Present and potential health risks were assessed for various
exposure scenarios, using conservative approaches. The result of these
assessments indicates that present and potential future hazardous
constituent concentrations at the specified POEs will not pose
significant risks to human health and the environment. The POEs are
located within or at the long-term care area boundary which will be
maintained for long-term care by the U.S. Department of Energy
following termination of the Exxon license.
3. Climatological extremes and sparse vegetation indicate that
future use of groundwater is likely to be limited to seasonal livestock
(e.g., cattle) and wildlife (e.g., pronghorn antelope) watering.
Domestic use of groundwater from the tailings dam sandstone at the site
is highly unlikely because of the low volume of water available in the
unit, and the remote location of the site.
4. Additional corrective action will have little effect on the net
reduction of constituent concentrations of concern to the NRC and,
therefore, will have little impact on groundwater quality.
Because the staff has determined that there will be no significant
impacts associated with approval of the amendment request, there can be
no disproportionately high and adverse effects or impacts on minority
and low-income populations. Except in special cases, these impacts need
not be addressed for EAs in which a FONSI is made. Special cases may
include regulatory actions that have substantial public interest,
decommissioning cases involving onsite disposal in accordance with 10
CFR 20.2002, decommissioning/decontamination cases which allow residual
radioactivity in excess of release criteria, or cases where
environmental justice issues have been previously raised. Consequently,
further evaluation of ``Environmental Justice'' concerns, as outlined
in NRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Policy and
Procedures Letter 1-50, Rev. 1, is not warranted.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
Since the licensee has demonstrated that the proposed ACL values
will not pose substantial present or potential hazards to human health
and the environment, and that the proposed ACLs are ALARA, considering
practicable corrective actions, establishing other standards more
stringent than the proposed ACLs was not evaluated. Furthermore, since
the NRC staff has concluded that there are no significant environmental
impacts associated with the proposed action, any alternatives with
equal or greater environmental impacts need not be evaluated. The
principal alternative to the proposed action would be to deny the
requested action. The licensee evaluated various alternatives,
including continuation of the CAP, and demonstrated that those
alternatives would result in little net reduction of constituent
concentrations. Because the environmental impacts of the proposed
action and the no-action alternative are similar, there is no need to
further evaluate alternatives to the proposed action.
Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC staff has prepared an EA for this action. On the basis of
this assessment, the NRC staff has concluded that the environmental
impacts that may result from this action would not be significant, and,
therefore, preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not
warranted.
The EA and other documents related to this action are being made
available for public inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room at
2120 L Street, NW (Lower Level).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mohammad W. Haque, Uranium Recovery
and Low-Level Waste Branch, Division of Waste Management, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone (301) 415-6640.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of May, 1999.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
N. King Stablein,
Acting Chief, Uranium Recovery and Low-Level Waste Branch, Division of
Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 99-12901 Filed 5-20-99; 8:45 am]
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