Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for Heritage Minerals, Inc.; Manchester Township, NJ, 52175-52177 [E6-14519]
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sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 170 / Friday, September 1, 2006 / Notices
Maryland. Publicly available records
will be accessible from the Agencywide
Documents Access and Management
System’s (ADAMS) Public Electronic
Reading Room on the Internet at the
NRC Web site, https://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. If a
request for a hearing or petition for
leave to intervene is filed by the above
date, the Commission or a presiding
officer designated by the Commission or
by the Chief Administrative Judge of the
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
Panel, will rule on the request and/or
petition; and the Secretary or the Chief
Administrative Judge of the Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board will issue a
notice of a hearing or an appropriate
order.
As required by 10 CFR 2.309, a
petition for leave to intervene shall set
forth with particularity the interest of
the petitioner in the proceeding, and
how that interest may be affected by the
results of the proceeding. The petition
should specifically explain the reasons
why intervention should be permitted
with particular reference to the
following general requirements: (1) The
name, address and telephone number of
the requestor or petitioner; (2) the
nature of the requestor’s/petitioner’s
right under the Act to be made a party
to the proceeding; (3) the nature and
extent of the requestor’s/petitioner’s
property, financial, or other interest in
the proceeding; and (4) the possible
effect of any decision or order which
may be entered in the proceeding on the
requestors/petitioner’s interest. The
petition must also identify the specific
contentions which the petitioner/
requestor seeks to have litigated at the
proceeding.
Each contention must consist of a
specific statement of the issue of law or
fact to be raised or controverted. In
addition, the petitioner/requestor shall
provide a brief explanation of the bases
for the contention and a concise
statement of the alleged facts or expert
opinion which support the contention
and on which the petitioner intends to
rely in proving the contention at the
hearing. The petitioner/requestor must
also provide references to those specific
sources and documents of which the
petitioner is aware and on which the
petitioner intends to rely to establish
those facts or expert opinion. The
petition must include sufficient
information to show that a genuine
dispute exists with the applicant on a
material issue of law or fact.
Contentions shall be limited to matters
within the scope of the amendment
under consideration. The contention
must be one which, if proven, would
entitle the petitioner to relief. A
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16:21 Aug 31, 2006
Jkt 208001
petitioner/requestor who fails to satisfy
these requirements with respect to at
least one contention will not be
permitted to participate as a party.
Those permitted to intervene become
parties to the proceeding, subject to any
limitations in the order granting leave to
intervene, and have the opportunity to
participate fully in the conduct of the
hearing.
If a hearing is requested, the
Commission will make a final
determination on the issue of no
significant hazards consideration. The
final determination will serve to decide
when the hearing is held. If the final
determination is that the amendment
request involves no significant hazards
consideration, the Commission may
issue the amendment and make it
immediately effective, notwithstanding
the request for a hearing. Any hearing
held would take place after issuance of
the amendment. If the final
determination is that the amendment
request involves a significant hazards
consideration, any hearing held would
take place before the issuance of any
amendment.
Nontimely requests and/or petitions
and contentions will not be entertained
absent a determination by the
Commission or the presiding officer of
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
that the petition, request and/or the
contentions should be granted based on
a balancing of the factors specified in 10
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)–(viii).
A request for a hearing or a petition
for leave to intervene must be filed by:
(1) First class mail addressed to the
Office of the Secretary of the
Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff; (2) courier, express
mail, and expedited delivery services:
Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor,
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852,
Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff; (3) e-mail
addressed to the Office of the Secretary,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
hearingdocket@nrc.gov; or (4) facsimile
transmission addressed to the Office of
the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC,
Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff at (301) 415–1101,
verification number is (301) 415–1966.
A copy of the request for hearing and
petition for leave to intervene should
also be sent to the Office of the General
Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001, and it is requested that copies be
transmitted either by means of facsimile
transmission to 301–415–3725 or by e-
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52175
mail to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. A copy
of the request for hearing and petition
for leave to intervene should also be
sent to Jay Silberg, Esq., Pillsbury
Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, 2300 N
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20037,
attorney for the licensee.
For further details with respect to this
action, see the application for
amendment dated August 25, 2006,
which is available for public inspection
at the Commission’s PDR, located at
One White Flint North, File Public Area
O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first
floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly
available records will be accessible from
the Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System’s (ADAMS) Public
Electronic Reading Room on the Internet
at the NRC Web site, https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
Persons who do not have access to
ADAMS or who encounter problems in
accessing the documents located in
ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR
Reference staff by telephone at 1–800–
397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by e-mail
to pdr@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day
of August 2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack Donohew,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing
Branch IV, Division of Operating Reactor
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E6–14511 Filed 8–31–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 040–08980]
Notice of Availability of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License
Amendment for Heritage Minerals, Inc.;
Manchester Township, NJ
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Marjorie McLaughlin, Project Manager,
Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 475
Allendale Road, King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania, 19406–1415. Telephone:
(610) 337–5240; fax number: (610) 337–
5269; e-mail: mmm3@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering the
E:\FR\FM\01SEN1.SGM
01SEN1
52176
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 170 / Friday, September 1, 2006 / Notices
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
issuance of a license amendment to
Materials License No. SMB–1541 issued
to Heritage Minerals, Inc. (HMI or the
licensee), to authorize release of the
NRC-licensed areas of its facility in
Manchester Township, New Jersey (the
Heritage site) for unrestricted use and
license termination, and has prepared
an Environmental Assessment (EA) in
support of this amendment in
accordance with the requirements of 10
CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC
has concluded that a Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI) is
appropriate. The amendment will be
issued following the publication of this
Notice.
II. EA Summary
The purpose of the proposed
amendment is to allow the release of the
NRC-licensed areas of the licensee’s
Manchester Township, New Jersey,
facility for unrestricted use and license
termination. HMI was authorized by the
NRC on January 2, 1991, to possess
radioactive source materials resulting
from past minerals processing
operations at the site. The facility was
used by HMI and previous owners from
1973–1989 for the mechanical
processing of dredged native sand to
extract various heavy minerals
(zirconium and titanium). The native
sand also contained natural uranium
and thorium, which were concentrated
in the waste tailings of the processing
operation.
The processing operation involved
two stages, with each stage producing a
separate tailings waste stream that was
immediately combined and stockpiled
on site. In 1987, HMI began reprocessing
the stockpiled tailings to extract any
remaining heavy minerals, producing a
more concentrated combined waste
stream. This more concentrated waste
was then further processed by HMI
starting in 1989. With this further
reprocessing, HMI also installed a
process change, by which the waste
streams from the two stages were no
longer combined, but were instead
maintained separate. The resultant
waste tailings from one stage of this
process contained a concentration of
uranium and thorium in excess of
0.05% by weight, meeting the 10 CFR
part 40 definition of radioactive source
material (10 CFR 40.4). This
concentration exceeds the unimportant
quantity exemption for source material
stated in 10 CFR 40.13(a), and therefore
required an NRC license. HMI separated
the source material from all other waste
material, and stored this sand within a
stockpile area that was later enclosed by
a fence. On March 10, 1989, HMI
submitted an application for an NRC
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16:21 Aug 31, 2006
Jkt 208001
source material license. Before the
license was issued, reduced demand
and price for zircon caused HMI to
cease processing activities, and no
additional source material was added.
On January 2, 1991, the NRC issued
Materials License No. SMB–1541
authorizing HMI to possess the
stockpiled source material and to
perform decommissioning of the
impacted areas of the site (two mill
buildings and the ground beneath the
stockpile), comprising approximately
one acre.
The ground (approximately 287 acres)
between and surrounding the impacted
areas contains uranium and thorium
concentrations that are above
background but below 0.05% by weight.
The above-background concentrations of
source material in these regions resulted
from staging and regrading waste sands
from previous (unlicensed) processing
activities. Because the source material
concentration of this material is below
0.05% by weight, it remains exempt
from NRC regulations, and is not part of
the license. Removal of this material
may be required by the State of New
Jersey. Within this region, however,
NRC confirmatory surveys identified
several pockets of material exceeding
0.05% source material concentration by
weight. NRC staff determined that these
pockets were inadvertently formed from
the staging and grading of the exempt
material described above. Consequently,
the staff determined that this material
was ‘‘licensable,’’ in that it met the 10
CFR part 40 definition of source
material. The staff required HMI to
remediate all pockets of licensable
material in the same manner as the
licensed material.
On March 4, 2005, HMI requested that
NRC release the facility for unrestricted
use. Both mill buildings have been
demolished and only the concrete pads
remain. The stockpiled licensed
material has been disposed and the
ground beneath the pile excavated. The
pockets of licensable material identified
between the impacted areas have also
been excavated and disposed offsite.
The HMI has conducted surveys of the
impacted areas and the remediated
pockets and provided information to the
NRC demonstrating these areas meet the
license termination criteria for
unrestricted release in its approved
Decommissioning Plan (DP). HMI’s DP
was previously noticed in the Federal
Register on September 1, 1999 (64 FR
47872–47877), along with a notice of an
opportunity to request a hearing.
The 10 CFR 20 Subpart E, ‘‘The
License Termination Rule’’ (LTR), bases
termination of NRC licenses and release
of facilities for unrestricted use on
PO 00000
Frm 00125
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
meeting residual radioactivity levels
distinguishable from background, that
do not result in a Total Effective Dose
Equivalent (TEDE) to an average
member of the critical group above 25
millirem (mrem) per year. The rule was
a change from past practice, which
based release of a site for unrestricted
use on meeting specific concentrationbased cleanup levels. When the LTR
was published (62 FR 39088), a
provision was included in 10 CFR
20.1401(b)(3) to ‘‘grandfather’’ sites with
DPs submitted to the NRC before August
20, 1998, and approved by August 20,
1999, (the approval date was extended
to August 20, 2000, for 12 sites,
including Heritage Minerals, by SECY–
99–195). Grandfathered sites are
decommissioned under the criteria in
their approved DPs, using the previous
concentration-based cleanup levels.
These cleanup standards were
considered to result in a dose less than
the public dose limit of 100 mrem/yr,
specified in 10 CFR 20.1301.
The NRC staff has prepared an EA in
support of the proposed action of
terminating HMI’s Materials License No.
SMB–1541, and releasing the NRClicensed areas of the Heritage site for
unrestricted use. The staff evaluated the
request from HMI and the results of
their surveys, performed independent,
confirmatory measurements, and
performed a quantitative dose
assessment of the licensed areas. The
mill pads were modeled with the
assumption of reuse of the structures for
residential occupancy. The highest
resultant TEDE for this scenario is 1.6
mrem/yr. The stockpile area was
modeled for a suburban resident,
resulting in a maximum possible TEDE
of 40 mrem/yr.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The staff has prepared an EA in
support of the proposed license
amendment to terminate HMI’s license
and release the NRC-licensed areas of
the Heritage site for unrestricted use.
The staff has found that the radiological
environmental impacts from the
proposed action would not exceed the
public dose limit of 100 mrem/yr.
Surface and groundwater analyses
performed at the site confirm that no
significant radionuclide transport or
elevated concentrations are occurring in
the surface water or aquifer system. The
NRC staff has determined that the
proposed action would have no impact
on site geology, ecology, or water. The
staff has also found that the proposed
action is procedural in nature because
HMI has completed all NRC-required
remediation at the site. On the basis of
the EA, NRC has concluded that there
E:\FR\FM\01SEN1.SGM
01SEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 170 / Friday, September 1, 2006 / Notices
are no significant environmental
impacts from the proposed action of
terminating HMI’s license and releasing
for unrestricted use the NRC-licensed
areas of the Heritage site, and has
determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement.
IV. Further Information
Documents related to this action,
including the application for
amendment and supporting
documentation, are available
electronically at the NRC’s Electronic
Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/adams.html. From this site,
you can access the NRC’s Agencywide
Document Access and Management
System (ADAMS), which provides text
and image files of NRC’s public
documents. The ADAMS accession
numbers for the documents related to
this notice are:
ADAMS
Accession No.
Summarized document description
1 ......
2 ......
3 ......
4 ......
5 ......
6 ......
7 ......
8 ......
9 ......
10 ....
11 ....
12 ....
13 ....
14 ....
15 ....
16 ....
17 ....
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Termination of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Materials License
No. SMB–1541, Issued to Heritage Minerals, Inc. in Manchester Township, New Jersey, and Release for Unrestricted Use.
‘‘Five Options for NRC Approval of Disposal or Onsite Storage of Thorium or Uranium Wastes From Past Nuclear
Operations,’’ dated 10/23/81.
FC 83–23 ‘‘Termination of Byproduct, Source, and Special Nuclear Materials Licenses,’’ dated 11/4/83 .....................
Letter terminating Heritage plant activities, dated 8/23/90 ..............................................................................................
Additional Information for License Application, dated 7/25/90 ........................................................................................
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for HMI DP, dated 10/19/99 ....................................
HMI Final Status Survey, dated 11/25/01 ........................................................................................................................
NRC Confirmatory Survey Report, dated 4/10/02 ...........................................................................................................
HMI proposed additional remediation activities, dated 3/10/03 .......................................................................................
HMI amendment to proposed additional remediation activities, dated 5/6/03 ................................................................
NRC Confirmatory Survey Phase 2, dated 12/31/03 .......................................................................................................
HMI proposed final remediation activities, dated 6/30/04 ................................................................................................
NRC letter accepting proposed final remediation activities, dated 11/17/04 ...................................................................
HMI Termination Request, dated 3/04/05 ........................................................................................................................
Soil Sample Results from HMI, dated 2/14/05 ................................................................................................................
NJDEP comments on draft HMI EA, dated 7/12/05 ........................................................................................................
Dose Assessment for Unrestricted Future Use Scenarios of the HMI site, dated 8/25/05 .............................................
If you do not have access to ADAMS
or if there are problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, contact
the NRC Public Document Room (PDR)
Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–
415–4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.
These documents may also be viewed
electronically on the public computers
located at the NRC’s PDR, O 1 F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR
reproduction contractor will copy
documents for a fee.
Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania this
23rd day of August, 2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Marie Miller,
Chief Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I.
[FR Doc. E6–14519 Filed 8–31–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Rel. No. IC–27468; File No.812–13273]
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Merrill Lynch Life Insurance Company,
et al; Notice of Application
August 28, 2006.
Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’).
ACTION: Notice of application for an
amended order pursuant to Section 6(c)
of the Investment Company Act of 1940
AGENCY:
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:21 Aug 31, 2006
Jkt 208001
(‘‘Act’’) granting exemptions from the
provisions of Sections 2(a)(32) and
27(i)(2)(A) of the Act and Rule 22c–1
thereunder.
Applicants: Merrill Lynch Life
Insurance Company (‘‘MLLIC’’), Merrill
Lynch Life Variable Annuity Separate
Account A, Merrill Lynch Life Variable
Annuity Separate Account C, Merrill
Lynch Life Variable Annuity Separate
Account D, ML Life Insurance Company
of New York (‘‘MLNY’’), ML of New
York Variable Annuity Separate
Account A, ML of New York Variable
Annuity Separate Account C, ML of
New York Variable Annuity Separate
Account D, and Merrill Lynch, Pierce,
Fenner & Smith Incorporated
(‘‘MLPF&S’’) (except for MLLIC, MLNY,
and MLPF&S, each a ‘‘separate account’’
and collectively the ‘‘Separate
Accounts’’).
Summary of Application: The
Applicants request an order amending
an existing order to permit the recapture
of amounts applied to purchase
payments made under certain variable
annuity contracts. Applicants also
request that the relief under the order
extend to any current or future separate
accounts of Merrill Lynch and their
successors in interest, which may offer
or support contracts that are
substantially similar in all material
respects to the contracts described in
the application and to any other NASD
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
52177
ML062350098
ML033630718
ML003745523
ML030370350
ML030370324
ML003721778
ML021150357
ML021060589
ML030830547
ML031320537
ML040250070
ML041910222
ML043240049
ML050960109
ML050960038
ML052000408
ML052410061
registered broker/dealers under common
control with Merrill Lynch, that serves
as distributor or principal underwriter
for the contracts.
Filing Date: The application was filed
on February 15, 2006, and amended and
restated on August 24, 2006.
Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An
order granting the application will be
issued unless the Commission orders a
hearing. Interested person may request a
hearing by writing to the Secretary of
the Commission and serving Applicants
with a copy of the request, personally or
by mail. Hearing requests should be
received by the Commission by 5:30
p.m. on September 25, 2006, and should
be accompanied by proof of service on
Applicants, in the form of an affidavit
or, for lawyers, a certificate of service.
Hearing requests should state the nature
of the writer’s interest, the reason for the
request, and the issues contested.
Persons may request notification of a
hearing by writing to the Secretary of
the Commission.
ADDRESSES: Secretary, Securities and
Exchange Commission, 100 F Street,
NE., Washington, DC 20549–1090.
Applicants, c/o Kirsty Lieberman, Esq.,
Merrill Lynch Insurance Group, Inc.,
1300 Merrill Lynch Drive, 2nd Floor,
Pennington, New Jersey 08534.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert Lamont, Senior Counsel or Joyce
M. Pickholz, Branch Chief, Office of
E:\FR\FM\01SEN1.SGM
01SEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 170 (Friday, September 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52175-52177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-14519]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 040-08980]
Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of
No Significant Impact for License Amendment for Heritage Minerals,
Inc.; Manchester Township, NJ
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marjorie McLaughlin, Project Manager,
Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 475 Allendale Road, King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania, 19406-1415. Telephone: (610) 337-5240; fax
number: (610) 337-5269; e-mail: mmm3@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the
[[Page 52176]]
issuance of a license amendment to Materials License No. SMB-1541
issued to Heritage Minerals, Inc. (HMI or the licensee), to authorize
release of the NRC-licensed areas of its facility in Manchester
Township, New Jersey (the Heritage site) for unrestricted use and
license termination, and has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA)
in support of this amendment in accordance with the requirements of 10
CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of
No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The amendment will be
issued following the publication of this Notice.
II. EA Summary
The purpose of the proposed amendment is to allow the release of
the NRC-licensed areas of the licensee's Manchester Township, New
Jersey, facility for unrestricted use and license termination. HMI was
authorized by the NRC on January 2, 1991, to possess radioactive source
materials resulting from past minerals processing operations at the
site. The facility was used by HMI and previous owners from 1973-1989
for the mechanical processing of dredged native sand to extract various
heavy minerals (zirconium and titanium). The native sand also contained
natural uranium and thorium, which were concentrated in the waste
tailings of the processing operation.
The processing operation involved two stages, with each stage
producing a separate tailings waste stream that was immediately
combined and stockpiled on site. In 1987, HMI began reprocessing the
stockpiled tailings to extract any remaining heavy minerals, producing
a more concentrated combined waste stream. This more concentrated waste
was then further processed by HMI starting in 1989. With this further
reprocessing, HMI also installed a process change, by which the waste
streams from the two stages were no longer combined, but were instead
maintained separate. The resultant waste tailings from one stage of
this process contained a concentration of uranium and thorium in excess
of 0.05% by weight, meeting the 10 CFR part 40 definition of
radioactive source material (10 CFR 40.4). This concentration exceeds
the unimportant quantity exemption for source material stated in 10 CFR
40.13(a), and therefore required an NRC license. HMI separated the
source material from all other waste material, and stored this sand
within a stockpile area that was later enclosed by a fence. On March
10, 1989, HMI submitted an application for an NRC source material
license. Before the license was issued, reduced demand and price for
zircon caused HMI to cease processing activities, and no additional
source material was added. On January 2, 1991, the NRC issued Materials
License No. SMB-1541 authorizing HMI to possess the stockpiled source
material and to perform decommissioning of the impacted areas of the
site (two mill buildings and the ground beneath the stockpile),
comprising approximately one acre.
The ground (approximately 287 acres) between and surrounding the
impacted areas contains uranium and thorium concentrations that are
above background but below 0.05% by weight. The above-background
concentrations of source material in these regions resulted from
staging and regrading waste sands from previous (unlicensed) processing
activities. Because the source material concentration of this material
is below 0.05% by weight, it remains exempt from NRC regulations, and
is not part of the license. Removal of this material may be required by
the State of New Jersey. Within this region, however, NRC confirmatory
surveys identified several pockets of material exceeding 0.05% source
material concentration by weight. NRC staff determined that these
pockets were inadvertently formed from the staging and grading of the
exempt material described above. Consequently, the staff determined
that this material was ``licensable,'' in that it met the 10 CFR part
40 definition of source material. The staff required HMI to remediate
all pockets of licensable material in the same manner as the licensed
material.
On March 4, 2005, HMI requested that NRC release the facility for
unrestricted use. Both mill buildings have been demolished and only the
concrete pads remain. The stockpiled licensed material has been
disposed and the ground beneath the pile excavated. The pockets of
licensable material identified between the impacted areas have also
been excavated and disposed offsite. The HMI has conducted surveys of
the impacted areas and the remediated pockets and provided information
to the NRC demonstrating these areas meet the license termination
criteria for unrestricted release in its approved Decommissioning Plan
(DP). HMI's DP was previously noticed in the Federal Register on
September 1, 1999 (64 FR 47872-47877), along with a notice of an
opportunity to request a hearing.
The 10 CFR 20 Subpart E, ``The License Termination Rule'' (LTR),
bases termination of NRC licenses and release of facilities for
unrestricted use on meeting residual radioactivity levels
distinguishable from background, that do not result in a Total
Effective Dose Equivalent (TEDE) to an average member of the critical
group above 25 millirem (mrem) per year. The rule was a change from
past practice, which based release of a site for unrestricted use on
meeting specific concentration-based cleanup levels. When the LTR was
published (62 FR 39088), a provision was included in 10 CFR
20.1401(b)(3) to ``grandfather'' sites with DPs submitted to the NRC
before August 20, 1998, and approved by August 20, 1999, (the approval
date was extended to August 20, 2000, for 12 sites, including Heritage
Minerals, by SECY-99-195). Grandfathered sites are decommissioned under
the criteria in their approved DPs, using the previous concentration-
based cleanup levels. These cleanup standards were considered to result
in a dose less than the public dose limit of 100 mrem/yr, specified in
10 CFR 20.1301.
The NRC staff has prepared an EA in support of the proposed action
of terminating HMI's Materials License No. SMB-1541, and releasing the
NRC-licensed areas of the Heritage site for unrestricted use. The staff
evaluated the request from HMI and the results of their surveys,
performed independent, confirmatory measurements, and performed a
quantitative dose assessment of the licensed areas. The mill pads were
modeled with the assumption of reuse of the structures for residential
occupancy. The highest resultant TEDE for this scenario is 1.6 mrem/yr.
The stockpile area was modeled for a suburban resident, resulting in a
maximum possible TEDE of 40 mrem/yr.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The staff has prepared an EA in support of the proposed license
amendment to terminate HMI's license and release the NRC-licensed areas
of the Heritage site for unrestricted use. The staff has found that the
radiological environmental impacts from the proposed action would not
exceed the public dose limit of 100 mrem/yr. Surface and groundwater
analyses performed at the site confirm that no significant radionuclide
transport or elevated concentrations are occurring in the surface water
or aquifer system. The NRC staff has determined that the proposed
action would have no impact on site geology, ecology, or water. The
staff has also found that the proposed action is procedural in nature
because HMI has completed all NRC-required remediation at the site. On
the basis of the EA, NRC has concluded that there
[[Page 52177]]
are no significant environmental impacts from the proposed action of
terminating HMI's license and releasing for unrestricted use the NRC-
licensed areas of the Heritage site, and has determined not to prepare
an environmental impact statement.
IV. Further Information
Documents related to this action, including the application for
amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for
the documents related to this notice are:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADAMS Accession
Summarized document description No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.................. Environmental Assessment for the ML062350098
Proposed Termination of U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Materials License No. SMB-1541,
Issued to Heritage Minerals,
Inc. in Manchester Township,
New Jersey, and Release for
Unrestricted Use.
2.................. ``Five Options for NRC Approval ML033630718
of Disposal or Onsite Storage
of Thorium or Uranium Wastes
From Past Nuclear Operations,''
dated 10/23/81.
3.................. FC 83-23 ``Termination of ML003745523
Byproduct, Source, and Special
Nuclear Materials Licenses,''
dated 11/4/83.
4.................. Letter terminating Heritage ML030370350
plant activities, dated 8/23/90.
5.................. Additional Information for ML030370324
License Application, dated 7/25/
90.
6.................. Environmental Assessment and ML003721778
Finding of No Significant
Impact for HMI DP, dated 10/19/
99.
7.................. HMI Final Status Survey, dated ML021150357
11/25/01.
8.................. NRC Confirmatory Survey Report, ML021060589
dated 4/10/02.
9.................. HMI proposed additional ML030830547
remediation activities, dated 3/
10/03.
10................. HMI amendment to proposed ML031320537
additional remediation
activities, dated 5/6/03.
11................. NRC Confirmatory Survey Phase 2, ML040250070
dated 12/31/03.
12................. HMI proposed final remediation ML041910222
activities, dated 6/30/04.
13................. NRC letter accepting proposed ML043240049
final remediation activities,
dated 11/17/04.
14................. HMI Termination Request, dated 3/ ML050960109
04/05.
15................. Soil Sample Results from HMI, ML050960038
dated 2/14/05.
16................. NJDEP comments on draft HMI EA, ML052000408
dated 7/12/05.
17................. Dose Assessment for Unrestricted ML052410061
Future Use Scenarios of the HMI
site, dated 8/25/05.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or
by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.
These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North,
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction
contractor will copy documents for a fee.
Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania this 23rd day of August,
2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Marie Miller,
Chief Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety,
Region I.
[FR Doc. E6-14519 Filed 8-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
