Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Issuance of a License Amendment to Masters Materials License 03-23853-01VA, for Unrestricted Release of a Department of Veterans Affairs Facility in Gainesville, FL, 8754-8756 [2010-3862]
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8754
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 37 / Thursday, February 25, 2010 / Notices
There are no impacts to the air or
ambient air quality. There are no
impacts to historical and cultural
resources. There would be no impact to
socioeconomic resources. Therefore, no
changes to or different types of nonradiological environmental impacts are
expected as a result of the proposed
exemptions.
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that
there are no significant environmental
impacts associated with the proposed
actions. In addition, in promulgating its
revisions to 10 CFR part 73, the
Commission prepared an environmental
assessment and published a finding of
no significant impact (Part 73, Power
Reactor Security Requirements, 74 FR
13926, 13967 (March 27, 2009)).
The licensee currently maintains a
security system acceptable to the NRC
and will continue to provide acceptable
physical protection of BSEP. Therefore,
the extension of the implementation
date for certain new requirements of 10
CFR part 73 to December 20, 2010,
would not have any significant
environmental impacts.
The NRC staff’s safety evaluation will
be provided in the exemptions that will
be issued as part of the letter to the
licensee approving the exemptions to
the regulation, if granted.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Actions
As an alternative to the proposed
actions, the NRC staff considered denial
of the proposed actions (i.e., the ‘‘no
action’’ alternative). Denial of the
exemption requests would result in no
change in current environmental
impacts. If the proposed actions were
denied, the licensee would have to
comply with the March 31, 2010,
implementation deadline. The
environmental impacts of the proposed
exemptions and the ‘‘no action’’
alternative are similar.
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Alternative Use of Resources
The actions do not involve the use of
any different resources than those
considered in the Final Environmental
Statement for the BSEP dated January
1976, and the Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal
of Nuclear Plants, NUREG–1437,
Supplement 25, dated March 2006
(ADAMS Accession No. ML060900480).
Agencies and Persons Consulted
In accordance with its stated policy,
on January 19, 2010, the NRC staff
consulted with the North Carolina State
official, Mr. Dale Dusenbury of the
North Carolina Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
regarding the environmental impact of
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the proposed actions. The State official
had no comments.
Finding of No Significant Impact
On the basis of the environmental
assessment, the NRC concludes that the
proposed actions will not have a
significant effect on the quality of the
human environment. Accordingly, the
NRC has determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the
proposed actions.
For further details with respect to the
proposed actions, see the licensee’s
letter dated November 30, 2009.
Attachment 1 of the November 30, 2009,
submittal contains security-related
information and, accordingly, is not
available to the public. Other parts of
this document may be examined, and/
or copied for a fee, at the NRC’s Public
Document Room (PDR), located at One
White Flint North, Public File Area O–
1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor),
Rockville, Maryland 20852. Publicly
available records will be accessible
electronically from the 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 or 301–415–4737, or send an
e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day
of February 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Farideh E. Saba,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing
Branch II–2, Division of Operating Reactor
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010–3849 Filed 2–24–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030–34325; NRC–2010–0068]
Notice of Environmental Assessment
Related to the Issuance of a License
Amendment to Masters Materials
License 03–23853–01VA, for
Unrestricted Release of a Department
of Veterans Affairs Facility in
Gainesville, FL
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License
Amendment.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katie Streit, Health Physicist, Materials
Control, ISFSI, and Decommissioning
Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials
Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, 2443
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532;
Telephone: (630) 829–9621; fax number:
(630) 515–1259; or by e-mail at
Katherine.Streit@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is proposing to
amend a materials permit held under
Master Byproduct Materials License No.
03–23853–01VA. The permit is held by
the Department of Veterans Affairs (the
Licensee), for its Veteran Affairs (VA)
North Florida/South Georgia Veterans
Health System located in Gainesville,
Florida. Issuance of the amendment
would authorize release of Building 26
(the Facility) for unrestricted use. The
Licensee will continue its operation of
other facilities under this permit and its
master materials license. The Licensee
requested this action in a letter dated
October 29, 2009 (ML093060270). The
NRC has prepared an Environmental
Assessment (EA) in support of this
proposed action in accordance with the
requirements of Title 10, Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 51 (10
CFR Part 51). Based on the EA, the NRC
has concluded that a Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI) is
appropriate with respect to the
proposed action. The amendment will
be issued to the Licensee following the
publication of this FONSI and EA in the
Federal Register.
II. Environmental Assessment
Identification of Proposed Action
The proposed action would approve
the Licensee’s October 29, 2009,
materials permit amendment request,
resulting in release of the Facility for
unrestricted use. License No. 03–23853–
01VA was issued on March 17, 2003,
pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30 and 35, and
has been amended periodically since
that time. This master license authorizes
the Licensee to use byproduct materials
at several Licensee facilities around the
country, as authorized on a site-specific
basis by permits issued by the
Licensee’s National Radiation Safety
Committee. Under the license, the
permits authorize the use of by-product
materials for various medical and
veterinary purposes, and for portable
gauges.
Under the master material license
permit, building 26 was used as a
radioactive waste storage facility located
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 37 / Thursday, February 25, 2010 / Notices
at the VA North Florida/South Georgia
Veterans Health System in Gainesville,
Florida. The Facility is a storage shed of
approximately 20x10x8 feet of space.
Radioactive materials with long lived
half-lives of greater than 120 days stored
in the Facility were H–3, C–14, Na–22,
Cl–36, and Ca–45. The licensee removed
all licensed material from the Facility
and completed final status surveys and
decontamination of the Facility in
October 2009.
Based on the licensee’s historical
knowledge of the site and the conditions
of the Facility, the licensee determined
that only routine decontamination
activities, in accordance with their NRC
approved, operating radiation safety
procedures, were required. The licensee
was not required to submit a
decommissioning plan to the NRC
because worker cleanup activities and
procedures are consistent with those
approved for routine operations. The
licensee conducted surveys of the
Facility and provided information to the
NRC to demonstrate that Building 26
meets the criteria in Subpart E of 10
CFR Part 20 for unrestricted use.
jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Need for the Proposed Action
The licensee has ceased conducting
license activities at the Facility, and
seeks the unrestricted use of Building
26.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Actions
The historical review showed that the
following radioactive materials with
half-lives greater than 120 days were
used: Hydrogen-3, Carbon-14, Sodium22, Chlorine-36, and Calcium-45. Prior
to performing the final status survey, the
Licensee conducted decontamination
activities, as necessary, in the areas of
Building 26 affected by these
radionuclides.
The licensee conducted final status
surveys in August 2009 and October
2009 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML093060270). The final status survey
report was attached to the Licensee’s
amendment request dated October 29,
2009. The licensee elected to
demonstrate compliance with the
radiological criteria for unrestricted use
as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by using
the screening approach described in
NUREG–1757, ‘‘Consolidated
Decommissioning Guidance,
Decommissioning Process for Material
Licensees’’ Volume 1 (ML063000243).
The licensee used the radionuclidespecific derived concentration guideline
levels (DCGLs) developed by the NRC,
which conservatively comply with the
dose criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. These
DCGLs define the maximum amount of
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16:34 Feb 24, 2010
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residual radioactivity on building
surfaces, equipment, and materials that
will satisfy the NRC requirement in
Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for
unrestricted use. The licensee’s final
status survey results were below these
DCGLs and are in compliance with the
As Low As Reasonably Achievable
(ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR
20.1402. The NRC thus finds that the
licensee’s final status survey results are
acceptable.
Based on its review, the staff has
determined that the affected
environment and any environmental
impacts associated with the proposed
action are bounded by the impacts
evaluated by the ‘‘Generic
Environmental Impact Statement in
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological
Criteria for License Termination of
NRC–Licensed Nuclear Facilities’’
(NUREG–1496) Volumes 1–3
(ML042310492, ML042320379, and
ML042330385). The staff finds there
were no significant environmental
impacts from the use of radioactive
material within Building 26. The NRC
staff reviewed the docket file records
and the final status survey report to
identify any non-radiological hazards
that may have impacted the
environment surrounding the buildings.
No such hazards or impacts to the
environment were identified. The NRC
has identified no other radiological or
non-radiological activities in the area
that could result in cumulative
environmental impacts.
The NRC staff finds that the proposed
release of Building 26 for unrestricted
use is in compliance with 10 CFR
20.1402. Based on its review, the staff
considered the impact of the residual
radioactivity from Building 26 and
concluded that the proposed action will
not have a significant effect on the
quality of the environment.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
Due to the largely administrative
nature of the proposed action, its
environmental impacts are small.
Therefore, the only alternative the staff
considered is the no-action alternative,
under which the staff would leave
things as they are by simply denying the
amendment request. This no-action
alternative is not feasible because it
conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d) requiring
that decommissioning of byproduct
material facilities be completed and
approved by the NRC after licensed
activities cease. The NRC’s analysis of
the licensee’s final status survey data
confirmed that Building 26 meet the
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for
unrestricted use. Additionally, denying
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8755
the amendment request would result in
no change in current environmental
impacts. The environmental impacts of
the proposed action and the no-action
alternative are therefore similar, and the
no-action alternative is accordingly not
further considered.
Conclusion
The NRC staff has concluded that the
proposed action is consistent with the
NRC’s unrestricted use criteria specified
in 10 CFR 20.1402. Because the
proposed action will not significantly
impact the quality of the human
environment, the NRC staff concludes
that the proposed action is the preferred
alternative.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On January 11, 2010 the NRC
provided a draft of this EA to the State
of Florida, Department of Health,
Bureau of Radiation Control. The State
provided no comments or questions.
The NRC staff has determined that the
proposed action is of a procedural
nature and will not affect listed species
or critical habitat. Therefore, no further
consultation is required under Section 7
of the Endangered Species Act. The
NRC staff also determined that the
proposed action is not the type of
activity that has the potential to cause
effects on historic properties. Therefore,
no further consultation is required
under Section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC staff has prepared this EA in
support of the proposed action. On the
basis of this EA, the NRC finds that
there are no significant environmental
impacts from the proposed action, and
that preparation of an environmental
impact statement is not warranted.
Accordingly, the NRC has determined
that a Finding of No Significant Impact
is appropriate.
IV. Further Information
Documents related to this action,
including the application for license
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 image files of
NRC’s public documents. 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. The documents related to
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 37 / Thursday, February 25, 2010 / Notices
this action are listed below, along with
their ADAMS accession numbers.
1. National Health Physics Program
Request for Decommissioning for
Unrestricted Release of Building 26 at
the VA North Florida/South Georgia
Veterans Health System, Gainesville,
Florida, dated October 29, 2009
(ADAMS Accession No. ML093060270).
2. Additional Information for Closeout
of Building 26 North Florida/South
Georgia Veterans Health System,
Gainesville, Florida (ADAMS Accession
No. ML100110095).
3. Title 10 Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E,
‘‘Radiological Criteria for License
Termination.’’
4. Title 10 Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 51, ‘‘Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic
Licensing and Related Regulatory
Function.’’
5. NUREG–1556, Consolidated
Guidance about Material Licenses,
Volume 9.
6. NUREG–1757, Consolidated
Decommissioning Guidance.
7. These documents may also be
viewed electronically on the public
computers located at the NRC’s PDR,
O1F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852.
The PDR reproduction contractor will
copy documents for a fee.
Company (SCE&G, the licensee), for
operation of the Virgil C. Summer
Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (VCSNS),
located in Fairfield County, South
Carolina. In accordance with 10 CFR
51.21, the NRC prepared an
environmental assessment documenting
its finding. The NRC concluded that the
proposed action will have no significant
environmental impact.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
The proposed action would exempt
VCSNS from the required
implementation date of March 31, 2010,
for two new requirements of 10 CFR
part 73. Specifically, VCSNS would be
granted an exemption from being in full
compliance with two new requirements
contained in 10 CFR 73.55 by the March
31, 2010, deadline. SCE&G has proposed
an alternate full compliance
implementation date of September 30,
2010, approximately 6 months beyond
the date required by 10 CFR part 73. The
proposed action, an extension of the
schedule for completion of certain
actions required by the revised 10 CFR
part 73, does not involve any physical
changes to the reactor, fuel, plant
structures, support structures, water, or
land at the VCSNS, Unit 1 site.
The proposed action is in accordance
with the licensee’s application
contained in two letters dated December
11, 2009, SCE&G designation RC–09–
0154 (Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No. ML093490316) and RC–
09–0148 (NRC ADAMS ML093480496
and ML093480497). SCE&G’s letter RC–
09–0148 contains security-related
information and, accordingly, is not
available to the public. SCE&G’s letter
RC–09–0154 is a redacted version of
RC–09–0148 that does not contain
security related information.
[Docket No. 50–395; NRC–2010–0067]
The Need for the Proposed Action
South Carolina Electric and Gas
Company, Virgil C. Summer Nuclear
Station, Unit 1; Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact
The proposed action is needed to
provide the licensee with additional
time to complete the design, planning,
procurement, construction, testing and
project closeout activities for the
required upgrades to the SCE&G
security system, while simultaneously
maintaining the current security
defensive strategy.
Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 17th day of
February 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Christine A. Lipa,
Chief, Materials Control, ISFSI, and
Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear
Materials Safety, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2010–3862 Filed 2–24–10; 8:45 am]
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BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an Exemption, pursuant to
Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) section 73.5,
‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ from the
implementation date for certain new
requirements of 10 CFR part 73,
‘‘Physical protection of plants and
materials,’’ for Renewed Facility
Operating License No. NPF–12, issued
to South Carolina Electric & Gas
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16:34 Feb 24, 2010
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Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
The NRC has completed its
environmental assessment of the
proposed exemption. The staff has
concluded that the proposed action to
extend the implementation deadline
would not significantly affect plant
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Sfmt 4703
safety and would not have a significant
adverse effect on the probability of an
accident occurring.
The proposed action would not result
in an increased radiological hazard
beyond those previously analyzed in the
environmental assessment and finding
of no significant impact made by the
Commission in promulgating its
revisions to 10 CFR part 73, as
discussed in a Federal Register notice
dated March 27, 2009 (74 FR 13967).
There will be no change to radioactive
effluents that affect radiation exposures
to plant workers and members of the
public. Therefore, no changes or
different types of radiological impacts
are expected as a result of the proposed
exemption.
The proposed action does not result
in changes to land use or water use, or
result in changes to the quality or
quantity of non-radiological effluents.
No changes to the National Pollution
Discharge Elimination System permit
are needed. No effects on the aquatic or
terrestrial habitat in the vicinity of the
plant, or to threatened, endangered, or
protected species under the Endangered
Species Act, or impacts to essential fish
habitat covered by the MagnusonSteven’s Act are expected. There are no
impacts to the air or ambient air quality.
There are no impacts to historical and
cultural resources. There would be no
impact to socioeconomic resources.
Therefore, no changes to or different
types of non-radiological environmental
impacts are expected as a result of the
proposed exemption.
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that
there are no significant environmental
impacts associated with the proposed
action. In addition, in promulgating its
revisions to 10 CFR part 73, the
Commission prepared an environmental
assessment and published a finding of
no significant impact [Part 73, Power
Reactor Security Requirements, 74 FR
13926, 13967 (March 27, 2009)].
The licensee currently maintains a
security system acceptable to the NRC
and will continue to provide acceptable
physical protection of the VCSNS.
Therefore, the extension of the
implementation date for certain new
requirement of 10 CFR part 73 to
September 30, 2010, would not have
any significant environmental impacts.
The NRC staff’s safety evaluation will
be provided in the exemption that will
be issued as part of the letter to the
licensee approving the exemption to the
regulation, if granted.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed
action, the NRC staff considered denial
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 37 (Thursday, February 25, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8754-8756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-3862]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030-34325; NRC-2010-0068]
Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Issuance of a
License Amendment to Masters Materials License 03-23853-01VA, for
Unrestricted Release of a Department of Veterans Affairs Facility in
Gainesville, FL
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License Amendment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katie Streit, Health Physicist,
Materials Control, ISFSI, and Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, 2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; Telephone:
(630) 829-9621; fax number: (630) 515-1259; or by e-mail at
Katherine.Streit@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend
a materials permit held under Master Byproduct Materials License No.
03-23853-01VA. The permit is held by the Department of Veterans Affairs
(the Licensee), for its Veteran Affairs (VA) North Florida/South
Georgia Veterans Health System located in Gainesville, Florida.
Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of Building 26 (the
Facility) for unrestricted use. The Licensee will continue its
operation of other facilities under this permit and its master
materials license. The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated
October 29, 2009 (ML093060270). The NRC has prepared an Environmental
Assessment (EA) in support of this proposed action in accordance with
the requirements of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part
51 (10 CFR Part 51). Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate with respect to
the proposed action. The amendment will be issued to the Licensee
following the publication of this FONSI and EA in the Federal Register.
II. Environmental Assessment
Identification of Proposed Action
The proposed action would approve the Licensee's October 29, 2009,
materials permit amendment request, resulting in release of the
Facility for unrestricted use. License No. 03-23853-01VA was issued on
March 17, 2003, pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30 and 35, and has been
amended periodically since that time. This master license authorizes
the Licensee to use byproduct materials at several Licensee facilities
around the country, as authorized on a site-specific basis by permits
issued by the Licensee's National Radiation Safety Committee. Under the
license, the permits authorize the use of by-product materials for
various medical and veterinary purposes, and for portable gauges.
Under the master material license permit, building 26 was used as a
radioactive waste storage facility located
[[Page 8755]]
at the VA North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System in
Gainesville, Florida. The Facility is a storage shed of approximately
20x10x8 feet of space. Radioactive materials with long lived half-lives
of greater than 120 days stored in the Facility were H-3, C-14, Na-22,
Cl-36, and Ca-45. The licensee removed all licensed material from the
Facility and completed final status surveys and decontamination of the
Facility in October 2009.
Based on the licensee's historical knowledge of the site and the
conditions of the Facility, the licensee determined that only routine
decontamination activities, in accordance with their NRC approved,
operating radiation safety procedures, were required. The licensee was
not required to submit a decommissioning plan to the NRC because worker
cleanup activities and procedures are consistent with those approved
for routine operations. The licensee conducted surveys of the Facility
and provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that Building 26
meets the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted use.
Need for the Proposed Action
The licensee has ceased conducting license activities at the
Facility, and seeks the unrestricted use of Building 26.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Actions
The historical review showed that the following radioactive
materials with half-lives greater than 120 days were used: Hydrogen-3,
Carbon-14, Sodium-22, Chlorine-36, and Calcium-45. Prior to performing
the final status survey, the Licensee conducted decontamination
activities, as necessary, in the areas of Building 26 affected by these
radionuclides.
The licensee conducted final status surveys in August 2009 and
October 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML093060270). The final status survey
report was attached to the Licensee's amendment request dated October
29, 2009. The licensee elected to demonstrate compliance with the
radiological criteria for unrestricted use as specified in 10 CFR
20.1402 by using the screening approach described in NUREG-1757,
``Consolidated Decommissioning Guidance, Decommissioning Process for
Material Licensees'' Volume 1 (ML063000243). The licensee used the
radionuclide-specific derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs)
developed by the NRC, which conservatively comply with the dose
criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. These DCGLs define the maximum amount of
residual radioactivity on building surfaces, equipment, and materials
that will satisfy the NRC requirement in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20
for unrestricted use. The licensee's final status survey results were
below these DCGLs and are in compliance with the As Low As Reasonably
Achievable (ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The NRC thus finds
that the licensee's final status survey results are acceptable.
Based on its review, the staff has determined that the affected
environment and any environmental impacts associated with the proposed
action are bounded by the impacts evaluated by the ``Generic
Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological
Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities''
(NUREG-1496) Volumes 1-3 (ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385).
The staff finds there were no significant environmental impacts from
the use of radioactive material within Building 26. The NRC staff
reviewed the docket file records and the final status survey report to
identify any non-radiological hazards that may have impacted the
environment surrounding the buildings. No such hazards or impacts to
the environment were identified. The NRC has identified no other
radiological or non-radiological activities in the area that could
result in cumulative environmental impacts.
The NRC staff finds that the proposed release of Building 26 for
unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its
review, the staff considered the impact of the residual radioactivity
from Building 26 and concluded that the proposed action will not have a
significant effect on the quality of the environment.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action,
its environmental impacts are small. Therefore, the only alternative
the staff considered is the no-action alternative, under which the
staff would leave things as they are by simply denying the amendment
request. This no-action alternative is not feasible because it
conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d) requiring that decommissioning of
byproduct material facilities be completed and approved by the NRC
after licensed activities cease. The NRC's analysis of the licensee's
final status survey data confirmed that Building 26 meet the
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted use. Additionally,
denying the amendment request would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action
and the no-action alternative are therefore similar, and the no-action
alternative is accordingly not further considered.
Conclusion
The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action is consistent
with the NRC's unrestricted use criteria specified in 10 CFR 20.1402.
Because the proposed action will not significantly impact the quality
of the human environment, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed
action is the preferred alternative.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On January 11, 2010 the NRC provided a draft of this EA to the
State of Florida, Department of Health, Bureau of Radiation Control.
The State provided no comments or questions.
The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a
procedural nature and will not affect listed species or critical
habitat. Therefore, no further consultation is required under Section 7
of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff also determined that the
proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential to
cause effects on historic properties. Therefore, no further
consultation is required under Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC staff has prepared this EA in support of the proposed
action. On the basis of this EA, the NRC finds that there are no
significant environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted.
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant
Impact is appropriate.
IV. Further Information
Documents related to this action, including the application for
license 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 image files of NRC's public documents. 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. The documents related to
[[Page 8756]]
this action are listed below, along with their ADAMS accession numbers.
1. National Health Physics Program Request for Decommissioning for
Unrestricted Release of Building 26 at the VA North Florida/South
Georgia Veterans Health System, Gainesville, Florida, dated October 29,
2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML093060270).
2. Additional Information for Closeout of Building 26 North
Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, Gainesville, Florida
(ADAMS Accession No. ML100110095).
3. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E,
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination.''
4. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory
Function.''
5. NUREG-1556, Consolidated Guidance about Material Licenses,
Volume 9.
6. NUREG-1757, Consolidated Decommissioning Guidance.
7. These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O1F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor
will copy documents for a fee.
Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 17th day of February 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Christine A. Lipa,
Chief, Materials Control, ISFSI, and Decommissioning Branch, Division
of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2010-3862 Filed 2-24-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
