Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual, Revision 2; Reopening of the Comment Period, 73757-73759 [2021-28080]

Download as PDF khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 28, 2021 / Notices information gathered as part of this workshop will be used to inform a range of current and future actions, including EPA’s methodology for quantifying the greenhouse gas emissions under the Renewable Fuels Standard. Through this workshop, we will initiate a public process for getting input on (i) how to incorporate the best available science into an update of our lifecycle analysis (LCA) of biofuels, and (ii) what steps EPA should take next in this work area. The meeting is being conducted by EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality in consultation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy. DATES: EPA will hold a virtual public meeting on Monday, February 28, 2022 and Tuesday, March 1, 2022 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) each day. Please monitor the website https://www.epa.gov/renewablefuel-standard-program/workshopbiofuel-greenhouse-gas-modeling for any changes to meeting logistics. The final meeting agenda will be posted on the website. In addition, EPA will be accepting comments related to the questions described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below via the federal docketing system. Comments identified by docket ID number: OAR–2021–0921, must be received on or before April 01, 2022. ADDRESSES: For information on the public meeting or to register to attend, please visit https://www.epa.gov/ renewable-fuel-standard-program/ workshop-biofuel-greenhouse-gasmodeling. Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number: OAR–2021–0921, using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not electronically submit any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Comments submitted to the EPA, including any personal information that is in the body of the submission, will be publicly posted to https://www.regulations.gov and are also made available for inperson viewing at the EPA Docket Center’s Reading Room. There are some exceptions. Please see additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along with more information about dockets generally, available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets. Please note that due to the public health concerns related to COVID–19, the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) and Public Reading Room are closed to visitors with limited exceptions. The VerDate Sep<11>2014 22:45 Dec 27, 2021 Jkt 256001 EPA/DC staff continue to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. For the latest status information on EPA/DC services and docket access, visit https:// www.epa.gov/dockets. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public who wishes to attend the meeting please visit https:// www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standardprogram/workshop-biofuel-greenhousegas-modeling to register for the workshop no later than February 27, 2022. Further information concerning this public meeting and general information can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/ renewable-fuel-standard-program/ workshop-biofuel-greenhouse-gasmodeling. Other related inquiries can be directed to Diana Galperin, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, at 202– 564–5687 or Galperin.diana@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Participation in virtual public meetings. Please note that EPA is deviating from its typical approach because the President has declared a national emergency. Because of current CDC recommendations, as well as state and local orders for social distancing to limit the spread of COVID–19, EPA cannot hold in-person public meetings at this time. For individuals with disabilities: For information on access or services for individuals with disabilities, please email RFSpathways@epa.gov. To request accommodate of a disability, please email RFSpathways@epa.gov, preferably at least 10 business days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request. Background: Biofuel greenhouse gas modeling is used by EPA and other federal agencies for research and policy decision purposes across a variety of programs. For example, EPA is required to model the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels under the RFS Program when determining whether an individual biofuel meets the greenhouse gas emission reduction requirement established by the Clean Air Act. In addition, EPA is required to more broadly evaluate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the overall RFS program when setting future volume obligations. Finally, the greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels are an important consideration of emerging policies designed to meet deep decarbonization goals. This workshop seeks to solicit information on the current scientific understanding of greenhouse gas modeling of land-based biofuels and PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 73757 how this information can be applied to a range of current and future actions. EPA is explicitly seeking comment on the following questions: (1) What sources of data exist and how can they be used to inform the assumptions that drive GHG estimates; (2) how best to characterize the sources of uncertainty associated with quantifying the GHG emissions associated with biofuels; and (3) what model(s) are available to evaluate the lifecycle GHG emissions of land-based biofuels, and do the model(s) meet the Clean Air Act requirements for quantifying the direct and significant indirect emissions from biofuels. Dated: December 21, 2021. Sarah Dunham, Office of Transportation and Air Quality. [FR Doc. 2021–28079 Filed 12–27–21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA–HQ–OAR–2021–0276; FRL–9212–01– OAR] Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual, Revision 2; Reopening of the Comment Period Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Notice of availability with request for public comment; reopening of public comment period. AGENCY: On June 16, 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced for public comment the availability of a draft revision document, entitled the ‘‘Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual’’ (MARSSIM). A 90-day comment period was provided for the draft MARSSIM revision that expired on September 14, 2021. A request for an extension to the comment period has been received from several stakeholders. EPA is reopening the comment period for the draft manual for an additional 45 days. DATES: The comment period for the draft MARSSIM revision has been reopened and now must be received on or before February 11, 2022. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– OAR–2021–0276, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. The EPA may SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\28DEN1.SGM 28DEN1 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES 73758 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 28, 2021 / Notices publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not electronically submit any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud or other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit: https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/ commenting-epa-dockets. You may obtain publicly available information related to this action, including copies of the MARSSIM Revision 2, by any of the following methods: NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https:// www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ‘‘Begin Webbased ADAMS Search.’’ Please refer to ML21008A572 when contacting the NRC about the availability of the MARSSIM Revision 2 draft. For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@ nrc.gov. You may submit your request to the PDR via email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov or call 1–800–397–4209 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The DOE, EPA, and NRC each have a publication number for MARSSIM. They are: For the DOE, DOE/AU–0002; for the EPA, EPA 402–P–20–001; for the NRC, NUREG–1575, Revision 2. A free single copy of the draft MARSSIM Revision 2 may be requested by email to DISTRIBUTION.Resource@nrc.gov. The MARSSIM Revision 2 document is also available for download at: https://www.epa.gov/radiation/multiagency-radiation-survey-and-siteinvestigation-manual-marssim. Further Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2021–0276 for this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change to https:// www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. For VerDate Sep<11>2014 22:45 Dec 27, 2021 Jkt 256001 detailed instructions and additional information on submitting comments, see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any of the following points of contact for each agency for technical information: DoD: Gerald A. Falo, Phone: (410) 436– 4852, gerald.a.falo.civ@mail.mil, U.S. Army Public Health Center, E5158, Room 58, 8252 Blackhawk Road, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010; DOE: Amanda Anderson (EM–3.11), Phone: (240) 702–5556, amanda.anderson@em.doe.gov, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585; EPA: Kathryn Snead; Phone: (202) 343–9228, snead.kathryn@ epa.gov, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Stop 6608T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20460–1000; NRC: Sarah Tabatabai, Phone: (301) 415–2382, sarah.tabatabai@nrc.gov, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop TWF 10 A–12 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852–2738. Questions concerning the multi-agency document development project should be addressed to Kathryn Snead, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, MC 6608T, Washington, DC 20460, (202) 343–9228, snead.kathryn@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. General Information A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA? 1. Submitting Confidential Business Information (CBI). The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit CBI information to the EPA through www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD ROM that you mail to the EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the files on the disk or CD ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. 2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, remember to: • Identify the rulemaking by docket number EPA–HQ–OAR–2021–0276 and other identifying information (subject PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 heading, Federal Register date and page number). • Follow directions: The Agency may ask you to respond to specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number. • Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and substitute language for your requested changes. • Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information and/ or data that you used. • If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be reproduced. • Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and suggest alternatives. • Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of profanity or personal threats. • Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline identified. II. Background On June 16, 2021 (86 FR 32034), the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced for public comment the availability of a draft revision document, entitled the ‘‘Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual’’ (MARSSIM). MARSSIM provides information on planning, conducting, evaluating, and documenting environmental radiological surveys of surface soil and building surfaces for demonstrating compliance with regulations. MARSSIM, when finalized as Revision 2, will update this multi-agency consensus document. MARSSIM was originally developed by the technical staffs of the four Federal agencies having authority for control of radioactive materials: DoD, DOE, EPA and NRC (60 FR 12555; March 7, 1995). The four agencies issued Revision 1 to MARSSIM in August 2000, and additional edits to Revision 1 in June 2001. MARSSIM has not been updated since 2001; updates prior to 2001 primarily consisted of minor non-technical edits. Revision 2 updates the science, clarifies methods, and implements lessons learned from over 20 years of the document’s use in industry. A summary of changes in MARSSIM Revision 2 includes the following: (1) Added measurement quality objectives (MQOs) and measurement uncertainty, (2) expanded measurement methods to include scan-only surveys, (3) updated E:\FR\FM\28DEN1.SGM 28DEN1 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 28, 2021 / Notices survey instrumentation information, (4) added Scenario B (‘‘assumed to meet the criteria until proven otherwise’’), (5) increased emphasis on regulator interface during survey design, (6) improved description of the lower bound of the gray region (LBGR), (7) updated references, (8) changed English units to International System of Units (SI), (9) avoided using the term ‘‘Area Factor,’’ (10) included additional examples in Chapter 5, and (11) reorganized Chapter 4. The public review is a necessary step in the development of a final multiagency consensus document. The document will also undergo concurrent, independent, scientific peer review. The draft has not been approved by the participating agencies for use, in part or in whole, and should not be used, cited, or quoted, except for the purposes of providing comments as requested. Commenters are requested to focus on technical accuracy and understandability. Commenters are also requested to address five questions while reviewing MARSSIM Revision 2: (1) Do the revisions to MARSSIM provide greater clarity while maintaining a practical and implementable approach to performing environmental radiological surveys of surface soil and building surfaces? (2) Are the revisions to MARSSIM technically accurate? (3) Does MARSSIM Revision 2 provide useful examples and descriptions of approaches to implementing surveys and the statistics by which they are interpreted? (4) Is the information in MARSSIM Revision 2 understandable and presented in a logical sequence? How can the presentation of material be modified to improve the understandability of the manual? Comments may be submitted as proposed modified text, or as a discussion. Comments should be accompanied by supporting bases, rationale, or data. To ensure efficient and complete comment resolution, commenters are requested to reference the page number and the line number of MARSSIM Revision 2 to which the comment applies. Enter only the beginning page and line number, even if your comment applies to several pages or lines to follow. Comments corresponding to an entire chapter, an entire section, or an entire table should be referenced to the line number for the title of the chapter section, or table. Comments on footnotes should be referenced to the line in the main text where the footnote is indicated. Comments on figures should be referenced to the page on which the VerDate Sep<11>2014 22:45 Dec 27, 2021 Jkt 256001 figure appears. Figures do not have line numbers. The figure number should be included in the text of the comment. Comments on the entire manual should be referenced to the title page. Title: Draft Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual, Revision 2. Jonathan Edwards, Director, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, Environmental Protection Agency. [FR Doc. 2021–28080 Filed 12–27–21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA–HQ–OW–2004–0013; FRL 9149–01– OW] Proposed Renewal Information Collection Request; Comment Request; EPA Program Information on Source Water Protection Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR) for EPA Program Information on Source Water Protection (OMB Control No. 2040–0197) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described in this document. This is a proposed extension of the existing ICR, which is approved through July 31, 2022. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before February 28, 2022. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– OW–2004–0013, online using https:// www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by email to the Office of Water (OW) Docket at OW-Docket@epa.gov or by mail to the Water Docket, EPA Docket Center (WJC West), MC 28221T, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460. EPA’s policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes profanities, SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 73759 threats, information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sherri Comerford, Drinking Water Protection Division—Prevention Branch, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (MC 4606M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202–564– 4639; email address: comerford.sherri@ epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents that explain in detail the information that EPA will be collecting are available in the public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at https:// www.regulations.gov or in person at the Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, WJC West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The telephone number for the Docket Center is 202–566–1744. For additional information about EPA’s public docket, visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets. Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, EPA specifically solicits comments and information to enable the agency to evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; evaluate the accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. EPA will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as appropriate. The final ICR package will then be submitted to OMB for review and approval. At that time, EPA will issue another Federal Register notice to announce the submission of the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to submit additional comments to OMB. Abstract: EPA is collecting data from the states on their advancement toward substantial implementation of protection strategies for all community water systems (CWSs). EPA and states use this voluntary collection of data to track and understand the progress toward increasing the percentage of CWSs (and the populations they serve) E:\FR\FM\28DEN1.SGM 28DEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73757-73759]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-28080]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0276; FRL-9212-01-OAR]


Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual, 
Revision 2; Reopening of the Comment Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability with request for public comment; 
reopening of public comment period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On June 16, 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD), Department 
of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced for public comment the 
availability of a draft revision document, entitled the ``Multi-Agency 
Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual'' (MARSSIM). A 90-day 
comment period was provided for the draft MARSSIM revision that expired 
on September 14, 2021. A request for an extension to the comment period 
has been received from several stakeholders. EPA is reopening the 
comment period for the draft manual for an additional 45 days.

DATES: The comment period for the draft MARSSIM revision has been 
reopened and now must be received on or before February 11, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2021-0276, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. The 
EPA may

[[Page 73758]]

publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not 
electronically submit any information you consider to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must 
be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered 
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you 
wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment 
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, 
cloud or other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, 
the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia 
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please 
visit: https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    You may obtain publicly available information related to this 
action, including copies of the MARSSIM Revision 2, by any of the 
following methods:
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access Management System (ADAMS): You 
may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public 
Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To 
begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' Please refer 
to ML21008A572 when contacting the NRC about the availability of the 
MARSSIM Revision 2 draft. For problems with ADAMS, please contact the 
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 
301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected].
    You may submit your request to the PDR via email at 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. 
(EST), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The DOE, EPA, 
and NRC each have a publication number for MARSSIM. They are: For the 
DOE, DOE/AU-0002; for the EPA, EPA 402-P-20-001; for the NRC, NUREG-
1575, Revision 2. A free single copy of the draft MARSSIM Revision 2 
may be requested by email to [email protected].
    The MARSSIM Revision 2 document is also available for download at: 
https://www.epa.gov/radiation/multi-agency-radiation-survey-and-site-investigation-manual-marssim.
    Further Instructions: All submissions received must include the 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0276 for this rulemaking. Comments 
received may be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided. For detailed instructions 
and additional information on submitting comments, see the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any of the following points of contact 
for each agency for technical information: DoD: Gerald A. Falo, Phone: 
(410) 436-4852, [email protected], U.S. Army Public Health 
Center, E5158, Room 58, 8252 Blackhawk Road, Aberdeen Proving Ground, 
MD 21010; DOE: Amanda Anderson (EM-3.11), Phone: (240) 702-5556, 
[email protected], U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585; EPA: Kathryn Snead; 
Phone: (202) 343-9228, [email protected], U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Mail Stop 6608T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington DC 20460-1000; NRC: Sarah Tabatabai, Phone: (301) 415-2382, 
[email protected], U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop 
TWF 10 A-12 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738. Questions 
concerning the multi-agency document development project should be 
addressed to Kathryn Snead, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, MC 6608T, Washington, DC 20460, (202) 343-9228, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting Confidential Business Information (CBI). The EPA may 
publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit CBI 
information to the EPA through www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly 
mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For 
CBI information in a disk or CD ROM that you mail to the EPA, mark the 
outside of the disk or CD ROM as CBI and then identify electronically 
within the files on the disk or CD ROM the specific information that is 
claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment that 
includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does 
not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for 
inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be 
disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 
2.
    2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify the rulemaking by docket number EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-
0276 and other identifying information (subject heading, Federal 
Register date and page number).
     Follow directions: The Agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Background

    On June 16, 2021 (86 FR 32034), the Department of Defense (DoD), 
Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced for public comment 
the availability of a draft revision document, entitled the ``Multi-
Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual'' (MARSSIM).
    MARSSIM provides information on planning, conducting, evaluating, 
and documenting environmental radiological surveys of surface soil and 
building surfaces for demonstrating compliance with regulations. 
MARSSIM, when finalized as Revision 2, will update this multi-agency 
consensus document.
    MARSSIM was originally developed by the technical staffs of the 
four Federal agencies having authority for control of radioactive 
materials: DoD, DOE, EPA and NRC (60 FR 12555; March 7, 1995). The four 
agencies issued Revision 1 to MARSSIM in August 2000, and additional 
edits to Revision 1 in June 2001. MARSSIM has not been updated since 
2001; updates prior to 2001 primarily consisted of minor non-technical 
edits. Revision 2 updates the science, clarifies methods, and 
implements lessons learned from over 20 years of the document's use in 
industry.
    A summary of changes in MARSSIM Revision 2 includes the following: 
(1) Added measurement quality objectives (MQOs) and measurement 
uncertainty, (2) expanded measurement methods to include scan-only 
surveys, (3) updated

[[Page 73759]]

survey instrumentation information, (4) added Scenario B (``assumed to 
meet the criteria until proven otherwise''), (5) increased emphasis on 
regulator interface during survey design, (6) improved description of 
the lower bound of the gray region (LBGR), (7) updated references, (8) 
changed English units to International System of Units (SI), (9) 
avoided using the term ``Area Factor,'' (10) included additional 
examples in Chapter 5, and (11) reorganized Chapter 4.
    The public review is a necessary step in the development of a final 
multi-agency consensus document. The document will also undergo 
concurrent, independent, scientific peer review. The draft has not been 
approved by the participating agencies for use, in part or in whole, 
and should not be used, cited, or quoted, except for the purposes of 
providing comments as requested.
    Commenters are requested to focus on technical accuracy and 
understandability. Commenters are also requested to address five 
questions while reviewing MARSSIM Revision 2:
    (1) Do the revisions to MARSSIM provide greater clarity while 
maintaining a practical and implementable approach to performing 
environmental radiological surveys of surface soil and building 
surfaces?
    (2) Are the revisions to MARSSIM technically accurate?
    (3) Does MARSSIM Revision 2 provide useful examples and 
descriptions of approaches to implementing surveys and the statistics 
by which they are interpreted?
    (4) Is the information in MARSSIM Revision 2 understandable and 
presented in a logical sequence? How can the presentation of material 
be modified to improve the understandability of the manual?
    Comments may be submitted as proposed modified text, or as a 
discussion. Comments should be accompanied by supporting bases, 
rationale, or data. To ensure efficient and complete comment 
resolution, commenters are requested to reference the page number and 
the line number of MARSSIM Revision 2 to which the comment applies. 
Enter only the beginning page and line number, even if your comment 
applies to several pages or lines to follow.
    Comments corresponding to an entire chapter, an entire section, or 
an entire table should be referenced to the line number for the title 
of the chapter section, or table. Comments on footnotes should be 
referenced to the line in the main text where the footnote is 
indicated. Comments on figures should be referenced to the page on 
which the figure appears. Figures do not have line numbers. The figure 
number should be included in the text of the comment. Comments on the 
entire manual should be referenced to the title page.
    Title: Draft Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation 
Manual, Revision 2.

Jonathan Edwards,
Director, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, Environmental Protection 
Agency.
[FR Doc. 2021-28080 Filed 12-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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