Cimarron Environmental Response Trust; Cimarron Facility; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact, 103880-103882 [2024-30215]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 244 (Thursday, December 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 103880-103882]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30215]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-0925; NRC-2023-0087]


Cimarron Environmental Response Trust; Cimarron Facility; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
amending Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) License No. SNM-928, which is 
held by the Cimarron Environmental Response Trust (CERT) for activities 
at the site of the former Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Facility (Cimarron 
site) in Logan County, Oklahoma. The license amendment would approve a 
revision to

[[Page 103881]]

the site decommissioning plan developed by Environmental Properties 
Management, LLC (EPM) to address remaining groundwater contamination at 
the Cimarron site. The NRC staff is issuing an environmental assessment 
(EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) associated with the 
proposed amendment.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
December 19, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0087 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0087. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and 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.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an 
appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Pineda, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6789; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering amending license no. SNM-928, held by the 
CERT, for NRC-regulated activities at the site of the former Cimarron 
Fuel Fabrication Facility located near Cimarron City along the Cimarron 
River in Logan County, Oklahoma. On October 7, 2022, EPM submitted a 
request to the NRC for a license amendment that would approve revision 
3 of the site decommissioning plan. Revision 3 of the decommissioning 
plan details EPM's plans to install, operate, and dismantle a 
groundwater treatment system at the site.
    As required in section 51.21 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Criteria for and identification of licensing 
and regulatory actions requiring environmental assessments,'' the NRC 
developed an EA for the proposed license amendment, which would 
incorporate the revised decommissioning plan into the license. Based on 
the results of the EA, the NRC has determined not to prepare an 
environmental impact statement for the proposed amendment and is 
issuing a FONSI.

II. Summary of Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed Federal action is amending the license to incorporate 
a revised decommissioning plan that details EPM's plans to construct, 
operate, and dismantle a groundwater treatment system. The proposed 
groundwater treatment operation would reduce concentrations of uranium 
in groundwater to 6.7 becquerels per liter (Bq/L) (180 picocuries per 
liter [pCi/L]), as required in condition 27(b) of license no. SNM-928. 
The establishment of this criterion assumed the use of groundwater as a 
drinking water source and for the raising of produce (plants and 
livestock) by a resident farmer. Treated groundwater would be 
reinjected to the ground or discharged to the Cimarron River. After 
groundwater treatment is complete, EPM would conduct monitoring, 
dismantle the treatment system, and perform a final status survey 
before requesting NRC license termination. The entire groundwater 
treatment process would take about 16 years. Remediation would be 
completed in about 12.5 years, followed by about 3 years of groundwater 
monitoring, dismantling activities, and the development and 
implementation of a final status survey.
    The proposed license amendment to approve the decommissioning plan 
would also authorize the possession of technetium-99 (Tc-99), which is 
present in the groundwater. Because treatment of the groundwater would 
likely result in the concentration of Tc-99 in the treatment media, the 
addition of Tc-99 to the license would allow the licensee to possess 
and dispose of contaminated material containing both uranium and Tc-99 
as low-level radioactive waste.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated October 7, 2022, as supplemented by letters dated 
November 3, 2023; November 15, 2023; and December 8, 2023.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The purpose of the NRC's proposed action is to amend the license to 
incorporate the revised decommissioning plan, which details EPM's plans 
to conduct groundwater cleanup activities to ensure that the site will 
comply with NRC decommissioning criteria and standards in 10 CFR part 
20, ``Standards for Protection Against Radiation,'' for protection of 
the public and the environment. Groundwater remediation is needed so 
that the NRC can ultimately release the site from and terminate license 
no. SNM-928.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff assessed the impacts of the proposed action on land 
use; historical and cultural resources; visual and scenic resources; 
climatology, meteorology and air quality; geology, minerals, and soils; 
water resources; ecological resources; socioeconomics; noise; traffic 
and transportation; public and occupational health and safety; and 
waste management. The NRC staff concluded that, as detailed in the 
revised decommissioning plan, construction, operation, and 
decommissioning of the proposed groundwater remediation system would 
have a beneficial impact on groundwater quality and would not have 
significant impacts on land use, visual and scenic resources, the 
geologic environment, surface water resources, air quality, noise, 
socioeconomic conditions, public and occupational health, 
transportation, and waste generation and management. The NRC staff 
concluded, after consultation with the Oklahoma State Historic 
Preservation Office and the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey and 
receiving input from Native American Tribes, that the proposed action 
would not cause effects on resources that are eligible for listing on 
the National Register of Historic Places and that no Tribal cultural 
resources have been identified or are known to exist on the site. In 
consultation with the Oklahoma Ecological Services Field Office of the

[[Page 103882]]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Oklahoma Department of 
Environmental Quality (DEQ), the NRC staff concluded that the proposed 
action may affect but is not likely to adversely affect terrestrial 
threatened or endangered species, would not affect the aquatic 
threatened or endangered species, and may modify but is not likely to 
adversely modify critical habitat for two species of fish. Finally, the 
staff found that the proposed decommissioning activities would not have 
disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects on 
minority and low-income populations living near the Cimarron site. The 
proposed action would result in the remediation of uranium to 
concentration limits required by the NRC, specified in license 
condition 27(c). In addition, the proposed action would result in the 
removal of some Tc-99 from groundwater, but the concentrations of Tc-99 
in groundwater are already below the NRC limit. The Oklahoma DEQ plans 
to work with EPM during and after the proposed action to further 
address Tc-99, as well as nitrate and fluoride levels in the 
groundwater. After groundwater remediation for uranium is complete and 
the NRC license is terminated, EPM would follow any controls that may 
be established by the Oklahoma DEQ for future land use or groundwater 
use.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff considered the ``no-action alternative.'' Under the 
no-action alternative, the NRC would not approve the revised 
decommissioning plan as proposed and EPM would need to prepare and 
submit a new plan for review. Site maintenance activities would 
continue in the meantime. The impacts from the no-action alternative 
ultimately would be similar to the impacts of the proposed action 
described in the EA, albeit delayed by the amount of time needed to 
revise, review, and approve a new groundwater treatment plan.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    The NRC provided the draft EA in June 2024 to the Oklahoma DEQ for 
review and comment. The Oklahoma DEQ provided clarifying comments 
regarding the State's role during and after the NRC-licensed 
decommissioning activities to further ensure public health and safety 
at the site, clarification regarding limits to be established in the 
permit for discharges of treated groundwater to the Cimarron River, 
clarification regarding State Tc-99 limits in discharges and in 
groundwater, and corrections. The EA reflects changes the NRC staff 
made to address these State comments.
    As described in the ``Environmental Impacts of the Proposed 
Action'' section of this notice, during the preparation of the EA the 
NRC staff consulted with the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation 
Office, the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey, and the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service. The EA reflects the information received from these 
agencies to address cultural and historic resources and threatened and 
endangered species.
    Throughout the development of the EA, the NRC staff communicated 
with Native American Tribes. While no Tribes requested formal 
consultation, several Tribes requested to be kept informed of the 
status of the NRC's review. Section 4.2 of the EA details the NRC's 
communications with Tribes over the course of this review.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff prepared the EA as part of its review of the proposed 
action. On the basis of the EA, the NRC finds that there would be 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 FONSI is appropriate. In 
accordance with 10 CFR 51.32(a)(4), this FONSI incorporates the EA by 
reference.

IV. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

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            Document description                 ADAMS accession No.
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Environmental Assessment for Revised         ML24334A062.
 Decommissioning Plan Proposal to Remediate
 Groundwater at the Cimarron Site in Logan
 County, Oklahoma, dated November 2024.
Cimarron Environmental Response Trust        ML22286A041 (Package).
 Facility Decommissioning Plan--Revision 3,
 dated October 7, 2022.
Response to NRC Request for Additional       ML23319A252.
 Information for the EA, dated November 3,
 2023.
Response to NRC Request for Additional       ML23319A203.
 Information Related to Nuclear Criticality
 Safety, dated November 15, 2023.
Response to NRC Request for Additional       ML23346A262.
 Information for the SER, dated December 8,
 2023.
NRC Form 374--Materials License SNM-928,     ML110270373.
 Amendment 21, dated February 14, 2011.
Email to State of Oklahoma Requesting        ML24316A012.
 Review of Draft EA, dated May 31, 2024.
State of Oklahoma Comments on Draft EA,      ML24218A172.
 dated August 2, 2024.
State of Oklahoma Letter to NRC--National    ML24309A252.
 Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
 Permit Discharge Limits, dated October 11,
 2024.
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    Dated: December 13, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert Sun,
Chief, Environmental Project Management Branch 2, Division of 
Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-30215 Filed 12-18-24; 8:45 am]
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