Code of Massachusetts Regulations
105 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Title 105 CMR 120.000 - The Control of Radiation
QUALITY ASSURANCE
Section 120.831 - Environmental Monitoring

Universal Citation: 105 CMR 120.000 MA Code of Regs 120.831

Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024

(A) The Operator must submit an environmental monitoring plan, of which the preoperational environmental monitoring required in 105 CMR 120.828 is a component, as part of the complete license application. The extent and duration of the Operator environmental monitoring program shall take into account the nature of the licensed operation. In the case of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility, the Operator environmental monitoring program shall, at a minimum, conform to the general guidance provided in U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission publication, Environmental Monitoring of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility, NUREG-1388 (published in 1989).

The Operator shall submit with the license application a baseline health study of the site community and any affected community. The study shall be paid for by the Operator and conducted by the Department's Bureau of Environmental Health Assessment following the design requirements for such a study that are currently being used by the Department. A comparison health study shall be conducted every five years and paid for by the Operator.

The environmental monitoring programs for treatment and storage facilities shall be designed for the specific needs of those facilities.

(B) During facility development, construction, operation, closure, post-closure observation and maintenance, until the facility license is transferred to the Board, the Operator shall establish and conduct the Operator environmental monitoring program as required by 105 CMR 120.831 and in accordance with the environmental monitoring plan approved by the Department as a condition of the final license.

(C) Within 30 days of the issuance of a facility license, the Department shall, after consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Health of each site community, establish and conduct a comprehensive environmental monitoring program at the facility site which will compliment and validate the Operator environmental monitoring program.

(D) The Department environmental monitoring program and the Operator environmental monitoring program shall each employ the best available monitoring technology to collect and analyze data concerning standing and running surface water and drainage; groundwater samples from offsite, site boundary and waste management area wells; soil and sedimentation samples, air samples, vegetation and wildlife samples, and direct radiation measurements offsite, at the site boundary and in the waste management area.

(E) Both the Department environmental monitoring program and the Operator environmental monitoring program shall be designed to:

(1) Establish baseline environmental data on the site;

(2) Provide data to allow evaluation of facility impacts on public health, safety and the environment, and evaluate the need for mitigative measures at the facility;

(3) Provide early warning of the magnitude and extent of any migration of radionuclides and/or any hazardous chemicals;

(4) Determine compliance with applicable regulations, with conditions of the facility license pursuant to 105 CMR 120.830, and with the terms of the comprehensive operating contract; and

(5) Provide reliable environmental data throughout development, operation, closure, post-closure observation and maintenance and institutional control at the facility.

(F) Both the Department environmental monitoring program and the Operator environmental monitoring program shall be designed to detect:

(1) Any seepage through engineered barriers.

(2) The structural stability of engineered barriers.

(3) External or internal conditions that may cause physical changes leading to enhanced water movement or compromises in stability.

(G) Both the Department environmental monitoring program and the Operator environmental monitoring program shall include:

(1) Facility measurements.
(a) Soil sampling

(b) Pore water sampling

(c) Pore gas sampling

(d) In situ measurements

(e) Geophysical remote sensing

(f) Photogrammetric techniques

(g) Subsurface hydrological monitoring

(h) Subsurface physical monitoring

(i) Subsurface chemical monitoring

(2) Measurements at a representative test area.
(a) Use of a surrogate facility for area testing.

(b) Use of replaceable monitoring and nondestructive test systems.

(c) Undisturbed region not directly impacted by engineered facility or facility activity (representative of natural or background conditions).

(H) Both the Department environmental monitoring program and the Operator environmental monitoring program shall include a quality assurance program utilizing the best available methods of monitoring plan formulation, data acquisition, database creation, data verification, and data validation to minimize instances of false negative measurements. Data shall be processed, synthesized and organized so as to be suitable for use to evaluate the performance of the facility's engineered barriers and to ensure the protection of the public health, safety and the environment.

(I) Both the Department environmental monitoring program and the Operator environmental monitoring program shall be upgraded to provide the maximum protection of public health, safety and the environment based on the results of the quality assurance program.

(J) A copy of all Department environmental monitoring program and Operator environmental monitoring program records and analyses shall be kept at the Board field office in the site community for public review.

(K) The Department environmental monitoring program shall provide, to the maximum extent feasible, for the participation of officials and citizens of each site community and the training of such persons to facilitate their participation.

(L) The Board of Health of each site community shall be entitled to obtain portions of the samples collected pursuant to the environmental monitoring programs for independent analysis by a laboratory certified to conduct such analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Department.

(M) The Operator shall cooperate with the Department environmental monitoring program and shall reimburse the Department and each site community annually for the costs thereof until the facility license is transferred to the Board pursuant to 105 CMR 120.870.

(N) The Department shall:

(1) Issue an annual report describing and evaluating the findings of the environmental monitoring program.

(2) Hold a public meeting within 60 days of the issuance of the report for public review and comment on the report in:
(a) Each site community; and,

(b) Each affected and neighboring community, if the chief executive officer of such a community so requests.

(3) Consider and evaluate all comments made at such public meetings or submitted in writing within 60 days of the issuance of the report.

(O) The Operator shall have plans for taking corrective measures if either the Department environmental monitoring program or the Operator environmental monitoring program detects, or indicates the threat of, migration of radionuclides or hazardous chemicals or increased on-site or off-site radiation levels which would indicate that the performance objectives set forth in 105 CMR 120.811 through 120.814 may not be met including:

(1) A restorative and protection action plan.

(2) A dose modeling program for site workers and the general public.

(3) A dose modeling program in the event of an accidental release to the environment.

(P) The Department, in consultation with the Board, may issue an order to temporarily close the facility if it finds that there is a potential hazard to public health, safety or the environment which justifies such temporary closure. A facility that is temporarily closed shall remain closed as long as necessary for remedial action, and, in any event, through any period of facility clean-up and stabilization. Prior to authorizing the reopening of a temporarily closed facility, the Department shall:

(1) Conduct a minimum of one public meeting relative to the reopening in each site community, and other public meetings in neighboring communities upon the request of the chief executive officer of such community;

(2) Issue a summary response to all comments made at such public meetings or made in writing during the time the facility is temporarily closed, and an explanation of the reasons for authorizing the reopening.

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