United States Solid Waste and EPA530-F-99-014
Environmental Protection . Emergency Response March 1999
A9ency (5305W> http://www.epa.gov
Office of Solid Waste
&EPA Environmental
Fact Sheet
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
for Options on Mixed Waste Storage
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through this Advance Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) seeks comment on options for providing regulatory
flexibility for commercial generators of mixed low-level radioactive waste (MLL W),
during storage of these wastes. EPA also requests information from generators of
MLL W about volumes and characterization of mixed waste in storage, and the costs
of managing mixed waste.
Background
Mixed waste is a radioactive hazardous waste. It is regulated under two
authorities: 1) the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as
implemented by EPA or authorized states for the hazardous waste constituent;
and 2) the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA), for the radiological
component of mixed waste as implemented by either the Department of Energy
(DOE), or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or its Agreement States,
for mixed waste containing source, special nuclear, or byproduct material
generated by non-DOE facilities.
Summary
. This ANPR describes several options EPA is considering to make our
regulations more flexible for generators of MLL W. We request ideas on
alternatives, and comments on applicability and implementation issues relating
to the options described. We are exploring regulatory flexibility for stored mixed
waste in response to generators' concerns about dual regulation of MLL W, and
radiation exposures of workers. We are considering modeling our approach after
the one used for waste military munitions in the Military Munitions Rule (MMR)
which was published February 12, 1997 (62 FR 6621). The MMR identifies
when conventional munitions become a hazardous waste subject to RCRA
Subtitle C.
Conditional Exemption for Stored MLLW
A conditional exemption approach for stored MLLW could provide regulatory
flexibility to generators who store MLLW on-site and who meet certain
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xro °f this aPProach might be the technical adequacy of the
NRC or NRQ Agreement State licensing process and regulatory requirements
We are seeking comment through the ANPR on the appropriateness of
•eliminating RCRA storage permitting requirements normally applicable to
stored mixed waste where the following kinds of conditions are met:
• the generator has a valid NRC or Agreement State license for management of
low-level radioactive wastes;
• wastes are managed safely and mismanagement is unlikely;
• appropriate safeguards, recordkeeping, and monitoring are in place; and
• penalties or other consequences may be imposed if the governing regulatory
framework is not followed.
Decay-in-Storage for MLLW ':
Under an NRC or Agreement State license, a generator of low-level radioactive
waste may be allowed a specific, limited storage time frame (based on the
radionuclide and its half-life) for decay-in-storage. A RCRA exemption for mixed
wastes undergoing decay-in-storage could address a major concern of mixed waste
generators. Such management would also reduce or eliminate worker exposures to
radionuclides in keeping with NRC's ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) goals
for radiation exposures. The exemption for decay-in-storage would end when the
radioactivity had decayed to the level specified in the generator's NRC license. At
that point the waste would be subject to applicable provisions of Subtitle C of RCRA.
Treatment on-sita
EPA is also considering exempting the on-site treatment of MLLW from RCRA
Subtitle C regulation, with the added conditions that the mixed waste is treated on-
site, and is physically/chemically treated in accord with the generator's NRC license
and in a tank or container.
Implementation
EPA may require a generator to notify us when: a storage or treatment unit is
used to store or treat MLLW; and a conditional exemption is claimed for that unit
We may use the MMK precedent for units that do not comply with the required
conditions. In the MMR* non-compliant facilities are subject to RCRA Subtitle C
from the time of non-compliance. We may require generators to notify us when they
dp not meet all of the conditions. Alternately, we may rely on NRC for direct
enforcement of the license regarding releases.
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For More Information
The ANPR and this fact sheet are available in electronic format on the Internet
at . To order copies of this document,
,call the RCRA Hotline, weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.. Callers within the
Washington Metropolitan Area must dial 703-412-9810 or TDD 703-412-3323
(hearing impaired). Long-distance callers may call 1-800-424-9346 or TDD 1-800-
553-7672, Write to the RCKA Information Center (5305W), US EPA, 401 M Street
SW, Washington, DC 20460. Address e-mail to rcra-docket@epamail.epa.gov.
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