Unites Slstes
EnvinxwiMntil Protection
Mr and Radiation
EPA4Q2-F-94-QQ?
January 1895
ENVIRONMENTAL
FACT SHEET
for the
Pilot (40 CFR Part 194)
Introduction
The iBnviranmental Protection Agency
(EPA) the of radioactivity from
the and of
in to public
and the This feet will
one of tie key in EPA's
— EPA's of
for the
or of the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant the 1992 Land
Act Law 102-579), EPA is
required'to activities including,
tat not limited to: (1)
for (2) criteria
for the WffP with
the radioactive (3)
whether the WIPP with the
can if
the WIPP is allowed to (4)
the WIP P to be in
with lie every five
of waste for
On December 20,1993, EPA issued the
final (40
CFR If 1), These on the
of from
and facilities. EPA's
criteria, which are
"Proposed Criteria for the Certification and
of the WIPFs
' Environmental for the
and of Fuel, High-Level and
Transwanie Radioactive Wastes,"
by how the EPA
will or non-compliance for the
WIPP,
The WIPP, which is under development
by the of (DOE), is a
for
radioactive waste, .is long-
radioactive waste as by-products
(e.g., tools, and sludges)
nuclear production. Congress
tile of the WIPP in 1979
for the purpose of providing a and
facility to the safe
of defense waste. The WIPP is
in New Mexico the city of
CarslbaA It has
the excavation of natural salt
2,100 feet the surface,
Use of the
oFr^.lloactive
at the WIPP, DOE that
the WIPP facility can with EPA's
radioactive waste DOE will
to EPA an application for of
the The
criteria, which are to the WIPP, will
serve as a for EPA to the
radioactive by clarifying
the of the and requiring
DOE to of in its
to EPA. Like the
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radioactive waste the
criteria include
individual, ground-
water protection requirements. In addition, the
The of EPA's
radioactive
be to
provide a that total
of a facility
to the environment will not
levels for 10S000
The criteria lay out
and that cm
be for demonstrating with the
containment requirements. For the
criteria specify a for the
and of taman-iEitiated
and may affect the
repository, such as intrusion from oil driEing,'
The an to
naturally-occurring and
that the WIPP
The of the
the
with
provisions. For example,, DOE is
to "passive institutional controls"
to provide farther the
will be met. Passive
at the
site and to
that to the facility is
on to future Other types of
include active
controls, and
for the waste.. The
criteria the of
and justification DOE will to
provide to EPA to DOE is
properly the
requirements.
The individual provisions of
the radioactive
that radioactive be
designed to provide a expectation that,
for 10,000 disposal, the
dose to any not exceed
15 millirems per. year. (This is equivalent to
receiving two x-rays per
year.) The ground-water protection provisions of
the that
must be to provide a
that the facility does not
contaminate underground of drinking
water such that radionuelide in this
allowed under the Safe Drinking
Water Act. The compliance criteria clarify terms
in the - and the types of
that DOE will to submit to EPA to
demonstrate compliance with portions of
the
The the level
of confidence for certification and
the of the
as the explicit for public
participation. The „ establish
procedures that will afford EPA to the
WIPP and its so EPA can independently
the of the facility. Finally,
the provide for the Agency to
or revoke if necessary.
When DOE its
to EPA, the Agency will use the
compliance as the for making a
decision on or not the facility can be
certified as in compliance with the
radioactive standards. This
decision will be a
which will public input. A
will be for
comment, and will be the
Agency a final certification decision. If
EPA that the WIPP is in compliance
with its regulations, the Agency will be
for whether the WIPP
to be in on a continuing
basis. EPA will this every
five years.
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For
EPA Is involving the public in this
by inviting public comment
on the criteria. In
EPA will on the
criteria within the State of New
will provide an
opportunity for to
views to EPA the rulemaking
EPA will notice
the and of the
will in
local In formulating the
- of the EPA will
into consideration received in
writing as well as during the
A to Comments"
will be available
to all EPA to finalize
the one year
the date.
EPA has four
on this rulemaking.
Three are in -in
Albuquerque, Carlsbad, and Fe, New
Mexico, and one is in EPA
In Washington, D.C,
For copies of notice
on the proposed compliance criteria, on
the EPA's role the WIPP Land Withdrawal
Act, the dockets, and/or
of this Fact Sheet, contact EPA at
the following '
U.S. EPA
Office of and Air
Criteria and Division
Policy & Public (6602J)
401 M Street,,SW
Washington BC
For the information on the of
the and
and call the EPA's
WIPP Information Line
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