UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON D.C. 20460
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
May 16, 2012
EPA-SAB-12-007
The Honorable Lisa P. Jackson
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
Subject: Consultation on Proposed Updates and Changes to the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey
and Site Investigation Manual
Dear Administrator Jackson:
At the request of the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, the Science Advisory Board's (SAB) Radiation
Advisory Committee, augmented with additional experts, held a consultation with agency staff via
teleconference on July 26 and July 27, 2011, to discuss proposed updates and changes to the Multi-
Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM).
The MARSSIM is the consensus federal guidance manual on environmental radiological surveys,
developed by a multi-agency workgroup that includes the EPA, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defense. The agencies plan to
revise the MARSSIM to update the treatment of uncertainties and measurement methods, discuss areas
of elevated activity [hotspots and Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) standards],
and incorporate other feedback from users since the last update in 2001.
An SAB consultation is a mechanism to provide individual expert comments for the agency's
consideration early in the implementation of a project or action. No consensus report is provided to the
agency because no consensus advice is given. The comments of individual experts of the augmented
SAB committee are summarized in the meeting minutes available on the SAB website.
We look forward to future SAB review of the revised MARSSIM.
Sincerely,
/signed/
Dr. Bernd Kahn, Chair
SAB Radiation Advisory Committee

.5522
PROtfP

cc: Dr. Deborah L. Swackhamer, Chair
Science Advisory Board

-------