(a) Unless otherwise indicated in this subpart, all terms shall have the same meaning as defined in Title I of the Act or in Subpart A.

(b) "Land" means any surface or subsurface land that is not part of a disposal site and is not covered by an occupiable building.

(c) “Working Level" (WL) means any combination of short-lived radon decay products in one liter of air that will result in the ultimate emission of alpha particles with a total energy of 130 billion electron volts.

(d) "Soil" means all unconsolidated materials normally found on or near the surface of the earth including, but not limited to, silts, clays, sands, gravel, and small rocks.

§ 192.12 Standards.

Remedial actions shall be conducted so as to provide reasonable assurance that, as a result of residual radioactive materials from any designated processing site:

(a) The concentration of radium-226 in land averaged over any area of 100 square meters shall not exceed the background level by more than

(1) 5 pCi/g, averaged over the first 15 cm of soil below the surface, and

(2) 15 pCi/g, averaged over 15 cm thick layers of soil more than 15 cm below the surface.

(b) In any occupied or habitable building

(1) The objective of remedial action shall be, and reasonable effort shall be made to achieve, an annual average (or equivalent) radon decay product concentration (including background) not to exceed 0.02 WL. In any case, the radon decay product concentration (including background) shall not exceed 0.03 WL, and

(2) The level of gamma radiation shall not exceed the background level

by more than 20 microroentgens per hour.

Subpart C-Implementation

§ 192.20 Guidance for implementation. Section 108 of the Act requires the Secretary of Energy to select and perform remedial actions with the concurrence of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the full participation of any State that pays part of the cost, and in consultation, as appropriate, with affected Indian Tribes and the Secretary of the Interior. These parties, in their respective roles under section 108, are referred to hereafter as "the implementing agencies." The implementing agencies shall establish methods and procedures to provide "reasonable assurance" that the provisions of Subparts A and B are satisfied. This should be done as appropriate through use of analytic models and site-specific analyses, in the case of Subpart A, and for Subpart B through measurements performed within the accuracy of currently available types of field and laboratory instruments in conjunction with reasonable survey and sampling procedures. These methods and procedures may be varied to suit conditions at specific sites. In particular:

(a)(1) The purpose of Subpart A is to provide for long-term stabilization and isolation in order to inhibit misuse and spreading of residual radioactive materials, control releases of radon to air, and protect water. Subpart A may be implemented through analysis of the physical properties of the site and the control system and projection of the effects of natural processes over time. Events and processes that could significantly affect the average radon release rate from the entire disposal site should be considered. Phenomena that are localized or temporary, such as local cracking or burrowing of rodents, need to be taken into account only if their cumulative effect would be significant in determining compliance with the standard. Computational models, theories, and prevalent expert judgment may be used to decide that a control system design will satisfy the standard. The numerical range provid

ed in the standard for the longevity of the effectiveness of the control of residual radioactive materials allows for consideration of the various factors affecting the longevity of control and stabilization methods and their costs. These factors have different levels of predictability and may vary for the different sites.

(2) Protection of water should be considered in the analysis for reasonable assurance of compliance with the provisions of § 192.02. Protection of water should be considered on a casespecific basis, drawing on hydrological and geochemical surveys and all other relevant data. The hydrologic and geologic assessment to be conducted at each site should include a monitoring program sufficient to establish background ground water quality through one or more upgradient wells, and identify the presence and movement of plumes associated with the tailings piles.

(3) If contaminants have been released from a tailings pile, an assessment of the location of the contaminants and the rate and direction of movement of contaminated ground water, as well as its relative contamination, should be made. In addition, the assessment should identify the attenuative capacity of the unsaturated and saturated zone to determine the extent of plume movement. Judgments on the possible need for remedial or protective actions for groundwater aquifers should be guided by relevant considerations described in EPA's hazardous waste management system (47 FR 32274, July 26, 1982) and by relevant State and Federal Water Quality Criteria for anticipated or existing uses of water over the term of the stabilization. The decision on whether to institute remedial action, what specific action to take, and to what levels an aquifer should be protected or restored should be made on a case-by-case basis taking into account such factors as technical feasibility of improving the aquifer in its hydrogeologic setting, the cost of applicable restorative or protective programs, the present and future value of the aquifer as a water resource, the availability of alternative water supplies, and the

degree to which human exposure is likely to occur.

(b)(1) Compliance with Subpart B, to the extent practical, should be demonstrated through radiation surveys. Such surveys may, if appropriate, be restricted to locations likely to contain residual radioactive materials. These surveys should be designed to provide for compliance averaged over limited areas rather than point-by-point compliance with the standards. In most cases, measurement of gamma radiation exposure rates above and below the land surface can be used to show compliance with 192.12(a). Protocols for making such measurements should be based on realistic radium distributions near the surface rather than extremes rarely encountered.

(2) In § 192.12(a), “background level" refers to the native radium concentration in soil. Since this may not be determinable in the presence of contamination by residual radioactive materials, a surrogate "background level" may be established by simple direct or indirect (e.g., gamma radiation) measurements performed nearby but outside of the contaminated location.

(3) Compliance with § 192.12(b) may be demonstrated by methods that the Department of Energy has approved for use under Pub. L. 92-314 (10 CFR Part 712), or by other methods that the implementing agencies determine are adequate. Residual radioactive materials should be removed from buildings exceeding 0.03 WL so that future replacement buildings will not pose a hazard [unless removal is not practical-see 192.21(c)]. However, sealants, filtration, and ventilation devices may provide reasonable assurance of reductions from 0.03 WL to below 0.02 WL. In unusual cases, indoor radiation may exceed the levels specified in § 192.12(b) due to sources other than residual radioactive materials. Remedial actions are not required in order to comply with the standard when there is reasonable assurance that residual radioactive materials are not the cause of such an excess.

§ 192.21 Criteria for applying supplemental standards.

The implementing agencies may (and in the case of subsection (f) shall) apply standards under § 192.22 in lieu of the standards of Subpart A or B if they determine that any of the following circumstances exists:

(a) Remedial actions required to satisfy Subpart A or B would pose a clear and present risk of injury to workers or to members of the public, notwithstanding reasonable measures to avoid or reduce risk.

(b) Remedial actions to satisfy the cleanup standards for land, § 192.12(a), or the acquisition of minimum materials required for control to satisfy § 192.02(b), would, notwithstanding reasonable measures to limit damage, directly produce environmental harm that is clearly excessive compared to the health benefits to persons living on or near the site, now or in the future. A clear excess of environmental harm is harm that is long-term, manifest, and grossly disproportionate to health benefits that may reasonably be anticipated.

(c) The estimated cost of remedial action to satisfy § 192.12(a) at a “vicinity" site (described under section 101(6)(B) of the Act) is unreasonably high relative to the long-term benefits, and the residual radioactive materials do not pose a clear present or future hazard. The likelihood that buildings will be erected or that people will spend long periods of time at such a vicinity site should be considered in evaluating this hazard. Remedial action will generally not be necessary where residual radioactive materials have been placed semi-permanently in a location where site-specific factors limit their hazard and from which they are costly or difficult to remove, or where only minor quantities of residual radioactive materials are involved. Examples are residual radioactive materials under hard surface public roads and sidewalks, around public sewer lines, or in fence post foundations. Supplemental standards should not be applied at such sites, however, if individuals are likely to be exposed for long periods of time to radiation from such materials at levels

above those that would prevail under § 192.12(a).

(d) The cost of a remedial action for cleanup of a building under § 192.12(b) is clearly unreasonably high relative to the benefits. Factors that should be included in this judgment are the anticipated period of occupancy, the incremental radiation level that would be affected by the remedial action, the residual useful lifetime of the building, the potential for future construction at the site, and the applicability of less costly remedial methods than removal of residual radioactive materials.

(e) There is no known remedial action.

(f) Radionuclides other than radium226 and its decay products are present in sufficient quantity and concentration to constitute a significant radiation hazard from residual radioactive materials.

§ 192.22 Supplemental standards.

Federal agencies implementing Subparts A and B may in lieu thereof proceed pursuant to this section with respect to generic or individual situations meeting the eligibility requirements of § 192.21.

(a) When one or more of the criteria of § 192.21(a) through (e) applies, the implementing agencies shall select and perform remedial actions that come as close to meeting the otherwise applicable standard as is reasonable under the circumstances.

(b) When § 192.21(f) applies, remedial actions shall, in addition to satisfying the standards of Subparts A and B, reduce other residual radioactivity to levels that are as low as is reasonably achievable.

(c) The implementing agencies may make general determinations concerning remedial actions under this section that will apply to all locations with specified characteristics, or they may make a determination for a specific location. When remedial actions are proposed under this section for a specific location, the Department of Energy shall inform any private owners and occupants of the affected location and solicit their comments. The Department of Energy shall provide any such

comments to the other implementing agencies. The Department of Energy shall also periodically inform the Environmental Protection Agency of both general and individual determinations under the provisions of this section.

8192.23 Effective date.

Subparts A, B, and C shall be effective March 7, 1983.

Subpart D-Standards for Manage

ment of Uranium Byproduct Materials Pursuant to Section 84 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended

SOURCE: 48 FR 45946, Oct. 7, 1983, unless otherwise noted.

§ 192.30 Applicability.

This subpart applies to the management of uranium byproduct materials under section 84 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (henceforth designated "the Act"), as amended, during and following processing of uranium ores, and to restoration of disposal sites following any use of such sites under section 83(b)(1)(B) of the Act.

8192.31 Definitions and cross-references.

References in this subpart to other parts of the Code of Federal Regulations are to those parts as codified on January 1, 1983.

(a) Unless otherwise indicated in this subpart, all terms shall have the same meaning as in Title II of the Uranium Mill Tailings Rediation Control Act of 1978, Subparts A and B of this part, or Parts 190, 260, 261, and 264 of this chapter. For the purposes of this subpart, the terms "waste," "hazardous waste," and related terms, as used in Parts 260, 261, and 264 of this chapter shall apply to byproduct material.

(b) Uranium byproduct material means the tailings or wastes produced by the extraction or concentration of uranium from any ore processed primarily for its source material content. Ore bodies depleted by uranium solution extraction operations and which remain underground do not constitute "byproduct material" for the purpose of this subpart.

(c) Control means any action to stabilize, inhibit future misuse of, or

reduce emissions or effluents from uranium byproduct materials.

(d) Licensed site means the area contained within the boundary of a location under the control of persons generating or storing uranium byproduct materials under a license issued pursuant to section 84 of the Act. For purposes of this subpart, “licensed site” is equivalent to "regulated unit" in Subpart F of Part 264 of this chapter.

(e) Disposal site means a site selected pursuant to section 83 of the Act.

(f) Disposal area means the region within the perimeter of an impoundment or pile containing uranium by product materials to which the postclosure requirements of § 192.32(b)(1) of this subpart apply.

(g) Regulatory agency means the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

(h) Closure period means the period of time beginning with the cessation, with respect to a waste impoundment, of uranium ore processing operations and ending with completion of requirements specified under a closure plan.

(i) Closure plan means the plan required under § 264.112 of this chapter.

(j) Existing portion means that land surface area of an existing surface impoundment on which significant quantities of uranium byproduct materials have been placed prior to promulgation of this standard.

(a) Standards for application during processing operations and prior to the end of the closure period. (1) Surface impoundments (except for an existing portion) subject to this subpart must be designed, constructed, and installed in such manner as to conform to the requirements of § 264.221 of this chapter, except that at sites where the annual precipitation falling on the impoundment and any drainage area contributing surface runoff to the impoundment is less than the annual evaporation from the impoundment, the requirements of § 264.228(a)(2) (iii)(E) referenced in § 264.221 do not apply.

(2) Uranium byproduct materials shall be managed so as to conform to the ground water protection standard

in § 264.92 of this chapter, except that for the purposes of this subpart:

(i) To the list of hazardous constituents referenced in § 264.93 of this chapter are added the chemical elements molybdenum and uranium,

(ii) To the concentration limits provided in Table 1 of § 264.94 of this chapter are added the radioactivity limits in Table A of this subpart,

(iii) Detection monitoring programs required under § 264.98 to establish the standards required under § 264.92 shall be completed within one (1) year of promulgation,

(iv) The regulatory agency may establish alternate concentration limits (to be satisfied at the point of compliance specified under § 264.95) under the criteria of § 264.94(b), provided that, after considering practicable corrective actions, these limits are as low as reasonably achievable, and that, in any case, the standards of § 264.94(a) are satisfied at all points at a greater distance than 500 meters from the edge of the disposal area and/or outside the site boundary, and

(v) The functions and responsibilities designated in Part 264 of this chapter as those of the "Regional Administrator" with respect to "facility permits" shall be carried out by the regulatory agency, except that exemptions of hazardous constituents under § 264.93 (b) and (c) of this chapter and alternate concentration limits established under § 264.94 (b) and (c) of this chapter (except as otherwise provided in § 192.32(a)(2)(iv)) shall not be effective until EPA has concurred therein.

(3) Uranium byproduct materials shall be managed so as to conform to the provisions of:

(i) Part 190 of this chapter, “Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Nuclear Power Operations" and

(ii) Part 440 of this chapter, "Ore Mining and Dressing Point Source Category: Effluent Limitations Guidelines and New Source Performance Standards, Subpart C, Uranium, Radium, and Vanadium Ores Subcategory."

(4) The regulatory agency, in conformity with Federal Radiation Protection Guidance (FR, May 18, 1960, pgs. 4402-4403), shall make every

effort to maintain radiation doses from radon emissions from surface impoundments of uranium byproduct materials as far below the Federal Radiation Protection Guides as is practicable at each licensed site.

(b) Standards for application after the closure period. At the end of the closure period:

(1) Disposal areas shall each comply with the closure performance standard in § 264.111 of this chapter with respect to nonradiological hazards and shall be designed 1 to provide reasonable assurance of control of radiological hazards to

(i) Be effective for one thousand years, to the extent reasonably achievable, and, in any case, for at least 200 years, and,

(ii) Limit releases of radon-222 from uranium byproduct materials to the atmosphere so as to not exceed an average 2 release rate of 20 picocuries per square meter per second (pCi/m's). (2) The requirements

of

§ 192.32(b)(1) shall not apply to any portion of a licensed and/or disposal site which contains a concentration of radium-226 in land, averaged over areas of 100 square meters, which, as a result of uranium byproduct material, does not exceed the background level by more than:

(i) 5 picocuries per gram (pCi/g), averaged over the first 15 centimeters (cm) below the surface, and

(ii) 15 pCi/g, averaged over 15 cm thick layers more than 15 cm below the surface.

§ 192.33 Corrective action programs.

If the ground water standards established under provisions of

1The standard applies to design. Monitoring for radon-222 after installation of an appropriately designed cover is not required.

"This average shall apply to the entire surface of each disposal area over periods of at least one year, but short compared to 100 years. Radon will come from both uranium byproduct materials and from covering materials. Radon emissions from covering materials should be estimated as part of developing a closure plan for each site. The standard, however, applies only to emissions from uranium byproduct materials to the atmosphere.