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Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 37-07438-15, for the Unrestricted Release of the Philadelphia Health & Education Corporation's Facility in Doylestown, PA

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: December 11, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 237)]
[Notices]
[Page 71591-71593]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11de06-72]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030-12998]

Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials
License No. 37-07438-15, for the Unrestricted Release of the
Philadelphia Health & Education Corporation's Facility in Doylestown, PA

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License Amendment.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Lawyer, Health Physicist,
Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region
1, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone (610)
337-5366; fax number (610) 337-5393; or by e-mail: drl1@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the
issuance of a license amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 37-
07438-15. This license is held by Philadelphia Health & Education
Corporation, d/b/a/ Drexel University College of Medicine (the
Licensee), for the area leased to the Licensee within the Delaware
Valley College of Agriculture and Science's Mandrell Science Building
(the Facility), located at 700 E. Butler Avenue in Doylestown,
Pennsylvania. Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of the
Facility for unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this action in a
letter dated August 28, 2006. The NRC has prepared an Environmental
Assessment (EA) in support of this proposed action in accordance with
the requirements of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part
51 (10 CFR Part 51). Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate with respect to
the proposed action. The amendment will be issued to the Licensee
following the publication of this FONSI and EA in the Federal Register.

II. Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would approve the Licensee's August 28, 2006,
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility for
unrestricted use. License No. 37-07438-15 was issued on July 17, 1977,
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30 and has been amended periodically since that
time. This license authorized the Licensee to use unsealed byproduct
material for purposes of conducting research and development activities
on laboratory bench tops and in hoods.
    The Facility is a 15,000 square foot leased area, within the 66,300
square foot Mandrell Science Building, located on the 80 acre Delaware
Valley College of Agriculture and Science Campus. The Facility consists
of office space and laboratories. Within the Facility, use of licensed
materials was confined to laboratories totaling 2,680 square feet.
    On July 26, 2006, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and
initiated a survey and decontamination of the Facility. Based on the
Licensee's historical knowledge of the site and the conditions of the
Facility, the Licensee determined that only routine decontamination
activities, in accordance with their NRC-approved, operating radiation
safety procedures, were required. The Licensee was not required to
submit a decommissioning plan to the NRC because worker cleanup
activities and procedures are consistent with those approved for
routine operations. The Licensee conducted surveys of the Facility and
provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that it meets the
criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the
Facility, and seeks release of the Facility for unrestricted use.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the
Facility shows that such activities involved use of hydrogen-3, which
has a half-life greater than 120 days. Prior to

[[Page 71592]]

performing the final status survey, the Licensee conducted
decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of the Facility
affected by these radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey on August 15, 2006.
This survey covered areas of material use within the Facility. The
final status survey report was attached to the Licensee's amendment
request dated August 28, 2006. A previous survey was performed on July
30, 2004, after the use of hydrogen-3 had been completed at the
Facility. The Licensee elected to demonstrate compliance with the
radiological criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR
20.1402 by using the screening approach described in NUREG-1757,
``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 2. The Licensee
used the radionuclide-specific derived concentration guideline levels
(DCGLs), developed there by the NRC, which comply with the dose
criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. These DCGLs define the maximum amount of
residual radioactivity on building surfaces, equipment, and materials,
and in soils, that will satisfy the NRC requirements in Subpart E of 10
CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release. The Licensee's final status
survey results were below these DCGLs and are in compliance with the As
Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The
NRC thus finds that the Licensee's final status survey results are
acceptable. Based on its review, the staff has determined that the
affected environment and any environmental impacts associated with the
proposed action are bounded by the impacts evaluated by the ``Generic
Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological
Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities''
(NUREG-1496) Volumes 1-3 (ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385).
The staff finds there were no significant environmental impacts from
the use of radioactive material at the Facility. The NRC staff reviewed
the docket file records and the final status survey report to identify
any non-radiological hazards that may have impacted the environment
surrounding the Facility. No such hazards or impacts to the environment
were identified. The NRC has identified no other radiological or non-
radiological activities in the area that could result in cumulative
environmental impacts.
    The NRC staff finds that the proposed release of the Facility for
unrestricted use and the termination of the NRC materials license is in
compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, the staff
considered the impact of the residual radioactivity at the Facility and
concluded that the proposed action will not have a significant effect
on the quality of the human environment.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action,
its environmental impacts are small. Therefore, the only alternative
the staff considered is the no-action alternative, under which the
staff would leave things as they are by simply denying the amendment
request. This no-action alternative is not feasible because it
conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d), requiring that decommissioning of
byproduct material facilities be completed and approved by the NRC
after licensed activities cease. The NRC's analysis of the Licensee's
final status survey data confirmed that the Facility meets the
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. Additionally,
denying the amendment request would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action
and the no-action alternative are therefore similar, and the no-action
alternative is accordingly not further considered.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action is consistent
with the NRC's unrestricted release criteria specified in 10 CFR
20.1402. Because the proposed action will not significantly impact the
quality of the human environment, the NRC staff concludes that the
proposed action is the preferred alternative.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection,
Bureau of Radiation Protection, for review on November 13, 2006. On
November 14, 2006, the Commonwealth responded by e-mail. The Commonwealth
agreed with the conclusions of the EA and otherwise had no comments.
    The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a
procedural nature, and will not affect listed species or critical
habitat. Therefore, no further consultation is required under Section 7
of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff has also determined that
the proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential
to cause effects on historic properties. Therefore, no further
consultation is required under Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has prepared this EA in support of the proposed
action. On the basis of this EA, the NRC finds that there are no
significant environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted.
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant
Impact is appropriate.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for
license amendment and supporting documentation, are available
electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access
the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The documents
related to this action are listed below, along with their ADAMS
accession numbers.
    1. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    2. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E,
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    3. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory
Functions;''
    4. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities;''
    5. Philadelphia Health & Education Corp. d/b/a/ Drexel University
College of Medicine, Amendment Request Letter dated August 28, 2006.
(ML062550419)
    6. Philadelphia Health & Education Corp. d/b/a/ Drexel University
College of Medicine, Deficiency Response Letter dated October 10, 2006.
(ML062960347)
    7. Philadelphia Health and Education Corporation d/b/a/ Drexel
University College of Medicine, RAI, Previous Transfer of Location of
Use of the Mandell Science Building located in Doylestown, PA,
telephone log dated October 30, 2006. (ML063060010)
    8. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, additional information
facsimile dated July 30, 2004. (ML042190441)
    If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are problems in
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact

[[Page 71593]]

the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209,
301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. These documents may also be
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR,
O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD
20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Region 1, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania, this 4th day of December 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety,
Region 1.
[FR Doc. E6-20955 Filed 12-8-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
 

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