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EPA/AR

RIN: 2060-AN15

Publication ID: Fall 2008

Title: Amendment of the Standards for Radioactive Waste Disposal in Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Abstract: This action will amend the standards for Yucca Mountain, Nevada (40 CFR part 197). These standards were issued in 2001 and were partially remanded by a Federal court in 2004. These amendments will address the remanded portion of the standards, viz., the compliance period. Yucca Mountain is the site of a potential geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. It is about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, and straddles the boundaries of the Nevada Test Site, Bureau of Land Management land, and an Air Force bombing range. The site is being developed by the Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE will submit a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). We (EPA) were given the authority to set Yucca Mountain-specific standards in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EnPA). The EnPA also requires NRC to adopt our standards in its licensing regulations and use them as a basis to judge compliance of the repository's performance. The Agency issued final Yucca Mountain standards in 2001. In July 2004, the DC Circuit Court returned the standards to EPA for reconsideration of the regulatory time frame. The Court found that the 10,000-year compliance period violates our authorizing statute for Yucca Mountain regulation because it is not "based upon and consistent with" scientific recommendations required from the National Academy of Sciences under the legislation. To address the Court's opinion, we must reassess the time frame in light of the National Academy's recommendation that compliance must be addressed at the time of peak dose, which may be as long as several hundred thousand years into the future.
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)	Priority: Other Significant
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda	Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Final Rule Stage
Major: No	Unfunded Mandates: No
CFR Citation: 40 CFR 197
Legal Authority: PL 102-486

Legal Deadline: None

Timetable:

Action	Date	FR Cite
NPRM	08/22/2005	70 FR 49014
Final Action	11/00/2008

Additional Information: SAN No. 4964; EPA publication information: NPRM - http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/2005/August/Day-22/a16193.htm; EPA Docket information: EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0083
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No	Government Levels Affected: Federal
Small Entities Affected: No	Federalism: No
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No
Agency Contact: Ray Clark Environmental Protection Agency Air and Radiation 6608J, Washington, DC 20460 Phone:202 343-9198 Fax:202 343-2065 Email: Clark.Ray@epa.gov Raymond Lee Environmental Protection Agency Air and Radiation 6608J, Washington, DC 20460 Phone:202 343-9463 Fax:202 343-2503 Email: lee.raymond@epa.gov