2060-AP26 201610 The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 2060 Office of Air and Radiation OAR 2000 Environmental Protection Agency EPA National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) Subpart W: Standards for Radon Emissions From Operating Uranium Mill Tailings: Review

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) subpart W protects human health and the environment by setting radon emission standards and work practices for operating uranium mill tailings impoundments. The EPA is in the process of reviewing this standard. If necessary, the Agency will revise the NESHAP requirements for radon emissions from operating uranium mill tailings.

]]> Other Significant Previously Published in The Unified Agenda Final Rule Stage No No 40 CFR 61 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. Clean Air Act Yes

This radionuclide NESHAP promulgated in 1989 limits radon emissions from operating impoundments that manage uranium byproduct material. This review of the rule is prompted by a settlement agreement based on EPA's failure to review the rule within 10 years of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.

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The authority for this action comes from Clean Air Act section 112(q)(1).

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The rule proposed to establish Generally Available Control Technologies (GACT) or management practices for conventional impoundments, non-conventional impoundments, and heap leach piles. EPA proposed to: eliminate the radon flux standard and monitoring at older conventional impoundments; to require non-conventional impoundments to retain one meter of liquid; to regulate heap leach piles from the initial application of leaching solution; and to require heap leach piles to maintain 30% moisture content. A specific alternative was discussed only in relation to regulating heap leach piles. The alternative was to not regulate the piles under subpart W until the leaching (extraction) process was completed and the heap leach pile contained only uranium byproduct material.

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Costs attributable to the proposed rule include the cost to maintain one meter of liquid in non-conventional impoundments and the cost to maintain 30% moisture content in heap leach piles. These costs represent less than 0.1% of baseline facility costs. The primary benefit is maintaining air quality in the vicinity of uranium recovery facilities to levels consistent with the 1989 rule.

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The proposed rule maintains the estimated individual lifetime risk of fatal cancer at approximately 1 x 10-4 or below, consistent with the 1989 rule. Population risk is estimated at between 0.0015 and 0.0026 fatal cancers per year, or approximately 1 case every 385 to 667 years for the 4 million persons living within 80 km of uranium recovery facilities.

]]> NPRM 05/02/2014 79 FR 25387 NPRM Comment Period Extended 07/21/2014 79 FR 42275 Final Rule 11/00/2016 No No State Tribal No No No No Reid Rosnick 2060 Office of Air and Radiation OAR 202 343-9563 202 343-2304 rosnick.reid@epa.gov 6608J, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington DC 20460 Dan Schultheisz 2060 Office of Air and Radiation OAR 202 343-9349 202 343-2304 schultheisz.daniel@epa.gov 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail Code 6608J, Washington DC 20460