ML19246A850

Notice of NRC Denial of Petition for Rulemaking PRM-20-7 Interim Stds on Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal

ML19246A850
Person / Time
Issue date:	11/24/1978
From:	NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
To:
Shared Package
ML19246A820	List: ML19246A819 ML19246A823 ML19246A830 ML19246A835 ML19246A838 ML19246A843 ML19246A847 ML19246A850
References
RULE-PRM-20-7 PR-781124, SECY-78-613, NUDOCS 7907090073
Download: ML19246A850 (2)

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NRC DENIES ?ETITION FOR INTERIM STANDARDS ON LOW-LEVEL.RADI0 ACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) asking that the Commission immediately adopt interim reg-ulations setting standards for shallow land disposal of transuranic and other low-level radioactive wastes.

The Commission also denied an accompanying NRDC request that the NRC prepare a broad generic environmental impact statement on its low-level waste disposal program.

In denying the petition, the Commission said that tnere is no compelling potential health and safety hazard to warrant immediate adoption of interim regulations in this area.

A program for the orderly development of comprehensive reg-ulations governing the management and disposal of all types of low-level radioactive wastes by shallow land burial and other alternative methods is currently in progress, with regulations and supporting environmental impact statements scheduled to be issued within the next few years.

As a practical matter, the Commission believes that well-planned, interim rules could not be prepared on a schedule much different from the current, ongoing schedule for development of final regulations.

Further, to attempt to prepare interim rules now would delay placing into effect the broader, more comprehensive regulations currently under development.

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. With regard to the development of a generic environ-mental impact statement, the Commission believes that this type of separate ;)neric statement en low-level waste disposal is neither required by the National Environmental Policy Act nor necessary for the development of the NRC waste disposal program.

The environmental impact statements that will be developed to support the forthcoming regulations are expected to be of sufficient scope to make a separate generic environ-mental impact s catement unnecessary.

The specific actions sought by the NRDC petition, and NRC's reasons for denial, are -set forth in detail in a notice published in the Federal Register on A notice of filing of the petition for rulemaking was puolished in the Federal Register for public comment on September 23, 1976, following receipt on August 6, 1976, of the petition and the ler:er asking for a generic environ-mental impact statement.

The Commission's consideration of the NRDC requests included a consideration of the comments received.

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