ML20217K512

Forwards General Meeting Summary of Periodic Meeting with New York Dept of Environmental Conservation on 990921 Re Status of Ny Dept of Environmental Conservation Agreement State Program

ML20217K512
Person / Time
Issue date:	10/13/1999
From:	Duane White NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Merges P NEW YORK, STATE OF
References
NUDOCS 9910260181
Download: ML20217K512 (5)

Text

V" na nato k I

^

UNITED STATES h[

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGloN I

, 0,%,

476 ALLENDALE ROAD

' KING oF PRUSSIA, PENNSYLVANIA 19406-1415 -

1 44***.

October 13,1999 Paul J. Merges, Ph.D.

Director

. NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Solid & Hazardous Material i

Bureau of Radiation & Hazardous Site Management 50 Wolf Road, Room 460 Albany, NY 12233-7255

Dear Dr. Merges:

A periodic meeting with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) was held on September 21,' 1999.4 The purpose of the meeting was to review and discuss the

. status of NYDEC's Agreement State program. The NRC was represented by Kathleen Schneider from the NRC's Office of State Programs and me. Specific topics and issues of i

importance discussed at the meeting included the status of FUSRAP sites under remediation by the Corp of Engineers and the reorganization of the Bureau.

j

~

I have completed and enclosed a general meeting summary, including any specific actions that will be taken as a result of the meeting.

If you feel that our' conclusions do not accurately summarize the meeting discussions, or have any additional remarks about the meeting in general, please contact me at (610) 337-5042, or e-

~ mail at adw@nrc. gov to discuss your concems.

~ Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

%h Duncan White State Agreements Officer Division of Nuclear Materials Safety

Enclosure:

As stated cc:

" R. Bores, RI :

K. Schneider, OSP J. Spath, NYSERDA v

9910260181 991013 PDR STPRO ESONY

?7 PDR,,

gy kSIBR'8 N

y fg

. 'P. Merges 2

o NYS Department of Environmental Conservation DISTRIBUTION

RIDS SPO1-G. Pangburn, RI -

F. Combs, OSP L. Rankovan, OSP i

l I

I i

L DOCUMENT NAME: B:\\DNMS Documents \\ Misc Letter \\LNYS Department of E.wpd 3952084 To receive a cop i of this document, Indicate in the box:"C's Copy w/o attach /end 'E' = Copy w/ attacNend "N's No copy OFFICE DNMS/RJ,

lN OSP l

l

-l NAME-DWhite%M)

KSchneider DATE 10/13/99 10/13/99 by phone 10/ /99 10/ /99 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY b h-0 G-DON

k

? AGREEMENT STATE PERIODIC MEETING

SUMMARY

FOR NEW YORK STATE

, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION (NYDEC)

DATE OF MEETING: September 21,1999 ATTENDEES:

N8Q STATE Duncan White -

Paul Merges Kathleen Schneider Barbara Youngberg l

DISCUSSION t The proposed status for each of the recommendations and suggestions in Section 5.0 of the l

J 1998 New York tinal IMPEP report is summarized below (number corresponding to those in the final IMPEP report). A copy of Section 5.0 of the final IMPEP report is attached for reference.

i 1.

NYDEC is still working on documenting its training program. This recommendation remains open.

J 2.

NYDEC has not completed incorporating the handling of incidents and allegation into their inspection ' rocedures. This recommendation' remains open.

p 3.

NYDEC has been coordinating with other New York licensing agencies regarding the response to incidents. It is recommended that these actions be verified at the next IMPEP review.

NYDEC.did not implement the review team's suggestion to maintain one file for all types of incidents involving radioactive materials. Incidents involving a specific permit are maintained in the docket file.

i Since the last IMPEP, the Radiation Section in NYDEC has been reorganized into the Bureau of Radiation and Hazardous Site Management. This reorganization was viewed as a positive for l

the radiation program since all mixed waste issues, cleanups involving radiation sites and West l

Valley are now in the one Bureau under the Radiation Program Director. There are two new j

individuals in the radiation program (Tom Papura and Roger Edick) and one individual (Bill j

Varcaslo) transferred to other Bureau. The radiation laboratory was moved in March 1999 into a facility near Rensselaer with other NYDEC groups. This facility is larger and provides the program the opportunity to fully utilize all of its equipment. The Radiation Section is tentatively

scheduled to move from their current location on Wolf Road to a new building in downtown

{

' Albany in March 2001..

LThere have been no legislative changes since the last review, but the radiation program will be implementing NESHAPS delegated to NYDEC by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The radiation program lost 0.5 million dollars in funding this fiscal year from its low level radioactive waste (LLRW) source. Funding level is currently 1.6 million, which is still sufficient, i

L ut any further cuts will hurt the program. LLRW still funds 14 positions (13 are filled). The Corp j

b of Engineers through a cooperative agreement funds two positions and in addition, two positions

- are funded as on-site monitors for Brookhaven and West Valley. The program collects only

~

some annual assessments for Part 381 permits; no other fees are collected.

1 3

}

l

)

1

> NYDEC Periodic Meeting Summary 2

NYDEC discussed the status of a number of projects that they are currently working on. These included that the status of the radioactive waste landfills at Cornell and West Valley, the i

permitting of a hazardous waste facility to prevent the presence of an "Envirocare East" and the cleanup of FUSRAP sites by the Corp of Engineers. NYDEC pointed to the Corp's difficulties with the Niagra Fall Storage Site and complexities in dealing with greater than Class C wastes.

NYDEC is currently contesting the Corp's suggested remedial action levels for the cleanup of the Linde site. There has also been a significant increase in the number of radiation alarms at incinerators due to medical and research and development waste. A significant amount of the waste originated from Canada.

Dr. Merges raised an issue regarding the NRC's failure to go through the public hearing process involving the issue of unimportant quantities (10 CFR 40.13) compared to staff positions found in the Health Physics Position Data base and the 1981 Branch Technical Position on the disposal or onsite storage of residual or uranium from past operations. This issue involving the difference between the free release of a site and the exempt concentrations for solid materials wi!I also be

- discussed at a Waste Conference in Rockville later in the week.

NYDEC has not worked on any of the former NRC licensed sites. They plan to await for NRC to provide funding.

Since this periodic meeting took place only a few weeks after the All Agreement States meeting, the NRC staff discussed the reorganization of the EDO office, the retirement of key materials

~ taff and the status of the new Chairman's confirmation process.

s No allegations were referred by the NRC to NYDEC since the IMPEP review.

NYDEC indicated that staff assignments have been made to develop regulation for a number of NRC amendments due for compatibility, include the constraint rule] The NRC amendment

~ involving license termination will not be included in this round of rule making. NRC staff requested that NYDEC provide copies of the rules when they are sent out for public comment.

The next periodic meeting will be scheduled for late 2000 or early 2001. The next IMPEP review

!a scheduled for fiscal year 2002.

1

-'I NYDEC Periodic Meeting Summary:

3 NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

. RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FROM 1998 IMPEP REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS:

1.

The review team recommends that NYDEC document its training program to include overall policy and minimum training requirements for both the permitting and compliance staff. (Section 3.3.4) 2.

The review team recommends that NYDEC incorporates the handling of incidents and allegations into their inspection procedures. (Section 3.5.4) 3.

The review team recommends that NYDEC coordinate with the appropriate New York licensing agency, the notification to the NRC of significant reportable events and provide documentation for all reportable events in accordance with SA-300. (Section 3.5.4)

SUGGESTIONS 1.

The review team suggests that NYDEC maintain one file for all types of incidents Involving radioactive material. (Section 3.5.4) i l

I