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Appendix C
The Environmental Protection Agency
More than a dozen major statutes or laws form the legal basis for the programs of
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA authority to develop radiation
protection standards and to regulate radioactive materials, including TENORM, is derived
from a number of those federal laws, plus Executive Orders.
The authority to develop Federal guidance for radiation protection was originally
given to the Federal Radiation Council (FRC) by Executive Order 10381 in 1959 as an
offshoot of authorities of the Atomic Energy Act (42 U.S.C. 201 1 et seq.) (1954~. Over
the next decade the FRC developed Federal guidance ranging from guidance for exposure
of the general public to estimates of fallout from nuclear weapons testing. Federal
guidance clevelopec} by the FRC provided the basis for most regulation of radiation
exposure by Federal and state agencies prior to the establishment of the EPA.
In 1970, the responsibility for developing Federal guidance for radiation
protection was transferred from the FRC to the newly formed EPA under Reorganization
Plan No. 3. Federal Guidance Documents are signed by the President and issued by EPA.
By signing these, the President provides a framework for Federal and state agencies to
develop regulations that ensure the public is protected from the harmful effects of ionizing
radiation. Federal Guidance is also an opportunity for the President to promote national
consistency in radiation protection regulations. For example, the guidance document
"Radiation Protection Guidance to Federal Agencies for Occupational Exposure," issued
by EPA in 52 CFR 2822, January 27, 1987, established general principles and specifies
the numerical primary guides for limiting worker exposure to radiation. EPA, working in
coordination with agencies of the governmental Interagency Steering Committee on
Radiation Standards (ISCORS), has been revising its "Fecleral Radiation Protection
Guidance for Exposure of the General Public" for issuance in the near future; that
document last published in 1960, was revised in draft in 1994, and has been undergoing
significant revisions since that time.
EPA regulates radon and radioisotope emissions through its authority under the
Clean Air Act (42 USC 7401 et seq.) (1970~. Regulations promulgated by the Agency
that control radioactive facilities and sites include 40 CFR Part 61:
Subpart B. Underground Uranium Mines
Subpart H. Department of Energy Facilities
Subpart I, Certain non-DOE Facilities
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Subpart K, Elemental Phosphorous Plants
Subpart Q. DOE Facilities Raclon Emissions
· Subpart R. Raclon from Phosphogypsum Stacks
Under the Radon Gas and Indoor Air Quality Research Act (USC 42 et seq.)
(1986) and Indoor Radon Abatement Act (1988), as well as authorities of the Clean Air
Act, EPA has developed guidance for control of raclon in buildings and schools. The
guidance for radon has been generally acloptec} as a standard for use in establishing
cleanups of radioactively contaminated sites Although indoor raclon exposures are
believed by the radiation protection community to be the largest radiation related risk,
indoor radiation does not arise from the low-activity wastes dealt with in this report.
The Clean Water Act's (CWA) (33 USC 121 et seq.) (1977) primary objective is
to restore and maintain the integrity of the nation's waters. This objective translates into
two fundamental national goals: eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the nation's
waters, and achieve water quality levels that are fishable and swimmable. Under this law,
EPA is given the authority to establish water quality standards and regulate the discharge
of pollutants into waters of the United States. Section 502~6) of the CWA includes
radioactive materials in the clef~nition of pollutants. EPA's implementing regulations at 40
CFR 122.2, which define the term pollutant, include radioactive materials except those
regulated under the Atomic Energy Act. Thus EPA currently regulates radionuclides and
radiation in discharges and establishes water quality standards. This includes TENORM
radionuclicles with the exception of uranium and thorium.
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)~42 USC 300f et seq.) (1974), is the main
federal law that ensures the quality of Americans' drinking water. Under SDWA, EPA sets
standards for drinking water quality and oversees the states, localities, and water suppliers
who implement those standards. Implementing regulations for 40 CFR 141 include the
establishment of national primary drinking water standards which currently include
maximum contaminant limit goals (MCLG) and maximum contaminant limits (MCL) for
radiation and raclionuclides; current standards include radium-226 and radium-228,
uranium, combined alpha, and beta and photon emitters. MCLs have also been proposed
for Radon.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
(CERCLA) (42 USC 9601 et seq.) (1980) and the Superfund Amendments and
Reathorization Act (SARA) (42 USC 9601 et seq) (1986) created a tax on the chemical
and petroleum industries and provided broad Federal authority to respond directly to
releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or
the environment. CERCLA established prohibitions and requirements concerning closest
and abandoner! hazardous waste sites; provided for liability of persons responsible for
releases of hazardous waste at these sites; and established a trust fund to provide for
cleanup when no responsible party could be identified. EPA has determined that radiation
is a carcinogen and thus a hazardous substance. Under the National Oil and Hazardous
Substances Contingency Plan, EPA has issued guidance on removals and clean up of
radioactively contaminated sites. Implementing regulations for the NCP are found at 40
CFR 300.
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 USC 2601 et seq.) (1976) was
enacted by Congress to give EPA the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals
currently produced or imported into the United States. EPA repeate(lly screens these
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chemicals and can require reporting or testing of those that may pose an environmental or
human-health hazard. EPA can ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that
pose an unreasonable risk. While raclionuclides are considered toxic substances under the
act, source material, special nuclear material, or byproduct material (as such terms are
defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 USC. 201 1 et seq.) and regulations issued
under such Act) are excluded from coverage. Consequently, TENORM ractionuclicles may
be subject to this law.
The Resource Conservation ant! Recovery Act (RCRA) (42 USC 321 et seq.)
(1976) gave EPA the authority to control hazardous waste. This includes the generation,
transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA also set forth a
framework for the management of non-hazarclous solid waste. The 1986 amendments to
RCRA enabled EPA to address environmental problems that could result from
underground tanks storing petroleum and other hazardous substances. RCRA focuses only
on active and future facilities and does not address abandoned or historical sites (see
CERCLA). The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) are the 1984
amendments to RCRA that restricted land disposal of hazardous waste. Some of the other
mandates of this strict law include increased enforcement authority for EPA, more
stringent hazardous waste management standards, and a comprehensive underground
storage tank program. RCRA specifically excludes source, special nuclear, and byproduct
material from its jurisdiction. EPA's implementing regulations for RCRA do not address,
but also do not prohibit, disposal of radioactively contaminated substances in landfills.
With the approval of the appropriate regulatory authority, such facilities have been used
for disposal of TENORM, nuclear accelerator wastes, and certain AEA materials.
Additional radiation protection authorities provider! to the EPA by Congress
include responsibilities for setting protective standards for radioactive waste disposal.
Under the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land (WIPP) Withdrawal Act, as amender! (P.L.
102-579, 106 Stat. 4777), Congress gave EPA the authority to regulate many of the
Department of Energy's activities concerning this radioactive waste disposal site in New
Mexico. EPA was required to finalize regulations which apply to all sites~xcept Yucca
Mountain for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel, transuranic and high-level radioactive
waste. ~ 1998, EPA granted a certification of compliance indicating that the WIPP
complied with EPA's radioactive waste disposal regulations and could open to receive
these materials. The compliance criteria regulations were established by EPA in 40 CFR
194 and the disposal regulations set by EPA in 40 CFR 191
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 USC 10141 n), Section 801, required the
EPA, based upon and consistent with the findings and recommendations of the National
Academy of Sciences, to clevelop regulations on health and safety stanclards for protection
of the public from releases from radioactive materials stored or disposed of in the
proposed Yucca Mountain radioactive waste disposal site. The standards to be clevelopec3
were required to prescribe the maximum annual effective dose equivalent to individual
members of the public from releases to the accessible environment from radioactive
materials stored or disposed of in the repository In 1999, EPA proposed draft standards
and held public hearings; final regulations were publisher! in 2001 for use by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission and Department of Energy.
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Current regulations applicable to remediation of both inactive uranium mill
tailings sites, including vicinity properties, and active uranium and thorium mills have
been issued by the EPA under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act
(UMTRCA) (42 USC 2022 et seq.) of 1978, as amended. EPA's regulations in 40 CFR
192 apply to remediation of such properties and address emissions of radon, as well as
radionuclides, metals, anal other contaminants into surface and groundwater.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
federal guidance
