N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 6 § 382.2

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 382.2 - Definitions

(a) As used in this Part, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

(1) Aboveground disposal means the disposal of low-level radioactive waste in engineered structures built such that all waste is placed above final grade with no natural material cover until facility closure. Aboveground disposal includes, but is not limited to, the use of aboveground vaults.

(2) Active agricultural use means lands used for agricultural purposes no less than two of the five (calendar) years prior to the date on which the site characterization required by section 382.6(b) of this Part begins.

(3) Active maintenance means any significant activity needed during the period of institutional control to maintain a reasonable assurance that the performance objectives of sections 382.10 -382.15 of this Part are met. Such active maintenance includes ongoing activities such as the pumping and treatment of water from a disposal unit or one-time measures such as repair or replacement of all or part of a disposal unit. Active maintenance does not include custodial activities such as fence repair, replacement or repair of monitoring equipment, revegetation, minor additions to soil cover, minor repair of disposal unit covers, and general disposal site upkeep such as mowing grass.

(4) Advisory committee means the advisory committee on siting and disposal method selection for permanent disposal facilities established pursuant to section 29-0501 of the Environmental Conservation Law.

(5) As low as reasonably achievable means as low as reasonably achievable taking into account the state of technology, and the economics of improvements in relation to:

(i) benefits to the environment and public health and safety;

(ii) other societal and socioeconomic considerations; and

(iii) the utilization of radioactive materials in the public interest.

(6) Belowground disposal means the disposal of low-level radioactive waste such that all waste is placed totally below final grade in engineered structures which are located within the upper 30 meters of the earth's surface, and are covered with natural material. Belowground disposal methods include, but are not limited to, buried vaults, lined augered holes, and earth-mounded bunkers.

(7) Buffer zone means a portion of the disposal site that is controlled by the licensee and that lies under the disposal units and between the disposal units and the boundary of the site.

(8) Certification means a decision issued by the department pursuant to article 29 of the Environmental Conservation Law and section 382.6 of this Part to the effect that one or two proposed disposal sites and the disposal method or methods proposed for use at such site or sites are in conformance with the applicable provisions of this Part.

(9) Class A waste means low-level radioactive waste classified as Class A pursuant to section 382.80 of this Part.

(10) Class B waste means low-level radioactive waste classified as Class B pursuant to section 382.80 of this Part.

(11) Class C waste means low-level radioactive waste classified as Class C pursuant to section 382.80 of this Part.

(12) Closure means site closure and stabilization.

(13) Commission means the Commission for Siting Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities established pursuant to section 29-0301 of the Environmental Conservation Law.

(14) Curie or Ci means that amount of radioactive material which disintegrates at the rate of 37 billion atoms per second.

(15) Department means the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

(16) Disposal means the isolation of radioactive wastes from the biosphere inhabited by humans, and containing their food chains, by emplacement in land disposal facilities.

(17) Disposal site or site means that portion of a land disposal facility which is used for disposal of waste. It consists of disposal units and a buffer zone. [FN1]

(18) Disposal unit means a discrete structure of the disposal site into which waste is placed for disposal.[FN2]

(19) Dissolution means a space or cavity in or between rocks, formed by the solution of part of the rock material.

(20) Dose means that quantity of ionizing radiation in rems absorbed, per unit mass, by any body tissue. Reference to a dose during a specific period of time means the total quantity of radiation so absorbed during such period.

(21) Engineered barrier means a man-made structure or device that is intended to improve the land disposal facility's ability to meet the performance objectives in sections 382.10 -382.15 of this Part.

(22) Environmental Conservation Law or ECL means chapter 43-B of the Consolidated Laws of New York.

(23) Explosive material means any chemical compound, mixture or device which produces a substantial instantaneous release of gas and heat spontaneously or by contact with sparks or flame.

(24) Final grade means the grade surrounding the disposal unit after disposal unit closure.

(25) Geologic unit means the geologic media in which an underground mined repository is constructed.

(26) Hydrogeologic unit means any soil or rock unit or zone which, by virtue of its porosity and permeability, or lack thereof, has a distinct influence on the storage or movement of groundwater.

(27) Inadvertent intruder means a person who might occupy the disposal site after closure and engage in normal activities, such as agriculture, dwelling construction, or other pursuits in which the person might unknowingly be exposed to radiation from the low-level radioactive waste.

(28) Inadvertent intrusion means the act of occupying the disposal site after closure and engaging in normal activities, such as agriculture, dwelling construction, or other pursuits in which a person might unknowingly be exposed to radiation from the low-level radioactive waste.

(29) Institutional control period means a period of time after closure of the land disposal facility during which the State maintains control of access to the site and carries out a program including environmental monitoring, periodic surveillance and minor custodial care.

(30) Intruder barrier means an engineered structure or a sufficient depth of cover over the low-level radioactive waste or disposal units that inhibits contact with the waste and helps to ensure that radiation exposures to an inadvertent intruder will meet the performance objectives of sections 382.10 - 382.15 of this Part.

(31) Land disposal facility means the land, buildings and equipment which are intended to be used for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste into the subsurface of the land.[FN3]

(32) License means a license to operate a low-level radioactive waste land disposal facility issued pursuant to Title 12, Part 38, of the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York.

(33) Licensee means the holder of a license to operate a low-level radioactive waste land disposal facility issued pursuant to Title 12, Part 38, of the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York.

(34) Low-level radioactive waste or waste means those low-level radioactive wastes that are acceptable for disposal in a land disposal facility pursuant to the provisions of this Part. For the purpose of this Part, low-level radioactive waste has the same meaning as in the Federal Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, 42 USC 2021b et seq. (see section 382.99 of this Part); that is, radioactive material that:

(i) is not classified as high-level radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, or by-product material as defined in section 11e(2) of the Atomic Energy Act [FN4] (see section 382.99 of this Part); and

(ii) is classified as low-level radioactive waste consistent with Federal law and in accordance with subparagraph (i) of this paragraph by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

(35) Major natural phenomena means rarely occurring natural events such as tornados, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, vulcanism and earthquakes.

(36) Mass wasting means the movement of rock or soil material under the influence of gravity either as the movement of the products of weathering down a slope or as a mass movement of rock or soil along joint planes or bedding planes. Mass wasting includes, but is not limited to, creep, mud flows, earth flow, soil flow, rock avalanche, landslide, landslip and slumping.

(37) Microcurie means one one-millionth (0.000001) of a curie.

(38) Millicurie means one one-thousandth (0.001) of a curie.

(39) Millirem (abbreviated mrem) means one one-thousandth (0.001) of a rem.

(40) Minimize means to reduce to the least quantity or degree which can reasonably be attained, taking into account:

(i) the state of technology;

(ii) the benefits to be gained from any possible further reduction; and

(iii) the impacts of the measures or efforts required to achieve any possible further reduction.

(41) Mixed low-level radioactive and hazardous waste means waste that satisfies the definition of low-level radioactive waste in this Part and contains hazardous waste designated pursuant to ECL article 27, title 9, that either:

(i) is listed as a hazardous waste in section 371.4 of this Title; or

(ii) causes the low-level radioactive waste to exhibit any of the hazardous waste characteristics identified in section 371.3 of this Title.

(42) Model means a conceptual description and the associated mathematical, graphical and/or analogous representation of a system, subsystem, component or condition that is used to predict changes from a baseline state as a function of internal and/or external stimuli and as a function of time and space.

(43) Monitoring means observing and making measurements to provide data to evaluate the performance and characteristics of the disposal site.

(44) Nanocurie means one one-billionth (0.000000001) of a curie.

(45) Natural characteristics means the elements which comprise the physical and biological environment, including the ecology, geochemistry, geology, hydrology, meteorology and climate, and seismology. These elements also include natural resources with agricultural, cultural, economic, recreational and scenic values.

(46) Naturally-occurring and accelerator produced radioactive material or NARM means any radioactive material that can be considered naturally occurring and is not source, special nuclear, or by product material or that is produced in a charged particle accelerator.

(47) NARM waste means all putrescible and nonputrescible material or substances containing NARM that are discarded or rejected as spent, useless, worthless, or in excess to the owner at the time of such discard or rejection.

(48) Person means any individual; public, private or government corporation; joint-stock company; industry; partnership; copartnership; firm; association; trust; estate; public or private institution; group, government agency, department or bureau of the State, or political subdivision thereof; and any legal subsidiary, successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing, or any other legal entity whatsoever.

(49) Primary public water supply aquifer means a highly productive water-bearing formation, identified by the department, consisting of unconsolidated (nonbedrock) geologic deposits, which:

(i) receives substantial recharge from the overlying land surface; and

(ii) is presently utilized as a major source of water for public water supply, including but not limited to the following aquifers: Endicott - Johnson City; Ramapo - Mahwah River Valleys; Irondogenesee - Buried Valley; Jamestown; Elmira - Horseheads - Big Flats; Clifton Park-Halfmoon; Olean-Salamanca; Croton-on-Hudson; Owego-Waverly; Cohocton River; Tonawanda Creek; Seneca River; Corning; Fishkill - Sprout Creek; Fulton; South Fallsburg-Woodbourne; Schenectady; and Cortland-Homer-Preble.

(50) Principal aquifer means unconsolidated (nonbedrock) geologic deposits identified by the department which:

(i) receive substantial recharge from the overlying land surface;

(ii) are known to be highly productive or whose geology suggests a potentially abundant source of water; and

(iii) are not presently used as a major source of water for public water supply.

(51) Pyrophoric means, when referring to a liquid, any liquid that ignites spontaneously in dry or moist air at or below 130° F (54.4° C). A pyrophoric solid is any solid material, other than one classified as an explosive, which, under normal conditions, is liable to cause fires through friction, retained heat from manufacturing or processing, or which can be ignited readily and, when ignited, burns so vigorously and persistently as to create a serious transportation, handling or disposal hazard. Included are spontaneously combustible and water-reactive materials.

(52) Quality assurance means those planned and systematic actions to ensure that a product, facility or operation meets or exceeds desired performance criteria and the documentation to verify that the results have been obtained. Quality assurance includes quality control.

(53) Recovery means removing from a disposal unit waste that has been permanently disposed in a land disposal facility.

(54) Rem means a unit of dose equivalent for any type of ionizing radiation absorbed by body tissue in terms of its estimated biological effect relative to an exposure of one roentgen of X- or gamma-rays. The dose equivalent in rems is numerically equal to the absorbed dose in rads multiplied by the quality factor, distribution factor, and any other necessary modifying factors.

(55) Retrieval means recovery of waste in an intact container.

(56) Site closure and stabilization or closure means those actions that are taken upon completion of operations that prepare the disposal site for custodial care and that assure that the disposal site will remain stable and will not need ongoing active maintenance.

(57) Shallow land burial means emplacement of low-level radioactive waste in or within the upper 30 meters of the surface of the earth in trenches, holes or other excavations:

(i) in which only soil provides:

(a) structural integrity;

(b) a barrier to migration of low-level radioactive waste from, or subsurface water into, such excavation; or

(c) a barrier to entry of surface water to such excavation; or

(ii) in a manner that fails to allow for monitoring and control of releases of radioactivity during the institutional control period.

(58) Slumping means a landsliding characterized by movement of a generally independent mass of rock or earth along a slip surface and about an axis parallel to the slope rim which it descends, and by backward tilting of the mass with respect to that slope so that the slump surface often exhibits a reversed slope facing uphill.

(59) Soil means all unconsolidated earthy material overlying bedrock.

(60) Solutioning means the chemical process by which rock material passes into solution.

(61) Stability means structural stability.

(62) Subsidence means a local mass movement that involves principally the gradual downward settling or sinking of the solid earth's surface with little or no horizontal motion and that does not occur along a free surface (not the result of a landslide or fracture of a slope).

(63) Surface facilities means the auxiliary buildings and equipment located on the surface of the land above an underground mined repository.

(64) Surveillance means observation of the disposal site for purposes of visual detection of need for maintenance, custodial care, evidence of intrusion, and compliance with Federal and State statutory, regulatory, license and permit requirements.

(65) Transuranic waste means radioactive waste containing alpha-emitting radionuclides of atomic number 93 or higher with a half life greater than five years and in concentrations greater than 100 nanocuries per gram.

(66) Underground mined repository means a land disposal facility in which low-level radioactive waste is placed within the earth at a depth greater than 30 meters below the surface of the earth.

(67) Waste means low-level radioactive waste.

[FN1] In the context of the selection of one or two sites by the commission pursuant to article 29 of the ECL, disposal site or site consists of real property the commission proposes to be used for a land disposal facility.

[FN2] Disposal units include, but are not limited to, vaults, excavations containing concrete modules, and the cavities of underground mined repositories.

[FN3] Land disposal facility includes, but is not limited to, underground mined repositories and the land, buildings and equipment which are intended to be used for aboveground disposal of low-level radioactive waste.

[FN4] Byproduct material as defined in section 11e(2) of the Atomic Energy Act is uranium or thorium tailings and waste.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 6 § 382.2