§ 7021. Siting requirements

(a) Under the authority of section 7020 of this title, the Agency shall adopt rules establishing the siting requirements for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility that shall, at a minimum, require that:

(1) the disposal site shall not be located in an area that is incapable of being thoroughly characterized, modeled, analyzed, and monitored;

(2) the disposal site shall not be located in an area where projected population growth and future development are likely to affect the ability of the disposal facility to meet the performance objectives;

(3) the disposal site shall not be located in areas having known natural resources that, if exploited, would result in the failure of the disposal facility to meet the performance objectives;

(4) the disposal site shall not be located in a 500-year floodplain, coastal high-hazard zone, or wetland and must be generally well drained and free of areas of flooding or frequent ponding;

(5) the disposal site shall not be located in areas with excessive upstream drainage that could erode, expose, or inundate the waste disposal units;

(6) the disposal site shall not be located in an area with insufficient depth to watertable so that groundwater intrusion, perennial or otherwise, could occur;

(7) the hydrogeologic unit used for disposal shall not discharge groundwater to the surface within the disposal site;

(8) the disposal site shall avoid areas where tectonic processes such as faulting, folding, seismic activity, or vulcanism may occur with such frequency and extent to significantly affect the ability of the disposal site to meet the performance objectives;

(9) the disposal site shall avoid areas where surface geologic processes such as mass wasting, erosion, slumping, landsliding, or weathering occur with such frequency and extent to significantly affect the ability of the disposal site to meet the performance objectives;

(10) the disposal site shall not be located where nearby facilities or activities or any existing radioactive materials could adversely impact the ability of the site to meet the performance objectives or significantly mask the environmental monitoring program;

(11) the disposal site shall not be located above 2,500 feet in elevation;

(12) the disposal site shall not be located within a watershed of Class A waters or of a public water supply, or within or adjacent to an aquifer protection area, within or adjacent to Class I or Class II aquifers, or where surface water quality standards could be reasonably expected to be violated by the facility;

(13) the disposal facility shall not be located within 100 meters of a wetland, stream, river, lake, or pond, within 200 meters of designated outstanding resource waters, or within distances found critical by site investigation;

(14) the disposal site shall not be located in areas where failure of a dam or impoundment could adversely affect the ability of the disposal site to meet the performance objectives;

(15) the disposal site must be of sufficient size to allow the satisfaction of the performance objectives; and

(16) the disposal site must retard, or be capable of being modified to retard, the movement of radionuclides.

(b) The rules establishing the siting requirements for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility shall also consider the following:

(1) the proximity of the disposal site to schools, historical sites, wilderness areas, parks (municipal, State, or national), State or wildlife refuges or management areas, military sites, or unique cultural areas;

(2) the potential for adverse effects on rare or endangered species;

(3) the population density of the area surrounding the disposal site and the likely impacts on local governmental units; and

(4) mitigation or avoidance of harm from unanticipated releases and from transportation accidents. (Added 1989, No. 296 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. June 29, 1990.)