Brian Bradley
WC Monitor
11/6/2015
The Environmental Protection Agency will host a rare public meeting of the Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards (ISCORS) from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 9, at EPA’s William Jefferson Clinton East Building in Washington, D.C., according to a notice posted Monday in the Federal Register. ISCORS is expected to discuss the draft International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Requirements document, DS457, “Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency,” and is inviting public comments on the draft during the IAEA member state review process. While IAEA safety standards are not binding on the U.S., and although the government doesn’t routinely adopt them, the U.S. has considered the safety standards as a useful point of reference in the development of proposals for changes to U.S. regulations or guidance, according to the EPA.
The purpose of ISCORS is to foster early resolution and coordination of regulatory issues associated with radiation standards. Member agencies include the EPA, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the departments of Energy, Defense, Transportation, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Committee meetings normally involve pre-decisional intragovernmental discussions, and are typically not open for observation by members of the public or media, according to an EPA notice of the meeting. “This particular ISCORS meeting is open to all interested members of the public,” EPA’s posting states. “Time will be reserved on the agenda for members of the public to provide comments.”
