Montana state officials expect next month to present local stakeholders with an updated set of proposed rules for management of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) waste.
That would initiate a months-long process of review, including a public comment period, leading to anticipated finalization of the rules in early 2019, according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
The state agency in August 2017 issued a set of draft rules highlighted by requiring a solid waste management system license for building, expanding, or operating a TENORM waste site. However, following input from the public, DEQ decided by January of this year to revise the proposal.
The revisions encompass “clarifications, modifications, technical input, and additional language,” Emily Ewart, rule specialist and policy coordinator for DEQ’s Waste and Underground Tank Management Bureau, said in a memo at the time.
Additional details were not available this week. “The rules are expected to evolve after the work group meeting so it’s too soon to say how they will specifically differ from the previous rule package,” DEQ spokeswoman Jenifer Garcin said by email.
The working group is expected to meet on Aug. 9 at DEQ headquarters in Helena. Representatives will include government officials and representatives from industry and nongovernmental organizations, Garcin said. They will help refine the rules package before it is released for public input.
Comment periods generally extend for 30 days, though extensions are possible, Garcin said. The Department of Environmental Quality will then review the comments to determine if additional revisions to the rules are necessary. The proposal will subsequently go to the Montana secretary of state.
TENORM is naturally radioactive material that has come into contact with the environment or has been concentrated as a result of human activities, such as oil and natural gas production. Most TENORM waste disposed of in Montana comes from oil and gas extraction operations next door in North Dakota.
