The state of Montana is revising a set of proposed rules issued last year for management of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) waste.
The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said in a Jan. 24 memo it believes “revisions of the rules are warranted to address public concern and stakeholder input” received since the proposed rules were first released on Aug. 18, 2017.
The updated proposal “includes clarifications, modifications, technical input, and additional language,” according to the memo, issued by Emily Ewart, rule specialist and policy coordinator for DEQ’s Waste and Underground Tank Management Bureau, to stakeholders in the state.
Details of the changes will be addressed in the notice of the revised proposal, which is expected this year, DEQ spokeswoman Jenifer Garcin said by email.
Garcin said about 1,000 comments were submitted to DEQ, which addressed issues including water protection, the definition of TENORM, and waste screening.
The state agency previously had planned to request a 90-day extension from the Montana secretary of state in the rulemaking. The Department of Environmental Quality will instead allow the original proposed rule to expire, to be replaced by the updated version. The secretary of state “reviews the final rule and may impact the date of adoption if there are formatting or procedural issues,” according to Garcin.
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. Rules in Montana’s original proposal included a prohibition on building, expanding, or operating a TENORM waste management system without a DEQ solid waste management license; a cap on annual average TENORM concentration in a disposal unit of 50 picocuries per gram of radium-226 plus radium-228; and the criteria that must be included in a TENORM waste management plan.
Once the new rules are ready, they will be published for review, with a comment period no shorter than 30 days, Ewart wrote in her memo. There will be at least one additional public hearing.
Montana has only one operational facility for disposal of TENORM waste, managed by Buckhorn Energy Oaks Disposal Services, which took in 70,853.38 tons in 2016 – the most recent year for which data is available. Most of the TENORM waste comes from oil and gas extraction operations in neighboring North Dakota.
Another two facilities have received state permits but have not begun operations. The state is taking public comments on a proposed fourth facility.
