Below-regulatory-concern rulemaking in Texas: Disposal of short-lived wastes in municipal landfills

In June 1986, the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority, with Rogers and Associates Engineering Corporation, completed a technical report analyzing the impact to Texas of disposing radioactive wastes containing low concentrations of short-lived radionuclides in permitted municipal landfills. The report establishes concentration and annual curie limits for radionuclides with half-lives <300 days such that no individual would receive a dose >1 mrem/yr. This method of disposal would result in a 50% reduction in the Texas institutional low-level waste volume and save waste generators $600,000 a year in disposal costs. In July 1986, the authority requested the Texas Department of Health to develop a rule to allow the municipal landfill disposal of short-lived wastes below the concentration and annual curie limits established in the technical report. The technical report was the support document for the request. Staff of the Bureau of Radiation Control, Texas Department of Health, reviewed the request for a rule change in August 1986 and revised the draft rule in response to regulatory concerns. The rule change was formally proposed on January 2, 1987, and will be a final rule in May 1987