EPA radionuclide standards and amendments to the Clean Air Act

This paper reports that under current law, emissions of radionuclides from facilities licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are regulated under both the Atomic Energy Act and the Clean Air Act. This was not a problem until recently, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ten years after it had declared radionuclides to be hazardous, issued regulations governing emissions of radionuclides under the Clean Air Act. Now, suddenly, there are regulations issued by EPA under the Clean Air Act in addition to regulations promulgated by NRC under the Atomic Energy Act. While the avowed purpose of both of these sets of regulations is to protect the public health and safety, in reality, all dual regulation does is impose significant additional burdens on the regulated entities and the regulating agencies alike