General Guidance in Site Selection and Characterization Methodology

(1) Except as may be otherwise expressly provided in M.G.L. c. 111H or 310 CMR 43.00 the Board should apply the standards, protocols, and procedures set forth in the most recent applicable guidance documents on low-level radioactive waste management facility site selection and characterization issued by or under the authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [ NRC ], the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Public Health. (2) Notwithstanding the provision of 310 CMR 43.42(1)(a), the Board may choose not to apply any standard, protocol or procedure as set forth in the federal documents (federal measure) described in said subsection provided the Board makes a finding and documents that: (a) the federal measure is not applicable to a site or waste management technology under consideration due to conditions particular to Massachusetts or the site and substitute measures will provide accurate and verifiable data necessary to determine that a superior site meets the requirements of 310 CMR 43.41; or (b) a standard, protocol, or procedure proposed as a substitute for the federal measure will provide accurate and verifiable data which is equivalent or superior to the data or analysis intended to be provided by the federal measure. (3) Data shall be collected, analyzed and applied in accordance with generally accepted practices in the fields of geology, soil science and soil engineering, hydrology, land use studies, transportation, meteorology, environmental engineering, civil engineering, performance assessment, air modeling and monitoring and such other related disciplines as are necessary to a select a superior site. The Board shall apply the written guidance, protocols and procedures established by the Department for the investigation, characterization and modeling of water resources, wetlands and air quality except where the provisions of said documents contravene a Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulation in which case the NRC regulation shall govern. (4) Except as otherwise provided in applicable state or federal regulations,wheresitecompliancewith a criterion is based upon its ability to meet DPH performance objectives or to avoid or minimize an adverse effect and it is accepted professional custom or practice to utilize assumptions or estimate probabilities in conductingan evaluation to determine a site characteristic or parameter, the Board shall at a minimum apply reasonable but conservative assumptions and probabilities to assess the site's performance and compliance. In applying the reasonably likely standard contained in the criteria the Board shall adopt reasonable but conservative confidence limits for statistically defined measures. Where compliance with a performance standard is evaluated, the evaluation may consider the performance of the waste containers and the facility in isolating the waste from the environment. In evaluating the long term waste isolation capability of the containers and the facility the Board shall incorporate design and performance requirements set forth in applicable federal and state laws and regulations including, without limitation 105 CMR 120.800. (5) In determining whether or not a site meets a criterion which is based upon the site achieving a certain level of performance or compliance with DPH performance objectives, the Board may, in the preliminaryscreening phases set forth herein, adopt reasonable factors to eliminate, orsetaside forlater possible consideration, areas that the Board does not believe are likely to meet the criterion including, without limitation, minimum distances from the site or the waste management area to potential human or environmental receptors. (6) If at any time during the course of the site selection process the chief executive officer of a municipality requests that the Board consider the suitability of land within the municipality's jurisdiction, the Board may at its discretion advance the assessment of the volunteered location(s) and defer or delay evaluation of other sites as it deems appropriate. (7) If at any time during the course of evaluation of a particular site a determination is made that the site will not meet an exclusion or conditional consideration criterion the Board may terminate or suspend further evaluation of the site as it deems appropriate. (8) The Board shall employ the Massachusetts Geographic Information System [GIS] or, at a minimum, an equivalent computerized mapping system in the evaluation and presentation of mappable data. (9) The Board shall employ other relevant mapped or tabular data which is publicly available and obtained from its own investigation but may not be currently maintained within the GIS (e.g., U.S. GeologicalSurveygeologicmaps andseismic, flood plain, soil and land conservation maps).TheBoard should make reasonable efforts to incorporate said data layers into the GIS commensurate with the applicable stage of site screening. (10) Notwithstanding the provision of 310 CMR 43.45, 43.51 and 43.61, where during any preliminary stage of site characterization it is infeasible for a site characteristic to be adequately evaluated to determine if the site should be screened out, the Board may continue to collect data on and analyze the site in order to make the screening decision at a later stage of site characterization.