EPA Finalizes Rule for Radiation Safety Standard for Proposed High-Level Nuclear Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued the final rule for amendments to its public health and safety standards for radioactive material stored or disposed of in the potential repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. EPA has ruled that compliance will be judged against a standard of 150 microsieverts per year ([mu]Sv/yr) (15 millirem per year (mrem/yr)) committed effective dose equivalent (CEDE) at times up to 10,000 years after disposal and against a standard of 1 millisievert per year (mSv/yr) (100 mrem/yr) CEDE at times after 10,000 years and up to 1 million years after disposal. These standards comply with a court ruling that EPA must provide a safety standard for more than 10,000 years. Now, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission "must modify its licensing requirements, as necessary, to make them consistent with our [EPA's] final standards. Before it may construct the repository or accept waste at the Yucca Mountain site and eventually close the repository, the Department of Energy must obtain authorization for these activities from NRC. DOE will be subject to NRC's modified regulations, which NRC will implement through its licensing proceedings." DOE submitted a license to the NRC a license application for the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository on June 3. The rule is effective Nov. 14. The Docket Nos. are EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0083-0086 and EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0083-0087. To view the materials related to this rule, go to http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov and select a'Advanced Docket Search' under "More Search Options." In the Docket ID window, type in the docket identification number EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0083 and click on "Submit." This will bring you to the "Docket Search Results" page. From there, you may access the docket contents (e.g., EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0083-0002) by clicking on the icon in the "Views" column. Federal Register Notice http://www.newswatchnativeamerica.com/FRNotices/081017.Yucca.pdf For further information, contact Ray Clark, 202/343-9360, clark.ray@epa.gov.