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   The Division of Environmental Health licenses, certifications, and permits

Learn more about the Division of Environmental Health

Radioactive Air Emissions

This Program protects the public from airborne radioactivity by enforcing federal and state standards for radioactive air emissions.  This includes enforcing offsite dose standards and radionuclide control technology standards. Compliance with regulations is assured through inspections, plan reviews, and licensing. 

• Background

• Contact

• Licensees

• Regulations

• Procedures

Background

This Program is delegated federal authority for limiting radioactive air emissions from various types of sources.  As part of that authority the Program issues Air Emission Licenses to Operate which are included in Air Operating Permits issued by the Department of Ecology (Ecology) (Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, subpart 70).  Maintaining this delegation is essential in ensuring continued federal funds for many other programs.  The Program is delegated federal authority from EPA for Code of Federal Regulations Title 40 Part 61subparts  for airborne radionuclides. These Programs are fee supported.

The state standards for radioactive air emissions are set by Ecology, by statute, and enforced state wide at any facility that emits, or has the potential to emit, radionuclides into the air.  However, the enforcement of WAC 246-247 at most non-federal facilities is done by the Radioactive Materials Section as part of their Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Agreement State Program.  This helps streamline the regulatory process, avoids duplicative efforts, and cuts costs.  Exceptions to this are as follows:

University of Washington (UW) -  They are required by federal and state law to hold an Air Operating Permit (AOP), which must be done consistently and coordinated with EPA, Ecology, and the local air pollution control agencies.

Washington State University (WSU) - They are required by federal and state law to hold an Air Operating Permit (AOP), which must be done consistently and coordinated with EPA, Ecology, and the local air pollution control agencies.

Framatome Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Facility -  As a fuel cycle facility, they are not regulated by the Radioactive Materials Program.

Perma-Fix - As a nuclear waste processing business they have an increased possibility for radioactive air emissions to occur.

In addition to UW and WSU, the Radioactive Air Emissions Program issues licenses for inclusion into AOPs to the Department of Energy at Hanford, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, and Fort Lewis.

The program consists of reviewing and approving applications (Notices of Construction), issuing licenses to operate with conditions and limitations, inspecting and auditing emission units and projects to determine compliance, providing technical assistance and enforcing the standards. The program has civil and criminal enforcement authority.

Regulations

• Federal Clean Air Act

• State Clean Air Act

• EPA's National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants

• Washington State Radiation Protection Air Emissions Regulations

Procedures

• Procedure for DOH NESHAPS Level II, Notice of Construction, and Minor Stack Inspections  (PDF, 111 KB )

Licensees

Department of Energy, Hanford Site Operations

• Operating License (FF-01) (PDF, 6419KB) Current as of October 30, 2009

• Operating License (FF-01) History (PDF, 93KB) Current as of October 30, 2009

The Hanford Site began operation in the 1940's as part of the World War II Manhattan Project. The Hanford Site was a plutonium production complex with nine nuclear reactors and associated processing facilities. Today, the U.S. Department of Energy is cleaning up the waste left over from past Hanford operations. This consists of cleaning up more than 53 million gallons of radioactive and chemically hazardous waste in 177 underground storage tanks, 2,300 tons of spent nuclear fuel, 9 tons of plutonium, and about 25 million cubic feet of buried or stored radioactive and chemically contaminated solid waste.

The Washington Administrative Code WAC 246-247-060(7) requires that each Federal Facility, which has the potential to emit radioactive material into the air, hold one air emission license for each site.  Federal Facility License FF-01, issued to the U.S. Department of Energy by the Office of Radiation Protection,  identifies the required emission control requirements, monitoring requirements and record keeping requirements for each emission unit on the Hanford Site.

Contact Information

John Martell, Manager  509-946-3798

John Schmidt, Radiation Health Physicist  509-946-3874

Al Danielson, Radiation Health Physicist  509-574-0198

Shawna Berven, Administrative Assistant  509-946-0192

Fax: 509-946-0876