Section 332.20  Definitions

Unless otherwise indicated, the definitions of 32 Ill. Adm. Code 310 (General Provisions for Radiation Protection) apply to this Part.  As used in this Part, each of the following definitions has the specified meaning.

"Act" means the Radiation Protection Act of 1990 [420 ILCS 40].

"Active maintenance" means any activity, other than minor custodial activities, needed to preserve isolation of the byproduct material.  Active maintenance includes ongoing activities such as the pumping, removal, or treatment of surface water or groundwater or one-time measures such as replacement of a disposal area cover.

"Agency" means the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

"Aquifer" means a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation capable of yielding a significant amount of groundwater to wells or springs.  Any saturated zone created by uranium or thorium recovery operations would not be considered an aquifer unless the zone is or potentially is:

hydraulically interconnected to a natural aquifer,

capable of discharge to surface water, or

reasonably accessible because of migration beyond the vertical projection of the boundary of the land transferred for long-term government ownership and care in accordance with Section 332.280.

AGENCY NOTE:  The determination of "significant" will be based on site specific criteria such as yield of the aquifer in volume per unit time, the degree of use or potential for future use for domestic, industrial or agricultural purposes, the availability of alternative sources and capability of users to change to alternative sources in the event groundwater protection standards are exceeded.

"Buffer zone" means the area surrounding the site used for disposal of either byproduct material or material contaminated with uranium or thorium during, or as a consequence of, source material milling operations.  Use of the buffer zone is limited to those activities that would not be detrimental to containment of the wastes, environmental monitoring, interception and processing of any surface or groundwater effluents.

"Byproduct material" means, for purposes of this Part only, the tailings or wastes produced by the extraction or concentration of uranium or thorium from any ore processed primarily for its source material content, including discrete surface wastes resulting from uranium solution extraction processes.  Underground ore bodies depleted by such solution extraction operations do not constitute byproduct material within this definition.

"Closure" means the activities following operations to decontaminate and decommission the buildings and site used to produce byproduct material, to reclaim the tailings area, to reclaim the waste disposal area and to restore the groundwater to the degree necessary to achieve compliance with the groundwater protection requirements of Section 332.230(a).

"Closure plan" means the Agency approved plan to accomplish closure.

AGENCY NOTE:  The Agency will approve a closure plan if the plan describes how the licensee will decontaminate, reclaim and stabilize the licensed site in accordance with the requirements.

"Compliance period" begins when the Agency sets specific secondary groundwater protection standards in accordance with Section 332.230 and ends when the owner's or operator's license is terminated and the disposal site is transferred to the State or federal agency for long-term care.

"Control boundary" means a physical barrier that separates a restricted area from an unrestricted area.

"Decommissioning" means to remove (as a facility) safely from service and reduce residual radioactivity to a level that permits release of the property for unrestricted use and termination of the license.

AGENCY NOTE:  The byproduct material disposal site is not decommissioned because it will neither be released for unrestricted use nor be unlicensed.  Land ownership and custody will be maintained by the State or the federal government as required by Section 332.280.  Portions of the licensed site other than the actual byproduct material disposal site are decommissioned.

"Dike" means an embankment or ridge of either natural or man-made materials used to prevent the movement of liquids, sludges, solids or other materials.

"Disposal area" means the area containing byproduct material to which the requirements of Sections 332.170 and 332.240 apply.  The disposal area includes only the surface area of the land immediately underlain by byproduct material and does not include any embankments, dams or other supporting structures that surround the byproduct material.

"Disposal site" means the land transferred to the State or federal government pursuant to Section 332.280.  This land includes the disposal area, any surrounding embankments or dams that contain the byproduct material.

"Existing portion" means that land surface area of an existing surface impoundment or disposal area on which significant quantities of byproduct material have been placed prior to September 30, 1983.

"Fund" means the Radiation Protection Fund (see 420 ILCS 40/35).

"Groundwater" means water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.  For purposes of this Part, groundwater is the water contained within an aquifer as defined in this Section.

"Leachate" means any liquid, including any suspended or dissolved components in the liquid, that has percolated through or drained from the byproduct material.

"Licensed site" means the area contained within the boundary of a location under the control of persons generating or storing byproduct material under an Agency license.

AGENCY NOTE:  The licensed site would include, at a minimum, any actual or proposed disposal areas and sites, any additional land used by the licensee for the generation or storage of byproduct material and any buffer zones.  Normally, such additional land areas and buffer zones will be decommissioned and reclaimed and not subject to land transfer pursuant to Section 332.280.

"Liner" means a continuous layer of natural or man-made material beneath, or on the sides of, a surface impoundment that restricts the downward or lateral escape of byproduct material, hazardous constituents or leachate.

"Long-term care" means the period following postclosure and termination of a license issued pursuant to this Part during which surveillance and monitoring activities are conducted by a State or federal agency.

"Minor custodial activities" means maintenance activities under State specific license, not necessary to preserve the isolation of the byproduct material.  These activities could include repair of fencing, repair or replacement of monitoring equipment, minor additions to or repair of disposal area cover and general disposal site upkeep such as mowing grass.

"Point of compliance" means the site specific location in the uppermost aquifer where the groundwater protection standard must be met.

"Postclosure" means the period of time from completion of the closure plan for decontamination, reclamation and stabilization of the source material milling facility, byproduct material surface impoundment and disposal area, but prior to the termination of the license.

"Reclamation" means the following activities performed at a licensed site as a part of closure:

stabilize and isolate byproduct material contained within a disposal site.  This may include relocation of the byproduct material;

backfill with uncontaminated soil any disturbed areas to achieve a topography compatible with surrounding terrain;

recontour land to support surface drainage; and

revegetate as necessary.

"Source material milling" means any operation in which uranium or thorium is extracted and concentrated from ore processed primarily for its source material content.  This includes solution mining and heap leaching and any other operation that generates byproduct material as defined in this Part.

"Surface impoundment" means a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation or diked area that is designed to hold an accumulation of liquid wastes or wastes containing free liquids, and that is not an injection well.

"Surveillance" means monitoring and observation of the disposal site for the purposes of visual detection of the need for maintenance, custodial care, evidence of unauthorized access and compliance with other license and regulatory requirements.

"Uppermost aquifer" means the geologic formation nearest the natural ground surface that is an aquifer, as well as lower aquifers that are hydraulically interconnected with this aquifer within the facility's property boundary.

(Source:  Amended at 38 Ill. Reg. 21459, effective October 31, 2014)