Section 332.250  Technical Criteria − Source Material Milling Operations

a)         Liquids resulting from any of the mill processes shall not be released into surface streams.  In addition, contaminated solutions, other than liquids resulting from any of the mill processes, shall not be released into the environment if the solutions have radionuclide concentrations in excess of those specified in 32 Ill. Adm. Code 340.320(b) and (c).

b)         Byproduct material shall be chemically and physically treated to immobilize or remove the contaminants.

c)         An independent quality assurance program shall be established to assure that specifications of the monitoring program detailed in the license are met.  If adverse groundwater impacts or conditions conducive to adverse groundwater impacts occur, action shall be taken to alleviate the impacts or conditions and restore groundwater quality to levels as specified in accordance with Section 332.230 of this Part.

d)         Source material milling operations shall be conducted so that all airborne effluent releases are reduced to levels as low as is reasonably achievable.  Emissions controls shall be used.  Institutional controls, such as extending the licensed site boundary and exclusion area, may be employed to ensure that offsite dose limits are met, but only after all practicable process and engineering measures have been taken to control emissions at the source.  Notwithstanding the existence of individual dose standards, strict control of emissions is necessary to assure that population exposures are reduced to the maximum extent reasonably achievable and to avoid site contamination.  During operations and prior to closure, radiation doses from radon emissions from surface impoundments and disposal areas containing byproduct material shall be kept as low as is reasonably achievable. Checks shall be made and logged hourly of all parameters that determine the efficiency of product stack emission control equipment operation.  It shall be determined whether conditions are within a range prescribed to ensure that the equipment is operating consistently near peak efficiency.  Corrective action must be taken when performance is outside of prescribed ranges.  Effluent control devices must be operative at all times during drying and packaging operations and whenever air is exhausting from the product stack.  Drying and packaging operations shall terminate when controls are inoperative.  When checks indicate the equipment is not operating within the range prescribed for peak efficiency, actions shall be taken to restore parameters to the prescribed range.  When this cannot be done without shutdown and repairs, drying and packaging operations shall cease as soon as practicable.  Operations shall not be restarted after cessation due to abnormal performance until needed corrective actions have been identified and implemented.  All such cessations, corrective actions and restarts shall be reported to the Agency, in writing, within 10 days after the subsequent restart.

e)         To control fugitive dust from tailings, all surfaces not covered by standing liquids shall be wetted or chemically stabilized.  For licenses initially granted after January 1, 1990, management of tailings shall incorporate phased-in surface stabilization and reclamation.  To control dusting from diffuse sources, operators shall develop written operating procedures specifying the methods of control that will be used.

f)         Byproduct material shall be managed so as to conform to the applicable provisions of 40 CFR 440, Ore Mining and Dressing Point Source Category:  Effluent Limitations Guidelines and New Source Performance Standards, subpart C, Uranium, Radium, and Vanadium Ores Subcategory, in effect on July 1, 1995, exclusive of subsequent amendments or editions.

g)         Licensees and applicants shall satisfy the requirements of 40 CFR 61, in effect on July 1, 1995, exclusive of subsequent amendments or editions.

h)         Inspection of the byproduct material impoundments and disposal areas:

1)         The licensee shall conduct daily inspections of any surface impoundment and disposal site and document the results of the inspections.  Records of the inspections shall be maintained for 5 years in a format allowing for easy access and review by the Agency.

2)         The licensee shall notify the Agency within 2 hours by telephone, and then within 48 hours by written report, of any failure of a byproduct material surface impoundment or disposal area that results in a release of byproduct material into unrestricted areas.  The licensee shall notify the Agency in writing, immediately, of any condition that was not anticipated in the design of the byproduct material surface impoundment or disposal area and, if not corrected, could cause failure of embankments or other structures containing the byproduct material and the release of byproduct material into unrestricted areas.

3)         In cases of failure of the byproduct material impoundment, the report shall be maintained for transfer to the governmental agency to which the title of the facility will be transferred.

(Source:  Amended at 42 Ill. Reg. 10412, effective May 31, 2018)