La. Admin. Code tit. 33 § XV-1404

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section XV-1404 - Exemptions

A. NORM, NORM waste, and NORM contaminated material are exempt from the requirements of these regulations if they contain, or are contaminated at, concentrations of:

1. 5 picocuries per gram or less of radium-226 or radium-228, above background; or

2. 150 picocuries per gram of any other NORM radionuclide, provided that these concentrations are not exceeded at any time.

B. Equipment, which contains NORM, is exempt from the requirements of these regulations, except LAC 33:XV.1409, if the maximum radiation exposure level does not exceed 50 microroentgens per hour at any accessible point.

C. Except as provided in LAC 33:XV.1408, 1409, and 1417, land is exempt from the requirements of this Chapter if it contains material at concentrations less than the limits specified below, in samples averaged over any 100 square meters with no single noncomposited sample to exceed 60 picocuries per gram of soil:

1. 5 picocuries per gram or less of radium-226 or radium-228, above background, averaged over the first 15 centimeters, and 15 picocuries per gram above background averaged over each subsequent 15-centimeter-thick layer of soil; or

2. 30 picocuries per gram or less of radium-226 or radium-228, averaged over 15-centimeter-depth increments, provided the total effective dose equivalent (from the contaminated land) to individual members of the public (continually present) does not exceed 0.1 rem (1mSv) in a year.

D. The department may on a case by case basis approve alternate limits or measurement procedures for an exemption under LAC 33:XV:1404.A, B, or C.

E. Persons who receive source material, as authorized under the general license in LAC 33:XV.321.A, and products or materials containing NORM, distributed in accordance with a specific license issued by the department or an equivalent license issued by another licensing state, are exempt from these regulations.

F. Persons who receive, possess, store, use, process, transfer, sell, manufacture, distribute, recycle, or dispose of raw materials, intermediates, process streams, products, byproducts (including bauxite refinery and phosphogypsum recycle/reuse raw materials and products), and wastes related to the production of bauxite refinery and phosphate fertilizer materials, products, and byproducts are exempt from these regulations.

G. The recycling of NORM contaminated equipment and the manufacturing, distribution, use, transportation, and disposal of the following products/materials are exempt from the requirements of these regulations:

1. potassium and potassium compounds that have not been isotopically enriched in the radionuclide K-40;

2. materials used for building construction, industrial processes, metal casings, and abrasive cleaning if the NORM content of such material has not been technologically enhanced; and

3. byproducts from fossil fuel combustion (bottom ash, fly ash, and flue-gas emission control byproducts).

H. The wholesale and retail distribution (including custom blending), possession, use, and transportation of the following products/materials are exempt from the requirements of these regulations:

1. phosphate and potash fertilizer;

2. phosphogypsum for agricultural uses;

3. materials used for building construction if such materials contain NORM that has not been technologically enhanced;

4. natural gas and natural gas products; and

5. crude oil and crude oil products.

I. Produced waters from crude oil and natural gas production are exempt from the requirements of these regulations. Regulations concerning produced waters are referenced in LAC 33:IX.Chapter 7.

J. Tanks, vessels, containers, storage facilities, and distribution lines in refineries and petrochemical and gas plants contaminated with regulated NORM are not exempt from the requirements of these regulations.

La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § XV-1404

Promulgated by the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Air Quality and Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Energy Division, LR 15:736 (September 1989), amended by the Office of Air Quality and Radiation Protection, Radiation Protection Division, LR 18:605 (June 1992), LR 21:25 (January 1995), amended by the Office of Environmental Assessment, Environmental Planning Division, LR 26:2599 (November 2000), Amended by the Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs and Criminal Investigations Division, LR 481805 (7/1/2022).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:2001 et seq. and 2104.B.