Groundwater Standards for Remedial Actions at Inactive Uranium Processing Sites

The Environmental Protection Agency is issuing final regulations to correct and prevent contamination of groundwater beneath and in the vicinity of inactive uranium processing sites by uranium tailings. EPA issued regulations (40 CFR part 192, subparts A, B, and C) for cleanup and disposal of tailings from these sites on January 5, 1983. These new regulations replace existing provisions at 40 CFR 192.20(a)(2) and (3) that were remanded by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on September 3, 1985. They are promulgated pursuant to Section 275 of the Atomic Energy Act, as amended by Section 206 of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-604). The regulations apply to tailings at the 24 locations that qualify for remedial action under Title I of Public Law 95-604. They provide that tailings must be stabilized and controlled in a manner that permanently eliminates or minimizes contamination of groundwater beneath stabilized tailings, so as to protect human health and the environment. They also provide for cleanup of contamination that occurred before the tailings are stabilized.