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Mr. Carl Gertz
U.S. Department of Energy
Nevada Operations Office
P.O. Box 98518
Las Vegas, Nevada 89193-8518
Dear Mr. Gertz:
We have reviewed the March 13, 1998 from Brad Mettam, Special Projects Coordinator for Inyo County, to Mr. Frank DiSanza in which reference is made to the possibility that routing of low-level waste to the Nevada Test Site in such a way as to avoid the heavily populated Las Vegas metropolitan area would violate U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) routing regulations contained in CFR 397.101. My Office has determined that the referenced USDOT regulations pertain only to highway route controlled quantities (HRCQ) of radioactive materials, such as spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. They do not apply to non-HRCQ shipments of low level radioactive wastes.
We find no impediment in federal statutes or regulations that would prohibit DOE from specifying, through contracts with shippers or through other means, that shipments of non-highway route controlled quantities of radioactive materials must use highway and rail routes that avoid the Las Vegas metro area.
I hope this letter clarifies matters for you. I appreciate your efforts to work with the State of Nevada in this important matter, and I look forward to the successful fulfillment of DOE's commitment to move low-level waste shipments out of the Las Vegas Valley.
Sincerely,
Robert R. Loux
Robert R. Loux
Executive Director
RRL/cs
cc
Governor Miller
Mr. Frank DiSanza, DOE/NV
Mr. Brad Mettam, Inyo County
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