§ 17-30180. Exempt Persons, Products, Concentrations and Quantities.

(a) Any person is exempt from this regulation if such person:

(1) Is a common and contract carrier transporting radioactive material in the regular course of their carriage for another or storage incident thereto. Such carriers are subject to the provisions of Group 4, Transportation of Radioactive Material.

(2) Is licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission under Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 150, Section 150.15, Continued Commission Regulatory Authority in Agreement States, or otherwise agreed upon by the Department and the Commission.

(3) Is under a prime contract with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the United States Department of Energy at a U.S. Government-owned or controlled site, including the transporting of radioactive material to or from such site, the performance of contract services during temporary interruptions of such transportation; for research in or development, manufacture, storage, testing or transportation of atomic weapons or components thereof; or for the use of nuclear devices in U.S. Government-owned vehicle or vessel; or under a subcontract when it is jointly determined by the Department and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission that an exemption is appropriate.

(b) The following products are exempt from this regulation:

(1) Timepieces, hands or dials therefor, containing any radioactive luminous material provided these have been distributed as exempt products in accordance with a United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission license: and any timepieces, hands or dials therefore containing radium activated luminous material.

(2) Automobile lock illuminators containing up to 15 millicuries of tritium or 2 millicuries of promethium 147 per lock.

(3) Compounds or mixtures with rare earth elements containing up to 0.25% by weight of source material.

(4) Glazed ceramic tableware containing up to 20% by weight of source material in the glaze.

(5) Glassware containing not more than 10 percent by weight source material; but not including commercially manufactured glass brick, pane glass, ceramic tile, or other glass or ceramic used in construction;

(6) Glass enamel or glass enamel frit containing not more than 10 percent by weight source material imported or ordered for importation into the United States, or initially distributed by manufacturers in the United States, before July 25, 1983.

(7) Photographic film, negatives, and prints containing source material.

(8) Incandescent gas mantles, vacuum tubes, electric lamps, and welding rods containing thorium.

(9) Any finished product or part fabricated of, or containing, tungsten-thorium or magnesium-thorium alloys; provided that the thorium content of the alloy does not exceed 4% by weight.

(10) Finished optical lenses containing up to 30% by weight of thorium, but not including spectacles, contact lenses, or eyepieces of optical instruments and subject to not altering the finished product by any process such as shaping, grinding, or polishing.

(11) Fire detector heads containing up to 0.005 microcuries of uranium per head.

(12) Electric lamps for illuminating purposes provided that each lamp does not contain more than 50 milligrams of thorium.

(13) Germicidal lamps, sun lamps and lamps for outdoor or industrial lighting provided that each lamp does not contain more than two grams of thorium.

(14) Personnel neutron dosimeters provided that each dosimeter does not contain more than 50 milligrams of thorium.

(15) Shipping containers utilizing natural or depleted uranium metal as shielding, if such container is and remains:

(A) Conspicuously impressed with the legend: “CAUTION -RADIOACTIVE SHIELDING -URANIUM” and;

(B) The uranium metal is encased in mild steel or equally fire resistant metal of minimum wall thickness of one eight inch (3.2 mm).

(16) Counterweights of uranium installed in, or store or handled in connection with installation in or removal from, aircraft, rockets, projectiles, or missiles, if each such counterweight has been manufactured pursuant to an appropriate specific license; and

(A) each counterweight manufactured prior to December 31, 1969 has been, and remains, impressed, labeled and marked in accordance with the provisions of that specific license at the time of manufacture;

(B) each counterweight manufactured on or after December 31, 1969 has been impressed with the following legend clearly legible through any plating or other covering: “DEPLETED URANIUM”; and is durably and legibly labeled or marked with the identification of the manufacturer, and the statement: “UNAUTHORIZED ALTERATIONS PROHIBITED.”

(17) Precision balances or parts therefor, provided that no such balance contains more than 1.0 millicurie of tritium and no balance part contains more than 0.5 millicurie of tritium.

(18) Automobile shift quadrants containing not more than 25 millicuries of tritium.

(19) Marine compasses containing not more than 750 millicuries of tritium gas and other marine navigational instruments containing not more than 250 millicuries of tritium gas.

(20) Thermostat dials and pointers containing not more than 25 millicuries of tritium per thermostat.

(21) Thorium contained in any finished aircraft engine part containing nickel-thoria mixture, provided that:

(A) The thorium is dispersed in the nickel-thorium mixture in the form of finely divided thorium dioxide; and

(B) The thorium content of the mixture does not exceed 4% by weight.

(22) Electron tubes: Provided that each tube does not contain more than one of the following specified quantities of radioactive material:

(A) 150 millicuries of tritium per microwave receiver protector tube or 10 millicuries of tritium per any other electron tube;

(B) 1 microcurie of cobalt 60;

(C) 5 microcuries of nickel 63;

(D) 30 microcuries of krypton 85;

(E) 5 microcuries of cesium 137;

(F) 30 microcuries of promethium 147;

and provided further, that these have been manufactured and distributed pursuant to an appropriate specific license. Note:Electron tubes include spark gap tubes, power tubes, gas tubes including glow lamps, receiving tubes, microwave tubes, indicator tubes, pick-up tubes, radiation detection tubes and any other completely sealed tube that is designed to conduct or control electrical currents.)

(23) Synthetic plastic resins containing scandium 46 and designed for sand consolidation in oil wells provided such resins shall have been manufactured or imported in accordance with a specific license which authorizes their distribution as exempt products.

(24) Intact meters containing radium activated luminous material.

(25) Piezoelectric ceramic containing not more than 2 percent by weight source material.

(26) Gas and aerosol detectors containing radioactive material and designed to protect life or property from fires and airborne hazards provided such detectors have been manufactured or imported in accordance with a specific license which authorizes their distribution as exempt products.

(27) Self-luminous products containing tritium, krypton 85, or promethium 147 provided such products have been manufactured or imported in accordance with a specific license which authorizes their distribution as exempt products, and provided further that such products are not used primarily for frivolous purposes or as toys or adornments.

(28) Ionizing radiation measuring instruments containing, for purposes of internal calibration or standardization, one or more sources of radioactive material, provided that:

(A) Each source contains no more than one exempt quantity set forth in section 30235, Schedule A, and

(B) Each instrument contains no more than ten exempt quantities. For purposes of subsection (b)(28)(A) and (B), an instrument's source(s) may contain either one type or different types of radionuclides, and an individual exempt quantity may be composed of fractional parts of one or more of the exempt quantities in section 30235, Schedule A, provided that the sum of such fractions shall not exceed unity.

(C) For purposes of subsection (b)(28)(B), 0.05 microcurie of americium- 241 is considered an exempt quantity under section 30235, Schedule A.

(29) Spark gap irradiators containing not more than one microcurie of cobalt-60 per spark gap irradiator for use in electrically ignited fuel oil burners having a firing rate of at least three gallons per hour (11.4 liters per hour).

(30) Capsules containing one microcurie of carbon-14 urea each, for in vivo diagnostic use for humans. Persons who use the capsules for research involving human subjects shall possess a specific license issued pursuant to section 30195.

(c) The following concentrations and quantities are exempt from this regulation:

(1) Any naturally-occurring radioactive material, except source material, in concentrations which occur naturally. Unprocessed ore in its natural form containing source material is exempt. Refining and processing are not exempt.

(2) Any chemical mixture, compound, solution or alloy containing up to one-twentieth of one percent (0.05 percent) by weight of source material.

(3) Any radioactive material in concentration not exceeding those specified in section 30237, Schedule C, except that a specific license shall be required by any person to transfer possession or control of any product or material into which radioactive material has been introduced in such concentrations except for transfers to appropriately licensed persons for analytical test or waste disposal purposes.

(4) Radioactive material in individual quantities each of which does not exceed the applicable quantity set forth in section 30235, Schedule A, if not more than 10 such scheduled quantities are possessed at any one time.

(d) The exemptions contained in subsection (b) shall not authorize any of the following:

(1) The manufacture of any product listed.

(2) The application or removal of radioactive luminous material to or from meters and timepieces, or hands and dials therefor.

(3) The installation into automobile locks of illuminators containing tritium or promethium 147 or the application of tritium to balances of precision or parts therefor.

(4) The chemical, physical, or metallurgical treatment or processing of thorium-metal alloys.

(5) Human use, or the use in any device or article, except time pieces and the product specified in subsection (b)(30), which is intended to be placed on or in the human body.

(6) The chemical, physical, or metallurgical treatment or processing of uranium counterweights other than repair or restoration of any plating or other covering.

(e) The exemptions specified in subsections (b)(30), (c)(3) or (c)(4) shall not authorize the production, packaging, repackaging or transfer of radioactive material for purposes of commercial distribution, or the incorporation of radioactive material into products intended for commercial distribution.

HISTORY

1. Amendment of subsection (c)(1) and new subsection (d)(7) filed 10-12-72; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 72, No. 42). For prior history, see Register 71, No. 30.

2. Amendment filed 7-7-86; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 86, No. 28).

3. Change without regulatory effect of subsections (b)(15) and (c)(2)-(4) (Register 88, No. 6).

4. Change without regulatory effect amending subsections (b)(1), (b)(17), (b)(28), and (d)(2) filed 11-1-91 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 92, No. 5).

5. Editorial correction reinserting inadvertently omitted subsections (c)-(c)(4) (Register 92, No. 44).

6. Editorial correction of subsection (b)(28)(B) (Register 2003, No. 29).

7. Amendment of section and repealer and newNote filed 7-28-2006; operative 8-27-2006 (Register 2006, No. 30).

Note

Note: Authority cited: Sections 100275 and 115000, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 114965, 114970, 115000, 115165 and 115235, Health and Safety Code.