N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 6, § 383-10.3 – Pre-operational monitoring.

(a) The applicant or the permittee must conduct a pre-operational monitoring program.
1. (1) At the time a permit application is submitted, the applicant must have performed environmental monitoring to provide the data required as part of a complete application by Subpart 383-3 of this Part. For characteristics such as rainfall, air temperature, and groundwater levels that are subject to seasonal variation, data must have been collected for at least 12 consecutive months. If the applicant is the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority acting pursuant to section 1854-c of the Public Authorities Law, this monitoring may have been conducted, in part, by the Commission.
2. (2) The applicant must continue the pre-operational monitoring program until either the department denies the application for a permit or the effective date of the permit.
(b) The pre-operational monitoring program must provide environmental data on the site and the surrounding vicinity as described in subdivision (c) of this section. The data must be collected on the site and also at a sufficient distance from the site to provide background concentrations and levels.
(c) The pre-operational monitoring program must include:
1. (1) information about the ecology, meteorology, climate, demography, natural resources, land use, hydrology, geology, geochemistry, and seismology of the disposal site;
2. (2) background levels of radiation and background concentrations of radioactive materials in air, water, soils, flora, and fauna;
3. (3) concentrations and distribution of radioactive materials and any other constituents, both in the environment and released by other nearby facilities, that may affect the ability of the land disposal facility to meet the performance objectives or that may mask the environmental monitoring program; and
4. (4) an aerial radiation survey of the site and the land within a five-mile radius of the site, with the results of the survey referenced to the grid system required by section 383-11.2(c) of this Part.
(d) With the exception of those monitoring stations intentionally located at the future locations of disposal units, pre-operational monitoring stations must be located, to the extent practicable, so that:
1. (1) the stations will not have to be decommissioned during site operations;
2. (2) the stations will continue to provide useful data during the operation, closure, post-closure, and institutional control periods; and
3. (3) pre-operational, operational, and post-operational data can be meaningfully compared.
(e) The pre-operational monitoring program must be designed to detect any significant changes in site environmental conditions caused by construction activities.