[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 164 (Thursday, August 22, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43406-43408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21167]


      

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Part III





Nuclear Regulatory Commission





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10 CFR Parts 2 and 51



Domestic Licensing: Technical Amendments; Final Rule and Proposed Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 164 / Thursday, August 22, 1996 / 
Rules and Regulations  

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 2 and 51

RIN 3150-AF43


Deletion of Outdated References and Minor Change

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its 
regulations to delete all references to Appendix C, of 10 CFR Part 2. 
Appendix C ``General Statement of Policy and Procedures for Enforcement 
Actions,'' was removed from the Code of Federal Regulations because it 
is a Policy Statement, not a regulation, and the enforcement policy was 
published as a Policy Statement on June 30, 1995. This direct final 
rule also provides that the NRC may use discretion when determining 
whether to require a written explanation or statement in reply to a 
notice of violation. When the NRC believes that the licensee or other 
person who receives the notice of violation has already adequately 
addressed all the issues contained in that notice, at the discretion of 
the NRC, further written responses may not be required.

DATES: This final rule is effective on October 21, 1996, unless 
significant adverse comments are received by the NRC. Comments should 
be submitted by September 23, 1996. If the effective date is delayed, 
timely notice will be published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Mail written comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001. ATTN: Docketing and Service 
Branch.
    Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD, 
between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays.
    For information on submitting comments electronically, see the 
discussion under Electronic Access in the Supplementary Information 
Section.
    Copies of comments received may be examined or copies for a fee, at 
the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW. (Lower Level), 
Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: M.L. Au, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone (301) 415-6181. E-Mail: INTERNET:[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The NRC has removed Appendix C, ``General Statement of Policy and 
Procedures for NRC Enforcement Actions,'' from 10 CFR Part 2 (60 FR 
34380; June 30, 1995) inasmuch as the Enforcement Policy is a Policy 
Statement, not a regulation. The enforcement policy, ``General 
Statement of Policy and Procedures for NRC Enforcement Actions--
Enforcement Policy,'' was published as a Policy Statement on June 30, 
1995 (60 FR 34381). It was also published as NUREG-1600 in July 1995. 
There are two sections (10 CFR 2.8(b) and 51.10(d)) in the Commission's 
regulations that still reference Appendix C to Part 2. This rulemaking 
deletes both outdated references.
    This rulemaking also amends Sec. 2.201, ``Notice of Violation,'' to 
provide that the NRC may use discretion when determining whether to 
require a written explanation or statement in reply to a notice of 
violation. When the NRC believes that the licensee or other person who 
received the notice of violation has already adequately addressed all 
the issues contained in that notice, further written responses may not 
be required.

Discussion

I. Deletion of Outdated Reference to Appendix C to 10 CFR Part 2

Section 2.8  Information Collection Requirements: OMB Approval

    Section 2.8(a) currently states that the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection requirements 
contained in Part 2. Section 2.8(b) states that the approved 
information collection requirements appear in Appendix C to 10 CFR Part 
2. Because Appendix C has been removed from Part 2, there are no longer 
any information collection requirements in this part. Thus, Sec. 2.8 is 
amended to state that there are no information collection requirements 
contained in this part. It should be noted that any burden for the 
information collections related to enforcement actions is currently 
associated with the policy statement (June 30, 1995; 60 FR 34380), 
rather than with Part 2.

Section 51.10  Purpose and Scope of Subpart; Application of Regulations 
of Council on Environmental Quality

    Section 51.10(d) currently states, ``These actions include issuance 
of notices, orders, and denials of requests for action pursuant to 
Subpart B of Part 2 of this chapter, matters covered by Part 15 and 
Part 160 of this chapter, and any other matters covered by Appendix C 
to Part 2 of this chapter.'' Because Appendix C to 10 CFR Part 2 has 
been deleted, this sentence is incorrect. Thus, Sec. 51.10(d) is 
amended by deleting the reference to Appendix C to 10 CFR Part 2. 
Enforcement-related actions identified in the former Appendix C to 10 
CFR Part 2 will be added as examples to the list of actions in 
Sec. 51.10(d).

II. Grant of Discretion to Commission To Require a Written 
Explanation in Reply to a Notice of Violation

Section 2.201  Notice of Violation

    Section 2.201(a) states that, in response to a notice of violation, 
a licensee or other person subject to the jurisdiction of the 
Commission to whom a notice of violation has been sent will be required 
to submit a written statement in reply, including corrective steps that 
have been taken, and the date when full compliance will be achieved. 
However, when a licensee or other person has already adequately 
addressed the issues contained in the notice of violation in writing, 
the licensee or other person has already, in effect, responded to the 
violation and a further written statement may be unnecessary. 
Therefore, Sec. 2.201(a) is amended to replace the existing phrase 
``will require'' with ``may require.'' This change grants the NRC 
discretion when determining whether to require the submittal of a 
written explanation or statement when the NRC believes that a licensee 
or other person has already adequately addressed all the issues 
contained in that notice of violation.

Electronic Access

    Comments may be submitted electronically, in either ASCII text or 
WordPerfect format (version 5.1 or later), by calling the NRC 
Electronic Bulletin Board (BBS) on FedWorld. The bulletin board may be 
accessed using a personal computer, a modem, and one of the commonly 
available communications software packages, or directly via Internet.
    If using a personal computer and modem, the NRC rulemaking 
subsystem on FedWorld can be accessed directly by dialing the toll free 
number 1-800-303-9672. Communication software parameters should be set 
as follows: parity to none, data bits to 8, and stop bits to 1 (N,8,1). 
Using ANSI or VT-100 terminal emulation, the NRC NUREGs and RegGuides 
for Comment subsystem can then be accessed by selecting the ``Rules 
Menu'' option from the ``NRC Main Menu.'' For further information

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about options available for NRC at FedWorld, consult the ``Help/
Information Center'' from the ``NRC Main Menu.'' Users will find the 
``FedWorld Online User's Guides'' particularly helpful. Many NRC 
subsystems and data bases also have a ``Help/Information Center'' 
option that is tailored to the particular subsystem.
    The NRC subsystem on FedWorld can also be accessed by a direct dial 
phone number for the main FedWorld BBS, 703-321-3339, or by using 
Telnet via Internet: fedworld.gov. If using 703-321-3339 to contact 
FedWorld, the NRC subsystem will be accessed from the main FedWorld 
menu by selecting the ``Regulatory, Government Administration and State 
Systems,'' then selecting ``Regulatory Information Mall.'' At that 
point, a menu will be displayed that has an option ``U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission'' that will take you to the NRC Online main menu. 
The NRC Online area also can be accessed directly by typing ``/go nrc'' 
at a FedWorld command line. If you access NRC from FedWorld's main 
menu, you may return to FedWorld by selecting the ``Return to 
FedWorld'' option from the NRC Online Main Menu. However, if you access 
NRC at FedWorld by using NRC's toll-free number, you will have full 
access to all NRC systems but you will not have access to the main 
FedWorld system.
    If you contact FedWorld using Telnet, you will see the NRC area and 
menus, including the Rules menu. Although you will be able to download 
documents and leave messages, you will not be able to write comments or 
upload files (comments). If you contact FedWorld using FTP, all files 
can be accessed and downloaded but uploads are not allowed; all you 
will see is a list of files without descriptions (normal Gopher look). 
An index file listing all files within a subdirectory, with 
descriptions, is included. There is a 15-minute limit for FTP access.
    Although FedWorld can be accessed through the World Wide Web, like 
FTP, that mode only provides access for downloading files and does not 
display the NRC Rules Menu.
    For more information on NRC bulletin boards call Mr. Arthur Davis, 
Systems Integration and Development Branch, NRC, Washington, DC 20555, 
telephone (301) 415-5780; e-mail AXD[email protected].

Procedural Background

    Because NRC considers this action noncontroversial and routine, we 
are approving it without seeking public comments on proposed 
amendments. This action will become effective on October 21, 1996. 
However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments by September 
23, 1996, then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws this 
action and will address the comments received in response to the 
requested revisions which have been proposed for approval and are being 
concurrently published in the proposed rules section of this Federal 
Register. Comments will be addressed in the final rule on this 
proposal. The NRC will not initiate a second comment period on this 
action.

Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion

    The NRC has determined that this direct final rule is the type of 
action described as a categorical exclusion in Secs. 51.22(c)(1) and 
51.22(c)(2). Therefore, neither an environmental impact statement nor 
an environmental assessment has been prepared for this direct final 
rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement for Direct Final Rule

    This direct final rule does not contain a new or amended 
information collection requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing information collections 
were approved by the Office of Management and Budget, approval numbers 
3150-0136 and 3150-0021.

Public Protection Notification

    The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

Regulatory Analysis

    This direct final rule deletes outdated references to an appendix 
which previously has been deleted from the Commission regulations and 
provides that the NRC may use discretion regarding the submittal of a 
written response from a licensee if the NRC believes that the licensee 
or other person has already adequately addressed all the issues 
contained in a notice of violation. Deleting the outdated references 
will have no impact on licensees, the NRC, or the public. The NRC's 
discretion on requiring reports responding to a notice of violation 
will reduce the burdens of preparing unnecessary reports by licensees 
and of reviewing these reports by the NRC without compromising the 
public health and safety. However, it is impossible to quantify the 
amount of reduction in burden because the number of discretions to be 
authorized cannot be estimated. Therefore, the burden under the direct 
final rule would be at most equal, but probably less than, the burden 
under the existing regulations. This constitutes the regulatory 
analysis for the direct final rule.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act

    In accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has determined that this action is not a 
major rule and has verified this determination with the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB.

Backfit Analysis

    The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does 
not apply to this rule, because these amendments do not involve any 
provisions that would impose backfits as defined in 10 CFR 
50.109(a)(1). Therefore, a backfit analysis is not required for this 
direct final rule.

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 2

    Administrative practice and procedure, Antitrust, Byproduct 
material, Classified information, Environmental protection, Nuclear 
materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Penalties, Sex 
discrimination, Source material, Special nuclear material, Waste 
treatment and disposal.

10 CFR Part 51

    Administrative practice and procedure, Environmental Impact 
statement, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.
    For reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Energy Reorganization Act of 
1974 as amended, and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is adopting the 
following amendments to 10 CFR parts 2 and 51.

PART 2--RULES OF PRACTICE FOR DOMESTIC LICENSING PROCEEDINGS AND 
ISSUANCE OF ORDERS

    1. The authority citation for part 2 is revised as follows:

    Authority: Secs. 161, 181, 68 Stat. 948, 953, as amended (42 
U.S.C. 2201, 2231); sec. 191, as amended, Pub. L. 87-615, 76 Stat. 
409 (42 U.S.C. 2241); sec. 201, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
5841); 5 U.S.C. 552.

    Section 2.101 also issued under secs. 53, 62, 63, 81, 103, 104, 
105, 68 Stat. 930, 932, 933, 935, 936, 937, 938, as amended (42 
U.S.C. 2073, 2092, 2093, 2111, 2133, 2134, 2135); sec. 114(f), Pub. 
L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2213, as amended (42 U.S.C. 10134(f)); sec.

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102, Pub. L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4332); sec. 
301, 88 Stat. 1248 (42 U.S.C. 5871). Sections 2.102, 2.103, 2.104, 
2.105, 2.721 also issued under secs. 102, 103, 104, 105, 183, 189, 
68 Stat. 936, 937, 938, 954, 955, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2132, 2133, 
2134, 2135, 2233, 2239). Section 2.105 also issued under Pub. L. 97-
415, 96 Stat. 2073 (42 U.S.C. 2239). Sections 2.200-2.206 also 
issued under secs. 161b, i, o, 182, 186, 234, 68 Stat. 948-951, 955, 
83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2201(b),(i),(o), 2236, 2282); 
sec. 206, 88 Stat. 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5846). Sections 2.600-2.606 also 
issued under sec. 102, Pub. L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853, as amended (42 
U.S.C. 4332). Sections 2.700a, 2.719 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 554. 
Sections 2.754, 2.760, 2.770, 2.780 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 557. 
Section 2.764 also issued under secs. 135, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 
Stat. 2232, 2241 (42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161). Section 2.790 also issued 
under sec. 103, 68 Stat. 936, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2133) and 5 
U.S.C. 552. Sections 2.800 and 2.808 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 553. 
Section 2.809 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 553 and sec. 29, Pub. L. 
85-256, 71 Stat. 579, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2039). Subpart K also 
issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2239); sec. 134, Pub. 
L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10154). Subpart L also issued 
under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2239). Appendix A also 
issued under sec. 6, Pub. L. 91-560, 84 Stat. 1473 (42 U.S.C. 2135). 
Appendix B also issued under sec. 10, Pub. L. 99-240, 99 Stat. 1842 
(42 U.S.C. 2021b et seq.).

    2. Section 2.8 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 2.8  Information collection requirements: OMB approval.

    This part contains no information collection requirements and 
therefore is not subject to requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
    3. In Sec. 2.201, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 2.201  Notice of violation.

    (a) In response to an alleged violation of any provision of the Act 
or this chapter or the conditions of a license or an order issued by 
the Commission, the Commission may serve on the licensee or other 
person subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission a written notice 
of violation; a separate notice may be omitted if an order pursuant to 
Sec. 2.202 or demand for information pursuant to Sec. 2.204 is issued 
that otherwise identifies the apparent violation. The notice of 
violation will concisely state the alleged violation and may require 
that the licensee or other person submit, within 20 days of the date of 
the notice or other specified time, a written explanation or statement 
in reply if the Commission believes that the licensee has not already 
addressed all the issues contained in the notice of violation, 
including:
    (1) Corrective steps which have been taken by the licensee or other 
person and the results achieved;
    (2) Corrective steps which will be taken; and
    (3) The date when full compliance will be achieved.
* * * * *

PART 51--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION REGULATIONS FOR DOMESTIC 
LICENSING AND RELATED REGULATORY FUNCTIONS

    4. The authority citation for Part 51 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Sec. 161, 68 Stat. 948, as amended, sec. 1701, 106 
Stat. 2951, 2952, 2953, (42 U.S.C. 2201, 2297f); secs. 201, as 
amended, 202, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 
5842). Subpart A also issued under National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, secs. 102, 104, 105, 83 Stat. 853-854, as amended (42 
U.S.C. 4332, 4334, 4335); and Pub. L. 95-604, Title II, 92 Stat. 
3033-3041; and sec. 193, Pub. L. 101-575, 104 Stat. 2835 (42 U.S.C. 
2243). Sections 51.20, 51.30, 51.60, 51.80, and 51.97 also issued 
under secs. 135, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2232, 2241, and sec. 
148, Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-223 (42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161, 
10168). Section 51.22 also issued under sec. 274, 73 Stat. 688, as 
amended by 92 Stat. 3036-3038 (42 U.S.C. 2021) and under Nuclear 
Waste Policy Act of 1982, sec. 121, 96 Stat. 2228 (42 U.S.C. 10141). 
Sections 51.43, 51.67, and 51.109 also under Nuclear Waste Policy 
Act of 1982, sec. 114(f), 96 Stat. 2216, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
10134(f)).

    5. In Sec. 51.10, paragraph (d) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 51.10  Purpose and scope of subpart: Applications of regulations 
of Council on Environmental Quality.

* * * * *
    (d) Commission actions initiating or relating to administrative or 
judicial civil or criminal enforcement actions or proceedings are not 
subject to Section 102(2) of NEPA. These actions include issuance of 
notices of violation, orders, and denials of requests for action 
pursuant to subpart B of part 2 of this chapter; matters covered by 
part 15 and part 160 of this chapter; and issuance of confirmatory 
action letters, bulletins, generic letters, notices of deviation, and 
notices of nonconformance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of August, 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James M. Taylor,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 96-21167 Filed 8-21-96; 8:45 am]
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