[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 199 (Friday, October 11, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53557-53558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-26055]



  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 199 / Friday, October 11, 1996 / 
Notices  

[[Page 53557]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Policy and Procedure for Enforcement Actions; Policy Statement

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Policy statement: Revision.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its 
General Statement of Policy and Procedure for Enforcement Actions 
(Enforcement Policy) to address the requirements imposed by the Debt 
Collection Improvement Act of 1996. That Act requires federal agencies 
to adjust civil monetary penalties to reflect inflation.

DATES: This revision is effective November 12, 1996. The Commission 
invites comments on these changes and, on the basis of the comments 
submitted, will make changes, if warranted. The Commission will apply 
the modified Policy to violations that occur after the effective date.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: The Secretary of the Commission, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, ATTN: 
Docketing and Service Branch. Deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:45 am and 4:15 pm, on 
Federal workdays. Copies of comments may be examined at the NRC Public 
Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW. (Lower-Level), Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Lieberman, Director, Office of 
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 
301-504-2741.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 234 of the Atomic Energy Act (42 
U.S.C. 2282) set the maximum civil penalty amount that the NRC may 
issue at $100,000 per violation per day. That amount was set in 1980. 
The Federal Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 
required that the President submit, within 6 months and every fifth 
year thereafter, a report to certain Congressional committees on the 
specific amounts of civil monetary penalties that were authorized under 
Federal law, the amount of those penalties if adjusted for inflation, 
and a description of modifications to law that would be necessary to 
increase those penalties to meet the inflation adjustment. Aside from 
modification of the scope and timing of Presidential reports to 
Congress, the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (the Act) amended 
that statute so as to require that the head of each agency adjust for 
inflation, by regulation, the CMPs within the jurisdiction of the 
agency no later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Act 
and at least once every four years thereafter.
    The deadline for the first adjustment is October 23, 1996. Each 
agency is required to adjust, by regulation, each civil monetary 
penalty by the inflation adjustment described in the Act and publish 
the regulation in the Federal Register. Any increase in a penalty made 
under the Act may apply only to violations occurring after the date 
that the increase takes effect. The NRC is also, concurrent with this 
change, publishing in the Federal Register, a change to 10 CFR 2.205 to 
reflect the implementation of the 1996 Act.
    Although inflation since the 1980 change to Section 234 would yield 
an increase of the current maximum civil penalty to $180,000, by the 
1996 Act, the first adjustment of a Civil Monetary Penalty is limited 
to 10 percent of the penalty, yielding an increase to $110,000 for the 
maximum civil penalty per violation per day.
    The changes mandated by the Act apply to the maximum CMP. This is 
also the amount that, under the Enforcement Policy approved by the 
Commission, is assigned as the base civil penalty for power reactor 
licensees for a Severity Level I violation. Also as a matter of policy, 
the Commission has approved use of lesser amounts for other types of 
licensees, particularly smaller businesses, and for violations that are 
assessed at lower severity levels. This approach is set out in Tables 
1A and 1B of the Enforcement Policy (NUREG-1600). While the 1996 Act 
does not mandate changes to these lesser civil penalty amounts, the NRC 
is modifying Table 1A of the Enforcement Policy by raising each amount 
10 percent, to be consistent with the intent of the legislation. These 
changes will be reflected in the next revision to NUREG-1600 and apply 
to violations occurring after the effective date of this Policy 
Statement.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    This policy statement 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 requirements were approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget, approval number 3150-0011. The 
approved information collection requirements contained in this policy 
statement appear in Section VII.C.

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.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 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.
    Accordingly, the NRC Enforcement Policy (60 FR 34381, June 30, 
1995) is amended by:
    a. Adding a new paragraph to follow the third paragraph in Section 
II.A,
    b. Revising paragraph VI.B.2.d and the figures in Table 1A; and
    c. Revising the introductory paragraph to Section VII.A. and 
paragraph VII.A.3 to read as follows:

General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions

* * * * *

II. Statutory Authority and Procedural Framework

A. Statutory Authority

* * * * *
    Notwithstanding the $100,000 limit stated in the Atomic Energy Act, 
the Commission may impose higher civil penalties as provided by the 
Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996. Under that Act, the Commission 
is required to modify civil monetary penalties to reflect inflation. 
The adjusted maximum civil penalty amount is reflected in 10 CFR 2.205 
and this Policy Statement.
* * * * *

VI. Enforcement Actions

B. Civil Penalty

    2. * * *
    d. Exercise of Discretion.
    As provided in Section VII, ``Exercise of Discretion,'' discretion 
may be exercised by either escalating or mitigating the amount of the 
civil penalty determined after applying the civil penalty adjustment 
factors to ensure that the proposed civil penalty reflects the NRC's 
concern regarding the violation at issue and that it conveys the 
appropriate message to the licensee. However, in no instance will a 
civil penalty for any one violation exceed $110,000 per day.

[[Page 53558]]



                     Table 1A.--Base Civil Penalties                    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
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a. Power reactors..........................................     $110,000
b. Fuel fabricators, industrial processors, and independent             
 spent fuel and monitored retrievable storage installations       27,500
c. Test reactors, mills and uranium conversion facilities,              
 contractors, vendors, waste disposal licensees, and                    
 industrial radiographers..................................       11,000
d. Research reactors, academic, medical, or other material              
 licensee\1\...............................................       5,500 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This applies to nonprofit institutions not otherwise categorized in 
  this table, mobile nuclear services, nuclear pharmacies, and physician
  offices.                                                              

* * * * *

VII. Exercise of Discretion

A. Escalation of Enforcement Sanctions

    The NRC considers violations categorized at Severity Level I, II, 
or III to be of significant regulatory concern. If the application of 
the normal guidance in this policy does not result in an appropriate 
sanction, with the approval of the appropriate Deputy Executive 
Director and consultation with the EDO and Commission, as warranted, 
the NRC may apply its full enforcement authority where the action is 
warranted. NRC action may include (1) escalating civil penalties, (2) 
issuing appropriate orders, and (3) assessing civil penalties for 
continuing violations on a per day basis, up to the statutory limit of 
$110,000 per violation, per day.
* * * * *
    3. Daily civil penalties. In order to recognize the added technical 
safety significance or regulatory significance for those cases where a 
very strong message is warranted for a significant violation that 
continues for more than one day, the NRC may exercise discretion and 
assess a separate violation and attendant civil penalty up to the 
statutory limit of $110,000 for each day the violation continues. The 
NRC may exercise this discretion if a licensee was aware or clearly 
should have been aware of a violation, or if the licensee had an 
opportunity to identify and correct the violation but failed to do so.
* * * * *
    Dated at Rockville, MD, this 4th day of October, 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John C. Hoyle,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 96-26055 Filed 10-10-96; 8:45 am]
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