[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 20, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59031-59033]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-29673]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 225 / Wednesday, November 20, 1996 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 59031]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 2


LSSNet Communication Program; Licensing Support System 
Regulations

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: LSSNet Program: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is announcing the 
availability of a computer-based communications program called 
``LSSNet'' to maximize the interaction between the NRC, the LSS 
Advisory Review Panel, and the public on rulemaking issues related to 
the Licensing Support System (LSS). The LSS is an electronic 
information management system established in 10 CFR Part 2, Subpart J, 
of the Commission's regulations, designed to support the licensing 
proceeding for the national high-level waste repository. The LSS has 
not yet been developed. Many features of the rule first adopted in 1988 
no longer provide optimal approaches to electronic information 
management. This topic was a primary discussion item at the May 3, 
1996, meeting of the LSS Advisory Review Panel. LSSNet will allow the 
LSS Advisory Review Panel (LSSARP), other potential users of the LSS, 
and the public to communicate both with the NRC and among themselves, 
with a view toward defining LSS rulemaking issues, identifying 
alternatives to address those issues, and determining the extent of 
agreement on those alternatives.

DATES: The public can access the LSSNet site beginning November 1, 
1996. LSSNet will run from November 20, 1996 through May 20, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The LSSNet World Wide Web site may be accessed with the 
Uniform Resource Locator http://lssnet.llnl.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John C. Voglewede, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-
7415.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is undertaking a project designed 
to use state-of-the-art computer technology to maximize interaction 
between the NRC, its LSS Advisory Review Panel (LSSARP), and the public 
on the issue of the integration of new computer technologies into the 
Licensing Support System (LSS). The LSS is an electronic information 
management system and was incorporated in the Commission's Rules of 
Practice at 10 CFR Part 2 Subpart J. The current project, called 
LSSNet, is intended to serve not only to provide the NRC and the public 
with valuable information, but also to maximize the usefulness of 
computer-based communications as a tool in the rulemaking process. 
LSSNet is intended to maximize the interaction between the NRC, the 
LSSARP, and the public on rulemaking issues related to the LSS. The 
LSSARP was chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to advise 
the NRC on the design, development, and use of the LSS. LSSNet will 
allow the LSSARP, other potential users of the LSS, and the public to 
communicate both with the NRC and among themselves, with a view toward 
defining LSS rulemaking issues, identifying alternatives to address 
those issues, and determining the extent of agreement on those 
alternatives.
    LSSNet builds on a pilot program, called RuleNet, which the 
Commission used to demonstrate the feasibility of increasing the 
interaction between the public and the NRC on the discussion of 
rulemaking issues through electronic communication technology (see 
SECY-96-188). Before the initiation of the RuleNet pilot program, the 
NRC had already introduced significant innovations in the area of 
rulemaking: through the concept of ``enhanced participatory 
rulemaking,'' designed to promote early public comment and interaction 
on rulemaking issues before a proposed rule is developed; through the 
use of Negotiated Rulemaking as provided in the Negotiated Rulemaking 
Act of 1988; and through electronic bulletin boards, which allow 
comments on a proposed rule to be submitted electronically. RuleNet 
represented a further step toward melding early public comment and 
interaction, as in the enhanced participatory rulemaking, together with 
communications technology, developed specially for this purpose, to 
permit participants to deal with one another and with the NRC by 
computer.
    The potential for computer technology to improve the current 
rulemaking process can be readily illustrated. In a traditional 
rulemaking, if a particular matter raises questions in the minds of 
participants, they have no recourse other than to point out the issue 
in their written comments. If the rulemaking is on a proposed rule, the 
commenter may not learn the answer to the question until the final rule 
is issued. The computer, however, allows the agency staff to analyze 
the comments and questions received, ascertain which questions arise 
most often, and then post electronically a list of ``Frequently Asked 
Questions'' and their answers. In this way, doubtful points can be 
clarified before, not after, comments are filed.
    The dialogue promoted through the LSSNet is not intended to 
supplant formal comments on any proposed rule that may eventually be 
developed from the LSSNet process. Rather, LSSNet is intended to 
provide additional opportunities for those interested in LSS rulemaking 
issues to provide input to agency personnel before the agency has 
developed text on which formal written comments are required to be 
filed. This can mean better informed, focused, and influential 
comments. Likewise, the ability of these commenters to interact among 
themselves before comments are filed means that misunderstandings and 
miscommunications can be corrected in a timely way. However, because 
the electronic communications will contribute to the information base 
used by the agency in the rulemaking process, a copy of these 
communications will be placed in the rulemaking record.
    To facilitate the exchange of views, LSSNet provides discussion 
areas, designed to encourage dialogue among subgroups of participants. 
These discussion areas will allow participants of similar viewpoints to 
join together to discuss an issue to maximize their effectiveness. 
Discussion areas could also be used to allow a specific issue to be 
placed before all participants for

[[Page 59032]]

highly focused consideration. In this way, a particular topic can be 
considered in detail, the strengths and weaknesses of conflicting 
positions can be analyzed, and the possibilities of a compromise 
resolution can be explored. Dialogue may take place either separate 
from the discussion areas provided in LSSNet by the private interaction 
of participants, or through the LSSNet discussion areas .
    Assistance to the participants will be provided by facilitators who 
will perform a variety of functions: helping to categorize comments on 
LSS issues; helping to maximize the usefulness of the electronic 
communications process; and providing assistance to facilitate on-line 
and offline discussions, including helping participants to articulate 
and refine their positions on issues. The facilitators' role will 
simply be to contribute to the smooth and productive functioning of the 
process.

Phases of the LSSNet Process

    As a preliminary step, necessary to allow meaningful participation 
in the LSSNet process, the NRC is making relevant information on the 
LSS available to all who can use it: that is, both potential 
participants and those who want only to observe the process. Toward 
this end, the agency has made some basic documents pertaining to the 
LSS available through LSSNet in full text form.
    In the first phase of the process, which will comprise 
approximately 10 days, the NRC will solicit comment on the challenges 
and issues identified by the staff and posted under the heading of 
``Discussion Topics'' in the LSSNet FORUM. Participants will be 
permitted to suggest other ``Topics''. The NRC staff will review the 
comments/``Topics'' posted during the first phase and use them to 
fashion a number of alternative solutions to the LSS rulemaking issues. 
During the second phase, participants will have an opportunity to 
comment on these alternative approaches or to suggest other alternative 
solutions but no new ``Topics'' will be solicited. After the second 
phase, the NRC staff will consolidate and synthesize the challenges and 
the proposed solutions, using them to develop more concrete proposals 
to the rulemaking issues, including draft rulemaking text if 
practicable, which will be posted electronically. During the third 
phase, the participants will then respond to the proposals the staff 
identified. As before, there will be the opportunity for participants 
to discuss either within the electronic rulemaking or outside of it. 
The staff will use the results of the LSSNet interactions in Phase 3 to 
develop a draft proposed rule which will be submitted to the Commission 
for review and approval.

Terms of Participation

    LSSNet is primarily intended as a forum through which the LSS 
Advisory Review Panel can advise the Commission on how best to 
integrate changes in technology into the framework of the LSS. 
Consequently, the electronic Forum will be reserved for the use of 
members of the LSSARP and their representatives. As would be the case 
with face to face meetings, the NRC will ensure compliance with the 
relevant provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act with respect 
to consensus documents. Thus, where consensus is requested, votes of 
FACA committee members will be cast and recorded. In keeping with the 
openness provisions of FACA, interested members of the public will be 
able to observe the dialogue between the LSSARP and the Commission, and 
will also be able to post comments on the public segment of LSSNet. The 
NRC staff will fully consider both LSSARP comments and public comments 
in refining the rulemaking issues for Commission consideration.
    The NRC fully expects that all participants will recognize that 
certain norms of civility will be observed. (In the event that a 
participant's conduct was such as to warrant his or her severance from 
the electronic dialogue, the option of submitting paper comments would 
remain, but it seems unlikely that this issue would ever arise.)

LSS Rulemaking Issues

    The LSS concept grew out of the Commission's concern regarding how 
best to review the DOE license application for a high-level radioactive 
waste (HLW) repository. A centralized, electronic database accessible 
by all parties appeared to offer the opportunity for significant time 
savings in conducting the licensing proceeding for the repository and, 
simultaneously, for the enhancement of any party's opportunity for 
effective participation. Plans for the LSS were first initiated in 1986 
and were based on computer technology available in that time frame. It 
was intended to provide a central, shared, federally funded database of 
licensing information beginning in 1995. Budgetary shortfalls, however, 
and the unanticipated length of time that it has taken to develop the 
licensing application for the repository, not only delayed the 
development of the LSS, but also resulted in the accumulation of a 
tremendous amount of potential licensing information, much of which may 
no longer be relevant to a licensing proceeding which may not begin 
until about 2002. In addition, since document capture may now involve 
much larger backlogs than originally contemplated, the risk of failing 
to capture ALL relevant material in the LSS is substantially larger 
than originally assumed. While the development of the LSS remained 
stalled, the state of technology in document automation and retrieval 
overtook the technology of 1986 on which the original LSS was to be 
based. With the widespread and common place use of computers to 
generate and maintain the documents of a party to the HLW licensing 
proceeding, the universal availability of the Internet to tie disparate 
and geographically dispersed systems together, and the availability of 
commercially available software applications relevant to LSS 
functionalities, the centralized LSS envisioned at the time the LSS 
rule was developed may be obsolete. Consequently, the Commission 
intends to evaluate how these new technologies can be integrated into 
the LSS rule while still maintaining the primary functions of the LSS: 
(1) A mechanism for the discovery of documents before the license 
application is filed; (2) electronic transmission of filings by the 
parties during the proceeding; (3) electronic transmission of orders 
and decisions related to the proceeding; and (4) access to an 
electronic version of the docket. It is the intent of the NRC staff to 
focus this rulemaking on how best to address changes in technology in 
regard to the LSS. There is no intent to re-visit the basic 
functionalities of the LSS that are reflected in the current 10 CFR 
Part 2, Subpart J or the conditions of the negotiated rulemaking.
    To attempt to address these issues, the NRC is posting the 
following ``topics'' to guide the discussion during the first phase of 
LSSNet:
     What are the costs and benefits of moving from a 
dedicated, centralized system to a distributed system based on the 
Internet?
     How should other improvements in computer technology be 
incorporated into the LSS?
     What provisions of the LSS rule will need to be changed to 
reflect the incorporation of new technologies?
     How should the backlog of ``uncaptured'', and possibly 
irrelevant, repository-related information be addressed?
     What would the role of the LSS Administrator be under a 
distributed system?

[[Page 59033]]

     How should advice from potential users of the LSS be 
provided for?

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of November, 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrew L. Bates,
Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 96-29673 Filed 11-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P