[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 239 (Monday, December 14, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 68700-68701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32954]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 32 and 40

RIN 3150-AE33


Distribution of Source and Byproduct Material: Licensing and 
Reporting Requirements

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking: Withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing an 
advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) that had presented 
preliminary plans for updating the licensing of source material and 
mill tailings. The contemplated rulemaking would have improved the 
control of source material and updated the applicable requirements to 
conform with the revised standards for protection against radiation. 
This ANPRM solicited comments and recommendations from interested 
parties on issues that were to be considered in the proposed rulemaking 
and a subsequent rulemaking, if needed. However, the comments received 
in response to this request did not provide any significant new 
information on the issues associated with the contemplated rulemaking. 
The NRC believes that additional information concerning the 
distribution of source material is needed before it is able to proceed 
with a rulemaking in this area. The NRC is performing the necessary 
research and evaluating additional sources of information to determine 
the best approach to address these issues in a proposed rulemaking. 
Therefore, pending completion of this research and the development of 
the required information, the ANPRM is being withdrawn.

ADDRESSES: The Commission paper, the staff requirement memoranda (SRM), 
and associated documents are available for public inspection, and 
copying for a fee, at the NRC Public Document Room located at 2120 L 
Street NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC 20012-7082, telephone: (202) 
634-3273.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine R. Mattsen, Office of 
Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555, telephone (301) 415-6264, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 28, 1992 (57 FR 48749), the 
Commission published an ANPRM that described contemplated amendments to 
the Commission's regulations governing the licensing of source material 
and mill tailings. The issues raised in the ANPRM concerned the 
possible need to update 10 CFR Part 40, particularly because of recent 
changes to 10 CFR Part 20, ``Standards for Protection against 
Radiation.'' The ANPRM was issued to solicit comments from interested 
parties on issues that had been identified as candidates for 
consideration in rulemaking. The specific issues were--
    (1) The level of control of source material being distributed for 
exempt use;
    (2) The adequacy of the general license in 10 CFR 40.22;
    (3) The usefulness of the general license in 10 CFR 40.25;
    (4) The degree of specificity of the requirements for source 
material licensees; and
    (5) The need for clarification or consistency of the mill tailings 
requirements in Appendix A to 10 CFR Part 40 with respect to NRC staff 
regulatory positions in this area.
    The ANPRM also included a specific request for information on how 
the exemptions in 10 CFR Part 40 and the general license in Sec. 40.22 
are used. The questions raised in the ANPRM also included how the 
general license in Sec. 40.25 could be made more useful; and the 
benefits of various structure and format options, such as the creation 
of additional parts or subparts to the requirements governing source 
material. A contractor report prepared to support the ANPRM, NUREG/CR-
5881, ``An Examination of Source Material Requirements Contained in 10 
CFR Part 40'' (October 1992), was also made available.
    The comment period for the ANPRM closed on January 26, 1993. 
Fifteen comment letters were received. The commenters included the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, three States, and one 
public interest group. The remaining commenters were industry or 
industrial organizations, some of which were licensees, including four 
groups representing the mining and milling industry. The comments 
received were generally in favor of revising the requirements governing 
the licensing of source material and mill tailings. The comments, 
however, provided little additional information in response to the 
specific Commission requests.
    The Commission was considering expanding the ANPRM to include the 
distribution of by-product material (10 CFR part 32). This contemplated 
rulemaking was presented in the NRC regulatory agenda as a result of 
this ANPRM (NUREG-0936).
    After further progress is achieved in obtaining the needed 
information, the NRC will reconsider changes to 10 CFR Parts 32 and 40 
with respect to exemptions and requirements for the distribution of 
byproduct and source material to exempt persons. The NRC will also 
consider appropriate actions in the other areas addressed in the ANPRM. 
In the interim, because the NRC is not yet prepared to determine

[[Page 68701]]

the best approach to rulemaking, the ANPRM is being withdrawn.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of December, 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John C. Hoyle,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 98-32954 Filed 12-11-98; 8:45 am]
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