[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 104 (Tuesday, June 1, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29213-29214]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-13652]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 2

RIN 3150-AG28


Informal Hearing Procedures for Adjudications in Materials and 
Operator Licensing Proceedings: Minor Amendments

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its 
regulations governing the filing and service of Requests for Hearings 
and Petitions for Leave to Intervene in ``informal'' materials and 
operator licensing proceedings conducted under its Rules of Practice. 
This action is necessary to correct a cross-referencing error in the 
provisions concerning the method of filing documents and to change the 
method of service of pleadings on the NRC Staff.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective June 1, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles E. Mullins, Office of the 
General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone (301) 415-1606; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    These amendments are designed to correct two minor errors in an 
earlier rulemaking and to make two minor changes regarding service of 
pleadings on the NRC Staff as a party in these proceedings. First, this 
rulemaking corrects a typographical error in the printing of a final 
rule published July 29, 1996 (61 FR 32978), amending Subpart L. That 
final rule included a reference in 10 CFR 2.1203(e) to 10 CFR 
2.1205(R). The cross-reference to paragraph (R) should have appeared as 
a cross-reference to paragraph (k), as set out in the original proposed 
rule. The Commission is correcting that cross-reference.
    Second, the 1996 rulemaking inserted a new paragraph (c) in 10 CFR 
2.1205 and renumbered the existing paragraph (c) as paragraph (d) and 
all subsequent paragraphs accordingly. However, the rulemaking failed 
to correct a cross-reference to the original paragraph (c), now 
paragraph (d), in the original paragraph (f), now paragraph (g). The 
Commission is correcting that cross-reference.
    Third, this rulemaking makes two minor changes in the service of 
specific pleadings in these proceedings by designating that service of 
Requests for Hearings and Petitions for Leave to Intervene on the NRC 
Staff shall be made by serving those documents on the General Counsel, 
rather than on the Executive Director for Operations as currently 
required. Eventually, the Executive Director for Operations must refer 
any pleading to the General Counsel for a response to the Presiding 
Officer. The Commission has found that pleadings are sometimes lost or 
delayed by not having them filed directly with

[[Page 29214]]

the General Counsel. Accordingly, the Commission has concluded that 
direct service on the General Counsel will eliminate any delay and 
increase the efficiency of its adjudicatory processes.
    Because these amendments are administrative in nature and deal 
solely with agency practice and procedure, the notice and comment 
provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act do not apply under 5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(A). In addition, good cause exists to dispense with the 
usual 30-day delay because the amendments are of a corrective and 
administrative nature dealing with a matter of agency conduct, a change 
in the manner in which proceedings shall be served on the NRC Staff. 
Accordingly, these amendments are effective upon publication in the 
Federal Register.

Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion

    The NRC has determined that this final rule is the type of action 
described in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Therefore, 
neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental 
assessment has been prepared for this final regulation.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    This 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.).

Regulatory Analysis

    A regulatory analysis has not been prepared for this final rule 
because this rule is considered a minor non-substantive amendment; it 
has no economic impact on NRC licensees or the public.

Backfit Analysis

    The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does 
not apply to this final rule and, therefore, that a backfit analysis is 
not required for this final rule because these amendments do not impose 
any provisions that would impose backfits as defined in 10 CFR Chapter 
I.

List of Subjects in 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.

    For the 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 Part 2.

PART 2--RULES OF PRACTICE FOR DOMESTIC LICENSING PROCEEDINGS

    1. The authority citation for Part 2 continues to read 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. 10143 (f)); sec. 
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). Section 2.102, 2.103, 2.104, 
2.105, 2.721 also issued under secs. 102, 103, 104, 105, 183i, 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. 161 b, 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 2.205 (j) 
also issued under Pub. L. 101-410, 104 Stat. 90, as amended by 
section 3100 (s), Pub. L. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321-373 (28 U.S.C. 
2461 note). Section 2.600-2.606 also issued under sec. 102, Pub. L. 
91-190, 83 Stat. 853, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4332). Section 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). Subpart M also issued under sec. 184 (42 
U.S.C. 2234) and 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).

    2. In Sec. 2.1203, paragraph (e) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 2.1203  Docket; filing; service.

* * * * *
    (e) A request for a hearing or a petition for leave to intervene 
must be served in accordance with Sec. 2.712 and Sec. 2.1205 (f) and 
(k). All other documents issued by the presiding officer or the 
Commission or offered for filing are served in accordance with 
Sec. 2.712.
    3. In Sec. 2.1205, paragraphs (f)(2), (g), (k)(1)(i), and 
(k)(1)(ii) are revised to read as follows:


Sec. 2.1205  Request for a hearing; petition for leave to intervene.

* * * * *
    (f) * * *
    (2) The NRC Staff, by delivery to the General Counsel, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, or by mail 
addressed to the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555.
    (g) Within ten (10) days of service of a request for a hearing 
filed under paragraph (d) of this section, the applicant may file an 
answer. The NRC staff, if it chooses or if it is ordered to participate 
as a party under Sec. 2.1213, may file an answer to a request for a 
hearing within ten (10) days of the designation of the presiding 
officer.
* * * * *
    (k) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (i) By delivery to the General Counsel, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852; or
    (ii) By mail addressed to the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
* * * * *
    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of May, 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission..
[FR Doc. 99-13652 Filed 5-28-99; 8:45 am]
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