[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 150 (Thursday, August 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47806-47807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-19620]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Discrimination Task Group; Announcement and Meeting Notice

    This Notice serves to announce the formation of an NRC 
Discrimination Task Group, which will evaluate the NRC processes used 
in the handling of discrimination allegations and violations of 
employee protection standards ( Applicable regulations include 10 CFR 
30.7, 10 CFR 40.7. 10 CFR 50.7, 10 CFR 60.9, 10 CFR 61.9, 10 CFR 70.7, 
10 CFR 76.7, 10 CFR 72.10, 10 CFR 150.20 ). The group will function as 
a management-level review group to evaluate the Commission's handling 
of discrimination cases. The overall objective of the NRC employee 
protection regulations is to promote an atmosphere where employees feel 
comfortable raising safety concerns or engaging in other protected 
activity without fear of reprisal. Because the NRC has traditionally 
relied on the openness of employees to identify issues, an effective 
and consistent NRC approach for dealing with discrimination cases is an 
important feature of encouraging and ensuring a safety conscious work 
environment. Resulting enforcement actions need to be predictable, fair 
and able to withstand scrutiny, since they could result in civil 
penalties, orders, or actions to individuals and are viewed by 
stakeholders as an indicator of the seriousness with which the NRC 
views discrimination issues.
    The group's overall objective is to develop recommendations for 
revisions to the regulatory requirements, the enforcement policy or 
other agency guidelines as appropriate. A Commission Paper will be 
developed outlining the recommendations for NRC offices to consider in 
making changes to their processes.
    The group's preliminary schedule is:

 Evaluation of current NRC processes.
    July-Sept., 2000
 Conduct Stakeholder meetings.
    August, 2000-April, 2001
 Review of other Federal agency processes.
    Oct.-Dec., 2000
 Develop recommendations for process improvements.
    Jan.-March, 2001.
 Provide Commission draft recommendation.
    April, 2001
 Draft recommendations issued for comment.
    May-June, 2001
 Issue Report with recommendations.
    June 30, 2001

    Task group activities being considered include:
    1. Interaction with other agencies (such as Federal Aviation 
Administration, Department of Labor, Food and Drug Administration, 
Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, Center for 
Disease Control, Department of Energy, and Office of Special Counsel) 
to understand how they process these issues.
    2. Conduct internal and external stakeholder meetings to solicit 
input on the Agency's handling of discrimination issues.
    3. Consider the issues raised in the Petition for Rulemaking 
``Employee Protection Training'', Docket PRM-30-62, 64 Fed. Reg. 57785 
(Oct. 27, 1999), regarding requiring training of first line and above 
supervisors of their responsibilities in implementing the employee 
protection regulations.
    4. The review will also:
    (a) Evaluate the current NRC processes for dealing with 
discrimination matters.
    (b) Determine whether the Enforcement Policy supplements need to 
consider a more graded approach regarding the appropriate enforcement 
sanction given the specific facts of the case, rather than the current 
supplement guidance which largely relies on the individual's position. 
Examples of guidance to consider revising include consideration of the 
severity of the adverse action, and better defining thresholds for 
taking individual action.
    (c) Consider changes to the current enforcement process in 
discrimination cases, such as the usefulness of pre-decisional 
Enforcement Conferences and settlement discussions.
    (d) Evaluate the process used for DOL deferrals.
    (e) Evaluate the release of documents prior to final action being 
taken.
    (f) Evaluate the reliance on regulations such as 10 CFR 50.5 for 
Individual Actions and evaluate revising 10 CFR 50.7 to include 
individual actions.
    (g) Clarify how the NRC should use the decisions of other Agencies 
(e.g., DOL, MSPB).
    (h) Review the role of the complainant in the process.
    The Task Group meeting participants are listed below along with 
their affiliation:

[[Page 47807]]

     Bill Borchardt; Director, Office of Enforcement, Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission.
     Dennis Dambly; Assistant General Counsel for Materials 
Litigation and Enforcement, OGC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
     Cynthia D. Pederson; Director, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, Region III, Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
     Barry Letts; Field Office Director, Office of 
Investigations, Region I, Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
     Edward Baker; Agency Allegation Advisor, Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission.
     Brad Fewell; Regional Counsel, Region I, Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission.
    Over the next several months the Task Group plans to hold several 
public stakeholder meetings in various areas of the country to solicit 
input on areas of improvement in the Agency's handling of 
discrimination issues.
    The following public meeting shave been scheduled:
    The first public meeting will be held on September 5, 2000, at the 
USNRC offices in the TWFN Auditorium, located at 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville Maryland. The meeting will start at 1 p.m.
    A public meeting will be held in Chattanooga TN, on September 7, 
2000, at the USNRC Technical Training Center, Osborne Office Center, 
5746 Marlin Road, Chattanooga TN 37411 This will be an evening meeting 
beginning at 7:00 p.m.
    A public meeting will be held in San Luis Obispo CA, on September 
14, 2000, at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 333 Madonna Road. This will be 
an evening meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.
    Subsequent workshops in the vicinity of the Milestone Nuclear Power 
Plant, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and in the Chicago area will 
be announced in the Federal Register, local newspapers and on the NRC 
web site as specific plans are made.
    These public meetings are open to the members of the public. Oral 
or written views regarding the NRC's processes for handling employee 
protection issues may be presented by the members of the public, 
including members of the nuclear industry. Persons desiring to make 
prepared oral presentations or statements should notify Mr. Barry 
Westreich (Telephone 301/415-3456, e-mail [email protected]) five days prior 
to the meeting date, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can 
be made to allow necessary time during the meeting for such a 
presentation or statements. Use of still, motion picture, and 
television cameras as well as audio recording devices will be permitted 
during this meeting.
    Further information regarding topics of discussion; whether the 
meeting has been canceled, rescheduled, or relocated; may be obtained 
by contacting Mr. Barry Westreich between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. EDT.
    This meeting will not be transcribed but, if needed, a meeting 
report will be available electronically for public inspection in the 
NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) 
component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from 
the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html (the Public 
Electronic Reading Room). The Task Group Charter and other pertinent 
documents related to Task Group Activities will also be periodically 
posted and updated on the Office of Enforcement Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/OE. For those unable to attend one of the public meetings 
on this issue, comments on the discrimination process will be solicited 
in the Federal Register in the future.

    Dated this 27th day of July 2000.
R.W. Borchardt,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 00-19620 Filed 8-2-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P