[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 100 (Thursday, May 23, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36118-36119]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-12991]


 ========================================================================
 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.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 100 / Thursday, May 23, 2002 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 36118]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 71


Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material; 
Announcement of Public Meetings

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Announcements of public meetings.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is conducting two 
public meetings on June 4 and June 24, 2002, to obtain stakeholder 
comments on its proposed rule that would revise the NRC's regulations 
on the packaging and transportation of radioactive material to make 
them compatible with the latest revision of the International Atomic 
Energy Agency (IAEA) standards and to codify other NRC-initiated 
changes. The Department of Transportation (DOT) also published its 
proposed rule to harmonize its regulations with the same IAEA 
standards, and will be participating in the meetings. The public is 
invited to the meetings to discuss the two rules.

DATES: The first meeting will be held on June 4, 2002. The second 
meeting will be held on June 24, 2002.

ADDRESSES: The June 4, 2002, meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency, 
151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. The June 24, 2002 will 
be held at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Two White Flint North, 
11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, Room: TWFN Auditorium. 
Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted at the meetings, 
or sent by mail to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001. Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications 
Staff. Comments can also be delivered to NRC, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal 
workdays.
    You may also provide electronic comments via the NRC's interactive 
rulemaking website at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. This site provides the 
capability to upload comments as files (any format), if your web 
browser supports that function. For information about the interactive 
rulemaking website, contact Ms. Carol Gallagher at (301) 415-5905 (e-
mail: [email protected]).
    You may access documents related to this proposed rule via the 
NRC's rulemaking website at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Documents 
related to this rule may be also examined at the NRC Public Document 
Room (PDR) located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room 
O-1F23, Rockville, MD. Documents created or received at the NRC after 
November 1, 1999, are also available electronically at the NRC's Public 
Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which 
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. For more 
information, contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 
301-415-4737, or email to [email protected].
    Latest information about the meetings will also be posted at NRC's 
web site at http://www.nrc.gov; click on ``Public Meeting Schedule.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions related to the proposed 
rule, contact: Naiem S. Tanious, Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and 
Safeguards, Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, 
Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Mail Stop T9-C24, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: (301) 415-
6103; E-mail: [email protected]. Questions about the public meeting process 
should be directed to Francis Cameron; Office of the General Counsel, 
USNRC, Washington DC 20555-0001; E-mail: [email protected]; telephone:(301) 
415-1642.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 30, 2002 (67 FR 21390), the NRC 
published a proposed rule for revising 10 CFR Part 71 ``Packaging and 
Transportation of Radioactive Material'' for compatibility with IAEA 
transportation standards [TS-R-1], and for making other NRC-initiated 
changes.
    In addition to the compatibility of Part 71 with the IAEA 
regulations (TS-R-1), this rulemaking would also address, in part, the 
unintended economic impact of NRC's emergency final rule entitled 
``Fissile Material Shipments and Exemptions'' (February 10, 1997; 62 FR 
5907) and a petition for rulemaking submitted by International Energy 
Consultants, Inc. (PRM-71-12: February 19, 1998; 63 FR 8362).
    The Commission is soliciting cost-benefit and exposure data from 
the public and industry to help quantify the impact of the Part 71 
proposed amendments. The NRC believes that this data will assist the 
Commission in: (1) Making a truly informed decision regarding the 
proposed IAEA compatibility changes, and (2) avoiding the promulgation 
of amendments that may result in unforeseen and unintended negative 
impacts. Specifically, the Commission is soliciting: (1) Quantitative 
information and data on the cost and benefits which might occur if 
these proposed changes were adopted; (2) operational data on radiation 
exposures (increased or decreased) that might occur from implementing 
the proposed changes; (3) whether the changes are adequate to protect 
the public health and safety; (4) whether other changes should be 
considered, including providing cost-benefit and exposure data for 
these suggested changes; and (5) how should specific risk 
considerations (i.e., data on what can happen, how likely is it, what 
are the consequences) be factored into the proposed amendments. For 
more information on this request for data, please review Section III of 
the Supplementary Information Section of the April 30, 2002, proposed 
rule (67 FR 21390).
    The NRC is holding public meetings to solicit public comment on 
this proposed rule in Chicago, Illinois on June 4, 2002, and at the 
NRC's Offices in Rockville, Maryland on June 24, 2002.
    The agenda for the June 4, 2002, meeting is Afternoon Session: 1 
p.m.-4 p.m, Open House: 12 noon-1 p.m. Evening Session: 7 p.m.-10 p.m., 
Open House: 6 p.m.-7 p.m.
    The agenda for the June 24, 2002 meeting is 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Open 
House: 8 a.m.-9 a.m.
    The intent of the open house session is to present the opportunity 
for informal interactions between attendees, both NRC and DOT staff and 
members of the public.
    The first meeting will be conducted as townhall discussions between 
attending

[[Page 36119]]

stakeholders representing a broad spectrum of interests that may be 
affected by this proposed rule and the NRC and DOT staff. The second 
meeting will be conducted as roundtable discussions among invited 
participants representing a broad spectrum of interests that may be 
affected by this proposed rule. The interests in both meetings include 
the regulated transportation community, non-regulated entities (that 
may be affected by this proposed rule, e.g. petroleum and mineral 
industries), citizen and environmental groups, Agreement States, the 
Department of Energy (DOE), DOT, and other Federal and State Agencies. 
Although the focus in the second meeting is on the discussions among 
the invited participants, the meeting is open to the public, and the 
public is welcome to make comments at the meeting. Individuals 
interested in participating in roundtable discussions should contact 
Mr. Cameron (as indicated in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section). A list of participants will be available at the meetings.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of May, 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patricia K. Holahan,
Chief, Rulemaking and Guidance Branch, Division of Industrial and 
Medical Nuclear Safety, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-12991 Filed 5-22-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P