[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 2 (Monday, January 5, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 385-386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-54]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NUREG-1600]
Revision of NRC Enforcement Policy; Packaging and Transportation
of Radioactive Material
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Policy statement: revision.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing a
revision to its Enforcement Policy (NUREG-1600, ``General Statement of
Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions'') to clarify that
enforcement action may be taken against non-licensees for violations of
the Commission's regulations governing the packaging and transportation
of radioactive material.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2004.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods.
Comments submitted in writing or in electronic format will be made
available to the public in their entirety on the NRC rulemaking web
site. Personal information will not be removed from your comments. Mail
comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.
E-mail comments to: [email protected]. If you do not receive a reply e-
mail confirming that we have received your comments, contact us
directly (301) 415-1966. You may also submit comments via the NRC's
interactive rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address
questions about our rulemaking Web site to Carol Gallagher at (301)
415-5905 (e-mail: [email protected]).
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays.
(Telephone (301) 415-1966).
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at
(301) 415-1101.
Publicly available documents related to this action may be viewed
electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR), O1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy
documents for a fee. Selected documents, including comments, may be
viewed and downloaded electronically via the NRC's interactive
rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC after
November 1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic
Reading Room 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. If you do not have access to ADAMS or
if there are problems in accessing the document located in ADAMS,
contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or
e-mail to [email protected].
The NRC maintains the current Enforcement Policy on its Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov, select What We Do, Enforcement, then Enforcement
Policy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank J. Congel, Director, Office of
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, (301) 415-2741, e-mail [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission's Enforcement Policy
primarily addresses violations by licensees and certain non-licensed
persons, including certificate holders, as discussed further in
footnote 3 to Section I, Introduction and Purpose, and in Section X,
Enforcement Action Against Non-licensees. In 10 CFR Part 71, the NRC's
regulations address licensing requirements for packaging and transport
of radioactive material. For several years, the Commission has observed
problems with the performance of some certificate holders and their
contractors and subcontractors in the packaging and transport of
radioactive material. The Commission has concluded that additional
enforcement sanctions (e.g., issuance of Notices of Violations (NOVs)
and Orders), are required to address the performance problems which
have occurred in the packaging and transportation of radioactive
material. Therefore, concurrent with publication of this change to the
Enforcement Policy, the Commission is amending 10 CFR Part 71 to expand
its applicability to holders of, and applicants for, Certificates of
Compliance (CoCs). While CoCs are legally binding documents,
certificate holders or applicants for a CoC had not clearly been
brought within the scope of certain Part 71 requirements, and the NRC
has not had a clear basis to cite these persons for violations of Part
71 requirements in the same way it treats licensees. When the NRC has
identified a failure to comply with Part 71 requirements by these
persons, it has taken administrative action by issuing a Notice of
Nonconformance (NON) or a Demand for Information rather than an NOV.
With these changes to Part 71, the Commission will be in a position to
issue NOVs and Orders to certificate holders and applicants.
An NOV is a written notice that sets forth one or more violations
of a legally binding requirement. The NOV effectively conveys to both
the person violating the requirement and the public that a violation of
a legally binding requirement has occurred and permits use of graduated
severity levels to convey more clearly the safety significance of the
violation. Therefore, in addition to the changes to 10 CFR Part 71, the
Commission is amending Part X of the Enforcement Policy, Enforcement
Action Against Non-Licensees, to make clear that non-licensees who are
subject to specific regulatory requirements (e.g., Part 71), will be
subject to enforcement action, including NOVs and Orders. The final
Part 71 rule does not provide authority for issuing civil penalties to
non-licensees other than that already provided under the Deliberate
Misconduct Rule (January 13, 1998; 63 FR 1890 ) in Sec. 71.8.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This policy statement 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.). Existing requirements were approved by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), approval number 3150-0136. The
approved information collection requirements contained in this policy
statement appear in Section VII.C.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently
valid OMB control number.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
In accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has determined that this action is not a
major rule and has verified this
[[Page 386]]
determination with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of
OMB.
Accordingly, the NRC Enforcement Policy amended by revising the
last paragraph of section X to read as follows:
General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions
* * * * *
X. Enforcement Action Against Non-Licensees
* * * * *
When inspections determine that violations of NRC requirements have
occurred, or that contractors have failed to fulfill contractual
commitments (e.g., 10 CFR Part 50, appendix B) that could adversely
affect the quality of a safety significant product or service,
enforcement action will be taken. Notices of Violation and civil
penalties will be used, as appropriate, for licensee failures to ensure
that their contractors have programs that meet applicable requirements.
Notices of Violation will be issued for contractors who violate 10 CFR
Part 21. Civil penalties will be imposed against individual directors
or responsible officers of a contractor organization who knowingly and
consciously fail to provide the notice required by 10 CFR 21.21(b)(1).
Notices of Violation or Orders will be used against non-licensees who
are subject to the specific requirements of Parts 71 and 72. Notices of
Nonconformance will be used for contractors who fail to meet
commitments related to NRC activities but are not in violation of
specific requirements.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of December, 2003.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary for the Commission.
[FR Doc. 04-54 Filed 1-2-04; 8:45 am]
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