[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 18, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19905-19907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5706]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


NRC Enforcement Policy: Extension of Discretion Period of Interim 
Enforcement Policy

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Policy Statement: Revision.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is revising the NRC 
``Interim Enforcement Policy Regarding Enforcement Discretion for 
Certain Fire Protection Issues,'' to extend the enforcement discretion 
period to 3 years for those licensees that commit to transition to 10 
CFR 50.48(c), and to provide clarification and enhancements 
predominately in the areas of existing non-compliances and the 
treatment of non-compliances if a licensee withdraws from the 
transition.

DATES: This revision is effective April 18, 2006. Comments on this 
revision to the Enforcement Policy may be submitted on or before May 
18, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to: Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rules 
and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of 
Administration, Mail Stop: T6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hand-deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Federal 
workdays. Copies of comments received may be examined at the NRC Public 
Document Room, Room O1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. 
You may also e-mail comments to [email protected].
    The NRC maintains the current Enforcement Policy on its Web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov, select ``What We Do,'' then ``Enforcement Policy.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Johnson, Director, Office of 
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, (301) 415-2741, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 16, 2004, the NRC published, in the 
Federal Register, a final rule amending 10 CFR 50.48 (69 FR 33536). 
This rule became effective on July 16, 2004, and allows licensees to 
adopt 10 CFR 50.48(c), a voluntary risk-informed, performance-based 
alternative to current fire protection requirements. The NRC 
concurrently revised its Enforcement Policy (69 FR 33684) to provide 
interim enforcement discretion during a ``transition'' period. The 
interim enforcement discretion policy includes provisions to address: 
(1) Noncompliances identified during the licensee's transition process; 
and (2) existing identified noncompliances.
    In accordance with the current Enforcement Policy, for those 
noncompliances identified during the transition to 10 CFR 50.48(c), the 
enforcement discretion policy will be in effect for up to 2 years from 
the date of a licensee's letter of intent to adopt the requirements of 
10 CFR 50.48(c). In addition, when the licensee submits a license 
amendment request to complete the transition to 10 CFR 50.48(c), the 
enforcement discretion will continue in effect until the NRC completes 
its review of the license amendment request.
    The second element of the interim policy provides enforcement 
discretion for licensees that wish to take advantage of the rule to 
resolve existing noncompliances. The original rule required licensees 
wishing to take advantage of this interim policy to submit a letter of 
intent to adopt 10 CFR 50.48(c), within 6 months of the effective date 
of the final rule. However, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML042010132) sent a letter dated July 7, 2004, requesting 
that the NRC extend the deadline for the letter of intent to be

[[Page 19906]]

sent from 6 months to 18 months. Subsequently, the extension was 
granted and was published in the Federal Register as a revision to the 
interim enforcement policy regarding enforcement discretion for certain 
issues involving fire protection programs at operating nuclear power 
plants. The revision was effective on January 14, 2005 (70 FR 2662).
    As a result, if a licensee submitted a letter of intent by December 
31, 2005, in order to meet the second element of the interim 
enforcement policy, the NRC would exercise enforcement discretion for 
existing noncompliances that could reasonably be corrected under 10 CFR 
50.48(c).
    The NRC is revising the Enforcement Policy to extend the current 2-
year period of enforcement discretion, for the transition to this 
voluntary, performance-based regulation, to 3 years for licensees that 
commit, in their letters of intent, to adopt 10 CFR 50.48(c) 
requirements.
    Many licensees have requested additional time, beyond the 2-year 
discretion period, to properly evaluate their existing fire analyses 
and to develop fire probabilistic risk assessments (PRA). Based on 
these requests, the staff considered the extension of the current 
enforcement discretion period from 2 years to 3 years. The extension in 
time is appropriate in light of the level of effort required to 
transition to this risk-informed approach, including the implementation 
of plant modifications that may be required as a result of the 
licensee's evaluation. In addition, this change will not adversely 
impact public health and safety because the discretion policy does not 
apply to the most risk-significant findings (i.e., violations 
characterized as Red or Severity Level I). For those findings where the 
policy does apply, licensees are required to implement and maintain 
immediate compensatory measures to qualify for discretion. This 
extension would facilitate a regulatory approach that encourages 
licensees to find and resolve their own issues in ways consistent with 
Enforcement Policy goals. During the discretion period, licensees are 
required to maintain their current fire protection plans, including 
maintaining appropriate compensatory measures. In addition to the 3-
year discretion period, the NRC staff may grant item-specific 
extensions, on a case-by-case basis, to the discretion policy, when the 
licensee provides adequate justification (e.g., a modification that can 
only be implemented during an outage).
    Normal inspection and enforcement will continue to be applied to 
all plants that are not actively transitioning to 10 CFR 50.48(c).
    Minor editorial changes have also been made to the current 
``Interim Enforcement Policy Regarding Enforcement Discretion for 
Certain Fire Protection Issues'' (10 CFR 50.48), to provide 
clarification and enhancements predominately in the areas of existing 
non-compliances and the treatment of non-compliances if a licensee 
withdraws from the transition.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This policy statement does not contain new or amended information 
collection requirements 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, 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 determination with the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB.
    Accordingly, the NRC Enforcement Policy is amended to read as 
follows:
NRC Enforcement Policy
* * * * *
Interim Enforcement Policies
* * * * *
Interim Enforcement Policy Regarding Enforcement Discretion for Certain 
Fire Protection Issues (10 CFR 50.48)
    This section sets forth the interim enforcement policy that the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will follow to exercise 
enforcement discretion for certain noncompliances of requirements in 10 
CFR 50.48, ``Fire protection,'' (or fire protection license conditions) 
that are identified as a result of the transition to a new risk-
informed, performance-based fire protection approach included in 
paragraph (c) of 10 CFR 50.48 and for certain existing identified 
noncompliances that reasonably may be resolved by compliance with 10 
CFR 50.48(c). Paragraph (c) allows reactor licensees to voluntarily 
comply with the risk-informed, performance-based fire protection 
approaches in National Fire Protection Association Standard 805 (NFPA 
805), ``Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water 
Reactor Electric Generating Plants,'' 2001 Edition (with limited 
exceptions stated in the rule language).
    For those noncompliances identified during the licensee's 
transition process, this enforcement discretion policy will be in 
effect for up to 3 years from the date specified by the licensee in 
their letter of intent to adopt the requirements in 10 CFR 50.48(c), 
and will continue to be in place, without interruption, until NRC 
approval of the license amendment request to transition to 10 CFR 
50.48(c). This enforcement discretion policy may be extended on a case-
by-case basis, by request, with adequate justification, from the 
licensee.
    If, after submitting the letter of intent to comply with 10 CFR 
50.48(c) and before submitting the license amendment request, the 
licensee decides not to complete the transition to 10 CFR 50.48(c), the 
licensee must submit a letter stating its intent to retain its existing 
license basis and withdrawing its letter of intent to comply with 10 
CFR 50.48(c). After the licensee's withdrawal from the transition 
process, the staff, as a matter of practice, will not take enforcement 
action against any noncompliance that the licensee corrected during the 
transition process and should, on a case-by-case basis, consider 
refraining from taking action if reasonable and timely corrective 
actions are in progress (e.g., an exemption has been submitted for NRC 
review). Noncompliances that the licensee has not corrected, as well as 
noncompliances identified after the date of the above withdrawal 
letter, will be dispositioned in accordance with normal enforcement 
practices.

A. Noncompliances Identified During the Licensee's Transition Process

* * * * *
    (1) It was licensee-identified, as a result of its voluntary 
initiative to adopt the risk-informed, performance-based fire 
protection program included under 10 CFR 50.48(c) or, if the NRC 
identifies the violation, it was likely in the NRC staff's view that 
the licensee would have identified the violation in light of the 
defined scope, thoroughness, and schedule of the licensee's transition 
to 10 CFR 50.48(c) provided the schedule reasonably provides for 
completion of the transition within 3 years of the date specified by 
the licensee in their letter

[[Page 19907]]

of intent to implement 10 CFR 50.48(c) or other period granted by NRC;
* * * * *

B. Existing Identified Noncompliances

* * * * *
    (3) It was not willful; and
    (4) The licensee submits a letter of intent by December 31, 2005, 
stating its intent to transition to 10 CFR 50.48(c).
    After December 31, 2005, as addressed in (4) above, this 
enforcement discretion for implementation of corrective actions for 
existing identified noncompliances will not be available and the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.48(b) (and any other requirements in fire 
protection license conditions) will be enforced in accordance with 
normal enforcement practices. However, licensees that submit letters of 
intent to transition to 10 CFR 50.48(c) with existing noncompliances 
will have the option to implement corrective actions in accordance with 
the new performance-based regulation. All other elements of the 
assessment and enforcement process will be exercised even if the 
licensee submits its letter of intent before the NRC issues its 
enforcement action for existing noncompliances.

    Dated at Rockville, MD, this 11th day of April, 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrew L. Bates,
Acting Secretary of the Commission.
 [FR Doc. E6-5706 Filed 4-17-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P