[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 13, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34024-34025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-9179]


 ========================================================================
 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. 71, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 13, 2006 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 34024]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 20 and 32

RIN 3150-AH48


National Source Tracking of Sealed Sources

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend 
its regulations to establish a National Source Tracking System for 
certain sealed sources. The NRC is proposing to change the basis for 
the rule from the NRC's authority to promote the common defense and 
security to protection of the public health and safety and is seeking 
public comment on this issue.

DATES: Submit comments on the basis change by July 3, 2006. Comments 
received after the above date will be considered if it is practical to 
do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments 
received after these dates.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. 
Please include the following number (RIN 3150-AH48) in the subject line 
of your comments. Comments on rulemakings submitted in writing or in 
electronic form 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: Rulemakings 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 at (301) 415-1966. You may also submit comments via the NRC's 
rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address questions 
about our rulemaking Web site to Carol Gallagher (301) 415-5905; email 
[email protected]. Comments can also be submitted via the Federal Rulemaking 
Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
    Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 
20852, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays. (Telephone (301) 
415-1966).
    Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 
(301) 415-1101.
    You may submit comments on the information collections by the 
methods indicated in the Paperwork Reduction Act Statement.
    Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be 
examined and copied for a fee at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), 
Public File Area O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland. Selected documents, including comments, can be 
viewed and downloaded electronically via the NRC 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/NRC/ADAMS/index.html. From this 
site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Document 
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 documents located in ADAMS, 
contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-
397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Merri Horn, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-8126, e-mail, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The proposed rule on national source tracking was published in the 
Federal Register on July 28, 2005 (70 FR 43646) for public comment. The 
comment period closed October 11, 2005. The proposed rule was issued 
under the NRC's statutory authority to promote common defense and 
security. After publication of the proposed rule, the NRC issued Orders 
requiring increased controls for the remainder of the licensees 
possessing risk-significant quantities of radioactive material under 
the NRC's statutory authority to protect the public health and safety. 
Agreement States issued legally binding requirements for the increased 
controls for their licensees. The NRC has reevaluated the underlying 
basis for the National Source Tracking rule and is now proposing that 
the rule be issued under its statutory authority to protect the public 
health and safety. The change in basis is consistent with the framework 
established for the increased controls that were issued by December 
2005. The basis change will allow the Agreement States to issue legally 
binding requirements for their licensees and to conduct the national 
source tracking inspections of their licensees. The proposed changes to 
10 CFR part 150 would not be included in the final rule as these were 
to cover the Agreement State licensees.
    The database for the National Source Tracking System would still be 
maintained by the NRC. Both NRC and Agreement State licensees would 
report their transactions to the National Source Tracking System.
    The NRC is specifically inviting comment on the issue of the change 
in the basis for issuing the rule to protection of the public health 
and safety. Because the issue on which comment is sought is limited to 
a change in the basis under which the rule is to be issued, NRC is 
providing a limited comment period. With the change in basis, the final 
rule would be an immediate mandatory matter of compatibility and be 
classified as Compatibility Category ``B.'' The Agreement State 
Compatibility section of the Statement of Considerations would be 
revised and is provided below.

II. Agreement State Compatibility

    Under the ``Policy Statement on Adequacy and Compatibility of 
Agreement State Programs'' approved by the Commission on June 30, 1997, 
and published in the Federal Register on September 3, 1997 (62 FR 
46517), Sec.  20.2207, the final rule would be classified as 
Compatibility Category ``B.'' The NRC program elements in this category 
are those that apply to

[[Page 34025]]

activities that have direct and significant transboundary implications. 
An Agreement State should adopt program elements essentially identical 
to those of NRC. Agreement State and NRC licensees would report their 
transactions to the National Source Tracking System. The database would 
be maintained by NRC.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of June, 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. E6-9179 Filed 6-12-06; 8:45 am]
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