[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 27, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35203-35204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-12421]


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 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. 72, No. 123 / Wednesday, June 27, 2007 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 35203]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 34

[PRM-34-06]


Organization of Agreement States, Petition for Rulemaking, 
Meeting

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking dated November 3, 2005, which was filed with 
the Commission by Barbara Hamrick, Chair, Organization of Agreement 
States (OAS). The petition was docketed by the NRC on November 16, 
2005, and has been assigned docket number PRM-34-06. The petitioner 
requests that the NRC amend its regulations to require that an 
individual receive at least 40 hours of radiation safety training 
before using sources of radiation for industrial radiography, by 
revising the requirements for at least two qualified individuals to be 
present at a temporary job site, and by clarifying how many individuals 
are required to meet surveillance requirements. The petitioner also 
requests that NUREG-1556, Volume 2, be revised to reflect the proposed 
amendments. As part of the petition for rulemaking review process, the 
NRC will hold a transcribed public meeting with the petitioner to 
obtain information about two specific issues relative to the petition. 
The meeting is open to the public and all interested parties may 
participate.

DATES: August 15, 2007 (1-3 p.m., Eastern)

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held via an audio teleconference at the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Headquarters, Two White Flint 
North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Young, telephone: (301) 415-
5795, e-mail: [email protected] of the Office of Federal and State Materials 
and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Mail Stop T8F3, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Interested 
members of the public can participate in this meeting via a toll-free 
audio teleconference. For details, please contact Thomas Young to pre-
register for the meeting. If special equipment is needed by those 
participating in the public meeting, contact Mr. Young no later than 
July 27, 2007, to provide sufficient notice to determine whether the 
equipment is available.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC, Office of Federal and State 
Materials and Environmental Management Programs, Petition Review Board 
has requested this transcribed public meeting to ensure full 
understanding for two specific issues, training and economic impact, 
which NRC identified during evaluation of the petitioner's request in 
PRM-34-06. The meeting materials are available from the NRC Web site, 
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm, or by 
contacting Thomas Young, telephone: (301) 415-5795, e-mail: 
[email protected]. The two specific issues, training and economic impact, are 
described below with discussion questions for each issue.
    Regarding the training issue, the Petition Review Board is seeking 
an explanation to resolve an apparent inconsistency in the petitioner's 
request. The petitioner requested that NRC amend the regulations to 
relax an existing requirement to allow industrial radiographic 
personnel to be occupied with tasks (e.g., dark room duties) that are 
unrelated to safety during industrial radiographic operations and also 
requested that the regulations be amended to include additional 
radiation safety training requirements for the personnel. These 
requests seem to conflict.
    The petitioner requested that 10 CFR 34.41, ``Conducting industrial 
radiographic operations,'' paragraph (a) be amended to remove the 
requirement that the additional qualified individual shall observe the 
operations and be capable of providing immediate assistance to prevent 
unauthorized entry. The petitioner requested that 10 CFR 34.43, 
``Training,'' be amended to limit a licensee from permitting an 
individual to act as a radiographer or a radiographer's assistant until 
the individual has successfully completed an accepted course of at 
least 40 hours on the applicable subjects listed in paragraph (g), 
e.g., concerning fundamentals of radiation safety, radiation detection 
instrumentation, and equipment.
    Two questions about training are as follows. (1) What is the 
rationale for requiring more radiation safety training for a 
radiographer's assistant who would not be required to observe the 
operations and provide immediate assistance to prevent unauthorized 
entry? (2) Does an individual completing the course to become a 
radiographer's assistant need to take another course before a licensee 
can permit the individual to act as a radiographer, if the petitioner 
intends for the radiographer and radiographer's assistant to complete 
the same course of applicable subjects on radiological safety, 
detection, and use of equipment as listed in paragraph (g)?
    Regarding the issue of economic impact, the Petition Review Board 
is seeking new, relevant information about the economic impact of 
implementing the rule. In response to the notice of receipt of the 
petition for rulemaking (70 FR 76724, December 28, 2005), the NRC 
received two comment letters; one from the Conference of Radiation 
Control Program Directors, Inc. and the other from the Texas Department 
of State Health Services. These organizations supported the 
petitioner's request. The industrial radiography community did not 
comment on the petitioner's request and the lack of comment from the 
industry was somewhat unexpected because the industry's interest had 
been relatively high in previous rulemaking activities for 10 CFR part 
34. In the past, the industry supported the two person requirement at 
10 CFR 34.41(a) and indicated that the additional cost of safety would 
be borne by the customers, not necessarily by the licensees.
    The petitioner contacted certain industrial radiography licensees 
that operate in both the State of Texas and in NRC's jurisdiction to 
assess the cost of implementing 10 CFR 34.41(a) and obtained general 
information, e.g., an additional person would cost $200 per day 
(including travel and per diem) and the cost of additional time would 
be

[[Page 35204]]

$10-$12 per hour (not including overtime pay).
    Two questions about economic impact are as follows. (1) What is the 
actual economic impact on a licensee in the current regulatory 
environment where NRC and Agreement States do not implement the rule in 
an essentially identical manner? (2) Have changes in industry practice 
occurred since 1997 that have minimized the effectiveness of 10 CFR 
34.41(a)?
    The agenda for the meeting is as follows: Welcome and purpose of 
the meeting, 10 minutes; PRM 34-06 evaluation process and milestones, 
10 minutes; Petition Review Board and petitioner discussion of the 
training issue, 40 minutes; Petition Review Board and petitioner 
discussion of the economic impact issue, 40 minutes; public comment on 
the issues, 15 minutes; closing remarks, 5 minutes. If necessary, NRC 
may impose a time limit on a speaker to ensure that all speakers may 
comment within the time that is available.
    Members of the public who have registered to participate in this 
meeting should call the teleconference approximately 15 minutes prior 
to the meeting. The toll free number will be provided to each 
registrant prior to the meeting.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of June, 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dennis K. Rathbun,
Director, Division of Intergovernmental Liaison and Rulemaking, Office 
of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs.
 [FR Doc. E7-12421 Filed 6-26-07; 8:45 am]
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