[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40626-40628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16090]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-08778; License No. SMB-1393; EA-08-054]


In the Matter of Chevron Environmental Management Company, 
Washington, PA, Decommissioning Project Site; Confirmatory Order 
Modifying License (Effective Immediately)

I

    Chevron Environmental Management Company (CEMC or Licensee) is the 
holder of License No. SMB-1393 issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR Part 40. The license 
authorizes the decommissioning of the Washington, PA, Decommissioning 
Project in accordance with conditions specified therein. The facility 
is located in Washington, Pennsylvania.

[[Page 40627]]

    This confirmatory order is the result of an agreement reached 
during an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mediation session 
conducted on June 5, 2008.

II

    On July 19, 2007, the NRC's Office of Investigations (OI) issued 
its investigative report regarding whether a radiation safety employee 
(RSE) was the subject of employment discrimination in violation of 10 
CFR 40.7, ``Employee protection.'' In OI Report No. 1-2006-054, OI 
concluded that a RSE was discriminated against, in part, for raising 
concerns regarding the transportation of potentially contaminated soil 
samples over public roads and the monitoring of potentially radioactive 
airborne dust caused by the construction work activities at the site. 
By letter dated February 29, 2008, the NRC identified to the Licensee 
an apparent violation of 10 CFR 40.7, and offered CEMC the opportunity 
to provide a written response, attend a pre-decisional enforcement 
conference, or to request alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in which 
a neutral mediator with no decision-making authority would facilitate 
discussions between the NRC and CEMC and, if possible, assist the NRC 
and CEMC in reaching an agreement. CEMC chose to participate in ADR.

III

    On June 5, 2008, the NRC and CEMC met in an ADR session in 
Washington, D.C., mediated by a professional mediator, arranged through 
Cornell University's Institute on Conflict Resolution. This 
confirmatory order is issued pursuant to the agreement reached during 
the ADR process. The elements of the agreement consisted of the 
following:
    1. By no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the issuance of 
the confirmatory order, a member of CEMC's senior management 
responsible for the Washington site will, in writing, communicate 
CEMC's policy, and the expectations of management, to the Washington 
site workforce regarding their rights to raise concerns without fear of 
retaliation.
    2. By no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the issuance of 
this confirmatory order, CEMC shall distribute a questionnaire to all 
employees at the Washington site to assess, in part, whether employees 
understand their rights to raise concerns and solicit their willingness 
to raise nuclear safety concerns, if any.
    3. By no later than thirty (30) days after the issuance of this 
confirmatory order, CEMC agrees to implement a new requirement of its 
contractors (including subcontractors) at the Washington site whereby 
the contractors would be required to affirm to CEMC, in writing, at the 
time that any significant job action is being taken against a 
Washington site employee, that such action is not being implemented in 
retaliation for the employee raising safety-related concerns or in 
retaliation for filing a safety-related complaint either internally or 
externally, and to affirm that the job action was taken in compliance 
with 10 CFR 40.7, ``Employee Protection.''
    4. By no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the issuance of 
this confirmatory order, CEMC agrees to enter into a written agreement 
with its contractors performing work at the Washington site that 
requires compliance with 10 CFR 40.7, ``Employee Protection.''
    5. By no later than sixty (60) calendar days after the issuance of 
this confirmatory order, CEMC agrees to provide training conducted by 
its counsel to all Washington site supervisory employees relating to 10 
CFR 40.7, ``Employee Protection'' and how to foster a safety-conscious 
work environment.
    6. By no later than seventy five (75) calendars days after the 
issuance of this confirmatory order, CEMC shall hold one or more 
meetings with employees at the Washington site to emphasize the 
company's policy and management's expectation that employees can raise 
any nuclear safety concerns without fear of retaliation.
    On July 2, 2008, CEMC consented to issuing this confirmatory order 
with the commitments, as described in Section V below. CEMC further 
agreed that this confirmatory order is to be effective upon issuance 
and it has waived its right to a hearing.

IV

    Since CEMC has agreed to take additional actions to address NRC 
concerns, as set forth in Item III above, and NRC has concluded that 
its concerns can be resolved through issuance of this confirmatory 
order and thereby has agreed not to pursue any further enforcement 
action for this issue and will not count this matter as previous 
enforcement for the purposes of assessing potential future enforcement 
action civil penalty assessments in accordance with Section VI.C of the 
Enforcement Policy.
    I find that the Licensee's commitments as set forth in Section V 
are acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these commitments 
the public health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the 
foregoing, I have determined that the public health and safety require 
that the Licensee's commitments be confirmed by this confirmatory 
order. Based on the above and the Licensee's consent, this confirmatory 
order is immediately effective upon issuance. By no later than thirty 
(30) calendar days after the completion of the requirements in Section 
V, CEMC is required to notify the NRC in writing and summarizing its 
actions.

V

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 103, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182, and 
186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's 
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 50, it is hereby ordered, 
effective immediately, that License No. SMB-1393 is modified as 
follows:
    1. By no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the issuance of 
this confirmatory order, a member of CEMC's senior management 
responsible for the Washington site will, in writing, communicate 
CEMC's policy, and the expectations of management, to the Washington 
site workforce regarding their rights to raise concerns without fear of 
retaliation.
    2. By no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the issuance of 
this confirmatory order, CEMC shall distribute a questionnaire to all 
employees at the Washington site to assess, in part, whether employees 
understand their rights to raise concerns and solicit their willingness 
to raise nuclear safety concerns, if any.
    3. By no later than thirty (30) days after the issuance of this 
confirmatory order, CEMC agrees to implement a new requirement of its 
contractors (including subcontractors) at the Washington site whereby 
the contractors would be required to affirm to CEMC, in writing, at the 
time that any significant job action is being taken against a 
Washington site employee, that such action is not being implemented in 
retaliation for the employee raising safety-related concerns or in 
retaliation for filing a safety-related complaint either internally or 
externally, and to affirm that the job action was taken in compliance 
with 10 CFR 40.7, ``Employee Protection.''
    4. By no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the issuance of 
this confirmatory order, CEMC agrees to enter into a written agreement 
with its contractors performing work at the Washington site that 
requires compliance with 10 CFR 40.7, ``Employee Protection.''

[[Page 40628]]

    5. By no later than sixty (60) calendar days after the issuance of 
this confirmatory order, CEMC agrees to provide training conducted by 
its counsel to all Washington site supervisory employees relating to 10 
CFR 40.7, ``Employee Protection'' and how to foster a safety-conscious 
work environment.
    6. By no later than seventy five (75) calendars days after the 
issuance of this confirmatory order, CEMC shall hold one or more 
meetings with employees at the Washington site to emphasize the 
company's policy and management's expectation that employees can raise 
any nuclear safety concerns without fear of retaliation.

VI

    Any person adversely affected by this confirmatory order, other 
than the Licensee, may request a hearing within 20 days of its 
issuance. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to 
extending the time to request a hearing. A request for extension of 
time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of Enforcement, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and include a 
statement of good cause for the extension.
    A request for a hearing must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-
Filing rule, which the NRC promulgated in August, 2007, 72 Fed. Reg. 
49, 139 (Aug. 8, 2007). The E-Filing process requires participants to 
submit and serve documents over the Internet or, in some cases, to mail 
copies on electronic optical storage media. Participants may not submit 
paper copies of their filings unless they seek a waiver in accordance 
with the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements associated with E-
Filing, at least five (5) days prior to the filing deadline the 
requestor must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) a 
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal 
server for any NRC proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2) 
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances 
when the requestor (or its counsel or representative) already holds an 
NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each requestor will need to 
download the Workplace Forms ViewerTM to access the 
Electronic Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing 
system. The Workplace Forms ViewerTM is free and is 
available at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. Information about applying for a digital ID certificate 
also is available on NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
    Once a requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate, had a 
docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit a 
request for a hearing through EIE. Submissions should be in Portable 
Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance available on the 
NRC public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. 
A filing is considered complete at the time the filer submits its 
document through EIE. To be timely, electronic filings must be 
submitted to the EIE system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on 
the due date. Upon receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-
stamps the document and sends the submitter an e-mail notice confirming 
receipt of the document. The EIE system also distributes an e-mail 
notice that provides access to the document to the NRC Office of the 
General Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the 
Secretary that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the 
filer need not serve the document on those participants separately. 
Therefore, any others who wish to participate in the proceeding (or 
their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a digital 
ID certificate before a hearing request is filed so that they may 
obtain access to the document via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically may seek assistance through the 
``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC technical help line, 
which is available between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time, 
Monday through Friday. The help line number is (800) 397-4209 or 
locally, (301) 415-4737.
    Participants who believe that they have good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file a motion, in accordance 
with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing requesting 
authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such 
filings must be submitted by (1) first-class mail addressed to the 
Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and 
Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited 
delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD, 20852, 
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a 
document in this manner are responsible for serving the document on all 
other participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail 
as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the 
provider of the service.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant 
to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or 
a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to include personal 
privacy information, such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, 
or home phone numbers in their filings. With respect to copyrighted 
works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the 
adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, 
Participants are requested not to include copyrighted materials in 
their works.
    If a person (other than the Licensee) requests a hearing, that 
person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his 
interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the 
criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).
    If the hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely 
affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and 
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered 
at such hearing shall be whether this confirmatory order should be 
sustained. In the absence of any request for hearing, or written 
approval of an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the 
provisions specified in Section V above shall be final 20 days from the 
date of this Order without further order or proceedings. If an 
extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the 
provisions specified in Section V shall be final when the extension 
expires if a hearing request has not been received. A request for 
hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness of this order.

    Dated this 8th day of July, 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E8-16090 Filed 7-14-08; 8:45 am]
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