[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 24, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51958-51960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21022]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 26

[Docket No. PRM-26-4; NRC-2010-0269]


California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists; Notice 
of Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of receipt.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received and 
requests public comment on a petition for rulemaking dated March 24, 
2010, and supplemented on July 12, 2010, filed by the California 
Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) (petitioner). The 
petition was docketed by the NRC and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-
26-4. The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to add 
marriage and family therapists (MFT) as substance abuse experts (SAEs).

DATES: Submit comments by November 8, 2010. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: Please include Docket ID NRC-2010-0269 in the subject line 
of your comments. For instructions on submitting comments and accessing 
documents related to this action, see ``Submitting Comments and 
Accessing Information'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 
this document. You may submit comments by any one of the following 
methods.
    Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2010-0269. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, telephone 301-492-3668; 
e-mail [email protected].
    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.
    Hand Deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 
20852 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays 
(Telephone 301-415-1966).
    Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 
301-415-1101.

[[Page 51959]]

    For a copy of the petition, write to Betty Golden, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (MS TWB-5 B1M), Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative 
Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Telephone 301-492-3667, toll free 800-368-
5642, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Submitting Comments and Accessing Information

    Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be posted 
on the NRC Web site and on the Federal rulemaking Web site http://www.regulations.gov. Because your comments will not be edited to remove 
any identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against 
including any information in your submission that you do not want to be 
publicly disclosed. The NRC requests that any party soliciting or 
aggregating comments received from other persons for submission to the 
NRC inform those persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to 
remove any identifying or contact information, and therefore, they 
should not include any information in their comments that they do not 
want publicly disclosed.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this 
document, including the following documents, using the following 
methods:
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O-
1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are 
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can gain 
entry into 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's PDR 
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
[email protected]. The ADAMS accession numbers for the petition are 
ML102030370 (March 24, 2010 letter) and ML102000432 (July 12, 2010 
letter).
    Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Public comments and supporting 
materials related to this action, including the petition for 
rulemaking, can be found at http://www.regulations.gov by searching on 
Docket ID NRC-2010-0269.

Background

    On March 24, 2010, the NRC received a request submitted by CAMFT 
for the NRC to amend its regulations at 10 CFR 26.187(b) to add 
marriage and family therapists (MFTs) as substance abuse experts (SAE). 
The NRC requested additional information on the petitioner's request. 
The petitioner provided this supplementary information to the NRC in a 
letter dated July 12, 2010, and the request has been docketed as a 
petition for rulemaking and assigned Docket No. PRM-26-4. The 
petitioner states that its interest in the requested action is to 
pursue changes in law, whether statutory or regulatory, that increase 
professional opportunities for MFTs, and that treat the profession on 
par with the other mental health disciplines.

The Petition

    The petitioner states that MFTs should be included as SAEs for the 
following reasons:
    (1) The petitioner believes that this amendment would enable MFTs 
who are qualified to address substance abuse issues by virtue of their 
education, training, and experience to evaluate individuals who have 
violated the NRC's fitness for duty policies. The petitioner states 
that these MFTs would also be able to make recommendations concerning 
education, treatment, return to duty, follow-up drug and alcohol 
testing, and aftercare. The petitioner states that many MFTs in 
California perform this work on a daily basis, both in inpatient and 
outpatient treatment settings. The petitioner states that ``qualified'' 
means that the MFT providing these services would meet the ``basic 
knowledge'' requirement presented in 10 CFR 26.187(c) (i.e., 
demonstrated knowledge of and clinical experience in the diagnosis and 
treatment of alcohol and substance abuse disorders), and would comply 
with any continuing education requirements. The petitioner states that, 
in California, MFTs receive the same amount of required instruction in 
substance abuse issues that psychologists receive. MFTs also receive 
the same amount of required instruction that licensed clinical social 
workers receive.
    (2) The petitioner believes that the role of a SAE should be open 
to any mental health professional, regardless of licensure, who can 
demonstrate that he or she is qualified to be a SAE. The petitioner 
states that in the NRC's response to Industry Comment 2 (in the 10 CFR 
Part 26 proposed rule, ``Fitness for Duty Programs,'' published on 
August 26, 2005; 70 FR 50441), the NRC addressed the question of 
whether only licensed physicians could be SAEs. The petitioner states 
that the NRC concluded that the ``SAE need not be a licensed physician, 
but would be required to have extensive expertise, such as a licensed 
or certified social worker, psychologist, or others listed in Sec.  
26.187(b), and additional qualifications specifically related to 
substance abuse disorders.'' Consequently, the petitioner believes that 
under the NRC's own rationale for the position of SAE, the emphasis is 
not on a particular license designation. Rather, the emphasis is on 
whether the individual licensee has ``extensive expertise'' in 
diagnosing and treating alcohol and substance abuse issues. The 
petitioner states that MFTs should be included in the list of 
credentialed professionals because they are recognized by the 
Department of Health and Human Services, along with psychiatry, 
psychology, clinical social work and psychiatric nursing as one of the 
five core mental health disciplines in the United States, and they are 
trained to assess and treat substance abuse issues.
    (3) The petitioner states that California law allows MFTs and 
licensed clinical social workers to diagnose and treat mental 
disorders. The petitioner believes that if licensed clinical social 
workers are included on the list of professionals to diagnose and treat 
mental disorders, then MFTs should also be included. The petitioner 
states that in California there is much overlap of the professional 
duties and responsibilities of marriage and family therapists, 
psychologists, and clinical social workers, especially in the area of 
alcohol and substance abuse counseling. The petitioner believes that 
all of these professions have licensees who, by virtue of their 
education, training, and experience, have ``extensive expertise'' in 
diagnosing and treating alcohol and substance abuse issues. The 
petitioner believes that, if the NRC allows licensed or certified 
social workers and licensed or certified psychologists to be SAEs, it 
should also allow MFTs to be SAEs.
    (4) The petitioner believes that the trend of the Federal 
Government is to include MFTs as providers of substance abuse services 
within government programs. The petitioner states that the Department 
of Transportation recently amended its regulations to allow MFTs

[[Page 51960]]

to be ``substance abuse professionals'' and to perform counseling 
services with its employees, and the Federal Health Resources Services 
Administration has included MFTs on its list of five core mental health 
disciplines.
    (5) The petitioner states that the licensing and regulation of MFTs 
is done by all fifty states. The petitioner states that although 
licensing is conducted by individual states, the vast majority of 
states require candidates to pass the national MFT examination, which 
is administered by the Association of Marital and Family Therapy 
Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB). The National MFT examination tests 
prospective MFTs on their knowledge of substance abuse issues and 
treatment. The petitioner states that in terms of substance abuse 
issues, the AMFTRB tests prospective MFTs on their knowledge of how 
substance abuse and dependency affect the individual and the 
functioning of his or her family; the effects of addictive behavior on 
the individual and the family system; and addiction treatment 
modalities.
    The petitioner provided the following documents as attachments to 
its petition for rulemaking. These documents are not included in this 
publication. (See the ADDRESSES section of this document for 
instructions on accessing a copy of the petition for rulemaking.)
     California Business & Professions Code Sec.  498.36, Sec.  
1887.3, Sec.  29, Sec.  2914, Sec.  1382.3, and Sec.  4996.2;
     Yale School of Medicine Bulletin;
     NAADAC Guide to Certification; and
     Employee Assistance Professionals Association, ``How to 
Become a CEAP''.
    In summary, the petitioner believes that MFTs should be included in 
the list of credentialed professionals presented in 10 CFR 26.187(b). 
The petitioner states that it realizes the importance of the role SAEs 
play in safeguarding the United States and its citizens, and believes 
that the members of CAMFT who are qualified to be SAEs would be a 
credit to the NRC.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of August 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2010-21022 Filed 8-23-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P