[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 25, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43544-43545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-17710]


 ========================================================================
 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. 77, No. 143 / Wednesday, July 25, 2012 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 43544]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 30, 31, 32, 40, and 70

[NRC-2012-0074]
RIN 3150-AH91


Implementation of Requirements for Distribution of Byproduct 
Material

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Interim guidance; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
is amending its regulations to make requirements for distributors of 
byproduct material clearer, less prescriptive, and more risk-informed 
and up to date. The rulemaking also redefines some categories of 
devices to be used under exemption from licensing requirements, adds 
explicit provisions regarding the sealed source and device registration 
process, and adds flexibility to the licensing of users of sealed 
sources and devices. This action was primarily intended to make 
licensing processes more efficient and effective. These changes will 
affect manufacturers and distributors of sources and devices containing 
byproduct material and future users of some products currently used 
under a general or specific license. The NRC has prepared interim 
guidance to address implementation of the final regulations. This 
document announces the availability of the implementation guidance 
document for public comment.

DATES: Submit comments by September 24, 2012. 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: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this document, which the NRC possesses and is publicly available, by 
searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2012-0074. 
You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0074. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
     Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shirley Xu, Office of Federal and 
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-
7640, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0074 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses 
and is publicly available, by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0074. Documents 
related to the rulemaking can be found by searching on Docket ID NRC-
2008-0338.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The interim guidance is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML112150558. NUREG-1556, Vol. 3, 
Rev. 1, ``Consolidated Guidance about Materials Licenses Applications 
for Sealed Source and Device Evaluation and Registration Final 
Report,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML041340618; NUREG-
1556, Vol. 8, ``Consolidated Guidance about Materials Licenses: 
Program-Specific Guidance about Exempt Distribution Licenses,'' is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML010370065; and NUREG-1556, 
Vol. 16, ``Consolidated Guidance about Materials Licenses: Program-
Specific Guidance about Licenses Authorizing Distribution to General 
Licensees,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML010120151.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2012-0074 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    The NRC published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on June 
24, 2010 (75 FR 36212), to amend its regulations

[[Page 43545]]

in parts 30, 31, 32, 40 and 70 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) to make requirements for distributors of byproduct 
material clearer, less prescriptive, and more risk-informed and up to 
date. In that notice, the NRC also proposed to redefine categories of 
devices to be used under exemptions, add explicit provisions regarding 
the sealed source and device registration process, and add flexibility 
to the licensing of users of sealed sources and devices. The public 
comment period on the proposed rule closed on September 7, 2010. The 
NRC received 10 comments on the proposed rule.
    The NRC considered these comments in developing a final rule [RIN 
3150-AH91; Docket ID NRC-2008-0338], which is being published in the 
Rules and Regulations Section of this issue of the Federal Register. 
The final rule will affect manufacturers and distributors of certain 
products and materials containing source material and certain persons 
using source material under general license and under exemptions from 
licensing.
    In conjunction with the final rule, the NRC has developed interim 
guidance. The interim guidance document provides guidance to a licensee 
or applicant for implementation of 10 CFR parts 30, 31, 32, 40 and 70, 
``Requirements for Distribution of Byproduct Material.'' It is intended 
for use by applicants, licensees, Agreement States, and the NRC staff. 
The interim guidance describes methods acceptable to the NRC staff for 
implementing the revised regulations. The approaches and methods 
described in the guidance document are provided for information and use 
in implementing the revised regulations. Methods and solutions 
different from those described in the interim guidance are acceptable 
if they meet the requirements in 10 CFR parts 30, 31, 32, 40, and 70.
    At this time, the NRC is announcing the availability for use of 
``Interim Guidance for Implementation of the Final Rule, Requirements 
for Distribution of Byproduct Material in 10 CFR Parts 30, 31, 32, 40, 
and 70.'' The document provides guidance on implementing the revised 
provisions of 10 CFR parts 30, 31, 32, 40, and 70. The NRC is also 
requesting public comment on this interim guidance. Guidance on the 
revised regulations will be included in the next revision of the 
relevant volumes in NUREG-1556, ``Consolidated Guidance about Materials 
Licenses.'' Comments received on this interim guidance will be 
considered in the updating of those volumes of NUREG-1556.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of June 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark A. Satorius,
Director, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental 
Management Programs.
[FR Doc. 2012-17710 Filed 7-19-12; 8:45 am]
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