[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 226 (Friday, November 23, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 70123-70124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28436]


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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. 77, No. 226 / Friday, November 23, 2012 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 70123]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

2 CFR Chapter XX

5 CFR Chapter XLVIII

10 CFR Chapter I

[NRC-2011-0246]


Retrospective Review Under Executive Order 13579

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Plan for retrospective analysis of existing rules; request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
is making available its draft Plan for the retrospective analysis of 
its existing regulations. The draft Plan describes the processes and 
activities that the NRC uses to determine whether any of its 
regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed. 
This action is part of the NRC's voluntary implementation of Executive 
Order (E.O.) 13579, ``Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies,'' 
issued by the President on July 11, 2011. The NRC is requesting public 
comment on the draft Plan at this time. This request for comment is 
solely for information and program-planning purposes. The NRC will 
consider the comments submitted and may use them, as appropriate, in 
the preparation of a final retrospective review plan; however, the NRC 
does not anticipate responding to individual comments.

DATES: Submit comments by February 6, 2013. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to only ensure consideration only of comments 
received before this date. Requests for extension of the comment period 
will not be granted.

ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this draft plan, which the NRC possesses and is publicly available, 
by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2011-
0246. You may submit comments by the following methods:
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0246. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    The NRC's draft Plan may be viewed online on the NRC's Public Web 
site at the following locations: 1) On the NRC's Open Government Web 
page at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/open.html (under the tabs 
entitled ``Selected NRC Resources'' and ``Rulemaking''); and 2) on the 
NRC's plans, budget, and performance Web page at http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/plans-performance.html). The NRC's draft Plan may also be 
viewed online at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 
301-492-3667 or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0246 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this draft Plan. You may 
access information related to this action, which the NRC possesses and 
is publicly available, by the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0246.
     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 NRC's draft Plan for 
public comment is in ADAMS under Accession No. ML12305A373.
     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-2011-0246 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 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 will not edit comment submissions to remove such 
information before making the comment submissions available to the 
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Background

    On January 18, 2011, President Obama issued E.O. 13563, ``Improving

[[Page 70124]]

Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' Executive Order 13563 directs 
Federal agencies to develop and submit a preliminary plan ``under which 
the agency will periodically review its existing significant 
regulations to determine whether any such regulations should be 
modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed so as to make the agency's 
regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in achieving the 
regulatory objectives.'' Executive Order 13563 did not, however, apply 
to independent regulatory agencies. Subsequently, on July 11, 2011, the 
President issued E.O. 13579, which recommends that independent 
regulatory agencies also develop retrospective plans similar to those 
required of other agencies under E.O. 13563. In the spirit of 
cooperation, in November 2011, in response to E.O. 13579, the NRC made 
available an initial Plan on the NRC's Public Web site. The NRC has now 
updated its initial Plan and has created a draft Plan. The draft Plan 
is available at the following locations: (1) On the NRC's Open 
Government Web page at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/open.html 
(under the tabs entitled ``Selected NRC Resources'' and 
``Rulemaking''); (2) on the NRC's plans, budget, and performance Web 
page at http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/plans-performance.html); and (3) 
on http://www.regulations.gov. The NRC is accepting public comment on 
this draft Plan.

III. Plan for Retrospective Review

    The NRC's draft Plan describes the NRC's processes and activities 
relating to retrospective review of existing regulations, including 
discussions of the: (1) Efforts to incorporate risk assessments into 
regulatory decisionmaking; (2) efforts to address the cumulative 
effects of regulation; (3) the NRC's methodology for prioritizing its 
rulemaking activities; (4) rulemaking initiatives arising out of the 
NRC's ongoing review of its regulations related to the recent events at 
the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan; and (5) the NRC's 
previous and ongoing efforts to update its regulations in a systematic, 
ongoing basis.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of November 2012.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2012-28436 Filed 11-21-12; 8:45 am]
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