[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 8, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1154-1155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31706]


 ========================================================================
 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. 78, No. 5 / Tuesday, January 8, 2013 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 1154]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 & 52

[NRC-2012-0031]
RIN 3150-AJ11


Onsite Emergency Response Capabilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory basis.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
is issuing a draft regulatory basis document to support the potential 
amendment of its regulations concerning nuclear power plant licensees' 
onsite emergency response capabilities. The NRC is seeking public 
comments on this document. The issuance of this draft regulatory basis 
document is one of the actions stemming from the NRC's lessons-learned 
efforts associated with the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power 
Plant accident in Japan.

DATES: Submit comments by February 22, 2013. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is only able to ensure consideration of comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to these documents, which the NRC possesses and are publicly available, 
by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2012-
0031. 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-2012-0031. 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, contact us 
directly 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert H. Beall, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3874; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0031 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this notice. You may access 
information related to this draft regulatory basis, 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-2012-0031.
     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 ADAMS Accession No. for 
each document referenced in this notice (if that document is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. A 
table listing documents that provide additional background and 
supporting information is in Appendix F of the draft regulatory basis.
     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-2012-0031 in the subject line of your 
comment submission 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 comment 
submissions. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov and enters 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 submissions. 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

    As the NRC continues its ongoing proposed rulemaking effort to 
amend portions of Parts 50 and 52 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) to strengthen and integrate onsite emergency 
response capabilities, the NRC is making preliminary documents publicly 
available on the Federal rulemaking Web site, www.regulations.gov, 
under Docket ID NRC-2012-0031. By making these documents publicly 
available, the NRC seeks to inform stakeholders of the current status 
of the NRC's rulemaking development activities and to provide 
preparatory material for future public meetings. The NRC is instituting 
a 45-day public comment period on these materials, and the public is 
encouraged to participate in any related public meetings.

[[Page 1155]]

III. Publicly Available Documents

    The NRC has posted on www.regulations.gov for public availability 
the draft regulatory basis to strengthen and integrate onsite emergency 
response capabilities. This regulatory basis documents the reasons why 
the NRC determined rulemaking was the appropriate course of action to 
remedy a regulatory shortcoming.
    In addition, the NRC has posted preliminary proposed rule language 
related to this rulemaking as Appendix C of the draft regulatory basis. 
This preliminary proposed rule language contains one portion of the 
NRC's proposed changes. This language does not represent a final NRC 
staff position nor has it been reviewed by the Commission. Therefore, 
the preliminary proposed rule language may undergo significant revision 
during the rulemaking process.
    The NRC is requesting formal public comments on the draft 
regulatory basis and the preliminary proposed rule language. The NRC 
may post additional materials, including other preliminary proposed 
rule language, to the Federal rulemaking Web site at 
www.regulations.gov, under Docket ID NRC-2012-0031. The Federal 
rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts when changes or 
additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the 
docket folder (NRC-2012-0031); (2) click the ``Email Alert'' link; and 
(3) enter your email address and select how frequently you would like 
to receive emails (daily, weekly, or monthly).

IV. Plain Writing

    The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal 
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, well-organized manner 
that also follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or 
field and the intended audience. Although regulations are exempt under 
the Act, the NRC is applying the same principles to its rulemaking 
documents. Therefore, the NRC has written this document, including the 
preliminary proposed rule language, to be consistent with the Plain 
Writing Act.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of December, 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Sher Bahadur,
Deputy Director, Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2012-31706 Filed 1-7-13; 8:45 am]
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