[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 207 (Friday, October 25, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63901-63902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-24879]


 ========================================================================
 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. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2013 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 63901]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 55

[NRC-2012-0031]
RIN 3150-AJ11


Onsite Emergency Response Capabilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory basis.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is making 
available a regulatory basis document to support the potential 
amendment of its regulations concerning nuclear power plant licensees' 
onsite emergency response capabilities. The NRC is not seeking public 
comments on this document. The issuance of this 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: At this time, the NRC is not soliciting formal public comments 
on this document. There will be an opportunity for formal public 
comment on the proposed rule when it is published in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0031 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this document. You may 
access information related to this document by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to www.regulations.gov and 
search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0031. Address questions about NRC dockets 
to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-3422; email: 
[email protected]. For technical questions, please contact the 
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     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 Number 
for each document referenced in this document (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stewart Schneider, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-4123; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
II. Publicly Available Documents
III. Non-Concurrence
IV. Plain Writing

I. Background

    As the NRC continues its ongoing proposed rulemaking effort to 
amend portions of Parts 50 and 55 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) to strengthen and integrate onsite emergency 
response capabilities, the NRC is making 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.

II. Publicly Available Documents

    The NRC has posted on www.regulations.gov for public availability 
the 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 
enhance regulatory requirements.
    In addition, the NRC has posted preliminary proposed rule language 
related to this rulemaking as Appendix C of the 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 not requesting formal public comments on the regulatory 
basis or 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).

III. Non-Concurrence

    Several NRC staff members did not agree with some content of the 
regulatory basis and submitted non-concurrences on this document. In 
accordance with the NRC's non-concurrence process, NRC management and 
staff worked to address the staff members' concerns, and documentation 
of the non-concurrences can be found at Accession Nos. ML13269A322 and 
ML13269A327. The non-concurrence issues were assessed, and the 
regulatory basis was revised to address the staff members' concerns. As 
a result, four of the staff members concurred, and one staff member 
reaffirmed his non-concurrence.

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

[[Page 63902]]

language, to be consistent with the Plain Writing Act.

     Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of October, 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lawrence E. Kokajko,
Director, Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2013-24879 Filed 10-24-13; 8:45 am]
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