[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 172 (Friday, September 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53082-53083]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21192]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NCR-2013-0181]


Georgia Agreement State Program

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Discontinuance of the probation period for the Georgia 
Agreement State Program.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the 
discontinuation of the probation period for the Georgia Agreement State 
Program (Georgia Program).

DATES: The discontinuation of the probation period is effective on 
August 25, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0181 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:

[[Page 53083]]

     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0181. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, 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: Michelle Beardsley, Office of Federal 
and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Region I, King of Prussia, PA, telephone: 610-
337-6942, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 274b. of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended (AEA), provides the statutory basis by which the NRC 
relinquishes, by agreement with a State, portions of its regulatory 
authority to license and regulate byproduct materials, source 
materials, and quantities of special nuclear materials under critical 
mass, when the NRC determines that the State has an adequate radiation 
control program to protect public health and safety, which is 
compatible with the NRC's program. Through the Agreement State program, 
37 States have signed formal agreements with the NRC.
    Section 274j of the AEA requires that the NRC periodically review 
each Agreement State to ensure each State's regulatory program is 
adequate to protect public health and safety and compatible with the 
NRC's regulatory program. The NRC reviews Agreement State radiation 
control programs, using performance indicators, to ensure that public 
health and safety is being adequately protected. The periodic review 
process for Agreement State programs is called the Integrated Materials 
Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP).
    A Management Review Board (MRB) composed of senior NRC managers 
(with an Agreement State liaison attending) makes the final 
determination of adequacy for each Agreement State. The MRB holds a 
public meeting and makes the overall assessment of the Agreement State 
program. The MRB considers information such as the proposed final IMPEP 
report, which presents suggested performance indicator ratings and 
recommendations prepared by the IMPEP review team, the State response 
to the IMPEP report and information provided by the State during the 
MRB meeting. For most IMPEP reviews, no action other than issuance of 
the final IMPEP report is required. For those infrequent reviews where 
additional action is warranted, the MRB may consider Monitoring, 
Heightened Oversight, and recommendations for Probation, Suspension, or 
Termination. The most significant actions, Probation, Suspension, or 
Termination, require Commission approval.
    In 2008, the MRB placed the Georgia Program under a condition of 
monitoring due to the results of the 2008 IMPEP review of the Georgia 
Program. The Commission placed the Georgia Program on probation based 
on the 2012 IMPEP review, which showed an overall programmatic decline 
in performance. The NRC issued a notice regarding the probation status 
of the Georgia Program in the Federal Register on August 9, 2013 (78 FR 
48726).
    After the most recent IMPEP review in 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML14121A618), the MRB found the overall Georgia Program adequate to 
protect public health and safety, and compatible with the NRC program 
requirements, but that it needs improvement. The MRB found that the 
Georgia Program performance improved overall since the 2012 review and 
closed several recommendations from the 2012 report. As a result of the 
State's improvement, the MRB recommended to the Commission that the 
Georgia Program be placed on Heightened Oversight and removed from 
Probation. The Commission agreed that the Georgia Program should be 
removed from Probation. The NRC has issued a notification of 
discontinuance of the Probation period to the Governor of Georgia, the 
Georgia Congressional delegation, and all other Agreement and Non-
Agreement States.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of August 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Raymond K. Lorson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Federal and State Materials and 
Environmental Management Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014-21192 Filed 9-4-14; 8:45 am]
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