[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 230 (Monday, December 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71134-71136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27324]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0235]


Tribal Protocol Manual

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Revision to guidance; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment Revision 1 of the NRC's ``Tribal Protocol Manual: 
Guidance for NRC Staff.'' The Tribal Protocol Manual provides internal 
guidance to the NRC staff on protocols to facilitate the NRC staff's 
engagement with Tribal governments.

DATES: Submit comments by June 1, 2015. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this 
date.

ADDRESSES: 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-2012-0235. 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.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: 3WFN-06-A44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia McGrady-Finneran, Office of 
Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2326; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0235 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0235.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-

[[Page 71135]]

available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection 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]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     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-2012-0235 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 in comment submissions 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, and 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 into ADAMS.

II. Background

    In January 2009, the Commission directed the NRC staff to develop 
an internal protocol for interactions with Native American Tribal 
governments that allows for custom approaches to address the interests 
of both the NRC and the Tribal governments on a case-by-case basis 
(SRM-M081211). On November 5, 2009, President Obama issued a 
Presidential Memorandum, ``Tribal Consultation'' (74 FR 5881), that 
reaffirmed Executive Order 13175, ``Consultation and Coordination with 
Indian Tribal Governments'' (November 6, 2000; 65 FR 67249), and 
emphasized the importance of strengthening government-to-government 
relationships with Native American Tribes. In SECY-09-0180, ``U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Interaction with Native American 
Tribes,'' dated December 11, 2009, the NRC staff reviewed its various 
interactions with Native American Tribes, and noted that these 
interactions were limited to a small number of activities under the NRC 
regulatory authority. At that time, the NRC staff concluded that a 
``case-by-case'' approach had proved effective in interactions with 
Native American Tribes by allowing for custom-tailored approaches that 
met Commission and tribal needs, and that no formal policy was needed. 
The NRC staff also noted that internal guidance on protocol would 
further enhance the NRC staff's engagement with Native American Tribes. 
The internal NRC guidance, ``Tribal Protocol Manual: Guidance for NRC 
Employees,'' was developed and issued in March 2010. It was revised in 
October 2012.

III. Discussion

    Section 161p. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended, permits 
the NRC to make, promulgate, issue, rescind, and amend such rules and 
regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. 
This can include the development of guidance documents for 
implementation of the NRC's policies or provisions.
    On October 12, 2012, the NRC published the ``Tribal Protocol 
Manual'' for public comment and requested public comments providing 
suggestions for a proposed tribal consultation policy statement (77 FR 
62269) for a 180-day comment period. After reviewing the public 
comments on the October 2012 version of the Tribal Protocol Manual, the 
NRC revised the staff guidance. The NRC received six comment letters on 
the Tribal Policy Statement and protocol. Commenters included two 
Tribal governments, two mining associations, one inter-Tribal 
organization, and a Tribal college. The comments were grouped within 
the topics of: (1) NRC Tribal communication, (2) NRC Tribal 
consultation, (3) NRC Tribal resources, (4) terminology, (5) NRC map of 
Tribal reservations near nuclear reactors, (6) Federal-Tribal history, 
and (7) contemporary Tribal conditions. The NRC is making available 
``Tribal Protocol Manual: Guidance for NRC Staff--Comment Responses.''
    The NRC revised the Tribal Protocol Manual to define consultation 
for the NRC as ``meaningful and timely discussion with Tribal 
governments on NRC regulatory actions that have substantial direct 
effects on one or more Indian Tribes.'' The NRC revised the Tribal 
Protocol Manual to better address the unique relationship between the 
United States and Tribes and how the NRC exercises its trust 
responsibility. The NRC also made changes to the historical account of 
the Federal-Tribal relationship. The Tribal Protocol Manual now 
includes a general discussion that addresses the contributions of 
Treaties, policy, law, court decisions, and Executive Orders to Federal 
Indian law.
    On August 27, 2014, the Commission directed the NRC staff (``Staff 
Requirements--SECY-14-0006--Tribal Consultation Policy Statement and 
Protocol'') to publish a draft ``Tribal Policy Statement,'' which also 
appears in today's Federal Register, and ``Tribal Protocol Manual: 
Guidance for NRC Staff, Revision 1'' for comment. This notice requests 
public comment on the ``Tribal Protocol Manual: Guidance for NRC Staff, 
Revision 1.'' Public comments that were received on the October 2012 
version of the Tribal Protocol Manual and the NRC responses to the 
public comments can be found in ``Tribal Protocol Manual: Guidance for 
NRC Staff--Comment Responses;'' the comments received on the October 
2012 version of the Tribal Protocol Manual are available through any of 
the methods described in Section I, ``Obtaining Information and 
Submitting Comments,'' of this document (i.e., through the Federal 
rulemaking site, NRC's ADAMS, or the NRC's PDR). The next scheduled 
revision of the Tribal Protocol Manual will include changes needed to 
conform to the final Tribal Policy Statement and will be informed by 
public comments on the revised Tribal Protocol Manual.

IV. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

[[Page 71136]]



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                                        ADAMS Accession No./Web link/
              Document                    Federal  Register citation
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Tribal Protocol Manual: Guidance     ML14274A014
 for NRC Staff, Revision 1..
Tribal Protocol Manual: Guidance     ML14297A280
 for NRC Staff -- Comment Responses.
Executive Order 13175,               65 FR 67249
 ``Consultation and Coordination
 with Indian Tribal Governments,''
 November 9, 2000.
Presidential Memorandum for the      74 FR 57881
 Heads Executive Departments and
 Agencies, ``Tribal Consultation,''
 November 5, 2009.
SECY-09-0180, U.S. Nuclear           ML092800263
 Regulatory Commission Interaction
 with Native American Tribes.
SRM-M081211, Staff Requirements--    ML090080206
 Briefing on Uranium Recovery, 9:30
 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Thursday,
 December 11, 2008, Commissioners'
 Conference Room, One White Flint
 North, Rockville, Maryland (Open
 to Public Attendance).
STAFF REQUIREMENTS--SECY-14-0006--   ML14240A083
 TRIBAL CONSULTATION POLICY
 STATEMENT AND PROTOCOL.
Tribal Protocol Manual: Guidance     ML12261A423
 for NRC Staff (October 2012).
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    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of November 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Laura A. Dudes,
Director, Division of Material Safety, States, Tribal, and Rulemaking, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2014-27324 Filed 11-28-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P