[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 5, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 69010-69011]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24073]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Chapter I
[NRC-2016-0185]
Processing Fitness-for-Duty Drug and Alcohol Cases
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Policy revision; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting
public comments on proposed revisions to its Enforcement Policy (the
Policy). The NRC is proposing to revise Section 4.1, ``Considerations
in Determining Enforcement Actions Involving Individuals,'' of the
Policy to indicate that the NRC typically will not consider Fitness-
for-Duty (FFD) Drug and Alcohol (D&A) related violations for
enforcement unless the licensee's FFD program has apparent
deficiencies.
DATES: Submit comments by November 4, 2016. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC
is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting
comments on a specific subject):
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0185. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
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 obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Furst, Office of Enforcement,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
telephone: 301-415-7634, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0185 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-2016-0185.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-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]. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this
document.
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-2016-0185 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly
[[Page 69011]]
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 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. Discussion
On January 31, 2016, the NRC staff submitted to the Commission
SECY-16-0009, ``Recommendations Resulting from the Integrated
Prioritization and Re-Baselining of Agency Activities,'' dated January
31, 2016 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML16028A189). Item 101 in
Enclosure 1 of SECY-16-0009 included the NRC staff's recommendations
for creating efficiencies in the Enforcement Process, in part by
reducing FFD case processing.
In developing potential efficiencies in the enforcement program,
the NRC staff concluded that not processing routine cases involving D&A
issues would reduce NRC staff resources without impacting safety, as
discussed more fully below.
The Commission approved the NRC staff's recommendation to reduce
FFD case processing in the Staff Requirements Memorandum for SECY-16-
0009, dated April 13, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16104A158).
Part 26 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR)
requires licensees to establish D&A testing programs and report test
results to the NRC. The NRC's Office of Investigations (OI)
investigates FFD D&A cases, many of which involve an individual who
violates FFD D&A procedures at a site. Typically, the licensee has
identified the issue and conducted an internal investigation yielding
evidence of an FFD D&A violation by the time they notify the NRC. In
most cases, pursuant to 10 CFR part 26, the site FFD D&A policy
provides penalties for specific violations. The NRC believes that
individual FFD D&A issues generally are dispositioned by the licensee
according to the programs in place. Therefore, NRC staff review of
individual FFD D&A cases appears to be an area where the NRC can make
efficiency gains. The NRC is proposing changes to the enforcement
process with respect to FFD D&A cases where an individual violates the
site FFD D&A procedure, but where there is no breakdown in the
performance of the FFD process itself.
On March 31, 2008 (73 FR 16965), the NRC amended 10 CFR part 26, in
part, to strengthen the D&A testing requirements and broaden the scope
of D&A testing to other NRC licensees (e.g., owner operators of uranium
fuel fabrication facilities) and to persons who perform safety or
security-significant activities within the protected areas (PA) of
these sites. The NRC implemented an electronic reporting (e-reporting)
system to simplify and improve FFD data reporting and to enable the
reporting of additional voluntary information to the NRC.
Based on the FFD performance information reported electronically to
the NRC since 2009 and a comparison of this information to previous
years and other indicators, the commercial nuclear industry continues
to effectively implement the 10 CFR part 26 D&A provisions and FFD
program results have directly contributed to public health and safety
and the common defense and security. Licensees identify persons under
the influence of illicit drugs and/or alcohol and remove them from the
PA of NRC-licensed facilities, and licensees identify persons of
questionable trustworthiness and reliability, in part, through rigorous
testing methods (e.g., limit-of-detection testing, cutoffs, and
effective monitoring during specimen collections). These outcomes
provide reasonable assurance that persons who perform safety or
security-significant activities, or who have unescorted access to
certain NRC-licensed facilities, information, or material, are fit-for-
duty, and that the public and the NRC are timely informed of FFD
performance. The data indicates no adverse trends.
Since March 31, 2008, when the NRC amended 10 CFR part 26, the NRC
has processed approximately 40 FFD D&A related cases in which OI
investigated instances of individuals violating FFD D&A procedures at
licensee sites. These types of cases result from a range of issues
including failed drug tests, alleged attempts to subvert FFD testing,
alleged possession or use of illegal drugs or alcohol, or alleged
misuse or failure to report the use of prescription drugs. Typically
the issues are discovered, investigated by, and reported to the NRC by
licensees using the e-reporting system. By the time the NRC implements
the process to investigate, the licensees have imposed the appropriate
10 CFR part 26 sanctions.
In many regards, 10 CFR part 26 is unique in comparison to other 10
CFR regulations; for example, explicit sanctions are specified for
individuals who violate FFD policy. Section 26.75, ``Sanctions,''
specifies, in part, the minimum sanctions that licensees and other
entities shall impose when an individual has violated the D&A
provisions of their FFD policy (e.g., immediate unfavorable termination
of the individual's authorization for at least 14 days for the first
violation and 5 years for the second violation, and permanent denial of
access for any act or attempted act to subvert the testing process).
The requirement also states that the licensee or other entity may
impose more stringent sanctions.
A limited exception to the proposal to not process FFD cases is
when NRC staff identifies an apparent breakdown of the licensee's FFD
program itself. Any case involving an alleged breakdown of the FFD
program itself would be reviewed and considered for an NRC enforcement
sanction.
III. Proposed Revisions
The NRC can gain efficiency in its enforcement program if it elects
to no longer pursue D&A cases; this process change is possible because
10 CFR 26.75 already requires licensees to disposition individual
violations of their FFD D&A procedures. This process change could be
implemented by adding the following paragraph at the end of Section
4.1, ``Considerations in Determining Enforcement Actions Involving
Individuals:''
The NRC typically will not consider FFD drug and alcohol related
violations for enforcement action unless there is an apparent
deficiency of the licensee's FFD program.
The proposed revision to the Policy is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML16197A561.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of September, 2016.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2016-24073 Filed 10-4-16; 8:45 am]
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