[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 247 (Friday, December 23, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 94275-94276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30921]


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 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. 81, No. 247 / Friday, December 23, 2016 / 
Proposed Rules  

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

 [NRC-2016-0270]


Guidance for Implementation of 10 CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and 
Experiments'

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1334, ``Guidance for 
Implementation of 10 CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and Experiments.' '' 
This draft regulatory guide provides licensees and applicants with a 
method that the staff of the NRC considers acceptable for use in 
complying with the Commission's regulations on the process by which 
licensees may make changes to their facilities and procedures, as 
described in the safety analysis report, without prior NRC approval, 
under certain conditions.

DATES:  Submit comments by February 21, 2017. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specified subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0270. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001. For additional direction on accessing information and 
submitting comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting 
Comments'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Harris, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-2277; email: 
[email protected] and Mark Orr, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-6003; email: [email protected]. Both are 
staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0270 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this action. You may 
obtain publically-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-2016-0270.
     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 
draft regulatory guide is electronically available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML16089A381. The regulatory analysis for DG-1334 is 
available in ADAMS under Accession number ML16089A379.
     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-2016-0270 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enters 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 submissions into ADAMS.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a draft regulatory guide (DG-
1334) in the NRC's ``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was 
developed to describe and make available to the public information 
regarding methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing 
specific parts of the NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses 
in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and data that the 
staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The draft regulatory guide, entitled, ``Guidance for Implementation 
of 10 CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and Experiments.' '' is a proposed 
revision temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1334. DG-1334 is 
proposed revision 1 of RG 1.187, ``Guidance for Implementation of 10 
CFR 50.59, `Changes, Tests, and Experiments.' '' The draft regulatory 
guide provides licensees and applicants with a method that the NRC 
staff considers acceptable for use in complying with the Commission's 
regulations on the process by which licensees may make changes to their 
facilities and procedures as described in

[[Page 94276]]

the safety analysis report, without prior NRC approval, under certain 
conditions. The NRC has also prepared a regulatory analysis (ADAMS 
Accession number ML16089A379) in support of DG-1334.
    This draft regulatory guide clarifies potentially unclear 
statements in Section 4.3.8 of Nuclear Energy Institute document 96-07, 
Revision 1, ``Guidelines for 10 CFR 50.59 Implementation,'' (ADAMS 
Accession number ML003771157) which was endorsed in RG 1.187, Rev 0, 
(ADAMS Accession number ML003759710) as acceptable guidance for how to 
comply with NRC regulations in section 50.59 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Because of the potentially unclear 
statements in Section 4.3.8 of NEI 96-07, licensees may misinterpret 
the definition governing the ``. . . departure from a method of 
evaluation . . .'' described in the plant's final safety analysis 
report (as updated).
    The draft regulatory guide also adds clarification to statements in 
Section 4.3.5 of NEI 96-07, Revision 1, whereby licensees may 
misinterpret the last sentence in the second paragraph in Section 4.3.5 
if considered in isolation of the statements earlier discussed in the 
paragraph.

III. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Draft regulatory guide DG-1334, if finalized as Regulatory Guide 
1.187, Revision 1, would provide guidance on acceptable ways of 
determining whether licensees may make changes to their facilities and 
procedures as described in the safety analysis report, without prior 
NRC approval, under the change process established in 10 CFR 50.59. The 
draft regulatory guide, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting 
as defined in 10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise 
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52, 
``Licenses, Certifications and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' 
The subject of this draft regulatory guide, as described above, is an 
NRC-defined process which does not fall within the purview of subjects 
covered by either the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provision in 
10 CFR part 52. Issuance of the draft regulatory guide, in final form, 
would not constitute backfitting, and no further consideration of 
backfitting is required in order to issue the draft or final regulatory 
guide in final form.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of December, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2016-30921 Filed 12-22-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P