[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 15, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22535-22536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10350]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2018-0082]
Revision of the NRC Enforcement Policy
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Revision to policy statement.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing a
revision to its Enforcement Policy (Enforcement Policy or Policy) to
address the requirements of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation
Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (2015 Improvements Act). The
2015 Improvements Act amended the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation
Adjustment Act (FCPIAA) of 1990, and now requires Federal agencies to
adjust their maximum civil monetary penalty annually for inflation.
DATES: This action was effective on January 12, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0082 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0082. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; 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 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].
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: Gerry Gulla, Office of Enforcement,
telephone: 301-287-9143, email: [email protected], U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In 1990, Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation
Adjustment Act of 1990, to provide for regular adjustment for inflation
of civil monetary penalties (CMPs). As amended by the Debt Collection
Improvement Act of 1996, the FCPIAA required that the head of each
Federal agency review, and if necessary, adjust by regulation the CMPs
assessed under statutes enforced by the agency at least once every four
years.
On November 2, 2015, the President of the United States signed into
law the 2015 Improvements Act, which further amended the FCPIAA and
requires Federal agencies to adjust their CMPs annually for inflation
no later than January 15 of each year. These requirements apply to the
NRC's maximum CMP amounts for (1) a violation of the Atomic Energy Act
(AEA) of 1954, as amended, or any regulation or order issued under the
AEA, codified in section 2.205(j) of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), ``Civil Penalties''; and (2) a false claim or
statement made under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, codified in
10 CFR 13.3, ``Basis for Civil Penalties and Assessments.''
Pursuant to the 2015 Improvements Act, the NRC codified on January
12,
[[Page 22536]]
2018 (83 FR 1515), the revised maximum daily base CMP based on the
percentage change in the consumer price index between October 2017 and
October 2016. Because this revised monetary value directly impacts the
CMPs assessed to NRC licensees, the NRC's Enforcement Policy table of
civil penalties requires revision. Specifically, the monetary amounts
found in Section 8.0, ``Table of Base Civil Penalties'' items a--e and
g. This monetary adjustment does not include item ``f'' since its
monetary value is based on the estimated or actual cost of authorized
disposal and not on the monetary value codified in 10 CFR 2.205(j).
Accordingly, the NRC has revised its Policy to read as follows:
8.0--Table of Base Civil Penalties
Table A
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a. Power reactors, gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment $290,000
plants, and high-level waste repository................
b. Fuel fabricators authorized to possess Category I or 145,000
II quantities of SNM and uranium conversion facilities.
c. All other fuel fabricators, including facilities 72,500
under construction, authorized to possess Category III
quantities of SNM, industrial processors, independent
spent fuel and monitored retrievable storage
installations, mills, gas centrifuge and laser uranium
enrichment facilities..................................
d. Test reactors, contractors, waste disposal licensees, 29,000
industrial radiographers, and other large material
users..................................................
e. Research reactors, academic, medical, or other small 14,500
material users.........................................
f. Loss, abandonment, or improper transfer or disposal
of regulated material, regardless of the use or type of
licensee:
1. Sources or devices with a total activity greater 54,000
than 3.7 x 104 MBq (1 Curie), excluding hydrogen-3
(tritium)..........................................
2. Other sources or devices containing the materials 17,000
and quantities listed in 10 CFR 31.5(c)(13)(i).....
3. Sources and devices not otherwise described above 7,000
g. Individuals who release safeguards information....... 7,250
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II. Procedural Requirements
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
This policy statement does not contain any new or amended
collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing collection of information were
approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), approval numbers
3150-0010 and 3150-0136.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless the document requesting
or requiring the collection displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
Congressional Review Act
This action is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review
Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of May 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Victor McCree,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2018-10350 Filed 5-14-18; 8:45 am]
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