[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 158 (Thursday, August 15, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41645-41654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17205]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Part 600


Development of Nuclear Energy Technologies and Collaboration With 
States on Nuclear Development, Petitions for Rulemaking

AGENCY: Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Petitions for rulemaking; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: On November 18, 2018 and January 29, 2019, the Department of 
Energy (DOE) received similar petitions from Ms. Jill Adams and the 
State of Ohio, respectively, asking DOE to allow States and their 
agents to collaboratively develop new nuclear technologies with DOE, 
and under the authority of DOE, to include the development of small 
nuclear reactors. The petitions further request that DOE promulgate 
rules and establish programs that would allow States to develop 
collaborative nuclear and non-nuclear laboratories with DOE on 
currently licensed or formerly licensed nuclear facility grounds, and 
allow for the construction of collaborative nuclear experimentation 
containment facility testing platforms. Through this notice, DOE seeks 
comment on the petitions, as well as any data or information that could 
be used in DOE's determination on whether to proceed with the 
petitions.

DATES: Written comments and information are requested on or before 
November 13, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments, 
identified by ``Nuclear Petitions,'' by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Email: [[email protected]] Include ``Nuclear Petitions'' 
in the subject line of the message.
    Postal Mail: Mark Yale, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department 
of Energy, Mailstop 5A-148, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20585. If possible, please submit all items on a compact disc (CD), in 
which case it is not necessary to include printed copies.
    Hand Delivery/Courier: Mark Yale, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. 
Department of Energy, Mailstop 5A-148, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, 
Washington, DC 20585. Telephone: (202) 586-7856. If possible, please 
submit all items on a CD, in which case it is not necessary to include 
printed copies.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents, or 
comments received, go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Yale, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Office of Nuclear Energy, Mailstop 5A-148, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, 
Washington, DC 20585. Telephone: (202) 586-7856. Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 
U.S.C. 551 et seq., provides among other things, that ``[e]ach agency 
shall give an interested person the right to petition for the issuance, 
amendment, or repeal of a rule.'' (5 U.S.C. 553(e)) DOE received 
similar petitions from Ms. Jill Adams and the State of Ohio, as 
described in this notice and set forth verbatim below, requesting that 
DOE issue regulations to (1) allow States and their agents to 
collaboratively develop new nuclear technologies with DOE, and under 
the authority of DOE, to include the development of small nuclear 
reactors, and (2) establish programs that would allow States to develop 
collaborative nuclear and non-nuclear laboratories with DOE on 
currently licensed or formerly licensed nuclear facility grounds, and 
allow for the construction of collaborative nuclear experimentation 
containment facility testing platforms. The petitioners argue that DOE 
should take such actions pursuant to the authority granted by the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, Public Law 83-703, as amended. Petitioners 
cite various provisions found at 42 U.S.C. 2013 and 2021 in support of 
this position. In publishing these petitions for public comment, DOE is 
seeking views on whether it should grant the petitions and undertake a 
proposed rulemaking or other appropriate action. By seeking comment on 
whether to grant these petitions, DOE takes no position at this time 
regarding the merits of the suggested rulemaking or the assertions made 
by the Petitioner.
    DOE welcomes comments and views of interested parties on any aspect 
of the petitions.

Submission of Comments

    DOE invites all interested parties to submit in writing by November 
13, 2019 comments and information regarding these petitions.
    Submitting comments via http://www.regulations.gov. The http://www.regulations.gov web page will require you to provide your name and 
contact information prior to submitting comments. Your contact 
information will be viewable to DOE Building Technologies staff only. 
Your contact information will not be publicly viewable except for your 
first and last names, organization name (if any), and submitter 
representative name (if any). If your comment is not processed properly 
because of technical difficulties, DOE will use this information to 
contact you. If DOE cannot read your comment due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, DOE may not be 
able to consider your comment.
    However, your contact information will be publicly viewable if you 
include it in the comment or in any documents attached to your comment. 
Any information that you do not want to be publicly viewable should not 
be included in your comment, nor in any document attached to your 
comment. Persons viewing comments will see only first and last names, 
organization names, correspondence containing comments, and any 
documents submitted with the comments.
    Do not submit to http://www.regulations.gov information for which 
disclosure is restricted by statute, such as trade secrets and 
commercial or financial information (hereinafter referred to as 
Confidential Business Information (CBI)). Comments submitted through 
http://www.regulations.gov cannot be claimed as CBI. Comments received 
through the website will waive any CBI claims for the information 
submitted. For information on submitting CBI, see the Confidential 
Business Information section.
    DOE processes submissions made through http://www.regulations.gov 
before posting. Normally, comments will be posted within a few days of 
being submitted. However, if large volumes of comments are being 
processed simultaneously, your comment may not be viewable for up to 
several weeks. Please keep the comment tracking number that http://www.regulations.gov provides after you have successfully uploaded your 
comment.
    Submitting comments via email, hand delivery, or postal mail. 
Comments and documents via email, hand delivery, or postal mail will 
also be posted to http://www.regulations.gov. If you do not want your 
personal contact information to be publicly viewable, do not include it 
in your comment or any accompanying documents. Instead, provide your 
contact information on a cover letter. Include your first and last 
names, email address, telephone number, and optional mailing address. 
The cover letter will not be publicly viewable as

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long as it does not include any comments.
    Include contact information in your cover letter each time you 
submit comments, data, documents, and other information to DOE. If you 
submit via postal mail or hand delivery, please provide all items on a 
CD, if feasible, in which case it is not necessary to submit printed 
copies. No telefacsimiles (faxes) will be accepted.
    Comments, data, and other information submitted electronically 
should be provided in PDF (preferred), Microsoft Word or Excel, 
WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format. Provide documents that are 
not secured, written in English, and free of any defects or viruses. 
Documents should not include any special characters or any form of 
encryption, and, if possible, they should carry the electronic 
signature of the author.
    Campaign form letters. Please submit campaign form letters by the 
originating organization in batches of between 50 to 500 form letters 
per PDF or as one form letter with a list of supporters' names compiled 
into one or more PDFs. This reduces comment processing and posting 
time.
    Confidential Business Information. Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any 
person submitting information that he or she believes to be 
confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via 
email, postal mail, or hand delivery two well-marked copies: One copy 
of the document marked ``Confidential'' including all the information 
believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``Non-
confidential'' with the information believed to be confidential 
deleted. Submit these documents via email or on a CD, if feasible. DOE 
will make its own determination about the confidential status of the 
information and treat it according to its determination.
    Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat 
submitted information as confidential include: (1) A description of the 
items; (2) whether and why such items are customarily treated as 
confidential within the industry; (3) whether the information is 
generally known by or available from other sources; (4) whether the 
information has previously been made available to others without 
obligation concerning its confidentiality; (5) an explanation of the 
competitive injury to the submitting person which would result from 
public disclosure; (6) when such information might lose its 
confidential character due to the passage of time, and (7) why 
disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest.
    It is DOE's policy that all comments may be included in the public 
docket, without change and as received, including any personal 
information provided in the comments (except information deemed to be 
exempt from public disclosure).
    DOE considers public participation to be a very important part of 
its process for considering rulemaking petitions. DOE actively 
encourages the participation and interaction of the public during the 
comment period. Interactions with and between members of the public 
provide a balanced discussion of the issues and assist DOE in 
determining how to proceed with a petition. Anyone who wishes to be 
added to DOE's mailing list to receive future notices and information 
about this petition should contact Office of Nuclear Energy program 
staff at (202) 586-7856 or via email at [email protected].

Approval of the Office of the Secretary

    The Secretary of Energy has approved publication of this notice of 
petitions for rulemaking.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on May 14, 2019.
Edward McGinnis,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Nuclear Energy.
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

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[FR Doc. 2019-17205 Filed 8-14-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-C