[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71006-71007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27692]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2019-0218]


Information Collection: Notice of Enforcement Discretion (NOED) 
for Operating Power Reactors and Gaseous Diffusion Plants (NRC 
Enforcement Policy)

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Renewal of existing information collection; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) invites public 
comment on the renewal of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
approval for an existing collection of information. The information 
collection is entitled, ``Notice of Enforcement Discretion (NOED) for 
Operating Power Reactors and Gaseous Diffusion Plants (NRC Enforcement 
Policy).''

DATES: Submit comments by February 24, 2020. 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 
on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0218. For 
technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
     Mail comments to: David Cullison, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer, Mail Stop: T-6 A10M, 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: David Cullison, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2084; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0218 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0218. A copy of 
the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained 
without charge by accessing Docket ID NRC-2019-0218 on this website.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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]. A copy of the collection of 
information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by 
accessing ADAMS Accession No. ML19302F408. The supporting statement is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML19308A020.
     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.
     NRC's Clearance Officer: A copy of the collection of 
information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by 
contacting NRC's Clearance Officer, David Cullison, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2084; email: 
[email protected].

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2019-0218 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 https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment 
submissions into ADAMS, and the NRC does not routinely edit

[[Page 71007]]

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 accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35), the NRC is requesting public comment on its intention to 
request the OMB's approval for the information collection summarized 
below.
    1. The title of the information collection: Notices of Enforcement 
Discretion (NOEDs) for Operating Power Reactors and Gaseous Diffusion 
Plants (GDP), (NRC Enforcement Policy).
    2. OMB approval number: 3150-0136.
    3. Type of submission: Extension.
    4. The form number: N/A.
    5. How often the collection is required or requested: On Occasion.
    6. Who will be required or asked to respond: Those licensees that 
voluntarily request enforcement discretion through the NOED process.
    7. The estimated number of annual responses: 8.
    8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 4.
    9. The estimated number of hours needed annually to comply with the 
information collection requirement or request: 680 (600 reporting + 80 
recordkeeping).
    10. Abstract: The NRC's Enforcement Policy includes the 
circumstances in which the NRC may grant a NOED. On occasion, 
circumstances arise when a power plant licensee's compliance with a 
Technical Specification (TS) Limiting Condition for Operation or any 
other license condition would involve an unnecessary plant shutdown or 
transient. Similarly, for a gaseous diffusion plant, circumstances may 
arise where compliance with a Technical Safety Requirement (TSR) or 
other condition would unnecessarily call for a total plant shutdown, 
or, compliance would unnecessarily place the plant in a condition where 
safety, safeguards, or security features were degraded or inoperable.
    In these circumstances, a licensee or certificate holder may 
request that the NRC exercise enforcement discretion, and the NRC staff 
may choose to not enforce the applicable TS, TSR, or other license or 
certificate condition. This enforcement discretion is designated as a 
NOED.
    A licensee or certificate holder seeking the issuance of a NOED 
must justify, in accordance with NRC Enforcement Manual (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML19193A023), the safety basis for the request, including 
an evaluation of the safety significance and potential consequences of 
the proposed request, a description of proposed compensatory measures, 
a justification for the duration of the request, the basis for the 
licensee's or certificate holder's conclusion that the request does not 
have a potential adverse impact on the public health and safety, and 
does not involve adverse consequences to the environment, and any other 
information the NRC staff deems necessary before making a decision to 
exercise discretion.

III. Specific Requests for Comments

    The NRC is seeking comments that address the following questions:
    1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the NRC 
to properly perform its functions? Does the information have practical 
utility?
    2. Is the estimate of the burden of the information collection 
accurate?
    3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected?
    4. How can the burden of the information collection on respondents 
be minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology?

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of December 2019.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David C. Cullison,
NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019-27692 Filed 12-23-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P