[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 8, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 852-853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-28061]
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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. 85, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 2020 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 852]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[NRC-2008-0582, NRC-2000-0019]
RIN 3150-AG98
Modifications to Pressure-Temperature Limits
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Discontinuation of rulemaking activity; denial of petition for
rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is discontinuing
the rulemaking activity, ``Modifications to Pressure-Temperature
Limits,'' and denying the associated petition for rulemaking, (PRM)-50-
69. The NRC determined that its relevant past decisions and current
policies are sufficient to protect the public health and safety in this
area and that the potential benefits of proceeding with a rulemaking do
not outweigh the associated costs. The rulemaking activity will no
longer be reported in the NRC's portion of the Unified Agenda of
Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (the Unified Agenda).
DATES: Effective January 8, 2020, the rulemaking activity discussed in
this document is discontinued and PRM-50-69 is denied.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket IDs NRC-2008-0582 (rulemaking
activity) and NRC-2000-0019 (petition for rulemaking) 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket IDs NRC-2008-0582 (rulemaking
activity) and NRC-2000-0019 (petition for rulemaking). 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.
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 or 301-415-4737,
or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for
each document referenced in this document (if it is available in ADAMS)
is provided the first time that it is referenced.
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: Ilka T. Berrios, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2404; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 2.802,
``Petition for rulemaking--requirements for filing,'' provides an
opportunity for any interested person to petition the Commission to
issue, amend, or rescind any regulation. On November 4, 1999,
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC (petitioner) (ADAMS Accession No.
ML003683190), submitted PRM-50-69, requesting that the NRC amend
appendix G to 10 CFR part 50, by removing requirements related to the
metal temperature of the closure head flange and reactor vessel flange
regions. Specifically, the petitioner requested that the agency remove
footnotes (2) and (6) from Table 1 of appendix G to 10 CFR part 50. In
response to this petition, the NRC initially determined that it would
consider the issues raised in PRM-50-69 in an ongoing rulemaking to
amend appendix G to 10 CFR part 50. On January 28, 2009, the NRC
published a notification in the Federal Register (74 FR 4911), stating
that the NRC will consider the issues raised in PRM-50-69 in the NRC's
rulemaking process, and closed Docket ID NRC 2000-0019 for PRM-50-69.
That Federal Register notification also stated that if the ongoing work
to establish the technical basis for this rulemaking did not support
the issuance of a proposed rule, the NRC would issue a supplemental
Federal Register notification that addressed why the NRC did not adopt
the petitioner's requested rulemaking changes.
II. Discussion
A. Discontinuation of Rulemaking To Amend Appendix G to 10 CFR Part 50
In SECY-16-0009, ``Recommendations Resulting from the Integrated
Prioritization and Re-Baselining of Agency Activities'' (January 31,
2016) (ADAMS Accession No. ML16028A189), the staff requested Commission
approval of work to be shed, deprioritized, or performed with fewer
resources. One of the items identified to be shed (i.e., discontinued)
was the development of a technical basis for the rulemaking effort,
``Modifications to Pressure-Temperature Limits'' (appendix G
rulemaking, Item 50 of Enclosure 1 to SECY-16-0009).
During the development of the regulatory basis for a rulemaking to
amend appendix G to 10 CFR part 50, the staff determined that
discontinuation of this rulemaking would have a minimal adverse impact
on the NRC's mission, principles, or values. In addition, the research
did not establish any information that would serve as the technical
basis to revise appendix G to 10 CFR part 50.
The Commission approved the discontinuation of this rulemaking
effort in staff requirements memorandum (SRM)-SECY-16-0009, ``Staff
Requirements--SECY-16-0009--Recommendations Resulting from the
Integrated Prioritization and Re-Baselining of Agency Activities''
(April 13, 2016) (ADAMS Accession No. ML16104A158).
Prior to the discontinuation of the rulemaking effort, the NRC
staff evaluated the technical merits of the petition and concluded that
the technical basis for the proposal, as described in the petition, was
insufficient to serve as the technical basis for an appendix G
rulemaking.
[[Page 853]]
B. Denial of Petition for Rulemaking, PRM-50-69
Under 10 CFR 2.803(i)(2), if the NRC decides not to complete a
rulemaking, any associated petition for rulemaking is documented as
denied. In SRM-SECY-16-0009, the Commission approved discontinuation of
the appendix G rulemaking, as discussed above, which was the rulemaking
identified to address PRM-50-69. Therefore, the staff is denying the
associated petition, PRM-50-69, for the same reasons that the appendix
G rulemaking was discontinued.
III. Conclusion
The NRC previously terminated the appendix G rulemaking and is
denying associated PRM-50-69 for the reasons discussed in this
document. The NRC has determined that there was insufficient new
information to warrant the requested changes in light of the NRC's
relevant past decisions and current policies. In the next edition of
the Unified Agenda, the NRC will update the entry for the rulemaking
activity and reference this document to indicate that the rulemaking is
no longer being pursued. The rulemaking activity will appear in the
completed actions section of that edition of the Unified Agenda (i.e.,
it will not appear in future editions).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th of December, 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-28061 Filed 1-7-20; 8:45 am]
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