[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]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P