[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 21, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44025-44026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15731]


 ========================================================================
 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. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 44025]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2015-0225]
RIN 3150-AJ68


Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors and Other New 
Technologies

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule and guidance; request for comment; extension of 
comment period.

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SUMMARY: On May 12, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
issued for public comment proposed amendments to its regulations 
regarding new alternative emergency preparedness requirements for small 
modular reactors and other new technologies. The public comment period 
was originally scheduled to close on July 27, 2020. The NRC is 
extending the public comment period to allow more time for members of 
the public and other stakeholders to develop and submit their comments.

DATES: The comment period for the document published on May 12, 2020 
(85 FR 28436) is extended. Comments should be filed no later than 
September 25, 2020. Comments received after this date will be 
considered, if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 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-2015-0225. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact 
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
    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: Robert Beall, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-3874; email: 
[email protected] and Eric Schrader, Office of Nuclear Security and 
Incident Response; telephone: 301-287-3789; email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0225 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-2015-0225.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access 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].
     Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents is currently closed. You may submit your request to 
the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2015-0225 in your comment submission. 
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information 
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. The NRC does not routinely edit 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. Discussion

    On June 24, 2020, the NRC received three emails (ADAMS Accession 
Numbers ML20177A319, ML20177A320, and ML20177A318) requesting the 
comment period for the proposed rule be extended by an additional 6 
months. Two requestors state that due to the complexity of the 
rulemaking and the number of related documents that need to be 
reviewed, additional time is needed to submit comments. The third 
requestor states that due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, this 
is not the time to ask communities, emergency response leaders, and 
disaster readiness personnel to be commenting on a proposed rule.
    The NRC seeks to ensure the public and other stakeholders have a 
reasonable opportunity to provide the NRC with comments on this 
proposed action. The NRC acknowledges that the rulemaking documents 
contain a significant amount of information. Accordingly, the NRC has 
decided to extend the comment period for the proposed rule for an 
additional 60 days. A 60-day extension provides a reasonable 
opportunity for all stakeholders to review these documents and to 
develop informed comments on these documents.
    The NRC is extending the public comment period for the proposed 
rule until September 25, 2020, to allow more time for members of the 
public and

[[Page 44026]]

other stakeholders to submit their comments.

    Dated July 16, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2020-15731 Filed 7-20-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P