[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 172 (Thursday, September 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55034-55035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19461]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2020-0098]


Information Collection: COVID-19 Work Hour Controls Exemption 
Request Form

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of submission to the Office of Management and Budget; 
request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently 
submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of 
information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. 
The information collection is entitled, ``COVID-19 Work Hour Controls 
Exemption Request Form.''

DATES: Submit comments by October 5, 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: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this 
particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under 
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Cullison, NRC Clearance 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-2020-0098 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 http://www.regulations.gov and search

[[Page 55035]]

for Docket ID NRC-2020-0098. A copy of the collection of information 
and related instructions may be obtained without charge by accessing 
Docket ID NRC-2020-0098 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. ML20107J348. The supporting statement is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20170A641.
     NRC's Clearance Officer: A copy of the collection of 
information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by 
contacting the 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

    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. All comment submissions are 
posted at https://www.regulations.gov and entered into ADAMS. Comment 
submissions are not routinely edited to remove identifying or contact 
information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the OMB, 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 comment submissions are not routinely edited to remove such 
information before making the comment submissions available to the 
public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Background

    Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. Chapter 35), the NRC recently submitted a request for renewal of 
an existing collection of information to OMB for review entitled, 
``COVID-19 Work Hour Controls Exemption Request Form.'' The NRC hereby 
informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or 
sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection 
of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
    The NRC published a Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment 
period on this information collection on April 23, 2020 (85 FR 22757).
    1. The title of the information collection: COVID-19 Work Hour 
Controls Exemption Request Form.
    2. OMB approval number: 3150-0146.
    3. Type of submission: Extension.
    4. The form number if applicable: There is no form number for the 
online submission form.
    5. How often the collection is required or requested: On occasion.
    6. Who will be required or asked to respond: All holders of, and 
certain applicants for, nuclear power plant construction permits and 
operating licenses under the provisions of 10 CFR part 50, ``Domestic 
Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities'' who seek 
exemptions from the work hour controls specified in 10 CFR 
26.205(d)(1)-(7) as allowed by 10 CFR 26.9, ``Specific exemptions.''
    7. The estimated number of annual responses: 40.
    8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 40.
    9. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to 
comply with the information collection requirement or request: 80.
    10. Abstract: The NRC requested an emergency review of this 
information collection in order to add this form to the previously 
approved information collection OMB Control Number 3150-0146 for a 
period of 6 months. The purpose of this information collection is to 
request an extension of the approval of online COVID-19 Work Hour 
Controls Exemption Request Form. The form simplifies the filing the 
exemption requests because the existing system may be burdensome for 
licensees under current conditions. Under the existing collection under 
OMB Control No. 3150-0146, licensees are already able to seek 
exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 26, Fitness-For-Duty 
Programs. This information collection only addresses the incremental 
burden change to this existing clearance due to the form and not the 
total burden for the clearance.
    10 CFR 26.205(d)(1)-(7) identifies specific work hour control 
requirements for individuals subject to the requirements of 10 CFR part 
26. Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), 
the NRC is prepared to grant, upon request from individual licensees, 
exemptions from the work hour controls specified in 10 CFR 
26.205(d)(1)-(7) as allowed by 10 CFR 26.9, ``Specific exemptions.''
    The objective of using the online form to submit exemptions from 10 
CFR 26.205(d)(1)-(7) is to ensure that the control of work hours and 
management of worker fatigue do not unduly limit licensee flexibility 
in using personnel resources to most effectively manage the impacts of 
the COVID-19 PHE on maintaining the safe operation of these facilities. 
Specifically, the licensee can submit an exemption request if (1) a 
licensee's staffing levels are affected by the COVID-19 PHE, (2) a 
licensee determines that it can no longer meet the work-hour controls 
of 10 CFR 26.205(d)(1)-(d)(7), and (3) the licensee can effect site-
specific administrative controls for COVID-19 PHE fatigue-management 
for personnel specified in 10 CFR 26.4(a).

    Dated: August 28, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

David C. Cullison,
NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-19461 Filed 9-2-20; 8:45 am]
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