[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 243 (Thursday, December 17, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 81847-81848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27363]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 26
[Docket Nos. PRM-26-3; NRC-2009-0482, PRM-26-5; NRC-2010-0304]
Fitness-for-Duty Program
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Petitions for rulemaking; denial.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying two
petitions for rulemaking related to the fitness-for-duty program that
were docketed as PRM-26-3, ``Professional Reactor Operator Society--
Fitness-for-Duty Programs,'' and PRM-26-5, ``Nuclear Energy Institute--
Fitness-for-Duty Programs,'' due to the discontinuation of the
associated rulemaking.
DATES: As of December 17, 2020, the dockets for PRM-26-3 and PRM-26-5
are closed.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket IDs NRC-2009-0482 or NRC-2010-0304
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-2009-0482 or NRC-
2010-0304. Address questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder;
telephone: 301-415-3407; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individuals 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, 301-415-4737, or
by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first
time that it is mentioned in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yanely Malave, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1519, 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 in 10 CFR chapter I. The NRC
received the following petitions for rulemaking (PRMs) regarding 10 CFR
part 26, ``Fitness for Duty Programs,'' subpart I, ``Managing
Fatigue,'' from the Professional Reactor Operator Society (PROS) and
the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) after the NRC issued a final rule
\1\ in 2008 that substantially revised its fitness for duty
requirements:
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\1\ ``Fitness for Duty Programs; Final Rule,'' 73 FR 16966
(March 31, 2008).
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(1) PRM-26-3 Submitted by Robert N. Meyer on Behalf of PROS
On October 16, 2009, Mr. Robert N. Meyer, on behalf of PROS, an
organization of operations personnel employed at nuclear power plants
throughout the United States, submitted a PRM requesting that the NRC
amend its fatigue management regulations to
[[Page 81848]]
change the term ``unit outage'' to ``site outage'' used in Sec.
26.205(d)(4) and (d)(5) and that the definition of ``site outage''
should be provided to read as ``up to 1 week prior to disconnecting the
reactor unit from the grid and up to 75-percent turbine power following
reconnection to the grid'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML092960440). The NRC
docketed the petition as PRM-26-3, and on November 27, 2009, published
a document in the Federal Register requesting public comment (74 FR
62257). The comment period closed on February 10, 2010, and the NRC
received 4 comment letters. After evaluating the merits of the petition
and the public comments, the NRC determined that the issues raised in
PRM-26-3 would be considered in a planned rulemaking activity titled,
``Quality Control/Quality Verification'' (QC/QV) (Docket ID: NRC-2009-
0090) and published a Federal Register notice (76 FR 28192) on May 16,
2011 to this effect.
(2) PRM-26-5 Submitted by Anthony R. Pietrangelo on Behalf of NEI
On September 3, 2010, Anthony R. Pietrangelo on behalf of NEI, a
nuclear power industry trade association, submitted a PRM requesting
that the NRC amend its regulations regarding fatigue management based
on experience gained since the regulations were amended in 2008. The
NRC docketed the petition as PRM-26-5, and on October 22, 2010,
published a document in the Federal Register requesting public comment
(75 FR 65249). The comment period closed on January 5, 2011, and the
NRC received 39 comment letters. After evaluating the merits of the
petition and the public comments, the NRC determined that the issues
raised in PRM-26-5 would be considered in the planned QC/QV rulemaking
and published a Federal Register notice (76 FR 28192) on May 16, 2011
to this effect.
II. Discussion
A. Discontinuation of the Quality Control/Quality Verification (QC/QV)
Rulemaking
In SECY-15-0074, ``Discontinuation of Rulemaking Activity--Title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 26, Subpart I, Quality Control
and Quality Verification Personnel in Fitness for Duty Program (RIN
3150-AF12),'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML15084A092) dated May 19, 2015, the
NRC staff requested Commission approval to discontinue the QC/QV
rulemaking. This request was based on the following factors: (1) QC/QV
inspections are most often performed by maintenance personnel who are
already covered by the work hour controls in 10 CFR part 26, subpart I;
(2) the few remaining inspections are performed by a small number of
QC/QV-dedicated personnel; and (3) backfitting the 10 CFR part 26,
subpart I, work hour controls to the QC/QV-dedicated personnel would
not result in a substantial increase in the overall protection of the
public health and safety or common defense and security. The Commission
approved the discontinuation of this rulemaking effort in SRM-SECY-15-
0074, ``Staff Requirements--SECY-15-0074--Discontinuation of Rulemaking
Activity--Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 26, Subpart
I, Quality Control and Quality Verification Personnel in Fitness for
Duty Program (RIN 3150-AF12),'' dated July 14, 2015 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML15195A577).
B. Denial of PRM-26-3 and PRM-26-5
Under Sec. 2.803(i)(2), if after closing the docket for a PRM
under Sec. 2.803(h)(2)(ii) by addressing it in an ongoing rulemaking
the NRC decides not to complete the rulemaking, the PRM is documented
as a denial of the PRM. In SRM-SECY-15-0074, the Commission approved
the discontinuation of the QC/QV rulemaking, which was identified to
address PRM-26-3 and PRM-26-5. Therefore, the NRC is denying these
petitions without prejudice.
III. Conclusion
The NRC previously discontinued the QC/QV rulemaking and is
therefore denying without prejudice PRM-26-3 and PRM-26-5 for the
reasons discussed in this document.
Dated: December 8, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2020-27363 Filed 12-16-20; 8:45 am]
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