[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]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ ``Fitness for Duty Programs; Final Rule,'' 73 FR 16966 
(March 31, 2008).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

(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]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P