[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 59 (Monday, March 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17343-17344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06483]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2021-0215]


Information Collection: NRC Form 798, ``Request for a Medical 
Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement''

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, NRC Form 798, ``Request for a 
Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement.''

DATES: Submit comments by April 27, 2022. 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-2021-0215 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-2021-0215.
     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. ML21340A125. The supporting statement is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML22075A311.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected]

[[Page 17344]]

or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. 
(ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     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

    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.
    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, NRC 
Form 798, ``Request for a Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination 
Requirement.'' 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 December 28, 2021, 86 FR 
73808.
    1. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 798, ``Request 
for a Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement.''
    2. OMB approval number: 3150-0249.
    3. Type of submission: Extension.
    4. The form number, if applicable: NRC Form 798.
    5. How often the collection is required or requested: Once.
    6. Who will be required or asked to respond: Medical providers will 
complete section B of the form for NRC employees seeking a medical 
exemption to the Federal employee vaccine mandate.
    7. The estimated number of annual responses: 10.
    8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 10.
    9. The estimated number of hours needed annually to comply with the 
information collection requirement or request: 5.
    10. Abstract: Executive Order (E.O.) 14043, titled, ``Requiring 
Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees,'' requires 
all Federal employees, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2105, to be vaccinated 
against COVID-19, with exceptions only as required by law. Requests for 
``medical accommodation'' or ``medical exceptions'' will be treated as 
requests for a disability accommodation and evaluated and decided under 
applicable Rehabilitation Act standards for reasonable accommodation 
absent undue hardship to the agency. An employee may also request a 
delay for complying with the vaccination requirement based on certain 
medical considerations that may not justify an exception under the 
Rehabilitation Act. The agency will be required to keep confidential 
any medical information provided, subject to the applicable 
Rehabilitation Act standards. Employees who receive an exception or a 
delay from the vaccination requirement would instead comply with 
alternative health and safety protocols. NRC Form 798, ``Request for a 
Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement'' will be 
completed by employees who seek a medical exception and by their 
personal medical providers.
    The vaccination requirement issued pursuant to E.O. 14043, is 
currently the subject of a nationwide injunction. While that injunction 
remains in place, the NRC will not process requests for a medical 
exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 
14043. The NRC will also not request the submission of any medical 
information related to a request for an exception from the vaccination 
requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 while the injunction remains in 
place, but the NRC may nevertheless receive information regarding a 
medical exception. That is because, if the NRC were to receive a 
request for an exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement 
pursuant to E.O. 14043 during the pendency of the injunction, the NRC 
will accept the request, hold it in abeyance, and notify the employee 
who submitted the request that implementation and enforcement of the 
COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 is currently 
enjoined and that an exception therefore is not necessary so long as 
the injunction is in place. In other words, during the pendency of the 
injunction, any information collection related to requests for medical 
exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 
14043 is not undertaken to implement or enforce the COVID-19 
vaccination requirement.

    Dated: March 23, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David C. Cullison,
NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-06483 Filed 3-25-22; 8:45 am]
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