[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 82 (Thursday, April 28, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25157-25159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09099]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 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.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 82 / Thursday, April 28, 2022 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 25157]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 30 and 70

[Docket No. NRC-2017-0031]
RIN 3150-AK52


Decommissioning Financial Assurance for Sealed and Unsealed 
Radioactive Materials

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory basis; request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting 
comment on a regulatory basis to support a rulemaking that would amend 
its regulations for decommissioning financial assurance for sealed and 
unsealed radioactive materials. The rulemaking would revise NRC's 
decommissioning funding requirements for radioactive material based on 
the relative risk to public health and safety from different 
radioisotopes, including naturally occurring and accelerator-produced 
radioactive material. The potentially affected licensees are those 
authorized to possess byproduct and special nuclear material.

DATES: Submit comments by June 27, 2022. 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 before this 
date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0031. Address 
questions about NRC Docket IDs to Dawn Forder; telephone: 301-415-3407; 
email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact the 
individual 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: Cardelia Maupin, telephone: 301-415-
4127, email: [email protected], or Gregory Trussell, telephone: 
301-415-6244, email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, 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-2017-0031 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-2017-0031.
     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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     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] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2017-0031 in your comment submission.
    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

    The NRC is requesting comments on a regulatory basis to support a 
proposed rule that would amend appendix B, ``Quantities of licensed 
material requiring labeling,'' to part 30 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Rules of General Applicability to 
Domestic Licensing of Byproduct Material,'' and 10 CFR 70.25, 
``Financial assurance and recordkeeping for decommissioning.'' The 
regulatory basis document is developed as a precursor to a proposed 
rule and describes the NRC's recommendation and considerations in 
amending 10 CFR parts 30 and 70. Appendix B to 10 CFR part 30 is used 
to determine decommissioning funding requirements for radioactive 
material licensed under 10 CFR parts 30 and 70.
    The proposed rule would address the petition for rulemaking (PRM)-
30-66, ``Request of the Organization of Agreement States for the NRC to 
Amend Appendix B, `Quantities of Licensed

[[Page 25158]]

Material Requiring Labeling,' '' submitted by the Organization of 
Agreement States (OAS) on April 14, 2017. In its petition, OAS 
requested that the NRC conduct a rulemaking to update appendix B to 10 
CFR part 30 to include naturally occurring and accelerator-produced 
radioactive material radionuclides and their specific possession 
values. The OAS indicated that the failure to include these 
radionuclides in appendix B to 10 CFR part 30 has placed undue 
hardships on regulators and licensees with little or no radiation 
safety benefit, discouraged the development of new beneficial products, 
and negatively impacted patient care.
    The specific objectives of this rulemaking effort are to (1) 
improve the regulatory framework for naturally occurring and 
accelerator-produced radioactive material by amending appendix B to 10 
CFR part 30 to better align with NRC's regulatory authority over this 
material under the Energy Policy Act of 2005; (2) risk-inform NRC's 
decommissioning funding requirements by aligning the possession values 
in appendix B with NRC's radiation protection regulations in 10 CFR 
part 20, ``Standards for Protection Against Radiation''; (3) clarify 
that only radioactive materials with half-lives greater than 120 days 
are subject to decommissioning financial assurance; and (4) clarify the 
purpose of appendix B by changing its title. To address item 3, the NRC 
is proposing to update appendix B using the list of radionuclides and 
possession values in appendix C to 10 CFR part 20, ``Quantities of 
licensed material requiring labeling.''
    The NRC held a public meeting on January 7, 2021, to discuss 
different approaches for updating appendix B to 10 CFR part 30. Members 
of the public supported updating appendix B to 10 CFR part 30, noting 
that a faster update to the appendix would be more beneficial than 
developing a new decommissioning financial assurance methodology. 
Information about the public meeting is available in the ``Availability 
of Documents'' section of this document.
    The NRC will consider any comments received on the regulatory basis 
in the development of the proposed rule and will provide responses to 
comments in the proposed rule.

III. Specific Requests for Comments

    The NRC is seeking advice and recommendations from the public on 
the regulatory basis. We are particularly interested in comments and 
supporting rationale from the public on the NRC's initial assumptions 
regarding the qualitative and quantitative costs and benefits of the 
rulemaking, as well as on alternatives to the current recommended 
approach.

Assumptions Used for Cost/Benefit Estimates

     The NRC is seeking comments on the assumptions used in 
developing the cost-benefit estimates. The NRC is interested in 
receiving information on the number of licensees affected by the 
rulemaking. The NRC is also interested in the effort needed to make any 
changes to current decommissioning funding plans or decommissioning 
financial assurance funding amounts, especially if an increase in 
decommissioning funding would be required.
     The NRC is seeking comments on possible impacts to small 
entities. Section 2.810, ``NRC size standards,'' provides specific size 
standards to determine whether a licensee qualifies as a small entity 
in its regulatory programs. The NRC is interested in the number of 
small entities that would be impacted by these changes, as well as the 
types of impacts the changes being proposed by this rulemaking would 
have on them.
     The NRC also is seeking comments on other benefits of the 
rulemaking, such as supporting advancements in science and technology, 
enabling uses of radioisotopes that would reduce effective doses to 
patients or overall costs to patients, and reducing costs to licensees 
who currently must develop decommissioning funding plans. Please 
provide quantitative information on costs and benefits, if available.

Alternatives to Recommended Approach

    The regulatory basis recommends a rulemaking approach using 
information that already exists in regulations rather than creating a 
new methodology for determining the amount of decommissioning financial 
assurance. The NRC is seeking comments on any benefits to any 
alternative approach that might not have been considered in the NRC's 
assessment, as well as any suggested means to implement this approach, 
particularly on the categorization and funding amounts that would be 
appropriate.

IV. Cumulative Effects of Regulation

    The cumulative effects of regulation (CER) describe challenges that 
licensees or other impacted entities (such as State agency partners) 
may face while implementing new regulatory positions, programs, and 
requirements (e.g., rules, generic letters, backfits, inspections). The 
CER is an organizational challenge that results from a licensee or 
impacted entity implementing a number of complex positions, programs, 
or requirements within a limited implementation period and with 
available resources (which may include limited available expertise to 
address a specific issue). The NRC has implemented CER enhancements to 
the rulemaking process to facilitate public involvement throughout the 
rulemaking process. Therefore, the NRC is specifically requesting 
comment on the cumulative effects that may result from this proposed 
rulemaking. In developing comments on the regulatory basis, consider 
the following questions:
    1. In light of any current or projected CER challenges, what should 
be a reasonable effective date, compliance date, or submittal date(s) 
from the time the final rule is published to the actual implementation 
of any new proposed requirements, including changes to programs, 
procedures, and the facility?
    2. If CER challenges currently exist or are expected, what should 
be done to address them? For example, if more time is required for 
implementation of the new requirements, what period of time is 
sufficient?
    3. Do other (NRC or other agency) regulatory actions (e.g., orders, 
generic communications, license amendment requests inspection findings 
of a generic nature) influence the implementation of the potential 
proposed requirements?
    4. Are there unintended consequences? Does the proposed action 
create conditions that would be contrary to the proposed action's 
purpose and objectives? If so, what are the consequences, and how 
should they be addressed?
    5. Please comment on the NRC's cost and benefit estimate of the 
potential proposed action. This information will be used to support 
additional regulatory analysis by the NRC.

V. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons as indicated.

[[Page 25159]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             ADAMS accession No./Federal
                  Document                        Register citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRM-30-66, ``Request of the Organization of  ML17173A063.
 Agreement States for the NRC to Amend
 Appendix B, `Quantities of Licensed
 Material Requiring Labeling,''' April 14,
 2017.
Federal Register Notice Publishing PRM-30-   82 FR 39971.
 66 for Public Comment, August 23, 2017.
Federal Register Notice Extending the        82 FR 51363.
 Public Comment Period, November 6, 2017.
Comments on PRM-30-66, ``Organization of     ML18038A879 (package).
 Agreement States''.
SECY-19-0125, ``Petition for Rulemaking and  ML18292A434 (package).
 Rulemaking Plan on Decommissioning
 Financial Assurance Requirements for
 Sealed and Unsealed Radioactive Material
 (PRM-30-66; NRC-2017-0159),'' December 17,
 2019.
Staff Requirements Memorandum: SRM-SECY-19-  ML20287A248 (package).
 0125, ``Petition for Rulemaking and
 Rulemaking Plan on Decommissioning
 Financial Assurance Requirements for
 Sealed and Unsealed Radioactive Material
 (PRM-30-66; NRC-2017-0159),'' October 13,
 2020.
Letter to Matthew McKinley, Chair of the     ML20303A141.
 Organization of Agreement States (the
 Petitioner), November 4, 2020.
Federal Register Notice Publishing the       85 FR 75959.
 Results of the NRC Evaluation of PRM-30-
 66, November 27, 2020.
Public Meeting on Decommissioning Financial  ML21026A339 (package).
 Assurance Requirements for Sealed and
 Unsealed Radioactive Material, January 7,
 2021.
Regulatory Basis for Decommissioning         ML21235A480.
 Financial Assurance Requirements for
 Sealed and Unsealed Radioactive Materials,
 April 2022.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC may post materials related to this document, including 
public comments, on the Federal rulemaking website at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2017-0031. In addition, the 
Federal rulemaking website allows members of the public to receive 
alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To 
subscribe: (1) Navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2017-0031); (2) click 
the ``Subscribe'' link; and (3) enter an email address and click on the 
``Subscribe'' link.

VI. Plain Writing

    The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal 
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized 
manner. The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the 
Plain Writing Act as well as the Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain 
Language in Government Writing,'' published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 
31883). The NRC requests comment on this document with respect to the 
clarity and effectiveness of the language used.

    Dated: April 25, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John R. Tappert,
Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2022-09099 Filed 4-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P