[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52814-52815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18526]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2022-0159]


Maintenance, Testing, and Replacement of Vented Lead Acid Storage 
Batteries for Production and Utilization Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1401, ``Maintenance, 
Testing, and Replacement of Vented Lead Acid Storage Batteries for 
Production and Utilization Facilities''. This DG is the proposed 
Revision 4 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.129. RG 1.129 describes methods 
that are acceptable to the NRC staff pertaining to the maintenance, 
testing, and replacement of vented lead acid storage batteries in 
production and utilization facilities.

DATES: Submit comments by September 28, 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 on or 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-2022-0159. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individuals listed in the For Further 
Information Contact section of this document.
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing 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: James Steckel, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-1026, email: [email protected]; and 
Brian Correll, Region IV, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Arlington, Texas 76011-4511, telephone: 817-200-1565, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0159, 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-2022-0159.
     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]. DG-1401, ``Maintenance, Testing, and 
Replacement of Vented Lead Acid Storage Batteries for Production and 
Utilization Facilities,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML22026A441. The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft 
regulatory analysis for DG-1401 under ADAMS Accession No. ML22026A443.
     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. Eastern Time (ET), 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-2022-0159 in your comment submission.
    The 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. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe 
methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific 
parts of the agency's regulations, to explain techniques that the staff 
uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and to 
describe information that the staff needs in its review of applications 
for permits and licenses.
    The DG, entitled ``Maintenance, Testing, and Replacement of Vented 
Lead Acid Storage Batteries for Production and Utilization 
Facilities,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-1401.
    Production and utilization facilities licensed under part 50 and 
part 52 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) are 
required to optimize the life and performance of installed vented lead 
acid storage batteries used for standby power

[[Page 52815]]

applications to perform safety functions under applicable service 
conditions, including design-basis events. This revision (Revision 4) 
provides updated state-of-the-art technical information regarding the 
maintenance, testing, and replacement of vented lead acid storage 
batteries.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of DG-1401, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting 
as that term is defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as 
described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of 
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information 
Requests''; would not constitute forward fitting as that term is 
defined and described in MD 8.4; or affect issue finality of any 
approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' As explained in DG-1401, 
applicants and licensees are not required to comply with the positions 
set forth in DG-1401.

IV. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides

    A member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to the 
NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new RGs. 
Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html. 
Suggestions will be considered in future updates and enhancements to 
the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.

    Dated: August 24, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2022-18526 Filed 8-26-22; 8:45 am]
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