[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 160 (Monday, August 21, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 56752-56753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17867]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50, 52 and 100

[NRC-2020-0076]


Regulatory Guide: Volcanic Hazards Assessment for Proposed 
Nuclear Power Reactor Sites

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.26 ``Volcanic Hazards Assessment 
for Proposed Nuclear Power Reactor Sites,'' to restore text and a 
Section heading inadvertently omitted from Section C, ``Staff 
Regulatory Guidance,'' of Revision 0. The restored text appeared in the 
draft guide released for public comment. In addition, there is a minor 
update of the Paperwork Reduction Act text in the RG. The changes do 
not represent substantive changes in the NRC staff's regulatory 
positions.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 4.26 is available on August 21, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0076 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 ID NRC-2020-0076. 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.
     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]. Revision 1 to RG 4.26 ``Volcanic 
Hazards Assessment for Proposed Nuclear Power Reactor Sites,'' is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML23167A078.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenise Thompson, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-0381, email: 
[email protected] and Edward O'Donnell, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3317, email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide 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 NRC typically seeks public comment on a draft version of a RG 
by announcing its availability for comment in the Federal Register. 
However, as explained in NRC's Management Directive 6.6 ``Regulatory 
Guides,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML22010A233) the NRC may directly issue 
a final RG without a draft version or public comment period if the 
changes to the RG are non-substantive.
    The NRC is issuing Revision 1 of RG 4.26 directly as a final RG 
because the changes between Revision 1 and Revision 0 are non-
substantive. The NRC issued Revision 0 of RG 4.26 in June 2021 (86 FR 
34057) to provide guidance for facilitating the NRC staff's review of 
volcanic hazards assessments performed by applicants to support the 
siting of new nuclear power reactors. Recently it was noted that there 
was an administrative error in omission of text and a subheading of the 
guidance in Section C ``Staff Regulatory Guidance.'' Also, in the 
discussion of Step 4: ``Evaluate Eruption Potential and/or Hazard 
Potential,'' two paragraphs and two bullet points discussing model 
support are missing as well as the subheading for the following 
section, Step 5: ``Develop Risk Insights,'' despite their inclusion in 
the draft guide released for public comment (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML20007D621) and a subsequent draft revised in light of public comments 
that was presented to NRC's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards 
for review in spring 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20022A214). In 
addition, there is an update of the contact information in Paperwork 
Reduction Act text in the RG.
    As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), 
this document is being published in the ``Rules'' section of the 
Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 1 CFR 
chapter I.

II. Backfitting, Forwarding, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of RG 4.26, Revision 1, does not constitute backfitting as 
defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), (the Backfit Rule), and is not otherwise 
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The 
changes in Revision 1 of RG 4.26 are limited to editorial changes to 
improve clarity and the correction of a title. These changes do not 
fall within the kinds of agency actions that constitute backfitting or 
are subject to limitations in the issue finality provisions of part 52. 
Accordingly, the NRC did not address the Backfit Rule or issue finality 
provisions of part 52.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

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 15, 2023.


[[Page 56753]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael A. Eudy,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2023-17867 Filed 8-18-23; 8:45 am]
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