[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 20, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 87967-87968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27961]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 52

[NRC-2023-0216]


Draft Regulatory Guide: Installation, Inspection, and Testing for 
Class 1E Power, Instrumentation, and Control Equipment at Production 
and Utilization Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft 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-1419, ``Installation, 
Inspection, and Testing for Class 1E Power, Instrumentation, and 
Control Equipment at Production and Utilization Facilities.'' This DG 
is proposed Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.30, ``Quality 
Assurance Requirements for the Installation, Inspection, and Testing of 
Instrumentation and Electric Equipment (Safety Guide 30).'' DG-1419 
describes an approach that is acceptable to the NRC staff to meet the 
regulatory requirements for installation, inspection, and testing for 
Class 1E power, instrumentation, and control equipment at production 
and utilization facilities.

DATES: Submit comments by January 19, 2024. 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-2023-0216. 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: Darrell Murdock, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1591; email: 
[email protected] and Michael Eudy, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-3104; email: [email protected]. Both 
are staff of the 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-2023-0216 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-2023-0216.
     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]. The ADAMS accession number for 
each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the 
first time that it is mentioned in this document.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2023-0216 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 ``Installation, Inspection, and Testing for Class 
1E Power, Instrumentation, and Control Equipment at Production and 
Utilization Facilities,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, 
DG-1419 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23222A182).
    This DG is proposed Revision 1 to RG 1.30 (also known as Safety 
Guide 30) and describes an approach that is acceptable to the NRC staff 
to meet the regulatory requirements for installation, inspection, and 
testing for Class 1E power, instrumentation, and control equipment at 
production and utilization facilities. DG-1419 endorses, with a 
clarification, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 
Standard (Std) 336-2020, ``IEEE Recommended Practice for Installation, 
Inspection, and

[[Page 87968]]

Testing for Class 1E Power, Instrumentation, and Control Equipment at 
Nuclear Facilities.'' DG-1419 also removes all quality assurance (QA) 
requirements from RG 1.30 and addresses the requirements of a QA 
program for design and construction in RG 1.28, Revision 6, ``Quality 
Assurance Program Criteria (Design and Construction),'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML23177A002), and for operation in RG 1.33, Revision 3, 
``Quality Assurance Program Requirements (Operation),'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML13109A458).
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory 
analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML23235A321). The staff developed a 
regulatory analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising a 
regulatory guide as well as alternative courses of action.
    As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), 
this document is being published in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of 
the Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 1 
CFR chapter I.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of DG-1419, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting 
as defined in section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Backfitting,'' and as described in NRC 
Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward 
Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests''; affect issue 
finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, 
Certificates, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants''; or constitute 
forward fitting as defined in MD 8.4, because, as explained in DG-1419, 
licensees would not be required to comply with the positions set forth 
in DG-1419.

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: December 14, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen M. Wyman,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2023-27961 Filed 12-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P