[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 96 (Thursday, May 16, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42767-42768]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10732]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 96 / Thursday, May 16, 2024 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 42767]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 73

[NRC-2023-0173]


Regulatory Guide: Suspicious Activity Reports

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) 5.87, ``Suspicious Activity 
Reports.'' This RG provides an approach acceptable to the NRC staff for 
licensees to use for reporting suspicious activity under NRC 
regulations, ``Physical Protection of Plants and Materials'', to local 
law enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the NRC, and the 
Federal Aviation Administration.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 5.87 is available on May 16, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0173 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-2023-0173. 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]. 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.
    Revision 1 to RG 5.87 and the regulatory analysis may be found in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML23299A172 and ML23200A284, respectively.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Phil Brochman, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response, telephone: 301-287-3691; email: 
[email protected] and Stanley Gardocki, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-1067; 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 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.
    Proposed Revision 1 to RG 5.87, ``Suspicious Activity Reports Under 
10 CFR part 73,'' was issued with a temporary identification of Draft 
Regulatory Guide, (DG)-5082 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23198A151).
    This revision of the guide (Revision 1) provides additional 
guidance on suspicious activity reporting. These new and updated 
requirements are part of the NRC's final rule, titled ``Enhanced 
Weapons, Firearms Background Checks, and Security Event Notifications'' 
(hereafter the Enhanced Weapons rule), that was published in the 
Federal Register on March 14, 2023 (88 FR 15864). These provisions are 
found in the NRC's regulations under section 73.1215 of title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Revision 1 to RG 5.87 provides 
acceptable methods that eligible applicants and licensees (collectively 
referred to as licensees in this RG) may use for reporting suspicious 
activity under NRC regulations. These provisions are found in the NRC's 
regulations under section 10 CFR 73.1215. Revision 1 to RG 5.87 
provides guidance to applicants and licensees regarding an acceptable 
approach for reporting suspicious activity to local law enforcement 
agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the NRC, and the Federal 
Aviation Administration. Revision 1 to RG 5.87 also includes examples, 
considerations, and guidance to assist licensees in understanding their 
responsibilities in implementing 10 CFR 73.1215 requirements.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of availability of DG-5082 in the 
Federal Register on October 27, 2023 (88 FR 73769) for a 45-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on December 11, 2023. 
The NRC staff made changes to DG-5082 in response to public comments. 
NRC staff responses to public comments on DG-5082 are available in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML23299A192.
    In addition to the public comments received on DG-5082, the NRC 
received a public comment on DG-5080, ``Proposed Revision 3 to 
Regulatory Guide 5.62, `Physical Security Event Notifications, Reports, 
and Records,''' regarding guidance on the topic of the term ``Time of 
discovery.'' Guidance on the term ``Time of discovery'' was also 
included in DG-5082. Accordingly, the NRC has made conforming changes 
to the guidance in Revision 1 to RG 5.87 regarding the term ``Time of 
discovery'' that are consistent with Revision 3 to RG 5.62 on this same 
term.
    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

[[Page 42768]]

to comply with publication requirements under 1 CFR chapter I.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808).

IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of RG 5.87, Revision 1 does not constitute backfitting as 
defined in 10 CFR 72.62, ``Backfitting''; 10 CFR 70.76, 
``Backfitting''; 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'' (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML18093B087). Also, issuance of RG 5.87, Revision 1 does not 
constitute forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 
8.4; and does not affect the issue finality of any approval issued 
under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certificates, and Approvals for 
Nuclear Powerplants.''

V. 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: May 13, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2024-10732 Filed 5-15-24; 8:45 am]
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