[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 118 (Monday, June 23, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 26621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11404]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2025-0090]
Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice describes the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's
(NRC's) plans to address criminally liable regulatory offenses under
the recent Executive Order (E.O.) on ``Fighting Overcriminalization in
Federal Regulations.''
DATES: June 23, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2025-0090 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-2025-0090. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Bridget Curran;
telephone: 301-415-1003; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual 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].
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Prichard, Office of
Investigations, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3264; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
On May 9, 2025, the President issued E.O. 14294, ``Fighting
Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations.'' Notice of this E.O. was
published in the Federal Register on May 14, 2025 (90 FR 20363).
Section 7 of E.O. 14294 provides that within 45 days of the order, and
in consultation with the Attorney General, each agency should publish
guidance in the Federal Register describing its plan to address
criminally liable regulatory offenses.
Consistent with that requirement, the NRC advises the public that
by May 9, 2026, the NRC in consultation with the Attorney General, will
provide to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a report
containing: (1) a list of all criminal regulatory offenses \1\
enforceable by the NRC or the Department of Justice (DOJ); and (2) for
each such criminal regulatory offense, the range of potential criminal
penalties for a violation and the applicable mens rea standard \2\ for
the criminal regulatory offense.
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\1\ ``Criminal regulatory offense'' means a Federal regulation
that is enforceable by a criminal penalty. E.O. 14294, sec. 3(b).
\2\ ``Mens rea'' means the state of mind that by law must be
proven to convict a particular defendant of a particular crime. E.O.
14294, sec. 3(c).
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This notice also announces a general policy, subject to appropriate
exceptions and to the extent consistent with law, that when the NRC is
deciding whether to refer alleged violations of criminal regulatory
offenses to DOJ, officers and employees of the NRC should consider,
among other factors:
the harm or risk of harm, pecuniary or otherwise, caused
by the alleged offense;
the potential gain to the putative defendant that could
result from the offense;
whether the putative defendant held specialized knowledge,
expertise, or was licensed in an industry related to the rule or
regulation at issue; and
evidence, if any is available, of the putative defendant's
general awareness of the unlawfulness of his conduct as well as his
knowledge or lack thereof of the regulation at issue.
The NRC will implement this general policy in a manner consistent
with the NRC's existing Memorandum of Understanding with DOJ regarding
referral of matters from the NRC to DOJ (53 FR 50317). In addition, the
NRC will implement the requirements of E.O. 14294 in a manner
consistent with the requirements of E.O. 14300, ``Ordering the Reform
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission'' (90 FR 22587).
This general policy is not intended to, and does not, create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in
equity by any party against the United States, its departments,
agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other
person.
Dated: June 17, 2025.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mirela Gavrilas,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2025-11404 Filed 6-20-25; 8:45 am]
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