[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 138 (Tuesday, July 22, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34522-34523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-13691]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS); ACRS Procedures
for Meetings
Background
This notice describes procedures to be followed with respect to
meetings conducted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's)
Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) pursuant to the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The revisions to Subcommittee procedures
are made to accommodate direction contained in Executive Order (E.O.)
14215, ``Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies.'' These procedures
are set forth so that they may be incorporated by reference in future
notices for individual meetings.
The ACRS is a statutory advisory Committee established by Congress
to review and report on nuclear safety matters and applications for the
licensing of nuclear facilities. The Committee's reports become part of
the public record. E.O. 14215 contains applicable directives regarding
the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) review of Agency regulatory actions.
The ACRS Full Committee meetings are conducted in accordance with
FACA because these meetings involve Committee deliberation on
recommendations and advice provided to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. Full Committee meetings are normally open to the public and
provide opportunities for oral or written statements from members of
the public to be considered as part of the Committee's information
gathering process. A means for the public to access the meetings
virtually will be provided as described below. ACRS reviews do not
normally encompass matters pertaining to environmental impacts other
than those related to radiological safety.
The ACRS meetings are not adjudicatory hearings such as those
conducted by the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel as part
of the Commission's licensing process.
ACRS Subcommittee meetings are not subject to FACA and changes to
the procedures for conducting these meetings are detailed below.
General Rules Regarding ACRS Full Committee Meetings
An agenda will be published in the Federal Register and on the NRC
and ACRS public websites for each Full Committee meeting. There may be
a need to make changes to the agenda to facilitate the conduct of the
meeting. The Chairman of the Committee is empowered to conduct the
meeting in a manner that, in their judgement, will facilitate the
orderly conduct of business, including making provisions to continue
the discussion of matters not completed on the scheduled day on another
day of the same meeting. Persons planning to attend the meeting may
contact the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) specified in the Federal
Register notice prior to the meeting to be advised of any changes to
the agenda that may have occurred.
The following requirements shall apply to public participation in
ACRS Full Committee meetings:
(a) Persons who plan to submit written comments at the meeting
should send their comments via email to the DFO before the beginning of
the meeting. Persons who cannot attend the meeting but wish to submit
comments for the record regarding the agenda items may do so by sending
their comments via email or by transmitting a readily reproducible copy
addressed to the DFO specified in the Federal Register notice, care of
the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Email is preferred. Comments
should be limited to items being considered by the Committee. In order
to ensure that the comments can be considered by the Committee prior to
the meeting, the comments should be in the possession of the DFO 5 days
prior to the meeting to allow time for reproduction and distribution.
(b) Persons desiring to make oral statements at the meeting should
make a request to do so to the DFO before the meeting, identifying the
topic(s) on which oral statements will be made and the amount of time
needed for presentation so that orderly arrangements can be made. The
Committee will hear oral statements on topics being reviewed at an
appropriate time during the meeting as scheduled by the Chairman.
(c) Information regarding topics to be discussed, changes to the
agenda, whether the meeting has been canceled or rescheduled, and the
time allotted to present oral statements can be obtained by contacting
the DFO.
(d) The use of still, motion picture, and television cameras will
be permitted at the discretion of the Chairman and in accordance with
NRC procedures and policies, and subject to the condition that the use
of such equipment will not interfere with the conduct of the meeting.
The DFO will have to be notified prior to the meeting and will
authorize the use of such equipment after consultation with the
Chairman. The use of such equipment will be restricted as is necessary
to protect proprietary or privileged information that may be in
documents, folders, etc., in the meeting room. Electronic recordings
will be permitted only during those portions of the meeting that are
open to the public.
(e) A transcript will be kept for certain open portions of the
meeting and will be available on the NRC and ACRS public websites and
in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), One White Flint North, Room O-
1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852-2738. A copy of
the certified minutes of the meeting will be available at the same
location three months following the meeting. Copies may be obtained
upon payment of appropriate reproduction charges. ACRS meeting agendas,
transcripts, and letter reports are available at [email protected], or by
calling the PDR at 1-800-397-4209, or from Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS) which is accessible from the NRC website
at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html or https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/ACRS/agenda/.
(f) Virtual attendance opportunities will be made available to
public attendees for observing open sessions of ACRS meetings. The
relevant information will be included in the agenda on the NRC and ACRS
public websites or may be obtained from the cognizant DFO.
ACRS Subcommittee Meetings
In accordance with FACA, the agency is not required to apply the
FACA requirements to meetings conducted by the Subcommittees of the NRC
Advisory Committees if the Subcommittee's recommendations would be
independently reviewed by its parent
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Committee (which is always the case). Subcommittee meetings are held to
conduct preparatory and information gathering activities and work that
will be the subject of deliberations at a Full Committee meeting.
Advice provided to the Commission by the ACRS will only be approved in
a Full Committee meeting.
In an effort to maintain transparency of Subcommittee activities,
the ACRS will conduct its Subcommittee meetings in accordance with the
Commission's Policy on Enhancing Participation in NRC Public Meetings
(86 FR 14964). In most cases, the ACRS Subcommittee meetings will be
categorized as Observation Meetings. The purpose of this type of
meeting is for the NRC to meet with representatives from one or more
groups in an open and transparent manner to discuss regulatory and
technical matters. In the Subcommittee meeting, observers will have an
opportunity to observe the ACRS performing its statutory function or
discussing technical issues. Members of the public will have an
opportunity to make comments about the issues discussed following the
business portion of the meeting. The NRC and ACRS public meeting
websites, which contain meeting announcements, agendas, and meeting
materials, may be found at www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg and www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/agenda. A meeting notice will be
published at www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg at least 10 calendar days in advance
of any ACRS Subcommittee meeting. Consistent with past practice,
members of the public who desire to provide written or oral input to
the Subcommittee may continue to do so and should contact the DFO five
days prior to the meeting, as practicable. When Subcommittee meetings
are held at locations other than at NRC facilities, reproduction
facilities may not be available at a reasonable cost. Accordingly, 15
copies of the materials to be used during the meeting should be
provided for distribution at such meetings.
ACRS Member or Subcommittee Engagements With the NRC Staff
When an ACRS Member or Subcommittee engages only with the NRC staff
on predecisional or otherwise sensitive information, such as
predecisional rulemaking language or draft implementing guidance prior
to the document being made available to the public, the ACRS will not
issue a public meeting notice because it does not meet any category of
meeting identified in the Commission's Policy on Enhancing
Participation in NRC Public Meetings.
Special Provisions for Closing ACRS Meetings
If it is necessary to hold closed sessions for the purpose of
discussing matters involving proprietary or otherwise sensitive
information, the agenda will identify the portions of the agenda that
will be closed. With regard to discussions involving proprietary
information, persons with agreements permitting access to such
information may attend those portions of the ACRS meetings where this
material is being discussed upon confirmation that such agreements are
effective and related to the material being discussed. The owner of the
proprietary information will be consulted prior to the start of the
meeting regarding who may observe such discussions.
If an agreement exists, the DFO should be informed of such an
agreement at least five working days prior to the meeting so that it
can be confirmed, and a determination can be made regarding the
applicability of the agreement to the material that will be discussed
during the meeting. The minimum information provided should include
information regarding the date of the agreement, the scope of material
included in the agreement, the project or projects involved, and the
names and titles of the persons signing the agreement. Additional
information may be requested to identify the specific agreement
involved. A copy of the executed agreement should be provided to the
DFO prior to the beginning of the meeting for admittance to the closed
session.
Full Committee and Subcommittee meetings also may be closed to
discuss information that is classified, personnel-related, or otherwise
sensitive as listed in 5 U.S. Code Sec. 552b. In addition, sessions
with ACRS member attendance may not be open to the public for the
purposes of training, conduct of retreats, international conferences or
other activities that do not involve matters about which the Committee
intends to deliberate for the purpose of providing advice to the
Commission.
Dated: July 17, 2025.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Russell E. Chazell,
Federal Advisory Committee Management Officer, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-13691 Filed 7-21-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P