Implementation of Open Government Directive, 1418-1420 [2010-228]
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1418
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 6 / Monday, January 11, 2010 / Notices
Security Information than like other sensitive
unclassified information. Information
designated as SGI must be withheld from
public disclosure and must be physically
controlled and protected to prevent any
unauthorized disclosure. The requirements
set forth in 10 CFR Part 73 apply to any
person, whether or not a licensee of the NRC,
who produces, receives or acquires SGI.
All persons who have or have had access
to SGI have a continuing obligation to protect
SGI in order to prevent its inadvertent release
and/or unauthorized disclosure. Violations of
SGI handling and protection requirements,
including the unauthorized disclosure of SGI,
may result in the imposition of applicable
civil and criminal penalties.
Information To Be Protected as Safeguards
Information
Any documents provided to NERC by NRC
that contain SGI will be designated in
accordance with 10 CFR 73.22. Documents
developed by NERC that contain SGI must
also be designated and protected as SGI in
accordance with 10 CFR 73.22. The NRC and
NERC agree to comply with the requirements
for protecting all information designated as
SGI as set forth in 10 CFR 73.22(a).
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Access to Safeguards Information
Generally, no person may have access to
SGI unless the person has an established
‘‘need to know’’ for the information and has
been determined to be ‘‘trustworthy and
reliable.’’ Typically, a determination of
trustworthiness and reliability is based upon
a background check, including at a
minimum, a Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) criminal history records check
(including verification of identity based on
fingerprinting), employment history,
education and personal references. The terms
‘‘background check,’’ ‘‘need to know’’ and
‘‘trustworthy and reliable’’ are defined in 10
CFR 73.2. The NRC and NERC agree to
comply with the requirements for access to
SGI set forth in 10 CFR 73.22(b) and 10 CFR
73.57.
Reviewing Official
The determination that a NERC employee,
consultant or contractor has a need for access
to SGI (established ‘‘need to know’’ and is
‘‘trustworthy and reliable’’) must initially be
made by an individual already authorized
access to SGI. Accordingly, the NRC and
NERC agree to implement the following
procedures for granting NERC employees,
consultants and contractors access to SGI for
the purpose of carrying out this MOU.
NERC shall submit the name and
fingerprints of at least one individual to the
NRC who NERC has determined to be
trustworthy and reliable and has a need to
know SGI. NERC’s trustworthiness and
reliability determination shall be based, at a
minimum, on all elements of a background
check except for each individual’s criminal
history record. The NRC will conduct a
criminal history record check based on each
individual’s fingerprints. Based upon the
outcome of the criminal history record check,
the NRC shall determine if the individual (or
individuals if more than one name is
submitted and approved) may have access to
SGI and can serve as a reviewing official
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16:06 Jan 08, 2010
Jkt 220001
under this MOU. Upon approval by the NRC,
this individual (or individuals if more than
one name is submitted and approved) may
serve as a reviewing official authorized to
make SGI access authorization
determinations for other NERC employees,
consultants and contractors.
Individuals possessing an active Federal
security clearance require no additional
fingerprinting or background check for access
to SGI, as this clearance meets the
fingerprinting requirement and other
elements of the background check, as
prescribed in 10 CFR 73.22(b)(1). Such
individuals must still meet the need to know
requirement for access to SGI. However,
when relying upon an existing active Federal
security clearance to meet the SGI access
requirements (except for the need to know
determination), NERC should obtain and
maintain a record of official notification
stating that the individual possesses such a
clearance.
Only NRC-approved reviewing officials
shall be authorized to make SGI access
determinations for other individuals who
have been identified by NERC as having a
need to know SGI. The reviewing official
shall be responsible for determining that
these individuals have a ‘‘need to know’’ for
access to SGI to carry out their official duties
under this MOU and for determining that
these individuals are trustworthy and
reliable. The reviewing official’s
determination of trustworthiness and
reliability shall be based upon an adequate
background check, including, at a minimum,
an FBI criminal history records checks and
fingerprinting. The reviewing official can
only make SGI access determinations for
other individuals, but cannot approve other
individuals to act as reviewing officials.
NERC agrees that the reviewing official
shall maintain secure and adequate records
of each SGI access authorization
determination. Such records shall be
available to the NRC for inspection upon
request.
Protection of Safeguards Information While
in Use or Storage
SGI must be adequately protected while in
use or storage to prevent its unauthorized
release or disclosure. The NRC and NERC
agree to comply with the requirements for
protection of SGI while in use or storage set
forth in 10 CFR 73.22(c).
Preparation and Marking of Documents or
Other Matter
Documents and other matter must be
prepared and conspicuously marked as SGI
to ensure against unauthorized release or
disclosure. The NRC and NERC agree to
comply with the requirements for
preparation and marking of documents and
other material as set forth in 10 CFR 73.22(d).
Reproduction of Matter Containing
Safeguards Information
SGI may be reproduced to the minimum
extent necessary consistent with need
without permission of the originator. The
NRC and NERC agree to comply with the
requirements for reproduction of documents
and other material containing SGI as set forth
in 10 CFR 73.22(e).
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
External Transmission of Documents and
Material
Documents or other matter containing SGI
when transmitted outside an authorized
place of use or storage shall be enclosed in
two sealed envelopes or wrappers and must
not bear any markings or indication that the
document contains SGI. The NRC and NERC
agree to comply with the requirements for the
external transmission of documents and
other material containing SGI as set forth in
10 CFR 73.22(f).
Processing of Safeguards Information on
Electronic Systems
SGI may not be transmitted by unprotected
telecommunications circuits except under
emergency or extraordinary conditions. SGI
must be processed or produced on an
electronic system that ensures the integrity of
the information and prevents the
unauthorized release or disclosure of SGI.
The NRC and NERC agree to comply with the
requirements for the processing of SGI on
electronic systems as set forth in 10 CFR
73.22(g).
Removal from Safeguards Information
Category
Documents containing SGI shall be
removed from the SGI category (decontrolled)
only after the NRC determines that the
information no longer meets the criteria for
designation as SGI. Organizations have the
authority to make determinations that
specific documents which they created no
longer contain SGI and may be decontrolled.
The NRC and NERC agree to comply with the
requirements for removing information from
the SGI category as set forth in 10 CFR
73.22(h).
Destruction of Matter Containing Safeguards
Information
Documents containing SGI should be
destroyed when no longer needed. The NRC
and NERC agree to comply with the
requirements for the destruction of
documents and other material containing SGI
as set forth in 10 CFR 73.22(i).
[FR Doc. 2010–229 Filed 1–8–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2010–0003]
Implementation of Open Government
Directive
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Solicitation of public comment.
SUMMARY: In response to the Office of
Management and Budget’s (OMB)
December 8, 2009, Open Government
Directive, which helps to implement the
President’s January 21, 2009,
Memorandum on Transparency and
Open Government, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) is
requesting public comment to aid the
E:\FR\FM\11JAN1.SGM
11JAN1
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 6 / Monday, January 11, 2010 / Notices
NRC’s determination of what data sets it
might be appropriate to publish online
and what transparency, public
participation, and collaboration
improvements it might include as it
drafts its Open Government Plan. The
December 8, 2009, Directive generally
instructs Federal agencies to identify
and publish online in an open format at
least three high-value data sets by
January 22, 2010, and an Open
Government Plan by April 7, 2010.
While the Open Government Directive,
by its terms, does not strictly apply to
independent agencies like the NRC, the
President has stated that independent
agencies should comply with it.
Accordingly, the NRC, in line with its
longstanding commitment to openness
and transparency, will endeavor to
comply with the Open Government
Directive and meet its deadlines. As part
of this effort, the NRC will seek to
identify and publish high-value data
sets and draft an Open Government
Plan, and the NRC is now inviting
public comment on these matters. In
addition, if a draft Open Government
Plan is developed sufficiently prior to
the April 7, 2010, deadline to allow time
for meaningful public comment on the
draft, the draft will be posted on the
NRC’s forthcoming Open Government
Web page. Comments on the draft Plan
could then be submitted to the NRC via
the Open Government Web page.
DATES: Submit comments regarding
publication of high-value data sets as
soon as possible to assure consideration
for purposes of the Open Government
Directive’s January 22, 2010, deadline.
However, even comments that are
received too late for meaningful
consideration with respect to the
January 22 deadline are nonetheless
welcome, because the NRC may decide
to publish additional data sets at later
dates. Submit comments on the NRC’s
Open Government Plan by February 10,
2010. Comments on the Open
Government Plan that are received after
this date will be considered during the
initial development of the Open
Government Plan if it is practical to do
so, but the NRC is able to assure
consideration only for comments
received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: Please include Docket ID
NRC–2010–0003 in the subject line of
your comments. Comments submitted in
writing or in electronic form will be
posted on the NRC Web site and on the
Federal rulemaking Web site
Regulations.gov. Because your
comments will not be edited to remove
any identifying or contact information,
the NRC cautions you against including
any information in your submission that
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16:06 Jan 08, 2010
Jkt 220001
you do not want to be publicly
disclosed.
The NRC requests that any party
soliciting or aggregating comments
received from other persons for
submission to the NRC inform those
persons that the NRC will not edit their
comments to remove any identifying or
contact information, and therefore, they
should not include any information in
their comments that they do not want
publicly disclosed.
You may submit comments by any
one of the following methods.
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for documents filed under Docket ID
NRC–2010–0003. Comments may be
submitted electronically through this
Web site. Address questions about NRC
dockets to Carol Gallagher 301–492–
3668; e-mail Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
Mail comments to: Michael T. Lesar,
Chief, Rulemaking and Directives
Branch (RDB), Division of
Administrative Services, Office of
Administration, Mail Stop: TWB–05–
B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001, or by fax to RDB at (301) 492–
3446.
You can access publicly available
documents related to this notice using
the following methods:
NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR):
The public may examine and have
copied for a fee publicly available
documents at the NRC’s PDR, Room O1
F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS):
Publicly available documents created or
received at the NRC are available
electronically at the NRC’s Electronic
Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/adams.html. From this page,
the public can gain entry into ADAMS,
which provides text and image files of
the NRC’s public documents. If you do
not have access to ADAMS or if there
are problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, contact
the NRC’s PDR reference staff at 1–800–
397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by e-mail
to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Public
comments and supporting materials
related to this notice can be found at
https://www.regulations.gov by searching
on Docket ID: NRC–2010–0003.
NRC’s Open Government Web page:
Consistent with the Open Government
Directive, the NRC plans to establish its
Open Government Web page by
February 6, 2010. The NRC’s Open
Government Web page will be located at
https://www.nrc.gov/open. The NRC’s
Open Government Web page will offer
PO 00000
Frm 00087
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
1419
opportunities to provide input to the
NRC regarding the Open Government
Plan, both before and after the plan is
published.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
James B. Schaeffer, Deputy Director,
Office of Information Services, (301)
415–7330, James.Schaeffer@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On
December 8, 2009, the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget
issued an Open Government Directive,
which helps to implement the
President’s January 21, 2009,
Memorandum on Transparency and
Open Government. According to the
President’s Memorandum, ‘‘independent
agencies should comply with the Open
Government Directive.’’ Therefore,
consistent with the NRC’s longstanding
commitment to openness and
transparency, the NRC will endeavor to
comply with the Open Government
Directive and meet its deadlines. The
Open Government Directive is available
on the Internet at https://
www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/
open-government-directive, and the
President’s January 21, 2009,
Memorandum is available at https://
www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/
Transparency_and_Open_Government.
The Open Government Directive
instructs Federal agencies to ‘‘identify
and publish online in an open format at
least three high-value data sets * * *
and register those data sets via Data.gov.
These must be data sets not previously
available online or in a downloadable
format.’’ The Open Government
Directive further states that ‘‘[h]ighvalue information is information that
can be used to increase agency
accountability and responsiveness;
improve public knowledge of the agency
and its operations; further the core
mission of the agency; create economic
opportunity; or respond to need and
demand as identified through public
consultation.’’ The due date for
publication of data sets under the Open
Government Directive is January 22,
2010. The NRC will seek to meet that
deadline and is currently investigating
whether it has data sets appropriate for
publication that would be of high value
to the public but that are not currently
publicly available online.
The Open Government Directive also
instructs agencies to develop and
publish Open Government Plans. An
agency’s Open Government Plan,
according to the Open Government
Directive, ‘‘is the public roadmap that
details how [the] agency will
incorporate the principles of the
President’s January 21, 2009,
Memorandum on Transparency and
E:\FR\FM\11JAN1.SGM
11JAN1
1420
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 6 / Monday, January 11, 2010 / Notices
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Open Government into the core mission
objectives of [the] agency.’’ Open
Government Plans are to set forth how
each agency plans to improve
transparency, public participation and
collaboration. Open Government Plans
also are to describe at least one ‘‘flagship
initiative’’ the agency is already
implementing or will implement to
improve transparency, public
participation, or collaboration. The
Open Government Directive has
established April 7, 2010, as the due
date for publication of agency Open
Government Plans, and the NRC will
seek to meet that deadline. The Open
Government Directive, available at the
Internet address listed above, provides
further details on the contents of agency
Open Government Plans.
To aid the NRC’s efforts to determine
what data sets might be appropriate to
publish and what transparency, public
participation, and collaboration
improvements it might include in its
Open Government Plan, the NRC is
soliciting public comments. Comments
regarding publication of data sets are
requested as soon as possible in light of
the January 22, 2010, target date for
publication of data sets. Please note that
there is not yet a draft available of the
NRC’s Open Government Plan, and the
NRC is not yet certain when a draft will
be available. If a draft is developed
sufficiently prior to the April 7, 2010,
deadline to allow time for meaningful
public comment on the draft, the draft
will be posted on the NRC’s forthcoming
Open Government Web page, which,
consistent with the Open Government
Directive, the NRC plans to establish by
February 6, 2010. The NRC’s Open
Government Web page will be located at
https://www.nrc.gov/open. The NRC’s
Open Government Web page will also
itself offer opportunities to provide
input to the NRC regarding the Open
Government Plan, both before and after
the plan is published. Once the Open
Government Plan is published, updates
would be scheduled to occur every 2
years, and opportunities for public
input would be provided in connection
with these updates as well. With respect
to the Open Government Plan, the NRC
is providing a 30-day comment period.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 4th day
of January, 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
R. William Borchardt,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010–228 Filed 1–8–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
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16:06 Jan 08, 2010
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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
[Disaster Declaration # 11996 and # 11997]
Florida Disaster # FL–00049
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Numbers 59002 and 59008)
U.S. Small Business
Administration.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
Summary: This is a notice of an
Administrative declaration of a disaster
for the State of Florida dated 12/29/
2009.
Incident: Severe Storms and Flooding.
Incident Period: 12/17/2009.
Effective Date: 12/29/2009.
Physical Loan Application Deadline
Date: 03/01/2010.
Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan
Application Deadline Date: 09/29/2010.
ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan
applications to: U.S. Small Business
Administration, Processing and
Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport
Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A.
Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance,
U.S. Small Business Administration,
409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050,
Washington, DC 20416.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is
hereby given that as a result of the
Administrator’s disaster declaration,
applications for disaster loans may be
filed at the address listed above or other
locally announced locations.
The following areas have been
determined to be adversely affected by
the disaster:
Primary Counties: Broward.
Contiguous Counties: Florida:
Collier, Hendry, Miami-Dade, Palm
Beach.
The Interest Rates are:
Percent
For Physical Damage:
Homeowners
With
Credit
Available Elsewhere ............
Homeowners Without Credit
Available Elsewhere ............
Businesses With Credit Available Elsewhere ....................
Businesses Without Credit
Available Elsewhere ............
Non-Profit Organizations With
Credit Available Elsewhere ..
Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere ...................................
For Economic Injury:
Businesses & Small Agricultural Cooperatives Without
Credit Available Elsewhere ..
Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere ...................................
PO 00000
Frm 00088
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
The number assigned to this disaster
for physical damage is 11996 6 and for
economic injury is 11997 0.
The State which received an EIDL
Declaration # is Florida.
5.125
2.562
6.000
4.000
3.625
3.000
Dated: December 29, 2009.
Karen G. Mills,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2010–250 Filed 1–8–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025–01–P
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
[Disaster Declaration # 11986 and # 11987]
Alabama Disaster # AL–00025
AGENCY: U.S. Small Business
Administration.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: This is a notice of an
Administrative declaration of a disaster
for the State of Alabama dated 12/29/
2009.
Incident: Severe Storms and Flooding.
Incident Period: 12/12/2009 through
12/18/2009.
Effective Date: 12/29/2009.
Physical Loan Application Deadline
Date: 03/01/2010.
Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan
Application Deadline Date: 09/29/2010.
ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan
applications to: U.S. Small Business
Administration, Processing and
Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport
Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A.
Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance,
U.S. Small Business Administration,
409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050,
Washington, DC 20416.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is
hereby given that as a result of the
Administrator’s disaster declaration,
applications for disaster loans may be
filed at the address listed above or other
locally announced locations.
The following areas have been
determined to be adversely affected by
the disaster:
Primary Counties: Escambia.
Contiguous Counties:
Alabama: Baldwin; Conecuh; Covington;
Monroe.
Florida: Escambia; Okaloosa; Santa
Rosa.
The Interest Rates are:
Percent
4.000
3.000
For Physical Damage:
Homeowners With Credit Available Elsewhere: ........................
E:\FR\FM\11JAN1.SGM
11JAN1
5.125
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 6 (Monday, January 11, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1418-1420]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-228]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2010-0003]
Implementation of Open Government Directive
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Solicitation of public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In response to the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB)
December 8, 2009, Open Government Directive, which helps to implement
the President's January 21, 2009, Memorandum on Transparency and Open
Government, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting
public comment to aid the
[[Page 1419]]
NRC's determination of what data sets it might be appropriate to
publish online and what transparency, public participation, and
collaboration improvements it might include as it drafts its Open
Government Plan. The December 8, 2009, Directive generally instructs
Federal agencies to identify and publish online in an open format at
least three high-value data sets by January 22, 2010, and an Open
Government Plan by April 7, 2010. While the Open Government Directive,
by its terms, does not strictly apply to independent agencies like the
NRC, the President has stated that independent agencies should comply
with it. Accordingly, the NRC, in line with its longstanding commitment
to openness and transparency, will endeavor to comply with the Open
Government Directive and meet its deadlines. As part of this effort,
the NRC will seek to identify and publish high-value data sets and
draft an Open Government Plan, and the NRC is now inviting public
comment on these matters. In addition, if a draft Open Government Plan
is developed sufficiently prior to the April 7, 2010, deadline to allow
time for meaningful public comment on the draft, the draft will be
posted on the NRC's forthcoming Open Government Web page. Comments on
the draft Plan could then be submitted to the NRC via the Open
Government Web page.
DATES: Submit comments regarding publication of high-value data sets as
soon as possible to assure consideration for purposes of the Open
Government Directive's January 22, 2010, deadline. However, even
comments that are received too late for meaningful consideration with
respect to the January 22 deadline are nonetheless welcome, because the
NRC may decide to publish additional data sets at later dates. Submit
comments on the NRC's Open Government Plan by February 10, 2010.
Comments on the Open Government Plan that are received after this date
will be considered during the initial development of the Open
Government Plan if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to
assure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: Please include Docket ID NRC-2010-0003 in the subject line
of your comments. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form
will be posted on the NRC Web site and on the Federal rulemaking Web
site Regulations.gov. Because your comments will not be edited to
remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you
against including any information in your submission that you do not
want to be publicly disclosed.
The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not
include any information in their comments that they do not want
publicly disclosed.
You may submit comments by any one of the following methods.
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2010-0003. Comments may
be submitted electronically through this Web site. Address questions
about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-492-3668; e-mail
Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
Mail comments to: Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking and
Directives Branch (RDB), Division of Administrative Services, Office of
Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by fax to RDB at (301) 492-
3446.
You can access publicly available documents related to this notice
using the following methods:
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1
F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS):
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can gain
entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of the NRC's
public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's
PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to
pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Public comments and supporting
materials related to this notice can be found at https://www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID: NRC-2010-0003.
NRC's Open Government Web page: Consistent with the Open Government
Directive, the NRC plans to establish its Open Government Web page by
February 6, 2010. The NRC's Open Government Web page will be located at
https://www.nrc.gov/open. The NRC's Open Government Web page will offer
opportunities to provide input to the NRC regarding the Open Government
Plan, both before and after the plan is published.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James B. Schaeffer, Deputy Director,
Office of Information Services, (301) 415-7330,
James.Schaeffer@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 8, 2009, the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget issued an Open Government Directive,
which helps to implement the President's January 21, 2009, Memorandum
on Transparency and Open Government. According to the President's
Memorandum, ``independent agencies should comply with the Open
Government Directive.'' Therefore, consistent with the NRC's
longstanding commitment to openness and transparency, the NRC will
endeavor to comply with the Open Government Directive and meet its
deadlines. The Open Government Directive is available on the Internet
at https://www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/open-government-directive,
and the President's January 21, 2009, Memorandum is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Transparency_and_Open_Government.
The Open Government Directive instructs Federal agencies to
``identify and publish online in an open format at least three high-
value data sets * * * and register those data sets via Data.gov. These
must be data sets not previously available online or in a downloadable
format.'' The Open Government Directive further states that ``[h]igh-
value information is information that can be used to increase agency
accountability and responsiveness; improve public knowledge of the
agency and its operations; further the core mission of the agency;
create economic opportunity; or respond to need and demand as
identified through public consultation.'' The due date for publication
of data sets under the Open Government Directive is January 22, 2010.
The NRC will seek to meet that deadline and is currently investigating
whether it has data sets appropriate for publication that would be of
high value to the public but that are not currently publicly available
online.
The Open Government Directive also instructs agencies to develop
and publish Open Government Plans. An agency's Open Government Plan,
according to the Open Government Directive, ``is the public roadmap
that details how [the] agency will incorporate the principles of the
President's January 21, 2009, Memorandum on Transparency and
[[Page 1420]]
Open Government into the core mission objectives of [the] agency.''
Open Government Plans are to set forth how each agency plans to improve
transparency, public participation and collaboration. Open Government
Plans also are to describe at least one ``flagship initiative'' the
agency is already implementing or will implement to improve
transparency, public participation, or collaboration. The Open
Government Directive has established April 7, 2010, as the due date for
publication of agency Open Government Plans, and the NRC will seek to
meet that deadline. The Open Government Directive, available at the
Internet address listed above, provides further details on the contents
of agency Open Government Plans.
To aid the NRC's efforts to determine what data sets might be
appropriate to publish and what transparency, public participation, and
collaboration improvements it might include in its Open Government
Plan, the NRC is soliciting public comments. Comments regarding
publication of data sets are requested as soon as possible in light of
the January 22, 2010, target date for publication of data sets. Please
note that there is not yet a draft available of the NRC's Open
Government Plan, and the NRC is not yet certain when a draft will be
available. If a draft is developed sufficiently prior to the April 7,
2010, deadline to allow time for meaningful public comment on the
draft, the draft will be posted on the NRC's forthcoming Open
Government Web page, which, consistent with the Open Government
Directive, the NRC plans to establish by February 6, 2010. The NRC's
Open Government Web page will be located at https://www.nrc.gov/open.
The NRC's Open Government Web page will also itself offer opportunities
to provide input to the NRC regarding the Open Government Plan, both
before and after the plan is published. Once the Open Government Plan
is published, updates would be scheduled to occur every 2 years, and
opportunities for public input would be provided in connection with
these updates as well. With respect to the Open Government Plan, the
NRC is providing a 30-day comment period.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 4th day of January, 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
R. William Borchardt,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-228 Filed 1-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
