Reviewing and Assessing the Financial Condition of Operating Power Reactor Licensees, Including Requests for Additional Information, 11691-11692 [2015-04479]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 42 / Wednesday, March 4, 2015 / Notices requires that, before ruling on the motion, the Judges publish a notice in the Federal Register seeking responses to the motion for partial distribution to ascertain whether any claimant entitled to receive the subject royalties has a reasonable objection to the requested distribution. Accordingly, this Notice seeks comments from interested claimants on whether any reasonable objection exists that would preclude the distribution of 60% of the 2013 cable royalty funds to the Phase I Claimants. Parties making objection to the partial distribution must advise the Judges of the existence and extent of all objections by the end of the comment period. The Judges will not consider any objections with respect to the partial distribution motion that come to their attention after the close of the comment period. The Judges have caused the Motion of the Phase I Claimants for Partial Distribution to be posted on the Copyright Royalty Board Web site at https://www.loc.gov/crb. Dated: February 26, 2015. Suzanne M. Barnett, Chief U.S. Copyright Royalty Judge. [FR Doc. 2015–04509 Filed 3–3–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 1410–72–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC–2015–0045] Reviewing and Assessing the Financial Condition of Operating Power Reactor Licensees, Including Requests for Additional Information Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Interim Staff Guidance (ISG), OL/FR–ISG–2014– 01, ‘‘Reviewing and Assessing the Financial Condition of Operating Power Reactor Licensees, Including Requests for Additional Information,’’ dated February 17, 2015. The ISG provides clarifying guidance to the NRC staff when reviewing licensee financial information, and when requesting additional information regarding licensee financial conditions, as authorized under the NRC’s regulations. Such review and inquiry are performed by NRC staff for currently operating power reactor licensees, absent a licensing action such as a license transfer. mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: DATES: The ISG is available March 4, 2015. VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:11 Mar 03, 2015 Jkt 235001 Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2015–0045 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 Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2015–0045. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 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 ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 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, 301–415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. The ISG is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14218A625. • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Turtil, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 0001; telephone: 301–415–2308; email: Richard.Turtil@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: ADDRESSES: I. Discussion The purpose of this ISG is to clarify the process by which the NRC will review financial conditions of, and financial concerns about, currently operating power reactor licensees. This guidance is intended to provide consistency and transparency with regard to the NRC’s financial review process for licensees (in the absence of a license transfer or other similar licensing action). It addresses the NRC’s basis for financial Requests for Additional Information from licensees during operations, the NRC staff’s evaluation of Requests for Additional Information responses, and the closure PO 00000 Frm 00063 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 11691 of such inquiries. This ISG is intended to enhance the NRC’s financial review guidance presented in Section III(1)(d)— Post-OL Non-transfer Reviews, of NUREG–1577, Revision 1, ‘‘Standard Review Plan on Power Reactor Licensee Financial Qualifications and Decommissioning Funding Assurance,’’ dated December 2001, (ADAMS Accession No. ML013330264). The guidance in this ISG will be included in the next update to NUREG–1577. II. Backfitting and Issue Finality The NRC is issuing interim guidance for the NRC staff regarding its review of operating power reactor licensees’ financial information. Issuance of the ISG does not constitute backfitting as defined in § 50.109 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) (the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The NRC’s position is based upon the following considerations. 1. The ISG positions do not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the ISG is internal guidance to NRC staff. The ISG provides interim guidance to the NRC staff on how to review licensees’ financial information and request additional financial information. Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for which applicants or licensees are protected under 10 CFR 50.109 or issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. 2. The NRC has no intention to impose the ISG on existing nuclear power plant licenses either now or in the future (absent a voluntary request for change from the licensee). The NRC staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions described in the ISG to existing (already issued) licenses (e.g., operating licenses and combined licenses). Hence, the ISG— even if considered guidance which is within the purview of the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52—need not be evaluated as if it were a backfit or as being inconsistent with issue finality provisions. Even if, in the future, the NRC staff seeks to impose a position in the ISG on holders of already issued licenses, such imposition would not provide any basis for the Backfit Rule or issue finality provisions to apply. The ISG concerns, in part, the NRC’s request for operating power reactor licensees’ financial information. Information collection and reporting requirements such as these are not subject to the Backfit Rule and issue finality provisions. E:\FR\FM\04MRN1.SGM 04MRN1 11692 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 42 / Wednesday, March 4, 2015 / Notices NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION section of this document. • Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: OWFN–12–H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. For additional direction on accessing information and submitting comments, see ‘‘Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Diaz, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–287–9068, email: Marilyn.Diaz@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: www.regulations.gov as well as entering 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 submissions into ADAMS. [NRC–2015–0044] I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments A fuel cycle facility licensee that is regulated under part 70 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), and that is subject to subpart H, ‘‘Additional Requirements for Certain Licensees Authorized to Possess a Critical Mass of Special Nuclear Material,’’ is required to conduct an Integrated safety analysis (ISA) and submit an ISA summary that supports the license application. As relevant to the ISG, the 10 CFR 70.65(b)(7) provision requires that for all credible acute chemical exposure events set forth in 10 CFR 70.61(b)(4) and (c)(4), the ISA summary describe ‘‘the proposed quantitative standards used to assess the consequences to an individual from acute chemical exposure to licensed material or chemicals produced from licensed materials.’’ The ISG will assist the NRC in determining whether ISA summaries and the underlying ISAs conducted by applicants or licensees adequately consider all credible acute chemical exposure events and exposure pathways. The ISG identifies several sources of chemical hazards information on which proposed quantitative standards may be based. As stated in the ISG, these sources of information include the Emergency Response Planning Guidelines (ERPGs), the Acute Exposure Guidelines Levels (AEGLs), Temporary Emergency Exposure Levels (TEELs), and the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The ERPGs, AEGLs, TEELs and GHS hazard statements contain information relevant to inhalation exposure pathways. As detailed in the ISG, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Skin Notations, and the GHS hazards statements, contain useful data on which an applicant may base its III. Congressional Review Act INFORMATION CONTACT This action is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801–808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of February 2015. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Scott A. Morris, Director, Division of Inspection and Regional Support, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 2015–04479 Filed 3–3–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P Guidance for Evaluation of Acute Chemical Exposures and Proposed Quantitative Standards Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Draft interim staff guidance; request for comment. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting public comment on its draft Interim Staff Guidance (ISG), ‘‘Guidance for Evaluation of Acute Chemical Exposures and Proposed Quantitative Standards.’’ The ISG supplements existing guidance in NUREG–1520, ‘‘Standard Review Plan for the Review of a License Application for a Fuel Cycle Facility,’’ by providing additional guidance for the NRC to follow when evaluating descriptions of proposed quantitative standards. The ISG identifies sources of information on which proposed quantitative standards may be based. DATES: Submit comments by May 18, 2015. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this date. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods (unless this document describes a different method for submitting comments on a specific subject): • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2015–0044. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:11 Mar 03, 2015 Jkt 235001 A. Obtaining Information Please refer to Docket ID NRC–NRC– 2015–0044 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publiclyavailable information related to this action by any of the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2015–0044. • 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 ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 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, 301–415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The draft ISG is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML15051A029. • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. B. Submitting Comments Please include Docket ID NRC–2015– 0044 in the subject line of your comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission available to the public in this docket. 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 posts all comment submissions at https:// PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 II. Background E:\FR\FM\04MRN1.SGM 04MRN1

Agencies

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11691-11692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-04479]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0045]


Reviewing and Assessing the Financial Condition of Operating 
Power Reactor Licensees, Including Requests for Additional Information

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Interim Staff Guidance (ISG), OL/FR-ISG-2014-01, ``Reviewing and 
Assessing the Financial Condition of Operating Power Reactor Licensees, 
Including Requests for Additional Information,'' dated February 17, 
2015. The ISG provides clarifying guidance to the NRC staff when 
reviewing licensee financial information, and when requesting 
additional information regarding licensee financial conditions, as 
authorized under the NRC's regulations. Such review and inquiry are 
performed by NRC staff for currently operating power reactor licensees, 
absent a licensing action such as a license transfer.

DATES: The ISG is available March 4, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0045 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 Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0045. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 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 ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then 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, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this notice (if 
that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a 
document is referenced. The ISG is available in ADAMS under Accession 
No. ML14218A625.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Turtil, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2308; email: Richard.Turtil@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The purpose of this ISG is to clarify the process by which the NRC 
will review financial conditions of, and financial concerns about, 
currently operating power reactor licensees. This guidance is intended 
to provide consistency and transparency with regard to the NRC's 
financial review process for licensees (in the absence of a license 
transfer or other similar licensing action). It addresses the NRC's 
basis for financial Requests for Additional Information from licensees 
during operations, the NRC staff's evaluation of Requests for 
Additional Information responses, and the closure of such inquiries. 
This ISG is intended to enhance the NRC's financial review guidance 
presented in Section III(1)(d)--Post-OL Non-transfer Reviews, of NUREG-
1577, Revision 1, ``Standard Review Plan on Power Reactor Licensee 
Financial Qualifications and Decommissioning Funding Assurance,'' dated 
December 2001, (ADAMS Accession No. ML013330264). The guidance in this 
ISG will be included in the next update to NUREG-1577.

II. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The NRC is issuing interim guidance for the NRC staff regarding its 
review of operating power reactor licensees' financial information. 
Issuance of the ISG does not constitute backfitting as defined in Sec.  
50.109 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) (the 
Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue finality 
provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The NRC's position is based upon the 
following considerations.
    1. The ISG positions do not constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the 
ISG is internal guidance to NRC staff.
    The ISG provides interim guidance to the NRC staff on how to review 
licensees' financial information and request additional financial 
information. Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for 
which applicants or licensees are protected under 10 CFR 50.109 or 
issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52.
    2. The NRC has no intention to impose the ISG on existing nuclear 
power plant licenses either now or in the future (absent a voluntary 
request for change from the licensee).
    The NRC staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions 
described in the ISG to existing (already issued) licenses (e.g., 
operating licenses and combined licenses). Hence, the ISG--even if 
considered guidance which is within the purview of the issue finality 
provisions in 10 CFR part 52--need not be evaluated as if it were a 
backfit or as being inconsistent with issue finality provisions.
    Even if, in the future, the NRC staff seeks to impose a position in 
the ISG on holders of already issued licenses, such imposition would 
not provide any basis for the Backfit Rule or issue finality provisions 
to apply. The ISG concerns, in part, the NRC's request for operating 
power reactor licensees' financial information. Information collection 
and reporting requirements such as these are not subject to the Backfit 
Rule and issue finality provisions.

[[Page 11692]]

III. Congressional Review Act

    This action is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of February 2015.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott A. Morris,
Director, Division of Inspection and Regional Support, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-04479 Filed 3-3-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

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