Draft Regulatory Guide: Preemption Authority, Enhanced Weapons Authority, and Firearms Background Checks, 74070-74071 [2023-23795]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 208 (Monday, October 30, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 74070-74071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23795]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 73

[NRC-2023-0172]


Draft Regulatory Guide: Preemption Authority, Enhanced Weapons 
Authority, and Firearms Background Checks

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft Regulatory Guide (DG), DG-5081, ``Preemption 
Authority, Enhanced Weapons Authority, and Firearms Background 
Checks.'' This DG-5081 is proposed Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 
5.86 of the same name. This DG provides an approach acceptable to the 
NRC staff for use by licensees under NRC regulations, ``Physical 
Protection of Plants and Materials,'' regarding stand-alone preemption 
authority, combined preemption authority and enhanced weapons 
authority, and firearms background checks.

DATES: Submit comments by December 14, 2023. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website:
     Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0172. 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.
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Phil Brochman, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response, telephone: 301-287-3691; email: 
[email protected], or 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. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0172 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0172.
     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]. DG-5081, ``Preemption Authority, 
Enhanced Weapons Authority, and Firearms Background Checks,'' and its 
associated regulatory analysis are available in ADAMS under Accession 
No. ML23198A185 and ML23200A284, respectively.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2023-0172 in your comment submission.
    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 will post all comment submissions at 
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter 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 into ADAMS.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG 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.
    The DG, entitled ``Preemption Authority, Enhanced Weapons 
Authority, and Firearms Background Checks,'' is temporarily identified 
by its task number, DG-5081.
    Proposed Revision 1 to RG 5.86 is being revised on a limited-scope 
basis to provide additional guidance on preemption authority, enhanced 
weapons authority, and firearms background checks. These new 
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

[[Page 74071]]

March 14, 2023 (88 FR 15864). These provisions are found in the NRC's 
regulations under section 73.15 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) and 10 CFR 73.17.
    Proposed Revision 1 to RG 5.86 provides acceptable methods that 
eligible applicants and licensees (collectively referred to as 
licensees in this DG) may use to request and use either stand-alone 
preemption authority or combined preemption authority and enhanced 
weapons authority and to conduct related firearms background checks. 
DG-5081 also includes examples, considerations, and guidance to assist 
licensees and their security personnel in understanding their 
responsibilities in implementing the provisions of 10 CFR 73.15 and 10 
CFR 73.17.
    Following the publication of the final rule and RG 5.86, the NRC 
staff conducted several pre-implementation workshops with licensees. 
The NRC staff also participated in industry-led forums and symposiums 
in May and June 2023. In these meetings industry raised questions about 
RG 5.86 and identified potential inconsistencies and areas where 
additional clarification would be beneficial to licensees to implement 
the Enhanced Weapons rule effectively and efficiently. The NRC staff 
has reviewed the issues raised by industry and agrees that further 
clarification, revision, and supplementation of the guidance contained 
in RG 5.86 will be of value. Accordingly, the NRC staff is proposing to 
conduct limited-scope revisions to RG 5.86 to address these issues, 
including providing notice and opportunity for public comment on the 
proposed revisions.
    To assist with stakeholder review of the limited scope changes to 
DG-5081, staff notes the following changes have been proposed:
    Section B, ``Discussion'' Topics:
     ``Reason for Issuance''--updated to reflect rationale for 
changes to the RG.
     ``Standalone Preemption Authority and Combined Preemption 
Authority and Enhanced Weapons''--updated to clarify the three 
potential pathways by which a licensee could obtain combined preemption 
authority and enhanced weapons authority.
     ``Firearms Background Check, paragraph 1''--clarified 
background check requirements for licensee security personnel who are 
not assigned duties requiring access to covered weapons.
     ``Firearms Background Check, paragraphs 10-12''--clarified 
requirements for licensee security personnel's access to covered 
weapons during and after the 10 CFR 73.15 approval process.
    Section C, ``Staff Regulatory Guidance'':
     Position 5, ``Completion of Training and Qualification 
before Use of Enhanced Weapons,'' paragraph 1--modified language in 
first sentence to say ``using.''
     Position 5, paragraph 2--clarified training requirements 
for staff with access to enhanced weapons who are not assigned duties 
that would require them to use enhanced weapons.
     Position 6.1, ``General Requirements for Fingerprints and 
Firearms Background Checks,'' example 19--clarified the conditions that 
must be met in order to exempt licensees from the requirement to 
perform a new firearms background check for security personnel 
transferring from one licensed facility to another licensed facility.
    The staff is also issuing for public comment a regulatory analysis 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML23200A284). The staff developed a regulatory 
analysis to assess the value of issuing or revising an RG, as well as 
alternative courses of action.
    As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), 
this document is being published in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of 
the Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 1 
CFR chapter I.

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    Issuance of DG-5081 as a final RG would not constitute backfitting 
as that term is defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' 10 CFR 
70.76, ``Backfitting,'' or 10 CFR 72.62, ``Backfitting,'' and as 
described in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of 
Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information 
Requests,'' to affect the issue finality of an approval issued under 10 
CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear 
Power Plants;'' or constitutes forward fitting as that term is defined 
and described in MD 8.4. The staff also does not intend to use the 
guidance to support NRC staff actions in a manner that constitutes 
forward fitting as that term is defined and described in MD 8.4. If a 
licensee believes that the NRC is using this proposed revision to RG 
5.86 in a manner inconsistent with the discussion in the Implementation 
section of DG-5081, then the licensee may file a backfitting or forward 
fitting appeal with the NRC in accordance with the process in MD 8.4.

IV. 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: October 24, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen M. Wyman,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division 
of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2023-23795 Filed 10-27-23; 8:45 am]
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