Regulatory Guide: Monitoring of Combustible Gases and Vapors in Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants, 79369-79370 [2024-22246]

Download as PDF 79369 Rules and Regulations Federal Register Vol. 89, No. 189 Monday, September 30, 2024 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510. The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Part 70 [NRC–2024–0159] Regulatory Guide: Monitoring of Combustible Gases and Vapors in Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Final guide; issuance. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 3.7, ‘‘Monitoring of Combustible Gases and Vapors in Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants,’’ in which there are minor corrections with no substantive changes in the NRC staff’s regulatory positions. RG 3.7 provides guidance with regard to protecting against the possibility of the formation of flammable mixtures with combustible gases and vapors. This guidance is needed to protect against the possibility of the formation of flammable mixtures with these gases and vapors when combustible gases and solvents are used within the confinement barriers of a plutonium processing and fuel fabrication plant. DATES: Revision 1 to RG 3.7 is available on September 30, 2024. ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2024–0159 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–2024–0159. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301–415–0624; email: Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individuals listed ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1 SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:22 Sep 27, 2024 Jkt 262001 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 PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this document. Revision 1 to RG 3.7 may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML24162A095. • 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 PDR.Resource@nrc.gov 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. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not required to reproduce them. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Cortes, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301–415–7331; email: Nicole.Cortes@nrc.gov; and Harriet Karagiannis, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 301– 415–3346, email: Harriet.Karagiannis@ nrc.gov. Both are staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Discussion The NRC is issuing an administrative revision to an existing guide in the NRC’s ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. Regulatory guides are developed to describe and make available to the public information and methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the agency’s regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. The NRC typically seeks public comment on a draft version of an RG by PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 announcing its availability for comment in the Federal Register. However, as explained in NRC’s Management Directive (MD) 6.6 ‘‘Regulatory Guides,’’ (ADAMS Accession No. ML22010A233) the NRC may directly issue a final RG without a draft version or public comment period if the changes to the RG are non-substantive. Thus, the NRC is issuing Revision 1 of RG 3.7 directly as a final RG because there are no changes in the staff positions between Revision 0 and Revision 1. Revision 1 of RG 3.7 incorporates minor corrections, and other editorial changes that are administrative in nature. The changes are intended to improve clarity and do not alter the NRC staff’s regulatory guidance for the ‘‘Monitoring of Combustible Gases and Vapors in Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants,’’ licensees. II. Additional Information As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), this document is being published in the ‘‘Rules’’ section of the Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under chapter I of title 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). III. Congressional Review Act This RG is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801–808). IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality The NRC staff may use this RG as a reference in its regulatory processes, such as licensing, inspection, or enforcement. However, the NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance in this RG to support NRC staff actions in a manner that would constitute backfitting as that term is defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ‘‘Backfitting,’’ and as described in NRC MD 8.4, ‘‘Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and Information Requests’’ (ADAMS Accession No. ML18093B087), nor does the NRC staff intend to use the guidance to affect the issue finality of an approval under 10 CFR part 52. 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 RG in a manner E:\FR\FM\30SER1.SGM 30SER1 79370 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 189 / Monday, September 30, 2024 / Rules and Regulations inconsistent with the discussion in the Implementation section of RG 3.7, then the licensee may file a backfitting or forward fitting appeal with the NRC in accordance with the process in MD 8.4. V. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides [EERE–2020–BT–STD–0039] The docket for this rulemaking, which includes Federal Register notices, public meeting attendee lists and transcripts, comments, and other supporting documents/materials, is available for review at www.regulations.gov. All documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. However, not all documents listed in the index may be publicly available, such as information that is exempt from public disclosure. The docket web page can be found at www.regulations.gov/docket/EERE2020-BT-STD-0039. The docket web page contains instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, in the docket. For further information on how to submit a comment or review other public comments and the docket, contact the Appliance and Equipment Standards Program staff at (202) 287– 1445 or by email: ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ ee.doe.gov. RIN 1904–AF62 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: ADDRESSES: 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 to address new issues. Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC’s public website at https:// www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/reg-guides/contactus.html. Suggestions will be considered in future updates and enhancements to the ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. Dated: September 24, 2024. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Meraj Rahimi, Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 2024–22246 Filed 9–27–24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 10 CFR Part 430 Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Miscellaneous Refrigeration Products Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy. ACTION: Direct final rule; confirmation of effective and compliance dates; technical correction. AGENCY: The U.S. Department of Energy (‘‘DOE’’) published a direct final rule to establish new energy conservation standards for miscellaneous refrigeration products in the Federal Register on May 7, 2024. DOE has determined that the comments received in response to the direct final rule are not adverse and, thus, do not provide a reasonable basis for withdrawing the direct final rule. Therefore, DOE provides this document confirming the effective and compliance dates of those standards. This document also corrects an error in the amended regulatory text as it appeared in the direct final rule published on May 7, 2024. SUMMARY: ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1 The effective date of September 4, 2024, for the direct final rule published May 7, 2024 (89 FR 38762) is confirmed. Compliance with the standards established in the direct final rule will be required on January 31, 2029. The technical correction in this document is effective September 30, 2024. DATES: VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:22 Sep 27, 2024 Jkt 262001 Mr. Lucas Adin, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Office, EE–5B, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585–0121. Telephone: (202) 287– 5904. Email: ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ ee.doe.gov. Ms. Kristin Koernig, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, GC–33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585–0121. Telephone: (202) 586–4789. Email: kristin.koernig@hq.doe.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Table of Contents I. Authority II. Miscellaneous Refrigeration Products Direct Final Rule A. Background III. Comments on the Direct Final Rule A. General Comments B. Typographical Error Correction IV. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition V. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 VI. Conclusion I. Authority The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, Public Law 94–163, as amended PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 (‘‘EPCA’’),1 authorizes DOE to issue a direct final rule establishing an energy conservation standard for a product on receipt of a statement submitted jointly by interested persons that are fairly representative of relevant points of view (including representatives of manufacturers of covered products, States, and efficiency advocates), as determined by the Secretary of Energy (‘‘Secretary’’), that contains recommendations with respect to an energy or water conservation standard that are in accordance with the provisions of 42 U.S.C. 6295(o) or 42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(B), as applicable. (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)) The direct final rule must be published simultaneously with a notice of proposed rulemaking (‘‘NOPR’’) that proposes an energy or water conservation standard that is identical to the standard established in the direct final rule, and DOE must provide a public comment period of at least 110 days on this proposal. (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)(A)–(B)) Not later than 120 days after issuance of the direct final rule, DOE shall withdraw the direct final rule if: (1) DOE receives one or more adverse public comments relating to the direct final rule or any alternative joint recommendation; and (2) based on the rulemaking record relating to the direct final rule, DOE determines that such adverse public comments or alternative joint recommendation may provide a reasonable basis for withdrawing the direct final rule. (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)(C)) If DOE makes such a determination, DOE must proceed with the NOPR published simultaneously with the direct final rule and publish in the Federal Register the reasons why the direct final rule was withdrawn. (Id.) After review of the comments received in response to the direct final rule, DOE has determined that it did not receive any adverse comments providing a basis for withdrawal described above for the direct final rule that is the subject of this document. As such, DOE did not withdraw this direct final rule and allowed it to become effective. Although not required under EPCA, where DOE does not withdraw a direct final rule, DOE customarily publishes a summary of the comments received during the 110-day comment period and its responses to those comments. This document contains such a summary, as well as DOE’s responses to the comments. 1 All references to EPCA in this document refer to the statute as amended through the Energy Act of 2020, Public Law 116–260 (Dec. 27, 2020), which reflect the last statutory amendments that impact parts A and A–1 of EPCA. E:\FR\FM\30SER1.SGM 30SER1

Agencies

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 189 (Monday, September 30, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 79369-79370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22246]



========================================================================
Rules and Regulations
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents 
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed 
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published 
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents. 

========================================================================


Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 189 / Monday, September 30, 2024 / 
Rules and Regulations

[[Page 79369]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 70

[NRC-2024-0159]


Regulatory Guide: Monitoring of Combustible Gases and Vapors in 
Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final guide; issuance.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 3.7, ``Monitoring of Combustible 
Gases and Vapors in Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants,'' 
in which there are minor corrections with no substantive changes in the 
NRC staff's regulatory positions. RG 3.7 provides guidance with regard 
to protecting against the possibility of the formation of flammable 
mixtures with combustible gases and vapors. This guidance is needed to 
protect against the possibility of the formation of flammable mixtures 
with these gases and vapors when combustible gases and solvents are 
used within the confinement barriers of a plutonium processing and fuel 
fabrication plant.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 3.7 is available on September 30, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0159 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-2024-0159. 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.
     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]. The ADAMS accession number for 
each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the 
first time that it is mentioned in this document. Revision 1 to RG 3.7 
may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML24162A095.
     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.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Cortes, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-7331; email: 
[email protected]; and Harriet Karagiannis, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-3346, email: 
[email protected]. Both are staff at the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing an administrative revision to an existing guide 
in the NRC's ``Regulatory Guide'' series. Regulatory guides are 
developed to describe and make available to the public information and 
methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific 
parts of the agency's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in 
evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and data that the 
staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The NRC typically seeks public comment on a draft version of an RG 
by announcing its availability for comment in the Federal Register. 
However, as explained in NRC's Management Directive (MD) 6.6 
``Regulatory Guides,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML22010A233) the NRC may 
directly issue a final RG without a draft version or public comment 
period if the changes to the RG are non-substantive.
    Thus, the NRC is issuing Revision 1 of RG 3.7 directly as a final 
RG because there are no changes in the staff positions between Revision 
0 and Revision 1. Revision 1 of RG 3.7 incorporates minor corrections, 
and other editorial changes that are administrative in nature. The 
changes are intended to improve clarity and do not alter the NRC 
staff's regulatory guidance for the ``Monitoring of Combustible Gases 
and Vapors in Plutonium Processing and Fuel Fabrication Plants,'' 
licensees.

II. Additional Information

    As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), 
this document is being published in the ``Rules'' section of the 
Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under chapter 
I of title 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808).

IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality

    The NRC staff may use this RG as a reference in its regulatory 
processes, such as licensing, inspection, or enforcement. However, the 
NRC staff does not intend to use the guidance in this RG to support NRC 
staff actions in a manner that would constitute backfitting as that 
term is defined in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in 
NRC MD 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue 
Finality, and Information Requests'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML18093B087), 
nor does the NRC staff intend to use the guidance to affect the issue 
finality of an approval under 10 CFR part 52. 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 RG in a 
manner

[[Page 79370]]

inconsistent with the discussion in the Implementation section of RG 
3.7, then the licensee may file a backfitting or forward fitting appeal 
with the NRC in accordance with the process in MD 8.4.

V. 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 
to address new issues. 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: September 24, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2024-22246 Filed 9-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

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