[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 134 (Friday, July 12, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41835-41836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-16732]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 134 / Friday, July 12, 2013 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 41835]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 140
[NRC-2013-0072]
RIN 3150-AJ25
Inflation Adjustments to the Price-Anderson Act Financial
Protection Regulations
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA), requires the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to adjust the maximum total
and annual standard deferred premiums specified in the Price-Anderson
Act for inflation at least once during each 5-year period following
August 20, 2003. The NRC is amending its regulations to satisfy this
requirement.
DATES: This rule is effective on September 10, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0072 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information for this final rule. You may
access information related to this final rule, which the NRC possesses
and is publicly available, using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0072. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this final rule.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://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 [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number
for each document referenced in this document (if that document is
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced.
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: Ryan K. Lighty, Office of the General
Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
telephone: 301-415-1938, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Discussion of Final Rule
III. Rulemaking Procedure
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standard
V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
VII. Regulatory Analysis
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
IX. Plain Writing
X. Backfit Analysis and Issue Finality
XI. Congressional Review Act
I. Background
Section 604 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58,
amended section 170 of the AEA (Price-Anderson Act) to require the NRC
to adjust the maximum total and annual standard deferred premiums not
less than once during each 5-year period following August 20, 2003, in
accordance with the aggregate percentage change in the Consumer Price
Index. The NRC made the initial changes to the Price-Anderson Act
amounts on October 27, 2005 (70 FR 61885), and the first periodic
inflation adjustments on September 29, 2008 (73 FR 56451). This final
rule makes the second required periodic inflation adjustments to the
maximum total and annual standard deferred premiums.
II. Discussion of the Final Rule
Section 170t., ``Inflation Adjustment,'' of the AEA requires the
NRC to ``adjust the amount of the maximum total and annual standard
deferred premium under subsection b.(1) not less than once during each
5-year period following August 20, 2003 in accordance with the
aggregate percentage change in the Consumer Price Index.'' The NRC's
implementing regulations for the Price-Anderson Act are found in part
140 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
Accordingly, the Commission is amending 10 CFR 140.11, ``Amounts of
financial protection for certain reactors,'' to adjust for the increase
in inflation since the last adjustments on September 29, 2008.
The September 2008 inflation adjustments raised the maximum total
deferred premium in 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) to $111,900,000 and the maximum
annual deferred premium to $17,500,000. The Consumer Price Index used
in calculating the September 2008 inflation adjustments was 214.823
(April 2008). The inflation adjustments promulgated in this rulemaking
are based on a Consumer Price Index of 232.773 (March 2013). This
represents an increase of approximately 8.36 percent. When this
increase is applied to the maximum total and annual standard deferred
premiums and rounded to the nearest thousand, the new maximum total
deferred premium is $121,255,000, and the maximum annual deferred
premium is $18,963,000. Section 140.11(a)(4) is being changed
accordingly.
III. Rulemaking Procedure
Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b)), an agency
may waive the normal notice and comment requirements if it finds, for
good cause, that they are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to
the public interest. This rule incorporates mandatory statutory
requirements. Accordingly, good cause exists under 5 U.S.C. section
553(d)(3) to publish this final rule without soliciting public comment
because the Commission has no discretion in these matters and public
comment would serve no useful purpose. The NRC is required only to
perform ministerial computations. The revisions are being published as
a final rule that will become effective 60 days from the date of
publication in the Federal Register.
[[Page 41836]]
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995,
Public Law 104-113, requires that Federal agencies use technical
standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus
standards bodies unless using such a standard is inconsistent with
applicable law or is otherwise impractical. In this rule, the NRC is
revising its regulations to reflect statutory mandates contained in the
Energy Policy Act of 2005. This action does not constitute the
establishment of a standard that contains generally applicable
requirements.
V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion
The Commission has determined that this final rule is the type of
action described as a categorical exclusion in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1) and
(2). Therefore, neither an environmental impact statement nor an
environmental assessment has been prepared for this final rule.
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
This final rule does not contain information collection
requirements and, therefore, is not subject to the requirements of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a request for information or an information collection
requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
VII. Regulatory Analysis
A regulatory analysis has not been prepared for this regulation.
This rule amends NRC regulations to be consistent with provisions of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. This rule does not involve
an exercise of Commission discretion and, therefore, does not
necessitate preparation of a regulatory analysis.
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C.
605(b), the Commission certifies that this final rule would not have a
significant economic impact upon a substantial number of small
entities.
IX. Plain Writing
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized
manner. The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the
Plain Writing Act as well as the Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain
Language in Government Writing,'' published June 10, 1998 (63 FR
31883).
X. Backfit Analysis and Issue Finality
The NRC has determined that the backfit provisions at 10 CFR
50.109, 70.76, 72.62, and 76.76 do not apply to this final rule because
the amendments of this final rule are mandated by the Energy Policy Act
of 2005.
XI. Congressional Review Act
The Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, has determined that this action is a ``major rule''
pursuant to the definitions in the Congressional Review Act. However,
this rule does not involve an exercise of Commission discretion. The
NRC is required by statute to perform ministerial computations and to
implement the periodic inflation adjustments, reflecting changes in the
Consumer Price Index, as mandated by the AEA.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 140
Criminal penalties, Extraordinary nuclear occurrence, Insurance,
Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants
and reactors, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization
Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is adopting
the following amendment to 10 CFR part 140:
PART 140--FINANCIAL PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS AND INDEMNITY
AGREEMENTS
0
1. The authority citation for part 140 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Atomic Energy Act secs. 161, 170, 223, 234 (42
U.S.C. 2201, 2210, 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act secs. 201,
as amended, 202 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842); Government Paperwork
Elimination Act sec. 1704 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note); Energy Policy Act
of 2005, Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat. 594 (2005).
0
2. In Sec. 140.11, paragraph (a)(4) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 140.11 Amounts of financial protection for certain reactors.
(a) * * *
(4) In an amount equal to the sum of $375,000,000 and the amount
available as secondary financial protection (in the form of private
liability insurance available under an industry retrospective rating
plan providing for deferred premium charges equal to the pro rata share
of the aggregate public liability claims and costs, excluding costs
payment of which is not authorized by section 170o.(1)(D) of the Act,
in excess of that covered by primary financial protection) for each
nuclear reactor which is licensed to operate and which is designed for
the production of electrical energy and has a rated capacity of 100,000
electrical kilowatts or more: Provided, however, that under such a plan
for deferred premium charges for each nuclear reactor which is licensed
to operate, no more than $121,255,000 with respect to any nuclear
incident (plus any surcharge assessed under subsection 170o.(1)(E) of
the Act) and no more than $18,963,000 per incident within one calendar
year shall be charged. Except that, where a person is authorized to
operate a combination of 2 or more nuclear reactors located at a single
site, each of which has a rated capacity of 100,000 or more electrical
kilowatts but not more than 300,000 electrical kilowatts with a
combined rated capacity of not more than 1,300,000 electrical
kilowatts, each such combination of reactors shall be considered to be
a single nuclear reactor for the sole purpose of assessing the
applicable financial protection required under this section.
* * * * *
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of July, 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
R.W. Borchardt,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2013-16732 Filed 7-11-13; 8:45 am]
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