[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 194 (Thursday, October 7, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54654-54692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25976]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Revision of Management Directive for Review of 10 CFR 2.206
Petitions; Request for Comments
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.11 describes the NRC review
process for 10 CFR 2.206 petitions. The most recent phase of a
continuing effort to improve the review process has resulted in a
revision to MD 8.11, issued on July 1, 1999.
The process improvements were identified and developed on the basis
of feedback from a limited stakeholder survey that was conducted in
January 1999, as well as from NRC staff experience with the existing
process. Many stakeholder comments and suggestions were addressed in
the MD 8.11 revision. Other issues, such as the need for an appeal
process, are under consideration by the staff.
The significant changes included in the revised MD 8.11 are as
follows:
1. The informal public hearing process has been replaced with a
simpler and more interactive staff-petitioner-licensee meeting, similar
in format to staff-license meetings.
2. Petitioners are offered an opportunity to make a presentation to
the petition review board (PRB) for the purposes of explaining the
requested actions and their bases and answering staff questions.
3. Periodic PRB meetings will be held, in addition to the initial
meeting, to provide additional management oversight, if appropriate.
4. The revised process requires significantly improved
communications between the petition manager and the petitioner early on
and throughout the process. For example, in the initial contact, the
petition manager explains the process and identifies the cognizant
staff groups that will be involved in considering the petition. During
the periodic contacts, the petition manager is prepared to discuss the
status and schedule of the review and to respond to the petitioner's
questions. Prior to issuance of the acknowledgment letter and
director's decision, the petition manager informs the petitioner of the
imminent issuance and the substance of these documents.
5. Petitioners are added to the service lists on affected dockets.
6. Acknowledgment letters and director's decisions transmittal
letters stress the actions the NRC staff has taken to address the
petitioner's concerns, even when the petition is denied.
7. Up-to-date staff timeliness performance metrics are included in
the 2.206 petition monthly staff reports prepared for the Executive
Director for Operations.
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Since the revised MD 8.11 was issued on July 1, 1999, the NRC staff
has made changes in the implementation of items 1 and 2 above. As
described in Part I of MD 8.11, instead of limiting the presentation to
one representative for about a half-hour, the staff will allow one or
more petitioner representatives a reasonable amount of time for the
presentation. further, as described in Part III of the MD, instead of
limiting the petitioner and licensee to one representative and about a
half-hour each to address the petition's issues during staff-
petitioner-licensee meetings, one or more petitioner and licensee
representatives will be allowed a reasonable amount of time to address
the issues. In practice, in previous staff-petitioner-licensee
meetings, licensees and petitioners have not been limited with respect
to the number of representatives or amount of time to address the
issues. These clarifications will be reflected in the next revision to
MD 8.11
The NRC staff is requesting comments and suggestions on MD 8.11,
directed at further improving the review process. Management Directives
are internal NRC procedures which are not ordinarily published for
public comment. However, MD 8.11 deals with a process directly
involving the public, and the NRC has determined that improvements to
the process will benefit from public participation. All comments
received will be considered. A public meeting will be scheduled at an
appropriate time during the comment period to discuss the comments
received. The result of this effort will be reflected in future
revisions of the 2.206 review process.
DATES: The comment period ends January 31, 2000. Comments received
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the
staff is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or
before this date.
ADDRESSES: Mail written comments to Chief, Rules and Directives Branch,
Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments may
also be sent by completing the online comment form for MD 8.11 at
http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ND/index.html.
Deliver comments to Room 6D59, Two White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.
Federal workdays. Copies of MD 8.11, the complete text of which follows
this notice, are available for a fee at the NRC's Public Document Room,
the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC. This notice
and MD 8.11 are electronically available on the Internet at http://
www.nrc.gov/NRC/MD/index.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Herbert N. Berkow, Mail Stop O-8H12,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555; telephone (301) 415-1485 and e-mail
at [email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of September 1999.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Herbert N. Berkow,
Director, Project Directorate II, Division of Licensing Project
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
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[FR Doc. 99-25976 Filed 10-6-99; 8:45 am]
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