Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / Notices 14439 

documents over the Internet, or in some 

cases to mail copies on electronic 

storage media. Participants may not 

submit paper copies of their filings 

unless they seek an exemption in 

accordance with the procedures 

described below. 

To comply with the procedural 

requirements of E-Filing, at least ten 

(10) days prior to the filing deadline, the 

participant should contact the Office of 

the Secretary by e-mail at 

hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by telephone 

at 301–415–1677, to request (1) a digital 

ID certificate, which allows the 

participant (or its counsel or 

representative) to digitally sign 

documents and access the E-Submittal 

server for any proceeding in which it is 

participating; and (2) advise the 

Secretary that the participant will be 

submitting a request or petition for 

hearing (even in instances in which the 

participant, or its counsel or 

representative, already holds an NRCissued digital ID certificate). Based upon 

this information, the Secretary will 

establish an electronic docket for the 

hearing in this proceeding if the 

Secretary has not already established an 

electronic docket. 

Information about applying for a 

digital ID certificate is available on 

NRC’s public Web site at http:// 

www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/ 

apply-certificates.html. System 

requirements for accessing the ESubmittal server are detailed in NRC’s 

‘‘Guidance for Electronic Submission,’’ 

which is available on the agency’s 

public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/ 

site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants 

may attempt to use other software not 

listed on the Web site, but should note 

that the NRC’s E-Filing system does not 

support unlisted software, and the NRC 

Meta System Help Desk will not be able 

to offer assistance in using unlisted 

software. 

If a participant is electronically 

submitting a document to the NRC in 

accordance with the E-Filing rule, the 

participant must file the document 

using the NRC’s online, Web-based 

submission form. In order to serve 

documents through the NRC’s E-Filing 

system, users will be required to install 

a Web browser plug-in from the NRC 

Web site. Further information on the 

Web-based submission form, including 

the installation of the Web browser 

plug-in, is available on the NRC’s public 

Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/sitehelp/e-submittals.html. 

Once a participant has obtained a 

digital ID certificate and a docket has 

been created, the participant can then 

submit a request for hearing or petition 

for leave to intervene. Submissions 

should be in Portable Document Format 

(PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance 

available on the NRC public Web site at 

http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html. A filing is considered 

complete at the time the documents are 

submitted through the NRC’s E-Filing 

system. To be timely, an electronic 

filing must be submitted to the E-Filing 

system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern 

Time on the due date. Upon receipt of 

a transmission, the E-Filing system 

time-stamps the document and sends 

the submitter an e-mail notice 

confirming receipt of the document. The 

E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that provides access to the 

document to the NRC Office of the 

General Counsel and any others who 

have advised the Office of the Secretary 

that they wish to participate in the 

proceeding, so that the filer need not 

serve the documents on those 

participants separately. Therefore, 

applicants and other participants (or 

their counsel or representative) must 

apply for and receive a digital ID 

certificate before a hearing request/ 

petition to intervene is filed so that they 

can obtain access to the document via 

the E-Filing system. 

A person filing electronically using 

the agency’s adjudicatory E-Filing 

system may seek assistance by 

contacting the NRC Meta System Help 

Desk through the ‘‘Contact Us’’ link 

located on the NRC Web site at http:// 

www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html, by e-mail at 

MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a tollfree call at 866–672–7640. The NRC 

Meta System Help Desk is available 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday, 

excluding government holidays. 

Participants who believe that they 

have a good cause for not submitting 

documents electronically must file a 

motion, in accordance with 10 CFR 

2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 

requesting authorization to continue to 

submit documents in paper format. 

Such filings must be submitted by: (1) 

First class mail addressed to the Office 

of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention: 

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or 

(2) courier, express mail, or expedited 

delivery service to the Office of the 

Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White 

Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: 

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. 

Participants filing a document in this 

manner are responsible for serving the 

document on all other participants. 

Filing is considered complete by firstclass mail as of the time of deposit in 

the mail, or by courier, express mail, or 

expedited delivery service upon 

depositing the document with the 

provider of the service. A presiding 

officer, having granted an exemption 

request from using E-Filing, may require 

a participant or party to use E-Filing if 

the presiding officer subsequently 

determines that the reason for granting 

the exemption from use of E-Filing no 

longer exists. 

Documents submitted in adjudicatory 

proceedings will appear in NRC’s 

electronic hearing docket which is 

available to the public at http:// 

ehd1.nrc.gov/EHD/, unless excluded 

pursuant to an order of the Commission, 

or the presiding officer. Participants are 

requested not to include personal 

privacy information, such as social 

security numbers, home addresses, or 

home phone numbers in their filings, 

unless an NRC regulation or other law 

required submission of such 

information. With respect to 

copyrighted works, except for limited 

excerpts that serve the purpose of the 

adjudicatory filings and would 

constitute a Fair Use application, 

participants are requested not to include 

copyrighted materials in their 

submission. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day 

of March 2011. 

For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

Keith I. McConnell, 

Deputy Director, Decommissioning and 

Uranium Recovery Licensing Directorate, 

Division of Waste Management and 

Environmental Protection, Office of Federal 

and State Materials and Environmental 

Management Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6128 Filed 3–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

RECOVERY ACCOUNTABILITY AND 

TRANSPARENCY BOARD 

[Doc. No. 11–002] 

No FEAR Act Notice 

AGENCY: Recovery Accountability and 

Transparency Board. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Recovery Accountability 

and Transparency Board (Board) is 

providing notice to its employees, 

former employees, and applicants for 

Board employment about the rights and 

remedies available to them under the 

Federal antidiscrimination, 

whistleblower protection, and 

retaliation laws. This notice fulfills the 

Board’s initial notification under the 

Notification and Federal Employee 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
14440 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / Notices 

Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act 

(No FEAR Act or Act), as implemented 

by Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) regulations 5 CFR part 724. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Dure, General Counsel, by mail 

at Recovery Accountability and 

Transparency Board, 1717 Pennsylvania 

Avenue, NW., Suite 700, Washington, 

DC 20006, or by telephone at (202) 254– 

7900. Additional information can be 

found at the Board’s Web site at 

http://www.recovery.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

15, 2002, Congress enacted the 

‘‘Notification and Federal Employee 

Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act 

of 2002,’’ which is now known as the No 

FEAR Act. See Public Law 107–174, 

codified at 5 U.S.C. 2301 note. One 

purpose of the Act is to ‘‘require that 

Federal agencies be accountable for 

violations of antidiscrimination and 

whistleblower protection laws.’’ Public 

Law 107–174, Summary. In support of 

this purpose, Congress found that 

‘‘agencies cannot be run effectively if 

those agencies practice or tolerate 

discrimination.’’ Public Law 107–174, 

Title I, General Provisions, section 

101(1). 

The Act also requires this agency to 

provide this notice to its employees, 

former employees and applicants for 

Board employment to inform you of the 

rights and protections available to you 

under Federal antidiscrimination and 

whistleblower protection laws. 

Antidiscrimination Laws 

A Federal agency cannot discriminate 

against an employee or applicant with 

respect to the terms, conditions or 

privileges of employment on the basis of 

race, color, religion, sex, national origin, 

age, disability, marital status or political 

affiliation. Discrimination on these 

bases is prohibited by one or more of the 

following statutes: 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(1), 

29 U.S.C. 206(d), 29 U.S.C. 631, 29 

U.S.C. 633a, 2 U.S.C. 791 and 42 U.S.C. 

2000e-16. 

If you believe that you have been the 

victim of unlawful discrimination on 

the basis of race, color, religion, sex, 

national origin or disability, you must 

contact an Equal Employment 

Opportunity (EEO) counselor within 45 

calendar days of the alleged 

discriminatory action, or, in the case of 

personnel action, within 45 calendar 

days of the effective date of the action, 

before you can file a formal complaint 

of discrimination with your agency. See, 

e.g. 29 CFR 1614. If you believe that you 

have been the victim of unlawful 

discrimination on the basis of age, you 

must either contact an EEO counselor as 

noted above or give notice of intent to 

sue to the Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 

180 calendar days of the alleged 

discriminatory action. If you are alleging 

discrimination based on marital status 

or political affiliation, you may file a 

written complaint with the U.S. Office 

of Special Counsel (OSC) (see contact 

information below). In the alternative 

(or in some cases, in addition), you may 

pursue a discrimination complaint by 

filing a grievance through your agency’s 

administrative or negotiated grievance 

procedures, if such procedures apply 

and are available. 

Whistleblower Protection Laws 

A Federal employee with authority to 

take, direct others to take, recommend 

or approve any personnel action must 

not use that authority to take or fail to 

take, or threaten to take or fail to take, 

a personnel action against an employee 

or applicant because of disclosures of 

information by that individual that is 

reasonably believed to evidence 

violations of law, rule or regulation; 

gross mismanagement; gross waste of 

funds; an abuse of authority; or a 

substantial and specific danger to public 

health or safety, unless disclosures of 

such information is specifically 

prohibited by law and such information 

is specifically required by Executive 

order to be kept secret in the interest of 

national defense or the conduct of 

foreign affairs. 

Retaliation against an employee or 

applicant for making a protected 

disclosure is prohibited by 5 U.S.C. 

2302(b)(8). If you believe that you have 

been the victim of whistleblower 

retaliation, you may file a written 

complaint (Form OSC–11) with the U.S. 

Office of Special Counsel at 1730 M 

Street, NW., Suite 218, Washington, DC 

20036–4505 or online through the OSC 

Web site, http://www.osc.gov. 

Retaliation for Engaging in Protected 

Activity 

A Federal agency cannot retaliate 

against an employee or applicant 

because that individual exercises his or 

her rights under any of the Federal 

antidiscrimination or whistleblower 

protection laws listed above. If you 

believe that you are the victim of 

retaliation for engaging in protected 

activity, you must follow, as 

appropriate, the procedures described in 

the Antidiscrimination Laws and 

Whistleblower Protection Laws sections 

or, if applicable, the administrative or 

negotiated grievance procedures in 

order to pursue any legal remedy. 

Disciplinary Actions 

Under the existing laws, each agency 

retains the right, where appropriate, to 

discipline a Federal employee for 

conduct that is inconsistent with 

Federal Antidiscrimination and 

Whistleblower Protection Laws up to 

and including removal. If OSC has 

initiated an investigation under 5 U.S.C. 

1214, however, agencies must seek 

approval from OSC to discipline 

employees for, among other activities, 

engaging in prohibited retaliation. 

Nothing in the No FEAR Act alters 

existing laws or permits an agency to 

take unfounded disciplinary action 

against a Federal employee or to violate 

the procedural rights of a Federal 

employee who has been accused of 

discrimination. 

Additional Information 

For Further information regarding the 

No FEAR Act regulations, refer to 5 CFR 

part 724, as well as the appropriate 

offices within your agency (e.g., human 

resources office or legal office). 

Additional information regarding 

Federal antidiscrimination laws can be 

found at the EEOC Web site, http:// 

www.eeoc.gov, and the OSC Web site, 

http://www.osc.gov. 

Existing Rights Unchanged 

Pursuant to section 205 of the No 

FEAR Act, neither the Act nor this 

notice creates, expands or reduces any 

rights otherwise available to any 

employee, former employee or applicant 

under the laws of the United States, 

including the provisions of law 

specified in 5 U.S.C. 2302(d). 

Ivan J. Flores, 

Paralegal Specialist, Recovery Accountability 

and Transparency Board. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6076 Filed 3–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6821–15–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Investor 

Education and Advocacy, 

Washington, DC 20549–0213. 

Extension: 

Form 40–F; OMB Control No. 3235– 

0381; SEC File No. 270–335. 

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES