Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental 

Management Programs (FSME) 

Procedure Approval 

Communications Between FSME/ Regional Offices 

 and the Agreement States

AD-800 

Issue Date: 10/15/2009 

Review Date: 10/15/2012

Robert J. Lewis TReis for /RA/ 

Director, DMSSA Date: 10/15/2009

A. Duncan White /RA/ 

Branch Chief, ASPB Date: 10/13/2009

Monica L. Orendi /RA/ 

Procedure Contact, ASPB Date: 10/13/2009

ML092860355 
Procedure Title: Communications Between 

FSME/ Regional Offices and the Agreement 

States: AD-800 

Page 1 of 4 

Issue Date: 

10/15/2009

I. INTRODUCTION

This procedure establishes the means of communication between the Office of Federal 

and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs (FSME), the Regional 

Offices, and the Agreement States.

II. OBJECTIVE

To provide guidance to FSME and Regional staff on effective communication methods 

with the Agreement States 

III. BACKGROUND 

On March 16, 2009, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report 

conveying the results of an audit on NRC’s Agreement State Program. In this report 

the OIG recommended that a set of procedures that standardize communications from 

the NRC to the Agreement States be developed. The report noted that for 

communications with Agreement States the agency lacks formal standardized 

procedures or guidance for the communication, including communicating significant 

events through the Regional State Agreements Officers (RSAO) or other means. 

IV. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

A. The Director, of the Division of Materials Safety and State Agreements (MSSA), is 

responsible for distributing information to the FSME Regional Points of Contact 

(POC), in a timely manner to enable pertinent information on important issues to 

be conveyed to the Agreement States. 

B. The Branch Chief, Agreement States Program Branch (ASPB), MSSA, is 

responsible for designating POCs for Regions I, III, and IV, designating the RSAO 

Quarterly Call Project Manager, and ensuring effective communication between 

the POCs and the RSAOs. 

C. The RSAO Quarterly Call Project Manager is responsible for facilitation, 

coordination, and notification of the Quarterly Conference Call and the facilitation 

and coordination of the FSME/RSAO Counterpart Meeting. 
AD-800: Communications between FSME/ Regional Offices 

and the Agreement States 

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Issue Date: 

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D. The POCs are responsible for conveying information on important NRC issues, by 

either phone or email, to their respective RSAO(s) for conveyance to the Agreement 

States. 

E. The RSAOs are responsible for conveying information obtained from the POCs to 

their respective Agreement State 

V. GUIDANCE 

Sharing of information between FSME and the RSAOs, so that the RSAOs can convey 

information to, or request information from the Agreement States is a vital part of effective and 

reliable communication with the Agreement States. To aid in the sharing of information FSME 

will communicate quarterly with the RSAOs via the RSAO Quarterly Conference Call. For 

issues of an emergent nature, or on a case by case basis the Branch Chief, ASPB, MSSA, the 

POCs, and the RSAOs will communicate via telephone or email. 

A. RSAO Quarterly Conference Call 

The purpose of these quarterly calls is to provide new and updated information on 

important topics in the NRC. These calls will provide a forum which encourages free 

flowing exchanges of ideas and information associated with the topics listed on the 

agenda. The RSAO Quarterly Call Project Manager will take and distribute the 

minutes from the quarterly conference call. This will help the RSAOs and the POCs 

convey complete and accurate information to the Agreement States. 

1. Conference Call Date and Time: The date and time of the Quarterly 

Conference Call will be established through collaboration with FSME and 

the RSAOs. The date and time of each Quarterly Conference Call will 

usually be decided at the end of each Quarterly Conference Call. If a 

situation arises which requires the modification of the agreed upon date 

and time, the RSAO Quarterly Call Project Manager will promptly notify the 

participants of the change and will collaborate with the participants to 

establish a new date and time. In addition, other teleconferences, as 

needed, may be held outside of the quarterly conference call schedule. 

2. Telephone Lines: The bridge number for the Quarterly Conference Call 

should be reserved at least two weeks prior to the call. At least 8 

telephone lines should be established for the call. The bridge number and 

lines can be reserved by calling 301-415-7000 or by going online to 

www.mymeeting.com. 

3. List of Participants: The list of participants include MSSA management, 

RSAOs from Region I, III, and IV, POCs, other NRC staff, and other 

interested parties. Interested participants should request participation 

directly through the RSAO Quarterly Conference Call Project Manager. 
AD-800: Communications between FSME/ Regional Offices 

and the Agreement States 

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Issue Date: 

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At the start of the call all participants, including those just listening in, shall 

identify themselves and their affiliation 

4. Agenda: The agenda for the RSAO Quarterly Conference Call will be 

established through collaboration with FSME, Region I, Region III, Region 

IV, and other participating NRC offices. A request for agenda topics will be 

distributed to the participants approximately one month before the 

scheduled conference call. The RSAO Quarterly Conference Call Project 

Manager will develop the agenda based upon input from the participants 

and distribute the final agenda at least two days prior to the conference 

call. 

5. Notification: Notification of the RSAO Quarterly Conference Call will be 

provided electronically by the RSAO Quarterly Conference Call Project 

Manager. The first notification of the call will include the date and time of 

the call. The second notification will include the date and time, the 

telephone bridge information, the list of participants, and the final agenda. 

B. Communications from the RSAOs to FSME regarding Agreement State Issues 

If in between the quarterly calls an RSAO should receive a question from an 

Agreement State that they do not have the information to answer, then the RSAO 

should first attempt to contact the corresponding POC(s) assigned to their Region (see 

Appendix A) who will then coordinate an answer with the other POCs for dissemination 

to the RSAOs. If the assigned POCs are unavailable, then the RSAO should contact 

the Branch Chief, ASPB, MSSA, who will in turn provide the question and answer to all 

assigned POCs. The POCs will return that information to their corresponding RSAOs 

for distribution to the Agreement States. 

C. Written Communications with the Agreement States 

To facilitate written communications with the Agreement States, FSME staff has 

developed a set of standard formats for letters (See FSME procedure AD-200 The 

Format for FSME Letters). The standard format letters reflect years of experience in 

communicating with the Agreement States. The letter formats evolved into their 

current form largely in response to these experiences. 

In most cases, letters to the Agreement States will be distributed by FSME thru email. 

In order to assure clear and concise written communications with Agreement States, 

whether it is thru email or regular mail, it is the policy of FSME to utilize the standard 

format letters. 

D. Non-routine and Emergent Communications 

Occasionally an emergent issue or situation arises that requires rapid dissemination of 

information from FSME to the RSAOs to facilitate timely notification of and/or 
AD-800: Communications between FSME/ Regional Offices 

and the Agreement States 

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Issue Date: 

10/15/2009

gathering of information from an Agreement State. In these cases, an attempt will be 

made by the RSAO Quarterly Call Project Manager to gather the necessary 

participants for an ad hoc conference call. If time does not allow for this, then the 

information will be disseminated by the ASPB Branch Chief to the RSAO’s by either 

telephone or email. If the information is disseminated by telephone the ASPB Branch 

Chief will send a follow up email to the POCs containing the information discussed in 

the phone call. If the information is disseminated by email and the ASPB Branch 

Chief does not utilize the POCs distribute the email, the ASPB Branch Chief will make 

sure to include the RSAOs and the POCs as addressees. 

In certain instances the ASPB Branch Chief may provide talking points, deadlines, 

and other background information to the RSAOs. Recently FSME requested that the 

RSAOs poll the Agreement States regarding their preparations and efforts concerning 

the potential for a pandemic situation. Appendix C shows an example of a sample 

email and questionnaire that the ASPB Branch Chief sent to the RSAOs in an effort to 

obtain consistent information from the Agreement States. 

VI. APPENDIXES 

 

Appendix A – September 1, 2009 listing of RSAOs and POCs 

 Appendix B – Example RSAO Quarterly Call Agenda 

 Appendix C – Example information and deadline provided by the ASPB Branch Chief to the 

RSAOs for dissemination to the Agreement States. 

VII. REFERENCES 

1. Audit Report, Audit Report of NRC’s Agreement State Program, OIG-09-A-08, 

March 16, 2009 

2. FSME Procedure AD-200, Format for FSME Letters, January 3, 2009 

VIII. ADAMS Reference Documents 

For knowledge management purposes, listed below are all previous revisions of this procedure, as 

well as associated correspondence with stakeholders, that have been entered into the NRC’s 

Agencywide Document Access Management System (ADAMS).

No. Date Document Title/Description Accession Number 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 
Appendix A 

September 1, 2009 listing of RSAOs and POCs 

RSAOs

Region I: Donna Janda (email: donna.janda@nrc.gov; phone: 610-337-5371) 

 Jim Kottan (email: james.kottan@nrc.gov; phone: 610-337-5214) 

Region III: Jim Lynch (email: james.lynch@nrc.gov; phone: 630-829-9661) 

Region IV: Randy Erickson (email: randy.erickson@nrc.gov; phone: 817-860-8143) 

 Linda McLean (email: linda.mclean@nrc.gov; phone: 817-860-8116) 

POCs

Region I: Michelle Beardsley (email: michelle.beardsley@nrc.gov; phone: 610-337-6942) 

 Monica Orendi (email: monica.orendi@nrc.gov; phone: 301-415-3938) 

Region III: Aaron McCraw (email: aaron.mccraw@nrc.gov; phone: 630-829-9650) 

 Shirley Xu (email: shirley.xu@nrc.gov; phone: 301-415-7640) 

Region IV: Janine Katanic (email: janine.katanic@nrc.gov; phone: 817-860-8151) 

 Bill Rautzen (email: william.rautzen@nrc.gov; phone: 301-415-7206) 

****(the most up-to-date list of RSAOs and POCs can be found at: http://nrc-stp.ornl.gov under 

FSME Office Directory; Map of NRC Contacts for States (see page 2)) 
Appendix B 

Sample RSAO Quarterly Call Agenda 

Quarterly RSAO Meeting

SAMPLE - AGENDA 

Wednesday September 2, 20XX 

2:00 PM ET (1:00 PM CT) 

Room: T3-C2 

Bridge Number: 

Pass code: 

Introduction of Participants and RSAO Members: 

** *(List meeting participants here)**** 

 

Topics for Discussion:

Next RSAO Meeting: 

Additional Questions?

Topic Time Lead 

Introduction of Participants and RSAO Members 5 min. Participants 

Topics for Discussion: 

9 RSAO rundown on significant issues in 

their States 

9 MSSA Branch Chief reports 

9 Other Topics 

40 min. 

All RSAO’s 

MSSA Branch Chiefs 

Speaker Name 

Actions and Issues Held For Next RSAO Monthly 

Meeting 

10 min. RSAO Quarterly Call 

Project Manager 

Concluding Remarks and Questions 5 min. Participants 
Appendix C 

Example information and deadline provided by the ASPB Branch Chief to the 

RSAOs for dissemination to the Agreement States 

TEXT OF EMAIL TO STATES 

The NRC is in the process of ensuring that we are prepared for the upcoming flu season, 

given the possibility of impacts by the H1N1 flu, and the potential for a pandemic situation. 

We anticipate the need to be able to answer the question (for ourselves, from the public, 

and perhaps from Congress) of whether there are any regulatory safety or security issues 

arising in the case of a pandemic or COOP situation. An important part of providing that 

answer will be communicating with the States regarding their assessment of the situation 

and status. To facilitate that, we would like to start that interface now, and gain a basic 

understanding of the States Pandemic and COOP Plans and approach, establish points of 

contact for those Plans, and develop the answers to some of the basic questions that we 

anticipate. 

Please provide your response back to me by COB, September 15. 

Pandemic/COOP Questions for Agreement States 

1. Does your State have a Pandemic plan and/or a Continuance of Operation Plan 

 (COOP)? 

2. Who is the primary State contact for Pandemic plan or COOP related radiation 

 protection issues? Include contact information. 

3. Does the State Pandemic plan or COOP include notification to NRC? 

4. Does the State Pandemic plan or COOP take into consideration or account for: 

 a. ensuring State capability for emergency and event response? 

 b. monitoring or conducting proactive outreach to any licensees, and if so, which 

 licensees (e.g., Category 1 and 2 licensees to ensure radioactive materials are 

 secure, medical licensees to assess ability to perform procedures involving 

 radioactive material in particular any emergency procedures, and accounting for 

 any impacts to the transportation of medical use radioactive materials 

 shipments? 

5. Does the State Pandemic plan or COOP require exercise of the plan? 

6. Would the State be interested in participating in a limited exercise on or about 

 10/7/09, should the NRC decide to exercise its ability to communicate with States 

 during a Pandemic or COOP? 

NOTE: 

FSME will provide the Agreement States with a list of basic questions that the NRC would ask 

when considering or entering a Pandemic or COOP mode. This list will be provided in an 

RCPD letter by the end of September.