804 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 21 / Thursday, January 31, 2019 / Notices 

period on this information collection on 

September 26, 2018, 83 FR 48658. 

1. The title of the information 

collection: Cooperation with States at 

Commercial Nuclear Power Plants and 

Other Nuclear Production and 

Utilization Facilities, Policy Statement. 

2. OMB approval number: 3150–0163. 

3. Type of submission: Revision. 

4. The form number if applicable: Not 

applicable. 

5. How often the collection is required 

or requested: On occasion, when a State 

or federally recognized Indian Tribe 

wishes to observe NRC inspections or 

perform inspections for the NRC or 

when a State or federally recognized 

Indian Tribe wishes to negotiate an 

agreement to observe or perform 

inspections. States with an instrument 

of cooperation or a State Resident 

Engineer have both regular reporting 

and occasion-specific reporting. 

6. Who will be required or asked to 

respond: States and federally recognized 

Tribes interested in observing or 

performing inspections. 

7. The estimated number of annual 

responses: 209. 

8. The estimated number of annual 

respondents: 33. 

9. An estimate of the total number of 

hours needed annually to comply with 

the information collection requirement 

or request: 1,309 hours. 

10. Abstract: States and federally 

recognized Indian Tribes are involved 

and interested in monitoring the safety 

status of nuclear power plants and other 

nuclear production and utilization 

facilities. This involvement is, in part, 

in response to the States’ and Tribes’ 

public health and safety responsibilities 

and, in part, in response to their 

citizens’ desire to become more 

knowledgeable about the safety of 

nuclear power plants and other nuclear 

production and utilization facilities. 

States and Tribes have identified NRC 

inspections as one possible source of 

knowledge for their personnel regarding 

NRC licensee activities, and the NRC, 

through the policy statement, 

‘‘Cooperation with States at Commercial 

Nuclear Power Plants and Other Nuclear 

Production or Utilization Facilities’’ (57 

FR 6462; February 25, 1992), has been 

amenable to accommodating States’ and 

Tribes’ needs in this regard. The NRC 

uses the information collected under 

this information collection requirement 

to allow States and federally recognized 

Indian Tribes to participate in or 

observe inspections at NRC-licensed 

facilities. The types of information 

collected include written requests 

identifying specific inspections States 

and Tribes wish to observe; 

identification-related information 

required for site access to NRC-licensed 

facilities; training and qualifications of 

State and Tribal personnel participating 

in inspections; information required to 

define inspection roles for States and 

Tribes; and information to coordinate 

NRC and State and Tribal inspections. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day 

of January 2019. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

David C. Cullison, 

NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2019–00380 Filed 1–30–19; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2018–0056] 

Digital Instrumentation and Controls— 

Interim Staff Guidance–06, Revision 2, 

‘‘Licensing Process’’ 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Interim staff guidance; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing Interim 

Staff Guidance (ISG) Digital 

Instrumentation and Controls (DI&C)— 

ISG–06, Revision 2, ‘‘Licensing 

Process.’’ This ISG defines the licensing 

process used to support the review of 

license amendment requests (LARs) 

associated with safety-related D&IC 

equipment modifications in operating 

plants and in new plants once they 

become operational. This ISG provides 

guidance for activities performed before 

a LAR is submitted and for activities 

performed during LAR review. The NRC 

staff uses the process described in this 

ISG to evaluate compliance with NRC 

regulations. 

DATES: This guidance is available on 

January 31, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2018–0056 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 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0056. Address 

questions about Docket IDs in 

Regulations.gov to Krupskaya Castellon; 

telephone: 301–287–9221; email: 

Krupskaya.Castellon@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions, contact the 

individual listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

http://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, 301– 

415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@

nrc.gov. The Digital Instrumentation and 

Controls-Interim Staff Guidance-06, Rev. 

2, is available in ADAMS under 

Accession No. ML18269A259. 

• 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: 

Joseph Golla, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001; telephone: 301–415–1002, email: 

Joe.Golla@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The NRC published a notice of the 

availability of ISG–06, Rev. 2, in the 

Federal Register (83 FR 38731) on 

August 7, 2018, for a 30-day public 

comment period. The public comment 

period closed on September 6, 2018. 

Public comments on ISG–06, Rev. 2, and 

the staff responses to the public 

comments are available under ADAMS 

Accession No. ML18290A623. 

This ISG provides guidance for the 

NRC staff’s review of LARs supporting 

installation of Digital I&C equipment in 

accordance with licensing processes 

defined in the NRC’s office instruction 

LIC–101, ‘‘License Amendment Review 

Procedures.’’ This ISG identifies 

information the NRC staff should review 

for Digital I&C equipment. This ISG 

provides guidance on when that 

information should be reviewed. 

This ISG is designed to be used with 

the NRC’s topical report review and 

approval process defined in the NRC’s 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

office instruction LIC–500, ‘‘Topical 

Report Process.’’ Where a licensee 

references an NRC-approved topical 

report, the NRC staff should be able to, 

where appropriate, limit its review to 

assessing whether the application of the 

Digital I&C modification falls within the 

envelope of the topical report approval. 

This ISG was developed based upon, 

and is designed to work in concert with, 

established guidance. As a result, this 

ISG references other guidance 

documents for review criteria. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 21 / Thursday, January 31, 2019 / Notices 805 

The NRC staff performs evaluations of 

proposed Digital I&C equipment to 

ensure equipment will perform required 

functions. These evaluations use the 

guidance in the Standard Review Plan, 

Chapter 7, and other associated 

guidance. When a licensee seeks to 

amend its license, the application for 

amendment must fully describe the 

changes desired. The application should 

describe the safety functions of 

identified in the Final Safety Analysis 

Report, as updated, and the Digital I&C 

equipment that performs each function. 

Additionally, licensees identify those 

parts of the licensing basis being 

updated as a result of the proposed 

change. 

The Standard Review Plan, Appendix 

7.0–A, and Branch Technical Position 

7–14, guide the NRC staff in performing 

reviews of digital systems in support of 

safety evaluations. For reviews using the 

Alternate Process as defined in the ISG, 

the ISG provides additional guidance for 

performing early stage reviews of digital 

safety-related systems in support of 

safety evaluations. The NRC staff may 

review the system design and 

development process to support a 

determination that the design meets 

regulatory requirements and that in 

safety-related applications in nuclear 

power plants, the process is of 

sufficiently high quality to produce 

systems and software suitable for use. 

The NRC staff review processes include 

activities for evaluating documentation 

of plans and processes that are used to 

support system development activities 

and their outcomes. 

II. Backfitting and Issue Finality 

The NRC is issuing a revision to 

interim guidance for the NRC staff 

regarding its review of requests from 

nuclear power plant licensees for 

license amendments involving 

installation of Digital I&C equipment. 

Issuance of the revised ISG does not 

constitute backfitting as defined in title 

10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(10 CFR) section 50.109 (the Backfit 

Rule) and is not otherwise inconsistent 

with the issue finality provisions in 10 

CFR part 52. The NRC’s position is 

based upon the following 

considerations. 

1. The ISG positions do not constitute 

backfitting, inasmuch as the ISG is 

guidance directed to the NRC staff with 

respect to its regulatory responsibilities. 

The ISG provides interim guidance to 

the staff on how to review certain 

requests for license amendments. 

Changes in guidance intended for use by 

only the staff are not matters that 

constitute backfitting as that term is 

defined in 10 CFR 50.109 or involve the 

issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 

52. 

2. Backfitting and issue finality—with 

certain exceptions discussed in this 

section—do not apply to current or 

future applicants. 

Applicants and potential applicants 

are not, with certain exceptions, the 

subject of either the Backfit Rule or any 

issue finality provisions under 10 CFR 

part 52. This is because neither the 

Backfit Rule nor the issue finality 

provisions of 10 CFR part 52 were 

intended to apply to every NRC action 

that substantially changes the 

expectations of current and future 

applicants. 

The exceptions to the general 

principle are applicable whenever a 10 

CFR part 50 operating license applicant 

references a construction permit or a 10 

CFR part 52 combined license applicant 

references a license (e.g., an early site 

permit) and/or an NRC regulatory 

approval (e.g., a design certification 

rule) for which specified issue finality 

provisions apply. 

The NRC staff does not currently 

intend to impose the positions 

represented in this final SRP section in 

a manner that constitutes backfitting or 

is inconsistent with any issue finality 

provision of 10 CFR part 52. If in the 

future the NRC staff seeks to impose 

positions stated in this SRP section in 

a manner that would constitute 

backfitting or be inconsistent with these 

issue finality provisions, the NRC staff 

must make the showing as set forth in 

the Backfit Rule or address the 

regulatory criteria set forth in the 

applicable issue finality provision, as 

applicable, that would allow the staff to 

impose the position. 

3. The NRC staff has no intention to 

impose the ISG positions on existing 

nuclear power plant licensees either 

now or in the future (absent a voluntary 

request for a change from the licensee). 

The staff does not intend to impose or 

apply the positions described in the ISG 

to existing (already issued) licenses 

(e.g., operating licenses and combined 

licenses). Hence, the issuance of this 

ISG—even if considered guidance 

subject to the Backit Rule or the issue 

finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52— 

would not need to be evaluated as if it 

were a backfit or as being inconsistent 

with issue finality provisions. If, in the 

future, the NRC staff seeks to impose a 

position in the ISG on holders of already 

issued licenses in a manner that would 

constitute backfitting or does not 

provide issue finality as described in the 

applicable issue finality provision, then 

the staff must make a showing as set 

forth in the Backfit Rule or address the 

criteria set forth in the applicable issue 

finality provision, as applicable, that 

would allow the staff to impose the 

position. 

III. Congressional Review Act 

This Interim Staff Guidance document 

is a rule as defined in the Congressional 

Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801–808). 

However, the Office of Management and 

Budget has not found it to be a major 

rule as defined in the Congressional 

Review Act. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day 

of January 2019. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Eric J. Benner, 

Director, Division of Engineering, Office of 

Nuclear Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2019–00374 Filed 1–30–19; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2019–0001] 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

TIME AND DATE: Week of January 28, 

2019. 

PLACE: Commissioners’ Conference 

Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

Maryland. 

STATUS: Public. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

Week of January 28, 2019 

Thursday, January 31, 2019 

1:25 p.m. Affirmation Session (Public 

Meeting) (Tentative) 

Powertech (USA), Inc. (DeweyBurdock in Situ Uranium Recovery 

Facility), Response to Remand from 

D.C. Circuit in Oglala Sioux Tribe v. 

NRC (Tentative) 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: By a vote of 5– 

0 on January 29, 2019, the Commission 

determined pursuant to U.S.C. 552b(e) 

and ’9.107(a) of the Commission’s rules 

that the above referenced Affirmation 

Session be held with less than one week 

notice to the public. The meeting is 

scheduled on January 31, 2019. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

For more information or to verify the 

status of meetings, contact Denise 

McGovern at 301–415–0681 or via email 

at Denise.McGovern@nrc.gov. The 

schedule for Commission meetings is 

subject to change on short notice. 

The NRC Commission Meeting 

Schedule can be found on the internet 

at: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/ 

public-meetings/schedule.html. 

The NRC provides reasonable 

accommodation to individuals with 

disabilities where appropriate. If you 


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