UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 

October 17, 2016 

Mr. Kyle Wendtland, Administrator 

Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality 

Land Quality Division 

200 W. 17th Street 

Cheyenne, WY 82002 

Dear Mr. Wendtland: 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff (NRC) has reviewed Wyoming’s June 8, 2016, 

response to our comments in our December 8, 2015, letter, and in our April 29, 2016, e-mail 

concerning the new Civil Trespass to Collect Data law, Wyoming Enrolled Act No. 61 (Data 

Collection Trespass Law). The NRC staff reviewed Session Laws of Wyoming, 2015, Chapter 

146, Trespassing to Collect Data and Chapter 183, Trespassing to Collect Data – Civil Cause of 

Action and Chapter. The NRC staff raised issues related to this law when they reviewed the 

enabling legislation contained in Wyoming House Bill HB0027, received by NRC staff on August 

13, 2015. We are addressing comments in the enabling legislation unrelated to the Trespass 

Law in another letter. 

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your letter. Your responses to items 1, 2, and 4 in 

your June 8, 2016, letter regarding our December 8, 2015, letter and your responses to items 

1 and 2 in your June 8, 2016, letter regarding our April 29, 2016, e-mail address our concerns 

on those provisions. We have one additional concern that can be addressed by the Wyoming 

Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ): 

Please confirm that the State will provide procedures in its Agreement application that 

address follow-up and closeout of any allegations that the State of Wyoming receives 

related to the regulation of Agreement material. 

We note that in your June 8, 2016, response to item 3 of the NRC’s December 8, 2015, letter, 

Wyoming stated these procedures are being developed. The procedures must provide for the 

protection of the person’s identity when requested and must provide for the protection of other 

sensitive information. The State procedures should also describe how this information will be 

retained and made available to NRC during reviews of the State program. 

The NRC staff continues to have the following concerns that need be addressed by the 

Wyoming Office of the Attorney General related to the Data Collection Trespass Law. 

1. On page 3 of the Data Collection Trespass Law, lines 5 through 18 state that 

trespassing to unlawfully collect resource data and unlawfully collecting resource data is 

punishable by imprisonment, fine, or both. In your response to item 5 in the 

June 8, 2016 letter, you indicate that individuals are not punished for developing and 

reporting information but for the act of trespassing. Please confirm that a member of the 

public will not be prosecuted for collecting, developing or reporting information of 

potential safety concerns involving radioactive material. 
K. Wendtland -2- 

2. Page 5 of the Data Collection Trespass Law, paragraph (e) lines 7 through 13 of the 

Data Collection Trespass Law states: “No resource data collected in violation of this 

section is admissible in evidence in any civil, criminal or administrative proceeding, other 

than a prosecution for violation of this section or a civil action against the violator.” This 

section applies whether or not the violation was prosecuted or resulted in conviction of 

this law. 

In your June 8, 2016, response to item 6 of our December 8, 2015, letter and during 

subsequent discussions with your staff, you indicated that information collected that 

relates to Agreement State activities can be used by the State regardless if the individual 

is prosecuted or convicted under the Data Collection Trespass Law. Please confirm that 

if a member of the public is prosecuted or convicted under the Data Collection Trespass 

Law, the information collected that relates to Agreement State activities can still be used 

by the State to investigate allegations, violations, and take action to protect public health 

and safety. Please also clarify whether the Wyoming Agreement Program’s response 

will change if the individual had knowingly trespassed on the private property. Will the 

Attorney General’s Office support DEQ in taking action to protect public health and 

safety or an enforcement action if the information is provided by a potential violator of 

the Date Collection Trespass Law? Will DEQ forward relevant information to the NRC? 

3. Page 5 of the Data Collection Trespass Law, lines 15 through 19 state "that resource 

data collected in violation of this section in possession of any governmental entity shall 

be expunged by the entity from all files and data bases, and it shall not be considered in 

determining agency action." This section of the Data Collection Trespass Law also 

discusses the expungement of information from the files and databases, and not having 

the information be considered in determining agency action. 

In your June 8, 2016, response to item 7 of our December 8, 2015, letter, you indicate 

that this will not prevent the use of information in State regulatory actions given the 

distinction between collection of information and trespassing made in your previous two 

responses (items 5 and 6 of the June 8, 2016 letter). However your June 8, 2016, 

response is not complete since it appears, based on this section of the Data Collection 

Trespass Law, that the State will not be able to: 1) investigate or act on an allegation; 

2) send information to the NRC if it involves NRC regulated materials or common 

defense and security concerns; or 3) have a record for NRC to evaluate during a 

Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program review. Please provide additional 

information describing how the State will not be impeded in implementing the 

aforementioned actions. This response should explain how the State can use the 

information and when the State has to expunge this information. For example, will the 

State be able to use the information before the person that reported the information is 

convicted under the Data Collection Trespass Law to support a warrant or investigation? 

What will happen if the person is convicted? Does the Court have to order the 

information to be expunged from all files and databases after a conviction or is the 

information automatically expunged? Can the State expunge information before a 

conviction? 

4. In your June 8, 2016, response to item 8 of our December 8, 2015, letter, your response 

to item 8 clarifed the meaning of specified terms, however, the response only provided 

definitions in accordance with the Webster’s Dictionary and in particular did not explain 

what was considered data that will be covered under the law. The Wyoming Attorney 
K. Wendtland -3- 

General’s Office, in providing definitions of these terms should also clarify the scope of 

the information covered by the term “resource data” (e.g. does the term resource data 

cover photographs or observations from private or public lands on to private property.) 

What other types of information does it cover, or not cover? Please also provide 

additional information to the definition to the terms we identified in our letter dated 

December 8, 2015, to help us evaluate the potential effect of the Data Collection 

Trespass Law will have on Wyoming’s Agreement State program application. 

5. In a previous response to question 3 of the NRC’s email dated April 29, 2016, the State 

indicated that the collected resource data is not admissible evidence, only if the 

concerned individual is convicted under this Law. Does that mean the information can 

be used as evidence if the individual is not convicted under the statute? Can the State 

act on the information prior to a conviction? 

6. In response to NRC’s email question 4 dated April 29, 2016, the State stated it will 

investigate “legitimate” allegations or violations. Will the State consider information 

obtained by a person knowingly or unknowingly trespassing to be a “legitimate 

allegation?” Can information from a person knowingly or unknowingly trespassing on 

private property be used to obtain a warrant for an investigation or support issuance of 

an emergency order involving Agreement material? Will information relating to an NRC 

licensee or common defense and security matter be passed on to the NRC? 

With respect to your question for the NRC in your June 8, 2016, letter, “Does Wyoming 

Department of Environmental Quality have unfettered access to information with regard to 

ensuring public health and safety relating to regulation of the radioactive material within its 

jurisdiction,” and your request for clarification of the terms, “unfettered access” and 

“information,” the NRC was seeking to understand how the Data Collection Trespass Law will 

impact the State’s ability to collect any information on any private or public land within the State 

to implement an adequate allegation or enforcement program that is protective of health and 

safety and compatibility with the NRC’s requirements. 

As indicated above, the State Attorney General’s Office must respond to the above concerns 

and questions in comments 1-6. Your responses must explain how the Data Collection 

Trespass Law will not impact the State’s ability to implement an adequate program to protect 

health and safety and compatibility with the NRC’s regulatory program for allegations, 

investigations, enforcement, transmission of information to the NRC of relevant information 

impacting NRC’s areas of regulatory authority or retention of records for the NRC’s periodic 

review. Please reference any specific statutes, regulations or other relevant information to 

support your response. 

If the State Attorney General’s Office can adequately respond to our comments, this may 

address our concerns with the Data Collection Trespass Law’s potential impact on the State’s 

ability to develop a State radiation control program that is adequate to protect public health and 

safety and compatible with the NRC’s regulatory program. If you would like for us to review this 

information prior to the submittal of your draft request or discuss this matter further, please 

contact the staff named below. An adequate response to this letter will also address the 

comments provided in our letter dated December 8, 2015, and e-mail dated April 29, 2016.
K. Wendtland -4- 

If you have any questions regarding the comment, please contact Michelle Beardsley at 

(267) 884-2305 (Michelle.Beardsley@nrc.gov), or Stephen Poy at (301) 415-7135 

(Stephen.Poy@nrc.gov). 

Sincerely, 

/RA/ 

PHenderson for DCollins 

Daniel S. Collins, Director 

Division of Material Safety, State, Tribal 

 and Rulemaking Programs 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards
K. Wendtland -4- 

If you have any questions regarding the comment, please contact Michelle Beardsley at 

(267) 884-2305 (Michelle.Beardsley@nrc.gov), or Stephen Poy at (301) 415-7135 

(Stephen.Poy@nrc.gov). 

Sincerely, 

Daniel S. Collins, Director 

Division of Material Safety, State, Tribal 

 and Rulemaking Programs 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

DISTRIBUTION: SP[08] 

DIR RF (16-22) 

RErickson, RSAO 

BTharakan, RSAO 

Wyoming File 

OFFICE ASPB ASPB OGC ASPB:BC MSTR:D 

NAME SPoy MBeardsley JOlmstead via 

email 

PMichalak DCollins 

DATE 8/10/16 8/10/16 10/5/16 10/13/16 10/17/16 

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