UNITED STATES

 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 

 COMSECY-17-0026 

 August 24, 2017 

MEMORANDUM TO: Chairman Svinicki 

 Commissioner Baran 

 Commissioner Burns 

FROM: Michael R. Johnson /RA/ 

 Deputy Executive Director for Reactor 

 and Preparedness Programs 

 Office of the Executive Director for Operations 

SUBJECT: REQUEST TO CHANGE THE REPORTING FREQUENCY ON 

PETITIONS UNDER TITLE 10 OF THE CODE OF FEDERAL 

REGULATIONS, SECTION 2.206 

In the staff requirements memorandum (SRM) dated February 3, 1994, associated with 

SECY-93-355, “Review of Regulations and Practice Governing Citizen Petitions under 

[Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section] 2.206,” dated December 23, 

1993, the Commission directed the staff to prepare a single agency monthly report on the status 

of 10 CFR 2.206 petitions. These status reports, along with other information on the 

10 CFR 2.206 petition process, are available on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission public 

Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/petitions-2-206/. 

In the SRM dated August 8, 2013 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 

(ADAMS) Accession No. ML13220B056), associated with COMSECY-13-0009, “Modification or 

Closure of Action Items in the Commission Tracking System,” dated March 27, 2013 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML13072A534), the Commission approved changing the report frequency to 

quarterly. The SRM also noted that the staff should “[s]end an email to Commission distribution 

list the day the report is available with the ML#.” This quarterly report is tracked as work item 

tracking system task 200700062. The most recent quarterly report (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML17181A046) was transmitted to the Commission distribution list on July 11, 2017. 

As part of its ongoing enhancement to the effectiveness and efficiency of its activities, the staff 

has further evaluated and is developing potential changes to the 10 CFR 2.206 process, 

including an update to Management Directive (MD) 8.11, “Review Process for 10 CFR 2.206 

Petitions.” One proposed change is in the frequency of public 2.206 status updates. The staff 

recognizes the value of a single publicly available status report that provides a comprehensive 

review of 10 CFR 2.206 petition status. The staff proposes, however, that a semi-annual 

frequency provides an appropriate balance of efficiency and effectiveness given the current 

optimization of staff activities related to 10 CFR 2.206 petitions. Implementing this change 

would save approximately 80 hours of staff resources per year. 

CONTACT: Merrilee Banic, NRR/DORL 

 (301) 415-2771

PLEASE RESPOND BY:

September 13, 2017
The Commissioners 2 

In addition to a semi-annual report, there will remain multiple means keeping the Commission, 

petitioners, and other interested stakeholders fully informed. Publicly available documents 

distributed via Listserv provide specific updates as the status of individual petitions changes. 

Acknowledgement letters, for example, summarize actions on a petition up to the point of 

issuance. Director’s Decisions provide a complete description of the process and actions 

leading up to issuance, and an opportunity for review is provided to the Commission as part of 

the MD 8.11 process. In addition, petitioners are directly informed by the petition manager 

every 60 days, at a minimum, about the status of a petition, and more often if a significant action 

occurs relating to the petition. The 10 CFR 2.206 coordinator and the petition managers are 

publicly identified, and any questions from internal or external stakeholders on the status of a 

specific 10 CFR 2.206 petition can easily be answered by the petition manager or 10 CFR 2.206 

coordinator. Finally, internal stakeholders including the Commission will be provided real-time 

access to a working version of the status report via SharePoint; while this report will not reflect 

management review, it is maintained current by the 10 CFR 2.206 project manager. 

Therefore, the staff requests approval to adjust the frequency of 10 CFR 2.206 petition reporting 

tracked under work item tracking system task 200700062 to semi-annual, with the next report 

due on January 31, 2018. In completing the revision to MD 8.11, the staff will include the 

Commission-approved frequency. 

SECY, please track. 

cc: SECY 

 OGC 

 OCA 

 OPA 

 CFO 
The Commissioners 3 

REQUEST TO CHANGE THE REPORTING FREQUENCY ON PETITIONS UNDER TITLE 10 

OF THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS, SECTION 2.206, DATED August 24, 2017 

DISTRIBUTION: 

NON-PUBLIC RidsNrrMailCenter RidsNrrDorl LPL4-2 R/F 

RidsEdoMailCenter TClark, OEDO MBanic, NRR 

ADAMS Accession Number: ML16305A070 *concurrence via e-mail 

OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL4-2/PM NRR/DORL/LPL4-2/BC NRR/DORL/D 

NAME MBanic DBroaddus ABoland (EBenner for)

DATE 08/10/2017 08/10/2017 08/10/2017 

OFFICE NRR/D OEDO 

NAME BHolian MJohnson 

DATE 08/10/2017 08/ 24 /2017 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY