Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 195 / Friday, October 9, 2009 / Notices 52265 

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 works. 

If a person other than Mr. Christopher 

Loyd requests a hearing, that person 

shall set forth with particularity the 

manner in which his interest is 

adversely affected by this Order and 

shall address the criteria set forth in 10 

CFR 2.309(d) and (f). 

If the hearing is requested by a person 

whose interest is adversely affected, the 

Commission will issue an Order 

designating the time and place of any 

hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to 

be considered at such hearing shall be 

whether this Confirmatory Order should 

be sustained. In the absence of any 

request for hearing, or written approval 

of an extension of time in which to 

request a hearing, the provisions 

specified in Section V above shall be 

final 20 days from the date this Order 

is published in the Federal Register 

without further order or proceedings. If 

an extension of time for requesting a 

hearing has been approved, the 

provisions specified in Section V shall 

be final when the extension expires, if 

a hearing request has not been received. 

A request for hearing shall not stay the 

immediate effectiveness of this order. 

For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

Dated this 1st day of October 2009. 

Cynthia D. Pederson, 

Deputy Regional Administrator, Region III. 

[FR Doc. E9–24421 Filed 10–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2009–0445, Docket Number 030– 

32764, License Number 13–26408–01, EA– 

09–114] 

In the Matter of Earth Exploration, Inc.: 

Indianapolis, IN; Confirmatory Order 

(Effective Immediately) 

I 

Earth Exploration, Inc., (Earth 

Exploration or licensee) is the holder of 

Materials License No. 13–26408–01 

issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC or Commission) 

pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30 on June 3, 

1992. The license authorizes Earth 

Exploration to store portable gauges at 

its permanent facilities in Indianapolis 

and South Bend, Indiana, and to use 

those portable gauges at temporary job 

sites. 

This Confirmatory Order is the result 

of an agreement reached during an 

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 

mediation session conducted on August 

25, 2009. 

II 

On July 21, 2008, the NRC conducted 

an onsite inspection at the Earth 

Exploration main office in Indianapolis, 

Indiana, and at two temporary job sites 

in Indianapolis. Additional onsite 

inspections were held on August 14 and 

15, 2008, at the South Bend field office 

and a temporary job site in South Bend, 

Indiana. The purpose of the inspections 

was to review licensee activities related 

to radiation safety and to assess licensee 

compliance with the Commission’s 

rules and regulations and with the 

conditions of the Earth Exploration 

license. As a result of the inspection 

observations, the NRC Office of 

Investigations (OI) initiated an 

investigation (OI Case No. 3–2008–026) 

and on April 27, 2009, the NRC 

preliminarily determined that apparent 

violations of NRC requirements had 

occurred at Earth Exploration. The 

apparent violations included failure to: 

(1) Perform annual reviews of the 

radiation protection program as required 

by 10 CFR 20.1101(c); (2) perform leak 

testing of sealed sources as required by 

License Condition 13; (3) perform 

physical inventories every 6 months of 

sealed sources as required by License 

Condition 16; (4) ensure that dosimetry 

provided to gauge users was processed 

and evaluated by a processor approved 

through the National Voluntary 

Laboratory Accreditation Program as 

required by License Condition 21; (5) 

ensure through the Radiation Safety 

Officer that required tests and 

conditions of the NRC license are 

performed as required by License 

Condition 21; (6) secure, on multiple 

occasions, portable gauges using two 

independent physical barriers as 

required by 10 CFR 30.34(i); and (7) lock 

a gauge or gauge case when in storage 

as required by License Condition 19. 

Additionally, the NRC identified five 

potential violations of 10 CFR 71.5 in 

regard to transportation of radioactive 

material in accordance with Department 

of Transportation regulations in 49 CFR. 

These potential violations included 

failure to: (1) Ensure proper/legible 

markings on packages as required by 49 

CFR 178.3(a); (2) label transport 

packages as required by 49 CFR 

172.403(b); (3) block and brace two 

packages as required by 49 CFR 

177.842(b); (4) ensure the accessibility 

of shipping papers as required by 49 

CFR 177.817(e); and (5) provide an 

emergency response telephone number 

which is monitored at all times when 

radioactive material is in transportation 

as required by 49 CFR 172.604(a)(1). 

The results of the investigation were 

sent to Earth Exploration in a letter 

dated July 21, 2009. This letter offered 

Earth Exploration the opportunity to 

either participate in ADR mediation or 

to attend a Predecisional Enforcement 

Conference. In response to the NRC’s 

offer, Earth Exploration requested use of 

the NRC’s ADR process to resolve the 

issues. On July 31, 2009, the NRC and 

Earth Exploration agreed to mediation. 

On August 25, 2009, the NRC and Earth 

Exploration participated in an ADR 

session mediated by a professional 

mediator, arranged through Cornell 

University’s Institute on Conflict 

Resolution. As used by the NRC, ADR 

is a process in which a neutral mediator 

with no decision-making authority 

assists the parties in reaching an 

agreement on resolving any differences 

regarding the dispute. This 

Confirmatory Order is issued pursuant 

to the agreement reached during the 

ADR process. 

III 

During the August 25, 2009, ADR 

session, a preliminary settlement 

agreement was reached. The elements of 

the agreement consisted of the 

following: 

1. Earth Exploration acknowledges the 

above violations and confirms that the 

violations have been corrected as of 

August 31, 2008. 

2. Earth Exploration agrees to retain a 

qualified consultant to audit the 

performance of its radiation safety 

program on an annual basis for a period 

of 5 years, with the first audit occurring 

within 3 months of the date of the 

Confirmatory Order. Copies of the 

consultant’s audit reports will be 

submitted to the Director for the 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 

Region III, NRC, within 6 weeks 

following completion of the audit. 

3. Earth Exploration agrees that the 

Radiation Safety Officer’s supervisor, 

and two individuals acting as assistant 

Radiation Safety Officers, one each from 

the South Bend and Indianapolis 

offices, will receive training on how to 

manage a radiation safety program. The 

training is to be scheduled within 3 

months of the date of the Confirmatory 

Order and the training is to be 

conducted within 6 months of the date 

of the Confirmatory Order. Within 2 

weeks of completion of the training, 

Earth Exploration will submit to the 

Director for the Division of Nuclear 

Materials Safety, Region III, NRC, the 

course syllabus (to include the dates 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES

52266 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 195 / Friday, October 9, 2009 / Notices 

and location of the course) and a list of 

attendees. 

4. Within 3 months of the date of the 

Confirmatory Order, Earth Exploration 

agrees to conduct ‘‘lessons learned’’ 

training, to be given by the Radiation 

Safety Officer and to be attended by all 

employees involved in gauge use, to 

address oversight of the radiation safety 

program; duties and responsibilities of 

the Radiation Safety Officer; and 

transportation, use, and security for 

portable gauges. The training shall also 

address employees’ responsibility to 

report safety concerns to licensee 

management and the availability of 

informing the NRC of any concerns. 

Within 2 weeks of completing this 

internal training for all employees 

involved in gauge use, Earth Exploration 

will submit an outline of the 

presentation and a list of attendees to 

the Director for the Division of Nuclear 

Materials Safety, Region III, NRC. 

5. Within 30 days of the date of the 

Confirmatory Order, Earth Exploration 

agrees to have the Radiation Safety 

Officer prepare and submit to the 

Director for the Division of Nuclear 

Materials Safety, Region III, NRC, a plan 

to inform other organizations of the 

lessons learned about the importance of 

ensuring robust radiation safety program 

requirements and developing the 

necessary infrastructure and 

communication paths to identify and 

resolve competing priorities that may 

preclude successful implementation. As 

a part of the plan, Earth Exploration will 

submit either the article or a 

presentation outline to the Director for 

the Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 

Region III, NRC, for review prior to its 

use. 

6. Earth Exploration, by signing the 

Agreement in Principle, makes no 

admission that any employee of Earth 

Exploration deliberately violated any 

NRC requirements and this agreement is 

settlement of a disputed claim in order 

to avoid further action by the NRC. 

7. The NRC agrees to not pursue any 

further enforcement action in 

connection with the NRC’s July 21, 

2009, letter to Earth Exploration. This 

does not prohibit the NRC from taking 

an enforcement action, in accordance 

with the NRC Enforcement Policy, if 

Earth Exploration commits a similar 

violation in the future or violates the 

Order. 

On September 10, 2009, Earth 

Exploration consented to issuing this 

Order with the commitments, as 

described in Section V below. Earth 

Exploration further agreed that this 

Order is to be effective upon issuance 

and that it has waived its right to a 

hearing. 

IV 

Since Earth Exploration has agreed to 

take additional actions to address NRC 

concerns, as set forth in Item III above, 

the NRC has concluded that its concerns 

can be resolved through issuance of this 

Order. 

I find that the licensee’s commitments 

as set forth in Section V are acceptable 

and necessary and conclude that, with 

these commitments, the public health 

and safety are reasonably assured. In 

view of the foregoing, I have determined 

that public health and safety require 

that Earth Exploration’s commitments 

be confirmed by this Order. Based on 

the above, and Earth Exploration’s 

consent, this Order is immediately 

effective upon issuance. 

V 

Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 81, 

161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 186 of the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 

and the Commission’s regulations in 10 

CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 30, it is 

hereby ordered, effective immediately: 

1. Earth Exploration shall retain a 

qualified consultant to audit the 

performance of its radiation safety 

program on an annual basis for a period 

of 5 years, with the first audit occurring 

within 3 months of the date of the 

Confirmatory Order. Copies of the 

consultant’s audit reports will be 

submitted to the Director for the 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 

Region III, NRC, within 6 weeks 

following completion of the audit. 

2. Earth Exploration shall ensure that 

the Radiation Safety Officer’s 

supervisor, and two individuals acting 

as assistant Radiation Safety Officers, 

one each from the South Bend and 

Indianapolis offices, will receive 

training on how to manage a radiation 

safety program. The training shall be 

scheduled within 3 months of the date 

of the Confirmatory Order and the 

training is to be conducted within 6 

months of the date of the Confirmatory 

Order. Within 2 weeks of completion of 

the training, Earth Exploration shall 

submit to the Director for the Division 

of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III, 

NRC, the course syllabus (to include the 

dates and location of the course) and a 

list of attendees. 

3. Earth Exploration shall, within 3 

months of the date of the Confirmatory 

Order, conduct ‘‘lessons learned’’ 

training, to be given by the Radiation 

Safety Officer and to be attended by all 

employees involved in gauge use. The 

training shall address oversight of the 

radiation safety program; duties and 

responsibilities of the Radiation Safety 

Officer; and transportation, use, and 

security for portable gauges. The 

training shall also address employees’ 

responsibility to report safety concerns 

to licensee management and the 

availability of informing the NRC of any 

concerns. Within 2 weeks of completing 

this internal training for all employees 

involved in gauge use, Earth Exploration 

shall submit an outline of the 

presentation and a list of attendees to 

the Director for the Division of Nuclear 

Materials Safety, Region III, NRC. 

4. Earth Exploration shall, within 30 

days of the date of the Confirmatory 

Order, prepare and submit to the 

Director for the Division of Nuclear 

Materials Safety, Region III, NRC, a plan 

to inform other organizations of the 

lessons learned about the importance of 

ensuring robust radiation safety program 

requirements and developing the 

necessary infrastructure and 

communication paths to identify and 

resolve competing priorities that may 

preclude successful implementation. As 

a part of the plan, Earth Exploration 

shall submit either the article or a 

presentation outline, to the Director for 

the Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 

Region III, NRC, for review prior to its 

use. 

The Regional Administrator, Region 

III, NRC, may, in writing, relax or 

rescind any of the above conditions 

upon demonstration by Earth 

Exploration of good cause. 

VI 

Any person adversely affected by this 

Confirmatory Order, other than Earth 

Exploration, may request a hearing 

within 20 days of the Order’s 

publication in the Federal Register. 

Where good cause is shown, 

consideration will be given to extending 

the time to request a hearing. A request 

for extension of time must be directed 

to the Director, Office of Enforcement, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, and 

include a statement of good cause for 

the extension. 

A request for a hearing must be filed 

in accordance with the NRC E-Filing 

rule, which the NRC promulgated in 

August 28, 2007, (72 FR 49139). The EFiling process requires participants to 

submit and serve documents over the 

internet or, in some cases, to mail copies 

on electronic optical storage media. 

Participants may not submit paper 

copies of their filings unless they seek 

a waiver in accordance with the 

procedures described below. 

To comply with the procedural 

requirements associated with E-Filing, 

at least five days prior to the filing 

deadline the requestor must contact the 

Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 195 / Friday, October 9, 2009 / Notices 52267 

hearingdocket@nrc.gov, or by calling 

(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 NRC proceeding in which 

it is participating; and/or (2) creation of 

an electronic docket for the proceeding 

(even in instances when the requestor 

(or its counsel or representative) already 

holds an NRC-issued digital ID 

certificate). Each requestor will need to 

download the Workplace Forms ViewerJ 

to access the Electronic Information 

Exchange (EIE), a component of the EFiling system. The Workplace Forms 

ViewerTM is free and is available at 

http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals/install-viewer.html. 

Information about applying for a digital 

ID certificate also is available on NRC’s 

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

site-help/e-submittals/applycertificates.html. 

Once a requestor has obtained a 

digital ID certificate, had a docket 

created, and downloaded the EIE 

viewer, it can then submit a request for 

a hearing through EIE. 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 filer submits its 

document through EIE. To be timely, 

electronic filings must be submitted to 

the EIE 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 

EIE system also distributes an e-mail 

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 document on those 

participants separately. Therefore, any 

others who wish to participate in the 

proceeding (or their counsel or 

representative) must apply for and 

receive a digital ID certificate before a 

hearing request is filed so that they may 

obtain access to the document via the EFiling system. 

A person filing electronically using 

the agency’s adjudicatory e-filing system 

may seek assistance through the 

‘‘Contact Us’’ link located on the NRC 

Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/sitehelp/e-submittals.html or by calling the 

NRC Meta-System Help Desk, which is 

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

Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, 

excluding government holidays. The 

Meta-System Help Desk can be 

contacted by telephone at 1–866–672– 

7640 or by e-mail at 

MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov. 

Participants who believe that they 

have 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. 

Documents submitted in adjudicatory 

proceedings will appear in NRC’s 

electronic hearing docket which is 

available to the public at http:// 

ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, 

unless excluded pursuant to an order of 

the Commission, an Atomic Safety and 

Licensing Board, or a 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. 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 works. 

If a person other than Earth 

Exploration requests a hearing, that 

person shall set forth with particularity 

the manner in which his interest is 

adversely affected by this Order and 

shall address the criteria set forth in 10 

CFR 2.309(d) and (f). 

If the hearing is requested by a person 

whose interest is adversely affected, the 

Commission will issue an Order 

designating the time and place of any 

hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to 

be considered at such hearing shall be 

whether this Confirmatory Order should 

be sustained. In the absence of any 

request for hearing, or written approval 

of an extension of time in which to 

request a hearing, the provisions 

specified in Section V above shall be 

final 20 days from the date this Order 

is published in the Federal Register 

without further order or proceedings. If 

an extension of time for requesting a 

hearing has been approved, the 

provisions specified in Section V shall 

be final when the extension expires, if 

a hearing request has not been received. 

A request for hearing shall not stay 

the immediate effectiveness of this 

order. 

For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

Dated this 1st day of October 2009. 

Cynthia D. Pederson, 

Deputy Regional Administrator, Region III. 

[FR Doc. E9–24423 Filed 10–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2008–0439] 

Office of New Reactors; Final Interim 

Staff Guidance on Evaluation and 

Acceptance Criteria for 10 CFR 20.1406 

To Support Design Certification and 

Combined License Applications 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The NRC is issuing its Final 

Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) DC/COL– 

ISG–06 (Agencywide Documents Access 

and Management System (ADAMS) 

Accession No. ML092470100). The 

purpose of this ISG is to clarify NRC 

position on what is an acceptable level 

of detail and content for demonstrating 

compliance with Title 10 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations, Section 20.1406 

(10 CFR 20.1406). Regulatory Guide 

4.21, ‘‘Minimization of Contamination 

and Waste Generation: Life Cycle 

Planning,’’ provides an acceptable 

method of demonstrating compliance. 

This ISG provides further clarification 

on the evaluation and acceptance 

criteria that will be used by NRC staff 

in reaching a reasonable assurance 

finding that a design certification (DC) 

or combined license (COL) applicant 

has complied with the requirements of 

10 CFR 20.1406. The NRC staff issues 

DC/COL–ISGs to facilitate timely 

implementation of current staff 

guidance and to facilitate activities 

associated with review of applications 

for DCs and COLs by the Office of New 

Reactors. The NRC staff will also 

incorporate the approved DC/COL–ISG– 

06 into the next revision of the SRP and 

related guidance documents. 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES