Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 121 / Thursday, June 22, 2000 / Proposed Rules 38795

PART 72—LICENSING

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF SPENT

NUCLEAR FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL

RADIOACTIVE WASTE

1. The authority citation for Part 72

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69,

81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 68 Stat.

929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953, 954,

955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as

amended (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2077, 2092,

2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233,

2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2282); sec. 274, Pub.

L. 86–373, 73 Stat. 688, as amended (42

U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201, as amended, 202, 206,

88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42

U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846); Pub. L. 95–601, sec.

10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L.

10d—48b, sec. 7902, 10b Stat. 31b3 (42

U.S.C. 5851); sec. 102, Pub. L. 91–190, 83

Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332); secs. 131, 132,

133, 135, 137, 141, Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat.

2229, 2230, 2232, 2241, sec. 148, Pub. L.

100–203, 101 Stat. 1330–235 (42 U.S.C.

10151, 10152, 10153, 10155, 10157, 10161,

10168).

Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs.

142(b) and 148(c), (d), Pub. L. 100–203, 101

Stat. 1330–232, 1330–236 (42 U.S.C.

10162(b), 10168(c),(d)). Section 72.46 also

issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C.

2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat. 2230

(42 U.S.C. 10154). Section 72.96(d) also

issued under sec. 145(g), Pub. L. 100–203,

101 Stat. 1330–235 (42 U.S.C. 10165(g)).

Subpart J also issued under secs. 2(2), 2(15),

2(19), 117(a), 141(h), Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat.

2202, 2203, 2204, 2222, 2244, (42 U.S.C.

10101, 10137(a), 10161(h)). Subparts K and L

are also issued under sec. 133, 98 Stat. 2230

(42 U.S.C. 10153) and sec. 218(a), 96 Stat.

2252 (42 U.S.C. 10198).

2. In § 72.214, Certificate of

Compliance (CoC) 1004 is revised to

read as follows:

§ 72.214 List of approved spent fuel

storage casks.

* * * * *

Certificate Number: 1004.

Initial Certificate Effective Date: January

23, 1995.

Amendment No. 1 Effective Date: April

27, 2000.

Amendment No. 2 Effective Date:

September 5, 2000. SAR Submitted by: Transnuclear West,

Inc.

SAR Title: Transnuclear West, Inc.,

‘‘Final Safety Analysis Report for the

Standardized NUHOMS Horizontal

Modular Storage System for Irradiated

Nuclear Fuel’’.

Docket Number: 72–1004.

Certificate Expiration Date: January 23,

2015.

Model Number: Standardized

NUHOMS–24P and NUHOMS–

52B.

* * * * *

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day

of May, 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

William D. Travers,

Executive Director for Operations.

[FR Doc. 00–15543 Filed 6–21–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

RIN 3150–AG55

List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage

Casks: VSC–24 Revision

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is proposing to

amend its regulations revising the

Pacific Sierra Nuclear Associates

(PSNA) VSC–24 cask system listing

within the ‘‘List of approved spent fuel

storage casks’’ to include Amendment

No. 2 to the Certificate of Compliance

(CoC). Amendment No. 2 will revise the

Technical Specifications and CoC

regarding welding and nondestructive

examination of welds, the method for

determining cask drain time during

loading, the minimum temperature for

moving the loaded multi-assembly

sealed basket (MSB), artificial thermal

loads other than spent fuel that may be

used to obtain temperature data, and the

maximum permissible air outlet

temperature. In addition, the

amendment includes changes to the

Technical Specifications and CoC to

correct typographical errors and to make

other minor clarifications and changes.

This amendment will allow the holders

of power reactor operating licenses to

store spent fuel in the VSC–24 cask

system, as amended, under a general

license.

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule

must be received on or before July 24,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to:

Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001. Attention: Rulemakings and

Adjudications Staff. Deliver comments to 11555 Rockville

Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30

a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. You may also provide comments via

the NRC’s interactive rulemaking

website (http://ruleforumllnl.gov). This

site provides the capability to upload

comments as files (any format), if your

web browser supports that function. For

information about the interactive

rulemaking website, contact Ms. Carol

Gallagher, (301) 415–5905 (e-mail:

cag@nrc.gov).

Copies of any comments received may

be examined at the NRC Public

Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW.

(Lower Level), Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gordon Gundersen, telephone (301)

415–6195, e-mail, GEG1@nrc.gov of the

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and

Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For

additional information see the Direct

Final Rule published in the rules

section of this Federal Register.

Procedural Background

Because NRC considers this action

noncontroversial and routine, we are

publishing this proposed rule

concurrently as a direct final rule. The

direct final rule will become effective on

September 5, 2000. However, if the NRC

receives significant adverse comments

on the direct final rule by July 24, 2000,

then the NRC will publish a notice to

withdraw the direct final rule. If the

direct final rule is withdrawn, the NRC

will address the comments received in

response to the proposed revisions in a

subsequent final rule. Absent significant

modifications to the proposed revisions

requiring republication, the NRC will

not initiate a second comment period

for this action in the event the direct

final rule is withdrawn.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 72

Criminal penalties, Manpower

training programs, Nuclear materials,

Occupational safety and health,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Security measures, Spent

fuel.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble and under the authority of the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended;

the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974,

as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 553; the NRC

is proposing to adopt the following

amendments to 10 CFR part 72.

PART 72—LICENSING

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF SPENT

NUCLEAR FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL

RADIOACTIVE WASTE

1. The authority citation for Part 72

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69,

81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 68 Stat.

929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953, 954,

955, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as

amended (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2077, 2092,

2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233,

2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2282); sec. 274, Pub.

38796 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 121 / Thursday, June 22, 2000 / Proposed Rules

L. 86–373, 73 Stat. 688, as amended (42

U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201, as amended, 202, 206,

88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42

U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846); Pub. L. 95–601, sec.

10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 10d–

48b, sec. 7902, 10b Stat. 31b3 (42 U.S.C.

5851); sec. 102, Pub. L. 91–190, 83 Stat. 853

(42 U.S.C. 4332); secs. 131, 132, 133, 135,

137, 141, Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat. 2229, 2230,

2232, 2241, sec. 148, Pub. L. 100–203, 101

Stat. 1330–235 (42 U.S.C. 10151, 10152,

10153, 10155, 10157, 10161, 10168).

Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs.

142(b) and 148(c), (d), Pub. L. 100–203, 101

Stat. 1330–232, 1330–236 (42 U.S.C.

10162(b), 10168(c), (d)). Section 72.46 also

issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C.

2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat. 2230

(42 U.S.C. 10154). Section 72.96(d) also

issued under sec. 145(g), Pub. L. 100–203,

101 Stat. 1330–235 (42 U.S.C. 10165(g)).

Subpart J also issued under secs. 2(2), 2(15),

2(19), 117(a), 141(h), Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat.

2202, 2203, 2204, 2222, 2244, (42 U.S.C.

10101, 10137(a), 10161(h)). Subparts K and L

are also issued under sec. 133, 98 Stat. 2230

(42 U.S.C. 10153) and sec. 218(a), 96 Stat.

2252 (42 U.S.C. 10198).

2. Section 72.214, Certificate of

Compliance (CoC) 1007 is revised to

read as follows:

§ 72.214 List of approved spent fuel

storage casks.

* * * * *

Certificate Number: 1007.

Initial Certificate Effective Date: May 7,

1993.

Amendment Number 1 Effective Date:

May 30, 2000.

Amendment Number 2 Effective Date:

September 5, 2000.

SAR Submitted by: Pacific Sierra

Nuclear Associates.

SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report

for the Ventilated Storage Cask

System.

Docket Number: 72–1007.

Certificate Expiration Date: May 7, 2013.

Model Number: VSC–24.

* * * * *

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day

of May, 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

William D. Travers,

Executive Director for Operations.

[FR Doc. 00–15541 Filed 6–21–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

20 CFR Parts 404 and 416

[Regulations Nos. 4 and 16]

RIN 0960–AF17

Administrative Review Process;

Prehearing and Posthearing

Conferences

AGENCY: Social Security Administration

(SSA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend a

portion of our regulations on social

security and supplemental security

income which currently state that an

administrative law judge (ALJ) may

decide to hold a prehearing or

posthearing conference in your case. We

are proposing to amend these rules to

provide that we may designate an

attorney adviser in our Office of

Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to conduct

a formal prehearing or posthearing

conference when requested by an ALJ.

We are also proposing to amend our

rules to include procedures to govern

the informal prehearing conference that

we may hold with you. We are

proposing these rules in order to

improve our hearings process by

standardizing and increasing the

efficiency of our procedures for holding

prehearing and posthearing conferences.

DATES: To be sure your comments are

considered, we must receive them no

later than August 21, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

submitted to the Commissioner of Social

Security, P.O. Box 17703, Baltimore,

MD 21235–7703; sent by telefax to (410)

966–2830; sent by e-mail to

regulations@SSA.gov; or delivered to

the Office of Process and Innovation

Management, Social Security

Administration, L2109 West Low Rise,

6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD

21235–6401, between 8:00 A.M. and

4:30 P.M. on regular business days.

Comments received may be inspected

during these same hours by making

arrangements with the contact person

shown below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Georgia E. Myers, Regulations Officer,

Office of Process and Innovation

Management, Social Security

Administration, L2109 West Low Rise,

6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD

21235–6401, (410) 965–3632 or TTY 1–

800–988–5906, for information about

this notice. For information on

eligibility or filing for benefits, call our

national toll-free number, 1–800–772–

1213 or TTY 1–800–325–0778.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

We generally use a four step

administrative review process to decide

claims for Social Security benefits under

title II of the Social Security Act (the

Act) and for Supplemental Security

Income (SSI) benefits under title XVI of

the Act. If you are not satisfied with our

initial determination, you may request

that we reconsider it. If you are not

satisfied with our reconsidered

determination, you may request an ALJ

hearing. If you are not satisfied with the

ALJ’s decision, you may request that the

Appeals Council review it. Generally,

you must complete these steps and

receive our final decision before you

may request judicial review of the

decision in the Federal courts.

On August 30, 1999, we announced a

prototype involving a combination of

modifications to the procedures we

follow in determining disability (64 FR

47218). At that time, we also announced

that we were making several changes to

improve the hearing step of the

administrative review process. We

noted that we were going to streamline

case processing, make structural

changes in the management

organization of our hearing offices, and

make improvements in our automation

and data collection. We also noted that

we would implement a ‘‘national

workflow model’’ that combines

prehearing activities, a standardized

prehearing conference, and processingtime benchmarks for various tasks (64

FR at 47219).

We are making changes in the hearing

process as part of our Hearings Process

Improvement (HPI) initiative. Under

HPI, we are trying to make our hearing

process more timely, more efficient and

more customer-focused. The report on

this initiative is available as an SSA

publication, ‘‘The Hearings Process

Improvement Initiative: Delivering

Better Service for the 21st Century’’

(SSA Pub. No. 01–016). We also made

this report available on our Internet site

at http://www.ssa.gov/reports/hpi.

Under our HPI initiative, we

distinguish between informal and

formal prehearing conferences. Informal

conferences will be a relatively routine

part of our prehearing activities. We will

hold these conferences to develop

additional evidence and information

that may be needed to ensure that cases

are ready for a hearing when they are

assigned to an ALJ. We will hold formal

prehearing conferences more rarely and

only at the request of an ALJ.

We currently conduct developmental

activities similar to those involved in

the informal conferences under the

Commissioner’s general, administrative