71988 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

consideration for future modifications to 

the public notice response process. 

(4) The respondent also urged the 

RUS to regularly update the minimum 

acceptable level of broadband service. 

Agency response: The minimum 

acceptable level of broadband service is 

designed to change with the everincreasing bandwidth requirements that 

the public requires. The Agency has 

implemented procedures in 7 CFR 

1738.2 that allow the definition of 

broadband service to be updated any 

time an application window is opened 

through a notice in the Federal Register 

or required by statute. 

Respondent 2: The respondent, an 

industry association, provided three 

specific comments as part of their 

response. 

(1) The respondent reminded the 

Agency it must comply with 

requirements applicable to all 

broadband funding to include notice 

and challenge, reporting and Agency 

coordination. 

Agency response: The Agency 

acknowledges this comment and will 

continue to follow the regulations and 

processes it has in place for its existing 

broadband lending programs. 

(2) The respondent requested that 

RUS clarify than an area is only eligible 

for funding if there is no broadband 

service available, whether fixed or 

mobile, that reaches the designated 

speeds. 

Agency response: Section 

1980.1207(b) states that if RUS 

determines that the minimum 

acceptable level of broadband service is 

available in the proposed retail service 

area after review of information 

submitted from service providers, if any, 

and all available data on broadband 

availability, the Awarding Agency shall 

not approve the use of funds for such 

purpose. The Agency feels this section 

addresses the respondents comment and 

no changes are needed. 

(3) The respondent encouraged RUS 

to adopt new rules for all of its 

broadband funding programs through 

notice and comment rulemaking 

procedures. 

Agency response: The Agency will 

continue to follow all rulemaking 

procedures as applicable. 

Respondent 3: The respondent, an 

industry association, encouraged careful 

precision when multiplying the number 

of programs supporting broadband. The 

respondent encourages USDA and the 

FCC programs to work in concert stating 

that Section 6210 funds should be used 

in concert with USF to deploy the 

fastest, most reliable networks possible. 

The respondent noted ‘‘as more RD 

programs support broadband network 

deployment under Sec 6210, it will 

remain essential to use the additional 

funds to supplement the work of 

existing programs instead of supporting 

an additional ISP in a rural area that 

will not even support one provider on 

its own.’’ The respondent suggests that 

the rule ‘‘include a provision indicating 

that, for an area where FCC data 

indicate that a provider is receiving 

High-Cost USF support and is subject to 

the corresponding obligation to deploy 

a network that will deliver 25/3 Mbps 

or greater service, no other provider will 

be eligible to obtain funds pursuant to 

Section 6210 in that specific area.’’ 

Agency response: The Agency is 

committed to continuing to work with 

the FCC and other federal partners to 

ensure that their programs and RUS’ 

programs are complementary of each 

other, not duplicative. 

Respondent 4: The respondent, an 

industry association, provided a 

resolution that outlines the challenges 

that rural organizations and businesses 

have in identifying and accessing 

federal broadband resources. The 

resolution also provided generalized 

recommendations to Congress and 

federal agencies concerning adopting 

higher broadband speeds as the 

standard, strengthening local 

partnerships and coordination, 

addressing application barriers for 

businesses, local governments, 

cooperatives and Tribes; allocating 

designated portions of available funding 

to support projects on tribal lands and 

to leverage community anchor 

institutions to spur connectivity. 

Agency response: Respondent four 

comments were more general and not 

specifically related to suggested changes 

for this final rule. The Agency 

appreciates the respondent’s 

commitment to Rural America and to 

maintaining positive local and federal 

relationships. 

Respondent 5, a university student, 

suggested the Agency increase the 

funding amount from 10 percent to 15 

percent. 

Agency response: Section 6210 of the 

2018 Farm Bill specifically states 10 

percent. An increase of this percentage 

would require a statutory change. 

Respondent 6, an individual, 

petitioned USDA to consider three 

changes: 

(1) To define the minimum acceptable 

level of broadband service from 25MB 

down and 3MB up to 50MB down and 

10MP up speeds. 

Agency response: As stated in an 

earlier response, the minimum 

acceptable level of broadband service is 

designed to change with the everincreasing bandwidth requirements that 

the public requires and to comply with 

statutory requirements. The Agency has 

implemented procedures in 7 CFR 

1738.2 that allow the definition of 

broadband speeds to be updated any 

time an application window is opened 

through a notice in the Federal Register. 

(2) Consider a temporary interest rate 

reduction on loans for organizations that 

provide broadband services to families 

engaged in distance education at a 

reduced cost. 

Agency response: Section 6210 of the 

2018 Farm Bill does not include a 

provision for an interest rate reduction 

when implementing this special 

broadband authority. 

(3) Increase the percentage 

organizations can spend on broadband 

and smart utility facilities from 10 

percent to 15 percent. 

Agency response: As stated in a 

previous response, Section 6210 of the 

2018 Farm Bill specifically limits such 

assistance to 10 percent. An increase of 

this percentage would require a 

statutory change. 

Respondent 7, an individual, offered 

his support of USDA establishing the 

authority authorized by section 6210 of 

the Agricultural Improvement Act of 

2018. 

Agency response: The Agency 

appreciates the respondent’s comments 

and support of this final rule. 

Respondent 8, a non-profit 

organization, did not offer comments 

specific to the rule. Instead, they 

outlined the importance of accurate 

broadband mapping data and their 

proposed solution to help with this 

undertaking. 

Agency response: The Agency 

appreciates the respondent’s efforts to 

improve broadband mapping data and 

their commitment to Rural America. 

The Agency evaluated the responsive 

comments and based on analysis, 

confirms the final rule without change. 

Farah Ahmad, 

Deputy Under Secretary for Rural 

Development. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23070 Filed 10–18–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Part 140 

[NRC–2023–0130] 

RIN 3150–AL02 

Increase in the Maximum Amount of 

Primary Nuclear Liability Insurance 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 71989 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is amending its 

regulations to increase the required 

amount of primary nuclear liability 

insurance from $450 million to $500 

million for each nuclear reactor that is 

licensed to operate, is designed for the 

production of electrical energy, and has 

a rated capacity of 100,000 electrical 

kilowatts or more. This change complies 

with the provision in the PriceAnderson Amendments Act of 1988 that 

states the amount of primary financial 

protection required of licensees by the 

NRC shall be the maximum amount 

available at reasonable cost and on 

reasonable terms from private sources. 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

January 1, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2023–0130 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information for this action. You may 

obtain publicly available information 

related to this action by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2023–0130. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Dawn 

Forder; telephone: 301–415–3407; 

email: Dawn.Forder@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions, contact the 

individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly 

available documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

https://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, at 

301–415–4737, or by email to 

PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS 

accession number for each document 

referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) 

is provided the first time that it is 

mentioned in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents, 

by appointment, at the NRC’s PDR, 

Room P1 B35, One White Flint North, 

11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

Maryland 20852. To make an 

appointment to visit the PDR, please 

send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov 

or call 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415– 

4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern 

time, Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stewart Schneider, Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards, 

telephone: 301–415–4123, email: 

Stewart.Schneider@nrc.gov and Mable 

Henderson, Office of Nuclear Material 

Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301– 

415–3760, email: Mable.Henderson@

nrc.gov. Both are employees of the NRC. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Discussion 

II. Rulemaking Procedure 

III. Section-by-Section Analysis 

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification 

V. Regulatory Analysis 

VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality 

VII. Plain Writing 

VIII. National Environmental Policy 

IX. Paperwork Reduction Act 

X. Congressional Review Act 

I. Discussion 

The NRC’s regulations in part 140 of 

title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Financial 

Protection Requirements and Indemnity 

Agreements,’’ provide requirements and 

procedures for implementing the 

financial protection requirements for 

certain licensees and other persons 

under the Price-Anderson Amendments 

Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100–408) (PriceAnderson Act), incorporated as Section 

170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 

as amended (AEA). The Price-Anderson 

Act amended § 170b.(1) to state that for 

facilities designed for producing 

substantial amounts of electricity and 

having a rated capacity of 100,000 

electrical kilowatts or more (henceforth 

referred to as large operating reactors), 

‘‘the amount of primary financial 

protection required shall be the 

maximum amount available at 

reasonable cost and on reasonable terms 

from private sources.’’ This requirement 

of the Price-Anderson Act is 

implemented in the NRC’s regulations at 

§ 140.11 ‘‘Amounts of financial 

protection for certain reactors.’’ Section 

140.11(a)(4) refers to the current dollar 

amount of the maximum amount 

liability insurance from private sources 

of $450 million. Therefore, 

§ 140.11(a)(4) currently requires large 

operating reactors to have and maintain 

primary nuclear liability insurance in 

the amount of $450 million. 

In a letter dated July 14, 2023, 

American Nuclear Insurers (ANI), the 

underwriter of American nuclear 

liability policies, acting on behalf of its 

member companies, notified the NRC 

that it will be increasing ‘‘its maximum 

available primary nuclear liability limit 

from $450 million to $500 million, 

effective on January 1, 2024’’ (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML23212A986). The ANI 

makes such adjustments on a nonperiodic basis. The last such adjustment 

was made in 2017, and the NRC revised 

§ 140.11 to reflect the increased 

maximum available amount of primary 

nuclear liability insurance (81 FR 

96347; December 30, 2016). 

To implement this adjustment, in 

accordance with the Price-Anderson 

Act, the NRC is revising 10 CFR part 140 

to require large operating reactors to 

have and maintain $500 million in 

primary financial protection. 

The NRC is not currently revising the 

appendices in § 140.91, § 140.92, or 

§ 140.93 that provide general forms of 

liability policies and indemnity 

agreements that were determined to be 

acceptable to the Commission. These 

appendices include historical insurance 

providers and protection amounts for 

primary liability insurance that are no 

longer in use (for example, values of 

$124 million and $36 million from the 

1979 final rule (44 FR 20632; April 6, 

1979) and values of $200 million, $155 

million, and $45 million from the 1989 

final rule (54 FR 24157; June 6, 1989)). 

However, these appendices continue to 

provide relevant general forms of 

policies and agreements. 

II. Rulemaking Procedure 

This final rule is being issued without 

prior public notice or opportunity for 

public comments. The Administrative 

Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B)) does 

not require an agency to use the public 

notice and comment process ‘‘when the 

agency for good cause finds (and 

incorporates the finding and a brief 

statement of reasons therefore in the 

rules issued) that notice and public 

procedure thereon are impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ In this instance, the NRC 

finds, for good cause, that solicitation of 

public comment on this final rule is 

unnecessary because the PriceAnderson Act requires a nondiscretionary adjustment in the 

maximum amount required for primary 

nuclear liability insurance. Requesting 

public comment on this nondiscretionary adjustment, which is 

required by statute, would not result in 

a change to the adjusted amount. 

III. Section-by-Section Analysis 

The following paragraph describes the 

specific changes that are reflected in 

this final rule. 

§ 140.11 Amounts of Financial 

Protection for Certain Reactors 

In paragraph (a)(4), this final rule 

removes ‘‘$450,000,000’’ and replaces it 

with the increased maximum amount of 


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71990 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

primary nuclear liability insurance of 

‘‘$500,000,000’’. 

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act does 

not apply to regulations for which a 

Federal agency is not required by law, 

including the rulemaking provisions of 

the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 

U.S.C. 553(b), to publish a general 

notice of proposed rulemaking (5 U.S.C. 

604). As discussed in this document 

under Section II, ‘‘Rulemaking 

Procedure,’’ the NRC is not publishing 

this final rule for notice and comment. 

Accordingly, the NRC has determined 

that the requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act do not apply to this final 

rule. 

V. Regulatory Analysis 

A regulatory analysis was not 

prepared for this final rule because the 

change in the maximum amount of 

nuclear liability insurance is mandated 

by the Price-Anderson Act. This final 

rule does not involve an exercise of 

Commission discretion. 

VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality 

The NRC has not prepared a backfit 

analysis for this final rule. This final 

rule does not involve any provision that 

would impose a backfit, nor is it 

inconsistent with any issue finality 

provision, as those terms are defined in 

10 CFR chapter I. These mandatory 

adjustments are non-discretionary, 

required by statute, and do not represent 

any change in position by the NRC with 

respect to the design, construction, or 

operation of a licensed facility. 

VII. Plain Writing 

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. 

L. 111–274) requires Federal agencies to 

write documents in a clear, concise, and 

well-organized manner. The NRC has 

written this document to be consistent 

with the Plain Writing Act as well as the 

Presidential Memorandum, ‘‘Plain 

Language in Government Writing,’’ 

published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31885). 

VIII. National Environmental Policy 

Act 

The NRC has determined that this 

final rule is the type of action described 

in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 

51.22(c)(1). Therefore, neither an 

environmental impact statement nor an 

environmental assessment has been 

prepared for this final rule. 

IX. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This final rule does not contain any 

new or amended collections of 

information subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.). Existing collections of 

information were approved by the 

Office of Management and Budget, 

approval number 3150–0039. 

Public Protection Notification 

The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, 

and a person is not required to respond 

to, a collection of information unless the 

document requesting or requiring the 

collection displays a currently valid 

OMB control number. 

X. Congressional Review Act 

This final rule 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. 

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 140 

Criminal penalties, Extraordinary 

nuclear occurrence, Insurance, 

Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear 

materials, Nuclear power plants and 

reactors, Penalties, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

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. 552 and 553, 

the NRC is adopting the following 

amendments to 10 CFR part 140. 

PART 140—FINANCIAL PROTECTION 

REQUIREMENTS AND INDEMNITY 

AGREEMENTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 140 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 

secs. 161, 170, 223, 234 (42 U.S.C. 2201, 

2210, 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act 

of 1974, secs. 201, 202 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 

5842); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note. 

§ 140.11 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 140.11, amend paragraph (a)(4) 

by removing the number 

‘‘$450,000,000’’ and adding in its place 

the number ‘‘$500,000,000’’. 

Dated: September 29, 2023. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Scott A. Morris, 

Acting Executive Director for Operations. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23062 Filed 10–18–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Parts 429 and 431 

[EERE–2017–BT–STD–0048] 

RIN 1904–AF27 

Energy Conservation Program: Energy 

Conservation Standards for Dedicated 

Purpose Pool Pump Motors 

Correction 

In rule document 2023–20343, 

appearing on pages 66966 through 

67041 in the issue of Thursday, 

September 28, 2023, make the following 

correction: 

§ 431.482 Materials incorporated by 

reference. [Corrected] 

■ On page 67041, in the second column, 

the 26th line from the bottom of the 

page ‘‘following paragraphs of this 

section:’’ should read ‘‘following 

paragraphs of this section.’’. 

[FR Doc. C2–2023–20343 Filed 10–18–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 0099–10–D 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 71 

[Docket No. FAA–2023–1325; Airspace 

Docket No. 23–AGL–17] 

RIN 2120–AA66 

Amendment of VOR Federal Airway V– 

36 and Establishment of RNAV Route 

T–675; Northcentral United States 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule, delay of effective 

date. 

SUMMARY: This action changes the 

effective date of a final rule published 

in the Federal Register on September 

22, 2023, amending Very High 

Frequency Omnidirectional Range 

(VOR) Federal airway V–36 and 

establishing Canadian Area Navigation 

(RNAV) route T–675 in the northcentral 

United States (U.S.). The FAA is 

delaying the effective date to coincide 

with the expected completion of the 

associated aeronautical data 

requirements for establishing all 

segments of Canadian RNAV route T– 

675 within U.S. airspace and to adopt 

the rule amendments concurrently. 

DATES: The effective date of the final 

rule published on September 22, 2023 

(88 FR 65311) is delayed from 

November 30, 2023, to March 21, 2024. 

The Director of the Federal Register 


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