59274 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 4, 2000 / Notices

1Adjustment for inflation=Consumer Price Index

(CPI) for June 1999—CPI for June 1996.

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[NUREG—1600]

Revision of the NRC Enforcement

Policy

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Policy statement: revision.

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC or Commission) is

publishing a revision to its General

Statement of Policy and Procedure for

NRC Enforcement Actions (NUREG–

1600) (Enforcement Policy or Policy) to

address the requirements of the Federal

Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act

of 1990, as amended by the Debt

Collection Improvement Act of 1996.

The Act requires Federal agencies to

adjust civil monetary penalties to reflect

inflation.

DATES: This action is effective on

November 3, 2000. Comments on this

revision should be submitted on or

before November 3, 2000 and will be

considered by the NRC before the next

Enforcement Policy revision. The

Commission will apply the modified

Policy to violations that occur after the

effective date.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

to: David L. Meyer, Chief, Rules and

Directives Branch, Division of

Administrative Services, Office of

Administration, Mail Stop: T6D59, U. S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555–0001. Hand

deliver comments to: Room T6D22,

11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville,

Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15

p.m., Federal workdays. Copies of

comments received may be examined at

the NRC Public Document Room, 11555

Rockville Pike, Room O1–F21,

Rockville, MD, and through the NRC

Agencywide Documents Access and

Management System (ADAMS).

Comments may also be sent

electronically by completing the online

comment form available on the NRC’s

Office of Enforcement Internet webpage

at www.nrc.gov/OE/rpr/oe_10.htm.

The NRC’s Office of Enforcement

maintains the current policy statement

on its homepage on the Internet at

www.nrc.gov/OE.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill

Borchardt, Director, Office of

Enforcement, (301) 415–2741, e-mail

rwb1@nrc.gov or Rene Pedersen, Senior

Enforcement Specialist, Office of

Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555–

0001, (301) 415–2742, e-mail

rmp@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 234 of the Atomic Energy Act

(AEA) limits the maximum civil penalty

amount that the NRC may issue for

violations of the AEA at $100,000 per

violation, per day. The Federal Civil

Monetary Penalties Inflation

Adjustment Act of 1990 (as amended by

the Debt Collection Improvement Act of

1996 (the Act)) requires that the head of

each agency adjust by regulation the

civil monetary penalties (CMPs)

provided by law within the jurisdiction

of the agency for inflation at least once

every four years. On November 12,

1996, the NRC adjusted the

aforementioned maximum civil penalty

amount to $110,000. Thus, the NRC is

required to adjust this civil penalty by

November 12, 2000.

The inflation adjustment mandated by

the Act results in a six percent increase

to the maximum CMPs.1 Increases are to

be rounded to the nearest multiple of

$10,000 in the case of penalties greater

than $100,000, but less than or equal to

$200,000.

After this mandatory adjustment for

inflation and the rounding mandated by

statute, the new maximum civil penalty

amount will be $120,000 per violation,

per day. Concurrent with this change,

the NRC is publishing in the Federal

Register, a change to 10 CFR 2.205 to

reflect the new maximum CMP

mandated by the Act. The new

maximum civil penalty applies only to

violations that occur after the date that

the increase takes effect.

The changes mandated by the Act

apply to the maximum CMP. This is

also the amount that, under the

Enforcement Policy approved by the

Commission, is assigned as the base

civil penalty for power reactors and

gaseous diffusion plants for a Severity

Level I violation (considered the most

significant severity level). Also as a

matter of policy, the Commission has

approved use of lesser amounts for other

types of licensees, primarily materials

licensees, and for violations that are

assessed at lower severity levels. This

approach is set out in Tables 1A and 1B

of the Enforcement Policy. While the

1996 Act does not mandate changes to

these lesser civil penalty amounts, the

NRC is modifying Table 1A of the

Enforcement Policy by increasing each

amount to maintain the same

proportional relationships between the

penalties. These changes apply to

violations occurring after the effective

date of this Policy Statement.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This final policy statement does not

contain a new or amended information

collection requirement subject to the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing

requirements were approved by the

Office of Management and Budget,

approval number 3150–0136.

Public Protection Notification

If a means used to impose an

information collection does not display

a currently valid OMB control number,

the NRC may not conduct or sponsor,

and a person is not required to respond

to, the information collection.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act

In accordance with the Small

Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has

determined that this action is not a

‘‘major’’ rule and has verified this

determination with the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget.

Accordingly, the NRC Enforcement

Policy published on May 1, 2000 (65 FR

25368) is revised to read as follows:

General Statement of Policy and Procedure

for NRC Enforcement Actions

* * * * *

VI. Disposition of Violations

* * * * *

C. Civil Penalty

* * * * *

1. Base Civil Penalty

* * * * *

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 4, 2000 / Notices 59275

TABLE 1A.—BASE CIVIL PENALTIES

a. Power reactors and gaseous diffusion plants ..................................................................................................................................... $120,000

b. Fuel fabricators authorized to possess Category I or II quantities of SNM ........................................................................................ 60,000

c. Fuel fabricators, industrial processors,1 and independent spent fuel and monitored retrievable storage installations ..................... 30,000

d. Test reactors, mills and uranium conversion facilities, contractors, waste disposal licensees, industrial radiographers, and other

large material users ............................................................................................................................................................................. 12,000

e. Research reactors, academic, medical, or other small material users 2 ............................................................................................ 6,000

1 Large firms engaged in manufacturing or distribution of byproduct, source, or special nuclear material.

2This applies to nonprofit institutions not otherwise categorized in this table, mobile nuclear services, nuclear pharmacies, and physician

offices.

* * * * *

2. Civil Penalty Assessment

* * * * *

d. Exercise of Discretion

As provided in Section VII, ‘‘Exercise of

Discretion,’’ discretion may be exercised by

either escalating or mitigating the amount of

the civil penalty determined after applying

the civil penalty adjustment factors to ensure

that the proposed civil penalty reflects all

relevant circumstances of the particular case.

However, in no instance will a civil penalty

for any one violation exceed $120,000 per

day.

* * * * *

VII. Exercise of Discretion

* * * * *

A. Escalation of Enforcement Sanctions

The NRC considers violations categorized

at Severity Level I, II, or III to be of

significant regulatory concern. The NRC also

considers violations associated with findings

that the Reactor Oversight Process’s

Significance Determination Process evaluates

as having low to moderate, or greater safety

significance (i.e., white, yellow, or red) to be

of significant regulatory concern. If the

application of the normal guidance in this

policy does not result in an appropriate

sanction, with the approval of the Deputy

Executive Director and consultation with the

EDO and Commission, as warranted, the NRC

may apply its full enforcement authority

where the action is warranted. NRC action

may include: (1) escalating civil penalties; (2)

issuing appropriate orders; and (3) assessing

civil penalties for continuing violations on a

per day basis, up to the statutory limit of

$120,000 per violation, per day.

* * * * *

3. Daily Civil Penalties

In order to recognize the added

significance for those cases where a very

strong message is warranted for a significant

violation that continues for more than one

day, the NRC may exercise discretion and

assess a separate violation and attendant civil

penalty up to the statutory limit of $120,000

for each day the violation continues. The

NRC may exercise this discretion if a licensee

was aware of or clearly should have been

aware of a violation, or if the licensee had an

opportunity to identify and corerct the

violation but failed to do so.

* * * * *

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day

of September, 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Annette L. Vietti-Cook,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 00–25375 Filed 10–3–00; 8:45 am]

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