I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3132 

To ensure orderly conduct of Nuclear Regulatory Commission actions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013 

Mr. TERRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To ensure orderly conduct of Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

actions. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Regulatory 

5 Commission Reorganization Plan Codification and Com6 plements Act’’. 


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1 TITLE I—REPLACEMENT OF 

2 REORGANIZATION PLAN 

3 SEC. 101. GENERAL FUNCTIONS. 

4 (a) FUNCTIONS.—Those functions of the Nuclear 

5 Regulatory Commission (in this title referred to as the 

6 ‘‘Commission’’) concerned with— 

7 (1) policy formulation; 

8 (2) rulemaking, as defined in section 553 of 

9 title 5 of the United States Code, except that those 

10 matters set forth in 553 (a)(2) and (b) which do not 

11 pertain to policy formulation orders or adjudications 

12 shall be reserved to the Chairman of the Commis13 sion; 

14 (3) orders and adjudications, as defined in sec15 tion 551 (6) and (7) of title 5 of the United States 

16 Code; and 

17 (4) approving the distribution of appropriated 

18 funds according to programs and purposes proposed 

19 by the Executive Director for Operations, 

20 shall remain vested in the Commission. A majority of the 

21 Commission may determine, in an area of doubt, whether 

22 any matter, action, question, or area of inquiry pertains 

23 to one of these functions. Any member of the Commission 

24 may request such a vote. Any member of the Commission 

25 may propose a policy matter for consideration by the ComVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:13 Sep 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3132.IH H3132

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1 mission. All members of the Commission shall have full, 

2 unfettered, timely, and equal access to information per3 taining to its functions. The performance of any portion 

4 of these functions may be delegated by the Commission 

5 to a member of the Commission, including the Chairman 

6 of the Commission (in this title referred to as the ‘‘Chair7 man’’) and to the staff. 

8 (b) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.— 

9 (1) OFFICERS.—With respect to the following 

10 officers or successor officers duly established by stat11 ute or by the Commission, the Chairman shall ini12 tiate the appointment, subject to the approval of the 

13 Commission, and the Chairman or a member of the 

14 Commission may initiate an action for removal, sub15 ject to the approval of the Commission by majority 

16 vote: 

17 (A) Executive Director for Operations. 

18 (B) Chief and Deputy Chief Financial Of19 ficer. 

20 (C) General Counsel. 

21 (D) Director of the Office of Commission 

22 Appellate Adjudication. 

23 (E) Secretary of the Commission. 

24 (F) Director of the Office of Public Af25 fairs. 


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1 (G) Director of the Office of Congressional 

2 Affairs. 

3 (H) Director of the Office of International 

4 Programs. 

5 (I) Chief Administrative Judge and mem6 bers of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 

7 Panel. 

8 Any performance evaluation or rating of the officers 

9 listed in subparagraphs (A) through (I) shall be de10 termined by a majority vote of the members of the 

11 Commission. 

12 (2) REPLACEMENT OF OFFICERS.—(A) In the 

13 event of a vacancy in a position described in para14 graph (1), the Chairman may designate an acting 

15 officer for a maximum of 60 days, after which any 

16 further extension must be approved by the Commis17 sion. If, at the end of 60 days, the Commission has 

18 not approved the appointment of an officer proposed 

19 by the Chairman, or the Chairman has not proposed 

20 one, any Commissioner may initiate the appointment 

21 subject to approval of the Commission. 

22 (B) With respect to the following officers or 

23 successor officers duly established by statute or by 

24 the Commission, the Chairman, after consultation 

25 with the Executive Director for Operations, shall iniVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:13 Sep 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3132.IH H3132

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1 tiate the appointment, subject to the approval of the 

2 Commission, and the Chairman, or a member of the 

3 Commission may initiate an action for removal, sub4 ject to the approval of the Commission by majority 

5 vote: 

6 (i) Director of the Office of Nuclear Reac7 tor Regulation. 

8 (ii) Director of the Office of Nuclear Mate9 rial Safety and Safeguards. 

10 (iii) Director of the Office of Nuclear Reg11 ulatory Research. 

12 (iv) Director of the Office of Nuclear Secu13 rity and Incident Response. 

14 (v) Director of the Office of New Reactors. 

15 (vi) Director of the Office of Federal and 

16 State Materials and Environmental Manage17 ment Programs. 

18 (vii) Director of the Office of Investiga19 tions. 

20 (viii) Director of the Office of Enforce21 ment. 

22 (3) APPOINTMENT OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE

23 ON REACTOR SAFEGUARDS.—The Chairman or a 

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1 mittee on Reactor Safeguards, subject to the ap2 proval of the Commission. The provisions for ap3 pointment of the Chairman of the Advisory Com4 mittee on Reactor Safeguards and the term of the 

5 members shall not be affected by the provisions of 

6 this title. 

7 (4) DELEGATION OF STAFF SUPERVISION

8 FUNCTIONS.—The Commission shall delegate the 

9 function of appointing, removing, and supervising 

10 the staff of the following offices or successor offices 

11 to the respective heads of such offices: Executive Di12 rector for Operations, General Counsel, Secretary of 

13 the Commission, Chief Financial Officer, Office of 

14 Commission Appellate Adjudication, Office of Con15 gressional Affairs, Office of Public Affairs, and Of16 fice of International Programs. The Commission 

17 shall delegate the functions of appointing, removing, 

18 and supervising the staff of the following panels and 

19 committee to the respective Chairmen thereof: Atom20 ic Safety and Licensing Board Panel and Advisory 

21 Committee on Reactor Safeguards. 

22 (c) COMMISSION MEMBER OFFICES.—Each member 

23 of the Commission shall appoint, remove, and supervise 

24 the personnel employed in his or her immediate office. 


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1 (d) PERFORMANCE OF FUNCTIONS.—The Commis2 sion shall act as provided by section 201(a)(1) of the En3 ergy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5841(a)(1)) 

4 in the performance of its functions as described in sub5 sections (a) and (b) of this section. 

6 SEC. 102. CHAIRMAN. 

7 (a) FUNCTIONS.—Except as otherwise provided in 

8 section 101, all functions of the Commission shall rest 

9 with the Chairman. The Chairman shall be the official 

10 spokesman for the Commission and, as such, shall rep11 resent the policies determined by a majority of the Com12 mission. 

13 (b) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—The Chairman shall 

14 also be the principal executive officer of the Commission, 

15 and shall be responsible to the Commission for assuring 

16 that the Executive Director for Operations and the staff 

17 of the Commission (other than the officers and staff re18 ferred to in section 101 (b)(4) and (c)) are responsive to 

19 the requirements of the Commission in the performance 

20 of its functions; shall determine the use and expenditure 

21 of funds of the Commission, in accordance with the dis22 tribution of appropriated funds according to programs and 

23 purposes approved by the Commission; shall present to the 

24 Commission for its consideration the proposals set forth 

25 in paragraph (3); and shall be responsible for the following 


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1 functions, which the Chairman shall delegate, subject to 

2 the Chairman’s direction and supervision, to the Executive 

3 Director for Operations unless otherwise provided by this 

4 Act: 

5 (1) Administrative functions of the Commission. 

6 (2) Distribution of business among such per7 sonnel and among administrative units and offices of 

8 the Commission. 

9 (3) Preparation of proposals for the reorganiza10 tion of the major offices of the Commission. 

11 (4) Appointing and removing, without any fur12 ther action by the Commission, all officers and em13 ployees under the Commission other than those 

14 whose appointment and removal are specifically pro15 vided for by section 101 (b) and (c). 

16 (c) GOVERNING PRINCIPLES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman as principal 

18 executive officer and the Executive Director for Op19 erations shall be governed by the general policies of 

20 the Commission and by such regulatory decisions, 

21 findings, and determinations, including those for re22 organization proposals, budget revisions, and dis23 tribution of appropriated funds, as the Commission 

24 may by law, including this title, be authorized to 

25 make. 


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1 (2) FULL AND CURRENT INFORMATION.—The 

2 Chairman and the Executive Director for Operations 

3 shall have joint responsibility insuring that the Com4 mission is fully and currently informed about mat5 ters within its functions. 

6 (3) FAILURE TO ACT IN ACCORDANCE.—If a 

7 majority of Commissioners determine that the Chair8 man has not acted in accordance with paragraph (1) 

9 or (2), such Commissioners shall provide written no10 tice of the determination to the President and pro11 vide copies thereof to the Committee on Energy and 

12 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 

13 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

14 Senate. 

15 SEC. 103. EMERGENCY AUTHORITY. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sections 101 and 

17 102, the Chairman is authorized to exercise emergency au18 thority described in paragraph (4), subject to the following 

19 limitations: 

20 (1) The Chairman may not exercise emergency 

21 authority unless and until the Chairman declares a 

22 specific emergency exists and, not later than 24 

23 hours after such declaration, notifies— 

24 (A) the Commission, the Committee on 

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1 resentatives, and the Committee on Environ2 ment and Public Works of the Senate, in writ3 ing; and 

4 (B) the public. 

5 (2) The Chairman may only exercise emergency 

6 authority in response to— 

7 (A) an imminent safety threat pertaining 

8 to a facility or materials licensed or regulated 

9 by the Commission; or 

10 (B) a determination by the Secretary of 

11 Homeland Security, the Secretary of Energy, 

12 the Secretary of Transportation, the Director of 

13 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Direc14 tor of the Central Intelligence Agency, or the 

15 Director of National Intelligence of an immi16 nent security threat to a facility or materials li17 censed or regulated by the Commission. 

18 Where authority is exercised pursuant to this sec19 tion, public notification may be delayed provided 

20 that the Chairman determines that prior public dis21 closure would constitute a risk to public health and 

22 safety and so notifies the Commission, the Com23 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

24 Representatives, and the Committee on Environment 

25 and Public Works of the Senate. 


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1 (3) The Chairman may only exercise emergency 

2 authority for the duration of the emergency or 30 

3 days, whichever is less. The Commission may ap4 prove extensions of that time. Each extension is lim5 ited to 30 days and requires notification of the pub6 lic, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

7 House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

8 Environment and Public Works of the Senate. 

9 (4) The Chairman’s emergency authority in10 cludes the functions of responding to, issuing orders 

11 respecting, advising United States civil authorities 

12 and the United States public about, and directing 

13 and coordinating actions relative to such emergency 

14 incident. 

15 (b) DELEGATION.—The Chairman may delegate the 

16 authority to perform such emergency functions, in whole 

17 or in part, to any of the other members of the Commission. 

18 Such authority may also be delegated or redelegated, in 

19 whole or in part, to the staff of the Commission. 

20 (c) CONSULTATION.—To the extent practicable, the 

21 Chairman shall consult with the full Commission on any 

22 regulatory or policy actions to be taken under an emer23 gency. Such consultations shall be exempt from the re24 quirements of section 552b of title 5, United States Code 


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1 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Government in the Sun2 shine Act’’). 

3 (d) GUIDELINES AND NOTICE.—In acting under this 

4 section, the Chairman, or other member of the Commis5 sion delegated authority under subsection (b), shall con6 form to the policy guidelines of the Commission. 

7 (e) TERMINATION OF EMERGENCY.—Upon termi8 nation of the emergency, the Chairman shall immediately 

9 notify the Commission, the public, the Committee on En10 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and 

11 the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

12 Senate. 

13 (f) REPORT.—Within 30 days following the conclu14 sion of the emergency, the Chairman, or the member of 

15 the Commission or member of the staff delegated the 

16 emergency functions under subsection (b), shall render a 

17 complete report of all actions taken during the emergency, 

18 specifically delineating actions taken utilizing the author19 ity provided in this section, to the Commission, the Com20 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep21 resentatives, and the Committee on Environment and 

22 Public Works of the Senate. 

23 (g) COMMISSION PROCEDURES.—Not later than 90 

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1 ments of this section. Such revision shall define the roles 

2 of the Commissioners during an emergency, specifying— 

3 (1) complete access to records and information 

4 relating to actions taken during the emergency; 

5 (2) complete access to Commission staff in6 volved in the management of the emergency; 

7 (3) complete access to the location or locations 

8 where decisions are made during the emergency; and 

9 (4) participation in decisions that may affect 

10 Commission actions and policies beyond the response 

11 to a particular emergency to the extent practicable. 

12 SEC. 104. REPORTING. 

13 (a) DELEGATION; DIRECT COMMUNICATION.—The 

14 Chairman may make such delegations and provide for 

15 such reporting as the Chairman deems necessary, subject 

16 to provisions of law. Any officer or employee under the 

17 Commission may communicate directly to the Commission, 

18 or to any member of the Commission, whenever in the view 

19 of such officer or employee a critical problem, or matter 

20 of public health and safety or common defense and secu21 rity, is not being properly addressed. 

22 (b) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS.—The 

23 Executive Director for Operations shall report for all mat24 ters to the Chairman. 


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1 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Directors of Nuclear Reactor 

2 Regulations, Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, and 

3 Nuclear Regulatory Research shall report to the Executive 

4 Director for Operations. 

5 (d) DIRECT REPORTING.—The heads of the Commis6 sion level offices or successor offices, of General Counsel, 

7 Secretary of the Commission, Commission Appellate Adju8 dication, Congressional Affairs, Public Affairs, Inter9 national Programs, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 

10 Panel, and Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards 

11 shall report directly to the Commission and the Commis12 sion shall receive such reports. 

13 SEC. 105. RESCISSION OF REORGANIZATION PLAN AP14 PROVAL. 

15 Approval of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980 (5 

16 U.S.C. App. 1) is rescinded. 

17 TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS 

18 SEC. 201. CERTIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS TRANSMITTED 

19 TO CONGRESS. 

20 A letter or other document transmitted by the Nu21 clear Regulatory Commission, on behalf of the full Com22 mission, to a member of Congress in his or her capacity 

23 as chairman or ranking minority member of a Committee 

24 of Congress, shall include a certification that the letter 

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1 ing minority member of that Committee in accordance 

2 with established Commission procedures. 

3 SEC. 202. TIME LIMITS FOR COMMISSION REVIEW OF ATOM4 IC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD DECI5 SIONS. 

6 When reviewing the decisions and actions of the 

7 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, the Commission shall 

8 follow the following procedures: 

9 (1) Each Commissioner shall vote on the matter 

10 not later than 90 days after receipt of final briefs, 

11 after which time the Commission shall not further 

12 delay a decision. Once a majority position is estab13 lished, the Secretary shall notify in writing any 

14 Commissioners who have not voted that a majority 

15 position has been established. Any Commissioners 

16 who have not yet voted shall vote within three days 

17 of the Secretary’s notice or be considered by the 

18 Secretary as not participating. 

19 (2) Not later than 30 days after a majority po20 sition is established, the Commission shall publish 

21 any resulting decision, including adjudicatory orders 

22 and direction to agency staff. If a majority position 

23 is not established due to a tied vote, not later than 

24 30 days after Commission voting is complete, the 

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1 cluding adjudicatory orders and direction to agency 

2 staff. 

3 SEC. 203. ALLEGATIONS OF WRONGDOING. 

4 (a) REFERRAL TO INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not later 

5 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

6 Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall revise its procedures 

7 to ensure that any allegation of wrongdoing on the part 

8 of the Chairman of the Commission is immediately re9 ferred to the Inspector General of the Commission. 

10 (b) SUPERVISION OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—During 

11 the pendency of any investigation by the Inspector General 

12 of the Chairman with respect to an allegation described 

13 in subsection (a), the Chairman shall delegate responsi14 bility for supervising the Inspector General to a member 

15 of the Commission other than the Chairman, consistent 

16 with the Inspector General Act of 1978. 

17 SEC. 204. APPROVAL OF COMMISSIONER TRAVEL. 

18 The Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commis19 sion shall authorize all international travel requested by 

20 other members of the Commission for official business un21 less the Chairman submits a notice of disapproval to the 

22 full Commission specifying the basis for the disapproval. 

23 The notice of disapproval shall be submitted within 5 days 

24 after the travel is requested or the travel shall be deemed 

25 approved. 


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1 SEC. 205. IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 Except as otherwise specified in this Act, the Com3 mission shall revise its procedures to conform to this Act 

4 within 180 days of its date of enactment. 

Æ 


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