This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

79369 

Vol. 89, No. 189 

Monday, September 30, 2024 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Part 70 

[NRC–2024–0159] 

Regulatory Guide: Monitoring of 

Combustible Gases and Vapors in 

Plutonium Processing and Fuel 

Fabrication Plants 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final guide; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 1 

to Regulatory Guide (RG) 3.7, 

‘‘Monitoring of Combustible Gases and 

Vapors in Plutonium Processing and 

Fuel Fabrication Plants,’’ in which there 

are minor corrections with no 

substantive changes in the NRC staff’s 

regulatory positions. RG 3.7 provides 

guidance with regard to protecting 

against the possibility of the formation 

of flammable mixtures with combustible 

gases and vapors. This guidance is 

needed to protect against the possibility 

of the formation of flammable mixtures 

with these gases and vapors when 

combustible gases and solvents are used 

within the confinement barriers of a 

plutonium processing and fuel 

fabrication plant. 

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 3.7 is available 

on September 30, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2024–0159 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information regarding this document. 

You may obtain publicly available 

information related to this document 

using any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to

https://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2024–0159. Address 

questions about Docket IDs in 

Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 

telephone: 301–415–0624; email: 

Stacy.Schumann@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 this document. Revision 1 

to RG 3.7 may be found in ADAMS 

under Accession No. ML24162A095. 

• NRC’s PDR: The PDR, where you

may examine and order copies of 

publicly available documents, is open 

by appointment. 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 (ET), Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

Regulatory guides are not 

copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 

required to reproduce them. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nicole Cortes, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation, telephone: 301–415–7331; 

email: Nicole.Cortes@nrc.gov; and 

Harriet Karagiannis, Office of Nuclear 

Regulatory Research, telephone: 301– 

415–3346, email: Harriet.Karagiannis@

nrc.gov. Both are staff at the U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion

The NRC is issuing an administrative

revision to an existing guide in the 

NRC’s ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. 

Regulatory guides are developed to 

describe and make available to the 

public information and methods that are 

acceptable to the NRC staff for 

implementing specific parts of the 

agency’s regulations, techniques that the 

staff uses in evaluating specific issues or 

postulated events, and data that the staff 

needs in its review of applications for 

permits and licenses. 

The NRC typically seeks public 

comment on a draft version of an RG by 

announcing its availability for comment 

in the Federal Register. However, as 

explained in NRC’s Management 

Directive (MD) 6.6 ‘‘Regulatory Guides,’’ 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML22010A233) 

the NRC may directly issue a final RG 

without a draft version or public 

comment period if the changes to the 

RG are non-substantive. 

Thus, the NRC is issuing Revision 1 

of RG 3.7 directly as a final RG because 

there are no changes in the staff 

positions between Revision 0 and 

Revision 1. Revision 1 of RG 3.7 

incorporates minor corrections, and 

other editorial changes that are 

administrative in nature. The changes 

are intended to improve clarity and do 

not alter the NRC staff’s regulatory 

guidance for the ‘‘Monitoring of 

Combustible Gases and Vapors in 

Plutonium Processing and Fuel 

Fabrication Plants,’’ licensees. 

II. Additional Information

As noted in the Federal Register on

December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671), this 

document is being published in the 

‘‘Rules’’ section of the Federal Register 

to comply with publication 

requirements under chapter I of title 1 

of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(CFR). 

III. Congressional Review Act

This RG is not a rule as defined in the

Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 

801–808). 

IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and

Issue Finality

The NRC staff may use this RG as a 

reference in its regulatory processes, 

such as licensing, inspection, or 

enforcement. However, the NRC staff 

does not intend to use the guidance in 

this RG to support NRC staff actions in 

a manner that would constitute 

backfitting as that term is defined in 10 

CFR 50.109, ‘‘Backfitting,’’ and as 

described in NRC MD 8.4, ‘‘Management 

of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue 

Finality, and Information Requests’’ 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML18093B087), 

nor does the NRC staff intend to use the 

guidance to affect the issue finality of an 

approval under 10 CFR part 52. The 

staff also does not intend to use the 

guidance to support NRC staff actions in 

a manner that constitutes forward fitting 

as that term is defined and described in 

MD 8.4. If a licensee believes that the 

NRC is using this RG in a manner 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1
79370 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 189 / Monday, September 30, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

1All references to EPCA in this document refer 

to the statute as amended through the Energy Act 

of 2020, Public Law 116–260 (Dec. 27, 2020), which 

reflect the last statutory amendments that impact 

parts A and A–1 of EPCA. 

inconsistent with the discussion in the 

Implementation section of RG 3.7, then 

the licensee may file a backfitting or 

forward fitting appeal with the NRC in 

accordance with the process in MD 8.4. 

V. Submitting Suggestions for 

Improvement of Regulatory Guides 

A member of the public may, at any 

time, submit suggestions to the NRC for 

improvement of existing RGs or for the 

development of new RGs to address new 

issues. Suggestions can be submitted on 

the NRC’s public website at https://

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/reg-guides/contactus.html. 

Suggestions will be considered in future 

updates and enhancements to the 

‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. 

Dated: September 24, 2024. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Meraj Rahimi, 

Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs 

Management Branch, Division of Engineering, 

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. 

[FR Doc. 2024–22246 Filed 9–27–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 430 

[EERE–2020–BT–STD–0039] 

RIN 1904–AF62 

Energy Conservation Program: Energy 

Conservation Standards for 

Miscellaneous Refrigeration Products 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Direct final rule; confirmation of 

effective and compliance dates; 

technical correction. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (‘‘DOE’’) published a direct final 

rule to establish new energy 

conservation standards for 

miscellaneous refrigeration products in 

the Federal Register on May 7, 2024. 

DOE has determined that the comments 

received in response to the direct final 

rule are not adverse and, thus, do not 

provide a reasonable basis for 

withdrawing the direct final rule. 

Therefore, DOE provides this document 

confirming the effective and compliance 

dates of those standards. This document 

also corrects an error in the amended 

regulatory text as it appeared in the 

direct final rule published on May 7, 

2024. 

DATES: The technical correction in this 

document is effective September 30, 

2024. 

The effective date of September 4, 

2024, for the direct final rule published 

May 7, 2024 (89 FR 38762) is confirmed. 

Compliance with the standards 

established in the direct final rule will 

be required on January 31, 2029. 

ADDRESSES: The docket for this 

rulemaking, which includes Federal 

Register notices, public meeting 

attendee lists and transcripts, 

comments, and other supporting 

documents/materials, is available for 

review at www.regulations.gov. All 

documents in the docket are listed in 

the www.regulations.gov index. 

However, not all documents listed in 

the index may be publicly available, 

such as information that is exempt from 

public disclosure. 

The docket web page can be found at 

www.regulations.gov/docket/EERE2020-BT-STD-0039. The docket web 

page contains instructions on how to 

access all documents, including public 

comments, in the docket. 

For further information on how to 

submit a comment or review other 

public comments and the docket, 

contact the Appliance and Equipment 

Standards Program staff at (202) 287– 

1445 or by email: 

ApplianceStandardsQuestions@

ee.doe.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mr. Lucas Adin, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies Office, EE–5B, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20585–0121. Telephone: (202) 287– 

5904. Email: 

ApplianceStandardsQuestions@

ee.doe.gov. 

Ms. Kristin Koernig, U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 

GC–33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 586–4789. Email: 

kristin.koernig@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Authority 

II. Miscellaneous Refrigeration Products 

Direct Final Rule 

A. Background 

III. Comments on the Direct Final Rule 

A. General Comments 

B. Typographical Error Correction 

IV. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition 

V. Review Under the National Environmental 

Policy Act of 1969 

VI. Conclusion 

I. Authority 

The Energy Policy and Conservation 

Act, Public Law 94–163, as amended 

(‘‘EPCA’’),1 authorizes DOE to issue a 

direct final rule establishing an energy 

conservation standard for a product on 

receipt of a statement submitted jointly 

by interested persons that are fairly 

representative of relevant points of view 

(including representatives of 

manufacturers of covered products, 

States, and efficiency advocates), as 

determined by the Secretary of Energy 

(‘‘Secretary’’), that contains 

recommendations with respect to an 

energy or water conservation standard 

that are in accordance with the 

provisions of 42 U.S.C. 6295(o) or 42 

U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(B), as applicable. (42 

U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)) 

The direct final rule must be 

published simultaneously with a notice 

of proposed rulemaking (‘‘NOPR’’) that 

proposes an energy or water 

conservation standard that is identical 

to the standard established in the direct 

final rule, and DOE must provide a 

public comment period of at least 110 

days on this proposal. (42 U.S.C. 

6295(p)(4)(A)–(B)) Not later than 120 

days after issuance of the direct final 

rule, DOE shall withdraw the direct 

final rule if: (1) DOE receives one or 

more adverse public comments relating 

to the direct final rule or any alternative 

joint recommendation; and (2) based on 

the rulemaking record relating to the 

direct final rule, DOE determines that 

such adverse public comments or 

alternative joint recommendation may 

provide a reasonable basis for 

withdrawing the direct final rule. (42 

U.S.C. 6295(p)(4)(C)) If DOE makes such 

a determination, DOE must proceed 

with the NOPR published 

simultaneously with the direct final rule 

and publish in the Federal Register the 

reasons why the direct final rule was 

withdrawn. (Id.) 

After review of the comments 

received in response to the direct final 

rule, DOE has determined that it did not 

receive any adverse comments 

providing a basis for withdrawal 

described above for the direct final rule 

that is the subject of this document. As 

such, DOE did not withdraw this direct 

final rule and allowed it to become 

effective. Although not required under 

EPCA, where DOE does not withdraw a 

direct final rule, DOE customarily 

publishes a summary of the comments 

received during the 110-day comment 

period and its responses to those 

comments. This document contains 

such a summary, as well as DOE’s 

responses to the comments. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with RULES1