85254 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices 

participatory activity, it is therefore 

expected that both the Evaluation Plan 

and Annual Evaluation Report would 

involve and engage across and within an 

NSF Engine. 

Finally, the upper bound estimate for 

the Annual Evaluation Report reflects 

not only the effort for writing the report 

but also account for data cleaning, data 

analysis, and data visualization. We 

anticipate that the burden for 

subsequent years to be lower as 

workflow and cadence will be 

established after the first year. 

Dated: October 22, 2024. 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, 

Reports Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24913 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2024–0001] 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

TIME AND DATE: Weeks of October 28, 

November 4, 11, 18, 25, and December 

2, 2024. The schedule for Commission 

meetings is subject to change on short 

notice. The NRC Commission Meeting 

Schedule can be found on the internet 

at: https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/ 

public-meetings/schedule.html. 

PLACE: The NRC provides reasonable 

accommodation to individuals with 

disabilities where appropriate. If you 

need a reasonable accommodation to 

participate in these public meetings or 

need this meeting notice or the 

transcript or other information from the 

public meetings in another format (e.g., 

braille, large print), please notify Anne 

Silk, NRC Disability Program Specialist, 

at 301–287–0745, by videophone at 

240–428–3217, or by email at 

Anne.Silk@nrc.gov. Determinations on 

requests for reasonable accommodation 

will be made on a case-by-case basis. 

STATUS: Public. 

Members of the public may request to 

receive the information in these notices 

electronically. If you would like to be 

added to the distribution, please contact 

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC 

20555, at 301–415–1969, or by email at 

Betty.Thweatt@nrc.gov or 

Samantha.Miklaszewski@nrc.gov. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

Week of October 28, 2024 

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 

1:00 p.m. Today and Tomorrow Across 

Region II Business Lines (Public 

Meeting) (Contact: Katie McCurry: 

404–997–4438) 

Additional Information: The meeting 

will be held in the 8th Floor Conference 

Center, Marquis One Tower, 245 

Peachtree Center Avenue NE, Suite 

1200, Atlanta, Georgia. The public is 

invited to attend the Commission’s 

meeting in person or watch live via 

webcast at the web address—https://

video.nrc.gov/. 

Week of November 4, 2024—Tentative 

There are no meetings scheduled for 

the week of November 4, 2024. 

Week of November 11, 2024 

Thursday, November 14, 2024 

9:00 a.m. Strategic Programmatic 

Overview of the Operating Reactors 

and New Reactors Business Lines 

(Public Meeting) (Contact: Annie 

Ramirez: 301–415–6780) 

Additional Information: The meeting 

will be held in the Commissioners’ 

Hearing Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, Maryland. The public is 

invited to attend the Commission’s 

meeting in person or watch live via 

webcast at the web address—https://

video.nrc.gov/. 

Week of November 18, 2024—Tentative 

There are no meetings scheduled for 

the week of November 18, 2024. 

Week of November 25, 2024—Tentative 

There are no meetings scheduled for 

the week of November 25, 2024. 

Week of December 2, 2024 

Thursday, December 5, 2024 

10:00 a.m. Briefing on Equal 

Employment Opportunity, 

Affirmative Employment, and Small 

Business (Public Meeting) (Contact: 

Erin Deeds: 301–415–2887) 

Additional Information: The meeting 

will be held in the Commissioners’ 

Hearing Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, Maryland. The public is 

invited to attend the Commission’s 

meeting in person or watch live via 

webcast at the web address—https://

video.nrc.gov/. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

For more information or to verify the 

status of meetings, contact Wesley Held 

at 301–287–3591 or via email at 

Wesley.Held@nrc.gov. 

The NRC is holding the meetings 

under the authority of the Government 

in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b. 

Dated: October 23, 2024. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Wesley W. Held, 

Policy Coordinator, Office of the Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24998 Filed 10–23–24; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 72–36, 50–321, and 50–366; 

NRC–2024–0147] 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company; 

Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Units 1 

and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation; Exemption 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) issued an exemption 

to Southern Nuclear Operating 

Company permitting Edwin I. Hatch 

Nuclear Plant (Hatch) to maintain three 

loaded and to load five new 68M multipurpose canisters with continuous 

basket shims in HI–STORM 100 Cask 

System at its Hatch Units 1 and 2 

independent spent fuel storage 

installation in a storage condition where 

the terms, conditions, and specifications 

in Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11 are not met. 

DATES: The exemption was issued on 

October 11, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2024–0147 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–2024–0147. 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 individual 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 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices 85255 

referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) 

is provided the first time that it is 

mentioned in this document. 

• 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Heath Stroud, Office of Nuclear Material 

Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–287– 

3664; email: Heath.Stroud@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of 

the exemption is attached. 

Dated: October 22, 2024. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Yoira Diaz-Sanabria, Chief, 

Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, 

Division of Fuel Management, Office of 

Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards. 

Attachment—Exemption 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

Docket Nos. 72–36, 50–321, and 50–366 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company; 

Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Units 1 

and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation 

I. Background 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company 

(SNC) is the holder of Renewed Facility 

Operating License Nos. DPR–57 and 

NPF–5, which authorize operation of 

the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant 

(Hatch), Units 1 and 2 in Baxley, 

Georgia, pursuant to part 50 of title 10 

of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR), ‘‘Domestic Licensing of 

Production and Utilization Facilities.’’ 

The licenses provide, among other 

things, that the facility is subject to all 

rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 

now or hereafter in effect. 

Consistent with 10 CFR part 72, 

subpart K, ‘‘General License for Storage 

of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites,’’ 

a general license is issued for the storage 

of spent fuel in an independent spent 

fuel storage installation (ISFSI) at power 

reactor sites to persons authorized to 

possess or operate nuclear power 

reactors under 10 CFR part 50. SNC is 

authorized to operate nuclear power 

reactors under 10 CFR part 50 and holds 

a 10 CFR part 72 general license for 

storage of spent fuel at the Hatch ISFSI. 

Under the terms of the general license, 

SNC stores spent fuel at its Hatch ISFSI 

using the HI–STORM 100 Cask System 

in accordance with Certificate of 

Compliance (CoC) No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11. 

II. Request/Action 

By a letter dated June 25, 2024 

(Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System [ADAMS] 

Accession No. ML24177A217), as 

supplemented on July 26, 2024 

(ML24208A172), SNC requested an 

exemption from the requirements of 10 

CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 

72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 

72.214 that require Hatch to comply 

with the terms, conditions, and 

specifications of CoC No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11 (ML23328A045). If 

approved, SNC’s exemption request 

would accordingly allow Hatch to 

maintain three loaded and to load five 

multi-purpose canisters (MPCs) with an 

unapproved, variant basket design with 

continuous basket shims (CBS) (i.e., 

MPC–68M–CBS) in the HI–STORM 100 

Cask System, and thus, to maintain and 

load the systems in a storage condition 

where the terms, conditions, and 

specifications in CoC No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11 are not met. 

SNC currently uses the HI–STORM 

100 Cask System under CoC No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11, for dry storage of 

spent nuclear fuel in MPC–68M at the 

Hatch ISFSI. Holtec International 

(Holtec), the designer and manufacturer 

of the HI–STORM 100 Cask System, 

developed a variant of the design with 

CBS for the MPC–68M, known as MPC– 

68M–CBS. Holtec performed a nonmechanistic tip-over analysis with 

favorable results and implemented the 

CBS variant design under the provisions 

of 10 CFR 72.48, ‘‘Changes, tests, and 

experiments,’’ which allows licensees to 

make changes to cask designs without a 

CoC amendment under certain 

conditions (listed in 10 CFR 72.48(c)). 

After evaluating the specific changes to 

the cask designs, the NRC determined 

that Holtec erred when it implemented 

the CBS variant design under 10 CFR 

72.48, as this is not the type of change 

allowed without a CoC amendment. For 

this reason, the NRC issued three 

Severity Level IV violations to Holtec 

(ML24016A190). 

Prior to the issuance of the violation, 

SNC had loaded three MPC–68M–CBS 

in the HI–STORM 100 Cask System, 

which are safely in storage at the Hatch 

ISFSI. SNC’s loading campaign for the 

Hatch ISFSI include loading five MPC– 

68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask 

System beginning in April 2025. While 

Holtec was required to submit a CoC 

amendment to the NRC to seek approval 

of the CBS variant design, such a 

process will not be completed in time to 

inform decisions for this loading 

campaign. Therefore, SNC submitted 

this exemption request to allow for the 

continued storage of the three already 

loaded MPC–68–CBS, and future 

loading of five MPC–68M–CBS 

beginning in April 2025 at the Hatch 

ISFSI. This exemption is limited to the 

use of MPC–68M–CBS in the HI– 

STORM 100 Cask System only for the 

three already loaded canisters and the 

planned loading of five specific new 

canisters using the MPC–68M–CBS 

variant basket design. 

III. Discussion 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, ‘‘Specific 

exemptions,’’ the Commission may, 

upon application by any interested 

person or upon its own initiative, grant 

such exemptions from the requirements 

of the regulations of 10 CFR part 72 as 

it determines are authorized by law and 

will not endanger life or property or the 

common defense and security and are 

otherwise in the public interest. 

A. The Exemption is Authorized by Law 

This exemption would allow SNC to 

maintain three loaded and to load five 

MPC–68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100 

Cask System at its Hatch ISFSI in a 

storage condition where the terms, 

conditions, and specifications in CoC 

No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, are not 

met. SNC is requesting an exemption 

from the provisions in 10 CFR part 72 

that require the licensee to comply with 

the terms, conditions, and specifications 

of the CoC for the approved cask model 

it uses. Section 72.7 allows the NRC to 

grant exemptions from the requirements 

of 10 CFR part 72. This authority to 

grant exemptions is consistent with the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 

and is not otherwise inconsistent with 

NRC’s regulations or other applicable 

laws. Additionally, no other law 

prohibits the activities that would be 

authorized by the exemption. Therefore, 

the NRC concludes that there is no 

statutory prohibition on the issuance of 

the requested exemption, and the NRC 

is authorized to grant the exemption by 

law. 

B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger 

Life or Property or the Common Defense 

and Security 

This exemption would allow SNC to 

maintain three loaded and to load five 

MPC–68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100 

Cask System at the Hatch ISFSI in a 

storage condition where the terms, 

conditions, and specifications in CoC 

No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, are not 

met. In support of its exemption request, 


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85256 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices 

SNC asserts that issuance of the 

exemption would not endanger life or 

property because the administrative 

controls the applicant has in place 

prevent a tip-over or handling event, 

and that the containment boundary 

would be maintained in such an event. 

SNC relies, in part, on the approach in 

the NRC’s Safety Determination 

Memorandum (ML24018A085). The 

NRC issued this Safety Determination 

Memorandum to address whether, with 

respect to the enforcement action 

against Holtec regarding this violation, 

there was any need to take an 

immediate action for the cask systems 

that were already loaded with noncompliant basket designs. The Safety 

Determination Memorandum 

documents a risk-informed approach 

concluding that, during the design basis 

event of a non-mechanistic tip-over, the 

fuel in the basket in the MPC–68M–CBS 

remains in a subcritical condition. 

SNC also provided site-specific 

technical information, including 

information explaining why the use of 

the approach in the NRC’s Safety 

Determination Memorandum is 

appropriate for determining the safe use 

of the CBS variant baskets at the Hatch 

ISFSI. Specifically, SNC described that 

the analysis of the tip-over design basis 

event that is relied upon in the NRC’s 

Safety Determination Memorandum, 

which demonstrates that the MPC 

confinement barrier is maintained, is 

documented in the updated final safety 

analysis report (UFSAR) for the HI– 

STORM 100 Cask System CoC No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11 that is used at the 

Hatch site. SNC also described its 

administrative controls for handling of 

the HI–STORM 100 Cask System at the 

Hatch ISFSI to prevent a tip-over or 

handling event. Those controls include 

operational procedures that demonstrate 

lift height restrictions and that the 

system is handled with a single failure 

proof device, which comply with CoC 

No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, 

Appendix A. 

Additionally, SNC provided specific 

information from Hatch’s 72.212 

Evaluation Report, Revision 27, 

indicating that during the design basis 

event of a non-mechanistic tip-over, 

Hatch’s ISFSI would meet the 

requirements in 10 CFR 72.104, 

‘‘Criteria for radioactive materials in 

effluents and direct radiation from an 

ISFSI or MRS,’’ and 72.106, ‘‘Controlled 

area of an ISFSI or MRS.’’ Specifically, 

SNC described that, in the highly 

unlikely event of a tip-over, any 

potential fuel damage from a nonmechanistic tip-over event would be 

localized, the confinement barrier 

would be maintained, and the shielding 

material would remain intact. SNC 

concluded that compliance with 72.104 

and 72.106 is not impacted by 

approving this exemption request. 

The NRC staff reviewed the 

information provided by SNC and 

concludes that issuance of the 

exemption would not endanger life or 

property because the administrative 

controls that SNC has in place at the 

Hatch ISFSI sufficiently minimize the 

possibility of a tip-over or handling 

event, and that the containment 

boundary would be maintained in such 

an event. The staff confirmed that these 

administrative controls are documented 

in the technical specifications and 

UFSAR for the HI–STORM 100 Cask 

System CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 

11, that is used at the Hatch site. In 

addition, the staff confirmed that the 

information provided by SNC regarding 

Hatch’s 72.212 Evaluation Report, 

Revision 27, demonstrates that the 

consequences of normal and accident 

conditions would be within the 

regulatory limits of the 10 CFR 72.104 

and 10 CFR 72.106. The staff also 

determined that the requested 

exemption is not related to any aspect 

of the physical security or defense of the 

Hatch ISFSI; therefore, granting the 

exemption would not result in any 

potential impacts to common defense 

and security. 

For these reasons, the NRC staff has 

determined that under the requested 

exemption, the storage system will 

continue to meet the safety 

requirements of 10 CFR part 72 and the 

offsite dose limits of 10 CFR part 20 

and, therefore, will not endanger life or 

property or the common defense and 

security. 

C. The Exemption is Otherwise in the 

Public Interest 

The proposed exemption would allow 

the three already loaded MPC–68M– 

CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask System 

to remain in storage at the Hatch ISFSI, 

and allow SNC to load five MPC–68M– 

CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask System 

beginning in April 2025 at the Hatch 

ISFSI, even though the CBS variant 

basket design is not part of the approved 

CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11. 

According to SNC, the exemption is in 

the public interest because being unable 

to load fuel into dry storage in the future 

loading campaign would impact SNC’s 

ability to offload fuel from the Hatch 

reactor units, consequently impacting 

continued safe reactor operation. 

SNC rescheduled its 2024 loading 

campaign to 2025 and stated that further 

delaying the future loading campaign 

would impact its ability to effectively 

manage the margin to capacity in the 

Hatch Units 1 and 2 spent fuel pools. 

The low spent fuel pool capacity would 

make it difficult to refuel and present 

potential risks to fuel handling 

operations. In addition, a crowded spent 

fuel pool would challenge the decay 

heat removal demand of the pool and 

increase the likelihood of a loss of fuel 

pool cooling event and a fuel handling 

accident. Furthermore, Hatch planned 

the cask loading campaign years in 

advance based on availability of the 

specialized resources and equipment. 

These specialty resources support 

competing activities and priorities, 

including spent fuel pool clean-up and 

refueling outages. Therefore, the 

available windows to complete cask 

loading campaigns are limited, and any 

delays would have a cascading impact 

on other scheduled specialized 

activities. SNC also stated that leaving 

the three loaded CBS canisters is in the 

public interest because it eliminates the 

risks associated with dispositioning 

spent fuel, including increased radiation 

dose to workers and affecting SNC’s 

ability to manage the spent fuel pool 

capacity. SNC has ordered an additional 

five MPC–68M canisters for the planned 

loading starting in April 2025, that 

comply with CoC No. 1014, Amendment 

No. 11. However, due to factors outside 

of SNC’s control, delivery of the 

compliant canisters is not guaranteed 

for the April 2025 loading. It would put 

the 2025 campaign and Hatch’s 

capability for full core offloading of both 

reactors at risk. 

For the reasons described by SNC in 

the exemption request, the NRC agrees 

that it is in the public interest to grant 

the exemption. If the exemption is not 

granted, in order to comply with the 

CoC, SNC would have to unload MPC– 

68M–CBS from the HI–STORM 100 

Cask System at the Hatch ISFSI and 

reload into the older design MPC–68M 

to restore compliance with the terms, 

conditions, and specifications of the 

CoC. This would subject onsite 

personnel to additional radiation 

exposures and increase the risk of a 

possible fuel handling accident. 

Furthermore, the removed spent fuel 

would need to be placed in the spent 

fuel pool until it can be loaded into 

another storage cask or remain in the 

spent fuel pool if it is not permitted to 

be loaded into CBS casks for the future 

loadings. As described by SNC, this 

scenario would affect SNC ability to 

effectively manage the spent pool 

capacity and reactor fuel offloading at 

Hatch. In addition, the rescheduling of 

the specialized resources for the future 

loading campaign would impact the 

operations of Hatch. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices 85257 

Therefore, the staff concludes that 

approving the exemption is in the 

public interest. 

Environmental Consideration 

The NRC staff also considered 

whether there would be any significant 

environmental impacts associated with 

the exemption. For this proposed action, 

the NRC staff performed an 

environmental assessment pursuant to 

10 CFR 51.30. The environmental 

assessment concluded that the proposed 

action would not significantly impact 

the quality of the human environment. 

The NRC staff concluded that the 

proposed action would not result in any 

changes in the types or amounts of any 

radiological or non-radiological 

effluents that may be released offsite, 

and there would be no significant 

increase in occupational or public 

radiation exposure because of the 

proposed action. The environmental 

assessment and the finding of no 

significant impact was published on 

October 11, 2024 (89 FR 82645). 

IV. Conclusion 

Based on these considerations, the 

NRC has determined that, pursuant to 

10 CFR 72.7, the exemption is 

authorized by law, will not endanger 

life or property or the common defense 

and security, and is otherwise in the 

public interest. Therefore, the NRC 

grants SNC an exemption from the 

requirements of §§ 72.212(a)(2), 

72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 

72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 with respect 

to the ongoing storage of three MPC– 

68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask 

System and a future loading in the HI– 

STORM 100 Cask System of five new 

MPC–68M–CBS beginning in April 

2025. 

This exemption is effective upon 

issuance. 

Dated: October 11, 2024. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Yoira Diaz-Sanabria, 

Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing 

Branch, Division of Fuel Management, Office 

of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24917 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

In accordance with the requirement of 

section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 which provides 

opportunity for public comment on new 

or revised data collections, the Railroad 

Retirement Board (RRB) will publish 

periodic summaries of proposed data 

collections. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed information collection is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information has practical 

utility; (b) the accuracy of the RRB’s 

estimate of the burden of the collection 

of the information; (c) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

ways to minimize the burden related to 

the collection of information on 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Title and purpose of information 

collection: Railroad Unemployment 

Insurance Act Applications; OMB 3220– 

0039. 

Under section 2 of the Railroad 

Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) 

(45 U.S.C. 362), sickness benefits are 

payable to qualified railroad employees 

who are unable to work because of 

illness or injury. In addition, sickness 

benefits are payable to qualified female 

employees if they are unable to work, or 

if working would be injurious, because 

of pregnancy, miscarriage, or childbirth. 

Under section 1(k) of the RUIA a 

statement of sickness, with respect to 

days of sickness of an employee, is to 

be filed with the RRB within a 10-day 

period from the first day claimed as a 

day of sickness. The Railroad 

Retirement Board’s (RRB) authority for 

requesting supplemental medical 

information is section 12(i) and 12(n) of 

the RUIA. The procedures for claiming 

sickness benefits and for the RRB to 

obtain supplemental medical 

information needed to determine a 

claimant’s eligibility for such benefits 

are prescribed in 20 CFR part 335. 

The forms currently used by the RRB 

to obtain information needed to 

determine eligibility for, and the 

amount of, sickness benefits due a 

claimant follow: Form SI–1a, 

Application for Sickness Benefits; Form 

SI–1b, Statement of Sickness; Form SI– 

3 (Manual & internet), Claim for 

Sickness Benefits; Form SI–7, 

Supplemental Doctor’s Statement; Form 

SI–8, Verification of Medical 

Information; and Form ID–11A, 

Requesting Reason for Late Filing of 

Sickness Benefit. Completion is 

required to obtain or retain benefits. 

One response is requested of each 

respondent. The RRB proposes no 

changes to Form SI–1a, SI–1b, SI–3, SI– 

3 (internet), SI–7, SI–8, and ID–11a. 

ESTIMATE OF ANNUAL RESPONDENT BURDEN

Form No. Annual responses Time 

(minutes)1/ 

Burden 

(hours) 

SI–1a (Employee) ...................................................................................................... 11,179 10 1,863 

SI–1b (Doctor) ........................................................................................................... 11,179 8 1,490 

SI–3 (Manual) ............................................................................................................ 100,120 5 8,343 

SI–3 (Internet) ............................................................................................................ 82,812 5 6,901 

SI–7 ............................................................................................................................ 12,151 8 1,620 

SI–8 ............................................................................................................................ 24 5 2 

ID–11A ....................................................................................................................... 284 4 19 

Total .................................................................................................................... 217,749 .............................. 20,238 

Additional Information or Comments: 

To request more information or to 

obtain a copy of the information 

collection justification, forms, and/or 

supporting material, contact Kennisha 

Money at (312) 469–2591 or 

Kennisha.Money@rrb.gov. Comments 

regarding the information collection 

should be addressed to Brian Foster, 

Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North 

Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611– 

1275 or emailed to Brian.Foster@rrb.gov. 

Written comments should be received 

within 60 days of this notice. 

Brian Foster, 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24818 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7905–01–P 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1