14048 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 48 / Friday, March 11, 2022 / Notices 

pursuant to subsection (c)(4) of the 

Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 

U.S.C. 552b, and in accordance with the 

September 10, 2019 determination of 

the Chair. Additionally, discussion 

concerning purely personal information 

about individuals, such as personal 

biographical and salary data or medical 

information, may be conducted by the 

Council in closed session in accordance 

with subsection (c) (6) of 5 U.S.C. 552b. 

Any interested persons may attend, as 

observers, to Council discussions and 

reviews that are open to the public. If 

you need special accommodations due 

to a disability, please contact Beth 

Bienvenu, Office of Accessibility, 

National Endowment for the Arts, at 

202/682–5532 or accessibility@arts.gov, 

at least seven (7) days prior to the 

meeting. 

The upcoming meeting is: National 

Council on the Arts 206th Meeting. 

This meeting will be held by 

videoconference or teleconference. 

Date and time: March 24, 2022; 3:15 

p.m. to 4:15 p.m. 

There will be opening remarks and 

voting on recommendations for grant 

funding and rejection, followed by 

updates from the NEA Chair. 

Register in advance for this webinar: 

https://arts.zoomgov.com/webinar/ 

register/WN_1IzFiabNTyKXJGYW0SjBw. 

Dated: March 8, 2022. 

Sherry Hale. 

Staff Assistant, National Endowment for the 

Arts. 

[FR Doc. 2022–05189 Filed 3–10–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7537–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[IA–21–062; NRC–2022–0055] 

In the Matter of Mr. Joseph Berkich 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Order; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing an Order 

prohibiting involvement in NRClicensed activities to Mr. Joseph 

Berkich. Mr. Berkich, the former owner 

of Steel City Gamma, LLC (SCG), 

engaged in deliberate misconduct that 

caused SCG to be in violation of NRC 

requirements. 

DATES: The Order prohibiting 

involvement in NRC-licensed activities 

became effective on March 2, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2022–0055 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–2022–0055. 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 Document collection at 

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For 

problems with ADAMS, contact the 

NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) 

reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 

415–4737, or by email to 

PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The Order 

prohibiting involvement in NRClicensed activities is available in 

ADAMS under Accession No. 

ML22046A014. 

• 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 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. 

(ET), Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Leelavathi Sreenivas, Office of 

Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

001; telephone: 301–287–9249, email: 

Leelavathi.Sreenivas@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of 

the Order is attached. 

Dated: March 8, 2022. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Mark D. Lombard, 

Director, Office of Enforcement. 

Attachment—Order Prohibiting 

Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities 

United States of America 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

In the Matter of Mr. Joseph Berkich. 

IA–21–062 

Order Prohibiting Involvement in NRCLicensed Activities 

I 

At the time of the events discussed 

below, Joseph Berkich was the owner of 

Steel City Gamma, LLC (SCG), an 

industrial radiography company located 

in Pennsylvania. On May 14, 2019, SCG 

was issued Commonwealth of 

Pennsylvania radioactive materials 

license No. PA–1633, which authorized 

SCG to possess and utilize byproduct 

material in up to three (3) devices for 

the purposes of industrial radiography. 

During the relevant time periods 

discussed below, SCG did not possess a 

specific license issued by the Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission under 10 CFR 

part 30, but as an Agreement State 

licensee, SCG could conduct 

radiography in NRC jurisdiction under 

the general NRC license granted 

pursuant to 10 CFR 150.20. 

II 

On April 2, 2020, the NRC was 

notified by the Pennsylvania 

Department of Environmental Protection 

(PA DEP) that SCG had been conducting 

licensed activities (industrial 

radiography) under the company name 

A&B Testing Services (ABT) for MidAtlantic Fabrication (MAF) at MAF’s 

facility in Pleasant Valley, West 

Virginia. PA DEP also informed the NRC 

that on March 10, 2020, PA DEP had 

issued Administrative Orders to SCG 

and to Mr. Berkich as an individual. The 

Administrative Order to SCG amended 

the company’s PA license to authorize 

possession and storage only. On April 

21, 2020, the U.S. Regulatory 

Commission (NRC), Office of 

Investigations (OI), Region I field office 

initiated an investigation to determine 

whether Steel City Gamma, LLC and/or 

A & B Testing Services, LLC (ABT) 

deliberately conducted unauthorized 

and/or unlicensed radiography activities 

within NRC jurisdiction. 

Based on the evidence gathered 

during the investigation, the NRC 

concluded that two apparent violations 

of NRC requirements occurred. First, on 

December 18, 2019, and from 

approximately January 1, 2020, through 

March 9, 2020, SCG performed 

radiographic operations in NRC 

jurisdiction without first filing for 

reciprocity, in violation of 10 CFR 

150.20(a)(1). Second, from March 10, 

2020, until April 9, 2020, SCG 

performed radiographic operations in 

NRC jurisdiction without a valid NRC or 

agreement state license, in violation of 

10 CFR 30.3(a). The NRC also concluded 

that Mr. Berkich’s actions appeared to 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 48 / Friday, March 11, 2022 / Notices 14049 

constitute deliberate misconduct in 

violation of 10 CFR 30.10(a)(1). 

The OI investigation found that ABT 

is a PA business entity formed in early 

January 2020 by an associate of Mr. 

Berkich. During the time period in 

question, ABT was not licensed by PA 

DEP or the NRC to perform industrial 

radiography. Beginning on or about 

January 1, 2020, and continuing into 

April 2020, Mr. Berkich represented 

himself to MAF as an employee of ABT, 

conducted radiography and directed 

others to conduct radiography at the 

MAF site in West Virginia, and 

provided reports of those radiographic 

operations, using ABT’s company name 

and information, to MAF. This 

radiography work was performed using 

SCG’s equipment. 

The investigation also revealed that 

SCG’s work at the MAF site in West 

Virginia from January 2020 until March 

10, 2020, using the company name ABT, 

was performed without first filing for 

reciprocity with the NRC or paying the 

appropriate fees. In addition, on 

December 18, 2019, SCG, using its own 

company name, performed radiography 

work for Porter Testing Services (PTS) at 

the MAF site in West Virginia without 

filing for reciprocity or paying the 

appropriate fees. Mr. Berkich was aware 

of the requirement to file for reciprocity 

when working in NRC jurisdiction 

based on his prior work experience with 

another company, during which he filed 

several reciprocity requests with the 

NRC for work in West Virginia. 

Finally, the investigation found that 

SCG’s work at the MAF site after March 

10, 2020, was performed without SCG 

possessing a valid NRC or PA license 

authorizing SCG to conduct 

radiography. Mr. Berkich was aware of 

the requirements for licensing based on 

his work experience and prior 

interactions with PA DEP. Mr. Berkich 

was also aware of the terms of the PA 

DEP March 10, 2020 Administrative 

Order, which modified SCG’s license to 

possession and storage only. After 

receiving the Administrative Order 

during an in-person meeting with PA 

DEP officials, Mr. Berkich went to the 

MAF site and conducted radiography 

later that day, and he continued to 

conduct radiography at the MAF site on 

numerous other occasions between 

March 10 and April 9, 2020. 

In a letter dated December 2, 2021, the 

NRC informed Mr. Berkich that the NRC 

was considering escalated enforcement 

action against him for apparent 

violations of NRC’s deliberate 

misconduct rule, 10 CFR 30.10(a)(1). 

Specifically, the NRC concluded that 

Mr. Berkich apparently engaged in 

deliberate misconduct that caused SCG 

to be in violation of 10 CFR 150.20(b)(1) 

when he engaged in, or directed others 

to engage in, industrial radiography at 

the MAF facility in West Virginia 

without first filing for reciprocity. 

Additionally, the NRC concluded that 

Mr. Berkich apparently engaged in 

deliberate misconduct that caused SCG 

to be in violation of 10 CFR 30.3(a) 

when he engaged in, or directed others 

to engage in, industrial radiography at 

the MAF site in West Virginia knowing 

that SCG did not possess a specific or 

general NRC license authorizing such 

activities. In the letter, the NRC offered 

Mr. Berkich the opportunity to attend a 

Predecisional Enforcement Conference 

(PEC) to present his perspective on the 

apparent violations. A PEC was 

conducted on February 3, 2022. 

During the PEC, Mr. Berkich stated 

that he did not dispute the violations. 

With regard to the work for PTS in 

December 2019, he stated that he filled 

out the reciprocity forms and provided 

them to the owner of PTS to provide 

dates and payment information. Mr. 

Berkich also stated that after receiving 

the Administrative Order from PA DEP 

he kept working to bring money in 

because the financial goal was more 

than the penalty, and he acknowledged 

knowing at the time that performing 

radiography under these conditions was 

not in accordance with the regulations. 

Based on the results of the OI 

investigation, and information provided 

during the PEC, the NRC concluded that 

Mr. Berkich engaged in deliberate 

misconduct in violation of 10 CFR 

30.10(a)(1). 

III 

Based on the above, the NRC has 

concluded that Mr. Joseph Berkich 

engaged in deliberate misconduct in 

violation of 10 CFR 30.10(a)(1) that 

caused Steel City Gamma to be in 

violation of 10 CFR 150.20(b)(1) and 10 

CFR 30.3(a). The NRC must be able to 

rely on companies working within NRC 

jurisdiction and their employees to 

comply with NRC requirements. Mr. 

Berkich’s actions have raised serious 

doubt as to whether he can be relied 

upon to comply with NRC requirements. 

Consequently, the NRC lacks the 

requisite reasonable assurance that 

licensed activities can be conducted in 

compliance with the Commission’s 

requirements, and that the health and 

safety of the public will be protected if 

Mr. Berkich were permitted at this time 

to be involved in NRC-licensed 

activities. Therefore, the public’s health, 

safety, and interest require that Mr. 

Berkich be prohibited from any 

involvement in NRC-licensed activities 

for a period of five years from the date 

of this Order. Additionally, Mr. Berkich 

is required to notify the NRC of his first 

involvement in NRC-licensed activities 

for a period of one year following the 

expiration of the five-year prohibition 

period. 

IV 

Accordingly, pursuant to sections 81, 

161b, 161i, 182 and 186 of the Atomic 

Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 

the Commission’s regulations in 10 CFR 

2.202, and 10 CFR 30.10, it is hereby 

ordered that: 

1. Mr. Joseph Berkich is prohibited for 

five years from the date of this Order 

from conducting, supervising, directing, 

or in any other way engaging in NRClicensed activities. NRC-licensed 

activities are those activities that are 

conducted pursuant to a specific or 

general license issued by the NRC, 

including, but not limited to, those 

activities of Agreement State licensees 

conducted pursuant to the authority 

granted by 10 CFR 150.20. 

2. If Mr. Joseph Berkich is currently 

involved in NRC-licensed activities, he 

must immediately cease those activities; 

inform the NRC of the name, address, 

and telephone number of the employer 

or other entity for whom he is 

conducting NRC-licensed activities; and 

provide a copy of this Order to the 

employer or other entity. 

3. For a period of one year after the 

five-year prohibition on engaging in 

NRC-licensed activities has expired, Mr. 

Joseph Berkich shall, within 20 days of 

accepting his first employment offer 

involving NRC-licensed activities or 

otherwise first becoming involved in 

NRC-licensed activities, as defined in 

Paragraph IV.1 above, provide notice to 

the Director, Office of Enforcement, U. 

S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, of the 

name, address, and telephone number of 

the employer or other entity for whom 

he will be participating in or conducting 

the NRC-licensed activities. In the 

notification, Mr. Berkich shall include a 

statement of his commitment to 

compliance with regulatory 

requirements and the basis for why the 

Commission should have confidence 

that he will now comply with 

applicable NRC requirements. 

The Director, Office of Enforcement, 

or designee, may, in writing, relax or 

rescind any of the above conditions 

upon demonstration by Mr. Joseph 

Berkich of good cause. 

V 

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Mr. 

Berkich must submit a written answer to 

this Order under oath or affirmation 

within 30 days of its publication in the 


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14050 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 48 / Friday, March 11, 2022 / Notices 

Federal Register. Mr. Berkich’s failure 

to respond to this Order could result in 

additional enforcement action in 

accordance with the Commission’s 

Enforcement Policy. In addition, Mr. 

Berkich and any other person adversely 

affected by this Order may request a 

hearing on this Order within 30 days of 

its publication in the Federal Register. 

Where good cause is shown, 

consideration will be given to extending 

the time to answer or request a hearing. 

A request for extension of time must be 

directed to the Director, Office of 

Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, and include a statement of 

good cause for the extension. 

All documents filed in NRC 

adjudicatory proceedings including 

documents filed by an interested State, 

local governmental body, Federally 

recognized Indian Tribe, or designated 

agency thereof that requests to 

participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must 

be filed in accordance with 10 CFR 

2.302. The E-Filing process requires 

participants to submit and serve all 

adjudicatory documents over the 

internet, or in some cases, to mail copies 

on electronic storage media, unless an 

exemption permitting an alternative 

filing method, as discussed below, is 

granted. Detailed guidance on electronic 

submissions is located in the Guidance 

for Electronic Submissions to the NRC 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056) 

and on the NRC website at https://

www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html. 

To comply with the procedural 

requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 

days prior to the filing deadline, the 

participant should contact the Office of 

the Secretary by email at 

hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by telephone 

at 301–415–1677, to (1) request a digital 

identification (ID) certificate, which 

allows the participant (or its counsel or 

representative) to digitally sign 

submissions and access the E-Filing 

system for any proceeding in which it 

is participating; and (2) advise the 

Secretary that the participant will be 

submitting a petition or other 

adjudicatory document (even in 

instances in which the participant, or its 

counsel or representative, already holds 

an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). 

Based upon this information, the 

Secretary will establish an electronic 

docket for the proceeding if the 

Secretary has not already established an 

electronic docket. 

Information about applying for a 

digital ID certificate is available on the 

NRC’s public website at https://

www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/ 

getting-started.html. After a digital ID 

certificate is obtained and a docket 

created, the participant must submit 

adjudicatory documents in Portable 

Document Format. Guidance on 

submissions is available on the NRC’s 

public website at https://www.nrc.gov/ 

site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A 

filing is considered complete at the time 

the document is submitted through the 

NRC’s E-Filing system. To be timely, an 

electronic filing must be submitted to 

the E-Filing system no later than 11:59 

p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. 

Upon receipt of a transmission, the EFiling system time-stamps the document 

and sends the submitter an email 

confirming receipt of the document. The 

E-Filing system also distributes an email 

that provides access to the document to 

the NRC’s Office of the General Counsel 

and any others who have advised the 

Office of the Secretary that they wish to 

participate in the proceeding, so that the 

filer need not serve the document on 

those participants separately. Therefore, 

applicants and other participants (or 

their counsel or representative) must 

apply for and receive a digital ID 

certificate before adjudicatory 

documents are filed to obtain access to 

the documents via the E-Filing system. 

A person filing electronically using 

the NRC’s adjudicatory E-Filing system 

may seek assistance by contacting the 

NRC’s Electronic Filing Help Desk 

through the ‘‘Contact Us’’ link located 

on the NRC’s public website at https:// 

www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html, by email to 

MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a tollfree call at 1–866–672–7640. The NRC 

Electronic Filing Help Desk is available 

between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday, 

excluding government holidays. 

Participants who believe that they 

have good cause for not submitting 

documents electronically must file an 

exemption request, in accordance with 

10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper 

filing stating why there is good cause for 

not filing electronically and requesting 

authorization to continue to submit 

documents in paper format. Such filings 

must be submitted in accordance with 

10 CFR 2.302(b)–(d). Participants filing 

adjudicatory documents in this manner 

are responsible for serving their 

documents on all other participants. 

Participants granted an exemption 

under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still meet 

the electronic formatting requirement in 

10 CFR 2.302(g)(1), unless the 

participant also seeks and is granted an 

exemption from 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1). 

Documents submitted in adjudicatory 

proceedings will appear in the NRC’s 

electronic hearing docket, which is 

publicly available at https://

adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded 

pursuant to an order of the presiding 

officer. If you do not have an NRCissued digital ID certificate as described 

above, click ‘‘cancel’’ when the link 

requests certificates and you will be 

automatically directed to the NRC’s 

electronic hearing dockets where you 

will be able to access any publicly 

available documents in a particular 

hearing docket. Participants are 

requested not to include personal 

privacy information such as social 

security numbers, home addresses, or 

personal phone numbers in their filings 

unless an NRC regulation or other law 

requires submission of such 

information. With respect to 

copyrighted works, except for limited 

excerpts that serve the purpose of the 

adjudicatory filings and would 

constitute a Fair Use application, 

participants should not include 

copyrighted materials in their 

submission. 

If a person other than Mr. Berkich 

requests a hearing, that person shall set 

forth with particularity the manner in 

which his interest is adversely affected 

by this Order and shall address the 

criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and 

(f). 

If a hearing is requested by Mr. 

Berkich or a person whose interest is 

adversely affected, the Commission will 

issue an Order designating the time and 

place of any hearings. If a hearing is 

held, the issue to be considered at such 

hearing shall be whether this Order 

should be sustained. In the absence of 

any request for hearing, or written 

approval of an extension of time in 

which to request a hearing, the 

provisions specified in Section IV above 

shall be final 30 days from the date this 

Order is published in the Federal 

Register without further order or 

proceedings. If an extension of time for 

requesting a hearing has been approved, 

the provisions specified in Section IV 

shall be final when the extension 

expires if a hearing request has not been 

received. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

/RA/ 

Mark D. Lombard, 

Director, Office of Enforcement. 

Dated this 2nd day of March 2022. 

[FR Doc. 2022–05160 Filed 3–10–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 


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