16630 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 66 / Monday, April 7, 1997 / Notices

to describe and make available to the

public such information as methods

acceptable to the NRC staff for

implementing specific parts of the

NRC’s regulations, techniques used by

the staff in evaluating specific problems

or postulated accidents, and data

needed by the staff in its review of

applications for permits and licenses.

The draft guide, temporarily

identified by its task number, DG–3011,

‘‘Use of Fixed Neutron Absorbers at

Fuels and Materials Facilities,’’ is

planned for Division 3, ‘‘Fuels and

Materials Facilities.’’ This regulatory

guide is being developed to provide

guidance that is acceptable to the NRC

staff on procedures for preventing

criticality accidents by using fixed

neutron absorbers in operations

involving handling, storing, and

transporting special nuclear fuel at fuels

and materials facilities.

The draft guide has not received

complete staff review and does not

represent an official NRC staff position.

Public comments are being solicited

on the guide. Comments should be

accompanied by supporting data.

Written comments may be submitted to

the Rules Review and Directives Branch,

Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555. Copies of comments received

may be examined at the NRC Public

Document Room, 2120 L Street NW.,

Washington, DC. Comments will be

most helpful if received by June 20,

1997.

Although a time limit is given for

comments on this draft guide,

comments and suggestions in

connection with items for inclusion in

guides currently being developed or

improvements in all published guides

are encouraged at any time.

Comments may be submitted

electronically, in either ASCII text or

Wordperfect format (version 5.1 or

later), by calling the NRC Electronic

Bulletin Board on FedWorld. The

bulletin board may be accessed using a

personal computer, a modem, and one

of the commonly available

communications software packages, or

directly via Internet.

If using a personal computer and

modem, the NRC subsystem on

FedWorld can be accessed directly by

dialing the toll free number: 1–800–

303–9672. Communication software

parameters should be set as follows:

parity to none, data bits to 8, and stop

bits to 1 (N,8,1). Using ANSI or VT–100

terminal emulation, the NRC NUREGs

and RegGuides for Comment subsystem

can then be accessed by selecting the

‘‘Rules Menu’’ option from the ‘‘NRC

Main Menu.’’ For further information

about options available for NRC at

FedWorld, consult the ‘‘Help/

Information Center’’ from the ‘‘NRC

Main Menu.’’ Users will find the

‘‘FedWorld Online User’s Guides’’

particularly helpful. Many NRC

subsystems and data bases also have a

‘‘Help/Information Center’’ option that

is tailored to the particular subsystem.

The NRC subsystem on FedWorld can

also be accessed by a direct dial phone

number for the main FedWorld BBS,

703–321–3339, or by using Telnet via

Internet, fedworld.gov. If using 703–

321–3339 to contact FedWorld, the NRC

subsystem will be accessed from the

main FedWorld menu by selecting the

‘‘Regulatory, Government

Administration and State Systems,’’

then selecting ‘‘Regulatory Information

Mall.’’ At that point, a menu will be

displayed that has an option ‘‘U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission’’ that

will take you to the NRC Online main

menu. The NRC Online area also can be

accessed directly by typing ‘‘/go nrc’’ at

a FedWorld command line. If you access

NRC from FedWorld’s main menu, you

may return to FedWorld by selecting the

‘‘Return to FedWorld’’ option from the

NRC Online Main Menu. However, if

you access NRC at FedWorld by using

NRC’s toll-free number, you will have

full access to all NRC systems but you

will not have access to the main

FedWorld system.

If you contact FedWorld using Telnet,

you will see the NRC area and menus,

including the Rules menu. Although

you will be able to download

documents and leave messages, you will

not be able to write comments or upload

files (comments). If you contact

FedWorld using FTP, all files can be

accessed and downloaded but uploads

are not allowed; all you will see is a list

of files without descriptions (normal

Gopher look). An index file listing all

files within a subdirectory, with

descriptions, is included. There is a 15-

minute time limit for FTP access.

Although FedWorld can be accessed

through the World Wide Web, like FTP

that mode only provides access for

downloading files and does not display

the NRC Rules menu.

For more information on NRC bulletin

boards call Mr. Arthur Davis, Systems

Integration and Development Branch,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555, telephone

(301)415–5780; e-mail AXD3@nrc.gov.

For more information on this draft

regulatory guide, contact S. Parra at the

NRC, telephone (301)415–6433; e-mail

SAP@nrc.gov.

Regulatory guides are available for

inspection at the Commission’s Public

Document Room, 2120 L Street NW.,

Washington, DC. Requests for single

copies of draft or final guides (which

may be reproduced) or for placement on

an automatic distribution list for single

copies of future draft guides in specific

divisions should be made in writing to

the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555,

Attention: Distribution and Mail

Services Section; or by fax at (301)415–

2260. Telephone requests cannot be

accommodated. Regulatory guides are

not copyrighted, and Commission

approval is not required to reproduce

them.

(5 U.S.C. 552(a))

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day

of March 1997.

Bill M. Morris,

Director, Division of Regulatory Applications

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.

[FR Doc. 97–8832 Filed 4–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Standard Review Plan for Applications

for Licenses To Distribute Byproduct

Material to Persons Exempt From the

Requirements for an NRC License

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is announcing the

completion and availability of NUREG–

1562 which contains a draft of

‘‘Standard Review Plan for Applications

for Licenses to Distribute Byproduct

Material to Persons Exempt from the

Requirements for an NRC License (10

CFR 30.14, 30.15, 30.16, 30.18, 30.19,

and 30.20)’’ for review and comment.

ADDRESSES: Copies of NUREG–1562

may be obtained by writing to the

Superintendent of Documents, U.S.

Government Printing Office, P.O. Box

37082, Washington, DC 20402–9328. A

copy of the document is also available

for inspection and/or copying in the

NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L

Street NW, Washington, DC, 20555–

0001. NUREG–1562 can be accessed

from the Sealed Sources and Devices

Bulletin Board System (SSD BBS) on the

FedWorld System. NRC has established

a toll-free number that allows access to

only the NRC portion of FedWorld at

(800) 303–9672. For questions regarding

the use of the NRC portion of FedWorld

in general, please call Arthur Davis of

the NRC at (301) 415–5780.

Written comments should be received

at the address listed below within 90

days from the date of this notice.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 66 / Monday, April 7, 1997 / Notices 16631

Comments received after the due date

will be considered to the extent

practical.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Susan L. Greene, Mail Stop TWFN 8–F–

5, Division of Industrial and Medical

Nuclear Safety, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555–0001,

Telephone (301) 415–7843.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC

has prepared NUREG–1562, ‘‘Standard

Review Plan for Applications for

Licenses to Distribute Byproduct

Material to Persons Exempt from the

Requirements for an NRC License (10

CFR 30.14, 30.15, 30.16, 30.18, 30.19,

and 30.20)’’ to provide assistance to

applicants and licensees in preparing

license applications and describes the

methods acceptable to NRC license

reviewers in implementing the

regulations and the techniques used by

the reviewers in evaluating the

applications to determine if the

proposed exempt distribution activity is

acceptable for licensing purposes. The

standard review plan will be revised

periodically, as appropriate, to

accommodate comments and to reflect

new information and experience. The

document is being made available to

interested members of the public.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day

of March 1997.

Larry W. Camper,

Chief, Medical Academic and Commercial,

Use Safety Branch, Division of Industrial and

Medical Nuclear Safety, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 97–8830 Filed 4–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

January 1997 Pay Adjustments

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The rates of basic pay and

locality payments for certain categories

of Federal employees were adjusted in

January 1997, as authorized by the

President. This notice documents those

pay adjustments for the public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sharon Herzberg, Office of

Compensation Policy, Human Resources

Systems Service, Office of Personnel

Management, (202) 606–2858, FAX

(202) 606–4264, or email to

payleave@opm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

November 22, 1996, the President

transmitted to Congress an alternative

plan under the authority of 5 U.S.C.

5304a that established the January 1997

locality pay adjustments for General

Schedule (GS) employees in the 48

contiguous States and the District of

Columbia. On December 27, 1996, the

President signed Executive Order 13033

(62 FR 252). This order implemented

increases in rates of basic pay for

various categories of Federal employees

effective on the first day of the first

applicable pay period beginning on or

after January 1, 1997, as required by 5

U.S.C. 5303. The 1997 General

Schedule, reflecting the 2.3-percent

general increase, was published in

Schedule 1 of Executive Order 13033.

Executive Order 13033 also included

the percentage amounts of the 1997

locality payments as established by the

President’s alternative plan of

November 22, 1996. (See Section 5 and

Schedule 9 of Executive order 13033.)

The publication of this notice satisfies

the requirement in section 5(b) of

Executive Order 13033 that the Office of

Personnel Management (OPM) publish

appropriate notice of the 1997 locality

payments in Federal Register.

Locality payments are authorized for

General Schedule employees under 5

U.S.C. 5304 and 5304a. They apply in

the 48 contiguous States and the District

of Columbia. In 1997, there are 30

separate locality pay areas with locality

payments ranging from 4.81 percent to

11.52 percent. These 1997 locality pay

percentages, which replaced the locality

pay percentages that were applicable in

1996, became effective on the first day

of the first applicable pay period

beginning on or after January 1, 1997.

An employee’s locality-adjusted annual

rate of pay is computed by increasing

his or her scheduled annual rate of basic

pay (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5302(8) and

5 CFR 531.602) by the applicable

locality pay percentage. (See 5 CFR

531.604 and 531.605.)

On December 5, 1996, the Director of

OPM, on behalf of the President’s Pay

Agent, extended the 1997 locality-based

comparability payments to the same

Governmentwide and single-agency

categories of non-GS employees that

were authorized to receive the 1996

locality payments. The

Governmentwide categories include

members of the Senior Executive

Service (SES), the Foreign Service, and

the Senior Foreign Service; employees

in senior-level (SL) and scientific or

professional (ST) positions;

administrative law judges; and members

of Boards of Contracts Appeals.

Public Law 104–208, September 30,

1996, provided that there would be no

increase in the rates of basic pay for the

Executive Schedule. By law, the

maximum rate of basic pay for members

of the SES may not exceed level IV of

the Executive Schedule. The President

has established six rates of basic pay for

members of the SES with the maximum

SES rate of basic pay (ES–6) equivalent

to the rate of basic pay for level IV

(currently $115,700). (See 5 U.S.C.

5382(b) and Schedule 5 of Executive

Order 13033.) Schedule 4 of Executive

Order 13033 reflects a decision by the

President to increase the rates of basic

pay for members of the SES by 2.3

percent at levels ES–1 through ES–4.

Since level IV of the Executive Schedule

was not increased, the new rate of basic

pay for ES–5 is $115,700 (an increase of

about 1.5 percent), and the rate of basic

pay for ES–6 rate remains unchanged at

$115,700.

The minimum rate of basic pay for

senior-level (SL) and scientific or

professional (ST) positions increased by

2.3 percent (to $85,073) because it is

calculated as a percentage of the

minimum rate of basic pay for GS–15 of

the General Schedule. The maximum

rate of basic pay for SL and ST positions

remains unchanged because it is linked

to level IV of the Executive Schedule

($115,700), which remains unchanged.

Rates of basic pay for administrative law

judges and members of Boards of

Contract Appeals remain unchanged in

1997 because these rates are calculated

as a percentage of the rate for level IV

of the Executive Schedule, which

remains unchanged.

OPM has published ‘‘Salary Table No.

97’’ (OPM Doc. 124–48–6, January

1997), which provides complete salary

tables incorporating the 1997 pay

adjustments, information on general pay

administration matters, locality pay area

definitions, Internal Revenue Service

withholding tables, and other related

information. The rates of pay shown in

‘‘Salary Table No. 97’’ are the official

rates of pay for affected employees and

are hereby incorporated as part of this

notice. Copies of ‘‘Salary Table No. 97’’

may be purchased from the Government

Printing Office (GPO) by calling (202)

512–1800 or FAX at (202) 512–2250.

Copies of Salary Table 97’’ may also be

ordered online from GPO at http://

www.gpo.gov/suldocs/sale/prf/

prf.html. In addition, individual pay

schedules may be downloaded directly

from OPM’s electronic bulletin board,

which is reached by dialing via modem

(202) 606–4800. Pay tables may also be

downloaded from OPM’s Internet web

cite at http://www.opm.gov/pay.