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. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

39015

Vol. 63, No. 139

Tuesday, July 21, 1998

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 140

RIN 3150–AG01

Adjustment of the Maximum

Retrospective Deferred Premium

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is amending its

regulations to increase the maximum

secondary retrospective deferred

premium, presently established at $75.5

million per reactor per accident (but not

to exceed $10 million in any 1 year), to

$83.9 million per reactor per accident

(but not to exceed $10 million in any 1

year), for liability insurance coverage in

the event of nuclear incidents at

licensed, operating, commercial nuclear

power plants with a rated capacity of

100,000 kW or more. The change is

based on the aggregate percentage

change of 11.16 percent in the

Consumer Price Index (CPI) from

September 1993 through December

1997. This inflation adjustment is

required by the Price-Anderson

Amendments Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100–

408, 102 Stat. 1066) to be made at least

once each 5 years.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 20, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ira

Dinitz, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555–

0001, telephone 301–415–1289, e-mail

ipd1@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Part 140,

‘‘Financial Protection Requirements and

Indemnity Agreements,’’ provides

requirements and procedures for

implementing the financial protection

requirements for certain licensees and

other persons pursuant to Section 170 of

the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1954,

as amended. Section 140.11(a)(4)

specifies the amount of financial

protection required of a licensee for a

nuclear reactor that is licensed to

operate, is designed for the production

of electrical energy, and has a rated

capacity of 100,000 kW or more. This

amount is presently set at the sum of

$200 million and the amount available

as secondary financial protection in the

form of private liability insurance under

an industry retrospective rating plan.

These limits are currently $75.5 million

per reactor per incident (plus any

surcharge assessed under Subsection

170o.(1)(E) of the AEA) for the

maximum standard deferred premium

and $10 million per reactor per incident

per calendar year. Section 15, ‘‘Inflation Adjustment,’’ of

Pub. L. 100–408, the Price-Anderson

Amendments Act of 1988 (‘‘the Act’’),

enacted on August 20, 1988, requires

the Commission to adjust the amount of

the maximum standard deferred

premium (currently $75.5 million)

based on inflation. Section 15 of the Act

added a new Section 170t to the AEA,

which provides as follows:

t. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—(1) The

Commission shall adjust the amount of the

maximum standard deferred premium under

subsection b(1) [Section 170b(1) of the AEA]

not less than once during each 5-year period

following the date of the enactment of the

Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988 in

accordance with the aggregate percentage

change in the Consumer Price Index since —

(A) such date of enactment, in the case of

the first adjustment under this subsection; or

(B) the previous adjustment under this

subsection.

(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term

‘‘Consumer Price Index’’ means the

Consumer Price Index for all urban

consumers published by the Secretary of

Labor.

The inflation adjustment required by

Section 170t(1)(B) of the AEA must be

made at least once during the period

from August 20, 1993, to August 20,

1998, and must be in accordance with

the aggregate percentage change (since

August 1993) in the CPI for all urban

consumers, as published by the

Secretary of Labor. The aggregate

percentage increase in the CPI from

September 1993 through December 1997

is 11.16 percent. This number is derived

by dividing the September 1993 CPI

index by the December 1997 CPI index.

When the percentage increase is applied

to the current $75.5 million maximum

retrospective deferred premium, the

new maximum retrospective deferred

premium will increase to $83.9 million

per reactor per incident. The limit of

$10 million per reactor per incident per

year will be unchanged.

To implement this inflation

adjustment, the Commission is issuing

revisions to 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4), which

will become effective by August 20,

1998, that will require that large nuclear

power plant licensees maintain, in

addition to $200 million in primary

financial protection, a new maximum

standard deferred premium of $83.9

million per reactor per incident (but not

to exceed $10 million in any 1 year).

Because this inflation adjustment by the

Commission is essentially ministerial in

nature, the Commission finds that there

is good cause for omitting notice and

public procedure (in the form of a

proposed rule) on this action as

unnecessary, in accordance with the

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.

553b).

The next inflation adjustment in the

amount of the standard deferred

premium will be made not later than

August 20, 2003, and will be based on

the incremental change in the CPI since

December 1997.

Environmental Impact: Categorical

Exclusion

The NRC has determined that this

final rule is the type of action described

in categorical exclusion 10 CFR

51.22(c)(1). Therefore, neither an

environmental impact statement nor an

environmental assessment has been

prepared for this final rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

This final rule does not contain a new

or an amended information collection

requirement subject to the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501

et seq.). Existing requirements were

approved by the Office of Management

and Budget, approval number 3150–

0039.

Public Protection Notification

If an information collection does not

display a currently valid OMB control

number, the NRC may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, the information collection.

Regulatory Analysis

Because this inflation adjustment is

required by statute, no other alternatives
39016 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 139 /Tuesday, July 21, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

were considered. See also the

discussion in the Regulatory Flexibility

Certification for this rule.

Regulatory Flexibility Certification

As required by the Regulatory

Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 605(b),

the Commission certifies that this final

rule will not have a significant impact

upon a substantial number of small

entities. The rule will potentially affect

licensees of approximately 110 nuclear

power reactors. Nuclear power plant

licensees do not fall within the

definition of small businesses as defined

in Section 3 of the Small Business Act

(15 U.S.C. 632), the Small Business Size

Standards of the Small Business

Administration (13 CFR Part 121), or the

Commission’s Size Standards (10 CFR

2.810)

Backfit Analysis

The NRC has determined that this

final rule does not require analysis

under the backfit rule (10 CFR

50.109(a)(1)) because it is statutorily

required and the statute does not confer

any discretion on the NRC.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act

In accordance with the Small

Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has

determined that this action is not a

major rule and has verified this

determination with the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs of

OMB.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 140

Criminal penalty, Extraordinary

nuclear occurrence, Insurance,

Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear

materials, Nuclear power plants and

reactors, Penalties, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble and under the authority of the

AEA, the Energy Reorganization Act of

1974 (as amended), and 5 U.S.C. 552

and 553, the NRC is adopting the

following amendment to 10 CFR Part

140:

PART 140—FINANCIAL PROTECTION

REQUIREMENTS AND INDEMNITY

AGREEMENTS

1. The authority citation for Part 140

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 161, 170, 68 Stat. 948, 71

Stat. 576, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2201, 2210);

secs. 201, as amended, 202, 88 Stat. 1242, as

amended, 1244 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842).

2. In § 140.11 the introductory text of

paragraph (a) and paragraph (a)(4) are

revised to read as follows:

§ 140.11 Amounts of financial protection

for certain reactors.

(a) Each licensee is required to have

and maintain financial protection:

* * * * *

(4) In an amount equal to the sum of

$200,000,000 and the amount available

as secondary financial protection (in the

form of private liability insurance

available under an industry

retrospective rating plan providing for

deferred premium charges equal to the

pro rata share of the aggregate public

liability claims and costs, excluding

costs payment of which is not

authorized by subsection 170o.(1)(D) of

the Act, in excess of that covered by

primary financial protection) for each

nuclear reactor which is licensed to

operate and which is designed for the

production of electrical energy and has

a rated capacity of 100,000 electrical

kilowatts or more: Provided, however,

that under such a plan for deferred

premium charges for each nuclear

reactor which is licensed to operate, no

more than $83,900,000 with respect to

any nuclear incident (plus any

surcharge assessed under subsection

170o.(1)(E) of the Act) and no more than

$10,000,000 per incident within one

calendar year shall be charged.

* * * * *

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day

of July, 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

James L. Blaha,

Acting Executive Director for Operations.

[FR Doc. 98–19362 Filed 7–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 97–NM–105–AD; Amendment

39–10666; AD 98–15–15]

RIN 2120–AA64

Airworthiness Directives; McDonnell

Douglas Model DC–9, DC–9–80, and C–

9 (Military) Series Airplanes, and Model

MD–88 Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This amendment supersedes

an existing airworthiness directive (AD),

applicable to certain McDonnell

Douglas Model DC–9, DC–9–80, and C–

9 (military) series airplanes, and Model

MD–88 airplanes, that currently requires

an inspection to detect chafing on the

FIREX pipe assembly of the number one

engine; and either repair of chafed pipe

assemblies or replacement of the chafed

pipe assemblies with new pipe

assemblies; and modification of the

FIREX and the pneumatic sense pipe

assembly clamp marriage. This

amendment revises the applicability of

the existing AD to include additional

airplanes and remove others. This

amendment is prompted by reports of

incidents in which the pneumatic sense

pipe chafed against the FIREX supply

pipe of the number one engine. The

actions specified by this AD are

intended to prevent chafing of the

FIREX supply pipe, which could result

in a hole in the pipe and consequently

prevent the proper distribution of the

fire extinguishing agent within the

nacelle in the event of a fire.

DATES: Effective August 25, 1998.

The incorporation by reference of

McDonnell Douglas DC–9 Service

Bulletin 26–25, dated May 25, 1994;

McDonnell Douglas Service Bulletin

DC9–26–025, Revision 03, dated July 25,

1996; McDonnell Douglas Service

Bulletin DC9–26–025, Revision 04,

dated April 30, 1997; and McDonnell

Douglas Service Bulletin DC9–26–025,

Revision 05, dated May 29, 1998; as

listed in the regulations, is approved by

the Director of the Federal Register as of

August 25, 1998.

The incorporation by reference of

McDonnell Douglas DC–9 Service

Bulletin 26–25, Revision 1, dated

September 30, 1994; and McDonnell

Douglas DC–9 Service Bulletin 26–25,

Revision 2, dated April 18, 1995; was

approved previously by the Director of

the Federal Register as of July 24, 1995

(60 FR 32579, June 23, 1995).

ADDRESSES: The service information

referenced in this AD may be obtained

from The Boeing Company, Douglas

Products Division, 3855 Lakewood

Boulevard, Long Beach, California

90846, Attention: Technical

Publications Business Administration,

Dept. C1–L51 (2–60). This information

may be examined at the Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA),

Transport Airplane Directorate, Rules

Docket, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW.,

Renton, Washington; or at the FAA,

Transport Airplane Directorate, Los

Angeles Aircraft Certification Office,

3960 Paramount Boulevard, Lakewood,

California; or at the Office of the Federal

Register, 800 North Capitol Street, NW.,

suite 700, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert Baitoo, Aerospace Engineer,

Propulsion Branch, ANM–140L, FAA,

Los Angeles Aircraft Certification

Office, 3960 Paramount Boulevard,