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

48295 

Vol. 86, No. 165 

Monday, August 30, 2021 

DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES 

SAFETY BOARD 

10 CFR Part 1704 

[Docket No. DNFSB–2021–0001] 

Government in the Sunshine Act 

AGENCY: Defense Nuclear Facilities 

Safety Board. 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: The William M. (Mac) 

Thornberry National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 

(NDAA) amended the Atomic Energy 

Act of 1954 (AEA) to grant the Defense 

Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board 

or DNFSB) relief from certain 

limitations under the Government in the 

Sunshine Act (Sunshine Act). The 

Sunshine Act generally requires all 

Board meetings to be open to public 

observation unless certain exemptions 

apply. The NDAA added a provision to 

the AEA that permits the Board to hold 

nonpublic collaborative discussions 

without following the requirements of 

the Sunshine Act, so long as certain 

requirements are met. The Board is 

publishing this direct final rule to revise 

the Board’s Sunshine Act regulations 

consistent with the new AEA provisions 

for nonpublic collaborative discussions. 

DATES: This final rule is effective 

November 29, 2021 unless significant 

adverse comments are received by 

September 29, 2021. If the direct final 

rule is withdrawn as a result of such 

comments, timely notice of the 

withdrawal will be published in the 

Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

at any time prior to the comment 

deadline by the following methods: 

• Email: Send an email to comment@

dnfsb.gov. Please include ‘‘Sunshine Act 

Comments’’ in the subject line of your 

email. 

• Mail: Send hard copy comments to 

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety 

Board, Attn: Office of the General 

Counsel, 625 Indiana Avenue NW, Suite 

700, Washington, DC 20004–2901. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric 

Fox, Associate General Counsel, Defense 

Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625 

Indiana Avenue NW, Suite 700, 

Washington, DC 20004–2901, (202) 694– 

7000. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The NDAA became law on January 1, 

2021. The NDAA contained an 

amendment to the AEA that granted the 

Board relief from certain requirements 

of the Sunshine Act. Under the revised 

section 313 of the AEA (42 U.S.C. 

2286b(k)), a quorum of the Board may 

hold meetings to deliberate on official 

agency business without public 

observation so long as it conducts the 

meeting in compliance with the 

following requirements: (1) No formal or 

informal vote may be taken at the 

meeting; (2) each individual present at 

the meeting must be a member or an 

employee of the Board; (3) at least one 

member from each political party 

represented on the Board must be 

present; and (4) the Board’s General 

Counsel or his or her designee must be 

present. 

In addition to the requirements 

governing the conduct of the meeting, 

the AEA requires the Board to publish 

a summary of the matters discussed, 

including key issues, no later than two 

business days following the meeting. In 

circumstances where the matters 

discussed are covered by the 

exemptions to the open meetings 

requirements of the Sunshine Act, the 

Board must publish as much general 

information as possible without 

disclosing the exempt material. Unlike 

closed meetings held under the 

Sunshine Act, no transcript or advanced 

public notice is required. 

II. Section-by-Section Analysis 

Section 1704.11 Nonpublic 

Collaborative Discussions 

This new section contains the 

requirements for the conduct of 

nonpublic collaborative discussions as 

well as disclosure after they are held. 

These requirements are simply restating 

the language of the AEA, and do not 

expand or diminish the Board’s 

obligations when holding a nonpublic 

collaborative discussion. 

III. Regulatory Analysis 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 

5 U.S.C. 601–612, agencies must 

consider the impact of their rulemakings 

on ‘‘small entities’’ (small businesses, 

small organizations, and local 

governments) when publishing 

regulations subject to the notice and 

comment requirements of the 

Administrative Procedure Act. As noted 

in section IV Rulemaking Procedure 

below, the Board has determined that 

notice and the opportunity to comment 

are unnecessary because this 

rulemaking constitutes a limited, 

routine change to implement the recent 

amendment to the AEA. Therefore, no 

analysis is required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

This rule will not result in the 

expenditure by State, local, and tribal 

governments, in aggregate, or by the 

private sector, of $100,000,000 or more 

in any one year, and it will not 

significantly or uniquely affect small 

governments. Therefore, no actions are 

deemed necessary under the provisions 

of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995. 

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996 

This rule is not a major rule as 

defined by section 251 of the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996, as amended, 5 

U.S.C. 804. This rule will not result in 

an annual effect on the economy of 

$100,000,000 or more; a major increase 

in costs or prices; or significant adverse 

effects on competition, employment, 

investment, productivity, innovation, or 

on the ability of United States-based 

companies to compete with foreignbased companies in domestic and 

export markets. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

establishes certain requirements when 

an agency conducts or sponsors a 

‘‘collection of information.’’ 44 U.S.C. 

3501–3520. This update to the Board’s 

Sunshine Act regulations does not 

require or request information from 

members of the public. Therefore, this 

rulemaking is not covered by the 

restrictions of the PRA. 


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48296 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 165 / Monday, August 30, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

Executive Order 12988 and Executive 

Order 13132—Federalism 

According to Executive Orders 12988 

and 13132, agencies must state in clear 

language the preemptive effect, if any, of 

new regulations. The amendments to 

the agency’s Sunshine Act 

implementing regulations affect only 

how the Board conducts nonpublic 

meetings, and therefore, have no effect 

on preemption of State, tribal, or local 

government laws or otherwise have 

federalism implications. 

Congressional Review Act 

This rule will not result in and is not 

likely to result in (A) an annual effect 

on the economy of $100,000,000 or 

more; (B) a major increase in costs or 

prices for consumers, individual 

industries, Federal, State, or local 

government agencies, or geographic 

regions; or (C) significant adverse effects 

on competition, employment, 

investment, productivity, innovation, or 

on the ability of United States-based 

enterprises to compete with foreignbased enterprises in domestic and 

export markets. As such, the Office of 

Management and Budget has not found 

it to be a major rule as defined in the 

Congressional Review Act. To comply 

with the Congressional Review Act, the 

Board will submit the required 

information each House of the Congress 

and the Comptroller General. 

Finding of No Significant 

Environmental Impact 

The proposed regulations amend the 

Board procedures for holding meetings 

pursuant to the Government in the 

Sunshine Act. The procedural changes 

to the Sunshine Act implementing 

regulations will not result in significant 

impacts affecting the quality of the 

human environment, unavoidable 

adverse environmental effects, rejection 

of reasonable alternatives to the 

proposed action, or irreversible or 

irretrievable commitments of 

environmental resources. The agency 

has not consulted with any other 

agencies in making this determination. 

IV. Rulemaking Procedure 

In light of the amendments made to 

the AEA at 42 U.S.C. 2286b(k), this 

rulemaking makes limited conforming 

changes to the Board’s rules 

implementing the Sunshine Act (10 CFR 

part 1704). The Board is using the 

‘‘direct final rule’’ procedure because 

this rulemaking represents a limited, 

routine change to implement the new 

provisions of the AEA. This amendment 

will become effective on November 29, 

2021. However, if the Board receives a 

significant adverse comment by 

September 29, 2021, then the Board will 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

withdrawing this rule and publishing 

the changes as a notice of proposed 

rulemaking. The Board will respond to 

the significant adverse comment(s) in 

that notice of proposed rulemaking and 

take an additional 30 days of comments 

before publishing any final rule. If no 

significant adverse comment is received, 

the Board will publish a notice that 

confirms the effective date of this direct 

final rule. 

A significant adverse comment is a 

comment where the commenter 

explains why the rule would be 

inappropriate, including challenges to 

the rule’s underlying premise or 

approach, or would be ineffective or 

unacceptable without a change. A 

comment is adverse and significant if: 

(1) The comment opposes the rule and 

provides a reason sufficient to require a 

substantive response in a notice-andcomment process. For example, a 

substantive response is required when: 

(a) The comment causes the Board 

staff to reevaluate (or reconsider) its 

position or conduct additional analysis; 

(b) The comment raises an issue 

serious enough to warrant a substantive 

response to clarify or complete the 

record; or 

(c) The comment raises a relevant 

issue that was not previously addressed 

or considered by the Board. 

(2) The comment proposes a change 

or an addition to the rule, and it is 

apparent that the rule would be 

ineffective or unacceptable without 

incorporation of the change or addition; 

or 

(3) The comment causes the Board to 

make a change (other than editorial) to 

the rule. 

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 1704 

Sunshine Act. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the Defense Nuclear Facilities 

Safety Board amends 10 CFR part 1704 

as follows: 

PART 1704—RULES IMPLEMENTING 

THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE 

ACT 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1704 

is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552b; 42 U.S.C. 2286, 

2286b(c), (k). 

■ 2. Add § 1704.11 to read as follows: 

§ 1704.11 Nonpublic collaborative 

discussions. 

(a) In general. Notwithstanding the 

other requirements of this part, a 

quorum of Members may hold a meeting 

that is not open to public observation to 

discuss official business of the Board 

if— 

(1) No formal or informal vote or other 

official action is taken at the meeting; 

(2) Each individual present at the 

meeting is a Member or an employee of 

the Board; 

(3) At least one Member from each 

political party is present at the meeting, 

unless all Members are of the same 

political party at the time of the 

meeting; and 

(4) The general counsel of the Board, 

or a designee of the general counsel, is 

present at the meeting. 

(b) Disclosure of nonpublic 

collaborative discussions. (1) Except as 

provided by paragraph (b)(2) of this 

section, not later than two business days 

after the conclusion of a meeting 

described in subsection (a), the Board 

shall make available to the public, in a 

place easily accessible to the public— 

(i) A list of the individuals present at 

the meeting; and 

(ii) A summary of the matters, 

including key issues, discussed at the 

meeting, except for any matter the Board 

properly determines may be withheld 

from the public under § 1704.4. 

(2) Information about matters 

withheld from the public. If the Board 

properly determines under paragraph 

(b)(1)(ii) of this section that a matter 

may be withheld from the public under 

§ 1704.4, the Board shall include in the 

summary required by paragraph 

(b)(1)(ii) as much general information as 

possible with respect to the matter. 

Dated: August 24, 2021. 

Joyce Connery, 

Chair. 

[FR Doc. 2021–18549 Filed 8–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3670–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2021–0719; Project 

Identifier MCAI–2021–00858–T; Amendment 

39–21709; AD 2021–18–08] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS 

Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for certain 

Airbus SAS Model A319–171N; Model 

A320–271N, –272N, and –273N 


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