Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 168 / Wednesday, August 31, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 51581 

compliance guide should be sent to Jay 

Guerber at the previously mentioned 

address in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. 

After consideration of all relevant 

material presented, including the 

information and recommendation 

submitted by the Committee and other 

available information, it is hereby found 

that this rule, as hereinafter set forth, 

will tend to effectuate the declared 

policy of the Act. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 958 

Onions, Marketing agreements, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

PART 958—ONIONS GROWN IN 

CERTAIN DESIGNATED COUNTIES IN 

IDAHO, AND MALHEUR COUNTY, 

OREGON 

■ Accordingly, the interim final rule 

amending 7 CFR part 958 which was 

published at 70 FR 32481 on June 3, 

2005, is adopted as a final rule without 

change. 

Dated: August 25, 2005. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–17269 Filed 8–30–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Chapter I 

Energy Policy Act of 2005 

Requirements; Treatment of 

Accelerator-Produced and Other 

Radioactive Material as Byproduct 

Material; Waiver 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Time-limited waiver of Energy 

Policy Act of 2005 requirements. 

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing a timelimited waiver of the requirements 

enacted by section 651(e) of the Energy 

Policy Act of 2005, titled ‘‘Treatment of 

Accelerator-Produced and Other 

Radioactive Material as Byproduct 

Material’’, as they pertain to byproduct 

material as defined in paragraphs (3) 

and (4) of section 11 e. of the Atomic 

Energy Act of 1954, as added by section 

651(e). The waiver will allow persons 

owning, using, and otherwise engaging 

in activities involving the material to 

continue with their activities and States 

to continue to regulate this material 

during the applicable waiver period. 

DATES: This waiver is effective August 

31, 2005. This waiver is effective 

through August 7, 2006, for the import 

and export of materials covered by the 

waiver, unless terminated sooner if the 

Commission determines that an earlier 

termination is warranted. For all other 

matters, it is effective through August 7, 

2009, unless terminated sooner if the 

Commission determines that an earlier 

termination is warranted or required. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Susan Chidakel, Office of the General 

Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, telephone (301) 415–1535, e-mail 

ssc@nrc.gov or Merri Horn, Office of 

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, telephone 

(301) 415–8126, e-mail, mlh1@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

President of the United States signed the 

Energy Policy Act of 2005 on August 8, 

2005. The provisions of the Act became 

effective immediately, unless another 

effective date was expressly provided. 

Since no effective date was stated for 

the provisions of section 651(e) of the 

Act, section 651(e) became effective 

immediately, and brought byproduct 

material, as defined in paragraphs (3) 

and (4) of section 11 e. of the Atomic 

Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2201 et 

seq.), as added by section 651(e)(1), 

under the immediate regulatory 

authority of the Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

Section 11 e.(3) of the Atomic Energy 

Act of 1954 now includes as byproduct 

material: (i) any discrete source of 

radium-226 that is produced, extracted, 

or converted after extraction (before, on, 

or after the date of enactment of section 

651(e) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005), 

for use for a commercial, medical, or 

research activity; and (ii) any material 

that has been made radioactive by use 

of a particle accelerator and is 

produced, extracted, or converted after 

extraction (before, on, or after the date 

of enactment of section 651(e) of the 

Energy Policy Act of 2005), for use for 

a commercial, medical, or research 

activity. Section 11 e.(4) expands the 

definition to include any discrete source 

of naturally occurring radioactive 

material, other than source material, if 

certain conditions are met. Section 11 

e.(4) is considered to be a place-holder 

and NRC staff does not anticipate a need 

for active regulation of the latter 

material at this time. 

Prior to enactment of the Energy 

Policy Act of 2005, the NRC did not 

have authority over the newly covered 

byproduct material, and it fell under the 

authority of the States. Therefore, the 

NRC does not currently have regulations 

in place that would specifically apply to 

the material. With the enactment of the 

Energy Policy Act of 2005, the States 

may no longer assert the authority to 

regulate the newly covered byproduct 

material, except as authorized to do so 

by the Act. 

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 allows 

the Commission up to 18 months after 

the date of enactment to issue final 

regulations for the newly covered 

byproduct material. To facilitate an 

orderly transition of regulatory authority 

with respect to the newly defined 

byproduct material, the Act also 

provides for preparation and 

publication of a transition plan for 

States that have not previously entered 

into an Agreement with the Commission 

under section 274 b of the Atomic 

Energy Act and for those States that 

have entered into such an Agreement. 

However, neither the regulations nor the 

transition plan have yet been developed. 

Until such time as the regulations and 

transition plan have been completed 

and are in place, persons that engage in 

activities involving the material will 

want to continue with their activities. 

To ease the transition period from 

individualized State programs to a more 

uniform regulatory program developed 

under the Atomic Energy Act and its 

section 274b Agreement State Program, 

section 651(e) of the Energy Policy Act 

of 2005 authorizes the Commission to 

issue waivers of its authority. Waivers of 

the Commission’s jurisdiction will 

permit existing State authorities to 

continue. Ultimate transition from NRC 

to State authority for those States with 

an existing Agreement State program is 

expected to proceed easily. For States 

without such programs currently, that 

want to enter into an agreement with the 

NRC, this waiver period will permit 

them to go through the processes 

necessary to establish and carry out an 

Agreement State program to regulate 

this material after the waiver period 

expires. 

Section 651(e)(5) authorizes the 

Commission to grant a waiver to any 

entity of any requirement under section 

651(e) with respect to a matter relating 

to the newly defined byproduct 

material, except as required by section 

651(e)(5)(B)(i)(l). Thus, such a waiver 

can also be granted to entities that 

engage in activities involving the 

material. Without the waiver, States that 

seek to continue regulation of the 

material would be, and persons that 

carry on activities involving the newly 

defined byproduct material could be, in 

technical violation of the Atomic Energy 

Act of 1954, as amended by section 

651(e) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 

51582 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 168 / Wednesday, August 31, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

1 68 FR 35589 (June 16, 2003). The June 2003 

notice also addressed powers and activities and 

international operations. The agencies have 

published subsequent notices seeking comment on 

consumer protection provisions in lending-related 

rules at 69 FR 2852 (January 21, 2004); consumer 

protection provisions in other rules at 69 FR 43347 

(July 20, 2004); and money laundering and safety 

and soundness and securities rules at 70 FR 5571 

(February 3, 2005). 

The authorization to grant waivers is 

subject to the Commission’s 

determination that the waiver is in 

accordance with the protection of the 

public health and safety and the 

promotion of the common defense and 

security. The Commission has 

determined that there is no basis on 

which to conclude that these materials 

will not continue to be used in a manner 

that ensures that the public health and 

safety will be protected while this 

waiver is in effect. The Energy Policy 

Act of 2005 also specifically requires the 

Commission to consider, in 

promulgating regulations, the impact on 

the availability of radiopharmaceuticals 

to physicians and to patients the 

medical treatment of which relies on 

radiopharmaceuticals. The Commission 

believes that it is in the best interests of 

the country to allow continued use of 

the newly defined byproduct material in 

radiopharmaceuticals for medical 

purposes, and to allow the States to 

continue to regulate the newly defined 

byproduct material until the 

Commission can codify new regulations 

for these materials. 

In sum, the Commission currently 

does not have in place a specific set of 

regulations to oversee the use of 

byproduct material as defined in 

paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 11 e. 

of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 

added by section 651(e) of the Energy 

Policy Act of 2005. Granting of the 

waiver set forth at the end of this 

document will allow, for the applicable 

waiver period, States to continue with 

their programs, persons engaged in 

activities involving the newly defined 

Atomic Energy Act byproduct material 

to continue their operations in a safe 

manner, and continued access to 

medical radiopharmaceuticals. This will 

also permit the Commission and States 

that currently do not have § 274i 

Agreement State regulatory programs, 

but wish to enter into an agreement with 

the NRC, to appropriately address the 

newly defined byproduct material. The 

Commission has determined that 

issuance of this waiver is in accordance 

with the protection of the public health 

and safety and the promotion of the 

common defense and security. 

Waiver 

Except as required by section 

651(e)(5)(B)(i)(I), the Commission 

hereby grants a waiver from the 

requirements of section 651(e) of the 

Energy Policy Act of 2005, titled, 

‘‘Treatment of Accelerator-Produced 

and Other Radioactive Material as 

Byproduct Material’’, as follows: 

(1) To all persons engaged in export 

from or import into the United States of 

byproduct material as defined in section 

11 e.(3) and (4) of the Atomic Energy 

Act 1954, through August 7, 2006, 

unless terminated sooner if the 

Commission determines that an earlier 

termination is warranted; except that 

the requirements of the Department of 

Commerce relating to export of such 

material will continue to apply to such 

material during the waiver period; 

(2) To all persons that acquire, 

deliver, receive, possess, own, use, or 

transfer byproduct material as defined 

in section 11 e.(3) and (4) of the Atomic 

Energy Act 1954, through August 7, 

2009, unless terminated sooner if the 

Commission determines that an earlier 

termination is warranted; and 

(3) To all States that have entered into 

an agreement with the Commission 

under section 274 b. of the Atomic 

Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014(e)) 

and to States that have not entered into 

such an Agreement, through August 7, 

2009, unless terminated sooner if the 

Commission determines that an earlier 

termination is warranted; except that 

such a waiver for an Agreement State 

will be terminated by the Commission, 

if the Commission makes the 

determinations required by section 

651(e)(5)(B)(ii) of the Energy Policy Act 

of 2005. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day 

of August, 2005. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Annette Vietti-Cook, 

Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 05–17293 Filed 8–30–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

12 CFR Parts 506, 516, 528, 543, 544, 

545, 552, 559, 563, 563b, 567, 574, and 

575 

[No. 2005–34] 

RIN 1550–AB93 

EGRPRA Regulatory Review—

Application and Reporting 

Requirements 

AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision, 

Treasury (OTS). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: As a part of its review of 

regulations under section 2222 of the 

Economic Growth and Regulatory 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (Pub. 

L. 104–208, Sept. 30, 1996) (EGRPRA), 

the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) is 

issuing a final rule, which reduces 

regulatory burden on savings 

associations by updating and revising 

various application and reporting 

requirements. Specifically, the final 

rule: modifies the branch office and 

agency office application and notice 

requirements, harmonizes publication 

and public comment procedures for 

various applications and notices, and 

revises the meeting procedures. The 

final rule also eliminates various 

obsolete rules. 

DATES: This rule is effective on October 

1, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Josephine Battle, Program Analyst, 

Thrift Policy, (202) 906–6870; Donald 

Dwyer, Director, Applications, 

Examinations and Supervision 

Operations, (202) 906–6414; Karen 

Osterloh, Special Counsel, Regulations 

and Legislation Division, (202) 906–

6639; or Gary Jeffers, Senior Attorney, 

Business Transactions Division, (202) 

906–6457, Office of Thrift Supervision, 

1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20552. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

In 2003, OTS and the other federal 

banking agencies began a joint effort to 

review their rules and identify outdated 

or otherwise unnecessary regulatory 

requirements. This review is required by 

section 2222 of EGRPRA, which directs 

the banking agencies to jointly or 

individually categorize their regulations 

by type, provide notice and solicit 

public comment on the categories, 

request commenters to identify areas of 

the regulations that are outdated, 

unnecessary, or unduly burdensome, 

and eliminate unnecessary regulations 

to the extent that such action is 

appropriate. 12 U.S.C. 3311. As part of 

this EGRPRA process, OTS, the Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, the Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of 

the Comptroller of the Currency 

published a notice seeking comment on 

unnecessary regulatory burden in their 

rules governing application and 

reporting requirements.1

Based on the comments submitted in 

response to the notice and additional 

comments voiced at EGRPRA outreach 

meetings, OTS issued an interim final