Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 14, 1996 / Notices 24335

(1) Should there be changes in the

medical surveillance program and the

way the data from the program is

utilized?

(2) In what ways can participation in

the medical surveillance program be

improved?

(3) Is the Part 90 program

accomplishing its goal?

(4) Should there be changes in the

methods and procedures for the

evaluation of exposure to coal mine

dust?

(5) What improvements are needed in:

the collection of coal mine dust

exposure samples; the maintenance of

dust controls; and the factoring in of

production levels?

(6) Under what circumstances is

continuous monitoring of coal mine

dust concentrations appropriate?

(7) Under what circumstances does

area sampling of the coal mine

environment provide dust concentration

data useful for the protection of coal

miner health?

(8) Should operator sampling results

be used for evaluating compliance with

the PEL?

(9) In what ways can miner

participation in eradicating dust related

diseases be improved?

There will also be a panel discussion

by representatives of the National Black

Lung Association followed by questions

by members of the advisory committee.

The public is invited to attend. The

chairperson will provide an hour near

the end of each day’s meeting to allow

interested persons to make comments.

Official records of the meeting will be

available for public inspection at the

above MSHA address.

Dated: May 9, 1996.

J. Davitt McAteer,

Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and

Health.

[FR Doc. 96–12074 Filed 5–10–96; 9:39 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–43–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Notice of the OMB review of

information collection and solicitation

of public comment.

SUMMARY: The NRC has recently

submitted to OMB for review the

following proposal for the collection of

information under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35). The NRC hereby

informs potential respondents that an

agency may not conduct or sponsor, and

that a person is not required to respond

to, a collection of information unless it

displays a currently valid OMB control

number.

1. Type of submission, new, revision, or

extension: Revision.

2. The title of the information collection:

10 CFR Part 30, ‘‘Rules of General

Applicability to Domestic Licensing of

Byproduct Material.’’

3. The form number if applicable: Not

applicable.

4. How often the collection is required:

Required reports are collected and evaluated

on a continuing basis as events occur. There

is a one-time submittal of information to

receive a license. Renewal applications are

submitted every 5 years. Information

submitted in previous applications may be

referenced without being resubmitted. In

addition, recordkeeping must be performed

on an on-going basis.

5. Who will be required or asked to report:

All persons applying or holding a license to

manufacture, produce, transfer, receive,

acquire, own, possess, or use radioactive

byproduct material.

6. An estimate of the number of responses:

Approximately 601 responses from NRC

licensees and 1,112 responses from

Agreement State licensees.

7. The estimated number of annual

respondents: 6,089 NRC licensees and 12,178

Agreement State licensees.

8. An estimate of the total number of hours

needed annually to complete the requirement

or request: Approximately 8 hours annually

per licensee or 48,897 hours for the NRC

licensees and 98,376 hours for the Agreement

State licensees.

9. An indication of whether Section

3507(d), Pub. L. 104–13 applies: Not

applicable.

10. Abstract: 10 CFR Part 30 establishes

requirements that are applicable to all

persons in the United States governing

domestic licensing of radioactive byproduct

material. The application, reporting, and

recordkeeping requirements are necessary to

permit the NRC to make a determination

whether the possession, use, and transfer of

byproduct material is in conformance with

the Commission’s regulations for protection

of the public health and safety.

A copy of the submittal may be

viewed free of charge at the NRC Public

Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW,

(Lower Level), Washington, DC.

Members of the public who are in the

Washington, DC, area can access the

submittal via modem on the Public

Document Room Bulletin Board (NRC’s

Advance Copy Document Library) NRC

subsystem at FedWorld, 703–321–3339.

Members of the public who are located

outside of the Washington, DC, area can

dial FedWorld, 1–800–303–9672, or use

the FedWorld Internet address:

fedworld.gov (Telnet). The document

will be available on the bulletin board

for 30 days after the signature date of

this notice. If assistance is needed in

accessing the document, please contact

the FedWorld help desk at 703–487–

4608. Additional assistance in locating

the document is available from the NRC

Public Document Room, nationally at 1–

800–397–4209, or within the

Washington, DC, area at (202) 634–3273.

Comments and questions should be

directed to the OMB reviewer by June

13, 1996: Peter Francis, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs

(3150–0017), NEOB–10202, Office of

Management and Budget, Washington,

DC 20503.

Comments can also be submitted by

telephone at (202) 395–3084.

The NRC Clearance Officer is Brenda

Jo. Shelton, (301) 415–7233.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day

of May, 1996.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Gerald F. Cranford,

Designated Senior Official for Information

Resources Management.

[FR Doc. 96–12040 Filed 5–13–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

Documents Containing Reporting or

Recordkeeping Requirements: Office

of Management and Budget (OMB)

Review

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Notice of the OMB review of

information collection and solicitation

of public comment.

SUMMARY: The NRC has recently

submitted to OMB for review the

following proposal for the collection of

information under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35). The NRC hereby

informs potential respondents that an

agency may not conduct or sponsor, and

that a person is not required to respond

to, a collection of information unless it

displays a currently valid OMB control

number.

1. Type of submission, new, revision, or

extension: Revision.

2. The title of the information collection:

10 CFR Part 9, Public Records.

3. The form number if applicable: Not

applicable.

4. How often the collection is required: On

occasion.

5. Who will be required or asked to report:

Individuals requesting access to records

under the Freedom of Information or Privacy

Acts, or to records that are already publicly

available in the NRC Public Document Room.

6. An estimate of the number of responses:

13,764.

7. The estimated number of annual

respondents: 13,764.
24336 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 14, 1996 / Notices

1Throughout this Policy Statement the terms

‘‘concerns,’’ ‘‘safety concerns’’ and ‘‘safety

problem’’ refer to potential or actual issues within

the Commission’s jurisdiction involving operations,

radiological releases, safeguards, radiation

protection, and other matters relating to NRCregulated activities.

8. An estimate of the total number of hours

needed annually to complete the requirement

or request: 3,519.

9. An indication of whether Section

3507(d), Pub.L. 104–13 applies: Not

applicable.

10. Abstract: 10 CFR Part 9 establishes

information collection requirements for

individuals making requests for records

under the Freedom of Information or Privacy

Acts. It also contains requests to waive or

reduce fees for searching for and reproducing

records in response to FOIA requests. The

information required from the public is

necessary to identify the records they are

requesting or to justify requests for waivers

or reductions in searching or copying fees.

A copy of the submittal may be

viewed free of charge at the NRC Public

Document Room, 2120 L Street NW,

(lower level), Washington, DC. Members

of the public who are in the

Washington, DC, area can access this

document via modem on the Public

Document Room Bulletin Board (NRC’s

Advanced Copy Document Library),

NRC subsystem at FedWorld, 703–321–

3339. Members of the public who are

located outside of the Washington, DC,

area can dial FedWorld, 1–800–303–

9672, or use the FedWorld Internet

address: fedworld.gov (Telnet). The

document will be available on the

bulletin board for 30 days after the

signature date of this notice. If

assistance is needed in accessing the

document, please contact the FedWorld

help desk at 703–487–4608. Additional

assistance in locating the document is

available from the NRC Public

Document Room, nationally at 1–800–

397–4209, or within the Washington,

DC, area at 202–634–3273.

Comments and questions should be

directed to the OMB reviewer by June

13, 1996: Peter Francis, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs

(3150–00043), NEOB–10202, Office of

Management and Budget, Washington,

DC 20503.

Comments can also be submitted by

telephone at (202) 395–3084.

The NRC Clearance Officer is Brenda

Jo. Shelton, (301) 415–7233.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day

of May, 1996.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Gerald F. Cranford,

Designated Senior Official for Information

Resources Management.

[FR Doc. 96–12041 Filed 5–13–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

Freedom of Employees in the Nuclear

Industry To Raise Safety Concerns

Without Fear of Retaliation; Policy

Statement

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Statement of policy.

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is issuing this policy

statement to set forth its expectation

that licensees and other employers

subject to NRC authority will establish

and maintain safety-conscious

environments in which employees feel

free to raise safety concerns, both to

their management and to the NRC,

without fear of retaliation. The

responsibility for maintaining such an

environment rests with each NRC

licensee, as well as with contractors,

subcontractors and employees in the

nuclear industry. This policy statement

is applicable to NRC regulated activities

of all NRC licensees and their

contractors and subcontractors.

DATES: May 14, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James Lieberman, Director, Office of

Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, (301) 415–2741.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

NRC licensees have the primary

responsibility to ensure the safety of

nuclear operations. Identification and

communication of potential safety

concerns 1 and the freedom of

employees to raise such concerns is an

integral part of carrying out this

responsibility.

In the past, employees have raised

important issues and as a result, the

public health and safety has benefited.

Although the Commission recognizes

that not every concern raised by

employees is safety significant or, for

that matter, is valid, the Commission

concludes that it is important that

licensees’ management establish an

environment in which safety issues are

promptly identified and effectively

resolved and in which employees feel

free to raise concerns.

Although hundreds of concerns are

raised and resolved daily in the nuclear

industry, the Commission, on occasion,

receives reports of individuals being

retaliated against for raising concerns.

This retaliation is unacceptable and

unlawful. In addition to the hardship

caused to the individual employee, the

perception by fellow workers that

raising concerns has resulted in

retaliation can generate a chilling effect

that may discourage other workers from

raising concerns. A reluctance on the

part of employees to raise concerns is

detrimental to nuclear safety.

As a result of questions raised about

NRC’s efforts to address retaliation

against individuals who raise health and

safety concerns, the Commission

established a review team in 1993 to

reassess the NRC’s program for

protecting allegers against retaliation. In

its report (NUREG–1499, ‘‘Reassessment

of the NRC’s Program for Protecting

Allegers Against Retaliation,’’ January 7,

1994) the review team made numerous

recommendations, including several

recommendations involving issuing a

policy statement to address the need to

encourage responsible licensee action

with regard to fostering a qualityconscious environment in which

employees are free to raise safety

concerns without fear of retribution

(recommendations II.A–1, II.A–2, and

II.A–4). On February 8, 1995, the

Commission after considering those

recommendations and the bases for

them published for comment a proposed

policy statement, ‘‘Freedom of

Employees in the Nuclear Industry to

Raise Safety Concerns Without Fear of

Retaliation,’’ in the Federal Register (60

FR 7592, February 8, 1995).

The proposed policy statement

generated comments from private

citizens and representatives of the

industry concerning both the policy

statement and NRC and Department of

Labor (DOL) performance. The more

significant comments related to the

contents of the policy statement

included:

1. The policy statement would

discourage employees from bringing

their concerns to the NRC because it

provided that employees should

normally provide concerns to the

licensee prior to or contemporaneously

with coming to the NRC.

2. The use of a holding period should

be at the discretion of the employer and

not be considered by the NRC in

evaluating the reasonableness of the

licensee’s action.

3. The policy statement is not needed

to establish an environment to raise

concerns if NRC uses its authority to

enforce existing requirements by

pursuing civil and criminal sanctions

against those who discriminate.

4. The description of employee

concerns programs and the oversight of

contractors was too prescriptive; the