This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

47853 

Vol. 73, No. 159 

Friday, August 15, 2008 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Part 50 

Clarified Requirements When 

Licensees Depart From a License 

Condition or Technical Specification in 

an Emergency; Proposed Generic 

Communication 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public 

comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is proposing to issue 

a regulatory issue summary (RIS) to 

clarify the requirements of Title 10 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR) 50.54(y) when licensees 

implement 10 CFR 50.54(x) to depart 

from a license condition or technical 

specification in an emergency. 

This Federal Register notice is 

available through the NRC’s 

Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System (ADAMS) under 

accession number ML082120745. 

DATES: Comment period expires October 

14, 2008. Comments submitted after this 

date will be considered if it is practical 

to do so, but assurance of consideration 

cannot be given except for comments 

received on or before this date. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

to the Chief, Rulemaking, Directives and 

Editing Branch, Division of 

Administrative Services, Office of 

Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Mail Stop T6–D59, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, and cite 

the publication date and page number of 

this Federal Register notice. Written 

comments may also be delivered to NRC 

Headquarters, 11545 Rockville Pike 

(Room T–6D59), Rockville, Maryland, 

between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on 

Federal workdays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff 

Laughlin at 301–415–1113 or by e-mail 

at Jeff.Laughlin@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2008– 

XX; Clarified Requirements of Title 10 

of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR) Section 50.54(y) When 

Implementing 10 CFR Section 50.54(x) 

To Depart From a License Condition or 

Technical Specification 

Addressees 

All holders of operating licenses for 

nuclear power reactors, except those 

who have permanently ceased 

operations and have certified that fuel 

has been permanently removed from the 

reactor vessel. 

Intent 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing this 

regulatory issue summary (RIS) to 

clarify the requirements of Title 10 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR) Section 50.54(y) when licensees 

implement 10 CFR Section 50.54(x) to 

depart from a license condition or 

technical specification in an emergency. 

This RIS requires no action or written 

response on the part of the addressees. 

Background 

Section 50.54(y) states, ‘‘Licensee 

actions permitted by paragraph (x) of 

this section shall be approved, as a 

minimum, by a licensed senior operator 

* * *’’ This describes the lowest 

ranking individual authorized to 

approve the departure from a license 

condition or technical specification. An 

individual other than a licensed senior 

operator could make such a decision, as 

long as the person is in a position of 

authority greater than the licensed 

senior operator. The Statements of 

Consideration (SOC) that accompanied 

the final rule for ‘‘10 CFR Part 50, 

Applicability of License; Conditions and 

Technical Specifications in an 

Emergency,’’ in 48 FR 13966, April 1, 

1983, stated that the decision to depart 

from the license could be made by any 

licensed senior operator for the unit 

involved. However, in an emergency, 

that decision would pass to more senior 

licensee personnel, if available, as 

higher authorities in the chain of 

command. That position was reiterated 

by Mr. John A. Zwolinski, Director, 

BWR Project Directorate #1, to 

Consumers Power Company in a 

November 5, 1986 letter with the 

subject, ‘‘Consumers Power Company 

(CPC) Request for Interpretation of 10 

CFR 50.54(y).’’ In 2004, the staff 

approved Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 

03–12, ‘‘Template for the Security Plan, 

Training and Qualification Plan, 

Safeguards Contingency Plan,’’ which 

licensees used as a template for making 

security plan changes. Some industry 

personnel questioned whether this 

document was contrary to the staff’s 

earlier position, in that the template 

required the highest ranking licensee 

official (e.g., Emergency Director (ED)) 

to receive approval from a licensed 

senior operator to depart from the 

license. 

Discussion 

Section 50.54(y) of 10 CFR does not 

require that the decision to depart from 

the license or technical specifications be 

made only by a licensed senior operator 

or that the individual making the 

decision possess a senior operator’s 

license. Rather, such a decision could be 

made either by any licensed senior 

operator or any individual in a superior 

position to a licensed senior operator. 

As stated in the SOC, if ‘‘more senior 

licensee personnel’’ are available, ‘‘the 

decision to depart from the license in an 

emergency would pass to them (as 

higher authorities in the chain of 

command).’’ There is nothing in the rule 

to indicate that the ‘‘more senior 

licensee personnel’’ are also required to 

be licensed senior operators. In 

addition, there is nothing in the rule 

that would require the ‘‘more senior 

licensee personnel’’ to obtain the 

concurrence of a licensed senior 

operator to make such a decision, and 

the SOC does not contain any 

discussion suggesting such Commission 

intent. 

With respect to the language in the 

NEI template, which states that the 

departure decision would be made by 

the ED, with approval, at a minimum, 

from a licensed senior reactor operator, 

the NRC notes that the NEI template is 

not an NRC interpretation of its 

regulations. This template, once 

approved, described one way to comply 

with NRC requirements. A licensee is 

free to utilize other approaches which 

comply with the requirements of the 

regulation as interpreted and applied by 

the NRC. Also, the fact that the NRC has 

approved a document that seems to 

employ more stringent measures (e.g., 

both the ED and senior reactor operator 

must concur on the departure) does not 

mean that less stringent measures would 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with PROPOSALS
47854 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 159 / Friday, August 15, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

be insufficient in order to comply with 

the regulations. Each individual 

licensee is free to determine whether or 

not it wants to employ such a 

concurrence process. 

Summary of Issue 

The decision to depart from the 

license or a technical specification in an 

emergency shall be approved, as a 

minimum, by a licensed senior operator. 

If more senior licensee personnel are 

available, the decision to depart from 

the license in an emergency would pass 

to them as higher authorities in the 

chain of command. The rule does not 

specify that the senior licensee 

personnel be licensed senior operators 

or that they obtain the concurrence of a 

licensed senior operator to make such a 

decision. 

Backfit Discussion 

This RIS does not represent a new or 

different staff position regarding the 

implementation of 10 CFR 50.54(x) and 

is consistent with the SOC for 10 CFR 

50.54(x) and (y), and the staff guidance 

in the November, 1986 Zwolinski letter. 

It requires no action or written response. 

Any action by addressees to implement 

changes to their security or emergency 

plans, or procedures in accordance with 

the guidance in this RIS is strictly 

voluntary and, therefore, is not a backfit 

under 10 CFR 50.109, ‘‘Backfitting.’’

Consequently, the NRC staff did not 

perform a backfit analysis. 

Federal Register Notification 

To be done after the public comments 

period. 

Congressional Review Act 

This RIS is not a rule as designated by 

the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 

801–886) and, therefore, is not subject to 

the Act. 

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement 

This RIS does not contain any 

information collections and, therefore, 

is not subject to the requirements of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

Public Protection Notification 

The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, 

and a person is not required to respond 

to, a request for information or an 

information collection requirement 

unless the requesting document 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

Contact 

Please direct any questions about this 

matter to Jeff Laughlin at 301–415–1113 

or by e-mail at Jeff.Laughlin@nrc.gov. 

End of Draft Regulatory Issue Summary 

Documents may be examined, and/or 

copied for a fee, at the NRC’s Public 

Document Room at One White Flint 

North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), 

Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available 

records will be accessible electronically 

from the Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading 

Room on the Internet at the NRC Web 

site, http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/ 

index.html. If you do not have access to 

ADAMS or if you have problems in 

accessing the documents in ADAMS, 

contact the NRC Public Document Room 

(PDR) reference staff at 1–800–397–4209 

or 301–415–4737 or by e-mail to 

pdr@nrc.gov. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day 

of August 2008. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Martin C. Murphy, 

Chief, Generic Communications Branch, 

Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office 

of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. E8–18918 Filed 8–14–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

12 CFR Part 219 

[Regulation S; Docket No. R–1325] 

Reimbursement for Providing Financial 

Records; Recordkeeping 

Requirements for Certain Financial 

Records 

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System (Board) is 

proposing amendments to Subpart A of 

Regulation S, which implements the 

requirement under the Right to 

Financial Privacy Act (RFPA) that the 

Board establish the rates and conditions 

under which payment shall be made by 

a government authority to a financial 

institution for assembling or providing 

financial records pursuant to RFPA. 

These proposed amendments update the 

fees to be charged and take account of 

recent advances in electronic document 

productions. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before September 29, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. R–1325, by any 

of the following methods: 

• Agency Web Site: http:// 

www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments at: 

http://www.federalreserve.gov/ 

generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: 

regs.comments@federalreserve.gov. 

Include the docket number in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Fax: (202) 452–3101. 

• Mail: Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary, 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System, 20th Street and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20551. 

All public comments are available 

from the Board’s Web site at http:// 

www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/ 

foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as submitted, 

unless modified for technical reasons. 

Accordingly, your comments will not be 

edited to remove any identifying or 

contact information. Public comments 

may also be viewed electronically or in 

paper in Room MP–500 of the Board’s 

Martin Building (20th and C Streets, 

NW.) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on 

weekdays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jason Gonzalez, Senior Attorney (202/ 

452–3275), Legal Division, Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, Washington, DC 20551. For 

users of the Telecommunication Device 

for the Deaf (TDD), please call (202) 

263–4869. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 1115 of the RFPA (12 U.S.C. 

3415) requires the Board to establish, by 

regulation, the rates and conditions 

under which payment is made by a 

Government authority to a financial 

institution for searching for, 

reproducing, or transporting data 

required or requested under the RFPA. 

Shortly after the RFPA was adopted, the 

Board issued Regulation S (12 CFR Part 

219) to implement this provision (44 FR 

55812, September 28, 1979). These 

provisions were subsequently 

designated Subpart A of Regulation S. In 

June 1996, the Board revised Regulation 

S by updating the fees financial 

institutions could charge and 

streamlining the Subpart generally. 61 

FR 29638 (June 12, 1996). 

In the twelve years since the last 

revision, the Board has observed two 

significant changes that now require 

further amendments to Subpart A of 

Regulation S. First, increases in salary 

and benefits have caused the fees 

chargeable for reproducing financial 

records to become outdated. 

Furthermore, in recent years, the 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with PROPOSALS