48728 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2017 / Notices 

while allowing flexibility in disposal 

options. 

One high priority task (Task 2) in the 

Strategic Assessment was to address the 

challenge of alternative disposal of Very 

Low-Level Waste (VLLW), in 

accordance with § 20.2002 of title 10 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR), in non-traditional LLRW facilities 

such as Resource Conservation and 

Recovery Act facilities, as well as the 

regulatory review and approval needed 

for such disposal. In response to 

stakeholder input regarding the 2007 

assessment, the NRC determined that 

the process for authorizing these 

disposals needed more consistency and 

clarity. The NRC committed to 

addressing these concerns through the 

development of new regulatory 

guidance. 

On August 31, 2009, the NRC issued 

interim staff procedure, ‘‘Review, 

Approval, and Documentation of LowActivity Waste Disposals in Accordance 

with 10 CFR 20.2002 and 10 CFR 

40.13(a)’’ (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML092460058). Prior to its issuance, 

there had been no single procedure 

covering safety and security reviews, the 

preparation of an environmental 

assessment, and coordination with 

internal and external stakeholders for 

alternative disposal requests. 

Accordingly, this document was 

developed and issued to provide 

consistency and guidance for NRC 

staff’s review of alternative disposal 

requests received from licensees, 

applicants, and other entities for 

alternative disposal of licensed material. 

In addition, the NRC determined that 

this guidance would be finalized after it 

had been implemented and used for 

more alternative disposal requests. 

In order to set the direction for the 

NRC’s LLRW regulatory program in the 

next several years, including the 

alternative disposal request review 

process, the NRC decided to conduct a 

new evaluation of the NRC’s LLRW 

program (referred to as a Programmatic 

Assessment). The results of this 

assessment were published in October 

2016, in SECY–16–0118, ‘‘Programmatic 

Assessment of Low-Level Radioactive 

Waste Regulatory Program’’ (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML15243A192). The 

objectives of the 2016 assessment were 

similar to the objectives of the 2007 

Strategic Assessment. Both assessments 

also have considered future needs and 

changes that may occur in the nation’s 

commercial LLRW management system. 

One of the high priority tasks (Task 5) 

included within Enclosure 1 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML15243A205) of the 

Programmatic Assessment was to 

address the challenge of alternative 

disposal of VLLW by finalizing the draft 

guidance document. Per the 

Programmatic Assessment, this final 

draft would be published for public 

comment, then issued as a final 

document. 

Accordingly, the purpose of this draft 

revision to the guidance is to improve 

the alternative disposal process by 

providing more clarity, consistency, and 

transparency to the process. In addition, 

this draft revision to the guidance also 

clarifies the meaning of disposal relative 

to 10 CFR 20.2002 authorizations to 

include recycling and reuse of materials. 

The draft revision to the guidance is 

available for public comment as 

ADAMS Accession No. ML16326A063. 

The NRC is interested in receiving 

comments related to the draft revision to 

the guidance from stakeholders, 

including professional organizations, 

licensees, Agreement States, and 

members of the public. Comments will 

be considered to determine if additional 

changes to the draft revision to the 

guidance and the alternative disposal 

request process are needed. 

During the comment period, the NRC 

will conduct a public meeting at the 

NRC’s Headquarters that will explain 

the draft revision to the guidance and 

address questions. Information 

regarding the public meeting will be 

posted on the NRC’s public meeting 

Web site at least 10 calendar days before 

the meeting. The NRC’s public meeting 

Web site is located at https://

www.nrc.gov/public-involve.html. 

The NRC will also post the meeting 

notice on the Federal rulemaking Web 

site at http://www.regulations.gov under 

Docket ID NRC–2017–0198. The NRC 

may post additional materials related to 

this document, including public 

comments, on the Federal rulemaking 

Web site. The Federal rulemaking Web 

site allows you to receive alerts when 

changes or additions occur in a docket 

folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the 

docket folder (NRC–2017–0198); (2) 

click the ‘‘Sign up for Email Alerts’’ 

link; and (3) enter your email address 

and select how frequently you would 

like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or 

monthly). 

III. Requested Information and 

Comments 

The NRC staff will treat all public 

feedback as public comments on the 

draft revision to the guidance and 

consider them as it finalizes the revision 

to the guidance. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day 

of October 2017. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Andrea Kock, 

Deputy Director, Division of 

Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and 

Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material 

Safety and Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22694 Filed 10–18–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2017–0079] 

Quality Assurance Program Criteria 

(Design and Construction) 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing Revision 5 

to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.28, ‘‘Quality 

Assurance Program Criteria (Design and 

Construction).’’ This regulatory guide 

(RG 1.28) updates the guidance to 

endorse, with clarification or 

exceptions, multiple revisions of the 

American Society of Mechanical 

Engineers standard NQA–1 titled 

‘‘Quality Assurance Requirements for 

Nuclear Facility Applications.’’ The 

proposed revision describes methods 

that the NRC considers acceptable for 

establishing and implementing a quality 

assurance (QA) program for the design 

and construction of nuclear power 

plants and fuel reprocessing plants. 

DATES: Revision 5 to RG 1.28 is available 

on October 19, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2017–0079 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information regarding this document. 

You may obtain publicly-available 

information related to this document 

using any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2017–0079. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Carol 

Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; 

email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions, contact the 

individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 

select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS 

Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, 

please contact the NRC’s Public 


rmajette on DSKBCKNHB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2017 / Notices 48729 

Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 

1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by 

email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 

ADAMS accession number for each 

document referenced (if it is available in 

ADAMS) is provided the first time that 

it is mentioned in this document. The 

RG is available in ADAMS under 

Accession No. ML17207A293. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

Regulatory guides are not 

copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 

required to reproduce them. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ashley Ferguson, Office of New 

Reactors, telephone: 301–415–6638, 

email: Ashley.Ferguson@nrc.gov, and 

Stephen Burton, Office of Nuclear 

Regulatory Research, telephone: 301– 

415–7000, email: Stephen.Burton@

nrc.gov. Both are staff of the U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion 

The NRC is issuing a revision to an 

existing guide in the NRC’s ‘‘Regulatory 

Guide’’ series. This series was 

developed to describe and make 

available to the public information 

regarding methods that are acceptable to 

the NRC staff for implementing specific 

parts of the agency’s regulations, 

techniques that the NRC staff uses in 

evaluating specific issues or postulated 

events, and data that the NRC staff 

needs in its review of applications for 

permits and licenses. 

Revision 5 of RG 1.28 was issued with 

a temporary identification of Draft 

Regulatory Guide, DG–1326. This 

revision of the guide (Revision 5) 

updates the guidance to endorse, with 

clarification or exceptions, multiple 

revisions of the American Society of 

Mechanical Engineers standard NQA–1 

titled ‘‘Quality Assurance Requirements 

for Nuclear Facility Applications.’’ 

II. Additional Information 

The NRC published a notice of the 

availability of DG–1326 in the Federal 

Register on March 27, 2017 (82 FR 

15242), for a 60-day public comment 

period. The public comment period 

closed on May 26, 2017. Public 

comments on DG–1326 and the staff 

responses to the public comments are 

available in ADAMS under Accession 

No. ML17207A289. 

III. Congressional Review Act 

This RG is a rule as defined in the 

Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 

801–808). However, the Office of 

Management and Budget has not found 

it to be a major rule as defined in the 

Congressional Review Act. 

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality 

This RG 1.28 describes methods that 

the NRC considers acceptable for 

establishing and implementing a QA 

program for the design and construction 

of nuclear power plants and fuel 

reprocessing plants. Issuance of this RG 

does not constitute backfitting as 

defined in § 50.109 of title 10 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 

(the Backfit Rule) and is not otherwise 

inconsistent with the issue finality 

provisions in part 52. As discussed in 

the ‘‘Implementation’’ section of this 

RG, the NRC has no current intention to 

impose this guidance on holders of 

current operating licenses or combined 

licenses. 

This RG may be applied to 

applications for operating licenses, 

combined licenses, early site permits, 

and certified design rules docketed by 

the NRC as of the date of issuance of 

this RG, as well as future applications 

submitted after the issuance of the 

regulatory guide. Such action would not 

constitute backfitting as defined in the 

Backfit Rule or be otherwise 

inconsistent with the applicable issue 

finality provision in part 52, inasmuch 

as such applicants or potential 

applicants are not within the scope of 

entities protected by the Backfit Rule or 

the relevant issue finality provisions in 

part 52. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day 

of October, 2017. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Edward O’Donnell, 

Acting Chief, Regulatory Guidance and 

Generic Issues Branch, Division of 

Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 

Research. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22670 Filed 10–18–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

Summary: In accordance with the 

requirement of Section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

which provides opportunity for public 

comment on new or revised data 

collections, the Railroad Retirement 

Board (RRB) will publish periodic 

summaries of proposed data collections. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed information collection is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information has practical 

utility; (b) the accuracy of the RRB’s 

estimate of the burden of the collection 

of the information; (c) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

ways to minimize the burden related to 

the collection of information on 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

1. Title and purpose of information 

collection: RUIA Claims Notification 

and Verification System; OMB 3220– 

0171. Section 5(b) of the Railroad 

Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA), 

requires that effective January 1, 1990, 

when a claim for benefits is filed with 

the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), 

the RRB shall provide notice of the 

claim to the claimant’s base year 

employer(s) to provide them an 

opportunity to submit information 

relevant to the claim before making an 

initial determination. If the RRB 

determines to pay benefits to the 

claimant under the RUIA, the RRB shall 

notify the base-year employer(s). 

The purpose of the RUIA Claims 

Notification and Verification System is 

to provide two notices, pre-payment 

Form ID–4K, Prepayment Notice of 

Employees’ Applications and Claims for 

Benefits Under the Railroad 

Unemployment Insurance Act, and postpayment Form ID–4E, Notice of RUIA 

Claim Determination. Prepayment Form 

ID–4K provides notice to a claimant’s 

base-year employer(s), of each 

unemployment application and 

unemployment and sickness claim filed 

for benefits under the RUIA and 

provides the employer an opportunity to 

convey information relevant to the 

proper adjudication of the claim. 

The railroad employer can elect to 

receive Form ID–4K by one of three 

options: A computer-generated paper 

notice, by Electronic Data Interchange 

(EDI), or online via the RRB’s Employer 

Reporting System (ERS). The railroad 

employer can respond to the ID–4K 

notice by telephone, manually by 

mailing a completed ID–4K back to the 

RRB, or electronically via EDI or ERS. 

Completion is voluntary. The RRB 

proposes to replace using EDI with the 

use of secure File Transfer Protocol 

(FTP), which is the standard network 

protocol used for transferring files 

between a railroad employer and the 

RRB. The RRB proposes no changes to 

the other versions of the ID–4K. 

Once the RRB determines to pay a 

claim post-payment Form Letter ID–4E, 

Notice of RUIA Claim Determination, is 

used to notify the base-year employer(s). 

This gives the employer a second 


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