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

65661

Vol. 66, No. 245

Thursday, December 20, 2001

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

Fire Protection

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Availability of draft rule

wording.

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is making available

the draft wording of a possible

amendment to its regulations. The NRC

has initiated this rulemaking to amend

Title 10 of the Code of Federal

Regulations (10 CFR) part 50.48, ‘‘Fire

protection,’’ to endorse the National Fire

Protection Association (NFPA) Standard

805, ‘‘Performance-Based Standard for

Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor

Electric Generating Plants 2001

Edition,’’ with exceptions, as a

voluntary alternative fire protection

requirement for holders of operating

nuclear power plant licenses. In support

of this rulemaking effort, the NRC is

seeking public comment on the draft

rule language.

DATES: Comments should be submitted

within 45 days from the date of this

notice. Any comments received after

this date may not be considered during

drafting of the proposed rule. Because of

scheduling considerations in preparing

a proposed rule, the NRC staff requests

that stakeholders provide their

comments at their earliest convenience

before the end of the comment period,

if practicable.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, Attention: Rulemakings and

Adjudications Staff, Mail Stop O–16C1

or deliver written comments to One

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville

Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30

a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays.

You may also provide comments via

the NRC’s interactive rulemaking Web

site through the NRC’s home page at

http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. This site

provides the capability to upload

comments as files (any format), if your

web browser supports that function. For

information about the interactive

rulemaking web site, contact Ms. Carol

Gallagher at (301) 415–5905 or by e-mail

to cag@nrc.gov. Copies of any comments

received and certain documents related

to this rulemaking may be examined at

the NRC Public Document Room,

located at One White Flint North, 11555

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,

Maryland. The NRC maintains an

Agencywide Documents Access and

Management System (ADAMS), which

provides text and image files of NRC’s

public documents. These documents

may be accessed through the NRC’s

Public Electronic Reading Room on the

Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/

ADAMS/index.html. If you do not have

access to ADAMS or if there are

problems in accessing the documents

located in ADAMS, contact the NRC

Public Document Room (PDR) Reference

staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737

or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Leon E. Whitney, Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington DC

20555–0001, telephone (301) 415–3081,

e-mail: lew1@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC’s

existing fire protection requirements are

derived from General Design Criterion 3,

‘‘Fire protection,’’ of Appendix A to 10

CFR part 50, 10 CFR 50.48, ‘‘Fire

protection,’’ and for plants operating

before January 1, 1979, certain

provisions of Appendix R to 10 CFR

part 50, ‘‘Fire Protection Program for

Nuclear Power Facilities Operating Prior

to January 1, 1979.’’ Exemptions

approved by the staff may apply for

individual licensees.

The current (10 CFR 50.48) fire

protection requirements were developed

before the staff or industry had the

benefit of probabilistic risk assessments

(PRAs) for fires and before there was a

significant body of operating

experience. These deterministic fire

protection requirements have been

described by industry representatives

and some members of the public as

‘‘prescriptive’’ and an ‘‘unnecessary

regulatory burden.’’ In the late 1990s,

the Commission provided the NRC staff

with guidelines to identify and assess

performance-based approaches to

regulation (see SECY–00–0191, and a

Commission White Paper, ‘‘RiskInformed and Performance-Based

Regulation,’’ issued as a Staff

Requirements Memorandum (SRM) to

SECY–98–144). This guidance was in

addition to the risk-related guidance in

the NRC’s Probabilistic Risk Assessment

Policy Statement and Regulatory Guide

1.174, ‘‘An Approach for Using PRA in

Risk-Informed Decisions on PlantSpecific Changes to the Licensing

Basis.’’

On January 13, 2001, the National Fire

Protection Association Standards

Council issued NFPA 805, 2001 Edition,

as a performance-based American

National Standard for light water

nuclear power plants. As stated in

Section 1.1 of the standard, ‘‘This

standard specifies the minimum fire

protection requirements for existing

light water nuclear power plants during

all phases of plant operation, including

shutdown, degraded conditions, and

decommissioning.’’ The U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission staff

cooperatively participated in the

development of NFPA 805. In the

opinion of the NRC staff, with certain

exceptions noted in Sections (c)(2) of

the proposed rule revision, NFPA 805

could serve as a risk-informed,

performance-based, voluntary

alternative to the fire protection

requirements of 10 CFR 50.48(b) and (f).

Therefore, the staff requested (in SECY–

00–009) and received Commission

approval for proceeding with a

rulemaking to permit reactor licensees

to adopt NFPA 805, as excepted, as a

voluntary alternative fire protection

licensing basis for the requirements of

10 CFR 50.48(b) and (f). However,

licensees which choose not to change

their fire protection licensing basis

would continue to be subject to the

requirements of 10 CFR 50.48(b) and (f)

as before.

ALTERNATIVE CONSENSUS STANDARDS:

This draft rule revision is consistent

with the requirements of the National

Technology Advancement and Transfer

Act of 1995, as the rule revision would

endorse an industry consensus

standard, NFPA 805, with exceptions.

The NRC is seeking public comment on

the proposed rule revision language.

The NRC is also seeking public

comment regarding whether there are

consensus standards other than NFPA

805 that could be considered as

65662 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 245 / Thursday, December 20, 2001 / Proposed Rules

voluntary alternatives to current fire

protection regulations.

This draft rule language is

preliminary and may be incomplete in

one or more respects. This draft rule

language has been released to inform

stakeholders of the current status of the

contemplated 10 CFR 50.48 rule change

and to provide stakeholders with an

opportunity to comment on a draft

version. Comments received prior to

publishing the proposed rule revision

will be considered in the development

of the proposed rule revision. As

appropriate, the Statements of

Consideration for the proposed rule will

briefly discuss substantive changes

made to the rule language as a result of

comments received. Comments may be

provided through the rulemaking Web

site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov or by

mail as indicated under the ADDRESSES

heading. The NRC may post updates

periodically on the rulemaking web site

that may be of interest to stakeholders.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day

of December 2001.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

John N. Hannon,

Chief, Plant Systems Branch, Division of

Systems Safety and Analysis, Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 01–31217 Filed 12–19–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION

ADMINISTRATION

12 CFR Part 701

Organization and Operations of

Federal Credit Unions

AGENCY: National Credit Union

Administration (NCUA).

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NCUA proposes to amend its

rule that permits a federal credit union

to provide reasonable retirement

benefits to its employees and officers.

The amendments clarify the scope of the

rule.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before February 19, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Direct comments to Becky

Baker, Secretary of the Board. Mail or

hand-deliver comments to: National

Credit Union Administration, 1775

Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia

22314–3428. You are encouraged to fax

comments to (703) 518–6319 or e-mail

comments to regcomments@ncua.gov

instead of mailing or hand-delivering

them. Whatever method you choose,

please send comments by one method

only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Frank Kressman, Staff Attorney, Office

of General Counsel, at the above address

or telephone: (703) 518–6540.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

701.19(a) states that a federal credit

union (FCU) may provide reasonable

retirement benefits for it employees and

officers. 12 CFR 701.19(a). NCUA

wishes to clarify that the scope of

§ 701.19(a) is not limited only to

retirement benefits, but is more broadly

applicable to other employee benefit

plans.

As competition to attract and retain

highly qualified employees has

increased and the employee benefits

marketplace has become more

sophisticated, FCUs are increasingly

providing more diverse and less

traditional forms of employee benefits

including, for example, deferred

compensation plans and stock option

plans. As a result, FCUs need flexibility

to use safe, reasonable and efficient

methods to fund their employee benefit

obligations. In addition to providing this

flexibility, the proposed rule updates

the regulatory language to reflect current

employee benefits terminology

including renaming the rule ‘‘Benefits

for Employees of Federal Credit

Unions.’’

An FCU investing on its own behalf

is subject to the investment provisions

of the Federal Credit Union Act (Act)

and NCUA regulations. 12 U.S.C.

1757(7), (8), (15); 12 CFR part 703. In

legal opinion letters, the NCUA’s Office

of General Counsel has stated that these

investment provisions do not apply

when an FCU is acting under its

authority to provide and fund

retirement or other employee benefits.

12 U.S.C. 1761b(12); 12 CFR 701.19.

NCUA’s long-standing position is that

an FCU may purchase an otherwise

impermissible investment to fund an

employee benefit obligation as long as

there is a direct connection between the

investment and the employee benefit

obligation it serves to fund. In that

context, NCUA has also stated that once

the obligation ceases to exist, the FCU

must divest itself of the impermissible

investment.

For example, an FCU is generally not

permitted to purchase equity

investments when investing for its own

account. An FCU that is obligated under

an employee benefit plan to provide an

employee with 100 shares of XYZ

Corporation stock on a specific date,

however, may purchase and hold 100

shares of that stock for that purpose. It

may not, however, purchase 100 shares

of ABC Corporation stock. In that

instance, there would not be a sufficient

connection between the investment and

the obligation to be funded.

NCUA is aware that it is not

uncommon for for-profit corporations to

provide employee benefits that contain

investment options the employee may

exercise after he or she has separated or

retired from the employer. For example,

an employer may grant an employee the

option to purchase a fixed number of

shares in a mutual fund for a fixed price

on a specific date after the employee

separates or retires from the employer.

These post-separation or postretirement options would require a

prudent FCU to buy and hold shares in

that mutual fund to fund the potential

obligation it faces after its employee has

separated or retired. In legal opinion

letters, the NCUA’s Office of General

Counsel has also taken the position that

an FCU may hold an impermissible

investment to fund an ongoing

employee benefit obligation after the

employee separates or retires provided

the investment option period is

reasonable. Upon the exercise or

expiration of the option, the FCU must

divest itself of the impermissible

investment. The proposed regulation

incorporates the positions taken by the

Office of General Counsel in these legal

opinion letters.

An FCU must comply with safety and

soundness standards by ensuring that

the kind and value of employee benefits

it offers are reasonable given its size and

financial condition. Furthermore, an

FCU’s authority to offer and fund an

employee benefit plan does not

guarantee the permissibility of the plan

under other laws, such as the Employee

Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

or the Internal Revenue Code. 29 U.S.C.

1001; 26 U.S.C. 1.

Additionally, FCUs with assets over

$10 million are reminded that they are

required to account for their employee

benefit plans in accordance with

generally accepted accounting

principles (GAAP). FCUs with assets

under $10 million are not required to

follow GAAP, but are encouraged to do

so in this context. All FCUs are

encouraged to seek the advice of an

independent accountant if they have

questions regarding the proper

accounting for these benefit plans.

Finally, § 701.19(b) provides that an

FCU acting as a fiduciary, as defined in

ERISA, must obtain appropriate liability

coverage as provided in 410(b) of

ERISA. NCUA wishes to clarify that

410(b) of ERISA describes certain kinds

of insurance coverage and permits

certain parties to purchase that

insurance, but does not require any

party to purchase insurance. 29 U.S.C.

1110.