81 FR 49279 - Guidance on Making Changes to Emergency Plans for Nuclear Power Reactors

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 144 (July 27, 2016)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing Revison 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.219, ``Guidance on Making Changes to Emergency Plans for Nuclear Power Reactors.'' This guidance has been updated to clarify how the guidance applies to emergency plan changes at facilities that have certified permanent cessation of operations.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49279-49280]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17696]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2015-0278]


Guidance on Making Changes to Emergency Plans for Nuclear Power 
Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Revision to regulatory guide; issuance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
Revison 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.219, ``Guidance on Making Changes 
to Emergency Plans for Nuclear Power Reactors.'' This guidance has been 
updated to clarify how the guidance applies to emergency plan changes 
at facilities that have certified permanent cessation of operations.

DATES: Revision 1 to RG 1.219 is available on July 27, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0278 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-2015-0278 . Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: (301) 415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Document 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 Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this notice (if 
that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a 
document is referenced. Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide 1.219, and the 
regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML16061A104 and ML15054A368 respectively.
     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: Stephen F. LaVie, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response, telephone: 301-287-3741, email: 
[email protected]; and Mark Orr, Office of Nuclear Regulatory 
Research, telephone: 301-415-6003, email: [email protected]. 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 1 of RG 1.219 was issued with a temporary identification 
of Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-1324. This revision of the guide 
(Revision 1) addresses how the staff regulatory guidance applies to 
emergency plan changes at facilities that have certified permanent 
cessation of operation under Sec.  50.82 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Termination of License,'' or Sec.  
52.110, ``Termination of License,'' as applicable. The NRC identified 
the need for this clarification because of the inappropriate 
application of the Sec.  50.54(q) change process at sites that had 
permanently ceased operations in 2013. In addition, the NRC made some 
clarifications and format changes that did not change the intent of the 
guidance.

II. Additional Information

    The NRC published a notice of the availability of DG-1324 in the 
Federal Register on December 24, 2015 (80 FR 80396) for a 60-day public 
comment period. The public comment period closed on February 22, 2016. 
Public comments on DG-1324 and the NRC staff responses to the public 
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16061A119.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This regulatory guide 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

    Revision 1 of RG 1.219 describes methods that the staff of the NRC 
considers acceptable for nuclear power reactor licensees to change 
their emergency preparedness plans. Issuance of this RG does not 
constitute backfitting as defined in Sec.  50.109 (the Backfit Rule) 
and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 
10 CFR part 52. As discussed in the ``Implementation'' section of the 
RG, the NRC has no current intention to impose this RG on holders of 
current operating licenses or combined licenses. Moreover, explanations 
of the process by which a licensee makes changes to its emergency plan, 
provided in response to misinterpretations of the NRC's regulations by 
licensees, do not constitute modifications of or additions to systems, 
structures, components, or design of a facility; or the procedures or 
organization required to design, construct or operate a facility within 
the meaning of Sec.  50.109(a)(1). Accordingly, the issuance of this 
regulatory guide does not constitute ``backfitting'' as defined in 
Sec.  50.109(a)(1) and is not otherwise inconsistent with the 
applicable issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52.
    Regulatory Guide 1.219 may be applied to applications for operating 
licenses and combined licenses docketed by the NRC as of the date of 
issuance of the final RG, as well as future applications for operating 
licenses and combined licenses submitted after the issuance of the RG. 
Such action would not constitute backfitting as defined in Sec.  
50.109(a)(1) or be otherwise inconsistent with the applicable issue 
finality provision in 10 CFR part 52 because such applicants or 
potential applicants are not within the scope of entities protected by 
the Backfit Rule or the relevant issue finality provisions in 10 CFR 
part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21 day of July 2016.


[[Page 49280]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2016-17696 Filed 7-26-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P