81 FR 73144 - In the Matter of Tetra Tech EC, Inc.

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 205 (October 24, 2016)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a Confirmatory Order (CO) to Tetra Tech EC, Inc. (TtEC) to memorialize the agreements reached during an alternative dispute resolution mediation session held on September 7, 2016. This Order will resolve the issue that was identified during an NRC Investigation of TtEC employees at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard site in San Francisco, California. The Confirmatory Order is effective upon issuance.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 205 (Monday, October 24, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73144-73147]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25661]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 03038199; EA-15-230; NRC-2016-0212]


In the Matter of Tetra Tech EC, Inc.

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Confirmatory order; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
Confirmatory Order (CO) to Tetra Tech EC, Inc. (TtEC) to memorialize 
the agreements reached during an alternative dispute resolution 
mediation session held on September 7, 2016. This Order will resolve 
the issue that was identified during an NRC Investigation of TtEC 
employees at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard site in San Francisco, 
California. The Confirmatory Order is effective upon issuance.

DATES: This Confirmatory Order was issued on Tuesday, October 11, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0212 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-2016-0212. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; e-mail: [email protected]. For questions about this 
Confirmatory Order, contact the individual 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 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 Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if available in 
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cherie J. Crisden, Region I, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 1-
610-337-5061, e[dash]mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Confirmatory Order is 
attached.

    Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, this 11th day of October 
2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel H. Dorman,
Regional Administrator.

United States of America

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. 03038199; EA-15-230; License No. 29-31396-01; NRC-2016-
0212]

In the Matter of Tetra Tech EC, Inc.

Confirmatory Order

(Effective Immediately)

I

    Tetra Tech EC, Inc. (TtEC) is the holder of service provider 
License No. 29-31396-01 issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) pursuant to Parts 30, 40, and 70 of Title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) on March 2, 2010, and amended on 
January 28, 2015. The license authorizes the operation of Tetra Tech 
EC, Inc. in accordance with conditions specified therein. TtEC is 
headquartered in Morris Plains, New Jersey.
    This Confirmatory Order is the result of an agreement reached 
during an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mediation session 
conducted on September 7, 2016. The violation as documented in the NRC 
letter dated July 28, 2016 (ML16210A228),\1\ to TtEC occurred sometime 
between November 11, 2011, and June 4, 2012. As of the date of the 
issuance of this Confirmatory Order, the NRC is not aware of any 
subsequent willful violations of NRC regulations by TtEC employees 
since June 4, 2012. TtEC remains in good standing with respect to the 
terms and conditions of its NRC license.
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    \1\ Designation in parentheses refers to an Agency-wide 
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accession number. 
Unless otherwise noted, documents referenced in this letter are 
publicly-available using the accession number in ADAMS.
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II

    On April 29, 2014, the NRC Office of Investigations (OI) began an 
investigation (OI Case No. 1[dash]2014[dash]018) of TtEC activities at 
the U.S. Navy's Hunters Point Naval Shipyard (HPNS). The investigation 
was conducted to determine whether employees of TtEC deliberately 
falsified soil sample surveys from the area referred to as `Parcel C' 
at HPNS in San Francisco, California. Based on the evidence developed 
during its investigation, OI substantiated that a Radiation Control 
Technician (RCT) and a Radiation Task Supervisor (RTS) deliberately 
falsified soil sample records by taking soil samples from areas not 
designated as part of the target sample area and by completing chain-
of-custody forms with inaccurate information. The NRC completed its 
investigation on September 15, 2015.
    In a letter to TtEC dated February 11, 2016, (ML16042A074) the NRC 
concluded that based on the evidence developed during the 
investigation, one apparent violation was identified and was being 
considered for escalated enforcement action in accordance with the NRC 
Enforcement Policy. The apparent violation involved TtEC's failure to 
make or cause to be made, surveys of areas that were reasonable to 
evaluate concentrations and potential radiological hazards of residual 
radioactivity in accordance with 10 CFR 20.1501(a). In response to the 
NRC's letter, TtEC provided two written responses in letters dated 
March 15, 2016 (ML16090A220) and March 22, 2016, (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML16090A318).
    In the July 28, 2016, letter, the NRC issued a Severity Level III 
Notice of Violation (NOV) and a $7,000 Proposed Civil Penalty to TtEC. 
In response to the NRC's letter, TtEC requested the use of the NRC's 
ADR process to resolve the issue.
    On September 7, 2016, the NRC and TtEC met in an ADR session 
mediated by a professional mediator, arranged through Cornell 
University's Institute on Conflict Resolution. ADR is a process in

[[Page 73145]]

which a neutral mediator with no decision-making authority assists the 
parties in reaching an agreement on resolving any differences regarding 
the dispute. This Confirmatory Order is issued pursuant to the 
agreement reached during the ADR process.

III

    During the ADR mediation session, TtEC and the NRC reached a 
preliminary settlement agreement. The elements of the agreement, as 
signed by both parties, consisted of the following:
    1. In consideration of the following actions, the NRC agrees not to 
issue the proposed civil penalty ($7,000) relating to the NOV (Case No. 
EA-15-230, Office of Investigations Report No. 1-2014-018), dated July 
28, 2016.
    2. Within 180 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will discuss during one of its quarterly calls with its employees 
the facts and lessons-learned from the event that gave rise to the 
Confirmatory Order.
    a. This discussion will emphasize the importance of TtEC employees 
not engaging in willful activities in violation of NRC rules and 
regulations.
    b. As part of this discussion, TtEC employees will be allowed to 
ask follow-up questions and to provide feedback.
    c. Within 210 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will affirm in writing to the NRC Region I Director, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety that said discussion occurred. TtEC will make 
available for one year after the date of this affirmation for NRC 
inspection any materials distributed to employees as part of said 
discussion.
    3. Within 270 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will conduct refresher training regarding NRC requirements for all 
TtEC employees engaged in licensed activities. Thereafter, TtEC will 
conduct initial training of any new TtEC employees prior to engagement 
in licensed activities.
    a. Within 300 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC shall provide a copy of the refresher training documentation to 
the NRC Region I Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety.
    b. The training must, at a minimum, include the following:
    i. Awareness and understanding of NRC regulatory requirements, 
including the deliberate misconduct rule;
    ii. Compliance with licensee procedures as they relate to NRC-
licensed activities; and
    iii. Understanding of signature authority.
    c. Within 30 days following the completion of the refresher 
training, TtEC will affirm in writing to the NRC Region I Director, 
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, that all TtEC employees then 
engaged in licensed activities have been trained.
    d. For a period of five years following the effective date of the 
Confirmatory Order, TtEC will conduct on an annual basis the refresher 
training for all individuals engaged in licensed activities.
    e. TtEC will maintain documentation for each refresher training 
session conducted. The training documentation will include a summary of 
the contents of the training and the employees in attendance. The 
training documentation will be maintained for one year after each 
refresher training session and will be made available for NRC 
inspection upon request.
    4. Within 360 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will conduct an independent, third-party assessment of all areas 
involving NRC-licensed activities to assess TtEC's safety culture.
    a. Within 180 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
the independent assessor and his or her qualifications will be 
submitted by TtEC to the NRC Region I Director, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety.
    b. The assessment shall include a large enough sample size of TtEC 
employees potentially involved in NRC-licensed activities so as to 
yield statistically-significant results.
    c. Within 120 days following the completion of the independent 
assessment, TtEC will:
    i. Communicate to the NRC Region I Director, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, the availability of the assessment for NRC 
inspection.
    ii. Communicate to all TtEC employees the results of the 
assessment.
    iii. Evaluate the results of the assessment and initiate corrective 
actions as appropriate.
    d. All documentation related to the independent assessment, 
including any documentation related to TtEC's evaluation of the 
assessment, will be kept for a period of three years following the 
completion of the independent assessment and will, for that duration, 
be made available to the NRC for inspection upon request.
    5. Within 180 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will send a letter to the Navy that contains a copy of the NOV and 
a copy of the Confirmatory Order so that the Navy is fully informed of 
the NRC actions.
    a. TtEC will also send a copy of this letter to the State of 
California Department of Public Health and to the NRC Region I 
Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety.
    6. For a period of three years following the effective date of the 
Confirmatory Order, TtEC will commit to using a third party to perform 
quality control on any future projects at Hunters Point.
    a. In those circumstances, TtEC will notify the NRC of the identity 
of the third party that will perform quality control.
    7. In the event of the transfer of the NRC license by TtEC to 
another entity, the commitments hereunder shall survive any transfer of 
ownership and will be binding on the new licensee.
    On September 26, 2016, TtEC consented to issuing this Confirmatory 
Order with the commitments, as described in Section V below. TtEC 
further agreed that this Confirmatory Order is to be effective upon 
issuance and that it has waived its right to a hearing.

IV

    Since TtEC has agreed to take additional actions to address NRC 
concerns, as set forth in Item III above, the NRC has concluded that 
its concerns can be resolved through issuance of this Confirmatory 
Order.
    I find that TtEC's commitments as set forth in Section V are 
acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these commitments the 
public health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the 
foregoing, I have determined that public health and safety require that 
TtEC's commitments be confirmed by this Confirmatory Order. Based on 
the above and TtEC's consent, this Confirmatory Order is immediately 
effective upon issuance.

V

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 81, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 186 
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's 
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, EFFECTIVE 
IMMEDIATELY, THAT:
    1. Within 180 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will discuss during one of its quarterly calls with its employees 
engaged in licensed activities the facts and lessons learned from the 
event that gave rise to this Confirmatory Order.
    a. TtEC will emphasize the importance of TtEC employees not 
engaging in willful activities in violation of NRC rules and 
regulations and will allow TtEC employees to ask

[[Page 73146]]

follow-up questions and to provide feedback.
    2. Within 210 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will affirm in writing to the NRC Region I Director, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety, that the quarterly call and discussion 
occurred.
    3. TtEC will make available, for one year after the date of the 
affirmation that the quarterly call was completed, for NRC inspection 
any materials distributed to employees as part of the quarterly call 
and discussion.
    4. Within 270 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will conduct refresher training regarding NRC requirements for all 
TtEC employees engaged in licensed activities.
    a. TtEC will conduct initial training for any new TtEC employees 
prior to engagement in licensed activities.
    b. Within 300 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will provide a copy of the refresher training documentation to the 
NRC Region I Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety.
    c. TtEC will, at a minimum, include the following:
    i. Awareness and understanding of NRC regulatory requirements, 
including the deliberate misconduct rule;
    ii. Compliance with licensee procedures as they relate to NRC-
licensed activities; and
    iii. Understanding of signature authority.
    d. Within 30 days following the completion of the refresher 
training, TtEC will affirm in writing to the NRC Region I Director, 
Division of Materials Safety, that all TtEC employees engaged in 
licensed activities have been trained.
    e. For a period of five years following the effective date of the 
Confirmatory Order, TtEC will conduct annual refresher training for all 
individuals engaged in licensed activities.
    f. TtEC will maintain documentation for each refresher training 
session conducted. The training documentation will include a summary of 
the contents of the training and the employees in attendance. The 
training documentation will be maintained for one year after each 
refresher training session and will be made available for NRC 
inspection upon request.
    5. Within 360 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will conduct an independent, third-party assessment of all areas 
involving NRC-licensed activities to assess TtEC's safety culture.
    a. Within 180 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
the name of the independent assessor and his or her qualifications will 
be submitted by TtEC to the NRC Region I Director, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety.
    b. TtEC will ensure that the assessment includes a large enough 
sample size of TtEC employees potentially involved in NRC-licensed 
activities so as to yield statistically-significant results.
    c. Within 120 days following the completion of the independent 
assessment, TtEC will: (1) communicate to the NRC Region I Director, 
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, the availability of the 
assessment for NRC inspection; (2) communicate to all TtEC employees 
the results of the assessment; and (3) evaluate the results of the 
assessment and initiate corrective actions as appropriate.
    d. All documentation (excluding privileged attorney-client 
communications and attorney work product) related to the independent 
assessment, including any documentation related to TtEC's evaluation of 
the assessment, will be kept for a period of three years following the 
completion of the independent assessment and will, for that duration, 
be made available to the NRC for inspection upon request.
    6. Within 180 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will send a letter to the Navy that contains a copy of the NOV and 
a copy of the Confirmatory Order so that the Navy is fully informed of 
the NRC actions.
    a. Within 180 days of the effective date of the Confirmatory Order, 
TtEC will also send a copy of the letter referenced above to the State 
of California Department of Public Health and to the NRC Region I 
Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety.
    7. For a period of three years following the effective date of the 
Confirmatory Order, TtEC will commit to using a third party to perform 
quality control on any future projects at HPNS.
    a. In those circumstances when TtEC performs work at HPNS, TtEC 
will notify the NRC of the identity of the third party that will 
perform quality control.
    8. In the event of the transfer of NRC License No. 29-31396-01 by 
TtEC to another entity, the commitments hereunder will survive any 
transfer of ownership and will be binding on the new licensee.
    The Director, Office of Enforcement, may, in writing, relax or 
rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by TtEC of good 
cause.

VI

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR 2.309, any person 
adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other than Tetra Tech 
EC, Inc., may request a hearing within 30 days of the issuance date of 
this Confirmatory Order. Where good cause is shown, consideration will 
be given to extending the time to request a hearing. A request for 
extension of time must be directed to the Director, Office of 
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and include a 
statement of good cause for the extension.
    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any motion or 
other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a 
request for hearing or petition to intervene, and documents filed by 
interested governmental entities participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c), 
must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; 
August 28, 2007), as amended by 77 FR 46562; August 3, 2012 (codified 
in pertinent part at 10 CFR part 2, subpart C). The E-Filing process 
requires participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents 
over the Internet, or in some cases to mail copies on electronic 
storage media. Participants may not submit paper copies of their 
filings unless they seek an exemption in accordance with the procedures 
described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 
ten (10) days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should 
contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by telephone at (301) 415-1677, to (1) 
request a digital identification (ID) certificate, which allows the 
participant (or its counsel or representative) to digitally sign 
documents and access the E-Submittal server for any proceeding in which 
it is participating; and (2) advise the Secretary that the participant 
will be submitting a request or petition for hearing (even in instances 
in which the participant, or its counsel or representative, already 
holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this 
information, the Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the 
hearing in this proceeding if the Secretary has not already established 
an electronic docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. System requirements for accessing the E-Submittal 
server are

[[Page 73147]]

detailed in NRC's ``Guidance for Electronic Submission,'' which is 
available on the agency's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may attempt to use other software 
not listed on the Web site, but should note that the NRC's E-Filing 
system does not support unlisted software, and the NRC Meta System Help 
Desk will not be able to offer assistance in using unlisted software.
    If a participant is electronically submitting a document to the NRC 
in accordance with the E-Filing rule, the participant must file the 
document using the NRC's online, Web-based submission form. In order to 
serve documents through the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE), 
users will be required to install a Web browser plug-in from the NRC 
Web site. Further information on the Web-based submission form, 
including the installation of the Web browser plug-in, is available on 
the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    Once a participant has obtained a digital ID certificate and a 
docket has been created, the participant can then submit a request for 
hearing or petition for leave to intervene through the EIE. Submissions 
should be in Portable Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC 
guidance available on the NRC public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. A filing is considered complete at the 
time the documents are submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To 
be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing 
system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon 
receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document 
and sends the submitter an e-mail notice confirming receipt of the 
document. The E-Filing system also distributes an e-mail notice that 
provides access to the document to the NRC Office of the General 
Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the Secretary 
that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need 
not serve the documents on those participants separately. Therefore, 
Any others who wish to participate in the proceeding (or their counsel 
or representative) must apply for and receive a digital ID certificate 
before a hearing request/petition to intervene is filed so that they 
can obtain access to the document via E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically using the agency's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC Meta System 
Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site 
at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by a toll-free call at (866) 672-7640. The 
NRC Meta System Help Desk is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., 
Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper 
format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail 
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: 
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth 
Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland, 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. 
Participants filing a document in this manner are responsible for 
serving the document on all other participants. Filing is considered 
complete by first-class mail as of the time of deposit in the mail, or 
by courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service upon depositing 
the document with the provider of the service. A presiding officer, 
having granted an exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a 
participant or party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer 
subsequently determines that the reason for granting the exemption from 
use of E-Filing no longer exists.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant to 
an order of the Commission, or the presiding officer. Participants are 
requested not to include personal privacy information, such as social 
security numbers, home addresses, or home phone numbers in their 
filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law requires submission of 
such information. With respect to copyrighted works, participants are 
requested not to include copyrighted materials in their submission, 
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory 
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application.
    If a person requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with 
particularity the manner in which his interest is adversely affected by 
this Confirmatory Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10 
C.F.R. 2.309(d) and (f).
    If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely 
affected, the Commission will issue a separate Confirmatory Order 
designating the time and place of any hearing, as appropriate. If a 
hearing is held, the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be 
whether this Confirmatory Order should be sustained.
    In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of 
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions 
specified in Section V above shall be final 30 days after issuance of 
this Confirmatory Order without further order or proceedings. If an 
extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the 
provisions specified in Section V shall be final when the extension 
expires if a hearing request has not been received.


    Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, this 11th day of October 
2016.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel H. Dorman
Regional Administrator
[FR Doc. 2016-25661 Filed 10-21-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P