82 FR 23849 - Memorandum of Understanding Between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 99 (May 24, 2017)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), dated March 21, 2017, between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the NRC. The MOU establishes and coordinates the roles, responsibilities, and functions between the two agencies regarding the accomplishment of firearms background checks on armed security personnel of NRC licensees, pursuant to Section 161A of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA).

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 99 (Wednesday, May 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23849-23850]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10641]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2017-0123]


Memorandum of Understanding Between the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Memorandum of understanding; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), dated March 21, 2017, between the 
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 
and the NRC. The MOU establishes and coordinates the roles, 
responsibilities, and functions between the two agencies regarding the 
accomplishment of firearms background checks on armed security 
personnel of NRC licensees, pursuant to Section 161A of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA).

DATES: The final MOU is available as of May 24, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0123 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-2017-0123. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. Address questions about this MOU 
to 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 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 email to [email protected]. For 
the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided 
in a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this 
document.
     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: Amy Roundtree, Office of 
Administration; telephone: 301-415-7414, email: [email protected] 
or Philip Brochman, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response; 
telephone: 301-287-3691, email: [email protected]; U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Purpose

    This notice is to advise the public, NRC licensees, and other 
interested stakeholders of the issuance of an MOU between the FBI and 
the NRC regarding the accomplishment of firearms background checks on 
armed security personnel of NRC licensees, pursuant to Section 161A of 
the AEA, ``Use of Firearms by Security Personnel,'' (42 U.S.C. 2201a). 
This MOU is entitled ``Memorandum of Understanding on Implementation of 
Firearms Background Check Provisions Under Section 161A of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, Revision 0.''
    Under Section 161A of the AEA and Revision 1 to the Firearms 
Guidelines, security personnel whose official duties require access to 
covered weapons and who are engaged in the protection of Commission-
designated facilities, radioactive material, or other property owned or 
operated by an NRC licensee shall be subject to a firearms background 
check. Revision 1 to the Firearms Guidelines was published by

[[Page 23850]]

the NRC, with the approval of the U.S. Attorney General, on June 25, 
2014 (79 FR 36100). The Firearms Guidelines provide direction to three 
Federal agencies (FBI, NRC, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
Firearms, and Explosives) on the implementation of Section 161A of the 
AEA.

II. Relationship to Previous MOUs

    This MOU addresses issues separate from two previous MOUs between 
the FBI and the NRC regarding ``Cooperation Regarding Threat, Theft, or 
Sabotage in U.S. Nuclear Industry,'' dated December 20, 1979 (44 FR 
75535); and ``Nuclear Threat Incidents Involving NRC-Licensed 
Facilities, Materials, and Activities,'' dated May 16, 2000 (65 FR 
31197). This MOU also addresses issues separate from a previous MOU 
between the DOJ and the NRC regarding ``Coordination of Enforcement 
Activities and Exchange of Information Between the NRC and the 
Department of Justice,'' dated December 14, 1988 (53 FR 50317).

III. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

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                                             ADAMS accession No./Federal
                 Document                         Register citation
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Firearms Guidelines.......................  74 FR 46800; Sep 11, 2009.
Firearms Guidelines, Revision 1...........  79 FR 36100; Jun 25, 2014.
Memorandum of Understanding, Revision 0...  ML16215A117.
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    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17 day of May, 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Sandra I. Schoenmann,
Acting Director, Division of Facilities and Security, Office of 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2017-10641 Filed 5-23-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P