Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors and Other New Technologies
| Published date | 21 July 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 44025 |
| Record Number | 2020-15731 |
| Section | Proposed rules |
| Court | Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 140 (Tuesday, July 21, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 21, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44025-44026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15731]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
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.
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 44025]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 50 and 52
[NRC-2015-0225]
RIN 3150-AJ68
Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors and Other New
Technologies
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule and guidance; request for comment; extension of
comment period.
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SUMMARY: On May 12, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
issued for public comment proposed amendments to its regulations
regarding new alternative emergency preparedness requirements for small
modular reactors and other new technologies. The public comment period
was originally scheduled to close on July 27, 2020. The NRC is
extending the public comment period to allow more time for members of
the public and other stakeholders to develop and submit their comments.
DATES: The comment period for the document published on May 12, 2020
(85 FR 28436) is extended. Comments should be filed no later than
September 25, 2020. Comments received after this date will be
considered, if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure
consideration only for comments received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0225. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact
us at 301-415-1677.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Beall, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-3874; email:
[email protected] and Eric Schrader, Office of Nuclear Security and
Incident Response; telephone: 301-287-3789; email:
[email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0225 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0225.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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].
Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of public documents is currently closed. You may submit your request to
the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2015-0225 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information
that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment
submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Discussion
On June 24, 2020, the NRC received three emails (ADAMS Accession
Numbers ML20177A319, ML20177A320, and ML20177A318) requesting the
comment period for the proposed rule be extended by an additional 6
months. Two requestors state that due to the complexity of the
rulemaking and the number of related documents that need to be
reviewed, additional time is needed to submit comments. The third
requestor states that due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, this
is not the time to ask communities, emergency response leaders, and
disaster readiness personnel to be commenting on a proposed rule.
The NRC seeks to ensure the public and other stakeholders have a
reasonable opportunity to provide the NRC with comments on this
proposed action. The NRC acknowledges that the rulemaking documents
contain a significant amount of information. Accordingly, the NRC has
decided to extend the comment period for the proposed rule for an
additional 60 days. A 60-day extension provides a reasonable
opportunity for all stakeholders to review these documents and to
develop informed comments on these documents.
The NRC is extending the public comment period for the proposed
rule until September 25, 2020, to allow more time for members of the
public and
[[Page 44026]]
other stakeholders to submit their comments.
Dated July 16, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2020-15731 Filed 7-20-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
