[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 19, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 69590-69591]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-27464]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 37

RIN 3150-AI12
[NRC-2008-0120]


Physical Protection of Byproduct Material

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Availability of preliminary draft rule language.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is making available 
preliminary draft proposed rule language to amend its regulations to 
add a new part 37 to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This 
new Part 37 will contain the security (physical protection) 
requirements that are designed to provide reasonable assurance of 
preventing the theft or diversion of Category 1 and Category 2 
quantities of radioactive material as designated by the International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The new provisions will address background 
checks, fingerprinting, access control, physical security during use, 
and physical security during any transport of category 1 and category 2 
quantities of material. At this time, the staff is only posting the 
preliminary draft language for the physical protection of the material 
while it is being transported. These requirements will be contained in 
subpart D of the new part 37. Draft preliminary language for other 
aspects of the proposed new part 37 will be posted and noticed in the 
future. The availability of the preliminary draft rule language is 
intended to inform stakeholders of the current status of the NRC's 
activities and solicit public comments on the information at this time. 
Comments may be provided as indicated under the ADDRESSES heading. The 
NRC may post updates periodically under Docket  NRC-2008-0120 
on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov that 
may be of interest to stakeholders.

DATES: Submit comment by January 5, 2009. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. 
Please include the number RIN 3150-AI12 in the subject line of your 
comments. Comments on rulemakings submitted in writing or in electronic 
form will be made available to the

[[Page 69591]]

public in their entirety in NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) and at http://www.regulations.gov. Personal 
information, such as your name, address, telephone number, e-mail 
address, etc., will not be removed from your submission.
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID [NRC-2008-0120]. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-415-5905; e-mail 
[email protected].
    Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
    E-mail comments to: [email protected]. If you do not 
receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments, 
contact us directly at 301-415-1677. Comments can also be submitted via 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
    Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 
20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. Federal workdays. (Telephone 
301-415-1677).
    Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 
301-415-1101.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this 
document using the following methods:
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Public 
File Area O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland 20852-2738.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are 
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can gain 
entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems 
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's PDR 
reference staff at 1-899-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID [NRC-2008-0120].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Merri Horn, Office of Federal and 
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone 301-415-
8126, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The preliminary draft rule language can be 
viewed and downloaded electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
at http://www.regulations.gov by searching for Docket  NRC-
2008-0120 as well as in ADAMS ML082880108.
    The staff is proposing to add a new part 37 that will contain the 
security (physical protection) requirements that are designed to 
provide reasonable assurance of preventing the theft or diversion of 
category 1 and category 2 quantities of radioactive material as 
designated by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The new 
provisions will address background checks, fingerprinting, access 
control, physical security during use, and physical security during any 
transport of category 1 and category 2 quantities of material. At this 
time, the staff is only posting the preliminary draft language for the 
physical protection of the material while it is being transported. 
These requirements will be contained in subpart D of the new part 37. 
Draft preliminary language for other aspects of the proposed new part 
37 will be posted and noticed in the future.
    The NRC is making a preliminary version of this draft proposed rule 
language available to inform stakeholders of the current status of this 
proposed rulemaking. The NRC is inviting stakeholders to comment on the 
draft preliminary language. This preliminary draft rule language may be 
subject to significant revisions during the rulemaking process. Public 
input at this stage will help inform the development of the proposed 
rule.
    The NRC will review and consider any comments received; however, 
the NRC will not respond to any comments received at this pre-
rulemaking stage. As appropriate, the Statements of Consideration for 
the proposed rule will briefly discuss any substantive changes made to 
the preliminary draft proposed rule language as a result of comments 
received on this preliminary version. Stakeholders will also have an 
opportunity to comment on the rule language when it is published as a 
proposed rule in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative 
Procedures Act. The NRC will respond to any such comments in the 
Statements of Consideration for the final rule.
    The NRC may post updates to the preliminary draft proposed rule 
language on the Federal eRulemaking Portal under Docket  NRC-
2008-0120. Regulations.gov allows members of the public to set-up 
notifications so that they may be alerted when documents are added to a 
docket. Users are notified via e-mail at an e-mail address provided at 
the time of registration for the notification. Directions for signing 
up for the automatic notifications can be found at http://www.regulations.gov. To do so, search for the docket you are interested 
in and then choose ``Notification,'' found under the title of each 
action.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of November 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark Thaggard,
Acting Director, Division of Intergovernmental Liaison and Rulemaking, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
[FR Doc. E8-27464 Filed 11-18-08; 8:45 am]
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