[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 30, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 73946-73947]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-30065]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
10 CFR Part 851
Worker Safety and Health Program: Safety Conscious Work
Environment
AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of denial of petition for rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy received a petition from the Hanford
Challenge on August 18, 2009, requesting the initiation of a rulemaking
regarding safety policies at DOE's nuclear facilities. The petition
calls for DOE to establish by regulation a safety program using the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission's ``Safety-Conscious Work Environment''
guidelines as a model. DOE published this petition and a request for
comment on October 16, 2009. DOE denies the petition for rulemaking.
DATES: This notice is effective November 30, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven L. Krahn, Acting Deputy
Assistant Secretary, Safety Management and Operations, Environmental
Management Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue,
SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 586-2281, e-mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE received numerous comments in response
to the notice of the Hanford Challenge petition for rulemaking,
published on October 16, 2009. 74 FR 53190. The vast majority of those
comments recommended denial of the petition, for two reasons. First,
DOE already has numerous regulations in place to protect and encourage
employees to raise work-related concerns. Second, not only would
instituting a ``Safety-Conscious Work Environment'' by regulation be
redundant, but it would also fail to add any additional protections not
already in place. The comments DOE received in favor of the petition
were generally related to the existing culture of safety and
whistleblower protection. The main concern in these comments was that
DOE facilities would be unsafe without an environment where employees
could raise concerns without fear of retaliation or reprisal.
After reviewing the existing protections, DOE agrees with the
majority of the comments that granting the petition for rulemaking
would be unnecessary. Currently, employee protection and safety
programs exist in the following statutory and regulatory authorities:
42 U.S.C. 5851, 10 CFR part 708, 10 CFR part 851, 29 CFR 1960.28, 48
CFR 970.0309, and 29 CFR part 24, as well as numerous internal DOE
orders and directives including DOE's Employee Concerns Program (DOE
Order 442.1A) and Differing Professional Opinions Manual (DOE Manual
442.1-1). These authorities provide sufficient guidance and protections
in which employees can properly raise concerns that will be promptly
reviewed and appropriately resolved with timely feedback.
DOE denies the petition for rulemaking because the existing
regulations provide legal protection to employees while adequately
promoting worker involvement in raising and resolving concerns.
Implementing the ``Safety-Conscious Work Environment'' would be
redundant and would fail to add any substantive protections not
currently in place. While the petitioner believes that the existing
regulations are inadequate, neither DOE's internal review nor the
comments submitted in response to the petition demonstrate that to be
the case.
Nevertheless, DOE recognizes that the existing authorities
governing safety and employee protection programs can be diverse and
confusing. In an attempt to provide as much clarity on this issue as
possible, DOE has created a Web site summarizing the existing law and
providing a central location consolidating all the relevant standards
on this issue. This Web site can be accessed at: http://www.gc.energy.gov/1630.htm. The Department believes that this Web site
will increase awareness of the existing protections for DOE employees
and DOE contractors and will address the underlying concerns evident in
the Hanford Challenge petition for rulemaking and the comments in
support thereof.
[[Page 73947]]
Issued in Washington, DC, on November 23, 2010.
Scott Blake Harris,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010-30065 Filed 11-29-10; 8:45 am]
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