[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 10, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 10CFR7.12]

[Page 197-198]
 
                            TITLE 10--ENERGY
 
                CHAPTER I--NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
 
PART 7_ADVISORY COMMITTEES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 7.12  Public participation in and public notice of advisory 
committee meetings.

    (a) Each meeting of an NRC advisory committee shall be held at a 
reasonable time and in a place reasonably accessible to the public, 
including persons with disabilities. Any advisory committee meeting 
conducted in whole or part by teleconference, video conference, the 
Internet, or other electronic medium must comply with this section. The 
size of the meeting room must be sufficient to accommodate advisory 
committee members, committee or agency staff, and interested members of 
the public, except that the provisions of this paragraph relating to the 
room size shall not apply to any part of an NRC advisory committee 
meeting that has been closed pursuant to Sec. 7.15.
    (b) Any member of the public who wishes to do so shall be permitted 
to file a written statement with an NRC advisory committee regarding any 
matter discussed at a meeting of the committee. The committee chairman 
may also permit members of the public to speak at meetings of the 
committee in accordance with procedures established by the committee.
    (c)(1) Except when the President or designee determines in writing 
that no notice should be published for reasons of national security, at 
least 15 days prior to an NRC advisory committee meeting, a notice that 
includes the following information shall be published in the Federal 
Register:
    (i) The exact name of the advisory committee as chartered;
    (ii) The time, date, place, and purpose of the meeting;

[[Page 198]]

    (iii) A summary of the agenda of the meeting;
    (iv) Whether all or part of the meeting is open to the public; and
    (v) The name and telephone number of the Designated Federal Officer, 
alternate, or other responsible agency employee who may be contacted for 
additional information concerning the meeting.
    (2) If any part of the meeting is closed, the notice shall provide 
the reasons for the closure, citing the specific matter that has been 
determined to justify the closure under Sec. 7.15. The Commission may 
publish a single notice announcing multiple meetings; however, a meeting 
may not be announced so far in advance as to prevent the public from 
being adequately informed of an NRC advisory committee's schedule.
    (d) In exceptional circumstances, less than 15 days notice of an 
advisory committee meeting may be given, provided that there is as much 
prior notice as possible and the reasons for the shorter time are 
included in the committee meeting notice published in the Federal 
Register.
    (e) In addition to notice required by paragraph (c) of this section, 
the NRC may also use other forms of notice, such as press releases, 
posting the information on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov, or 
notice by mail, to inform the public of advisory committee meetings. To 
that end, the Designated Federal Officer or alternate for each NRC 
advisory committee will, to the extent practicable, maintain lists of 
people and organizations interested in that advisory committee and 
notify them of meetings by mail.
    (f) Meetings of a subcommittee whose recommendations will not be 
reviewed by its parent advisory committee shall be conducted in 
accordance with all notice and openness requirements contained in this 
section and in Sec. Sec. 7.13, 7.14, and 7.15.

[54 FR 26948, June 27, 1989, as amended at 67 FR 79841, Dec. 31, 2002]