98-27656. State of Arkansas Relinquishment of Sealed Source and Device Evaluation and Approval Authority and Reassumption by the Commission

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 199 (Thursday, October 15, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55414-55415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27656]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


State of Arkansas Relinquishment of Sealed Source and Device 
Evaluation and Approval Authority and Reassumption by the Commission

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of reassumption of sealed source and device evaluation 
and approval authority from the State of Arkansas.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that effective October 1, 1998, the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission reassumed regulatory authority for sealed 
source and device evaluations and approvals in the Agreement State of 
Arkansas in response to a request from the Governor of the State of 
Arkansas to relinquish this authority.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Lloyd A. Bolling, Jr., Agreement 
State Project Officer, Office of State Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, telephone [phone], 
Internet: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Currently, the State of Arkansas has an 
Agreement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) which grants the

[[Page 55415]]

State authority to regulate specific categories of radioactive 
materials formerly regulated by the NRC. This Agreement was entered 
into on July 1, 1963, pursuant to Section 274b of the Atomic Energy Act 
of 1954, as amended.
    The NRC received a letter from Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee 
dated July 1, 1998 requesting relinquishment of the State's authority 
to evaluate and approve sealed source and devices, and reassumption of 
this authority by the NRC. The requested action would involve 
reassertion of regulatory authority by NRC over activities currently 
regulated by Arkansas pursuant to its Agreement with NRC.
    The Governor indicated that specific requests for the Arkansas 
Radiation Control Program to perform SS&D evaluations had been few 
(three requests) since Arkansas became an Agreement State in 1963. He 
further indicated that no requests for SS&D evaluations were 
anticipated. The Governor stated that Arkansas is committed to 
maintaining a high quality regulatory program for radioactive 
materials. He also indicated that it would be difficult to maintain 
high quality in an extremely small and unique program area that demands 
atypical expertise on an infrequent basis and the State could not 
justify the resources required to perform the evaluations. Based on 
this, the State requests to relinquish its authority to perform sealed 
source and device evaluations.
    The Commission has agreed to the request and has notified Arkansas 
that effective October 1, 1998 the NRC reassumed authority to evaluate 
and approve sealed source and devices within the State of Arkansas. The 
State of Arkansas will retain authority to regulate the manufacture and 
use of sealed sources and devices within the State in accordance with 
its Section 274b Agreement with the NRC.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 8th day of October, 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette Vietti-Cook,
Acting Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 98-27656 Filed 10-14-98; 8:45 am]
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