2019-21743. Information Collection: Reporting of Defects and Noncompliance

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Renewal of existing information collection; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The information collection is entitled, “Reporting of Defects and Noncompliance.”

DATES:

Submit comments by November 6, 2019. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES:

Submit comments directly to the OMB reviewer at: OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-0090), Attn: Desk Officer for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503; email: [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Cullison, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0067 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-2019-0067. A copy of the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by accessing Docket ID NRC-2019-0067 on this website.
• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and 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 [e-mail]. The supporting statement and burden tables are available in ADAMS under ML19206A088 and ML19123A213.
• NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
• NRC's Clearance Officer: A copy of the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by contacting the NRC's Clearance Officer, David Cullison, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail].

B. Submitting Comments

Please include Docket ID NRC-2019-0067 in the subject line of your comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission available to the public in this docket.

The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. All comment submissions are posted at https://www.regulations.gov and entered into ADAMS. Comment submissions are not routinely edited to remove identifying or contact information.

If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the OMB, 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 comment submissions are not routinely edited to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Background

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the NRC recently submitted a request for renewal of an existing collection of information to OMB for review entitled, “10 CFR part 21, Reporting of Defects and Noncompliance.” The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The NRC published a Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period on this information collection on July 1, 2019, 84 FR 21259.

1. The title of the information collection: Reporting of Defects and Noncompliance.

2. OMB approval number: 3150-0035.

3. Type of submission: Extension.

4. The form number if applicable: Not applicable.

5. How often the collection is required or requested: On occasion. Defects and noncompliances are reportable as they occur.

6. Who will be required or asked to respond: Individual directors and responsible officers of firms constructing, owning, operating, or supplying the basic components of any facility or activity licensed under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, to report immediately to the NRC the discovery of defects in basic components or failures to comply that could create a substantial safety hazard.

7. The estimated number of annual responses: 800 (88 reporting responses + 357 third-party disclosure responses + 355 recordkeepers).

8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 355.

9. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to comply with the information collection requirement or request: 32,083 (6,500 reporting hours + 25,215 hours recordkeeping + 368 hours third party disclosure).

10. Abstract: Part 21 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), requires each individual, corporation, partnership, commercial grade dedicating entity, or other entity subject to the regulations in this part to adopt appropriate procedures to evaluate deviations and failures to comply to determine whether a defect exists that could result in a substantial safety hazard. Depending upon the outcome of the evaluation, a report of the defect must be submitted to the NRC. Reports submitted under 10 CFR part 21 are reviewed by the NRC staff to determine whether the reported defects or failures to comply in basic components at the NRC licensed facilities or activities are potentially generic safety problems. These reports have been the basis for the issuance of numerous NRC Generic Communications that have contributed to the improved safety of the nuclear industry. The records required to be maintained in accordance with 10 CFR part 21 are subject to inspection by the NRC to determine compliance with the subject regulation.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of October, 2019.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Kristen E. Benney,

Acting NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.