2022-06483. Information Collection: NRC Form 798, “Request for a Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement”

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Notice of submission to the Office of Management and Budget; 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, NRC Form 798, “Request for a Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement.”

DATES:

Submit comments by April 27, 2022. 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:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to https://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Cullison, NRC Clearance 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-2021-0215 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-2021-0215.

• 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]. A copy of the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by accessing ADAMS Accession No. ML21340A125. The supporting statement is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML22075A311.

• NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to [e-mail] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

• 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

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to https://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

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, NRC Form 798, “Request for a Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement.” 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 December 28, 2021, 86 FR 73808.

1. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 798, “Request for a Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement.”

2. OMB approval number: 3150-0249.

3. Type of submission: Extension.

4. The form number, if applicable: NRC Form 798.

5. How often the collection is required or requested: Once.

6. Who will be required or asked to respond: Medical providers will complete section B of the form for NRC employees seeking a medical exemption to the Federal employee vaccine mandate.

7. The estimated number of annual responses: 10.

8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 10.

9. The estimated number of hours needed annually to comply with the information collection requirement or request: 5.

10. Abstract: Executive Order (E.O.) 14043, titled, “Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees,” requires all Federal employees, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2105, to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with exceptions only as required by law. Requests for “medical accommodation” or “medical exceptions” will be treated as requests for a disability accommodation and evaluated and decided under applicable Rehabilitation Act standards for reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship to the agency. An employee may also request a delay for complying with the vaccination requirement based on certain medical considerations that may not justify an exception under the Rehabilitation Act. The agency will be required to keep confidential any medical information provided, subject to the applicable Rehabilitation Act standards. Employees who receive an exception or a delay from the vaccination requirement would instead comply with alternative health and safety protocols. NRC Form 798, “Request for a Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement” will be completed by employees who seek a medical exception and by their personal medical providers.

The vaccination requirement issued pursuant to E.O. 14043, is currently the subject of a nationwide injunction. While that injunction remains in place, the NRC will not process requests for a medical exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043. The NRC will also not request the submission of any medical information related to a request for an exception from the vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 while the injunction remains in place, but the NRC may nevertheless receive information regarding a medical exception. That is because, if the NRC were to receive a request for an exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 during the pendency of the injunction, the NRC will accept the request, hold it in abeyance, and notify the employee who submitted the request that implementation and enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 is currently enjoined and that an exception therefore is not necessary so long as the injunction is in place. In other words, during the pendency of the injunction, any information collection related to requests for medical exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 is not undertaken to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement.

Dated: March 23, 2022.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

David C. Cullison,

NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.