[Federal Register: October 26, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 206)]
[Notices]
[Page 62485-62487]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26oc04-81]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NUREG-1600]
Revision of the NRC Enforcement Policy
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Policy Statement: revision.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is
publishing a revision to its General Statement of Policy and Procedure
for NRC Enforcement Actions (NUREG-1600) (Enforcement Policy or Policy)
to address the requirements of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation
Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement
Act of 1996. The Act requires Federal agencies to adjust civil monetary
penalties to reflect inflation.
DATES: This action is effective on November 26, 2004. Comments on this
revision should be submitted on or before December 27, 2004, and will
be considered by the NRC before the next
[[Page 62486]]
Enforcement Policy revision. The Commission will apply the modified
Policy to violations that occur after the effective date.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to: Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rules
and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of
Administration, Mail Stop: T6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Federal
workdays. Copies of comments received may be examined at the NRC Public
Document Room, Room O1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. You may
also e-mail comments to nrcrep@nrc.gov.
The NRC maintains the current Enforcement Policy on its Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov, select What We Do, Enforcement, then Enforcement
Policy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ren[eacute]e Pedersen, Senior
Enforcement Specialist, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, (301) 415-2742, e-mail
rmp@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 234 of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, (AEA) limits the maximum civil penalty amount that
the NRC may issue for violations of the AEA at $100,000 per violation,
per day. The Federal Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act
of 1990 (as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (the
Act)) requires that the head of each agency adjust by regulation the
civil monetary penalties (CMPs) provided by law within the jurisdiction
of the agency for inflation at least once every four years. On November
3, 2000 (See 65 FR 59270; October 4, 2000), the NRC adjusted the
aforementioned maximum civil penalty amount to $120,000. Thus, the NRC
is required to adjust this civil penalty by November 3, 2004.
The inflation adjustment mandated by the Act results in a seven
percent increase to the maximum CMPs.\1\ Increases are to be rounded to
the nearest multiple of $10,000 in the case of penalties greater than
$100,000, but less than or equal to $200,000.
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\1\ Adjustment for inflation = Consumer Price Index (CPI) for
June 2003--CPI for June 2000.
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After this mandatory adjustment for inflation and the rounding
mandated by statute, the new maximum civil penalty amount will be
$130,000 per violation, per day. Concurrent with this change, the NRC
is publishing a change to 10 CFR 2.205 in the Federal Register to
reflect the new maximum CMP mandated by the Act. The new maximum civil
penalty applies only to violations that occur after the date that the
increase takes effect.
The changes mandated by the Act apply to the maximum CMP. This is
also the amount that, under the Enforcement Policy approved by the
Commission, is assigned as the base civil penalty for power reactors
and gaseous diffusion plants for a Severity Level I violation
(considered the most significant severity level). Also as a matter of
policy, the Commission has approved use of lesser amounts for other
types of licensees, primarily materials licensees, and for violations
that are assessed at lower severity levels. This approach is set out in
Tables 1A and 1B of the Enforcement Policy. Although the 1996 Act does
not mandate changes to these lesser civil penalty amounts, the NRC is
modifying Table 1A of the Enforcement Policy by increasing each amount
to maintain the same proportional relationships between the penalties.
These changes apply to violations occurring after the effective date of
this Policy Statement.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This final policy statement does not contain a new or amended
information collection requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing requirements were
approved by the Office of Management and Budget, approval number 3150-
0136.
Public Protection Notification
If a means used to impose an information collection does not
display a currently valid OMB control number, the NRC may not conduct
or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, the information
collection.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
In accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has determined that this action is not a
``major'' rule and has verified this determination with the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget.
Accordingly, the NRC Enforcement Policy is revised to read as
follows:
General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions
VI. Disposition of Violations
C. Civil Penalty
1. Base Civil Penalty
Table 1A.--Base Civil Penalties
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a. Power reactors and gaseous diffusion plants........ $130,000
b. Fuel fabricators authorized to possess Category I 65,000
or II quantities of SNM..............................
c. Fuel fabricators, industrial processors,\1\ and 32,500
independent spent fuel and monitored retrievable
storage installations................................
d. Test reactors, mills and uranium conversion 13,000
facilities, contractors, waste disposal licensees,
industrial radiographers, and other large material
users................................................
e. Research reactors, academic, medical, or other 6,500
small material users \2\.............................
f. Loss, abandonment, or improper transfer or disposal
of a sealed source or device, regardless of the use
or type of licensee: \3\
1. Sources or devices with a total activity 50,000
greater than 3.7 x 104 MBq (1 Curie), excluding
hydrogen-3 (tritium).............................
2. Other sources or devices containing the 16,000
materials and quantities listed in 10 CFR
31.5(c)(13)(i)...................................
3. Sources and devices not otherwise described 6,500
above............................................
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\1\ Large firms engaged in manufacturing or distribution of byproduct,
source, or special nuclear material.
\2\ This applies to nonprofit institutions not otherwise categorized in
this table, mobile nuclear services, nuclear pharmacies, and physician
offices.
\3\ These base civil penalty amounts have been determined to be
approximately three times the average cost of disposal. For specific
cases, NRC may adjust these amounts to correspond to three times the
actual expected cost of authorized disposal.
[[Page 62487]]
2. Civil Penalty Assessment
d. Exercise of Discretion
As provided in Section VII, ``Exercise of Discretion,'' discretion
may be exercised by either escalating or mitigating the amount of the
civil penalty determined after applying the civil penalty adjustment
factors to ensure that the proposed civil penalty reflects all relevant
circumstances of the particular case. However, in no instance will a
civil penalty for any one violation exceed $130,000 per day.
VII. Exercise of Discretion
A. Escalation of Enforcement Sanctions
The NRC considers violations categorized at Severity Level I, II,
or III to be of significant regulatory concern. The NRC also considers
violations associated with findings that the Reactor Oversight
Process's Significance Determination Process evaluates as having low to
moderate, or greater safety significance (i.e., white, yellow, or red)
to be of significant regulatory concern. If the application of the
normal guidance in this policy does not result in an appropriate
sanction, with the approval of the Deputy Executive Director and
consultation with the EDO and Commission, as warranted, the NRC may
apply its full enforcement authority where the action is warranted. NRC
action may include: (1) escalating civil penalties; (2) issuing
appropriate orders; and (3) assessing civil penalties for continuing
violations on a per day basis, up to the statutory limit of $130,000
per violation, per day.
3. Daily Civil Penalties
In order to recognize the added significance for those cases where
a very strong message is warranted for a significant violation that
continues for more than one day, the NRC may exercise discretion and
assess a separate violation and attendant civil penalty up to the
statutory limit of $130,000 for each day the violation continues. The
NRC may exercise this discretion if a licensee was aware of or clearly
should have been aware of a violation, or if the licensee had an
opportunity to identify and correct the violation but failed to do so.
Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of October 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Luis A. Reyes,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 04-23900 Filed 10-25-04; 8:45 am]
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