ML20133D565
| ML20133D565 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/24/1985 |
| From: | Dircks W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| FRN-50FR31192, RULE-PR-9 PR-850724, NUDOCS 8508070370 | |
| Download: ML20133D565 (5) | |
Text
DOGE NUM6ER )nRUE l N~ Gl%
[7590-01]
SbFR 3//94)
E0 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 88q) C u
- 85 JUL 29 P3.54 Minor Clarifying Amendments CFiICE Or SECRtIAD 00CXETiNG & SERVICf.
0" AGENCY:
Nuclear Regulatory Comission.
ACTION:
Proposed rule.
SUMMARY
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations pertaining to the availability of records under the Freedom of Information Act to clarify and conform them to existing case law and to reflect long-standing agency practice.
In addition, the NRC is amending its regulations to conform the reproduction costs for Privacy Act records to those currently charged at the NRC's Public Document Room and other NRC offices for publicly available C
documents. These amendments are necessary to inform the public of these administrative changes to NRC regulations.
i DATES:
The coment period expires SEP 2 M5 Coments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of l
consideration cannot be given except for comments received on or before this date.
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ADDRESSES:
Coments should be sent to the Secretary of the Comission, U.S.
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Nuclear Regulatory Comission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention:
Docketing and l
l Service Branch. Comments may also be delivered to Room 1121, 1717 H Street, NW, 4 pp'?"
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. Washington, DC, between 8:15 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Copies of comments received are available for examining and copying for a fee at the Commission's Public Document Room at 1717 H Street, NW, Washington, DC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
J. M. Felton, Director, Division of Rules and Records, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Telephone 301-492-7211.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
10 CFR Part 9, Public Records, is the Part of the NRC's regulations that governs the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts and the Government in the Sunshine Act. Section 9.4 currently provides that any identifiable record, "whether in the possession of the NRC, its contrac-tors, its subcontractors, or others, shall be made available for inspection and copying..." Current case law and agency practice is that records which are not in the possession or control of the NRC are not considered agency records under 99.3a(b) and are not subject to mandatory d.isclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (F0IA).
(See Kissinger v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, et al [445 U.S. 136 (1980)] and Forsham v. Harris
[445 U.S. 169 (1980)].) Thus, while the NRC may have the right to inspect, audit, or even take possession of a contractor's or subcontractor's records, such records are not considered agency records for the purposes of the F0IA until the NRC takes actual possession of the records.
The purpose of this clarifying amendment is to delete the obsolete reference to contractors and subcontractors in 99.4, and to conform NRC regulations to what has been the case law and NRC's practice for a number of years.
- On June 18, 1985, the NRC published a Final Rule (50 FR 25204) which revised the charges for copying records publicly available at the NRC Public Document Room. The new charges reflected the change in copying charges resulting from the Commission's award of a new contract for the copying of records. At the time the Final Rule was pubiished, conforming changes to 5 9.85 were inadvertently overlooked. This clarifying amendment brings s9.85 into conformance with agency practice, and deletes certain duplicative provisions regarding the prepayment of charges which are adequately covered under the agency's referenced FOIA regulations.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION The NRC has determined that this proposed rule is the type of action described in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Therefore neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental assessment has been prepared for this proposed rule.
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements and therefore is not subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)
REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY CERTIFICATION As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 605(b),
the Commission certifies that this rule, if adopted, will not have a signifi-cant economic impact upon a substantial number of small entities.
It merely
f i clarifies existing Commission practice regarding the availability of docu-ments under the Freedom of Information Act.
LIST OF SUBJECTS IN 10 CFR PART 9 Freedom of information, Penalty, Privacy, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sunshine Act.
For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, and 5 U.S.C. 553, the NRC is proposing to adopt the following 5
amendments to 10 CFR Part 9.
PART 9 -- PUBLIC RECORDS 1.
The authority citation for Part 9 is revised to read as follows:
Authority:
Sec. 161, 68 Stat. 948, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2201); sec. 201, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5841).
Subpart A also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552 and 31 U.S.C. 9710.
Subpart B also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552a.
Subpart C also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552b.
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2.
Section 9.4 is revised to read as follows:
i 5 9.4 Availability of records.
Any identifiable record in the possession of the NRC shall be made avail-i able for inspection and copying pursuant to the provisions of this part, upon request of any member of the public.
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..- 3.
Section 9.85 is revised to read as follows:
6 9.85 Fees.
Fees shall not be charged for search.~or or review of records requested pursuant to this subpart or for making copies or extracts of records in order to make them available for review.
Fees established pursuant to 31 U.S.C.
483a and 5 U.S.C. 552a(f)(5) shall be charged according to the schedule con-tained in s 9.14 of this part for actual copies of records requested by individuals pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, unless the Director, Office of Administration, or designee, waives the fee because of the inability of the individual to pay or becluse making the records available without cost, or at a reduction in cost, is otherwise in the public interest.
Dated at Bethesda, Maryland, this 2-Y day of
- 1985, t
i For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
8/
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William J. Dircks, i
Executive Director for Operations.
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