ML23038A025

Enclosure 1 - Response to Request for Information Regarding Nrc'S Telework Policy and Associated Office Space Issues

ML23038A025
Person / Time
Issue date:	03/06/2023
From:	Christopher Hanson NRC/Chairman
To:	Capito S US SEN (Senate), US SEN, Comm on Environment & Public Works
References
CORR-23-0018
Download: ML23038A025 (1)

Text

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Responses to Questions in the January 24, 2023, Letter The information below is provided in response to the questions asked in a letter dated January 24, 2023, from Senator Shelley Moore Capito to NRG Chair Christopher T. Hanson.

1. Please provide the current total number of NRG staff, the total number of NRC staff working the standard 5-day, 40-hour workweek in the office; the total number of NRC staff that are in the office at least 3 days a week; the number of staff that are in the office fewer than 3 days a week, and the number of staff authorized for full-time telework for each of the following categories:

a. NRC staff located at NRC headquarters;

b. NRC staff located at the four regional offices; and

c. NRC staff located at the sites of nuclear facilities, such as Resident Inspectors.

RESPONSE

Total number of Permanent NRC Staff: 2,6241 Total number Total number Total number Total number Total number of full-time of NRC staff of full-time of full-time of full-time permanent working in the NRC staff that staff that are staff NRC staff office 2 the are in the in the office authorized for standard 5- office at least fewer than full-time day, 40-hour 6 days per pay 6 days per pay telework workweek 3 period 4 period Total 2,581 516 395 1,502 168 NRC staff assigned to 1,836 279 285 1,144 128 NRC headquarters 5 NRC staff assigned to the 621 117 109 355 40 four regional offices NRC staff located at the sites of nuclear 124 120 1 3 0 facilities, such as Resident Inspectors 1 The NRC has 2,624 permanent employees. 2,581 are full-time employees. Forty-three are part-time employees.

There are three part-time employees with full time telework agreements in place.

2 The NRC understands "in the office" to mean weekdays not scheduled for telework and may include days not actually scheduled for work because offlexible work schedules (see 5 U.S .C. § 6121 and§ 6122).

3 The NRC understands "the standard 5-day, 40-hour workweek" to mean employees working in the office 80 hours9.259259e-4 days <br />0.0222 hours <br />1.322751e-4 weeks <br />3.044e-5 months <br /> per pay period. This includes individuals who may be on a compressed or flexible work schedule, and resident inspectors whose telework schedules are not fixed but are required to spend at least 64 hours7.407407e-4 days <br />0.0178 hours <br />1.058201e-4 weeks <br />2.4352e-5 months <br /> in person at the facility per pay period. The licensee-site-based staff who are in the office 6 days or fewer per pay period are site administrative assistants.

4 The numbers in this column do not include the staff counted in the column containing the "Total number of NRC staff working in the office the standard 5-day, 40-hour workweek."

5 The Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer staff located at the Technical Training Center (TTC) in Chattanooga, Tenn. are headquarters employees and are included in this number. There are 27 full-time permanent NRC staff at the TTC . Of those staff, 5 work the standard 5-day, 40-hour workweek; 4 are in the office at least 6 days per pay period ; 18 are in the office fewer than 6 days per pay period; and none are authorized for full-time telework.

Enclosure 1

2. What was the Commission's role in developing and approving the Commission's telework policy?

RESPONSE: As directed by the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980, administrative functions of the Commission have been delegated to the Executive Director for Operations (EDO),

subject to the Chair's direction and supervision. Therefore, pursuant to this delegated authority and consistent with the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, the EDO and his staff negotiated with the agency's union to implement a revised telework plan during 2021. The EDO signed the collective bargaining agreement in November 2021. The NRC also generally applies this telework program to the employees who are not in the bargaining unit as they consist of a minority of the overall agency staff. The Commission was periodically informed about the staff's efforts to update the agency's telework program.

a. Did the Commission vote on any telework policies?

RESPONSE:No

b. If so, please provide the relevant Commission Voting Records , Staff Requirement Memorandum, and any other relevant documentation.

RESPONSE:NA

c. If not, why not?

RESPONSE: The Commission did not vote on telework policies. The authority over the agency's administrative functions has been delegated to the EDO, as required by the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980.

3. What was your role, as Chairman, in developing and approving the Commission's telework policy?

RESPONSE: As the principal executive officer of the Commission, I was continually informed of the revisions to the agency's telework policy. Although I did not have a direct role in the revisions to and approval of the agency's current telework policy, the EDO has had ongoing communications with me about the agency's telework program . These communications have included the EDO's recent efforts to obtain staff input and recommendations through the Telework Policy and Implementation Working Group and the Hybrid Environment Assessment and Review Team.

4. Will you commit that the Commission will vote on major telework and related personnel policies going forward?

RESPONSE: The Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980 directed the Chair to delegate the administrative functions of the NRC to the EDO, subject to the Chair's direction and supervision. Although delegated, I retain the responsibility for these functions. In light of my continual communications with the EDO, I am confident the EDO and his staff are working

thoughtfully to establish telework and related policies that best serve the agency now and into the future. I am poised to provide specific direction should it be necessary in discharging my responsibility.

5. What specific decisions have the Commission or the NRC staff made regarding the Agency's office space needs since the development and implementation of its telework policies, including the most recent Telework Working Group report?

RESPONSE: The NRC staff has implemented new office design concepts that take into consideration the change in the way the NRC employees work, including the increase in telework. The NRC staff has made decisions to procure less office space through new leases with General Services Administration (GSA) as existing leases expire or termination rights become actionable at NRC's regional locations.

For the NRC's Region I staff in King of Prussia, Pa., the agency procured new space through GSA and decided to implement a workspace design that used hoteling for employees who telework frequently. This approach allowed the staff to design the space with fewer individual offices while maintaining robust and innovative collaboration and multi-use spaces of varying sizes. As a result, in August 2022, the Region's footprint was reduced by more than half, at a savings of $1.8M per year. The staff decided to repeat this model of hoteling for employees who frequently telework at the Region Ill location in Lisle, Ill. under a recently executed lease, which may yield similar results in terms of the reduction of space and related costs. To the extent required by law, the NRC is currently negotiating that new office space design with the National Treasury Employees Union . The NRC is evaluating repeating this model in the remaining two regions as their lease terms permit.

The NRC's headquarters main campus is comprised of three buildings, One White Flint North (OWFN), which is owned by GSA; Two White Flint North (TWFN), which is leased by GSA until November 2033; and Three White Flint North (3WFN), which is leased by GSA until November 2027. Prior to 2020, the agency was in the process of reducing space at its headquarters location. The NRC released one floor of TWFN in November 2020, and the NRC will release two additional floors of TWFN in March 2023. Each floor released reduces NRC's rent budget by approximately $1 M per year over the term of the lease. The agency is evaluating the potential to release additional floors in TWFN as a result of increased telework.

6. At a December 2021 EPW hearing, you committed to me that the Commission would examine how to address the NRC's payment to subsidize FDA's office space. You also committed that you would engage with my staff to address that cost. How does the Agency propose to reduce or eliminate that subsidy?

RESPONSE: Pursuant to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure resolution PMD-04-WA 11, the NRC is required to pay a subsidy through the term of the lease for 3WFN, which expires November 2027. Based on market research, the current market rate for renting space in 3WFN is believed to be in line with the lease rate paid by the two other 3WFN tenants, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) . Under resolution PMD-04-WA 11, the NRC is required to pay a subsidy through the term of the lease for 3WFN equal to the difference between the rate paid by the NRC and the rate paid by NIH and FDA. Absent Congressional intervention, the NRC does not have the ability to reduce or eliminate the subsidy.

7. I understand the NRC is in the midst of a multiyear renovation process of the NRC's headquarters office space.

a. How does the Commission's telework policy impact those actions and planned renovation activities?

RESPONSE: The NRC's telework policy impacts the planned and funded renovations to the extent that where and how employees accomplish work is a consideration for the layout and amount of space needed. Much of the NRC's office space has not been renovated for 20 years or more, and the unrenovated workspaces do not reflect the way that NRC staff currently work. Consequently, the NRC assesses current working conditions, including telework, each time it plans renovations for a floor.

b. How much funding has the NRC spent to date to renovate existing office space?

RESPONSE: Between Fiscal Years (FY) 2020 and 2022, the NRC has spent approximately $23M to renovate existing office space at the headquarters location .

c. How much funding is the NRC planning to spend for future office space renovation?

RESPONSE: Funding has not been included in the FY 2023 enacted budget for renovations. The agency will consider funding future renovations as part of the agency budget formulation process.

d. How much office space is the NRC using out of the total amount of renovated space?

RESPONSE: The NRC completed renovations in TWFN in 2018 and plans to continue renovating space in OWFN . As noted in the response to question 5, the NRC released one floor in TWFN in 2020, and will release two additional floors in TWFN in March 2023, to be occupied by another Federal agency. These floors were previously renovated in the 2015-2018 timeframe. The agency occupies all the renovated space in OWFN and all but those three floors in TWFN . The staff is evaluating the potential to release additional floors in TWFN as a result of increased telework.