RIS 2004-11, Support Information Associated with Requests for Withholding Proprietary Information
| ML041180231 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/29/2004 |
| Revision: | 0 |
| From: | Beckner W D, Miller C L NRC/NMSS/IMNS, NRC/NRR/DIPM/IROB |
| To: | |
| Benney B J, NRR/DLPM, 415-3764 | |
| References | |
| RIS-04-011 | |
| Download: ML041180231 (6) | |
OMB Control No.: xxxx-xxxx June 29, 2004NRC REGULATORY ISSUE SUMMARY 2004-11:SUPPORTING INFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH REQUESTS FORWITHHOLDING PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
ADDRESSEES
All submitters of proprietary information to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
INTENT
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this regulatory issue summary (RIS) to inform addressees that some submittals continue to not sufficiently support the basis for claims of competitive harm under 10 CFR §2.390(b). This RIS requires no action or written response on the part of an addressee.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On April 17, 2003, the NRC published revised regulations, then found in 10 CFR §2.790,pertaining to the submission of proprietary information to the NRC and requests for withholding such information from public disclosur Effective February 13, 2004, the NRC renumbered 10 CFR §2.790 as 10 CFR §2.390.The regulations in 10 CFR 2.390(b) specify procedures that must be followed by anyone(licensees, owners groups, vendors, and other submitters) to demonstrate that the information submitted to the NRC is properly designated as proprietary and can be withheld from public disclosur The regulations further emphasize that the submitter is responsible for specifically marking each portion of the documents sought to be withhel However, the responsibility for determining whether the requirements of 10 CFR 2.390 have been met for each submittal lies with the NR NRC reviews each submittal in detail to ensure that there is a legitimate basis for withholding particular information from the public and that the document has been properly marke NRC staff will review submittals to ensure that regulatory requirements are satisfied and that sufficient basis for claims of competitive harm has been submitted. Information concerning a licensee's physical protection, classified matter protection, or materialcontrol and accounting program for special nuclear material not otherwise designated as Safeguards Information or classified as National Security Information or Restricted Data may also be treated as trade secrets and commercial or financial information (i.e. as proprietary information) and withheld from public disclosure in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390(d)(1). The use of the withholding provisions of 10 CFR 2.390(d)(1) and additional information regarding the control of other sensitive unclassified information is not being addressed in this Regulatory Information Summary.
SUMMARY OF ISSUE
To ensure future submittals comply with the requirements in 10 CFR 2.390, the NRC staffwishes to emphasize the following:(1)An affidavit is suggested for each submittal to be executed by an officer or upper-levelmanagement official who has been specifically delegated the function of reviewing the information sought to be withheld.(2)Along with adequate supporting details, the affidavit must identify the reasons forwithholding the document (or portions of the document). Examples of such reasons are the following:(a)The information requested to be withheld reveals the distinguishing aspects of aprocess (or component, structure, tool, method, etc.) whose use by any of the submitter's competitors, without a license from the submitter, would constitute acompetitive economic disadvantage to the submitter.(b)The information requested to be withheld consists of supporting data, includingtest data, relative to a process (or component, structure, tool, method, etc.), and the application of the data secures a competitive economic advantage, as described more fully in the affidavit.(c)Use by a competitor of the information requested to be withheld would reducethe competitor's expenditure of resources, or improve its competitive position, inthe design, manufacture, shipment, installation, assurance of quality, or licensing of a similar product.(d)The information requested to be withheld reveals cost or price information,production capacities, budget levels, or commercial strategies of the submitter or customers or suppliers.(e)The information requested to be withheld reveals aspects of privately fundeddevelopment plans or programs of commercial value to the submitter or owner of the information.(f)The information requested to be withheld consists of patentable idea It is not sufficient for the affidavit to claim, without further support, that the above statementspertain to the information requested to be withhel The specific basis for a claim of competitive harm applicable to the particular document, or affected portions, must be described in the affidavit or in the marked-up version of the submitta This should include a detailed explanation of any reasons the information requested to be withheld constitutes proprietary information.If the information is not the property of the submitter but must be treated as proprietaryaccording to agreements with the owner of the information, an affidavit must be executed by the owner of the information.The document must be marked to identify each portion of the submittal that fall under the claimof proprietary informatio The top of the first page of the document and the top of each page containing such information must be clearly marked to indicate that the page contains proprietary informatio Additionally, each document, or page, as appropriate, to be withheld from public disclosure should contain adjacent markings, which clearly indicate which portions are to be withhel The specific reasons for the withholding needs to be set in the affidavit and in the marked-updocument, or page, as appropriate.The NRC encourages submitters to provide a nonproprietary version of their proprietarysubmittals, suitable for public disclosur This would allow the NRC to efficiently and effectively respond to requests, such as those submitted under the Freedom of Information Act.
BACKFIT DISCUSSION
This RIS requires no action or written response and is, therefore, not a backfit under 10 CFR50.109, 10 CFR 70.76, 10 CFR 72.62, and 10 CFR 76.7 Consequently, the staff did not perform a backfit analysis.
FEDERAL REGISTER NOTIFICATION
A notice of opportunity for public comment on this RIS was not published in the FederalRegister because it is informational and pertains to a staff position that does not represent adeparture from current regulatory requirements and practice.SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT FAIRNESS ACT of 1996The NRC has determined that this action is not subject to the Small Business RegulatoryEnforcement Fairness Act of 199
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT
This RIS does not request any information collection and therefore is not subject to therequirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).This RIS requires no specific action nor written response.
CONTACT
Please direct any questions about this matter to the technical contact(s) or to the appropriateOffice of Nuclear Regulation (NRR) project manager./RA//RA/Charles L. Miller, DirectorWilliam D. Beckner, Chief Division of Industrial and Reactor Operations Branch Medical Nuclear SafetyDivision of Inspection Program Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and SafeguardsTechnical Contacts:John W. Lubinski, NMSSJack N. Donohew, NRR301-415-6947301-415-3764 Email: jwl@nrc.govE-mail: jnd@nrc.gov
Attachment:
List of Recently Issued Regulatory Issue Summaries
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT
This RIS does not request any information collection and therefore is not subject to therequirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).This RIS requires no specific action nor written response.
CONTACT
Please direct any questions about this matter to the technical contact(s) or to the appropriateOffice of Nuclear Regulation (NRR) project manager./RA//RA/Charles L. Miller, DirectorWilliam D. Beckner, Chief Division of Industrial and Reactor Operations Branch Medical Nuclear SafetyDivision of Inspection Program Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and SafeguardsTechnical Contacts:John W. Lubinski, NMSSJack N. Donohew, NRR301-415-6947301-415-3764 Email: jwl@nrc.govE-mail: jnd@nrc.gov
Attachment:
List of Recently Issued Regulatory Issue SummariesDISTRIBUTION:ADAMSRIS FolderDOCUMENT NAME: C:\ORPCheckout\FileNET\ML041180231.wpdADAMS ACCESSION NUMBER: ML041180231*See previous concurrenceOFFICENRR:DLPMDIPM:IROB:OESTECHEDITORNRR:DLPMNRR:DLPMOGCNAMEJDonohew*MSKing*PKleene*HNBerkow*TMarsh*Cholzle*DATE06/17/200406/17/2004 04/29/200404/22/200404/29/200406/16/2004OFFICEOEOCIODIPM:IROB:OES:A:SCDIPM:IROB:CNMSSNAMEJLueham*BStMary/BShelton*CPJackson/A. Markley*WDBeckner*CLMillerDATE06/28/200404/23/200406/22/200406/22/200406/29/2004OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
______________________________________________________________________________________OL = Operating License CP = Construction PermitAttachment LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUEDNRC REGULATORY ISSUE SUMMARIES_____________________________________________________________________________________Regulatory Issue Date of Summary N Subject IssuanceIssued to_____________________________________________________________________________________2004-10Preparation And Scheduling ofOperator Licensing Examinations06/14/2004All holders of operating licensesfor nuclear power reactors, except those who have permanently ceased operations and have certified that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel. 2004-09Status on Deferral of ActiveRegulation of Ground-water Protection At In Situ Leach Uranium Extraction Facilities06/07/2004All holders of materials licenses foruranium and thorium recovery facilities.2004-08Results of the License TerminationRule Analysis05/28/2004All holders of operating licensesfor nuclear power reactors, research and test reactors, as well as decommissioning sites.2004-07Release of Final Review Standard(RS)-002, "ProcessingApplications for Early Site Permits"05/19/2004All holders of operating licensesfor nuclear power reactors, all applicants for early site permits (ESPs), and all prospective vendors of nuclear power plants in the United States.2004-06Independent Survey of PowerReactor Licensees04/16/2004All holders of operating licensesfor nuclear power reactors except those who have permanently ceased operations and have certified that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel.Note:NRC generic communications may be received in electronic format shortly after they areissued by subscribing to the NRC listserver as follows:To subscribe send an e-mail to <listproc@nrc.gov >, no subject, and the followingcommand in the message portion:subscribe gc-nrr firstname lastname