Unknown. Policy statement; issuance

4,121 words·~19 min read·/register/2021/06/03/2021-11637

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--- schema: federal-register doc_type: fedreg source_file: FR-2021-06-03.xml --- 86 105 Thursday, June 3, 2021 Contents Administrative Administrative Conference of the United States NOTICES Meetings: Assembly of the Administrative Conference of the United States, 29737-29738 2021-11627 Agricultural Marketing Agricultural Marketing Service NOTICES Meetings: National Organic Standards Board, 29738 2021-11688 Agriculture Agriculture Department See Agricultural Marketing Service See Natural Resources Conservation Service Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection RULES Official Interpretations:

Higher-Priced Mortgage Loan Escrow Exemption (Regulation Z); Correcting Amendments, 29685-29687 2021-11571 Fiscal Bureau of the Fiscal Service NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: List of Data

(A)and List of Data (B), 29881 2021-11675 Centers Disease Centers for Disease Control and Prevention NOTICES Final Current Intelligence Bulletin 70: Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials, 29787-29788 2021-11626 Children Children and Families Administration NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Refugee Support Services and RSS Set Aside Sub-Agency List, 29788-29789 2021-11653 Coast Guard Coast Guard RULES Special Local Regulation: East Passage, Narragansett Bay, RI, 29691-29694 2021-11689 PROPOSED RULES Safety Zone: Lake Charles, Lake Charles, LA, 29725-29727 2021-11584 Security Zone: Lewes and Rehoboth Canal and Atlantic Ocean, Rehoboth, DE, 29727-29732 2021-11764 Special Local Regulations: Recurring Marine Events and within the Fifth Coast Guard District, 29711-29725 2021-11570 Commerce Commerce Department See Foreign-Trade Zones Board See Industry and Security Bureau See International Trade Administration See National Institute of Standards and Technology Defense Acquisition Defense Acquisition Regulations System NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; DFARS Part 249, Termination of Contracts, and a Related Clause at DFARS 252.249-7002, Notification of Anticipated Contract Termination or Reduction, 29758 2021-11623 Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Requests for Equitable Adjustment, 29757 2021-11625 Government Property, and Related Clauses and Forms, 29758-29759 2021-11638 Defense Department Defense Department See Defense Acquisition Regulations System Energy Department Energy Department See Federal Energy Regulatory Commission PROPOSED RULES Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Ceiling Fans, 29704-29705 2021-11561 Test Procedures for General Service Fluorescent Lamps, Incandescent Reflector Lamps, and General Service Incandescent Lamps, 29888-29921 2021-10067 NOTICES Meetings: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Savannah River Site, 29759 2021-11601 Environmental Protection Environmental Protection Agency RULES Implementing Statutory Addition of Certain Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances to the Toxics Release Inventory Beginning with Reporting Year 2021, 29698-29701 2021-11586 Pesticide Tolerances: Difenoconazole, 29694-29698 2021-11636 NOTICES Delegation of Authority: Commonwealth of Virginia to Implement and Enforce Additional or Revised National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and New Source Performance Standards, 29771-29772 2021-11652 Proposed Consent Decree: Clean Air Act Citizen Suit, 29770-29771 2021-11692 Federal Aviation Federal Aviation Administration RULES Airspace Designations and Reporting Points: Green River, UT, 29687-29688 2021-11629 Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures: Miscellaneous Amendments, 29688-29691 2021-11573 2021-11576 PROPOSED RULES Airworthiness Directives: Airbus Helicopters, 29705-29707 2021-11615 Pratt and Whitney Turbofan Engines, 29707-29709 2021-11565 Federal Communications Federal Communications Commission RULES Television Broadcasting Services: Amarillo, TX, 29702-29703 2021-11697 St. George, UT, 29702 2021-11695 PROPOSED RULES Petition for Reconsideration of Action in Rulemaking Proceeding, 29735-29736 2021-11676 NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 29772-29775 2021-11677 2021-11679 2021-11683 Re-Establishment of the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council, 29773 2021-11684 Federal Energy Federal Energy Regulatory Commission NOTICES Application: Oconto Electric Cooperative, 29765 2021-11667 Waiver Period for Water Quality Certification; South Sutter Water District, 29769 2021-11666 Combined Filings, 29766-29768, 29770 2021-11707 2021-11708 Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Adelphia Gateway, LLC; Marcus Hook Electric Compression Project, 29761-29762 2021-11660 Columbia Gulf Transmission, LLC; East Lateral XPress Project, 29766 2021-11662 Iroquois Gas Transmission System, LP; Enhancement by Compression Project, 29769-29770 2021-11661 North Baja Pipeline, LLC; North Baja XPress Project, 29768-29769 2021-11663 Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., LLC; East 300 Upgrade Project, 29759-29760 2021-11664 Initial Market-Based Rate Filings Including Requests for Blanket Section 204 Authorizations: Hickory Park Solar, LLC, 29762-29763 2021-11710 Shell Chemical Appalachia, LLC, 29764-29765 2021-11709 Meetings: Pacific Gas and Electric Co., City of Santa Clara, 29762 2021-11665 Request under Blanket Authorization: Dominion Energy Overthrust Pipeline, LLC, 29763-29764 2021-11659 Enable Gas Transmission, LLC, 29760-29761 2021-11657 Federal Maritime Federal Maritime Commission NOTICES Agreements Filed, 29775 2021-11656 Federal Motor Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration NOTICES Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation: Application for an Exemption from Waste Management, Inc., 29876-29877 2021-11639 Qualification of Drivers; Exemption Applications: Vision, 29877-29881 2021-11642 Federal Reserve Federal Reserve System NOTICES Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies, 29787 2021-11690 Potential Modifications to the Federal Reserve Policy on Payment System Risk to Expand Access to Collateralized Intraday Credit, Clarify Access to Uncollateralized Credit, and Support the Deployment of the FedNow Service, 29776-29787 2021-11649 Proposals to Engage in or to Acquire Companies Engaged in Permissible Nonbanking Activities, 29775-29776 2021-11685 Fish Fish and Wildlife Service NOTICES Environmental Assessments; Availability, etc.: Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit, California Ridge Wind Farm, Champaign and Vermilion Counties, IL, 29803-29804 2021-11602 Food and Drug Food and Drug Administration NOTICES Guidance: Oral Drug Products Administered Via Enteral Feeding Tube: In Vitro Testing and Labeling Recommendations, 29789-29790 2021-11622 Foreign Trade Foreign-Trade Zones Board NOTICES Approval of Subzone Status: Pepperl and Fuchs, Inc., Katy, TX, 29740-29741 2021-11631 Authorization of Production Activity: AbbVie, Inc., Foreign-Trade Zone 22, Chicago, IL, 29741 2021-11630 Health and Human Health and Human Services Department See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention See Children and Families Administration See Food and Drug Administration See National Institutes of Health Homeland Homeland Security Department See Coast Guard Housing Housing and Urban Development Department NOTICES Regulatory Waiver Requests Granted for the Fourth Quarter of Calendar Year 2020, 29792-29802 2021-11616 Indian Affairs Indian Affairs Bureau NOTICES Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Southern Bighorn Solar Projects, Clark County, NV, 29804-29805 2021-11647 Industry Industry and Security Bureau NOTICES Order Denying Export Privileges: Chris Rodriguez, 29741-29742 2021-11648 Interior Interior Department See Fish and Wildlife Service See Indian Affairs Bureau See Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office International Trade Adm International Trade Administration NOTICES Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Ukraine, 29745-29746 2021-11673 Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from the Republic of Turkey, 29754-29756 2021-11680 Organic Soybean Meal from India, 29742 2021-11670 Seamless Carbon and Alloy Steel Standard, Line, and Pressure Pipe from the People's Republic of China, 29753-29754 2021-11671 Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Pentafluoroethane (R-125) from the People's Republic of China, 29752 2021-11672 Polyester Textured Yarn from Indonesia, 29742-29745 2021-11634 Polyester Textured Yarn from Malaysia, 29748-29750 2021-11633 Polyester Textured Yarn from Thailand, 29746-29748 2021-11632 Polyester Textured Yarn from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 29750-29752 2021-11635 International Trade Com International Trade Commission NOTICES Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Certain Cellular Signal Boosters, Repeaters, Bi-Directional Amplifiers, and Components Thereof (II), 29805-29806 2021-11619 Certain Integrated Circuits and Products Containing the Same, 29807 2021-11620 Certain Lithium-Ion Battery Cells, Battery Modules, Battery Packs, Components Thereof, and Products Containing the Same, 29807-29808 2021-11621 Certain Toner Supply Containers and Components Thereof, 29806-29807 2021-11702 Steel Nails from Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Taiwan, and Vietnam, 29806 2021-11703 National Institute National Institute of Standards and Technology NOTICES Meetings: Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, 29756-29757 2021-11617 National Institute National Institutes of Health NOTICES Meetings: Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee, 29791-29792 2021-11641 National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 29790-29791 2021-11643 2021-11644 National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 29791 2021-11640 National Science National Science Foundation NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Grantee Reporting Requirements for the Engineering Research Centers, 29808-29809 2021-11678 National Resources Natural Resources Conservation Service NOTICES Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Gould Wash Flood Protection Project, Washington County, UT, 29738-29739 2021-11646 Upper Price River Watershed Project, Carbon County, UT, 29739-29740 2021-11645 Nuclear Regulatory Nuclear Regulatory Commission RULES Evidence-Building and Evaluation Policy Statement, 29683-29685 2021-11637 Postal Regulatory Postal Regulatory Commission NOTICES New Postal Products, 29809 2021-11628 Postal Service Postal Service PROPOSED RULES International Mailing Services: Price Changes, 29732-29734 2021-11721 New Mailing Standards for Domestic Mailing Services Products, 29734-29735 2021-11722 NOTICES Product Change: Priority Mail Negotiated Service Agreement, 29809-29810 2021-11698 2021-11699 2021-11701 Presidential Documents Presidential Documents PROCLAMATIONS Special Observances: Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day (Proc. 10218), 29923-29926 2021-11817 EXECUTIVE ORDERS Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders; Efforts To Advance Equity, Justice, and Opportunity (EO 14031), 29675-29681 2021-11792 ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as Amended; Sequestration Order for Fiscal Year 2022 (Order of May 28, 2021), 29927 2021-11819 Securities Securities and Exchange Commission NOTICES Application: Franklin Templeton Co-Investing Interval Fund, et al., 29826-29834 2021-11614 Joint Industry Plan: Order Approving the Fiftieth Amendment to the Joint Self-Regulatory Organization Plan Governing the Collection, Consolidation and Dissemination of Quotation and Transaction Information for Nasdaq-Listed Securities Traded on Exchanges on an Unlisted Trading Privileges Basis, as Modified by Amendment Nos. 1 and 2, 29846-29849 2021-11687 Order: Consolidated Tape Association, 29849-29852 2021-11686 Self-Regulatory Organizations; Proposed Rule Changes: BOX Exchange, LLC, 29856-29861 2021-11691 Cboe C2 Exchange, Inc., 29852-29856 2021-11609 Cboe Exchange, Inc., 29817-29818, 29820-29823 2021-11607 2021-11613 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., 29823-29826 2021-11608 Fixed Income Clearing Corp., 29834-29845 2021-11605 Long-Term Stock Exchange, 29818-29820 2021-11612 NYSE Arca, Inc., 29810-29817, 29868-29876 2021-11610 2021-11611 The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC, 29864-29868 2021-11693 The Options Clearing Corp., 29861-29864 2021-11606 Surface Mining Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office PROPOSED RULES Regulatory Program: Kentucky, 29709-29711 2021-11563 Transportation Department Transportation Department See Federal Aviation Administration See Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Treasury Treasury Department See Bureau of the Fiscal Service NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: State Election of Qualified Health Insurance for Health Coverage Tax Credit, 29881-29882 2021-11696 Veteran Affairs Veterans Affairs Department NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: CHAMPVA Benefits—Application, Claim, Other Health Insurance, Potential Liability and Miscellaneous Expenses, 29883-29884 2021-11618 Indian Health Service/Tribal Health Program Reimbursement Agreements Program—Pharmacy Reimbursement Rate for the Lower 48 States, 29882 2021-11624 Requests for Nominations: Appointment to the Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs, Amended, 29884-29885 2021-11669 Separate Parts In This Issue Part II Energy Department, 29888-29921 2021-10067 Part III Presidential Documents, 29923-29927 2021-11817 2021-11819 Reader Aids Consult the Reader Aids section at the end of this issue for phone numbers, online resources, finding aids, and notice of recently enacted public laws. To subscribe to the Federal Register Table of Contents electronic mailing list, go to https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USGPOOFR/subscriber/new, enter your e-mail address, then follow the instructions to join, leave, or manage your subscription. 86 105 Thursday, June 3, 2021 Rules and Regulations NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Chapter I [NRC-2020-0262] Evidence-Building and Evaluation Policy Statement AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Policy statement; issuance. SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(NRC)is issuing an Evidence-Building and Evaluation Policy Statement that describes the general standards that guide the NRC's “evidence-building” activities, consistent with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018. The policy statement is intended to provide agency personnel and stakeholders with a clear understanding of the expectations related to the NRC's standards for evidence-building activities, which includes analyses, research, assessments, and evaluations performed by the agency for programmatic, operational, regulatory, and policy decision making. These standards include rigor, relevance and utility, transparency, collaboration, independence and objectivity, and ethics. DATES: This policy statement is effective on June 3, 2021. ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0262 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-2020-0262. Address questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder; telephone: 301-415-3407; email: *Dawn.Forder@nrc.gov.* For technical questions contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. • *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, at 301-415-4737, or by email to *pdr.resource@nrc.gov.* The final Evidence-Building and Evaluation Policy Statement, in its entirety, is in the attachment to this document. • *Attention:* The PDR, where you may examine and order copies of public documents is currently closed. You may submit your request to the PDR via email at *PDR.Resource@nrc.gov* or call 1-800-397-4209 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Meyer, Office of the Executive Director for Operations, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-6198, email: *Matthew.Meyer@nrc.gov.* SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (“Evidence Act”) became law on January 14, 2019 (Pub. L. 115-435), to enhance evidence-building activities, make data more accessible, and strengthen privacy protections. 1 “[T]he Evidence Act creates a new paradigm by calling on agencies to significantly rethink how they currently plan and organize evidence-building, data management, and data access functions to ensure an integrated and direct connection to data and evidence needs.” 2 The Evidence Act requires each agency to name an Evaluation Officer. At the NRC, the Director of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research holds this position and must “establish and implement an agency evaluation policy” to fulfill a primary function of this position. 3 The agency evaluation policy “should guide the agency's activities throughout the evaluation lifecycle.” 4 The Office of Management and Budget

(OMB)has provided guidance on establishing an agency evaluation policy based on “approaches that Federal agencies have found useful.” 5 This guidance includes “[e]nsuring that the agency evaluation policy incorporates the evaluation standards” recommended by OMB. 6 OMB developed these evaluation standards through an interagency council that “reviewed an extensive list of source documents to identify widely accepted standards for evaluation.” 7 The interagency council identified the following evaluation standards: relevance and utility, rigor, independence and objectivity, transparency, and ethics. 8 1 Public Law 115-435, 132 Stat 5529 (2019). 2 Office of Management and Budget, M-19-23, “Phase 1 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Learning Agendas, Personnel, and Planning Guidance,” 2 (July 10, 2019). 3 5 U.S.C. 313(d)(3). 4 Office of Management and Budget, M-20-12, “Phase 4 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Program Evaluation Standards and Practices,” Appendix C (March 10, 2020) (M-20-12). 5 M-20-12, Appendix C. 6 *Id.* 7 *Id.* at 2. 8 *Id.* at 3-5. The Evidence Act focuses on the importance of sound evidence-building, which includes evaluation, to make informed evidence-based decisions. The evaluation standards developed by the interagency council, including an additional standard developed by the NRC (collaboration), are applicable to all of the NRC's evidence-building activities. Historically, the NRC has relied on high-quality evidence obtained from external entities and through its own capacity. In recent years the agency has begun evidence-building activities to support licensing new or novel nuclear technologies, including advanced, non-light water reactor designs; accident tolerant nuclear fuel; and digital instrumentation and controls. 9 Additionally, the NRC has increasingly sought to rely on evidence-based metrics to improve internal agency performance including budgeting and financial management. 10 The NRC has developed an evidence-building and evaluation policy statement to enhance its existing evidence-building activities through the activities directed in the Evidence Act. The NRC envisions that this approach will strengthen the agency's oversight of existing uses of nuclear technology, enhance the agency's readiness to license and regulate new and novel nuclear technologies, and further the NRC's ongoing efforts to improve its internal processes. 9 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NUREG-1350, 2019-2020 Information Digest, at 4 (August 2019). 10 *Id.* at 7. II. Public Comments The NRC published the Proposed Evaluation Policy Statement in the **Federal Register** for a 30-day comment period on December 8, 2020 (85 FR 79042). The NRC received a total of nine public comments. These comments were generally supportive of the policy statement and the NRC's commitment to ensuring that its regulatory decisions are supported with evidence and sound technical bases. However, commenters also requested that the NRC clarify the applicability of the policy statement to evidence-building activities other than “evaluation” as that term is defined in the Evidence Act (5 U.S.C. 311(3)), such as licensing, inspection, rulemaking, generic communication, and other regulatory activities (including backfitting analyses, and environmental reviews performed under the National Environmental Policy Act). The NRC agrees and has revised the proposed policy statement to clarify that the general standards articulated in the policy statement apply to all agency “evidence-building” activities. This includes not only “evaluations” conducted to review the effectiveness and efficiency of NRC programs, policies, and organizations, but other types of evidence-building such as regulatory analyses, compliance analyses, and performance assessments. A complete table of the comments received on the proposed policy statement and NRC staff responses to those comments is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML21070A196. III. Procedural Requirements Congressional Review Act This policy statement is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). Paperwork Reduction Act This Policy Statement does not contain new or amended information collection requirements and, therefore, is not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 *et seq.* ). The text of the Evidence-Building and Evaluation Policy statement is attached. Dated: May 28, 2021. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Wesley W. Held, Acting Secretary of the Commission. Note: The following attachment will not appear in the Code of Federal Regulations: Attachment—Evidence-Building and Evaluation Policy Statement The purpose of this Evidence-Building and Evaluation Policy Statement is to describe the general standards that govern the NRC's planning and conduct of evidence-building. Evidence-building includes activities such as analysis, assessment, research, and program evaluation (evaluation). 11 The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 requires an agency evaluation policy to guide the agency's evaluation activities throughout the evaluation lifecycle. The NRC is committed to using evidence and scientific methods when making evidence-based decisions. 11 The Evidence Act defines “evaluation” as “an assessment using systematic data collection and analysis of one or more programs, policies, and organizations intended to assess their effectiveness and efficiency” (5 U.S.C. 311(3)). “Evaluation can look beyond the program, policy, or organizational level to include assessment of projects or interventions within a program” (OMB M-20-12). The NRC is an evidence-based organization with a culture of continuous learning and improvement. The NRC's evidence-building activities use objective technical analyses and assessments to document decisions with explicitly stated rationale. Furthermore, the NRC commits to implementing the standards of rigor; relevance and utility; transparency; collaboration; independence and objectivity; and ethics in the conduct of its evidence-building activities. This policy statement describes these general standards. The Commission, as a collegial body, formulates policies, develops regulations governing nuclear reactor and nuclear material safety, issues orders to licensees, and adjudicates legal matters. The collegial decision-making process results in actions reflecting the collective judgment of a group aided by professional and administrative staff and advisory committees, such as the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. Strict requirements govern the admission and consideration of “evidence” when the Commission acts in its adjudicatory capacity. This policy applies to the NRC's non-adjudicatory functions. 12 12 The NRC's rules of practice and procedure in 10 CFR part 2 govern the Commission's adjudicatory process. The NRC's Principles of Good Regulation, which include independence, efficiency, clarity, reliability, and openness, have guided the agency's regulatory activities and decisions using evidence and scientific methods. The principles focus on meeting the agency's important safety and security mission while appropriately considering the interests of stakeholders, including licensees; State, local, and Tribal governments; nongovernmental organizations; and the public. The agency's openness principle explicitly recognizes that the public must be informed about and have an opportunity to participate in the regulatory process. Evidence-building is used to inform agency activities and actions, such as licensing, oversight, budgeting, program improvement, accountability, management, rulemaking, guidance development, and policy development. The emphasis on evidence is meant to support innovation, improvement, and learning. Examples of how the NRC carries out evidence-building include

(1)identifying, evaluating, and resolving safety issues;

(2)ensuring that an independent technical basis exists to review licensee submittals;

(3)evaluating operating experience and results of risk assessments for safety implications;

(4)supporting the development and use of risk-informed regulatory approaches;

(5)conducting research with scientific integrity; and

(6)ensuring that licensing and oversight findings are supported by evidence. Evidence-Building Standards The NRC uses the following standards when conducting evidence-building activities. 1. Rigor—The NRC is committed to using rigorous evidence-building methods by qualified staff with relevant education, skills, and experience to ensure findings are appropriate and feasible within statutory, budgetary, and other constraints. Rigorous evidence-building requires inferences about cause and effect to be well founded (internal validity); clarity about the populations, settings, or circumstances to which results can be generalized (external validity); and the use of measures that accurately capture the intended information (measurement reliability and validity). The NRC's evidence-building activities are conducted by qualified staff with relevant education, skills, and experience for the methods undertaken. The NRC's evidence-building activities use appropriate designs and methods that adhere to widely accepted scientific principles to answer key questions while balancing goals, scale, timeline, feasibility, and available resources. Additionally, the NRC's Information Quality Program 13 ensures that all information relied on by the NRC is subject to rigorous quality standards. 13 Management Directive 3.17, “Information Quality Program,” ensures that peer review is conducted on all influential scientific information and highly influential scientific assessment that the agency intends to disseminate. 2. Relevance and Utility—The NRC ensures that evidence-building activities are relevant and provide useful findings to inform agency activities, actions, and stakeholders. The NRC performs evidence-building activities to examine questions of importance and serve the information needs of stakeholders. The NRC presents findings that are clear, concise, actionable, and available within a timeline that is appropriate to the questions under consideration. The NRC's evidence-building priorities consider legislative requirements; the NRC's strategic goals, objectives, and strategies; and the interests and views of stakeholders. 3. Transparency—The NRC is committed to conducting evidence-building activities in an open and transparent manner, which keeps stakeholders informed. The NRC's evidence-building activities are conducted openly and the public must be informed about and have an opportunity to participate in the NRC's regulatory process. As a regulator, the NRC listens to, respects, and analyzes different views from its stakeholders. The NRC ensures open channels of communication are maintained between internal and external stakeholders, including Congress, other government agencies, licensees, nongovernmental organizations, individual members of the public, and international and domestic nuclear communities. The NRC takes reasonable measures to make all information, including information about the NRC's evidence-building activities (including their purpose, objectives, design, findings, and methods), broadly available and accessible. The NRC releases public evidence-building findings in a timely manner and archives the data for secondary use by stakeholders, as appropriate. 4. Collaboration—The NRC is committed to working collaboratively when conducting evidence-building activities and draws on the expertise of subject matter experts to ensure diversity in perspectives. The NRC fosters a collaborative work environment that encourages diverse views, alternative approaches, critical thinking, creative problem solving, unbiased findings, and honest feedback. The NRC emphasizes trust, respect, and open communication to promote a positive work environment that maximizes the potential of all individuals, which improves evidence building and evaluation activities. A collaborative environment leverages expertise from subject matter experts and enables peer reviews to ensure rigorous evidence-building. The NRC conducts research and collaborates with organizations that develop consensus standards to improve data and methods used in risk analysis. The NRC collaborates with national laboratories, Agreement States, other Federal agencies, universities, and international organizations. 5. Independence and Objectivity—As an independent Federal agency, the NRC is committed to conducting evidence-building activities that are independent and based on objective assessments and analysis of all relevant information. The NRC was established as an independent agency to regulate civilian uses of radioactive material. The NRC's evidence-building activities are independent and objective to maintain credibility and integrity. The implementation of evidence-building activities, including the selection and assignment of the staff, should be appropriately insulated from factors that may affect objectivity, impartiality, and professional judgment. Evidence-building is inclusive and the NRC seeks input from a broad range of stakeholders in setting priorities, identifying questions, and assessing the implications of findings. The NRC strives for objectivity in the planning and conduct of evidence-building activities. 6. Ethics—The NRC is committed to conducting evidence-building activities that adhere to Government-wide ethics standards to protect the public and maintain public trust. The NRC's evidence-building activities comply with relevant legal requirements and are conducted in a manner that is free from conflicts of interest, undue influence, the appearance of bias, and safeguards the dignity, rights, safety, and privacy of participants. The NRC complies with Governmentwide ethics standards contained in Federal statutes and regulations, which are intended to ensure that every citizen can have confidence in the integrity of the Federal Government. [FR Doc. 2021-11637 Filed 6-2-21; 8:45 am]

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