Rules and Regulations. Draft regulatory issue summary; discontinuation

Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Action: Draft regulatory issue summary; discontinuation
Citation: 87 FR (No. 83) · FR Doc. 2022-09172 · NRC-2018-0185

Summary

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is discontinuing the publication of draft regulatory issue summary (RIS), “Use of Electronic Signatures by Medical Licensees on Internal Documents,” because the guidance no longer provides useful information as the contents are now considered standard practice.

Dates

The effective date for discontinuation of the draft RIS is April 29, 2022.

Supplementary Information

I. Background On October 20, 2010, the NRC published a notice in the Federal Register (75 FR 64749) requesting public comment on specific issues related to the use of electronic signatures in medical licensee documents. Many of the commenters supported the view that the NRC should be receptive to licensees' use of electronic signatures and adopt its use for licensees' internal documents because the use of electronic medical records has become standard practice in medical facilities. The NRC assessed public comment responses to identify means by which medical licensees can use electronic signatures to satisfy NRC's signature requirements. The comments are publicly available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML21131A034. A draft RIS “Use of Electronic Signatures by Medical Licensees on Internal Documents,” was developed summarizing the findings and published in the Federal Register (83 FR 44247) on August 30, 2018, seeking public comment. The comments received were supportive of the adoption of the use of electronic signatures by NRC medical licensees. The comments are publicly available through ADAMS Accession Nos. ML21105A813 and ML21105A812. II. Additional Information The NRC is discontinuing the issuance of the draft RIS, “Use of Electronic Signatures by Medical Licensees on Internal Documents,” because the use of electronic signatures within the medical community, including electronic signatures that uniquely identify the signed individual, provide authentications and non-repudiation, and assure data integrity, has become such common practice that the guidance in this RIS no longer provides useful information. The draft RIS was published in the Federal Register for comment on August 30, 2018 (83 FR 44247). The draft RIS described one means by which medical licensees can use electronic signatures to satisfy NRC's signature requirements on internal records that the NRC requires the licensee to maintain. The comments received during the public comment period on the draft RIS may be considered by the NRC staff for the development of any future related guidance. Should such guidance be developed, the NRC will inform the public through a new notice of availability of the documents for public comment in the Federal Register . This notice documents final staff action on docket NRC-2018-0185. No further action is expected for this docket. As noted in “Relocation of Regulatory Issue Summary Notices in the Federal Register ” (May 8, 2018, 83 FR 20858), this document is being published in the Proposed Rules section of the Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under chapter I of title 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Dated: April 25, 2022. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Christian E. Einberg, Chief, Medical Safety and Events Assessments Branch, Division of Materials Safety, Security, State and Tribal Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. 2022-09172 Filed 4-28-22; 8:45 am]