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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 103 / Tuesday, June 1, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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remote video surveillance to maintain awareness of ongoing radiographic operations from a nearby darkroom.
This interpretation does not affect the NRCs existing guidance for temporary jobsites that have multiple access points. As explained in NUREG1556, Volume 2, Revision 1, licensees may need two or more individuals present to prevent unauthorized entry at temporary jobsites at facilities with multiple levels and multiple access points, or where members of the public are close to the radiographic operations.
IV. Compatibility of Agreement State Regulations The NRC is not requiring Agreement States to revise their interpretations of 34.41. As such, and as described below, the NRC hereby changes the compatibility category of 34.41 from B
to C.
Under the Agreement State Program Policy Statement approved by the Commission on October 2, 2017, and published in the Federal Register on October 18, 2017 82 FR 48535, NRC
program elements including regulations are placed into compatibility categories A, B, C, D, NRC, or adequacy category Health and Safety H&S.
Compatibility Category A program elements are those program elements that are basic radiation protection standards and scientific terms and definitions that are necessary to understand radiation protection concepts. An Agreement State should adopt Category A program elements in an essentially identical manner in order to provide uniformity in the regulation of agreement material on a nationwide basis.
Compatibility Category B program elements are those program elements that apply to activities that have direct and significant effects in multiple jurisdictions. An Agreement State should adopt Category B program elements in an essentially identical manner.
Compatibility Category C program elements are those program elements that do not meet the criteria of Category A or B, but contain the essential objectives that an Agreement State should adopt to avoid conflict, duplication, gaps, or other conditions that would jeopardize an orderly pattern in the regulation of agreement material on a national basis. An Agreement State should adopt the essential objectives of the Category C program elements.
Compatibility Category D program elements are those program elements that do not meet any of the criteria of
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Category A, B, or C and, therefore, do not need to be adopted by Agreement States for purposes of compatibility.
Compatibility Category NRC program elements are those program elements that address areas of regulation that cannot be relinquished to the Agreement States under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or provisions of 10 CFR. These program elements should not be adopted by the Agreement States.
Adequacy Category H&S program elements are program elements that are required because of a particular health and safety role in the regulation of agreement material within the State and should be adopted in a manner that embodies the essential objectives of the NRC program.
The NRC is changing the compatibility category designation for 34.41a from B to C. Instead of requiring Agreement States to adopt this regulation in an essentially identical manner, they would now be able to implement regulations that are more restrictive than the NRC requirements, provided that the essential objective is met, and the State requirements do not jeopardize an orderly pattern of regulation of agreement material on a nationwide basis. The NRC, with the benefit of over 20 years of experience with Agreement States implementing differing interpretations of the twoperson rule, has determined that essentially identical implementation is not necessary to provide an orderly pattern of regulation. Despite differences in implementation of the two-person rule, the NRC is not aware of any cross-jurisdictional boundary issues for the National Materials Program. Therefore, 34.41a is hereby redesignated Compatibility Category C.
The essential objective of 34.41a is to have a second qualified individual maintain awareness of the radiographic operations, maintain direct communications with the radiographer, and be capable of providing immediate assistance to the radiographer or taking charge when necessary, and to prevent unauthorized entry into a restricted area. To meet the essential objective of Compatibility Category C, the Agreement State may either adopt the NRCs position or may continue to require direct observation of radiographic operations by the second qualified individual at temporary jobsites. Agreement States may also adopt other more restrictive requirements.

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V. Request for Comment The NRC is requesting comments on this interpretation and the change from Compatibility Category B to C for the surveillance requirements in 34.41a.
The NRC will publish a document in the Federal Register containing an evaluation of the significant comments and any revisions to this interpretation made as a result of the comments and their evaluation.
VI. Petition Resolution The NRC will evaluate comments received on this notification of interpretation to determine if the petition issues related to the two-person rule in PRM346 are resolved. This notification of interpretation makes 34.41a consistent with the requirement of 34.51 that at least one of the two individuals present at a temporary jobsite maintain direct observation of the operation.
In addition, the NRC has reviewed the petition regarding training requirements and has concluded, based on associated operational experience since 1997, that current requirements in 34.43c are sufficient to ensure safe radiographic operations. Specifically, the second qualified individual is required to receive equipment training on radiographic devices, sources, associated equipment, radiation survey equipment and the daily inspection requirements on the equipment. The training requirements in 10 CFR part 34
prepare individuals conducting radiographic operations with sufficient knowledge and understanding of the regulations and safety requirements and familiarity with the equipment that they will use in the performance of their work.
Based on this review, the NRC has preliminarily concluded that rulemaking to amend its requirements for Industrial Radiographic Operations and Training is no longer necessary and, therefore, is proposing discontinuing the rulemaking activity.
The NRC intends to develop an addendum to the current version of NUREG1556, Volume 2, Revision 1, Program-Specific Guidance About Industrial Radiography Licenses and to revise Inspection Procedure 87121, Industrial Radiography Programs to address the interpretation of the surveillance requirements.
VII. Availability of Documents The documents identified in the following table are available to interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as indicated.

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