West Virginia State Agreement Application Process

The NRC provides assistance to States expressing interest in establishing programs to assume NRC regulatory authority under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. Section 274 of the Act provides a statutory basis under which NRC relinquishes to the States portions of its regulatory authority to license and regulate byproduct, source, and certain quantities of special nuclear materials. The State Agreement and Liaison Programs Branch in the Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) has the programmatic lead at the NRC for processing an Agreement application.

The Commission and a State may enter an Agreement whereby the Commission discontinues regulatory authority over a specific category of materials or class of facilities. The State of West Virginia has requested an agreement for the authority to regulate byproduct, source, and special nuclear material of a certain quantity, but not the authority to regulate 11e.(2) byproduct material (mill tailings), low-level waste disposal or evaluation of sealed sources and devices. Once the Agreement process is completed, the NRC will transfer the licenses for approximately 171 academic, commercial and medical facilities to the State of West Virginia.

The NRC staff evaluates the State's Agreement materials program using NMSS Procedure SA-700, "Processing an Agreement" and its associated handbook. The staff's assessment will need to show that the Agreement materials program satisfies the Commission policy statement "Criteria for Guidance of States and NRC in Discontinuance of NRC Regulatory Authority and Assumption Thereof by States Through Agreement" (46 FR 7540; January 23, 1981 and 48 FR 33376; July 21, 1983). There are several steps in the Agreement process. The table below includes the steps in the process and provides the status for the State of West Virginia’s Agreement application.

AGREEMENT APPLICATION PROCESS AND THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
Agreement Process	West Virginia Status
Governor submits Letter of Intent to NRC Chairman	January 9, 2023; ML23039A192
NMSS assigns a Project Manager	Huda Akhavannik, huda.akhavannik@nrc.gov; 301-415-5253 Duncan White, Duncan.White@nrc.gov; 301-415-2598
State develops draft Agreement application
State submits draft Agreement application to NRC for review
NRC provides letter to State detailing review team's comments on draft application
State develops Formal Request (final application) for an Agreement;
Governor submits Formal Request and certifies State has adequate program
NRC staff prepares Commission Paper that includes draft analysis, draft Agreement and Federal Register notice requesting comments
Commission approves publication in the Federal Register for public review and comment
Draft Agreement and staff analysis published in Federal Register for four consecutive weeks
NRC staff analyzes public comments
NRC staff prepares Commission Paper that includes final draft analysis, Agreement and resolution to public comments
Commission approves Agreement
Chairman and Governor sign Agreement
State assumes regulation authority
Final Agreement published in Federal Register