EA-02-043 - J. L. Shepherd and Associates
August 13, 2002
EA-02-043
Mr. J. L. Shepherd
President
J. L. Shepherd and Associates
1010 Arroyo Ave.
San Fernando, CA 91340
SUBJECT: | ORDER IMPOSING CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY – $19,200 (NRC Inspection Report No. 01-201 and Investigation Report No. 4-2001-027 |
Dear Mr. Shepherd:
This refers to your letter dated July 10, 2002, in response to the Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice) sent to you by our letter dated June 11, 2002. Our letter and Notice describe four violations identified during the inspection conducted on May 29-31, 2001, and the investigation conducted between June 22, 2001, and January 17, 2002. To emphasize the importance of accurate and complete information and compliance with the regulations, a civil penalty of $19,200 was proposed. In your response you did not contest any of the violations, but requested mitigation of the proposed civil penalty.
After consideration of your response, we have concluded for the reasons given in the Appendix attached to the enclosed Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty that you did not provide an adequate basis for mitigation of the civil penalty and that the proposed civil penalty in the amount of $19,200 should be imposed. Accordingly, we hereby serve the enclosed Order on J. L. Shepherd & Associates, imposing a civil monetary penalty in the amount of $19,200. As provided in Section IV of the enclosed Order, payment should be made within 30 days in accordance with NUREG/BR-0254. In addition, at the time payment is made, a statement indicating when and by what method payment was made, is to be mailed to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738. We will review the effectiveness of your corrective actions during a subsequent inspection.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and the enclosures will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at the Public NRC Library.
| Sincerely, |
/RA/ |
Frank J. Congel, Director Office of Enforcement |
Docket No. 71-0122
Approval No. 0122
Enclosure: Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty
cc:
Don Irwin, Hunton & Williams
Rick Boyle, Department of Transportation
Michael Wangler, Department of Energy
Ed Bailey, State of California
Kathleen McCallester, State of Massachusetts
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
In the Matter of | ) | |
J. L. SHEPHERD & ASSOCIATES San Fernando, California | ) ) ) | Docket No. 71-0122 Approval No. 0122 EA-02-043 |
ORDER IMPOSING CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY
I
J. L. Shepherd & Associates (JLS&A or Licensee) was the holder of Quality Assurance (QA) Program Approval for Radioactive Material Packages No. 0122 (Approval No. 0122), issued by the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR Part 71, Subpart H. QA activities authorized by Approval No. 0122 include: design, procurement, fabrication, assembly, testing, modification, maintenance, repair, and use of transportation packages subject to the provisions of 10 CFR Part 71. Approval No. 0122 was originally issued January 17, 1980. Based on JLS&A's failure to comply with 10 CFR Part 71, QA Program Approval No. 0122 was withdrawn by the immediately effective NRC Order, dated July 3, 2001, (66 FR 36603, July 12, 2001). This Order was relaxed to allow JLS&A to complete shipments in 20WCs to or from any customer until May 31, 2003, in accordance with JLS&A's near-term corrective action plan in NRC Confirmatory Order, dated June 6, 2002.
II
An inspection of the Licensee's activities was conducted on May 29-31, 2001, and an investigation was conducted between June 22, 2001, and January 17, 2002. The results of the inspection and investigation indicated that the Licensee had not conducted its activities in full compliance with NRC requirements. A written Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice) was served upon the Licensee by letter dated June 11, 2002. The Notice states the nature of the violations, the provisions of the NRC's requirements that the Licensee had violated, and the amount of the civil penalty proposed for the violations.
The Licensee responded to the Notice in a letter dated July 10, 2002. In its response, the Licensee did not contest any of the violations, but requested mitigation of the proposed civil penalty.
III
After consideration of the Licensee's response and the statements of fact, explanation, and argument for mitigation contained therein, the NRC staff has determined, as set forth in the Appendix to this Order, that the penalty proposed for the problem designated in the Notice should be imposed.
IV
In view of the foregoing and pursuant to Section 234 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (Act), 42 U.S.C. 2282, and 10 CFR 2.205, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
The Licensee pay a civil penalty in the amount of $19,200 within 30 days of the date of this Order, in accordance with NUREG/BR-0254. In addition, at the time of making the payment, the licensee shall submit a statement indicating when and by what method payment was made, to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738.
V
The Licensee may request a hearing within 30 days of the date of this Order. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the time to request a hearing. A request for extension of time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and include a statement of good cause for the extension. A request for a hearing should be clearly marked as a "Request for an Enforcement Hearing" and shall be submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC 20555. Copies also shall be sent to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to the Assistant General Counsel for Materials Litigation and Enforcement at the same address, to the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards at the same address, and to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV, 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington, TX 76011. Because of continuing disruptions in delivery of mail to United States Government Offices, it is requested that requests for hearing by transmitted to the Secretary of the Commission either by means of facsimile transmission to (301)415-1101 or by e-mail to hearing.docket@nrc.gov and also to the Office of the General Counsel either by means of facsimile transmission to (301)415-3725 or by e-mail to OGCMailCenter.Resource@nrc.gov.
If a hearing is requested, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and place of the hearing. If the Licensee fails to request a hearing within 30 days of the date of this Order (or if written approval of an extension of time in which to request a hearing has not been granted), the provisions of this Order shall be effective without further proceedings. If payment has not been made by that time, the matter may be referred to the Attorney General for collection.
In the event the Licensee requests a hearing as provided above, the issues to be considered at such hearing shall be: Whether on the basis of the violations admitted by the Licensee, this Order should be sustained.
| FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION |
/RA/ |
Frank J. Congel, Director Office of Enforcement |
Dated this 13th day of August 2002

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