Title 10

SECTION 7.12

7.12 Public participation in and public notice of advisory committee meetings.

§ 7.12 Public participation in and public notice of advisory committee meetings.

(a) Each meeting of an NRC advisory committee shall be held at a reasonable time and in a place reasonably accessible to the public, including persons with disabilities. Any advisory committee meeting conducted in whole or part by teleconference, video conference, the Internet, or other electronic medium must comply with this section. The size of the meeting room must be sufficient to accommodate advisory committee members, committee or agency staff, and interested members of the public, except that the provisions of this paragraph relating to the room size shall not apply to any part of an NRC advisory committee meeting that has been closed pursuant to § 7.15.

(b) Any member of the public who wishes to do so shall be permitted to file a written statement with an NRC advisory committee regarding any matter discussed at a meeting of the committee. The committee chairman may also permit members of the public to speak at meetings of the committee in accordance with procedures established by the committee.

(c)(1) Except when the President or designee determines in writing that no notice should be published for reasons of national security, at least 15 days prior to an NRC advisory committee meeting, a notice that includes the following information shall be published in the Federal Register:

(i) The exact name of the advisory committee as chartered;

(ii) The time, date, place, and purpose of the meeting;

(iii) A summary of the agenda of the meeting;

(iv) Whether all or part of the meeting is open to the public; and

(v) The name and telephone number of the Designated Federal Officer, alternate, or other responsible agency employee who may be contacted for additional information concerning the meeting.

(2) If any part of the meeting is closed, the notice shall provide the reasons for the closure, citing the specific matter that has been determined to justify the closure under § 7.15. The Commission may publish a single notice announcing multiple meetings; however, a meeting may not be announced so far in advance as to prevent the public from being adequately informed of an NRC advisory committee's schedule.

(d) In exceptional circumstances, less than 15 days notice of an advisory committee meeting may be given, provided that there is as much prior notice as possible and the reasons for the shorter time are included in the committee meeting notice published in the Federal Register.

(e) In addition to notice required by paragraph (c) of this section, the NRC may also use other forms of notice, such as press releases, posting the information on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov, or notice by mail, to inform the public of advisory committee meetings. To that end, the Designated Federal Officer or alternate for each NRC advisory committee will, to the extent practicable, maintain lists of people and organizations interested in that advisory committee and notify them of meetings by mail.

(f) Meetings of a subcommittee whose recommendations will not be reviewed by its parent advisory committee shall be conducted in accordance with all notice and openness requirements contained in this section and in §§ 7.13, 7.14, and 7.15.

[54 FR 26948, June 27, 1989, as amended at 67 FR 79841, Dec. 31, 2002]

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