§ 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 part. The size of the meeting room must be sufficient to accommodate advisory committee members, advisory committee or agency staff, and a reasonable number of interested members of the public, except that the provisions of this paragraph (a) 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. The Federal Register notices, agendas, and supporting materials related to each meeting should be posted on the agency advisory committee website as soon as they are available or at the time they are provided to the advisory committee members.
(b) Any member of the public who wishes to do so shall be permitted to file a written statement with an NRC advisory committee whether or not the statement is related to a specific meeting. The committee chairperson may also permit members of the public to speak at meetings of the committee in accordance with procedures established by the committee.
(c)(1) At least seven calendar 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 (or subcommittee, if applicable);
(ii) The time, date, physical place (and/or instructions to connect electronically), and purpose of the meeting;
(iii) Whether meeting registration is required;
(iv) A summary of the agenda of the meeting, and/or topics to be discussed and instructions on how to access meeting materials;
(v) A statement whether all or part of the meeting is open to the public or closed; if the meeting is closed in whole or in part, state the reasons why under § 7.15, citing the specific exemption(s) of the Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b(c);
(vi) Instructions for submitting written comments, and oral comments, if permitted;
(vii) Instructions on how to submit a request for physical meeting or electronic meeting accommodations consistent with the relevant sections of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 794; and
(viii) The contact information for the DFO, alternate DFO, or other responsible agency official, or agency electronic mailbox for the committee, to contact for additional information concerning the meeting.
(2) In exceptional circumstances, or when the President determines in writing that it is necessary for reasons of national security, less than seven calendar 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.
(3) 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 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 website, www.nrc.gov, notice by mail, social media, etc., to inform the public of advisory committee meetings and provide as much advance notice as possible. To that end, the DFO 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.
www.nrc.gov(e) 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.