NRC Finalizes Rulemaking Modernization and FACA Alignment Reforms
Published Date: 8/11/2026
Rule
Summary
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations by streamlining procedural provisions related to information withholding and post-promulgation comment periods; aligning the NRC's regulations with Committee Management Secretariat (CMS) Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) standards; and updating national security eligibility criteria. The goal is to modernize and clarify the NRC's regulatory framework to ensure consistency with government-wide standards and improve administrative efficiency. The scope includes updates to outdated provisions and revisions to ensure compliance with current federal policies. This action is being taken in response to Executive Order 14300, "Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Easier Requests to Withhold Documents
If you submit commercial, financial, or proprietary material to the NRC and ask that it be withheld from public view, the NRC changed 10 CFR 2.390 to remove the requirement that you include a statement describing the harm that would result if information were disclosed. The rule retains an affidavit requirement for withholding requests (except for personal privacy information) but allows the Commission to waive the affidavit in appropriate circumstances.
Post-Rule Comment Periods Now Voluntary
The NRC amended 10 CFR 2.804 so that the agency 'may' — rather than 'shall' — provide a post-promulgation comment period in specified instances. This makes those post-promulgation comment periods discretionary and could reduce guaranteed opportunities for public comment where exceptions to notice-and-comment under the Administrative Procedure Act apply.
Advisory Committees Align With FACA Rules
The NRC revised 10 CFR part 7 to conform its advisory committee rules to GSA's December 16, 2025 FACA regulations. The updates change terminology, chartering, membership appointment steps, reporting, and procedural expectations for NRC advisory committees to match government-wide standards.
Security Clearance Criteria Codified to SEAD 4
The NRC updated 10 CFR part 10 to replace detailed adjudicatory criteria with a high-level reference to the whole-person concept and to the national security adjudicative standards in SEAD 4. The rule codifies standards already used in NRC Management Directive 12.3 and does not change existing adjudicative processes for access authorizations or employment clearances.
NRC Says No Significant Small-Business Cost
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the NRC certified that this direct final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The NRC's regulatory analysis states the amendments are administrative or conforming and are expected to have minimal economic impact.
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