10 CFR 9, Public Records and NRC Forms 509 and 507
No material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved collection
No
Regular
02/20/2026
Requested
Previously Approved
12/31/2027
12/31/2027
628
628
181
181
0
0
FINAL RULE: Revisions to Freedom of Information Act Implementing Regulations
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 9, âPublic Records,â Subpart A, âFreedom of Information Act Regulations,â to improve clarity by using plain language, promote agency accountability, improve efficiency in responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, update roles and responsibilities, and align the regulations with current Federal best practices for implementing FOIA. This final rule addresses the recommendation by the National Archive and Records Administration, Office of Government Information Services, that the NRC update its FOIA regulations and incorporate the U.S. Department of Justice's model language for FOIA regulations, where appropriate.
The information collections in this final rule are being submitted as a nonsubstantive change to the Part 9 information collection because the changes are considered minor, nonsubstantive amendments. Further, these amendments do not have an economic impact on NRC licensees or members of the public. The information collection burden associated with this final rule would not change.
US Code:
5 USC 552
Name of Law: The Freedom of Information Act
US Code:
5 USC 552a
Name of Law: The Privacy Act of 1974, as amended
Overall, the burden has decreased by 965.3 hours from 1,145.8 hours to 180.5 hours, and the number of expected responses decreased by 3,175 responses, from 3,803 to 628. In developing the estimates for the current submission, the staff queried the FOIA case management software and produced a report summarizing the FOIA requests from the past three full fiscal years. The data used in this renewal is based on actual annual averages over this time period with the assumption that the NRC will see a 10 percent increase in the number of FOIA requests over the next three years.
The estimated number of respondents in has decreased from 3,803 to 273, a decrease of 3,530. Previous submittals overestimated the number of respondents for several of the parts of the rule including the requests for records and the fees agreement (NRC Form 509). This overestimation has been corrected by using better historical data than was previously available and an update to the methodology used to calculate the number of respondents that eliminates duplication and ensures the estimate is annualized. The estimated number of respondents in this submission accurately reflects the historical data and is consistent with data provided to the Department of Justice on NRC FOIA requests.
In this renewal, the burden for NRC Form 507, âIdentify Verification and/or Third-Party Authorization for Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Requestsâ has been broken out into a separate line item on the burden table to increase transparency and accuracy. In previous submissions, the burden for this item was included in the overall burden for FOIA and PA requests.
Finally, the fee rate has increased from $279 to $300.
$3,050,120
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Alecia Sillah 301 415-7000
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.