Justification Letter for Emergency Clearance

October 25, 2021

Ms. Sharon Block
Acting Administrator
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20503
Dear Ms. Block:
Pursuant to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established in Title 5
of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 1320, Controlling Paperwork Burdens
on the Public, I request that the proposed U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
information collection covered by NRC Form 798, "Request for a Medical Exception to the
to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement," (enclosed) be processed as an emergency
clearance request in accordance with 5 C.F.R. § 1320.13, Emergency Processing.
I have determined that this information must be collected prior to the time periods
established under Part 1320 of the regulations and that this information collection is
essential to implement health and safety measures requiring all Federal employees be
vaccinated against COVID-19 as mandated by Executive Order 14043 of September 9,
2021, “Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees” and
included within Safer Federal Workforce Task Force Guidance which mandated all Federal
employees be vaccinated by November 22, 2021.1 The only exception is for individuals
who receive a legally required exception approved under established Agency processes.
NRC informed its employees about the vaccination mandate on September 16, 2021, and
has requested that all employees notify the Agency of their intent to request an exception
to the mandate by November 1, 2021. Employees will be expected to submit a completed
NRC Form 798 to support their request for exception. The NRC is requesting an
expedited approval of the medical exception form to allow the Agency to collect the
information needed to make an informed determination of requested medical exceptions.
Applying regular Paperwork Reduction Act clearance procedures is likely to cause harm
because of the threat of COVID-19 exposure and transmission.
Because of the nature of the public health emergency and the urgent need for the NRC to
See generally Executive Order 13991, “Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring MaskWearing,” (January 20, 2021); Executive Order 13994, “Ensuring a Data-Driven Response to
COVID-19 and Future High-Consequence Public Health Threats,” (January 21, 2021). See also
Executive Order 12196, “Occupational Safety and Health Programs for Federal Employees”, as
amended (February 26, 1980) ("The head of each agency shall ... [f]urnish to employees places
and conditions of employment that are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to
cause death or serious physical harm").
1

S. Block

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meet the November 22, 2021 deadline that all Federal employees be vaccinated except
those approved under a medical or religious exception, it is impracticable for the Agency
to consult in advance with interested agencies and members of the public in order to
minimize the burden of the collection of information pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 1320.13(c).
Therefore, the NRC requests a 180-day emergency clearance to obtain the information
required in NRC Form 798, "Request for a Medical Exception to the COVID-19
Vaccination Requirement.” During the 180-day emergency clearance period, the NRC
will work to establish a regular clearance submission. As this request for approval
concerns an urgent safety need, the NRC is also seeking OMB's approval to waive the
need for the Federal Register Notices otherwise required by 5 C.F.R. § 1320.5(a)(1)(iv)
and § 1320.8(d)(1) prior to publication and implementation of this disclosure.
We would appreciate if you could please provide an approval/disapproval determination of
this request to collect information under an emergency clearance by close of business on
Thursday, October 28, 2021.
Sincerely,

Mary A. Lamary
Chief Human Capital Officer

Signed by Lamary, Mary
on 10/25/21