(a) Electronic document production and the electronic docket are subject to the provisions of this subpart.

(b)(1) The NRC, DOE, parties, and potential parties participating in accordance with the provision of this subpart shall be responsible for obtaining the computer system necessary to comply with the requirements for electronic document production and service.

(2) The NRC, DOE, parties, and potential parties participating in accordance with the provision of this subpart shall comply with the following standards in the design of the computer systems necessary to comply with the requirements for electronic document production and service:

(i) The participants shall make textual (or, where non-text, image) versions of their documents available on a web accessible server which is able to be canvassed by web indexing software (i.e., a “robot”, “spider”, “crawler”) and the participant system must make both data files and log files accessible to this software.

(ii) The participants shall make bibliographic header data available in an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) accessible, ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) and SQL (Structured Query Language)-compliant (ANSI IX3.135-1992/ISO 9075-1992) database management system (DBMS). Alternatively, the structured data containing the bibliographic header may be made available in a standard database readable (e.g., XML (Extensible Markup Language http://www.w3.org/xml/), comma delimited, or comma separated value (.csv)) file.

(iii) Textual material must be formatted to comply with the ISO/IEC 8859-1 character set and be in one of the following acceptable formats: ASCII, native word processing (Word, WordPerfect), PDF Normal, or HTML.

(iv) Image files must be formatted as TIFF CCITT G4 for bi-tonal images or PNG (Portable Network Graphics) per [http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-png-multi.html]) format for grey-scale or color images, or PDF (Portable Document Format—Image). TIFF, PDF, or PNG images will be stored at 300 dpi (dots per inch) or greater, grey scale images at 150 dpi or greater with eight bits of tonal depth, and color images at 150 dpi or greater with 24 bits of color depth. Images found on participant machines will be stored as single image-per-page to facilitate retrieval of no more than a single page, or alternatively, images may be stored in an image-per-document format if software is incorporated in the web server that allows image-per-page representation and delivery.

(v) The participants shall programmatically link, preferably via hyperlink or some other automated process, the bibliographic header record with the text or image file it represents. Each participant's system must afford the LSN software enough information to allow a text or image file to be identified to the bibliographic data that describes it.

(vi) To facilitate data exchange, participants shall adhere to hardware and software standards, including, but not limited to:

(A) Network access must be HTTP/1.1 [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2068.html] over TCP (Transmission Control Protocol, [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc793.html]) over IP (Internet Protocol, [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc791.html]).

(B) Associating server names with IP addresses must follow the DNS (Domain Name System), [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1034.html] and [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1035.html].

(C) Web page construction must be HTML [http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/].

(D) Electronic mail (e-mail) exchange between e-mail servers must be SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol, [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc821.html]).

(E) Format of an electronic mail message must be per [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc822.html] optionally extended by MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) per [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2045.html]) to accommodate multipurpose e-mail.

(c) The Licensing Support Network shall be coordinated by the LSN Administrator, who shall be designated before the start of the pre-license application phase. The LSN Administrator shall have the responsibility to—

(1) Identify technical and policy issues related to implementation of the LSN for LSN Advisory Review Panel and Commission consideration;

(2) Address the consensus advice of the LSN Advisory Review Panel under paragraph (e)(1) of this section that is consistent with the requirements of this subpart;

(3) Identify any problems experienced by participants regarding LSN availability, including the availability of individual participant's data, and provide a recommendation to resolve any such problems to the participant(s) and the Pre-License Application Presiding Officer relative to the resolution of any disputes regarding LSN availability, including disputes on the availability of an individual participant's data;

(4) Identify any problems regarding the integrity of documentary material certified in accordance with § 2.1009(b) by the participants to be in the LSN, and provide a recommendation to resolve any such problems to the participant(s) and the Pre-License Application Presiding Officer relative to the resolution of any disputes regarding the integrity of documentary material;

(5) Provide periodic reports to the Commission on the status of LSN functionality and operability.

(6) Evaluate LSN participant compliance with the basic design standards in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, and provide for individual variances from the design standards to accommodate changes in technology or problems identified during initial operability testing of the individual documentary collection websites or the “central LSN site”.

(7) Issue guidance for LSN participants on how best to comply with the design standards in paragraph (b)(2) of this section.

(d) The Secretary of the Commission shall reconstitute the LSS Advisory Review Panel as the LSN Advisory Review Panel, composed of the interests currently represented on the LSS Advisory Review Panel. The Secretary of the Commission shall have the authority to appoint additional representatives to the LSN Advisory Review Panel consistent with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. I, giving particular consideration to potential parties, parties, and interested governmental participants who were not members of the NRC HLW Licensing Support System Advisory Review Panel.

(e)(1) The LSN Advisory Review Panel shall provide advice to—

(i) NRC on the fundamental issues of the type of computer system necessary to access the Licensing Support Network effectively under paragraph (b) of this section; and

(ii) The Secretary of the Commission on the operation and maintenance of the electronic docket established for the HLW geologic repository licensing proceeding under the Commission's Rules of Practice (10 CFR part 2).

(iii) The LSN Administrator on solutions to improve the functioning of the LSN;

(2) The responsibilities of the LSN Advisory Review Panel shall include advice on—

(i) Format standards for providing electronic access to the documentary material certified by each participant to be made available in the LSN to the other parties, interested governmental participants, or potential parties;

(ii) The procedures and standards for the electronic transmission of filings, orders, and decisions during both the pre-license application phase and the high-level waste licensing proceeding;

(iii) Other duties as specified in this subpart or as directed by the Secretary of the Commission.