NRC Schedules Closed Design Basis Threat Session; HRSA Revises Faculty Loan Repayment Forms

NRC Commission Meeting Schedule: August–September 2026

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has published its Sunshine Act meeting schedule covering the weeks of August 24, 31, and September 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2026. The schedule is subject to change on short notice, and the current calendar is maintained online at the NRC Commission Meeting Schedule webpage.

Only two meetings are currently listed across the entire six-week window. On Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at 9:00 a.m., the Commission will hold a closed session on Proposed Changes to the Design Basis Threat, closed pursuant to Exemption 1. No meetings are scheduled for the weeks of August 31 or September 7, 14, or 21, 2026. The next public session is an All Employees Meeting set for Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., to be held in the TWFN Auditorium at 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The public is invited to attend in person or watch live via webcast at https://video.nrc.gov/. The contact person for meeting status verification is Wesley Held at 301-287-3591. The NRC is holding the meetings under the authority of the Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b.

HRSA Faculty Loan Repayment Program: Revised Information Collection

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), within the Department of Health and Human Services, has announced plans to submit a revised Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the Faculty Loan Repayment Program (FLRP), OMB No. 0906-0082. Public comments on the ICR are due no later than October 20, 2026.

According to the notice, HRSA administers the FLRP to provide health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds — defined as reflecting geographic and/or economic vulnerability — the opportunity to enter into a contract with HHS to receive repayment of qualifying educational loans in exchange for a minimum of 2 years of service as a full-time or part-time faculty member at an eligible health professions school. The applicant must demonstrate to the Secretary of Health and Human Services that they come from an economically or geographically vulnerable background, have a contract with an eligible health professions school to serve as faculty for a minimum of 2 years, and have qualifying outstanding educational loans. For each loan for which repayment is sought, applicants must also submit loan documentation verifying the establishment of the educational loan(s), lender account statements, promissory notes including the original date, and the current balance of outstanding educational loans.

The revised ICR contains two new forms. The first is the Employer's Agreement to Loan Repayment Match/Request for a Waiver of the Loan Repayment Match form, which the notice states is needed to ensure applicant eligibility and school compliance with the statute. The second is the Semi-annual In-Service Verification form, which is sent to current participants and the institution twice each year to confirm their employment status. The addition of these forms and an increased number of respondents and applicants to the FLRP will increase the estimated burden hours, the notice states.

The revised ICR also updates terminology with respect to disadvantaged background. The notice explains that the form title is being changed to "Certification Regarding Vulnerable Background," that "disadvantaged" is being replaced with "vulnerable" throughout the form, and that "environmentally disadvantaged" is being replaced with "geographically vulnerable." The notice states these changes are needed to align the form with the Administration's priority of reinforcing programs that direct resources to areas of greatest need to improve health outcomes. HRSA explains that the FLRP statute defines eligible individuals as coming from "disadvantaged backgrounds" (42 U.S.C. 293b(a)) but does not define the term, and that HRSA's use of "vulnerable background" operationalizes the statutory term by identifying individuals whose geographic or economic circumstances inhibited their ability to obtain the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to enroll in and graduate from an eligible health professions school.

Under the revised definitions, FLRP will define "vulnerable background" as "coming from a geographically vulnerable background or an economically vulnerable background that has inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to enroll in and graduate from an eligible health professions school." The notice identifies examples of indicators of a geographically vulnerable background, including graduating from a high school with low average SAT/ACT scores or below average state test results; coming from a school district where 50 percent or less of graduates go to college; being raised in a household where language barriers affected education access; attending a high school where at least 30 percent of enrolled students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch; and being the first generation in one's family to attend college. An individual from an economically vulnerable background is defined as someone who comes from a low-income family — defined as a family with an annual income below 200 percent of HHS's poverty guidelines — is eligible for a Pell Grant, and/or comes from a family that receives public assistance such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, or public housing.

What to Watch

• October 20, 2026: Deadline for public comments on the HRSA Faculty Loan Repayment Program ICR revision.
• August 26, 2026: NRC closed Commission session on Proposed Changes to the Design Basis Threat (tentative).
• September 29, 2026: NRC All Employees Meeting, open to the public in person and via webcast (tentative).

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