Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2009, 9130-9157 [E9-4229]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Proposed Rules
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 170 and 171
RIN 3150–AI52
[NRC–2008–0620]
Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee
Recovery for FY 2009
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is proposing to
amend the licensing, inspection, and
annual fees charged to its applicants
and licensees. The proposed
amendments are necessary to
implement the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA–90),
as amended, which requires that the
NRC recover through fees approximately
90 percent of its budget authority in
fiscal year (FY) 2009, less the amounts
appropriated from the Nuclear Waste
Fund (NWF), amounts appropriated for
Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR),
and amounts appropriated for generic
homeland security activities. Based on
the FY 2009 Energy and Water
Development Appropriations Bill,
reported by the U.S. House of
Representatives Appropriations
Committee, the NRC’s required fee
recovery amount for the FY 2009 budget
would be approximately $870.6 million.
After accounting for billing adjustments,
the total amount to be billed as fees
would be approximately $864.8 million.
DATES: The comment period expires
April 1, 2009. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is
practical to do so, but the NRC is able
to ensure only that comments received
on or before this date will be
considered. Because OBRA–90 requires
that the NRC collect the FY 2009 fees by
September 30, 2009, requests for
extensions of the comment period will
not be granted.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any one of the following methods.
Please include number RIN 3150–AI52
in the subject line of your comments.
Comments submitted in writing or in
electronic form will be made available
for public inspection. Because your
comments will not be edited to remove
any identifying or contact information,
the NRC cautions you against including
any information in your submission that
you do not want to be publicly
disclosed.
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for documents filed under Docket ID
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NRC–2008–0620. Address questions
about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher
301–492–3668; e-mail
Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN:
Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
E-mail comments to:
Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. If you
do not receive a reply e-mail confirming
that we have received your comments,
contact us directly at 301–415–1677.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.
Federal workdays. (Telephone 301–415–
1677).
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301–
415–1101.
You can access publicly available
documents related to this document
using the following methods:
NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR):
The public may examine and have
copied for a fee publicly available
documents at the NRC’s PDR, Public
File Area O1 F21, One White Flint
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland.
NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS):
Publicly available documents created or
received at the NRC after November 1,
1999, are available electronically at the
NRC’s Electronic Reading Room at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. From this page, the public
can gain entry into ADAMS, which
provides text and image files of NRC’s
public documents. If you do not have
access to ADAMS or if there are
problems in accessing the documents
located in ADAMS, contact the NRC’s
PDR reference staff at 1–800–397–4209,
301–415–4737, or by e-mail to
pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
To obtain additional information on
the NRC’s FY 2009 budget request,
commenters and others may review
NUREG–1100, Volume 24,
‘‘Performance Budget: Fiscal Year 2009’’
(February 2008), which describes the
NRC’s budget for FY 2009, including the
activities to be performed in each
program. This document is available on
the NRC’s public Web site at https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. Note,
however, that NUREG–1100, Volume
24, is based on the NRC’s FY 2009
budget request to Congress, and that the
fees in this rulemaking are based on the
NRC appropriation in the H.R. 7324.
The allocation of the H.R. 7324 budget
to planned activities within each
program, and to each fee class and feerelief activities category, is included in
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the publicly available work papers
supporting this rulemaking.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rebecca I. Erickson, Office of the Chief
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001; telephone 301–415–
7126, e-mail
Rebecca.Erickson@NRC.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Proposed Action
A. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170: Fees
for Facilities, Materials, Import and
Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory
Services Under the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as Amended
B. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 171:
Annual Fees for Reactor Licenses and
Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials
Licenses, Including Holders of
Certificates of Compliance, Registrations,
and Quality Assurance Program
Approvals and Government Agencies
Licensed by the NRC
III. Plain Language
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
V. Environmental Impact: Categorical
Exclusion
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
VII. Regulatory Analysis
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
IX. Backfit Analysis
I. Background
The NRC is required each year, under
OBRA–90 (42 U.S.C. 2214), as amended,
to recover approximately 90 percent of
its budget authority, less the amounts
appropriated from the NWF, amounts
appropriated for WIR, and amounts
appropriated for generic homeland
security activities (non-fee items),
through fees to NRC licensees and
applicants. The NRC receives 10 percent
of its budget authority (less non-fee
items) from the general fund each year
to pay for the cost of agency activities
that do not provide a direct benefit to
NRC licensees, such as international
assistance and Agreement State
activities (as defined under section 274
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended).
The NRC assesses two types of fees to
meet the requirements of OBRA–90, as
amended. First, license and inspection
fees, established in 10 CFR part 170
under the authority of the Independent
Offices Appropriation Act of 1952
(IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 9701) recover the
NRC’s cost of providing special benefits
to identifiable applicants and licensees.
Examples of the services provided by
the NRC for which these fees are
assessed include the review of
applications for new licenses and the
review of renewal applications, the
review of license amendment requests,
and inspections. Second, annual fees
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established in 10 CFR part 171 under
the authority of OBRA–90, as amended,
recover generic and other regulatory
costs not otherwise recovered through
10 CFR part 170 fees.
The NRC is currently operating under
a continuing resolution (CR) for FY 2009
(H.R. 2638) that is effective through
March 6, 2009. This means that the FY
2009 funds currently available are
similar to the NRC’s funding in FY
2008. Although the NRC has not
received a new appropriation for FY
2009 at the time this proposed fee rule
was submitted for publication in the
Federal Register, the NRC must proceed
with this rulemaking to collect the
required fee amounts by September 30,
2009. Therefore, the NRC is establishing
fees in this rulemaking based on the FY
2009 Energy and Water Development
Appropriations Bill (H.R. 7324),
reported by the U.S. House of
Representatives Appropriations
Committee. Although, neither the House
nor the Senate Appropriations
Committees’ bills have been brought to
the floor of the chamber for approval,
the NRC is proposing to use the House
bill since it has a higher NRC
Appropriation amount. If the actual
Appropriation signed by the President is
lower than this bill, the fee amounts in
the final rule will be lower than the
proposed rule amounts.
If Congress enacts a different version
of the NRC budget than that included in
H.R. 7324, the fees in the NRC’s FY
2009 final fee rule will be adjusted to
reflect the enacted budget. Therefore,
fees in the FY 2009 final fee rule may
differ from the fees in this proposed
rule. The NRC will adjust the FY 2009
final fees based on the enacted version
of the budget without seeking further
public comment.
For example, if Congress enacts
legislation that requires the NRC to
operate under a CR for the full FY 2009
and appropriates significantly less to the
NRC, the fees in the FY 2009 final fee
rule will be modified from the fees in
this proposed fee rule, to reflect the
reductions in budgeted resources. The
NRC’s total required fee recovery could
be reduced by approximately $144
million under a full-year CR, as
compared to H.R. 7324, although the
NRC’s exact fee recovery amount would
depend on the specific provisions in
such legislation. A given licensee’s part
171 annual fees under a full-year CR
would be either similar to, or less than,
the fees included in this proposed fee
rule. Fees in the FY 2009 final fee rule
may also change from this proposed fee
rule for other reasons, such as changes
in the amount expected to be received
from part 170 fees in FY 2009. Under a
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full-year CR, annual fees for some
license fee classes may be affected more
than other license fee classes, based on
which NRC activities are subject to
budget reductions. It is possible that
some annual fees may increase from this
proposed rule under a full-year CR,
because the NRC’s ten percent fee relief,
which is used to reduce all annual fees
in this proposed rule (discussed more in
Section II.B.1, Application of ‘‘Fee
Relief/Surcharge’’ of this document),
would be reduced. This may occur if a
particular license fee class is not subject
to budget reductions under a CR, and
also receives a smaller annual fee
reduction than that included in this
proposed fee rule from the NRC’s fee
relief.
Based on the H.R. 7324, the NRC’s
required fee recovery amount for the FY
2009 budget is approximately $870.6
million, which is reduced by
approximately $5.8 million to account
for billing adjustments (i.e., expected
unpaid invoices, payments for prior
year invoices), resulting in a total of
approximately $864.8 million to be
billed as fees in FY 2009.
In accordance with OBRA–90, as
amended, $27.1 million of the budgeted
resources associated with generic
homeland security activities are
excluded from the NRC’s fee base in FY
2009. These funds cover generic
activities that support an entire license
fee class or classes of licensees such as
rulemakings and guidance development.
Under the authority of the IOAA, the
NRC will continue to bill under part 170
for all licensee-specific homeland
security-related services provided,
including security inspections and
security plan reviews.
The amount of the NRC’s required fee
collections is set by law, and is,
therefore, outside the scope of this
rulemaking. In FY 2009, the NRC’s total
fee recovery amount increases by $91.5
million from FY 2008, mostly in
response to increased regulatory and
infrastructure support workload for
reactor renewal activities, new uranium
recovery facility applications, new
uranium enrichment facilities, and
materials licensing. The FY 2009 budget
was allocated to the fee classes that the
budgeted activities support. As such,
the proposed annual fees for reactor,
fuel facility, most uranium recovery,
and small materials licensees increases.
Another factor affecting the amount of
annual fees for each fee class is the
estimated collection under part 170,
discussed in the Proposed Action
section of this document.
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II. Proposed Action
The NRC is proposing to amend its
licensing, inspection, and annual fees to
recover approximately 90 percent of its
FY 2009 budget authority (under H.R.
7324) less the appropriations for non-fee
items. The NRC’s total budget authority
for FY 2009 would be $1,069.8 million.
The non-fee items include $73.3 million
appropriated from the NWF, $2 million
for WIR activities, and $27.1 million for
generic homeland security activities.
Based on the 90 percent fee-recovery
requirement, the NRC would have to
recover approximately $870.6 million in
FY 2009 through part 170 licensing and
inspection fees and part 171 annual
fees. The amount required by law to be
recovered through fees for FY 2009
would be $91.5 million more than the
amount estimated for recovery in FY
2008, an increase of approximately 12
percent.
The FY 2009 fee recovery amount is
reduced by $5.8 million to account for
billing adjustments (i.e., for FY 2009
invoices that the NRC estimates will not
be paid during the fiscal year, less
payments received in FY 2009 for prior
year invoices). This leaves
approximately $864.8 million to be
billed as fees in FY 2009 through part
170 licensing and inspection fees and
part 171 annual fees.
Table I summarizes the budget and fee
recovery amounts for FY 2009.
(Individual values may not sum to totals
due to rounding.)
TABLE I—BUDGET AND FEE RECOVERY
AMOUNTS FOR FY 2009
[Dollars in millions]
Total Budget Authority ..........
Less Non-Fee Items .........
$1,069.8
¥102.4
Balance ..........................
Fee Recovery Rate for FY
2009 ...............................
$967.4
Total Amount to be Recovered for FY 2009 ..
Less Part 171 Billing Adjustments:
Unpaid FY 2009 Invoices
(estimated) .....................
Less Payments Received
in FY 2009 for Prior
Year Invoices (estimated) ...........................
×90.0%
$870.6
1.9
¥7.7
¥5.8
Subtotal .........................
Amount to be Recovered
Through Parts 170 and
171 Fees ...........................
Less Estimated Part 170
Fees ...............................
¥320.2
Part 171 Fee Collections Required ................................
$544.6
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The NRC estimates that $320.2
million would be recovered from part
170 fees in FY 2009. This represents an
increase of approximately 15 percent as
compared to the actual part 170
collections of $277.3 million for FY
2008. The NRC derived the FY 2009
estimate of part 170 fee collections
based on the previous four quarters of
billing data for each license fee class,
with adjustments to account for changes
in the NRC’s FY 2009 budget, as
appropriate. The remaining $544.6
million would be recovered through the
part 171 annual fees in FY 2009 which
is an increase of approximately 15
percent compared to actual part 171
collections of $472.9 million for FY
2008.
The NRC plans to publish the final fee
rule no later than June 2009. The FY
2009 final fee rule will be a ‘‘major rule’’
as defined by the Congressional Review
Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 801–808).
Therefore, the NRC’s fee schedules for
FY 2009 will become effective 60 days
after publication of the final rule in the
Federal Register. The NRC will send an
invoice for the amount of the annual fee
to reactors, part 72 licensees, major fuel
cycle facilities, and other licensees with
annual fees of $100,000 or more, upon
publication of the FY 2009 final rule.
For these licensees, payment is due on
the effective date of the FY 2009 final
rule. Because these licensees are billed
quarterly, the payment due is the
amount of the total FY 2009 annual fee,
less payments made in the first three
quarters of the fiscal year.
Materials licensees with annual fees
of less than $100,000 are billed
annually. Those materials licensees
whose license anniversary date during
FY 2009 falls before the effective date of
the FY 2009 final rule will be billed for
the annual fee during the anniversary
month of the license at the FY 2008
annual fee rate. Those materials
licensees whose license anniversary
date falls on or after the effective date
of the FY 2009 final rule will be billed
for the annual fee at the FY 2009 annual
fee rate during the anniversary month of
the license, and payment will be due on
the date of the invoice.
As a matter of courtesy, the NRC
plans to continue mailing the proposed
fee rule to all licensees, although, as a
cost saving measure, in accordance with
its FY 1998 announcement, the NRC has
discontinued mailing the final fee rule
to all licensees. Accordingly, the NRC
does not plan to routinely mail the FY
2009 final fee rule or future final fee
rules to licensees.
The NRC will send the final rule to
any licensee or other person upon
specific request. To request a copy,
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contact the License Fee Team, Division
of the Controller, Office of the Chief
Financial Officer, at 301–415–7554, or
e-mail fees.resource@nrc.gov. In
addition to publication in the Federal
Register, the final rule will be available
on the Internet at regulations.gov.
The NRC is proposing to amend 10
CFR parts 170 and 171 as discussed in
Sections II.A and II.B of this document.
A. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170:
Fees for Facilities, Materials, Import and
Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory
Services Under the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, As Amended
In FY 2009, the NRC is proposing to
increase the hourly rate to recover the
full cost of activities under part 170, and
using this rate to calculate ‘‘flat’’
application fees. The NRC is also
proposing to revise descriptions of some
fee categories.
The NRC is proposing the following
changes:
1. Hourly Rate
The NRC’s hourly rate is used in
assessing full cost fees for specific
services provided, as well as flat fees for
certain application reviews. The NRC is
proposing to change the FY 2009 hourly
rate to $257. This rate would be
applicable to all activities for which fees
are assessed under §§ 170.21 and
170.31. The FY 2009 proposed hourly
rate is higher than the hourly rate of
$238 in the FY 2008 final fee rule. The
increase is primarily due to the higher
FY 2009 budget supporting increased
regulatory and infrastructure support
workload for reactor license renewals
and applications from new uranium
recovery and enrichment facilities. The
hourly rate calculation is described in
further detail in the following
paragraphs.
The NRC’s hourly rate is derived by
dividing the sum of recoverable
budgeted resources for (1) mission
direct program salaries and benefits; (2)
mission indirect salaries and benefits
and contract activity; and (3) agency
management and support and Inspector
General (IG), by mission direct full-time
equivalent (FTE) hours. The mission
direct FTE hours are the product of the
mission direct FTE times the hours per
direct FTE. The only budgeted resources
excluded from the hourly rate are those
for mission direct contract activities.
In FY 2009, the NRC is proposing to
use 1,371 hours per direct FTE, same as
FY 2008, to calculate the hourly fees.
The NRC has reviewed data from its
time and labor system to determine if
the annual direct hours worked per
direct FTE estimate requires updating
for the FY 2009 fee rule. Based on this
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review of the most recent data available,
the NRC determined that 1,371 hours is
the best estimate of direct hours worked
annually per direct FTE. This estimate
excludes all non-direct activities, such
as training, general administration, and
leave.
Table II shows the results of the
hourly rate calculation methodology.
(Individual values may not sum to totals
due to rounding.)
TABLE II—FY 2009 HOURLY RATE
CALCULATION
Mission Direct Program Salaries & Benefits ...................
Mission Indirect Salaries &
Benefits, and Contract Activity ...................................
Agency Management and
Support, and IG ................
Subtotal .........................
Less Offsetting Receipts ......
Total Budget Included in
Hourly Rate ................
Mission Direct FTEs .............
Professional Hourly Rate
(Total Budget Included in
Hourly Rate divided by
Mission Direct FTE Hours)
$322.0M
129.2M
316.5M
$767.7M
¥0.1M
$767.6M
2,180
$257
As shown in Table II, dividing the
$767.6 million budgeted amount
(rounded) included in the hourly rate by
total mission direct FTE hours (2,180
FTE times 1,371 hours) results in an
hourly rate of $257. The hourly rate is
rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
2. ‘‘Flat’’ Application Fee Changes
The NRC is proposing to adjust the
current flat application fees in §§ 170.21
and 170.31 to reflect the revised hourly
rate of $257. These flat fees are
calculated by multiplying the average
professional staff hours needed to
process the licensing actions by the
proposed professional hourly rate for FY
2009.
Biennially, the NRC evaluates
historical professional staff hours used
to process a new license application for
materials users fee categories subject to
flat application fees. This is in
accordance with the requirements of the
Chief Financial Officer’s Act. The NRC
conducted this biennial review for the
FY 2009 fee rule which also included
license and amendment applications for
import and export licenses.
Evaluation of the historical data in FY
2009 shows that the average number of
professional staff hours required to
complete licensing actions in the
materials program should be increased
in some fee categories and decreased in
others to more accurately reflect current
data for completing these licensing
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actions. The average number of
professional staff hours needed to
complete new licensing actions was last
updated for the FY 2007 final fee rule.
Thus, the revised average professional
staff hours in this fee rule reflect the
changes in the NRC licensing review
program that have occurred since that
time.
The higher hourly rate of $257 is the
main reason for the increases in the
application fees. Application fees for
some fee categories (2.B., 3.G., 3.O.,
3.R.1., 4.B., 5.A., 8.A., 9.C., and 10 B.
under § 170.31) also increase because of
the results of the biennial review, which
showed an increase in average time to
process these types of license
applications. The decrease in fees for 7
fee categories (3.C., 3.H., 3.N., 3.S., 9.A.,
9.B., and 10.B. under § 170.31) is due to
a decrease in average time to process
these types of applications.
The amounts of the materials
licensing flat fees are rounded so that
the fees would be convenient to the user
and the effects of rounding would be de
minimis (minimal). Fees under $1,000
are rounded to the nearest $10, fees that
are greater than $1,000 but less than
$100,000 are rounded to the nearest
$100, and fees that are greater than
$100,000 are rounded to the nearest
$1,000.
The proposed licensing flat fees are
applicable for fee categories K.1.
through K.5. of § 170.21, and fee
categories 1.C., 1.D., 2.B., 2.C., 3.A.
through 3.S., 4.B. through 9.D., 10.B,
15.A. through 15.R., 16, and 17 of
§ 170.31. Applications filed on or after
the effective date of the FY 2009 final
fee rule would be subject to the revised
fees in the final rule.
3. Fee Category Changes
The NRC is proposing to revise the fee
categories for uranium recovery
facilities in § 170.31. The new fee
categories will better reflect the NRC’s
regulatory effort expended for the
different types of facilities, both existing
and planned. A more detailed
discussion follows in II.B.3.b. ‘Uranium
Recovery Facilities’, below.
In addition, the NRC is proposing to
revise the description for two fee
categories, 7.A. and 17 in § 170.31. The
NRC proposes to amend fee category
7.A., related to medical licenses, to
more precisely state which medical
devices it covers. Currently, the fee
category applies to teletherapy devices.
The NRC has historically included
gamma stereotactic radiosurgery units
(gamma knives) in this category per
NUREG 1556, Volume 20, Appendix G.
This amendment explicitly provides
that fee category 7.A. include gamma
knives and other similar beam therapy
devices. The fee category 17 for master
materials license is being expanded to
include non-government entities with
multi-site licenses.
The new fee category descriptions do
not represent any additions to the types
of licenses regulated by NRC. These
changes will help clarify the types of
licenses covered under specific
categories for NRC licensees.
4. Administrative Amendments
In response to a number of questions
on specific sub-sections related to fee
exemptions for special projects, the NRC
is proposing to simplify (170.11 for ease
of reading. There is no change to the
NRC’s fee exemption policy.
In summary, the NRC is proposing to
make the following changes to 10 CFR
part 170
1. Establish revised professional
hourly rate to use in assessing fees for
specific services;
2. Revise the license application fees
to reflect the proposed FY 2009 hourly
rate;
3. Revise some fee categories to better
reflect NRC’s regulatory effort, and
4. Make certain administrative
changes for purposes of clarification.
B. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 171:
Annual Fees for Reactor Licenses and
Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials
Licenses, Including Holders of
Certificates of Compliance,
Registrations, and Quality Assurance
Program Approvals and Government
Agencies Licensed by the NRC
The FY 2009 proposed annual fees
reflect NRC’s use of its fee relief to
reduce all licensees’ annual fees and
changes in the number of NRC
licensees. This rulemaking also
proposes to establish rebaselined annual
fees based on the H.R. 7324. The
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proposed amendments are described as
follows:
1. Application of ‘‘Fee-Relief/
Surcharge’’
The NRC is proposing to use its fee
relief to reduce all licensees’ annual
fees, based on their percent of the
budget.
The NRC applies the 10 percent of its
budget that is excluded from fee
recovery under OBRA–90, as amended
(fee relief), to offset the total budget
allocated for activities which do not
directly benefit current NRC licensees.
The budget for these fee-relief activities
are totaled, and then reduced by the
amount of the NRC’s fee relief. Any
remaining fee-relief activities budget is
allocated to all licensees’ annual fees,
based on their percent of the budget
(i.e., over 80 percent is allocated to
power reactors each year).
In FY 2009, the NRC’s 10 percent fee
relief exceeds the total budget for feerelief activities by $2.9 million. In FY
2008, the 10 percent fee relief exceeded
the total budget by $8.9 million. The
excess fee relief in FY 2009 is lower
compared with FY 2008 primarily due
to higher FY 2009 budget resources for
Agreement States support and
international activities.
As in FY 2008, the NRC is using the
$2.9 million fee relief to reduce all
licensees’ annual fees, based on their
percent of the fee recoverable budget
authority. This is consistent with the
existing fee methodology, in that the
benefits of the NRC’s fee relief are
allocated to licensees in the same
manner as deficit was allocated as
surcharge when the NRC did not receive
enough fee relief to pay for fee-relief
activities. In FY 2009, the power
reactors class of licensees will receive
approximately 88 percent of the fee
relief based on their share of the NRC
fee recoverable budget authority.
The FY 2009 budgeted resources for
NRC’s fee-relief activities are $93.8
million. The NRC’s total fee relief in FY
2009 is $96.7 million, leaving $2.9
million in fee relief to be used to reduce
all licensees’ annual fees. These values
are shown in Table III. (Individual
values may not sum to totals due to
rounding.)
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TABLE III—FEE-RELIEF ACTIVITIES
[Dollars in millions]
FY 2009
budgeted
costs
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or class of licensee:
a. International activities ...............................................................................................................................................................
b. Agreement State oversight .......................................................................................................................................................
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11.2
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TABLE III—FEE-RELIEF ACTIVITIES—Continued
[Dollars in millions]
FY 2009
budgeted
costs
c. Scholarships and Fellowships ..................................................................................................................................................
2. Activities not assessed part 170 licensing and inspection fees or part 171 annual fees based on existing law or Commission
policy:
a. Fee exemption for nonprofit educational institutions ...............................................................................................................
b. Costs not recovered from small entities under 10 CFR 171.16(c) ..........................................................................................
c. Regulatory support to Agreement States .................................................................................................................................
d. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (not related to the power reactor and spent fuel storage fee classes) .....................
e. In situ leach rulemaking and unregistered general licensees .................................................................................................
11.5
3.9
17.5
13.7
3.5
Total fee-relief activities ........................................................................................................................................................
Less 10 percent of NRC’s FY 2009 total budget (less non-fee items) ...............................................................................................
$93.8
¥96.7
Fee Relief to be Allocated to All Licensees’ Annual Fees ...........................................................................................................
$¥2.9
Table IV shows how the NRC is
allocating the $2.9 million in fee relief
to each license fee class. As explained
previously, the NRC is allocating this
fee relief to each license fee class based
on the percent of the budget for that fee
class compared to the NRC’s total
budget. The fee relief is used to partially
offset the required annual fee recovery
from each fee class.
Separately, the NRC has continued to
allocate the low-level waste (LLW)
surcharge based on the volume of LLW
disposal of three classes of licenses,
operating reactors, fuel facilities, and
materials users. Table IV also shows the
15.0
allocation of the LLW surcharge activity.
Because LLW activities support NRC
licensees, the costs of these activities are
not offset by the NRC’s fee relief. For FY
2009, the total budget allocated for LLW
activity is $2.3 million. (Individual
values may not sum to totals due to
rounding.)
TABLE IV—ALLOCATION OF FEE-RELIEF ACTIVITIES AND LLW SURCHARGE
LLW surcharge
Fee relief
Percent
$M
Operating Power Reactors ......................................................................
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning .......................................
Test and Research Reactors ...................................................................
Fuel Facilities ...........................................................................................
Materials Users ........................................................................................
Transportation ..........................................................................................
Uranium Recovery ...................................................................................
54.0
....................
....................
15.0
31.0
....................
....................
1.2
....................
....................
0.3
0.7
....................
....................
88
2.5
0.1
5.2
3.0
0.4
0.8
¥2.6
¥0.1
0.0
¥0.2
¥0.1
0.0
0.0
¥1.3
¥0.1
0.0
0.2
0.6
0.0
0.0
Total ..................................................................................................
100.0
2.3
100.0
¥2.9
¥0.6
In FY 2009, the LLW surcharge
exceeded the fee relief for two fee
classes, fuel facilities and materials
users. The net surcharge will be
included in the annual fee for fuel
facility and materials users licensees.
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
2. Agreement State Activities
By letter dated June 12, 2008,
Governor Timothy Kaine of the
Commonwealth of Virginia requested
that the NRC enter into an Agreement
with the State as authorized by Section
274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954,
as amended. The final Agreement
package is before the Commission for
approval and if approved, the
Agreement is expected to take effect by
March 31, 2009. This will result in the
transfer of approximately 380 licenses
from the NRC to the Commonwealth of
Virginia.
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Note that the continuing costs of
oversight and regulatory support for the
Commonwealth of Virginia, as for any
other Agreement State, are recovered as
fee-relief activities consistent with
existing policy. The budgeted resources
for the regulatory support of Agreement
State licensees are prorated to the feerelief activity based on the percent of
total licensees in Agreement States. The
NRC proposes to update the proration
percentage in its fee calculation to make
sure that resources are allocated
equitably between the NRC materials
users fee class and the regulatory
support to Agreement States fee-relief
category. Accordingly, in anticipation of
the Commonwealth of Virginia
becoming an Agreement State, the NRC
has increased the percentage of
materials users regulatory support costs
prorated to the fee-relief activity from 82
percent in FY 2008 to 85 percent in FY
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Percent
Total
$M
$M
2009. The resources for licensing and
inspection activities supporting NRC
licensees in the materials users fee class
are not prorated to the fee-relief activity.
The number of NRC materials users
licensees has been updated to reflect the
transfer of licensees to the
Commonwealth of Virginia. Because of
the effective date of March 31, 2009, the
approximately 380 licensees transferring
to the Commonwealth of Virginia will
be subject to one-half of their annual fee
for FY 2009. The number of materials
users licensees are revised to reflect that
the NRC will still collect one-half of the
annual fee from these licensees.
This is not a substantive policy
change, but rather a calculation change
that will result in a more accurate
estimate of the actual costs of
supporting Agreement State activities. If
the Commonwealth of Virginia does not
become an Agreement State by the
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publication of the final fee rule, the NRC
will adjust the calculation of the FY
2009 annual fees based on the latest
information available at that time. Any
changes will be discussed in the final
fee rule.
Also, Governor Jon Corizine of the
State of New Jersey has by letter dated
October 16, 2008 formally requested
that the NRC enter into an Agreement
with his state. If approved by the
Commission, this Agreement is
expected to take effect by September 30,
2009. Approximately 500 NRC licensees
will be transferred to the State of New
Jersey. Because the expected effective
date is September 30, 2009, these
licensees will be assessed annual fees by
NRC for the full year of FY 2009.
Therefore, no changes to the FY 2009
fees or the number of NRC licensees
have been made for this potential event.
3. Revised Annual Fees
The NRC is proposing to revise its
annual fees in §§ 171.15 and 171.16 for
FY 2009 to recover approximately 90
percent of the NRC’s FY 2009 budget
authority after subtracting the non-fee
amounts and the estimated amount to be
recovered through part 170 fees. The
part 170 estimate for this proposed rule
increased by $28.5 million from the FY
2008 fee rule based on the latest invoice
data available. The total amount to be
recovered through annual fees for FY
2009 is $544.6 million. The required
annual fee collection in FY 2008 was
$468.9 million.
The Commission has determined (71
FR 30733; May 30, 2006) that the agency
should proceed with a presumption in
favor of rebaselining when calculating
annual fees each year. Under this
method, the NRC’s budget is analyzed in
detail and budgeted resources are
allocated to fee classes and categories of
licensees. The Commission expects that
most years there will be budget and
other changes that warrant the use of the
rebaselining method.
As compared with FY 2008 annual
fees, rebaselined fees are higher for
three classes of licensees (power
reactors, non-power reactors, and fuel
facilities), and lower for two classes of
licensees (spent fuel storage/reactor
decommissioning and transportation).
Within the materials users and uranium
recovery fee classes, annual fees for
most licensees increase, while annual
fees for some licensees decrease.
The NRC’s total fee recoverable
budget, as mandated by law, is
approximately $92 million larger in FY
2009 as compared with FY 2008. Much
of this increase is for reactor renewal
activities, new uranium recovery facility
applications, new uranium enrichment
facility applications, and materials
9135
licensing. The FY 2009 budget was
allocated to the fee classes that the
budgeted activities support. As such,
the proposed annual fees for operating
reactor, non-power reactor, fuel facility,
most uranium recovery and small
materials licensees increases. Also in FY
2009, generic NRC resources supporting
new uranium recovery applications are
included in the budget allocated to
operating power reactors and fuel
facility fee classes because these
licensees will potentially benefit from
increased production of uranium milled
by new uranium recovery facilities. The
impact of this allocation on the
operating reactors and fuel facilities
annual fees is less than one percent.
The factors affecting all annual fees
include the distribution of budgeted
costs to the different classes of licenses
(based on the specific activities NRC
will perform in FY 2009), the estimated
part 170 collections for the various
classes of licenses, and allocation of the
fee relief to all fee classes. The
percentage of the NRC’s budget not
subject to fee recovery remained
unchanged at 10 percent from FY 2008
to FY 2009.
Table V shows the rebaselined annual
fees for FY 2009 for a representative list
of categories of licenses. The FY 2008
fee is also shown for comparative
purposes.
TABLE V—REBASELINED ANNUAL FEES FOR FY 2009
FY 2008
annual fee
Class/category of licenses
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Operating Power Reactors (Including Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning Annual Fee) .....................
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning ......................................................................................................
Test and Research Reactors (Non-power Reactors) ..............................................................................................
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility .......................................................................................................................
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility ........................................................................................................................
UFCO6 Conversion Facility ......................................................................................................................................
Conventional Mills ....................................................................................................................................................
Typical Materials Users:
Radiographers (Category 3O) ..........................................................................................................................
Well Loggers (Category 5A) .............................................................................................................................
Gauge Users (Category 3P) .............................................................................................................................
Broad Scope Medical (Category 7B) ...............................................................................................................
The work papers which support this
proposed rule show in detail the
allocation of NRC’s budgeted resources
for each class of licenses and how the
fees are calculated. The reports included
in these work papers summarize the FY
2009 budgeted FTE and contract dollars
allocated to each fee class and fee-relief
activities category at the planned
activity and program level, and compare
these allocations to those used to
develop final FY 2008 fees. The work
papers are available electronically at the
NRC’s Electronic Reading Room on the
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Internet at Web site address https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
The work papers may also be examined
at the NRC PDR located at One White
Flint North, Room O–1F22, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
The budgeted costs allocated to each
class of licenses and the calculations of
the rebaselined fees are described in
paragraphs a. through h. of this Section.
Individual values in the Tables
presented in this Section may not sum
to totals due to rounding.
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FY 2009
proposed
annual fee
$4,167,000
135,000
76,500
3,007,000
899,000
589,000
10,300
$4,735,000
127,000
124,500
4,721,000
1,659,000
975,000
32,200
11,100
3,400
2,100
22,900
23,100
9,900
3,800
36,800
a. Fuel Facilities
The FY 2009 budgeted cost to be
recovered in the annual fees assessment
to the fuel facility class of licenses
[which includes licensees in fee
categories 1.A.(1)(a), 1.A.(1)(b),
1.A.(2)(a), 1.A.(2)(b), 1.A.(2)(c), 1.E., and
2.A.(1), under § 171.16] is
approximately $23.1 million. This value
is based on the full cost of budgeted
resources associated with all activities
that support this fee class, which is
reduced by estimated part 170
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Proposed Rules
collections and adjusted for allocated
generic transportation resources, and fee
relief. In FY 2009, the LLW surcharge
for fuel facilities exceeds the allocated
fee-relief (see Table IV in Section II.B.1.,
‘‘Application of ‘‘Fee Relief/Surcharge’’
of this document). The summary
calculations used to derive this value
are presented in Table VI for FY 2009,
with FY 2008 values shown for
comparison.
TABLE VI—ANNUAL FEE SUMMARY CALCULATIONS FOR FUEL FACILITIES
[Dollars in millions]
FY 2008
final
Summary fee calculation
FY 2009
proposed
Total budgeted resources ................................................................................................................................................
Less estimated part 170 receipts ....................................................................................................................................
$31.5
¥17.2
$44.6
¥21.8
Net part 171 resources .............................................................................................................................................
Allocated generic transportation ......................................................................................................................................
Allocated fee relief/surcharge ..........................................................................................................................................
Billing adjustments ...........................................................................................................................................................
14.3
+0.5
¥0.1
¥0.8
22.8
+0.4
+0.2
¥0.3
Total required annual fee recovery ..........................................................................................................................
13.9
23.1
The increase in FY 2009 total
budgeted resources allocated to this fee
class compared with FY 2008 is
primarily due to increases in resources
for new uranium enrichment facility
licensing activities partially offset by a
higher part 170 revenue estimate.
The total required annual fee recovery
amount is allocated to the individual
fuel facility licensees based on the
effort/fee determination matrix
developed for the FY 1999 final fee rule
(64 FR 31447; June 10, 1999). In the
matrix included in the NRC publicly
available work papers, licensees are
grouped into categories according to
their licensed activities (i.e., nuclear
material enrichment, processing
operations, and material form) and
according to the level, scope, depth of
coverage, and rigor of generic regulatory
programmatic effort applicable to each
category from a safety and safeguards
perspective. This methodology can be
applied to determine fees for new
licensees, current licensees, licensees in
unique license situations, and certificate
holders.
This methodology is adaptable to
changes in the number of licensees or
certificate holders, licensed or certified
material and/or activities, and total
programmatic resources to be recovered
through annual fees. When a license or
certificate is modified, it may result in
a change of category for a particular fuel
facility licensee as a result of the
methodology used in the fuel facility
effort/fee matrix. Consequently, this
change may also have an effect on the
fees assessed to other fuel facility
licensees and certificate holders. For
example, if a fuel facility licensee
amends its license/certificate (e.g.,
decommissioning or license
termination) that results in it not being
subject to part 171 costs applicable to
the fee class, then the budgeted costs for
the safety and/or safeguards
components will be spread among the
remaining fuel facility licensees/
certificate holders.
The methodology is applied as
follows. First, a fee category is assigned
based on the nuclear material and
activity authorized by license or
certificate. Although a licensee/
certificate holder may elect not to fully
use a license/certificate, the license/
certificate is still used as the source for
determining authorized nuclear material
possession and use/activity. Second, the
category and license/certificate
information are used to determine
where the licensee/certificate holder fits
into the matrix. The matrix depicts the
categorization of licensees/certificate
holders by authorized material types
and use/activities.
Each year, the NRC’s fuel facility
project managers and regulatory
analysts determine the level of effort
associated with regulating each of these
facilities. This is done by assigning, for
each fuel facility, separate effort factors
for the safety and safeguards activities
associated with each type of regulatory
activity. The matrix includes ten types
of regulatory activities, including
enrichment and scrap/waste related
activities (see the work papers for the
complete list). Effort factors are assigned
as follows: One (low regulatory effort),
five (moderate regulatory effort), and ten
(high regulatory effort). These effort
factors are then totaled for each fee
category, so that each fee category has
a total effort factor for safety activities
and a total effort factor for safeguards
activities.
The effort factors for the various fuel
facility fee categories are summarized in
Table VII. The value of the effort factors
shown, as well as the percent of the
total effort factor for all fuel facilities,
reflects the total regulatory effort for
each fee category (not per facility). Note
that the effort factors for the High
Enriched Uranium Fuel (HEU) fee
category have decreased from FY 2008.
The safety and safeguards factors
decreased in FY 2009 to reflect process
changes such as HEU downblending
and liquid UF6 workload. Taking into
account both of these changes, the total
safety and safeguards effort factor
change is relatively small.
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
TABLE VII—EFFORT FACTORS FOR FUEL FACILITIES
Effort factors
(percent of total)
Number of
facilities
Facility type (fee category)
Safety
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)) ....................................................................................
Uranium Enrichment (1.E) ...........................................................................................................
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b)) .....................................................................................
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1)) .............................................................................................................
Limited Operations (1.A.(2)(a)) ....................................................................................................
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2
2
3
1
1
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87 (33.3)
70 (26.8)
71 (27.2)
12 (4.6)
12 (4.6)
Safeguards
97 (51.1)
40 (21.1)
26 (13.7)
7 (3.7)
3 (1.6)
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Proposed Rules
TABLE VII—EFFORT FACTORS FOR FUEL FACILITIES—Continued
Effort factors
(percent of total)
Number of
facilities
Facility type (fee category)
Safety
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b)) ..............................................................
Hot Cell (1.A.(2)(c)) .....................................................................................................................
The budgeted resources before the
surcharge for safety activities
($13,283,085) are allocated to each fee
category based on its percent of the total
regulatory effort for safety activities. For
example, if the total effort factor for
safety activities for all fuel facilities is
100, and the total effort factor for safety
activities for a given fee category is 10,
that fee category will be allocated 10
percent of the total budgeted resources
for safety activities. Similarly, the
budgeted resources before the surcharge
for safeguards activities ($9,669,679) are
allocated to each fee category based on
its percent of the total regulatory effort
for safeguards activities. The fuel
facility fee class’ portion of the
surcharge ($192,336) is allocated to each
fee category based on its percent of the
total regulatory effort for both safety and
safeguards activities. The annual fee per
licensee is then calculated by dividing
the total allocated budgeted resources
for the fee category by the number of
licensees in that fee category as
summarized in Table VIII.
TABLE VIII—ANNUAL FEES FOR FUEL
FACILITIES
Facility type (fee category)
FY 2009
annual fee
1
1
Safeguards
3 (1.1)
6 (2.3)
15 (7.9)
2 (1.1)
The NRC does not expect to authorize
operation of any new uranium
enrichment facility in FY 2009. The
annual fee applicable to any type of new
uranium enrichment facility is the
annual fee in § 171.16, fee category 1.E.,
Uranium Enrichment, unless the NRC
establishes a new fee category for the
facility in a subsequent rulemaking.
b. Uranium Recovery Facilities
High Enriched Uranium Fuel
(1.A.(1)(a)) .........................
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.) ...
Low Enriched Uranium
(1.A.(1)(b)) .........................
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1)) ......
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment
Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))
Limited Operations Facility
(1.A.(2)(a)) .........................
Hot Cell (and others)
(1.A.(2)(c)) .........................
The total FY 2009 budgeted cost to be
recovered through annual fees assessed
to the uranium recovery class [which
1,659,000 includes licensees in fee categories
975,000 2.A.(2)(a), 2.A.(2)(b), 2.A.(2)(c),
2.A.(2)(d), 2.A.(2)(e), 2.A.(3), 2.A.(4),
924,000 2.A.(5) and 18.B., under § 171.16], is
approximately $0.52 million. The
770,000
derivation of this value is shown in
Table IX, with FY 2008 values shown
411,000
for comparison purposes.
$4,721,000
2,823,000
TABLE IX—ANNUAL FEE SUMMARY CALCULATIONS FOR URANIUM RECOVERY FACILITIES
[Dollars in millions]
FY 2008
final
Summary fee calculations
FY 2009
proposed
$2.56
¥2.02
$6.97
¥6.38
Net part 171 resources .............................................................................................................................................
Allocated generic transportation ......................................................................................................................................
Allocated fee relief ...........................................................................................................................................................
Billing adjustments ...........................................................................................................................................................
$0.54
+N/A
¥0.03
¥0.06
$0.59
+N/A
¥0.02
¥0.05
Total required annual fee recovery ..........................................................................................................................
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Total budgeted resources ................................................................................................................................................
Less estimated part 170 receipts ....................................................................................................................................
0.46
0.52
The increase in the total required
annual fee recovery is mainly due to an
increase in uranium recovery licensing
and inspection resources for the existing
licensees. In FY 2009, NRC is proposing
to exclude the generic budget resources
supporting applications for new
uranium recovery facilities from the
annual fee charged to current uranium
recovery licensees. Instead the budget
resources would be allocated to
operating reactors and fuel facility
licensees since these fee classes would
potentially benefit from increased
production of the uranium milled by the
new facilities. The generic resources
supporting the new uranium recovery
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facilities do not benefit the existing
uranium recovery licensees.
Since FY 2002, the NRC has
computed the annual fee for the
uranium recovery fee class by allocating
the total annual fee amount for this fee
class, between DOE and the other
licensees in this fee class. The NRC
regulates DOE’s Title I and Title II
activities under the Uranium Mill
Tailings Radiation Control Act
(UMTRCA). The Congress established
the two programs, Title I and Title II
under UMTRCA, to protect the public
and the environment from uranium
milling. The UMTRCA Title I program
is for remedial action at abandoned mill
tailings sites where tailings resulted
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largely from production of uranium for
the weapons program. The NRC also
regulates DOE’s UMTRCA Title II
program which is directed toward
uranium mill sites licensed by the NRC
or Agreement States in or after 1978.
In FY 2009, 35 percent of the total
annual fee amount, less $246,563
specifically budgeted for Title I
activities, is allocated to DOE’s
UMTRCA facilities. The remaining 65
percent of the total annual fee (less the
amounts specifically budgeted for Title
I activities) is allocated to other
licensees. The reduction in resources for
licensing the DOE is based on the
reduced effort expended for DOE
UMTRCA. This is a change from FY
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Proposed Rules
2008 when the distribution of the
annual fee was 40 percent to DOE and
60 percent to non-DOE licensees. The
change reflects NRC’s current level of
effort. This change in the distribution of
uranium recovery fee class resources
between non-DOE uranium recovery
facilities and DOE results in a decrease
in annual fee for the DOE compared to
the increase in annual fee for non-DOE
facilities. Of the required annual fee
collections, $342,000 (rounded) would
be assessed to DOE for licensing its
UMTRCA activities as fee category 18.B
in § 170.16.
The remaining $176,000 (rounded)
would be recovered through annual fees
assessed to the other licensees in this
fee class (i.e., conventional mills, in-situ
recovery (ISR) facilities), 11e.(2) mill
tailings disposal facilities (incidental to
existing tailings sites), and a uranium
water treatment facility. Beginning in
FY 2009, NRC is proposing to replace
the existing single fee category,
2.A.(2)(b) for uranium ISR facilities with
four fee categories based on the type of
ISR facilities. The addition of the new
fee categories is needed to reflect the
diverse types of uranium recovery
facilities planned for construction and
operation in the near future.
Additionally, the new fee categories will
better reflect the NRC’s regulatory
benefit provided to the different types of
facilities, both existing and planned.
The revised fee category, 2.A.(2)(b),
would be for an ISR yellowcake facility
with zero to three satellites. These
facilities include a central processing
plant (CPP) that includes all the
equipment necessary to collect uranium
on resin, strip uranium from the resin,
and process the uranium into a
yellowcake slurry or dried yellowcake
powder. These facilities may also
receive resins from up to three satellite
facilities operated by the same company
for further processing of the contained
uranium into yellowcake.
The new 2.A.(2)(c) fee category would
be for an ISR yellowcake facility with
more than three satellites. These
facilities have a CPP with the same
equipment as the fee category as stated
previously, but have four or more
satellite facilities, which necessitates a
correspondingly greater allocation of the
staff’s generic resources.
The new 2.A.(2)(d) fee category would
be for a stand-alone ISR Resin facility
which performs ISR recovery operations
and includes equipment for the
collection of dissolved uranium from
onsite underground ore bodies onto ion
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exchange resins. The resins are then
transported to another company’s
facility for further processing of the
collected uranium into yellowcake.
The new fee category, 2.A.(2)(e),
would be for a Resin Toll Milling
Facility. These facilities do not conduct
any onsite recovery of uranium but
consist of a CPP for the purpose of
processing resins from other ISR
facilities into yellowcake. Allocation of
generic resources for these facilities
would be less than that allocated for the
other categories of ISR facilities.
The annual fee being assessed to DOE
includes recovery of the costs
specifically budgeted for NRC’s Title I
activities plus 35 percent of the
remaining annual fee amount, including
the fee-relief and generic/other costs, for
the uranium recovery class. The
remaining 65 percent of the fee-relief
and generic/other costs are assessed to
the other NRC licensees in this fee class
that are subject to annual fees. The costs
to be recovered through annual fees
assessed to the uranium recovery class
are shown in Table X.
generic regulatory actions for the
different (non-DOE) licensees in this fee
class. The weights derived in this matrix
are used to allocate the approximately
$176,000, annual fee amount to these
licensees. The use of this uranium
recovery annual fee matrix was
established in the FY 1995 final fee rule
(60 FR 32217; June 20, 1995). The FY
2009 matrix is described as follows.
First, the methodology identifies the
categories of licenses included in this
fee class (besides DOE). In FY 2009,
these categories are conventional
uranium mills and heap leach facilities,
uranium solution mining and resin ISR
facilities mill tailings disposal facilities
(11e.(2) disposal facilities), and uranium
water treatment facilities.
Second, the matrix identifies the
types of operating activities that support
and benefit these licensees. In FY 2009,
the activities related to generic
decommissioning/reclamation are not
included in the matrix, because generic
decommissioning/reclamation activities
are included in the surcharge, and
therefore need not be a factor in
determining annual fees. The activities
TABLE X—COSTS RECOVERED
included in the FY 2009 matrix are
THROUGH ANNUAL FEES; URANIUM operations, waste operations, and
RECOVERY FEE CLASS
groundwater protection. The relative
weight of each type of activity is then
DOE annual fee mount (UMTRCA title I and
determined, based on the regulatory
title II) general licenses:
resources associated with each activity.
The operations, waste operations, and
UMTRCA Title I budgeted
costs ..................................
$246,563 groundwater protection activities have
weights of 0, 5, and 10, respectively, in
35 percent of generic/other
uranium recovery budgthe FY 2009 matrix.
eted costs ..........................
103,269
Each year, the NRC determines the
35 percent of uranium recovlevel of benefit to each licensee for
ery fee-relief ......................
¥8,241
generic uranium recovery program
activities for each type of generic
Total Annual Fee
activity in the matrix. This is done by
Amount for DOE
(rounded) ...................
342,000 assigning, for each fee category, separate
benefit factors for each type of
Annual fee amount for other uranium recovregulatory activity in the matrix. Benefit
ery licenses:
factors are assigned on a scale of 0 to 10
as follows: zero (no regulatory benefit),
65 percent of generic/other
five (moderate regulatory benefit), and
uranium recovery budgten (high regulatory benefit). These
eted costs less the
benefit factors are first multiplied by the
amounts specifically budgeted for Title I activities .....
191,785 relative weight assigned to each activity
65 percent of uranium recov(described previously). Total benefit
ery fee-relief ......................
¥15,304 factors by fee category, and per licensee
in each fee category, are then calculated.
Total Annual Fee
These benefit factors thus reflect the
Amount for Other Urarelative regulatory benefit associated
nium Recovery Licenses ........................
176,481 with each licensee and fee category.
The benefit factors per licensee and
The NRC will continue to use a matrix per fee category, for each of the non(which is included in the supporting
DOE fee categories included in the
work papers) to determine the level of
uranium recovery fee class, are as
effort associated with conducting the
follows:
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TABLE XI—BENEFIT FACTORS FOR URANIUM RECOVERY LICENSES
Number of
licensees
Fee category
Conventional and Heap Leach mills ................................................................
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities ......................................................................
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities ...............................................................
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites ........................................
Uranium water treatment .................................................................................
The annual fee per licensee is
calculated by dividing the total
allocated budgeted resources for the fee
category by the number of licensees in
that fee category as summarized in
Table XII. Applying these factors to the
approximately $176,000 in budgeted
costs to be recovered from non-DOE
uranium recovery licensees results in
the following annual fees for FY 2009:
Benefit factor
per licensee
1
3
1
1
1
200
190
215
65
45
Total value
Benefit factor
percent total
200
570
215
65
45
18
52
20
6
4
TABLE XII—ANNUAL FEES FOR URA- c. Operating Power Reactors
NIUM RECOVERY LICENSEES (OTHER
The $479.2 million in budgeted costs
THAN DOE)
to be recovered through FY 2009 annual
Facility type (fee category)
Conventional and Heap
Leach mills (2.A.(2)(a)) .....
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b)) ..................
Expanded In Situ Recovery
facilities (2.A.(2)(c)) ...........
11e.(2) disposal incidental to
existing tailings sites
(2.A.(4)) .............................
Uranium water treatment
(2.A.(5)) .............................
FY 2009
annual fee
$32,200
fees assessed to the power reactor class
was calculated as shown in Table XIII.
FY 2008 values are shown for
comparison.
30,600
34,700
10,500
7,300
TABLE XIII—ANNUAL FEE SUMMARY CALCULATIONS FOR OPERATING POWER REACTORS
[Dollars in millions]
FY 2008
final
Summary fee calculations
FY 2009
proposed
$698.8
¥258.1
$761.4
¥276.6
Net part 171 resources .....................................................................................................................................
Allocated generic transportation ..............................................................................................................................
Allocated fee relief ...................................................................................................................................................
Billing adjustments ...................................................................................................................................................
$440.7
+ 1.0
¥5.9
¥16.5
$484.8
+ 0.8
¥1.3
¥5.1
Total required annual fee recovery ..................................................................................................................
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Total budgeted resources ........................................................................................................................................
Less estimated part 170 receipts ............................................................................................................................
419.3
479.2
The budgeted costs to be recovered
through annual fees to power reactors
are divided equally among the 104
power reactors licensed to operate. This
results in a FY 2009 annual fee of
$4,608,000 per reactor. Additionally,
each power reactor licensed to operate
would be assessed the FY 2009 spent
fuel storage/reactor decommissioning
annual fee of $127,000. This results in
a total FY 2009 annual fee of $4,735,000
for each power reactor licensed to
operate.
The annual fee for power reactors
increases in FY 2009 compared to FY
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2008 primarily due to an increase in
budgeted resources for licensing
renewal activities and other licensing
tasks. This increase is partially offset by
the higher estimated part 170
collections and fee-relief adjustment. In
FY 2009, the NRC estimates an increase
in part 170 collections of about 7
percent for this fee class. These
collections offset the required annual
fee recovery amount by a total of
approximately $276.6 million. The
amended annual fees for power reactors
are presented in § 171.15.
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d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor
Decommissioning
For FY 2009, budgeted costs of
approximately $15.6 million for spent
fuel storage/reactor decommissioning
are to be recovered through annual fees
assessed to part 50 power reactors, and
to part 72 licensees who do not hold a
part 50 license. Those reactor licensees
that have ceased operations and have no
fuel onsite are not subject to these
annual fees. Table XIV shows the
calculation of this annual fee amount.
FY 2008 values are shown for
comparison.
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TABLE XIV—ANNUAL FEE SUMMARY CALCULATIONS FOR THE SPENT FUEL STORAGE/REACTOR DECOMMISSIONING FEE
CLASS
[Dollars in millions]
FY 2008
final
Summary fee calculations
FY 2009
proposed
Total budgeted resources ........................................................................................................................................
Less estimated part 170 receipts ............................................................................................................................
$22.4
¥5.3
$21.1
¥5.5
Net part 171 resources .....................................................................................................................................
Allocated generic transportation ..............................................................................................................................
Allocated fee relief ...................................................................................................................................................
Billing adjustments ...................................................................................................................................................
$17.1
+ 0.2
¥0.3
+ 0.5
$15.6
+ 0.2
¥0.1
¥0.1
Total required annual fee recovery ..................................................................................................................
16.6
15.6
The required annual fee recovery
amount is divided equally among 123
licensees, resulting in a FY 2009 annual
fee of $127,000 per licensee. The value
of total budgeted resources for this fee
class decreases in FY 2009 compared to
FY 2008 due to a decrease in the
budgeted resources for
decommissioning and the fee-relief
adjustment.
e. Test and Research Reactors (Nonpower Reactors)
TABLE XVI—ANNUAL FEE SUMMARY
FOR
MATERIALS
CALCULATIONS
USERS—Continued
[Dollars in millions]
f. Rare Earth Facilities
The one licensee who had an NRC
specific license for receipt and
processing of source material under the
Rare Earth fee class transferred to the
Agreement State, Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, effective March 31, 2008.
Because the agency does not
anticipate receiving an application for a
rare earth facility this fiscal year, no
budget resources were allocated to this
fee class and no annual fee will be
published in FY 2009. NRC has also
revised the fee category for this fee class
from 2.A.(2)(c) to 2.A.(2)(f) in FY 2009.
Summary fee calculations
Total required annual
fee recovery ...........
FY
2008
final
21.4
FY
2009
proposed
28.8
The total required annual fees to be
recovered from materials licensees
increases in FY 2009 mainly because of
increases in the budgeted resources
allocated to this fee class for licensing
activities, and a lower part 170 estimate.
Annual fees for most fee categories
within the materials users fee class
g. Materials Users
increase. The number of licensees also
decreases because of the expected
Table XVI shows the calculation of
TABLE XV—ANNUAL FEE SUMMARY
transfer of licensees to the
the FY 2009 annual fee amount for
CALCULATIONS FOR TEST AND RECommonwealth of Virginia. Because the
materials users licensees. FY 2008
SEARCH REACTORS
agreement with the Commonwealth of
values are shown for comparison. Note
[Dollars in millions]
Virginia is expected to be effective
the following fee categories under
March 31, 2009, the licensees
§ 171.16 are included in this fee class:
FY
FY
transferring to the Commonwealth of
1.C., 1.D., 2.B., 2.C., 3.A. through 3.S.,
2009
Summary fee calculations
2008
Virginia will be subject to one-half of
4.A. through 4.C., 5.A., 5.B., 6.A., 7.A.
profinal
posed through 7.C., 8.A., 9.A. through 9.D., 16, the annual fees.
and 17.
To equitably and fairly allocate the
Total budgeted resources
$0.99
$1.22
$28.8 million in FY 2009 budgeted costs
Less estimated part 170
TABLE XVI—ANNUAL FEE SUMMARY
to be recovered in annual fees assessed
receipts .......................... ¥0.66 ¥0.72
CALCULATIONS FOR MATERIALS USERS to the approximately 3,800 diverse
Net part 171 rematerials users licensees, the NRC will
[Dollars in millions]
sources ..................
$0.33
$0.50
continue to base the annual fees for each
Allocated generic transporFY
fee category within this class on the part
FY
tation .............................
+ 0.01
+ 0.01
2009
170 application fees and estimated
2008
Allocated fee relief ............ ¥0.01
0.00 Summary fee calculations
profinal
posed inspection costs for each fee category.
Billing adjustments ............ ¥0.02 ¥0.01
Because the application fees and
Total required annual
Total budgeted resources
$22.8
$ 28.7 inspection costs are indicative of the
complexity of the license, this approach
fee recovery ...........
0.31
0.50 Less estimated part 170
receipts ..........................
¥2.0
¥1.2 continues to provide a proxy for
This required annual fee recovery
allocating the generic and other
Net part 171 reamount is divided equally among the
regulatory costs to the diverse categories
sources ..................
$20.8
$27.5
four test and research reactors subject to
of licenses based on NRC’s cost to
Allocated generic transporannual fees, and results in a FY 2009
tation .............................
+ 0.9
+ 0.8 regulate each category. This fee
annual fee of $124,500 for each licensee. Allocated surcharge ..........
+ 0.3
+ 0.6 calculation also continues to consider
The increase in annual fees from FY
Billing adjustments ............
¥0.5
¥0.1 the inspection frequency (priority),
2008 to FY 2009 is due to an increase
which is indicative of the safety risk and
Approximately $500,000 in budgeted
costs is to be recovered through annual
fees assessed to the test and research
reactor class of licenses for FY 2009.
Table XV summarizes the annual fee
calculation for test and research reactors
for FY 2009. FY 2008 values are shown
for comparison.
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
in budget resources for license renewal
activities partially offset by higher part
170 revenue estimate for test and
research reactors class.
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resulting regulatory costs associated
with the categories of licenses.
The annual fee for these categories of
materials users licenses is developed as
follows:
Annual fee = Constant × [Application
Fee + (Average Inspection Cost divided
by Inspection Priority)] + Inspection
Multiplier × (Average Inspection Cost
divided by Inspection Priority) +
Unique Category Costs.
The constant is the multiple necessary
to recover approximately $20.9 million
in general costs (including allocated
generic transportation costs) and is 1.3
for FY 2009. The average inspection cost
is the average inspection hours for each
fee category multiplied by the hourly
rate of $257. The inspection priority is
the interval between routine
inspections, expressed in years. The
inspection multiplier is the multiple
necessary to recover approximately $7.2
million in inspection costs, and is 1.71
for FY 2009. The unique category costs
are any special costs that the NRC has
budgeted for a specific category of
licenses. For FY 2009, no unique costs
were identified.
The annual fee to be assessed to each
licensee also includes a net surcharge of
$625,000 (see Section II.B.1.,
‘‘Application of ‘‘Fee Relief/Surcharge,’’
of this document). This surcharge is the
result of subtracting the $87,000 in fee
relief (reduction to annual fee) allocated
to the materials users fee class from the
approximately $712,000 in LLW
surcharge costs allocated to the fee
class. The amended annual fee for each
fee category is shown in § 171.16(d).
h. Transportation
Table XVII shows the calculation of
the FY 2009 generic transportation
budgeted resources to be recovered
through annual fees. FY 2008 values are
shown for comparison.
budget resources for licensing activities.
Generic transportation resources
associated with fee-exempt entities are
not included in this total. These costs
TABLE XVII—ANNUAL FEE SUMMARY are included in the appropriate fee-relief
CALCULATIONS FOR TRANSPORTATION category (e.g., the fee-relief category for
nonprofit educational institutions).
[Dollars in millions]
Consistent with the policy established
Summary fee
FY 2008
FY 2009
in the NRC’s FY 2006 final fee rule (71
calculations
final
proposed
FR 30734; May 30, 2006), the NRC will
recover generic transportation costs
Total budgeted
resources ......
$5.7
$6.1 unrelated to DOE as part of existing
annual fees for license fee classes. NRC
Less estimated
will continue to assess a separate annual
part 170 receipts .............
¥2.3
¥3.1 fee under § 171.16, fee category 18.A.,
for DOE transportation activities. The
Net part 171
CoCs for DOE decreased in FY 2009
resources
3.4
3.0 compared to FY 2008 resulting in a
lower annual fee for DOE under fee
The NRC must approve any package
category 18.A.
used for shipping nuclear material
The amount of the generic resources
before shipment. If the package meets
allocated is calculated by multiplying
NRC requirements, the NRC issues a
Radioactive Material Package Certificate the percentage of total CoCs used by
of Compliance (CoC) to the organization each fee class (and DOE) by the total
generic transportation resources to be
requesting approval of a package.
recovered. In FY 2009, the generic
Organizations are authorized to ship
transportation cost allocated to the most
radioactive material in a package
fee classes decreases compared to FY
approved for use under the general
2008 due to the decrease in total
licensing provisions of 10 CFR Part 71.
budgeted resources allocated for
The resources associated with generic
transportation.
transportation activities are distributed
The distribution of these resources to
to the license fee classes based on the
the license fee classes and DOE is
number of CoCs benefitting (used by)
shown in Table XVIII. The distribution
that fee class, as a proxy for the generic
is adjusted to account for the licensees
transportation resources expended for
in each fee class that are fee exempt. For
each fee class.
The total FY 2009 budgeted resources example, if 3 CoCs benefit the entire test
for generic transportation activities,
and research reactor class, but only 4 of
including those to support DOE CoCs,
30 test and research reactors are subject
are $3.0 million. The budgeted
to annual fees, the number of CoCs used
resources for these activities in FY 2009 to determine the proportion of generic
decreased compared with FY 2008,
transportation resources allocated to test
mostly due to higher part 170 revenue
and research reactor annual fees equals
estimate partially offset by increase in
((4/30)*3), or 0.4 CoCs.
TABLE XVIII—DISTRIBUTION OF GENERIC TRANSPORTATION RESOURCES, FY 2009
[Dollars in millions]
Number CoCs
benefiting fee
class (or DOE)
License fee class/DOE
Percentage of
total CoCs
(percent)
Allocated
generic
transportation
resources
121.5
29.0
34.0
9.0
0.5
17.0
32.0
100.0
23.9
28.0
7.4
0.4
14.0
26.3
$3.00
0.72
0.84
0.22
0.01
0.42
0.79
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Total .............................................................................................................................................
DOE .............................................................................................................................................
Operating Power Reactors ..........................................................................................................
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning ..........................................................................
Test and Research Reactors .......................................................................................................
Fuel Facilities ...............................................................................................................................
Materials Users ............................................................................................................................
The NRC is proposing to continue to
assess DOE an annual fee based on the
part 71 CoCs it holds, and not allocate
these DOE-related resources to other
licensees’ annual fees, because these
resources specifically support DOE.
Note that DOE’s proposed annual fee
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includes a reduction for the fee relief
(see Section II.B.1, Application of ‘‘Fee
Relief/Surcharge,’’ of this document),
resulting in a total annual fee of
$679,000 for FY 2009. This fee decrease
from last year is primarily due to a
decrease in the number of DOE CoCs.
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4. Small Entity Fees
The small entity annual fee is charged
to those licensees who qualify as small
entities and would otherwise be
required to pay annual fees as stipulated
under § 171.16(d). Based on an in-depth
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analysis conducted in FY 2009, the NRC
is proposing to reduce the maximum
small entity fee from $2,300 to $1,900
and the lower tier fee from $500 to $400.
This reduction reflects the decrease in
annual fees for the small materials
licensees in the past two years.
In 2007, the NRC revised its receiptsbased size standards (72 FR 44951,
August 10, 2007) to conform to the
Small Business Agency standards. The
maximum average gross annual receipts
(upper tier) to qualify as a small entity
were changed to $6.5 million from $5
million. The NRC is now proposing to
revise the small entity lower tier
receipts-based threshold to $450,000
from $350,000. This change is
approximately the same percentage
adjustment as the change in the upper
tier receipts-based standard.
5. Fee Category Changes
The NRC is proposing to revise the fee
categories for uranium recovery
facilities in § 171.16. The new fee
categories will better reflect the NRC’s
regulatory effort expended for the
different types of facilities, both existing
and planned. A more detailed
discussion is in Section II.B.3.b.,
‘Uranium Recovery Facilities’. The NRC
is also proposing to modify footnote 4
in § 171.16 to remove references to
uranium milling. These references no
longer apply since fee categories 2.A.(2)
related to uranium recovery facilities
have been revised.
The NRC is also proposing to revise
the description for two fee categories,
7.A. and 17 in § 171.16. The NRC
proposes to amend fee category 7.A.,
related to medical licenses, to more
precisely state which medical devices it
covers. Currently, the fee category
applies to teletherapy devices. The NRC
has historically included gamma
stereotactic radiosurgery units (gamma
knives) in this category per NUREG
1556, Volume 20, Appendix G. This
amendment explicitly provides that fee
category 7.A. include gamma knives and
other similar beam therapy devices. The
fee category 17 for master materials
license is being expanded to include
non-government entities with multi-site
licenses.
The new fee category descriptions do
not represent any additions to the types
of licenses regulated by NRC. These
changes will help clarify the types of
licenses covered under specific
categories for NRC licensees.
6. Administrative Amendments
The NRC applies the 10 percent of its
budget that it receives as fee relief under
OBRA–90, as amended, to offset the
budget resources supporting activities
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which do not directly benefit current
NRC licensees (fee-relief activities). Any
remaining amount is allocated to all
licensees’ annual fees (see Section
II.B.1., Application of ‘‘Fee Relief/
Surcharge’’ of this document). The NRC
is proposing to replace the term for this
allocated amount in § 171.15 and
§ 171.16 from ‘surcharge’ to ‘fee-relief
adjustment’. The new term better
describes the allocated amount since the
fee relief is a reduction in annual fee for
most fee classes in FY 2009. The
allocation is an adjustment to the
annual fee.
In summary, the NRC is proposing
to—
1. Use the NRC’s fee relief to reduce
all licensees’ annual fees, based on their
percent of the NRC budget;
2. Revise the number of NRC licensees
to reflect the expectation that the
Commonwealth of Virginia will become
an Agreement State on March 31, 2009;
3. Establish rebaselined annual fees
for FY 2009; and
4. Reduce the maximum small entity
fee from $2,300 to $1,900, and the lower
tier fee from $500 to $400.
5. Revise some fee categories to better
reflect NRC’s regulatory effort.
6. Make certain administrative
changes for purposes of clarification.
III. Plain Language
The Presidential Memorandum dated
June 1, 1998, entitled, ‘‘Plain Language
in Government Writing’’ directed that
the Government’s writing be in plain
language. This memorandum was
published on June 10, 1998 (63 FR
31883). The NRC requests specific
comments on the clarity and
effectiveness of the language in the
proposed rule. Comments should be
sent to the address listed under the
ADDRESSES heading.
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
The National Technology Transfer
and Advancement Act of 1995, 15
U.S.C. 3701, requires that Federal
agencies use technical standards that are
developed or adopted by voluntary
consensus standards bodies unless
using these standards is inconsistent
with applicable law or is otherwise
impractical. The NRC is proposing to
amend the licensing, inspection, and
annual fees charged to its licensees and
applicants as necessary to recover
approximately 90 percent of its budget
authority in FY 2009, as required by the
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1990, as amended. This action does not
constitute the establishment of a
standard that contains generally
applicable requirements.
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V. Environmental Impact: Categorical
Exclusion
The NRC has determined that this
proposed rule is the type of action
described in categorical exclusion 10
CFR 51.22(c)(1). Therefore, neither an
environmental assessment nor an
environmental impact statement has
been prepared for the proposed rule. By
its very nature, this regulatory action
does not affect the environment and,
therefore, no environmental justice
issues are raised.
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act
Statement
This proposed rule does not contain
information collection requirements
and, therefore, is not subject to the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.
VII. Regulatory Analysis
With respect to 10 CFR part 170, this
proposed rule was developed under
Title V of the IOAA (31 U.S.C. 9701)
and the Commission’s fee guidelines.
When developing these guidelines the
Commission took into account guidance
provided by the U.S. Supreme Court on
March 4, 1974, in National Cable
Television Association, Inc. v. United
States, 415 U.S. 36 (1974) and Federal
Power Commission v. New England
Power Company, 415 U.S. 345 (1974). In
these decisions, the Court held that the
IOAA authorizes an agency to charge
fees for special benefits rendered to
identifiable persons measured by the
‘‘value to the recipient’’ of the agency
service. The meaning of the IOAA was
further clarified on December 16, 1976,
by four decisions of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia:
National Cable Television Association
v. Federal Communications
Commission, 554 F.2d 1094 (DC Cir.
1976); National Association of
Broadcasters v. Federal
Communications Commission, 554 F.2d
1118 (DC Cir. 1976); Electronic
Industries Association v. Federal
Communications Commission, 554 F.2d
1109 (DC Cir. 1976); and Capital Cities
Communication, Inc. v. Federal
Communications Commission, 554 F.2d
1135 (DC Cir. 1976). The Commission’s
fee guidelines were developed based on
these legal decisions.
The Commission’s fee guidelines were
upheld on August 24, 1979, by the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in
Mississippi Power and Light Co. v. U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 601
F.2d 223 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied,
444 U.S. 1102 (1980). This court held
that:
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(1) The NRC had the authority to
recover the full cost of providing
services to identifiable beneficiaries;
(2) The NRC could properly assess a
fee for the costs of providing routine
inspections necessary to ensure a
licensee’s compliance with the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and
with applicable regulations;
(3) The NRC could charge for costs
incurred in conducting environmental
reviews required by the National
Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C.
4321;
(4) The NRC properly included the
costs of uncontested hearings and of
administrative and technical support
services in the fee schedule;
(5) The NRC could assess a fee for
renewing a license to operate a lowlevel radioactive waste burial site; and
(6) The NRC’s fees were not arbitrary
or capricious.
With respect to 10 CFR part 171, on
November 5, 1990, the Congress passed
OBRA–90, which required that, for FYs
1991 through 1995, approximately 100
percent of the NRC budget authority,
less appropriations from the NWF, be
recovered through the assessment of
fees. OBRA–90 was subsequently
amended to extend the 100 percent fee
recovery requirement through FY 2000.
The FY 2001 Energy and Water
Development Appropriation Act
(EWDAA) amended OBRA–90 to
decrease the NRC’s fee recovery amount
by 2 percent per year beginning in FY
2001, until the fee recovery amount was
90 percent in FY 2005. The FY 2006
EWDAA extended this 90 percent fee
recovery requirement for FY 2006.
Section 637 of the Energy Policy Act of
2005 made the 90 percent fee recovery
requirement permanent in FY 2007. As
a result, the NRC is required to recover
approximately 90 percent of its FY 2009
budget authority, less the amounts
appropriated from the NWF, WIR, and
generic homeland security activities
through fees. To comply with this
statutory requirement and in accordance
with ( 171.13, the NRC is publishing the
amount of the FY 2009 annual fees for
reactor licensees, fuel cycle licensees,
materials licensees, and holders of
CoCs, registrations of sealed source and
devices, and Government agencies.
OBRA–90, consistent with the
accompanying Conference Committee
Report, and the amendments to OBRA–
90, provides that—
(1) The annual fees will be based on
approximately 90 percent of the
Commission’s FY 2009 budget of
$1,069.8 million less the funds directly
appropriated from the NWF to cover the
NRC’s high-level waste program, and for
WIR, generic homeland security
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activities, and less the amount of funds
collected from part 170 fees;
(2) The annual fees shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, have a
reasonable relationship to the cost of
regulatory services provided by the
Commission; and
(3) The annual fees be assessed to
those licensees the Commission, in its
discretion, determines can fairly,
equitably, and practicably contribute to
their payment.
Part 171, which established annual
fees for operating power reactors
effective October 20, 1986 (51 FR 33224;
September 18, 1986), was challenged
and upheld in its entirety in Florida
Power and Light Company v. United
States, 846 F.2d 765 (DC Cir. 1988), cert.
denied, 490 U.S. 1045 (1989). Further,
the NRC’s FY 1991 annual fee rule
methodology was upheld by the D.C.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Allied
Signal v. NRC, 988 F.2d 146 (DC Cir.
1993).
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The NRC is required by the OBRA–90,
as amended, to recover approximately
90 percent of its FY 2009 budget
authority through the assessment of user
fees. This Act further requires that the
NRC establish a schedule of charges that
fairly and equitably allocates the
aggregate amount of these charges
among licensees.
This proposed rule would establish
the schedules of fees that are necessary
to implement the Congressional
mandate for FY 2009. This rule would
result in increases in the annual fees
charged to certain licensees and holders
of certificates, registrations, and
approvals, and decreases in annual fees
for others. Licensees affected by the
annual fee increases and decreases
include those that qualify as a small
entity under NRC’s size standards in 10
CFR 2.810. The Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis, prepared in accordance with 5
U.S.C. 604, is included as Appendix A
to this proposed rule.
The Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Act (SBREFA) requires all
Federal agencies to prepare a written
compliance guide for each rule for
which the agency is required by 5 U.S.C.
604 to prepare a regulatory flexibility
analysis. Therefore, in compliance with
the law, Attachment 1 to the Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis is the small entity
compliance guide for FY 2009.
IX. Backfit Analysis
The NRC has determined that the
backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does not
apply to this proposed rule and that a
backfit analysis is not required for this
proposed rule. The backfit analysis is
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9143
not required because these amendments
do not require the modification of, or
additions to systems, structures,
components, or the design of a facility,
or the design approval or manufacturing
license for a facility, or the procedures
or organization required to design,
construct, or operate a facility.
List of Subjects
10 CFR Part 170
Byproduct material, Import and
export licenses, Intergovernmental
relations, Non-payment penalties,
Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants
and reactors, Source material, Special
nuclear material.
10 CFR Part 171
Annual charges, Byproduct material,
Holders of certificates, Registrations,
Approvals, Intergovernmental relations,
Non-payment penalties, Nuclear
materials, Nuclear power plants and
reactors, Source material, Special
nuclear material.
For the reasons set out in the
preamble and under the authority of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended;
the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974,
as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 553, the NRC
is proposing to adopt the following
amendments to 10 CFR parts 170 and
171.
PART 170—FEES FOR FACILITIES,
MATERIALS, IMPORT AND EXPORT
LICENSES, AND OTHER
REGULATORY SERVICES UNDER THE
ATOMIC ENERGY ACT OF 1954, AS
AMENDED
1. The authority citation for part 170
continues to read as follows:
Authority: Section 9701, Pub. L. 97–258,
96 Stat. 1051 (31 U.S.C. 9701); Sec. 301, Pub.
L. 92–314, 86 Stat. 227 (42 U.S.C. 2201w);
sec. 201, Pub. L. 93–438, 88 Stat. 1242, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 5841); Sec. 205a, Pub. L.
101–576, 104 Stat. 2842, as amended (31
U.S.C. 901, 902); Sec. 1704, 112 Stat. 2750
(44 U.S.C. 3504 note), sec. 623, Pub. L. 109–
58, 119 Stat. 783 (42 U.S.C. 2201(w)); Sec.
651(e), Pub. L. 109–58, 119 Stat. 806–810 (42
U.S.C. 2014, 2021, 2021b, 2111).
2. Section 170.11 is revised to read as
follows:
§ 170.11
Exemptions.
(a) No application fees, license fees,
renewal fees, inspection fees, or special
project fees shall be required for:
(1) A request/report submitted to the
NRC—
(i) In response to a Generic Letter or
NRC Bulletin that does not result in an
amendment to the license, does not
result in the review of an alternate
method or reanalysis to meet the
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requirements of the Generic Letter, or
does not involve an unreviewed safety
issue;
(ii) In response to an NRC request
from the Associate Office Director level
or above to resolve an identified safety,
safeguards, or environmental issue, or to
assist NRC in developing a rule,
regulatory guide, policy statement,
generic letter, or bulletin; or
(iii) As a means of exchanging
information between industry
organizations and the NRC. To receive
this fee exemption,
(A) The report should be submitted
for the specific purpose of supporting
ongoing NRC generic regulatory
improvements or efforts (e.g., rules,
regulations, regulatory guides and
policy statements) and the agency, at the
time the document is submitted, plans
to use it for that purpose. The
exemption applies even if ultimately the
NRC does not use the document as
planned;
(B) The NRC must be the primary
beneficiary of the NRC’s review and
approval of these documents. This
exemption does not apply to a topical
report submitted for the purpose of
obtaining NRC approval so that the
report can be used by the industry in the
future to address licensing or safety
issues, even though the NRC may realize
some benefits from its review and
approval of the document;
(C) The fee exemption is requested in
writing to the Chief Financial Officer in
accordance with 10 CFR 170.5, and the
Chief Financial Officer grants this
request in writing.
*
*
*
*
*
(b) The Commission may, upon
application by an interested person, or
upon its own initiative, grant such
exemptions from the requirements of
this part as it determines are authorized
by law and are otherwise in the public
interest. Applications for exemption
under this paragraph may include
activities such as, but not limited to, the
use of licensed materials for educational
or noncommercial public displays or
scientific collections.
3. Section 170.20 is revised to read as
follows:
§ 170.20 Average cost per professional
staff-hour.
Fees for permits, licenses,
amendments, renewals, special projects,
10 CFR part 55 requalification and
replacement examinations and tests,
other required reviews, approvals, and
inspections under §§ 170.21 and 170.31
will be calculated using the professional
staff-hour rate of $257 per hour.
4. In § 170.21, in the table, fee
category K is revised to read as follows:
§ 170.21 Schedule of fees for production
and utilization facilities, review of standard
referenced design approvals, special
projects, inspections and import and export
licenses.
*
*
*
*
*
SCHEDULE OF FACILITY FEES
[See footnotes at end of table]
Fees 1 2
Facility categories and type of fees
*
*
*
*
*
*
K. Import and export licenses:
Licenses for the import and export only of production and utilization facilities or the export only of components for production and
utilization facilities issued under 10 CFR Part 110.
1. Application for import or export of production and utilization facilities 4 (including reactors and other facilities) and exports of
components requiring Commission and Executive Branch review, for example, actions under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ...............................................................................................
2. Application for export of reactor and other components requiring Executive Branch review only, for example, those actions
under 10 CFR 110.41(a)(1)–(8).
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ...............................................................................................
3. Application for export of components requiring the assistance of the Executive Branch to obtain foreign government assurances.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ...............................................................................................
4. Application for export of facility components and equipment (examples provided in 10 CFR part 110, Appendix A, Items (5)
through (9)) not requiring Commission or Executive Branch review, or obtaining foreign government assurances.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ...............................................................................................
5. Minor amendment of any active export or import license, for example, to extend the expiration date, change domestic information, or make other revisions which do not involve any substantive changes to license terms or conditions or to the type of facility or component authorized for export and therefore, do not require in-depth analysis or review or consultation with the Executive Branch, U.S. host state, or foreign government authorities.
Minor amendment to license ...................................................................................................................................................................
*
*
*
*
*
*
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
1 Fees
*
$16,700
9,800
4,100
2,600
770
*
will not be charged for orders related to civil penalties or other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under § 2.202 of this chapter or
for amendments resulting specifically from the requirements of these orders. For orders unrelated to civil penalties or other civil sanctions, fees
will be charged for any resulting licensee-specific activities not otherwise exempted from fees under this chapter. Fees will be charged for approvals issued under a specific exemption provision of the Commission’s regulations under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (e.g., 10
CFR 50.12, 10 CFR 73.5) and any other sections in effect now or in the future, regardless if the approval is in the form of a license amendment,
letter of approval, safety evaluation report, or other form.
2 Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff time and appropriate contractual support services expended. For applications
currently on file and for which fees are determined based on the full cost expended for the review, the professional staff hours expended for the
review of the application up to the effective date of the final rule will be determined at the professional rates in effect when the service was provided. For those applications currently on file for which review costs have reached an applicable fee ceiling established by the June 20, 1984,
and July 2, 1990, rules, but are still pending completion of the review, the cost incurred after any applicable ceiling was reached through January
29, 1989, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional staff-hours expended above those ceilings on or after January 30, 1989, will be assessed at the applicable rates established by § 170.20, as appropriate, except for topical reports whose costs exceed $50,000. Costs which exceed $50,000 for any topical report, amendment, revision or supplement to a topical report completed or under review from January 30, 1989,
through August 8, 1991, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional hours expended on or after August 9, 1991, will be assessed at the
applicable rate established in § 170.20.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
4 Imports only of major components for end-use at NRC-licensed reactors are now authorized under NRC general import license.
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5. In § 170.31, the table is revised to
read as follows:
§ 170.31 Schedule of fees for materials
licenses and other regulatory services,
including inspections, and import and
export licenses.
*
*
*
*
*
SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES
[See footnotes at end of table]
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1
Fee 2 3
1. Special nuclear material:
A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of U–235 or plutonium for fuel fabrication activities.
(a) Strategic Special Nuclear Material (High Enriched Uranium) [Program Code(s): 21130] ...................................................................
(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel [Program Code(s): 21210 .......................
(2) All other special nuclear materials licenses not included in Category 1.A.(1) which are licensed for fuel cycle activities.
(a) Facilities with limited operations [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320] ....................................................................................................
(b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration facilities ..............................................................................................................................
(c) Others, including hot cell facilities ........................................................................................................................................................
B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel and reactor-related Greater than Class C (GTCC) waste at an independent spent
fuel storage installation (ISFSI) [Program Code(s): 23200].
C. Licenses for possession and use of special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in devices used in industrial measuring
systems, including x-ray fluorescence analyzers.4
Application [Program Code(s): 22140] .......................................................................................................................................................
D. All other special nuclear material licenses, except licenses authorizing special nuclear material in unsealed form in combination
that would constitute a critical quantity, as defined in § 150.11 of this chapter, for which the licensee shall pay the same fees as
those under Category 1.A.4
Application [Program Code(s): 22110, 22111, 22120, 22131, 22136, 22150, 22151, 22161, 22163, 22170, 23100, 23300, 23310] .....
E. Licenses or certificates for construction and operation of a uranium enrichment facility [Program Code(s): 21200] ..........................
2. Source material:
A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source material for refining uranium mill concentrates to uranium hexafluoride [Program
Code(s): 11400].
(2) Licenses for possession and use of source material in recovery operations such as milling, in-situ recovery, heap-leaching, ore
buying stations, ion exchange facilities and in processing of ores containing source material for extraction of metals other than
uranium or thorium, including licenses authorizing the possession of byproduct waste material (tailings) from source material recovery operations, as well as licenses authorizing the possession and maintenance of a facility in a standby mode.
(a) Conventional and Heap Leach facilities [Program Code(s): 11100] ....................................................................................................
(b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities [Program Code(s): 11500] ................................................................................................................
(c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities [Program Code(s): 11500] .........................................................................................................
(d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities ...........................................................................................................................................................
(e) Resin Toll Milling facilities .....................................................................................................................................................................
(f) Other facilities [Program Code(s): 11700] .............................................................................................................................................
(3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct material, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from other persons for possession and disposal, except those licenses subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2) or Category 2.A.(4) [Program
Code(s): 11600].
(4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct material, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from other persons for possession and disposal incidental to the disposal of the uranium waste tailings generated by the licensee’s milling operations, except those licenses subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2).
(5) Licenses that authorize the possession of source material related to removal of contaminants (source material) from drinking
water.
B. Licenses which authorize the possession, use, and/or installation of source material for shielding.
Application [Program Code(s): 11210] .......................................................................................................................................................
C. All other source material licenses.
Application [Program Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11230, 11300, 11800, 11810] ..............................................................................
3. Byproduct material:
A. Licenses of broad scope for the possession and use of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for processing or manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution.
Application [Program Code(s): 03211, 03212, 03213] ...............................................................................................................................
B. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued under part 30 of this chapter for processing or manufacturing
of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution.
Application [Program Code(s): 03214, 03215, 22135, 22162] ..................................................................................................................
C. Licenses issued under §§ 32.72 and/or 32.74 of this chapter that authorize the processing or manufacturing and distribution or
redistribution of radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent kits, and/or sources and devices containing byproduct material. This
category does not apply to licenses issued to nonprofit educational institutions whose processing or manufacturing is exempt
under § 170.11(a)(4). These licenses are covered by fee Category 3.D.
Application [Program Code(s): 02500, 02511, 02513] ...............................................................................................................................
D. Licenses and approvals issued under §§ 32.72 and/or 32.74 of this chapter authorizing distribution or redistribution of radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent kits, and/or sources or devices not involving processing of byproduct material. This category
includes licenses issued under §§ 32.72 and/or 32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit educational institutions whose processing or
manufacturing is exempt under § 170.11(a)(4).
Application [Program Code(s): 02512, 02514] ...........................................................................................................................................
E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source is not removed from its shield (self-shielded units).
Application [Program Code(s): 03510, 03520] ...........................................................................................................................................
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Full Cost
Full Cost
Full
Full
Full
Full
Cost
Cost
Cost
Cost
$1,200
$2,400
Full Cost
Full Cost
Full
Full
Full
Full
Full
Full
Full
Cost
Cost
Cost
Cost
Cost
Cost
Cost
Full Cost
Full Cost
$570
$10,100
$12,000
$4,500
$6,500
$4,400
$3,000
9146
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SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued
[See footnotes at end of table]
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1
Fee 2 3
F. Licenses for possession and use of less than 10,000 curies of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in
which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater irradiators for irradiation of materials
where the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes.
Application [Program Code(s): 03511] .......................................................................................................................................................
G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies or more of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in
which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater irradiators for irradiation of materials
where the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes.
Application [Program Code(s): 03521] .......................................................................................................................................................
H. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that require device
review to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of part 30 of this chapter. The category does not include specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of part 30 of this chapter.
Application [Program Code(s): 03255] .......................................................................................................................................................
I. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material or quantities of byproduct material that do not require device evaluation to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of part 30 of this chapter. This category does not include specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to
persons exempt from the licensing requirements of part 30 of this chapter.
Application [Program Code(s): 03250, 03251, 03252, 03253, 03254, 03256] ..........................................................................................
J. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that require sealed
source and/or device review to persons generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter. This category does not include specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to persons generally licensed under part 31 of
this chapter.
Application [Program Code(s): 03240, 03241, 03243] ...............................................................................................................................
K. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material or quantities of byproduct material that do not require sealed source and/or device review to persons generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter. This category does not include specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to
persons generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter.
Application [Program Code(s): 03242, 03244] ...........................................................................................................................................
L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for research
and development that do not authorize commercial distribution.
Application [Program Code(s): 01100, 01110, 01120, 03610, 03611, 03612, 03613] ..............................................................................
M. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued under part 30 of this chapter for research and development
that do not authorize commercial distribution.
Application [Program Code(s): 03620] .......................................................................................................................................................
N. Licenses that authorize services for other licensees, except:
(1) Licenses that authorize only calibration and/or leak testing services are subject to the fees specified in fee Category 3P; and
(2) Licenses that authorize waste disposal services are subject to the fees specified in fee Categories 4.A., 4.B., and 4.C.
Application [Program Code(s): 03219, 03225, 03226] ...............................................................................................................................
O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued under part 34 of this chapter for industrial radiography operations.
Application [Program Code(s): 03310, 03320] ...........................................................................................................................................
P. All other specific byproduct material licenses, except those in Categories 4.A. through 9.D.
Application [Program Code(s): 02400, 02410, 03120, 03121, 03122, 03123, 03124, 03220, 03221, 03222, 03800, 03810, 22130] .....
Q. Registration of a device(s) generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter.
Registration .................................................................................................................................................................................................
R. Possession of items or products containing radium-226 identified in 10 CFR 31.12 which exceed the number of items or limits
specified in that section.6
1. Possession of quantities exceeding the number of items or limits in 10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), or (5) but less than or equal to 10 times
the number of items or limits specified.
Application [Program Code(s): 02700] .......................................................................................................................................................
2. Possession of quantities exceeding 10 times the number of items or limits specified in 10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), or (5).C.
Application [Program Code(s): 02710] .......................................................................................................................................................
S. Licenses for production of accelerator-produced radionuclides.
Application [Program Code(s): 03210] .......................................................................................................................................................
4. Waste disposal and processing:
A. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material from other
persons for the purpose of contingency storage or commercial land disposal by the licensee; or licenses authorizing contingency
storage of low-level radioactive waste at the site of nuclear power reactors; or licenses for receipt of waste from other persons for
incineration or other treatment, packaging of resulting waste and residues, and transfer of packages to another person authorized
to receive or dispose of waste material. [Program Code(s): 03231, 03233, 03235, 03236, 06100, 06101].
B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material from other
persons for the purpose of packaging or repackaging the material. The licensee will dispose of the material by transfer to another
person authorized to receive or dispose of the material.
Application [Program Code(s): 03234] .......................................................................................................................................................
C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of prepackaged waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material from other persons. The licensee will dispose of the material by transfer to another person authorized to receive or dispose of
the material.
Application [Program Code(s): 03232] .......................................................................................................................................................
5. Well logging:
A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, and/or special nuclear material for well logging, well surveys, and tracer studies other than field flooding tracer studies.
Application [Program Code(s): 03110, 03111, 03112] ...............................................................................................................................
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$6,000
$28,700
$5,500
$10,000
$1,800
$1,100
$10,100
$3,500
$6,100
$5,800
$1,400
$310
$1,180
$1,400
$6,500
Full Cost
$4,400
$4,600
$3,400
9147
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SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued
[See footnotes at end of table]
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1
Fee 2 3
B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material for field flooding tracer studies.
Licensing [Program Code(s): 03113] .........................................................................................................................................................
6. Nuclear laundries:
A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of items contaminated with byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear
material.
Application [Program Code(s): 03218] .......................................................................................................................................................
7. Medical licenses:
A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct material, source material, or special
nuclear material in sealed sources contained in gamma stereotactic radiosurgery units, teletherapy devices, or similar beam therapy devices.
Application [Program Code(s): 02300, 02310] ...........................................................................................................................................
B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical institutions or two or more physicians under parts 30, 33, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter authorizing research and development, including human use of byproduct material, except licenses for byproduct material,
source material, or special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in teletherapy devices. This category also includes the
possession and use of source material for shielding when authorized on the same license.
Application [Program Code(s): 02110] .......................................................................................................................................................
C. Other licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct material, source material, and/or
special nuclear material, except licenses for byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material in sealed sources
contained in teletherapy devices.
Application [Program Code(s): 02120, 02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220, 02230, 02231, 02240, 22160] .........................................
8. Civil defense:
A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material for civil defense activities.
Application [Program Code(s): 03710] .......................................................................................................................................................
9. Device, product, or sealed source safety evaluation:
A. Safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, except reactor fuel devices, for commercial distribution.
Application—each device ...........................................................................................................................................................................
B. Safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material manufactured
in accordance with the unique specifications of, and for use by, a single applicant, except reactor fuel devices.
Application—each device ...........................................................................................................................................................................
C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, except reactor
fuel, for commercial distribution.
Application—each source ...........................................................................................................................................................................
D. Safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, manufactured in
accordance with the unique specifications of, and for use by, a single applicant, except reactor fuel.
Application—each source ...........................................................................................................................................................................
10. Transportation of radioactive material:
A. Evaluation of casks, packages, and shipping containers.
1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and plutonium air packages ................................................................................................................
2. Other Casks ...........................................................................................................................................................................................
B. Quality assurance program approvals issued under part 71 of this chapter.
1. Users and Fabricators.
Application ..................................................................................................................................................................................................
Inspections ..................................................................................................................................................................................................
2. Users.
Application ..................................................................................................................................................................................................
Inspections ..................................................................................................................................................................................................
C. Evaluation of security plans, route approvals, route surveys, and transportation security devices (including immobilization devices).
11. Review of standardized spent fuel facilities .........................................................................................................................................
12. Special projects:
Including approvals, preapplication/licensing activities, and inspections ...................................................................................................
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Compliance .........................................................................................................................
B. Inspections related to storage of spent fuel under § 72.210 of this chapter .........................................................................................
14. A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material licenses and other approvals authorizing decommissioning, decontamination,
reclamation, or site restoration activities under parts 30, 40, 70, 72, and 76 of this chapter.
B. Site-specific decommissioning activities associated with unlicensed sites, regardless of whether or not the sites have been previously licensed. Part 170 fees for these activities will not be charged until July 25, 2007.
15. Import and Export licenses:
Licenses issued under part 110 of this chapter for the import and export only of special nuclear material, source material, tritium
and other byproduct material, and the export only of heavy water, or nuclear grade graphite (fee categories 15.A. through 15.E).
A. Application for export or import of nuclear materials, including radioactive waste requiring Commission and Executive Branch review, for example, those actions under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
B. Application for export or import of nuclear material, including radioactive waste, requiring Executive Branch review, but not Commission review. This category includes applications for the export and import of radioactive waste and requires NRC to consult
with domestic host state authorities, Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, etc.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
C. Application for export of nuclear material, for example, routine reloads of low enriched uranium reactor fuel and/or natural uranium source material requiring the assistance of the Executive Branch to obtain foreign government assurances.
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Full Cost
$20,500
$11,200
$8,000
$2,300
$1,180
$8,300
$8,300
$5,800
$980
Full Cost
Full Cost
$3,100
Full Cost
$3,100
Full Cost
Full Cost
Full Cost
Full
Full
Full
Full
Cost
Cost
Cost
Cost
Full Cost
$16,700
$9,800
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Proposed Rules
SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued
[See footnotes at end of table]
Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1
Fee 2 3
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
D. Application for export or import of nuclear material, including radioactive waste, not requiring Commission or Executive Branch
review, or obtaining foreign government assurances. This category includes applications for export or import of radioactive waste
where the NRC has previously authorized the export or import of the same form of waste to or from the same or similar parties
located in the same country, requiring only confirmation from the receiving facility and licensing authorities that the shipments
may proceed according to previously agreed understandings and procedures.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
E. Minor amendment of any active export or import license, for example, to extend the expiration date, change domestic information, or make other revisions which do not involve any substantive changes to license terms and conditions or to the type/quantity/chemical composition of the material authorized for export and, therefore, do not require in-depth analysis, review, or consultations with other Executive Branch, U.S. host state, or foreign government authorities.
Minor amendment .......................................................................................................................................................................................
Licenses issued under part 110 of this chapter for the import and export only of Category 1 and Category 2 quantities of radioactive
material listed in Appendix P to part 110 of this chapter (fee categories 15.F. through 15.R.).5
Category 1 Exports:
F. Application for export of Category 1 materials involving an exceptional circumstances review under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4).
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
G. Application for export of Category 1 materials requiring Executive Branch review, Commission review, and/or government-to-government consent.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
H. Application for export of Category 1 materials requiring Commission review and government-to-government consent.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
I. Application for export of Category 1 material requiring government-to-government consent.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
Category 2 Exports:
J. Application for export of Category 2 materials involving an exceptional circumstances review under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4).
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
K. Applications for export of Category 2 materials requiring Executive Branch review and/or Commission review.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
L. Application for the export of Category 2 materials.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
Category 1 Imports:
M. Application for the import of Category 1 material requiring Commission review.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
N. Application for the import of Category 1 material.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
Category 2 Imports:
O. Application for the import of Category 2 material.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
Category 1 Imports with Agent and Multiple Licensees:
P. Application for the import of Category 1 material with agent and multiple licensees requiring Commission review.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
Q. Application for the import of Category 1 material with agent and multiple licensees.
Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request .................................................................................................
Minor Amendments (Category 1 and 2 Export and Imports):
R. Minor amendment of any active export or import license, for example, to extend the expiration date, change domestic information, or make other revisions which do not involve any substantive changes to license terms and conditions or to the type/quantity/chemical composition of the material authorized for export and, therefore, do not require in-depth analysis, review, or consultations with other Executive Branch, U.S. host state, or foreign authorities.
Minor amendment .......................................................................................................................................................................................
16. Reciprocity:
Agreement State licensees who conduct activities under the reciprocity provisions of 10 CFR 150.20.
Application ..................................................................................................................................................................................................
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to Government agencies and other entities:
Application ..................................................................................................................................................................................................
18. Department of Energy.
A. Certificates of Compliance. Evaluation of casks, packages, and shipping containers (including spent fuel, high-level waste, and
other casks, and plutonium air packages).
B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) activities ........................................................................................................
$4,100
$2,600
$770
$16,700
$9,800
$6,200
$5,100
$16,700
$9,800
$4,600
$4,900
$4,100
$3,600
$5,700
$4,600
$770
$1,800
$29,900
Full Cost
Full Cost
1 Types of fees—Separate charges, as shown in the schedule, will be assessed for pre-application consultations and reviews; applications for
new licenses, approvals, or license terminations; possession only licenses; issuance of new licenses and approvals; certain amendments and renewals to existing licenses and approvals; safety evaluations of sealed sources and devices; generally licensed device registrations; and certain
inspections. The following guidelines apply to these charges:
(a) Application and registration fees. Applications for new materials licenses and export and import licenses; applications to reinstate expired,
terminated, or inactive licenses except those subject to fees assessed at full costs; applications filed by Agreement State licensees to register
under the general license provisions of 10 CFR 150.20; and applications for amendments to materials licenses that would place the license in a
higher fee category or add a new fee category must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for each category.
(1) Applications for licenses covering more than one fee category of special nuclear material or source material must be accompanied by the
prescribed application fee for the highest fee category.
(2) Applications for new licenses that cover both byproduct material and special nuclear material in sealed sources for use in gauging devices
will pay the appropriate application fee for fee Category 1.C. only.
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9149
(b) Licensing fees. Fees for reviews of applications for new licenses and for renewals and amendments to existing licenses, pre-application
consultations and reviews of other documents submitted to NRC for review, and project manager time for fee categories subject to full cost fees,
are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance with § 170.12(b).
(c) Amendment fees. Applications for amendments to export and import licenses must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for
each license affected. An application for an amendment to an export or import license or approval classified in more than one fee category must
be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for the category affected by the amendment unless the amendment is applicable to two or
more fee categories, in which case the amendment fee for the highest fee category would apply.
(d) Inspection fees. Inspections resulting from investigations conducted by the Office of Investigations and non-routine inspections that result
from third-party allegations are not subject to fees. Inspection fees are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance with § 170.12(c).
(e) Generally licensed device registrations under 10 CFR 31.5. Submittals of registration information must be accompanied by the prescribed
fee.
2 Fees will not be charged for orders related to civil penalties or other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under 10 CFR 2.202 or for
amendments resulting specifically from the requirements of these orders. For orders unrelated to civil penalties or other civil sanctions, fees will
be charged for any resulting licensee-specific activities not otherwise exempted from fees under this chapter. Fees will be charged for approvals
issued under a specific exemption provision of the Commission’s regulations under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (e.g., 10 CFR
30.11, 40.14, 70.14, 73.5, and any other sections in effect now or in the future), regardless of whether the approval is in the form of a license
amendment, letter of approval, safety evaluation report, or other form. In addition to the fee shown, an applicant may be assessed an additional
fee for sealed source and device evaluations as shown in Categories 9.A. through 9.D.
3 Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff time multiplied by the appropriate professional hourly rate established in
§ 170.20 in effect when the service is provided, and the appropriate contractual support services expended. For applications currently on file for
which review costs have reached an applicable fee ceiling established by the June 20, 1984, and July 2, 1990, rules, but are still pending completion of the review, the cost incurred after any applicable ceiling was reached through January 29, 1989, will not be billed to the applicant. Any
professional staff-hours expended above those ceilings on or after January 30, 1989, will be assessed at the applicable rates established by
§ 170.20, as appropriate, except for topical reports whose costs exceed $50,000. Costs which exceed $50,000 for each topical report, amendment, revision, or supplement to a topical report completed or under review from January 30, 1989, through August 8, 1991, will not be billed to
the applicant. Any professional hours expended on or after August 9, 1991, will be assessed at the applicable rate established in § 170.20.
4 Licensees paying fees under Categories 1.A., 1.B., and 1.E. are not subject to fees under Categories 1.C. and 1.D. for sealed sources authorized in the same license except for an application that deals only with the sealed sources authorized by the license.
5 For a combined import and export license application for material listed in Appendix P to part 110 of this chapter, only the higher of the two
applicable fee amounts must be paid.
6 Persons who possess radium sources that are used for operational purposes in another fee category are not also subject to the fees in this
category. (This exception does not apply if the radium sources are possessed for storage only.)
PART 171—ANNUAL FEES FOR
REACTOR LICENSES AND FUEL
CYCLE LICENSES AND MATERIALS
LICENSES, INCLUDING HOLDERS OF
CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE,
REGISTRATIONS, AND QUALITY
ASSURANCE PROGRAM APPROVALS
AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
LICENSED BY THE NRC.
6. The authority citation for part 171
continues to read as follows:
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Authority: Section 7601, Pub. L. 99–272,
100 Stat. 146, as amended by Sec. 5601, Pub.
L. 100–203, 101 Stat. 1330, as amended by
Sec. 3201, Pub. L. 101–239, 103 Stat. 2132,
as amended by Sec. 6101, Pub. L. 101–508,
104 Stat. 1388, as amended by Sec. 2903a,
Pub. L. 102–486, 106 Stat. 3125 (42 U.S.C.
2213, 2214), and as amended by Title IV,
Pub. L. 109–103, 119 Stat. 2283 (42 U.S.C.
2214); Sec. 301, Pub. L. 92–314, 86 Stat. 227
(42 U.S.C. 2201w); Sec. 201, Pub. L. 93–438,
88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5841);
Sec. 1704, 112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504
note), Sec. 651(e), Pub. L.109–58, 119 Stat.
806–810 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2021, 2021b, 2111).
7. In § 171.15, paragraph (b)(1), the
introductory text of paragraph (b)(2),
paragraph (c)(1), the introductory text of
paragraph (c)(2) and the introductory
text of paragraph (d)(1), and paragraphs
(d)(2), (d)(3), and the introductory text
of paragraph (e), are revised to read as
follows:
§ 171.15 Annual fees: Reactor licenses
and independent spent fuel storage
licenses.
*
*
*
*
*
(b)(1) The FY 2009 annual fee for each
operating power reactor which must be
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collected by September 30, 2009, is
$4,608,000.
(2) The FY 2009 annual fee is
comprised of a base annual fee for
power reactors licensed to operate, a
base spent fuel storage/reactor
decommissioning annual fee, and
associated additional charges (fee-relief
adjustment). The activities comprising
the FY 2009 spent storage/reactor
decommissioning base annual fee are
shown in paragraphs (c)(2)(i) and (ii) of
this section. The activities comprising
the FY 2009 fee-relief adjustment are
shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this
section. The activities comprising the
FY 2009 base annual fee for operating
power reactors are as follows:
*
*
*
*
*
(c)(1) The FY 2009 annual fee for each
power reactor holding a 10 CFR part 50
license that is in a decommissioning or
possession only status and has spent
fuel onsite, and each independent spent
fuel storage 10 CFR part 72 licensee who
does not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license
is $127,000.
(2) The FY 2009 annual fee is
comprised of a base spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning annual fee
(which is also included in the operating
power reactor annual fee shown in
paragraph (b) of this section), and an
additional charge (fee-relief adjustment).
The activities comprising the FY 2009
fee-relief adjustment are shown in
paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The
activities comprising the FY 2009 spent
fuel storage/reactor decommissioning
rebaselined annual fee are:
*
*
*
*
*
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(d)(1) The fee-relief adjustment
allocated to annual fees includes a
surcharge for the activities listed in
paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section, plus
the amount remaining after total
budgeted resources for the activities
included in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and
(d)(1)(iii) of this section is reduced by
the appropriations NRC receives for
these types of activities. If the NRC’s
appropriations for these types of
activities are greater than the budgeted
resources for the activities included in
paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and (d)(1)(iii) of
this section for a given FY, an annual
fee reduction will be allocated to annual
fees. The activities comprising the FY
2009 fee-relief adjustment are as
follows:
*
*
*
*
*
(2) The total FY 2009 fee-relief
adjustment allocated to the operating
power reactor class of licenses is ¥$1.3
million, not including the amount
allocated to the spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning class. The FY
2009 operating power reactor fee-relief
adjustment to be assessed to each
operating power reactor is
approximately ¥$12,900. This amount
is calculated by dividing the total
operating power reactor fee-relief
adjustment (¥$1.3 million) by the
number of operating power reactors
(104).
(3) The FY 2009 fee-relief adjustment
allocated to the spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning class of
licenses is ¥$72,000. The FY 2008
spent fuel storage/reactor
decommissioning fee-relief adjustment
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Proposed Rules
to be assessed to each operating power
reactor, each power reactor in
decommissioning or possession only
status that has spent fuel onsite, and to
each independent spent fuel storage 10
CFR part 72 licensee who does not hold
a 10 CFR part 50 license is
approximately ¥$585. This amount is
calculated by dividing the total fee-relief
adjustment costs allocated to this class
by the total number of power reactor
licenses, except those that permanently
ceased operations and have no fuel
onsite, and 10 CFR part 72 licensees
who do not hold a 10 CFR part 50
license.
(e) The FY 2009 annual fees for
licensees authorized to operate a test
and research (non-power) reactor
licensed under part 50 of this chapter,
unless the reactor is exempted from fees
under § 171.11(a), are as follows:
fee-relief adjustment. The activities
comprising the fee-relief adjustment are
shown in paragraph (e) of this section.
The base annual fee is the sum of
Research reactor ........................
$124,500 budgeted costs for following activities:
Test reactor ................................
$124,500 *
*
*
*
*
(c) A licensee who is required to pay
8. In § 171.16, paragraphs (b), (c), (d),
an annual fee under this section may
and the introductory text of paragraph
qualify as a small entity. If a licensee
(e) are revised to read as follows:
qualifies as a small entity and provides
the Commission with the proper
§ 171.16 Annual fees: Materials licensees,
certification along with its annual fee
holders of certificates of compliance,
payment, the licensee may pay reduced
holders of sealed source and device
registrations, holders of quality assurance
annual fees as shown in the following
program approvals, and government
table. Failure to file a small entity
agencies licensed by the NRC.
certification in a timely manner could
*
*
*
*
*
result in the denial of any refund that
(b) The annual fee is comprised of a
might otherwise be due. The small
base annual fee and an allocation for
entity fees are as follows:
Maximum
annual fee
per licensed
category
Small Businesses Not Engaged in Manufacturing (Average gross receipts over last 3 completed fiscal years):
$450,000 to $6.5 million ...............................................................................................................................................................
Less than 450,000 ........................................................................................................................................................................
Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Annual Gross Receipts):
$450,000 to $6.5 million ...............................................................................................................................................................
Less than $450,000 ......................................................................................................................................................................
Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500 employees or fewer:
35 to 500 employees ....................................................................................................................................................................
Fewer than 35 employees ............................................................................................................................................................
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly supported educational institutions) (Population):
20,000 to 50,000 ..........................................................................................................................................................................
Fewer than 20,000 .......................................................................................................................................................................
Educational Institutions that are not State or Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Fewer:
35 to 500 employees ....................................................................................................................................................................
Fewer than 35 employees ............................................................................................................................................................
(d) The FY 2009 annual fees are
comprised of a base annual fee and an
allocation for fee-relief adjustment. The
activities comprising the FY 2009 fee-
relief adjustment are shown for
convenience in paragraph (e) of this
section. The FY 2009 annual fees for
materials licensees and holders of
$1,900
400
1,900
400
1,900
400
1,900
400
1,900
400
certificates, registrations or approvals
subject to fees under this section are
shown in the following table:
SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS ANNUAL FEES AND FEES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY NRC
[See footnotes at end of table]
Annual
fees 1 2 3
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Category of materials licenses
1. Special nuclear material:
A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of U–235 or plutonium for fuel fabrication activities.
(a) Strategic Special Nuclear Material (High Enriched Uranium) [Program Code(s): 21130] ............................................................
(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel [Program Code(s): 21210] ...............
(2) All other special nuclear materials licenses not included in Category 1.A.(1) which are licensed for fuel cycle activities.
(a) Facilities with limited operations [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320] .............................................................................................
(b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration facilities .......................................................................................................................
(c) Others, including hot cell facilities ..................................................................................................................................................
B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel and reactor-related Greater than Class C (GTCC) waste at an independent
spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) [Program Code(s): 23200] ..................................................................................................
C. Licenses for possession and use of special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in devices used in industrial measuring systems, including x-ray fluorescence analyzers [Program Code(s): 22140] ........................................................................
D. All other special nuclear material licenses, except licenses authorizing special nuclear material in unsealed form in combination that would constitute a critical quantity, as defined in ( 150.11 of this chapter, for which the licensee shall pay the same
fees as those for Category 1.A.(2) [Program Code(s): 22110, 22111, 22120, 22131, 22136, 22150, 22151, 22161, 22163,
22170, 23100, 23300, 23310] ..........................................................................................................................................................
E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of a uranium enrichment facility [Program Code(s): 21200] .........................................
2. Source material:
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$4,721,000
1,659,000
770,000
924,000
411,000
11 N/A
2,700
7,700
2,823,000
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Proposed Rules
9151
SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS ANNUAL FEES AND FEES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY NRC—Continued
[See footnotes at end of table]
Annual
fees 1 2 3
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Category of materials licenses
A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source material for refining uranium mill concentrates to uranium hexafluoride [Program Code(s): 11400] ......................................................................................................................................................................
(2) Licenses for possession and use of source material in recovery operations such as milling, in-situ recovery, heap-leaching,
ore buying stations, ion exchange facilities and in-processing of ores containing source material for extraction of metals other
than uranium or thorium, including licenses authorizing the possession of byproduct waste material (tailings) from source material recovery operations, as well as licenses authorizing the possession and maintenance of a facility in a standby mode.
(a) Conventional and Heap Leach facilities [Program Code(s): 11100] .............................................................................................
(b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities [Program Code(s): 11500] .........................................................................................................
(c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities [Program Code(s): 11500] ..................................................................................................
(d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities ....................................................................................................................................................
(e) Resin Toll Milling facilities ..............................................................................................................................................................
(f) Other facilities 4 [Program Code(s): 11700] ....................................................................................................................................
(3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct material, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from other
persons for possession and disposal, except those licenses subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2) or Category 2.A.(4) [Program Code(s): 11600] ......................................................................................................................................................................
(4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct material, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from other
persons for possession and disposal incidental to the disposal of the uranium waste tailings generated by the licensee’s milling operations, except those licenses subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2) ...............................................................................
(5) Licenses that authorize the possession of source material related to removal of contaminants (source material) from drinking
water .................................................................................................................................................................................................
B. Licenses that authorize only the possession, use and/or installation of source material for shielding [Program Code(s):
11210] ..............................................................................................................................................................................................
C. All other source material licenses [Program Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11230, 11300, 11800, 11810] ..............................
3. Byproduct material:
A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for processing or manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution [Program Code(s): 03211, 03212,
03213] ..............................................................................................................................................................................................
B. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued under part 30 of this chapter for processing or manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution [Program Code(s): 03214, 03215, 22135, 22162] ......
C. Licenses issued under §§ 32.72 and/or 32.74 of this chapter authorizing the processing or manufacturing and distribution or
redistribution of radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent kits and/or sources and devices containing byproduct material.
This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding authorized under part 40 of this chapter
when included on the same license. This category does not apply to licenses issued to nonprofit educational institutions
whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under ( 171.11(a)(1). These licenses are covered by fee under Category 3.D.
[Program Code(s): 02500, 02511, 02513] .......................................................................................................................................
D. Licenses and approvals issued under §§ 32.72 and/or 32.74 of this chapter authorizing distribution or redistribution of radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent kits and/or sources or devices not involving processing of byproduct material. This category includes licenses issued under ((§§ 32.72 and 32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit educational institutions whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under § 171.11(a)(1). This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding authorized under part 40 of this chapter when included on the same license [Program Code(s): 02512,
02514] ..............................................................................................................................................................................................
E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source is
not removed from its shield (self-shielded units) [Program Code(s): 03510, 03520] .....................................................................
F. Licenses for possession and use of less than 10,000 curies of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater irradiators for irradiation
of materials in which the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes [Program Code(s): 03511] ............................................
G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies or more of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials
in which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater irradiators for irradiation of
materials in which the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes [Program Code(s): 03521] ................................................
H. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that require device review to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of part 30 of this chapter, except specific licenses authorizing
redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of part 30
of this chapter [Program Code(s): 03255] .......................................................................................................................................
I. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material or quantities of
byproduct material that do not require device evaluation to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of part 30 of this
chapter, except for specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to persons
exempt from the licensing requirements of part 30 of this chapter [Program Code(s): 03250, 03251, 03252, 03253, 03254,
03256] ..............................................................................................................................................................................................
J. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that require
sealed source and/or device review to persons generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter, except specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to persons generally licensed under part 31 of this
chapter [Program Code(s): 03240, 03241, 03243] ..........................................................................................................................
K. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material or quantities of
byproduct material that do not require sealed source and/or device review to persons generally licensed under part 31 of this
chapter, except specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to persons generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter [Program Code(s): 03242, 03244] ............................................................................
L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for research and development that do not authorize commercial distribution [Program Code(s): 01100, 01110, 01120, 03610,
03611, 03612, 03613] ......................................................................................................................................................................
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975,000
32,200
30,600
34,700
5 N/A
5 N/A
5 N/A
5 N/A
10,500
7,300
1,330
17,700
40,600
10,500
13,600
8,900
6,800
12,900
64,000
8,500
15,200
3,400
2,500
20,200
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SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS ANNUAL FEES AND FEES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY NRC—Continued
[See footnotes at end of table]
Annual
fees 1 2 3
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Category of materials licenses
M. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued under part 30 of this chapter for research and development that do not authorize commercial distribution [Program Code(s): 03620] .............................................................................
N. Licenses that authorize services for other licensees, except: (1) Licenses that authorize only calibration and/or leak testing
services are subject to the fees specified in fee Category 3.P.; and (2) Licenses that authorize waste disposal services are
subject to the fees specified in fee categories 4.A., 4.B., and 4.C. [Program Code(s): 03219, 03225, 03226] ............................
O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued under part 34 of this chapter for industrial radiography operations. This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding authorized under part 40 of this
chapter when authorized on the same license [Program Code(s): 03310, 03320] ........................................................................
P. All other specific byproduct material licenses, except those in Categories 4.A. through 9.D. [Program Code(s): 02400, 02410,
03120, 03121, 03122, 03123, 03124, 03220, 03221, 03222, 03800, 03810, 22130] ....................................................................
Q. Registration of devices generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter ......................................................................................
R. Possession of items or products containing radium-226 identified in 10 CFR 31.12 which exceed the number of items or limits specified in that section:14
1. Possession of quantities exceeding the number of items or limits in 10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), or (5) but less than or equal to 10
times the number of items or limits specified [Program Code(s): 02700] .......................................................................................
2. Possession of quantities exceeding 10 times the number of items or limits specified in 10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), or (5) [Program
Code(s): 02710] ...............................................................................................................................................................................
S. Licenses for production of accelerator-produced radionuclides [Program Code(s): 03210] ..........................................................
4. Waste disposal and processing:
A. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material from
other persons for the purpose of contingency storage or commercial land disposal by the licensee; or licenses authorizing
contingency storage of low-level radioactive waste at the site of nuclear power reactors; or licenses for receipt of waste from
other persons for incineration or other treatment, packaging of resulting waste and residues, and transfer of packages to another person authorized to receive or dispose of waste material [Program Code(s): 03231, 03233, 03235, 03236, 06100,
06101] ..............................................................................................................................................................................................
B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material from
other persons for the purpose of packaging or repackaging the material. The licensee will dispose of the material by transfer
to another person authorized to receive or dispose of the material [Program Code(s): 03234] ....................................................
C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of prepackaged waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear
material from other persons. The licensee will dispose of the material by transfer to another person authorized to receive or
dispose of the material [Program Code(s): 03232] .........................................................................................................................
5. Well logging:
A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, and/or special nuclear material for well logging, well
surveys, and tracer studies other than field flooding tracer studies [Program Code(s): 03110, 03111, 03112] ............................
B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material for field flooding tracer studies [Program Code(s): 03113] ...................
6. Nuclear laundries:
A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of items contaminated with byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material [Program Code(s): 03218] ........................................................................................................................................
7. Medical licenses:
A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in gamma stereotactic radiosurgery units, teletherapy devices, or similar
beam therapy devices. This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding when authorized
on the same license [Program Code(s): 02300, 02310] .................................................................................................................
B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical institutions or two or more physicians under parts 30, 33, 35, 40, and 70 of this
chapter authorizing research and development, including human use of byproduct material except licenses for byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in teletherapy devices. This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding when authorized on the same license.9 [Program Code(s):
02110] ..............................................................................................................................................................................................
C. Other licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct material, source material,
and/or special nuclear material except licenses for byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material in sealed
sources contained in teletherapy devices. This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding
when authorized on the same license.9 [Program Code(s): 02120, 02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220, 02230, 02231,
02240, 22160] ..................................................................................................................................................................................
8. Civil defense:
A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material for civil defense activities
[Program Code(s): 03710] ...............................................................................................................................................................
9. Device, product, or sealed source safety evaluation:
A. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, except reactor fuel devices, for commercial distribution ...............................................................................
B. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material manufactured in accordance with the unique specifications of, and for use by, a single applicant, except
reactor fuel devices ..........................................................................................................................................................................
C. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, or special
nuclear material, except reactor fuel, for commercial distribution ...................................................................................................
D. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, or special
nuclear material, manufactured in accordance with the unique specifications of, and for use by, a single applicant, except reactor fuel ..........................................................................................................................................................................................
10. Transportation of radioactive material:
A. Certificates of Compliance or other package approvals issued for design of casks, packages, and shipping containers.
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7,600
11,600
23,100
3,800
13 N/A
3,400
3,800
12,300
5 N/A
19,000
12,000
9,900
5 N/A
36,100
17,800
36,800
6,300
3,400
10,700
10,700
7,500
1,300
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SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS ANNUAL FEES AND FEES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY NRC—Continued
[See footnotes at end of table]
Annual
fees 1 2 3
Category of materials licenses
1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and plutonium air packages ..........................................................................................................
2. Other Casks .....................................................................................................................................................................................
B. Quality assurance program approvals issued under part 71 of this chapter.
1. Users and Fabricators .....................................................................................................................................................................
2. Users ...............................................................................................................................................................................................
C. Evaluation of security plans, route approvals, route surveys, and transportation security devices (including immobilization devices) ................................................................................................................................................................................................
11. Standardized spent fuel facilities ...................................................................................................................................................
12. Special Projects .............................................................................................................................................................................
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Compliance ..................................................................................................................
B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel under 10 CFR 72.210 .................................................................................................
14. Decommissioning/Reclamation:
A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material licenses and other approvals authorizing decommissioning, decontamination,
reclamation, or site restoration activities under parts 30, 40, 70, 72, and 76 of this chapter ........................................................
B. Site-specific decommissioning activities associated with unlicensed sites, whether or not the sites have been previously licensed ..............................................................................................................................................................................................
15. Import and Export licenses ............................................................................................................................................................
16. Reciprocity .....................................................................................................................................................................................
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to Government agencies and other entities ...................................................
18. Department of Energy:
A. Certificates of Compliance ..............................................................................................................................................................
B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) activities .................................................................................................
6 N/A
6 N/A
6 N/A
6 N/A
6 N/A
6 N/A
6 N/A
6 N/A
12 N/A
7 N/A
7 N/A
8 N/A
8 N/A
168,000
10 679,000
342,000
1 Annual
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
fees will be assessed based on whether a licensee held a valid license with the NRC authorizing possession and use of radioactive
material during the current FY. The annual fee is waived for those materials licenses and holders of certificates, registrations, and approvals who
either filed for termination of their licenses or approvals or filed for possession only/storage licenses before October 1, 2007, and permanently
ceased licensed activities entirely before this date. Annual fees for licensees who filed for termination of a license, downgrade of a license, or for
a possession only license during the FY and for new licenses issued during the FY will be prorated in accordance with the provisions of
§ 171.17. If a person holds more than one license, certificate, registration, or approval, the annual fee(s) will be assessed for each license, certificate, registration, or approval held by that person. For licenses that authorize more than one activity on a single license (e.g., human use and
irradiator activities), annual fees will be assessed for each category applicable to the license. Licensees paying annual fees under Category
1.A.(1) are not subject to the annual fees for Categories 1.C. and 1.D. for sealed sources authorized in the license.
2 Payment of the prescribed annual fee does not automatically renew the license, certificate, registration, or approval for which the fee is paid.
Renewal applications must be filed in accordance with the requirements of parts 30, 40, 70, 71, 72, or 76 of this chapter.
3 Each FY, fees for these materials licenses will be calculated and assessed in accordance with § 171.13 and will be published in the Federal
Register for notice and comment.
4 An other license includes licenses for extraction of metals, heavy metals, and rare earths.
5 There are no existing NRC licenses in these fee categories. If NRC issues a license for these categories, the Commission will consider establishing an annual fee for this type of license.
6 Standardized spent fuel facilities, 10 CFR parts 71 and 72 Certificates of Compliance and related Quality Assurance program approvals, and
special reviews, such as topical reports, are not assessed an annual fee because the generic costs of regulating these activities are primarily attributable to users of the designs, certificates, and topical reports.
7 Licensees in this category are not assessed an annual fee because they are charged an annual fee in other categories while they are licensed to operate.
8 No annual fee is charged because it is not practical to administer due to the relatively short life or temporary nature of the license.
9 Separate annual fees will not be assessed for pacemaker licenses issued to medical institutions that also hold nuclear medicine licenses
under Categories 7.B. or 7.C.
10 This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to DOE that are not funded from the Nuclear Waste Fund.
11 See (§ 171.15(c)).
12 See (§ 171.15(c)).
13 No annual fee is charged for this category because the cost of the general license registration program applicable to licenses in this category will be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
14 Persons who possess radium sources that are used for operational purposes in another fee category are not also subject to the fees in this
category. (This exception does not apply if the radium sources are possessed for storage only.)
(e) The fee-relief adjustment allocated
to annual fees includes the budgeted
resources for the activities listed in
paragraph (e)(1) of this section, plus the
total budgeted resources for the
activities included in paragraphs (e)(2)
and (e)(3) of this section as reduced by
the appropriations NRC receives for
these types of activities. If the NRC’s
appropriations for these types of
activities are greater than the budgeted
resources for the activities included in
paragraphs (e)(2) and (e)(3) of this
section for a given FY, an annual fee
reduction will be allocated to annual
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fees. The activities comprising the FY
2009 fee-relief adjustment are as
follows:
*
*
*
*
*
APPENDIX A TO THIS PROPOSED RULE—
REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS
FOR THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO 10
CFR PART 170 (LICENSE FEES) AND 10
CFR PART 171 (ANNUAL FEES)
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day
of February 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J.E. Dyer,
Chief Financial Officer.
I. Background
Note: THIS APPENDIX WILL NOT
APPEAR IN THE CODE OF FEDERAL
REGULATIONS.
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The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as
amended 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., requires that
agencies consider the impact of their
rulemakings on small entities and, consistent
with applicable statutes, consider
alternatives to minimize these impacts on the
businesses, organizations, and government
jurisdictions to which they apply.
The NRC has established standards for
determining which NRC licensees qualify as
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small entities (10 CFR 2.810). These size
standards were based on the Small Business
Administration’s most common receiptsbased size standards and include a size
standard for business concerns that are
manufacturing entities. The NRC uses the
size standards to reduce the impact of annual
fees on small entities by establishing a
licensee’s eligibility to qualify for a
maximum small entity fee. The small entity
fee categories in ( 171.16(c) of this proposed
rule are based on the NRC’s size standards.
The NRC is required each year, under
OBRA–90, as amended, to recover
approximately 90 percent of its budget
authority (less amounts appropriated from
the NWF and for other activities specifically
removed from the fee base), through fees to
NRC licensees and applicants. In total, the
NRC is required to bill approximately $864.8
million in fees for FY 2009.
OBRA–90 requires that the schedule of
charges established by rulemaking should
fairly and equitably allocate the total amount
to be recovered from the NRC’s licensees and
be assessed under the principle that licensees
who require the greatest expenditure of
agency resources pay the greatest annual
charges. Since FY 1991, the NRC has
complied with OBRA–90 by issuing a final
rule that amends its fee regulations. These
final rules have established the methodology
used by the NRC in identifying and
determining the fees to be assessed and
collected in any given FY.
The Commission is proposing to rebaseline
its part 171 annual fees in FY 2009.
Rebaselining fees results in increased annual
fees for three classes of licensees (power
reactors, non-power reactors, and fuel
facilities), and decreased annual fees for two
classes of licensees (spent fuel storage/reactor
decommissioning and transportation). Within
the materials users and uranium recovery fee
classes, annual fees for most licensees
increase, while annual fees for some
licensees decrease.
The Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Act (SBREFA) provides
Congress with the opportunity to review
agency rules before they go into effect. Under
this legislation, the NRC annual fee rule is
considered a ‘‘major’’ rule and must be
reviewed by Congress and the Comptroller
General before the rule becomes effective.
The Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Act also requires that an agency
prepare a guide to assist small entities in
complying with each rule for which a final
RFA is prepared. This analysis and the small
entity compliance guide (Attachment 1) have
been prepared for the FY 2009 fee rule as
required by law.
II. Impact on Small Entities
The fee rule results in substantial fees
being charged to those individuals,
organizations, and companies licensed by the
NRC, including those licensed under the
NRC materials program. The comments
received on previous proposed fee rules and
the small entity certifications received in
response to previous final fee rules indicate
that NRC licensees qualifying as small
entities under the NRC’s size standards are
primarily materials licensees. Therefore, this
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analysis will focus on the economic impact
of the fees on materials licensees. In FY 2008,
about 26 percent of these licensees
(approximately 1,100 licensees) qualified as
small entities.
The commenters on previous fee
rulemakings consistently indicated that the
following results would occur if the proposed
annual fees were not modified:
1. Large firms would gain an unfair
competitive advantage over small entities.
Commenters noted that small and very small
companies (‘‘Mom and Pop’’ operations)
would find it more difficult to absorb the
annual fee than a large corporation or a highvolume type of operation. In competitive
markets, such as soil testing, annual fees
would put small licensees at an extreme
competitive disadvantage with their much
larger competitors because the proposed fees
would be the same for a two-person licensee
as for a large firm with thousands of
employees.
2. Some firms would be forced to cancel
their licenses. A licensee with receipts of less
than $500,000 per year stated that the
proposed rule would, in effect, force it to
relinquish its soil density gauge and license,
thereby reducing its ability to do its work
effectively. Other licensees, especially wellloggers, noted that the increased fees would
force small businesses to get rid of the
materials license altogether. Commenters
stated that the proposed rule would result in
about 10 percent of the well-logging licensees
terminating their licenses immediately and
approximately 25 percent terminating their
licenses before the next annual assessment.
3. Some companies would go out of
business.
4. Some companies would have budget
problems. Many medical licensees noted
that, along with reduced reimbursements, the
proposed increase of the existing fees and the
introduction of additional fees would
significantly affect their budgets. Others
noted that, in view of the cuts by Medicare
and other third party carriers, the fees would
produce a hardship and some facilities
would experience a great deal of difficulty in
meeting this additional burden.
Over 3,000 licenses, approvals, and
registration terminations have been requested
since the NRC first established annual fees
for materials licenses. Although some of
these terminations were requested because
the license was no longer needed or licenses
or registrations could be combined,
indications are that other termination
requests were due to the economic impact of
the fees.
To alleviate the significant impact of the
annual fees on a substantial number of small
entities, the NRC considered the following
alternatives in accordance with the RFA in
developing each of its fee rules since FY
1991.
1. Base fees on some measure of the
amount of radioactivity possessed by the
licensee (e.g., number of sources).
2. Base fees on the frequency of use of the
licensed radioactive material (e.g., volume of
patients).
3. Base fees on the NRC size standards for
small entities.
The NRC has reexamined its previous
evaluations of these alternatives and
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continues to believe that establishment of a
maximum fee for small entities is the most
appropriate and effective option for reducing
the impact of its fees on small entities.
III. Maximum Fee
The RFA and its implementing guidance
do not provide specific guidelines on what
constitutes a significant economic impact on
a small entity; therefore, the NRC has no
benchmark to assist it in determining the
amount or the percent of gross receipts that
should be charged to a small entity. In
developing the maximum small entity annual
fee in FY 1991, the NRC examined its 10 CFR
part 170 licensing and inspection fees and
Agreement State fees for those fee categories
which were expected to have a substantial
number of small entities. Six Agreement
States (Washington, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska,
New York, and Utah), were used as
benchmarks in the establishment of the
maximum small entity annual fee in FY
1991.
The NRC maximum small entity fee was
established as an annual fee only. In addition
to the annual fee, NRC small entity licensees
were required to pay amendment, renewal
and inspection fees. In setting the small
entity annual fee, NRC ensured that the total
amount small entities paid annually would
not exceed the maximum paid in the six
benchmark Agreement States.
Of the six benchmark states, the maximum
Agreement State fee of $3,800 in Washington
was used as the ceiling for the total fees.
Thus the NRC’s small entity fee was
developed to ensure that the total fees paid
by NRC small entities would not exceed
$3,800. Given the NRC’s FY 1991 fee
structure for inspections, amendments, and
renewals, a small entity annual fee
established at $1,800 allowed the total fee
(small entity annual fee plus yearly average
for inspections, amendments and renewal
fees) for all categories to fall under the $3,800
ceiling.
In FY 1992, the NRC introduced a second,
lower tier to the small entity fee in response
to concerns that the $1,800 fee, when added
to the license and inspection fees, still
imposed a significant impact on small
entities with relatively low gross annual
receipts. For purposes of the annual fee, each
small entity size standard was divided into
an upper and lower tier. Small entity
licensees in the upper tier continued to pay
an annual fee of $1,800 while those in the
lower tier paid an annual fee of $400.
Based on the changes that had occurred
since FY 1991, the NRC re-analyzed its
maximum small entity annual fees in FY
2000, and determined that the small entity
fees should be increased by 25 percent to
reflect the increase in the average fees paid
by other materials licensees since FY 1991,
as well as changes in the fee structure for
materials licensees. The structure of the fees
that NRC charged to its materials licensees
changed during the period between 1991 and
1999. Costs for materials license inspections,
renewals, and amendments, which were
previously recovered through part 170 fees
for services, are now included in the part 171
annual fees assessed to materials licensees.
As a result of the 25 percent increase, the
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maximum small entity annual fee increased
from $1,800 to $2,300 in FY 2000. Although
the maximum annual fee for small entities
increased from $1,800 to $2,300, the total fee
for many small entities was reduced because
they no longer paid part 170 fees for services.
The costs not recovered from small entities
were allocated to other materials licensees
and to power reactors.
While reducing the impact on many small
entities, the NRC determined that the
maximum annual fee of $2,300 for small
entities may continue to have a significant
impact on materials licensees with annual
gross receipts in the thousands of dollars
range. Therefore, the NRC continued to
provide a lower-tier small entity annual fee
for small entities with relatively low gross
annual receipts, and for manufacturing
concerns and educational institutions not
State or publicly supported, with fewer than
35 employees. The NRC also increased the
lower tier small entity fee by the same
percentage increase to the maximum small
entity annual fee. This 25 percent increase
resulted in the lower tier small entity fee
increasing from $400 to $500 in FY 2000.
The NRC stated in the RFA for the FY 2001
final fee rule that it would re-examine the
small entity fees every two years, in the same
years in which it conducts the biennial
review of fees as required by the Chief
Financial Officer’s Act. Accordingly, the NRC
examined the small entity fees again in FY
2003 and FY 2005, and determined that a
change was not warranted to the small entity
fees established in FY 2001.
As part of the small entity review in FY
2007, the NRC also considered whether it
should establish reduced fees for small
entities under part 170. The NRC received
one comment requesting that such small
entity fees be considered for certain export
licenses, particularly in light of the recent
increases to part 170 fees for these licenses.
Because the NRC’s part 170 fees are not
assessed to a licensee or applicant on a
regular basis (i.e., they are only assessed
when a licensee or applicant requests a
specific service from the NRC), the NRC does
not believe that the impact of its part 170 fees
warrants a fee reduction for small entities
under part 170, in addition to the part 171
small entity fee reduction. Regarding export
licenses, in particular, the NRC notes that
interested parties can submit a single
application for a broad scope, multi-year
license that permits exports to multiple
countries. Because the NRC’s fees are charged
per application, this streamlining process
minimizes the fees for export applicants.
Because a single NRC fee can cover
numerous exports, and because there are a
limited number of entities who apply for
these licenses, the NRC does not anticipate
that the part 170 export fees will have a
significant impact on a substantial number of
small entities. Therefore, the NRC retained
the $2,300 small entity annual fee and the
$500 lower tier small entity annual fee for FY
2007, and FY 2008.
For the biennial review of the FY 2009
small entity fees, the NRC conducted an indepth review. The review noted the
significant changes between FY 2000 and FY
2008 in both the external and internal
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environment which has impacted fees for
NRC’s small materials users licensees. Since
FY 2000 the number of small entity licensees
in the upper tier has increased approximately
53 percent. In addition, due to changes in the
law, NRC is now only required to recover 90
percent of its budget authority compared to
the 100 percent recovery requirement in FY
2000. This ten percent fee relief has
influenced the small materials users’ annual
fees. A decrease in the NRC’s budget
allocation to the small materials users has
also influenced their annual fees in the last
two years. Based on the review, the NRC will
change the small entity fee for FY 2009 and
establish a new methodology for reviewing
the small entity fees every other year. The
NRC will now determine the maximum small
entity fee each biennial year using a fixed
percentage of 39 percent applied to the prior
two-year weighted average of small materials
users fees for all fee categories which have
small entity licensees.
For FY 2009, these changes result in a
maximum small entity fee of $1,900 and a
lower tier annual fee of $400. The advantage
of the new methodology is that the NRC’s
small entity licensees will be able to predict
the change in their fee in the biennial year
based on the small materials fees for the
previous two years. Using a two-year
weighted average will help smooth the
fluctuations caused by programmatic and
budget variables and will reflect the
importance of the fee categories with the
greater number of small entities. Since the
current small entity annual fee of $2,300 is
39 percent of the two-year weighted average
for all fee categories in FY 2005 and FY 2006
that have an upper tier small entity licensee,
the agency will retain the 39 percent as the
percentage applied to the prior two-year
weighted average of small materials users
fees. The lower tier annual fee remains at 22
percent of the maximum small entity annual
fee.
IV. Summary
The NRC has determined that the 10 CFR
part 171 annual fees significantly impact a
substantial number of small entities. A
maximum fee for small entities strikes a
balance between the requirement to recover
90 percent of the NRC budget and the
requirement to consider means of reducing
the impact of the fee on small entities. Based
on its regulatory flexibility analysis, the NRC
concludes that a maximum annual fee of
$1,900 for small entities and a lower-tier
small entity annual fee of $400 for small
businesses and not-for-profit organizations
with gross annual receipts of less than
$450,000, small governmental jurisdictions
with a population of fewer than 20,000, small
manufacturing entities that have fewer than
35 employees, and educational institutions
that are not State or publicly supported and
have fewer than 35 employees reduces the
impact on small entities. At the same time,
these reduced annual fees are consistent with
the objectives of OBRA–90. Thus, the fees for
small entities maintain a balance between the
objectives of OBRA–90 and the RFA.
In 2007, the NRC revised its receipts-based
size standards (72 FR 44951, August 10,
2007) to conform to the Small Business
PO 00000
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9155
Agency standards. The maximum average
gross annual receipts (upper tier) to qualify
as a small entity were changed to $6.5
million from $5 million. The NRC is now
proposing to revise the small entity lower tier
receipts-based threshold to $450,000 from
$350,000. This change is approximately the
same percentage adjustment as the change in
the upper tier receipts-based standard.
ATTACHMENT 1 TO APPENDIX A—U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Small
Entity Compliance Guide; Fiscal Year 2009
Contents
Introduction
NRC Definition of Small Entity
NRC Small Entity Fees
Instructions for Completing NRC Form 526
Introduction
The Congressional Review Act requires all
Federal agencies to prepare a written guide
for each ‘‘major’’ final rule, as defined by the
Act. The NRC’s fee rule, published annually
to comply with the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA–90), as
amended, is considered a ‘‘major’’ rule under
the Congressional Review Act. Therefore, in
compliance with the law, this guide has been
prepared to assist NRC materials licensees in
complying with the FY 2009 fee rule.
Licensees may use this guide to determine
whether they qualify as a small entity under
NRC regulations and are eligible to pay
reduced FY 2009 annual fees assessed under
10 CFR part 171. The NRC has established
two tiers of annual fees for those materials
licensees who qualify as small entities under
the NRC’s size standards.
Licensees who meet the NRC’s size
standards for a small entity (listed in 10 CFR
2.810) must submit a completed NRC Form
526 ‘‘Certification of Small Entity Status for
the Purposes of Annual Fees Imposed under
10 CFR Part 171’’ to qualify for the reduced
annual fee. This form can be accessed on the
NRC’s Web site at https://www.nrc.gov. The
form can then be accessed by selecting
‘‘Business with NRC,’’ then ‘‘NRC Forms,’’
selecting NRC Form 526. For licensees who
cannot access the NRC’s Web site, NRC Form
526 may be obtained through the local point
of contact listed in the NRC’s ‘‘Materials
Annual Fee Billing Handbook,’’ NUREG/BR–
0238, which is enclosed with each annual fee
billing. Alternatively, the form may be
obtained by calling the fee staff at 301–415–
7554, or by e-mailing the fee staff at
fees.resource@nrc.gov. The completed form,
the appropriate small entity fee, and the
payment copy of the invoice should be
mailed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, License Fee Team, at the
address indicated on the invoice. Failure to
file the NRC small entity certification Form
526 in a timely manner may result in the
denial of any refund that might otherwise be
due.
NRC Definition of Small Entity
For purposes of compliance with its
regulations (10 CFR 2.810), the NRC has
defined a small entity as follows:
(1) Small business—a for-profit concern
that provides a service, or a concern that is
not engaged in manufacturing, with average
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gross receipts of $6.5 million or less over its
last 3 completed fiscal years;
(2) Manufacturing industry—a
manufacturing concern with an average of
500 or fewer employees based on
employment during each pay period for the
preceding 12 calendar months;
(3) Small organizations—a not-for-profit
organization that is independently owned
and operated and has annual gross receipts
of $6.5 million or less;
(4) Small governmental jurisdiction—a
government of a city, county, town,
township, village, school district or special
district, with a population of fewer than
50,000;
(5) Small educational institution—an
educational institution supported by a
qualifying small governmental jurisdiction,
or one that is not State or publicly supported
and has 500 or fewer employees.1
To further assist licensees in determining
if they qualify as a small entity, the following
guidelines are provided, which are based on
the Small Business Administration’s
regulations (13 CFR part 121).
(1) A small business concern is an
independently owned and operated entity
which is not considered dominant in its field
of operations.
(2) The number of employees means the
total number of employees in the parent
company, any subsidiaries and/or affiliates,
including both foreign and domestic
locations (i.e., not solely the number of
employees working for the licensee or
conducting NRC licensed activities for the
company).
(3) Gross annual receipts includes all
revenue received or accrued from any source,
including receipts of the parent company,
any subsidiaries and/or affiliates, and
account for both foreign and domestic
locations. Receipts include all revenues from
sales of products and services, interest, rent,
fees, and commissions, from whatever
sources derived (i.e., not solely receipts from
NRC licensed activities).
(4) A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large
entity, including a foreign entity, does not
qualify as a small entity.
NRC Small Entity Fees
In 10 CFR 171.16(c), the NRC has
established two tiers of fees for licensees that
qualify as a small entity under the NRC’s size
standards. The fees are as follows:
Maximum
annual fee per
licensed
category
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
Small Businesses Not Engaged in Manufacturing (Average gross receipts over last 3 completed fiscal years):
$450,000 to $6.5 million ...............................................................................................................................................................
Less than $450,000 ......................................................................................................................................................................
Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Annual Gross Receipts):
$450,000 to $6.5 million ...............................................................................................................................................................
Less than $450,000 ......................................................................................................................................................................
Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500 employees or fewer:
35 to 500 employees ....................................................................................................................................................................
Fewer than 35 employees ............................................................................................................................................................
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly supported educational institutions) (Population):
20,000 to 50,000 ..........................................................................................................................................................................
Fewer than 20,000 .......................................................................................................................................................................
Educational Institutions that are not State or Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Fewer:
35 to 500 employees ....................................................................................................................................................................
Fewer than 35 employees ............................................................................................................................................................
$1,900
400
1,900
400
1,900
400
1,900
400
1,900
400
Instructions for Completing NRC Small
Entity Form 526
1. Complete all items on NRC Form 526 as
follows:
(Note: Incomplete or improperly completed
forms will be returned as unacceptable.)
(a) Enter the license number and invoice
number exactly as they appear on the annual
fee invoice.
(b) Enter the North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS).
(c) Enter the licensee’s name and address
exactly as they appear on the invoice.
Annotate name and/or address changes for
billing purposes on the payment copy of the
invoice—include contact’s name, telephone
number, e-mail address, and company Web
site address. Correcting the name and/or
address on NRC Form 526 or on the invoice
does not constitute a request to amend the
license.
(d) Check the appropriate size standard
under which the licensee qualifies as a small
entity. Check one box only. Note the
following:
(i) A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large
entity, including foreign entities, does not
qualify as a small entity. The calculation of
a firm’s size includes the employees or
receipts of all affiliates. Affiliation with
another concern is based on the power to
control, whether exercised or not. Such
factors as common ownership, common
management and identity of interest (often
found in members of the same family),
among others, are indications of affiliation.
The affiliated business concerns need not be
in the same line of business.
(ii) Gross annual receipts, as used in the
size standards, include all revenue received
or accrued by your company from all sources,
regardless of the form of the revenue and not
solely receipts from licensed activities.
(iii) NRC’s size standards on small entity
are based on the Small Business
Administration’s regulations (13 CFR part
121).
(iv) The size standards apply to the
licensee, not to the individual authorized
users who may be listed in the license.
2. If the invoice states the ‘‘Amount Billed
Represents 50% Proration,’’ the amount due
is not the prorated amount shown on the
invoice but rather one-half of the maximum
small entity annual fee shown on NRC Form
526 for the size standard under which the
licensee qualifies (either $950 or $200) for
each category billed.
3. If the invoice amount is less than the
reduced small entity annual fee shown on
this form, pay the amount on the invoice;
there is no further reduction. In this case, do
not file NRC Form 526. However, if the
invoice amount is greater than the reduced
small entity annual fee, file NRC Form 526
and pay the amount applicable to the size
standard you checked on the form.
4. The completed NRC Form 526 must be
submitted with the required annual fee
payment and the ‘‘Payment Copy’’ of the
invoice to the address shown on the invoice.
5. 10 CFR 171.16(c)(3) states licensees shall
submit a new certification with its annual fee
payment each year. Failure to submit NRC
Form 526 at the time the annual fee is paid
will require the licensee to pay the full
amount of the invoice.
The NRC sends invoices to its licensees for
the full annual fee, even though some
licensees qualify for reduced fees as small
entities. Licensees who qualify as small
entities and file NRC Form 526, which
certifies eligibility for small entity fees, may
pay the reduced fee, which is either $1,900
or $400 for a full year, depending on the size
of the entity, for each fee category shown on
the invoice. Licensees granted a license
during the first 6 months of the fiscal year,
1 An educational institution referred to in the size
standards is an entity whose primary function is
education, whose programs are accredited by a
nationally recognized accrediting agency or
association, who is legally authorized to provide a
program of organized instruction or study, who
provides an educational program for which it
awards academic degrees, and whose educational
programs are available to the public.
VerDate Nov<24>2008
16:15 Feb 27, 2009
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mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with PROPOSALS2
and licensees who file for termination or for
a ‘‘possession only’’ license and permanently
cease licensed activities during the first 6
months of the fiscal year, pay only 50 percent
of the annual fee for that year. Such invoices
state that the ‘‘amount billed represents 50%
proration.’’
Licensees must file a new small entity form
(NRC Form 526) with the NRC each fiscal
year to qualify for reduced fees in that year.
Because a licensee’s ‘‘size,’’ or the size
standards, may change from year to year, the
invoice reflects the full fee and licensees
VerDate Nov<24>2008
16:15 Feb 27, 2009
Jkt 217001
must complete and return NRC Form 526 for
the fee to be reduced to the small entity fee
amount. LICENSEES WILL NOT RECEIVE A
NEW INVOICE FOR THE REDUCED
AMOUNT. The completed NRC Form 526,
the payment of the appropriate small entity
fee, and the ‘‘Payment Copy’’ of the invoice
should be mailed to the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, License Fee Team at
the address indicated on the invoice.
If you have questions regarding the NRC’s
annual fees, please contact the license fee
staff at 301–415–7554, e-mail the fee staff at
PO 00000
Frm 00029
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9157
fees.resource@nrc.gov, or write to the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention:
Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
False certification of small entity status
could result in civil sanctions being imposed
by the NRC under the Program Fraud Civil
Remedies Act, 31 U.S.C. 3801 et seq. NRC’s
implementing regulations are found at 10
CFR part 13.
[FR Doc. E9–4229 Filed 2–27–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 39 (Monday, March 2, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9130-9157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-4229]
[[Page 9129]]
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Part II
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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10 CFR Parts 170 and 171
Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2009; Proposed Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Proposed
Rules
[[Page 9130]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 170 and 171
RIN 3150-AI52
[NRC-2008-0620]
Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2009
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend
the licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its applicants
and licensees. The proposed amendments are necessary to implement the
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, which
requires that the NRC recover through fees approximately 90 percent of
its budget authority in fiscal year (FY) 2009, less the amounts
appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF), amounts appropriated
for Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR), and amounts appropriated
for generic homeland security activities. Based on the FY 2009 Energy
and Water Development Appropriations Bill, reported by the U.S. House
of Representatives Appropriations Committee, the NRC's required fee
recovery amount for the FY 2009 budget would be approximately $870.6
million. After accounting for billing adjustments, the total amount to
be billed as fees would be approximately $864.8 million.
DATES: The comment period expires April 1, 2009. Comments received
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the
NRC is able to ensure only that comments received on or before this
date will be considered. Because OBRA-90 requires that the NRC collect
the FY 2009 fees by September 30, 2009, requests for extensions of the
comment period will not be granted.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods.
Please include number RIN 3150-AI52 in the subject line of your
comments. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be
made available for public inspection. Because your comments will not be
edited to remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC
cautions you against including any information in your submission that
you do not want to be publicly disclosed.
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2008-0620. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-492-3668; e-mail
Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
E-mail comments to: Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. If you do not
receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments,
contact us directly at 301-415-1677.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. Federal workdays. (Telephone
301-415-1677).
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at
301-415-1101.
You can access publicly available documents related to this
document using the following methods:
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Public
File Area O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS):
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC after
November 1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic
Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this
page, the public can gain entry into ADAMS, which provides text and
image files of NRC's public documents. If you do not have access to
ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in
ADAMS, contact the NRC's PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-
415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
To obtain additional information on the NRC's FY 2009 budget
request, commenters and others may review NUREG-1100, Volume 24,
``Performance Budget: Fiscal Year 2009'' (February 2008), which
describes the NRC's budget for FY 2009, including the activities to be
performed in each program. This document is available on the NRC's
public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. Note, however,
that NUREG-1100, Volume 24, is based on the NRC's FY 2009 budget
request to Congress, and that the fees in this rulemaking are based on
the NRC appropriation in the H.R. 7324. The allocation of the H.R. 7324
budget to planned activities within each program, and to each fee class
and fee-relief activities category, is included in the publicly
available work papers supporting this rulemaking.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca I. Erickson, Office of the
Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone 301-415-7126, e-mail
Rebecca.Erickson@NRC.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Proposed Action
A. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170: Fees for Facilities,
Materials, Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services
Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended
B. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 171: Annual Fees for Reactor
Licenses and Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials Licenses, Including
Holders of Certificates of Compliance, Registrations, and Quality
Assurance Program Approvals and Government Agencies Licensed by the
NRC
III. Plain Language
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
VII. Regulatory Analysis
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
IX. Backfit Analysis
I. Background
The NRC is required each year, under OBRA-90 (42 U.S.C. 2214), as
amended, to recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority,
less the amounts appropriated from the NWF, amounts appropriated for
WIR, and amounts appropriated for generic homeland security activities
(non-fee items), through fees to NRC licensees and applicants. The NRC
receives 10 percent of its budget authority (less non-fee items) from
the general fund each year to pay for the cost of agency activities
that do not provide a direct benefit to NRC licensees, such as
international assistance and Agreement State activities (as defined
under section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended).
The NRC assesses two types of fees to meet the requirements of
OBRA-90, as amended. First, license and inspection fees, established in
10 CFR part 170 under the authority of the Independent Offices
Appropriation Act of 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 9701) recover the NRC's
cost of providing special benefits to identifiable applicants and
licensees. Examples of the services provided by the NRC for which these
fees are assessed include the review of applications for new licenses
and the review of renewal applications, the review of license amendment
requests, and inspections. Second, annual fees
[[Page 9131]]
established in 10 CFR part 171 under the authority of OBRA-90, as
amended, recover generic and other regulatory costs not otherwise
recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
The NRC is currently operating under a continuing resolution (CR)
for FY 2009 (H.R. 2638) that is effective through March 6, 2009. This
means that the FY 2009 funds currently available are similar to the
NRC's funding in FY 2008. Although the NRC has not received a new
appropriation for FY 2009 at the time this proposed fee rule was
submitted for publication in the Federal Register, the NRC must proceed
with this rulemaking to collect the required fee amounts by September
30, 2009. Therefore, the NRC is establishing fees in this rulemaking
based on the FY 2009 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill
(H.R. 7324), reported by the U.S. House of Representatives
Appropriations Committee. Although, neither the House nor the Senate
Appropriations Committees' bills have been brought to the floor of the
chamber for approval, the NRC is proposing to use the House bill since
it has a higher NRC Appropriation amount. If the actual Appropriation
signed by the President is lower than this bill, the fee amounts in the
final rule will be lower than the proposed rule amounts.
If Congress enacts a different version of the NRC budget than that
included in H.R. 7324, the fees in the NRC's FY 2009 final fee rule
will be adjusted to reflect the enacted budget. Therefore, fees in the
FY 2009 final fee rule may differ from the fees in this proposed rule.
The NRC will adjust the FY 2009 final fees based on the enacted version
of the budget without seeking further public comment.
For example, if Congress enacts legislation that requires the NRC
to operate under a CR for the full FY 2009 and appropriates
significantly less to the NRC, the fees in the FY 2009 final fee rule
will be modified from the fees in this proposed fee rule, to reflect
the reductions in budgeted resources. The NRC's total required fee
recovery could be reduced by approximately $144 million under a full-
year CR, as compared to H.R. 7324, although the NRC's exact fee
recovery amount would depend on the specific provisions in such
legislation. A given licensee's part 171 annual fees under a full-year
CR would be either similar to, or less than, the fees included in this
proposed fee rule. Fees in the FY 2009 final fee rule may also change
from this proposed fee rule for other reasons, such as changes in the
amount expected to be received from part 170 fees in FY 2009. Under a
full-year CR, annual fees for some license fee classes may be affected
more than other license fee classes, based on which NRC activities are
subject to budget reductions. It is possible that some annual fees may
increase from this proposed rule under a full-year CR, because the
NRC's ten percent fee relief, which is used to reduce all annual fees
in this proposed rule (discussed more in Section II.B.1, Application of
``Fee Relief/Surcharge'' of this document), would be reduced. This may
occur if a particular license fee class is not subject to budget
reductions under a CR, and also receives a smaller annual fee reduction
than that included in this proposed fee rule from the NRC's fee relief.
Based on the H.R. 7324, the NRC's required fee recovery amount for
the FY 2009 budget is approximately $870.6 million, which is reduced by
approximately $5.8 million to account for billing adjustments (i.e.,
expected unpaid invoices, payments for prior year invoices), resulting
in a total of approximately $864.8 million to be billed as fees in FY
2009.
In accordance with OBRA-90, as amended, $27.1 million of the
budgeted resources associated with generic homeland security activities
are excluded from the NRC's fee base in FY 2009. These funds cover
generic activities that support an entire license fee class or classes
of licensees such as rulemakings and guidance development. Under the
authority of the IOAA, the NRC will continue to bill under part 170 for
all licensee-specific homeland security-related services provided,
including security inspections and security plan reviews.
The amount of the NRC's required fee collections is set by law, and
is, therefore, outside the scope of this rulemaking. In FY 2009, the
NRC's total fee recovery amount increases by $91.5 million from FY
2008, mostly in response to increased regulatory and infrastructure
support workload for reactor renewal activities, new uranium recovery
facility applications, new uranium enrichment facilities, and materials
licensing. The FY 2009 budget was allocated to the fee classes that the
budgeted activities support. As such, the proposed annual fees for
reactor, fuel facility, most uranium recovery, and small materials
licensees increases. Another factor affecting the amount of annual fees
for each fee class is the estimated collection under part 170,
discussed in the Proposed Action section of this document.
II. Proposed Action
The NRC is proposing to amend its licensing, inspection, and annual
fees to recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2009 budget
authority (under H.R. 7324) less the appropriations for non-fee items.
The NRC's total budget authority for FY 2009 would be $1,069.8 million.
The non-fee items include $73.3 million appropriated from the NWF, $2
million for WIR activities, and $27.1 million for generic homeland
security activities. Based on the 90 percent fee-recovery requirement,
the NRC would have to recover approximately $870.6 million in FY 2009
through part 170 licensing and inspection fees and part 171 annual
fees. The amount required by law to be recovered through fees for FY
2009 would be $91.5 million more than the amount estimated for recovery
in FY 2008, an increase of approximately 12 percent.
The FY 2009 fee recovery amount is reduced by $5.8 million to
account for billing adjustments (i.e., for FY 2009 invoices that the
NRC estimates will not be paid during the fiscal year, less payments
received in FY 2009 for prior year invoices). This leaves approximately
$864.8 million to be billed as fees in FY 2009 through part 170
licensing and inspection fees and part 171 annual fees.
Table I summarizes the budget and fee recovery amounts for FY 2009.
(Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table I--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts for FY 2009
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority.................................. $1,069.8
Less Non-Fee Items.................................... -102.4
---------------
Balance............................................. $967.4
Fee Recovery Rate for FY 2009......................... x90.0%
---------------
Total Amount to be Recovered for FY 2009............ $870.6
Less Part 171 Billing Adjustments:
Unpaid FY 2009 Invoices (estimated)................... 1.9
Less Payments Received in FY 2009 for Prior Year -7.7
Invoices (estimated).................................
---------------
Subtotal............................................ -5.8
Amount to be Recovered Through Parts 170 and 171 Fees... $864.8
Less Estimated Part 170 Fees.......................... -320.2
---------------
Part 171 Fee Collections Required....................... $544.6
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 9132]]
The NRC estimates that $320.2 million would be recovered from part
170 fees in FY 2009. This represents an increase of approximately 15
percent as compared to the actual part 170 collections of $277.3
million for FY 2008. The NRC derived the FY 2009 estimate of part 170
fee collections based on the previous four quarters of billing data for
each license fee class, with adjustments to account for changes in the
NRC's FY 2009 budget, as appropriate. The remaining $544.6 million
would be recovered through the part 171 annual fees in FY 2009 which is
an increase of approximately 15 percent compared to actual part 171
collections of $472.9 million for FY 2008.
The NRC plans to publish the final fee rule no later than June
2009. The FY 2009 final fee rule will be a ``major rule'' as defined by
the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 801-808). Therefore, the
NRC's fee schedules for FY 2009 will become effective 60 days after
publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. The NRC will
send an invoice for the amount of the annual fee to reactors, part 72
licensees, major fuel cycle facilities, and other licensees with annual
fees of $100,000 or more, upon publication of the FY 2009 final rule.
For these licensees, payment is due on the effective date of the FY
2009 final rule. Because these licensees are billed quarterly, the
payment due is the amount of the total FY 2009 annual fee, less
payments made in the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
Materials licensees with annual fees of less than $100,000 are
billed annually. Those materials licensees whose license anniversary
date during FY 2009 falls before the effective date of the FY 2009
final rule will be billed for the annual fee during the anniversary
month of the license at the FY 2008 annual fee rate. Those materials
licensees whose license anniversary date falls on or after the
effective date of the FY 2009 final rule will be billed for the annual
fee at the FY 2009 annual fee rate during the anniversary month of the
license, and payment will be due on the date of the invoice.
As a matter of courtesy, the NRC plans to continue mailing the
proposed fee rule to all licensees, although, as a cost saving measure,
in accordance with its FY 1998 announcement, the NRC has discontinued
mailing the final fee rule to all licensees. Accordingly, the NRC does
not plan to routinely mail the FY 2009 final fee rule or future final
fee rules to licensees.
The NRC will send the final rule to any licensee or other person
upon specific request. To request a copy, contact the License Fee Team,
Division of the Controller, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, at
301-415-7554, or e-mail fees.resource@nrc.gov. In addition to
publication in the Federal Register, the final rule will be available
on the Internet at regulations.gov.
The NRC is proposing to amend 10 CFR parts 170 and 171 as discussed
in Sections II.A and II.B of this document.
A. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170: Fees for Facilities, Materials,
Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services Under the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, As Amended
In FY 2009, the NRC is proposing to increase the hourly rate to
recover the full cost of activities under part 170, and using this rate
to calculate ``flat'' application fees. The NRC is also proposing to
revise descriptions of some fee categories.
The NRC is proposing the following changes:
1. Hourly Rate
The NRC's hourly rate is used in assessing full cost fees for
specific services provided, as well as flat fees for certain
application reviews. The NRC is proposing to change the FY 2009 hourly
rate to $257. This rate would be applicable to all activities for which
fees are assessed under Sec. Sec. 170.21 and 170.31. The FY 2009
proposed hourly rate is higher than the hourly rate of $238 in the FY
2008 final fee rule. The increase is primarily due to the higher FY
2009 budget supporting increased regulatory and infrastructure support
workload for reactor license renewals and applications from new uranium
recovery and enrichment facilities. The hourly rate calculation is
described in further detail in the following paragraphs.
The NRC's hourly rate is derived by dividing the sum of recoverable
budgeted resources for (1) mission direct program salaries and
benefits; (2) mission indirect salaries and benefits and contract
activity; and (3) agency management and support and Inspector General
(IG), by mission direct full-time equivalent (FTE) hours. The mission
direct FTE hours are the product of the mission direct FTE times the
hours per direct FTE. The only budgeted resources excluded from the
hourly rate are those for mission direct contract activities.
In FY 2009, the NRC is proposing to use 1,371 hours per direct FTE,
same as FY 2008, to calculate the hourly fees. The NRC has reviewed
data from its time and labor system to determine if the annual direct
hours worked per direct FTE estimate requires updating for the FY 2009
fee rule. Based on this review of the most recent data available, the
NRC determined that 1,371 hours is the best estimate of direct hours
worked annually per direct FTE. This estimate excludes all non-direct
activities, such as training, general administration, and leave.
Table II shows the results of the hourly rate calculation
methodology. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table II--FY 2009 Hourly Rate Calculation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission Direct Program Salaries & Benefits.............. $322.0M
Mission Indirect Salaries & Benefits, and Contract 129.2M
Activity...............................................
Agency Management and Support, and IG................... 316.5M
---------------
Subtotal............................................ $767.7M
Less Offsetting Receipts................................ -0.1M
---------------
Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate................ $767.6M
Mission Direct FTEs..................................... 2,180
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budget Included in $257
Hourly Rate divided by Mission Direct FTE Hours).......
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As shown in Table II, dividing the $767.6 million budgeted amount
(rounded) included in the hourly rate by total mission direct FTE hours
(2,180 FTE times 1,371 hours) results in an hourly rate of $257. The
hourly rate is rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
2. ``Flat'' Application Fee Changes
The NRC is proposing to adjust the current flat application fees in
Sec. Sec. 170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the revised hourly rate of
$257. These flat fees are calculated by multiplying the average
professional staff hours needed to process the licensing actions by the
proposed professional hourly rate for FY 2009.
Biennially, the NRC evaluates historical professional staff hours
used to process a new license application for materials users fee
categories subject to flat application fees. This is in accordance with
the requirements of the Chief Financial Officer's Act. The NRC
conducted this biennial review for the FY 2009 fee rule which also
included license and amendment applications for import and export
licenses.
Evaluation of the historical data in FY 2009 shows that the average
number of professional staff hours required to complete licensing
actions in the materials program should be increased in some fee
categories and decreased in others to more accurately reflect current
data for completing these licensing
[[Page 9133]]
actions. The average number of professional staff hours needed to
complete new licensing actions was last updated for the FY 2007 final
fee rule. Thus, the revised average professional staff hours in this
fee rule reflect the changes in the NRC licensing review program that
have occurred since that time.
The higher hourly rate of $257 is the main reason for the increases
in the application fees. Application fees for some fee categories
(2.B., 3.G., 3.O., 3.R.1., 4.B., 5.A., 8.A., 9.C., and 10 B. under
Sec. 170.31) also increase because of the results of the biennial
review, which showed an increase in average time to process these types
of license applications. The decrease in fees for 7 fee categories
(3.C., 3.H., 3.N., 3.S., 9.A., 9.B., and 10.B. under Sec. 170.31) is
due to a decrease in average time to process these types of
applications.
The amounts of the materials licensing flat fees are rounded so
that the fees would be convenient to the user and the effects of
rounding would be de minimis (minimal). Fees under $1,000 are rounded
to the nearest $10, fees that are greater than $1,000 but less than
$100,000 are rounded to the nearest $100, and fees that are greater
than $100,000 are rounded to the nearest $1,000.
The proposed licensing flat fees are applicable for fee categories
K.1. through K.5. of Sec. 170.21, and fee categories 1.C., 1.D., 2.B.,
2.C., 3.A. through 3.S., 4.B. through 9.D., 10.B, 15.A. through 15.R.,
16, and 17 of Sec. 170.31. Applications filed on or after the
effective date of the FY 2009 final fee rule would be subject to the
revised fees in the final rule.
3. Fee Category Changes
The NRC is proposing to revise the fee categories for uranium
recovery facilities in Sec. 170.31. The new fee categories will better
reflect the NRC's regulatory effort expended for the different types of
facilities, both existing and planned. A more detailed discussion
follows in II.B.3.b. `Uranium Recovery Facilities', below.
In addition, the NRC is proposing to revise the description for two
fee categories, 7.A. and 17 in Sec. 170.31. The NRC proposes to amend
fee category 7.A., related to medical licenses, to more precisely state
which medical devices it covers. Currently, the fee category applies to
teletherapy devices. The NRC has historically included gamma
stereotactic radiosurgery units (gamma knives) in this category per
NUREG 1556, Volume 20, Appendix G. This amendment explicitly provides
that fee category 7.A. include gamma knives and other similar beam
therapy devices. The fee category 17 for master materials license is
being expanded to include non-government entities with multi-site
licenses.
The new fee category descriptions do not represent any additions to
the types of licenses regulated by NRC. These changes will help clarify
the types of licenses covered under specific categories for NRC
licensees.
4. Administrative Amendments
In response to a number of questions on specific sub-sections
related to fee exemptions for special projects, the NRC is proposing to
simplify (170.11 for ease of reading. There is no change to the NRC's
fee exemption policy.
In summary, the NRC is proposing to make the following changes to
10 CFR part 170
1. Establish revised professional hourly rate to use in assessing
fees for specific services;
2. Revise the license application fees to reflect the proposed FY
2009 hourly rate;
3. Revise some fee categories to better reflect NRC's regulatory
effort, and
4. Make certain administrative changes for purposes of
clarification.
B. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 171: Annual Fees for Reactor Licenses and
Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials Licenses, Including Holders of
Certificates of Compliance, Registrations, and Quality Assurance
Program Approvals and Government Agencies Licensed by the NRC
The FY 2009 proposed annual fees reflect NRC's use of its fee
relief to reduce all licensees' annual fees and changes in the number
of NRC licensees. This rulemaking also proposes to establish
rebaselined annual fees based on the H.R. 7324. The proposed amendments
are described as follows:
1. Application of ``Fee-Relief/Surcharge''
The NRC is proposing to use its fee relief to reduce all licensees'
annual fees, based on their percent of the budget.
The NRC applies the 10 percent of its budget that is excluded from
fee recovery under OBRA-90, as amended (fee relief), to offset the
total budget allocated for activities which do not directly benefit
current NRC licensees. The budget for these fee-relief activities are
totaled, and then reduced by the amount of the NRC's fee relief. Any
remaining fee-relief activities budget is allocated to all licensees'
annual fees, based on their percent of the budget (i.e., over 80
percent is allocated to power reactors each year).
In FY 2009, the NRC's 10 percent fee relief exceeds the total
budget for fee-relief activities by $2.9 million. In FY 2008, the 10
percent fee relief exceeded the total budget by $8.9 million. The
excess fee relief in FY 2009 is lower compared with FY 2008 primarily
due to higher FY 2009 budget resources for Agreement States support and
international activities.
As in FY 2008, the NRC is using the $2.9 million fee relief to
reduce all licensees' annual fees, based on their percent of the fee
recoverable budget authority. This is consistent with the existing fee
methodology, in that the benefits of the NRC's fee relief are allocated
to licensees in the same manner as deficit was allocated as surcharge
when the NRC did not receive enough fee relief to pay for fee-relief
activities. In FY 2009, the power reactors class of licensees will
receive approximately 88 percent of the fee relief based on their share
of the NRC fee recoverable budget authority.
The FY 2009 budgeted resources for NRC's fee-relief activities are
$93.8 million. The NRC's total fee relief in FY 2009 is $96.7 million,
leaving $2.9 million in fee relief to be used to reduce all licensees'
annual fees. These values are shown in Table III. (Individual values
may not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table III--Fee-Relief Activities
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2009
budgeted costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC
licensee or class of licensee:
a. International activities......................... $17.6
b. Agreement State oversight........................ 11.2
[[Page 9134]]
c. Scholarships and Fellowships..................... 15.0
2. Activities not assessed part 170 licensing and
inspection fees or part 171 annual fees based on
existing law or Commission policy:
a. Fee exemption for nonprofit educational 11.5
institutions.......................................
b. Costs not recovered from small entities under 10 3.9
CFR 171.16(c)......................................
c. Regulatory support to Agreement States........... 17.5
d. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (not related 13.7
to the power reactor and spent fuel storage fee
classes)...........................................
e. In situ leach rulemaking and unregistered general 3.5
licensees..........................................
---------------
Total fee-relief activities..................... $93.8
Less 10 percent of NRC's FY 2009 total budget (less non- -96.7
fee items).............................................
---------------
Fee Relief to be Allocated to All Licensees' Annual $-2.9
Fees...............................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table IV shows how the NRC is allocating the $2.9 million in fee
relief to each license fee class. As explained previously, the NRC is
allocating this fee relief to each license fee class based on the
percent of the budget for that fee class compared to the NRC's total
budget. The fee relief is used to partially offset the required annual
fee recovery from each fee class.
Separately, the NRC has continued to allocate the low-level waste
(LLW) surcharge based on the volume of LLW disposal of three classes of
licenses, operating reactors, fuel facilities, and materials users.
Table IV also shows the allocation of the LLW surcharge activity.
Because LLW activities support NRC licensees, the costs of these
activities are not offset by the NRC's fee relief. For FY 2009, the
total budget allocated for LLW activity is $2.3 million. (Individual
values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table IV--Allocation of Fee-Relief Activities and LLW surcharge
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLW surcharge Fee relief Total
----------------------------------------------------------------
Percent $M Percent $M $M
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors....................... 54.0 1.2 88 -2.6 -1.3
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning..... ........... ........... 2.5 -0.1 -0.1
Test and Research Reactors..................... ........... ........... 0.1 0.0 0.0
Fuel Facilities................................ 15.0 0.3 5.2 -0.2 0.2
Materials Users................................ 31.0 0.7 3.0 -0.1 0.6
Transportation................................. ........... ........... 0.4 0.0 0.0
Uranium Recovery............................... ........... ........... 0.8 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------
Total...................................... 100.0 2.3 100.0 -2.9 -0.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In FY 2009, the LLW surcharge exceeded the fee relief for two fee
classes, fuel facilities and materials users. The net surcharge will be
included in the annual fee for fuel facility and materials users
licensees.
2. Agreement State Activities
By letter dated June 12, 2008, Governor Timothy Kaine of the
Commonwealth of Virginia requested that the NRC enter into an Agreement
with the State as authorized by Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended. The final Agreement package is before the Commission
for approval and if approved, the Agreement is expected to take effect
by March 31, 2009. This will result in the transfer of approximately
380 licenses from the NRC to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Note that the continuing costs of oversight and regulatory support
for the Commonwealth of Virginia, as for any other Agreement State, are
recovered as fee-relief activities consistent with existing policy. The
budgeted resources for the regulatory support of Agreement State
licensees are prorated to the fee-relief activity based on the percent
of total licensees in Agreement States. The NRC proposes to update the
proration percentage in its fee calculation to make sure that resources
are allocated equitably between the NRC materials users fee class and
the regulatory support to Agreement States fee-relief category.
Accordingly, in anticipation of the Commonwealth of Virginia becoming
an Agreement State, the NRC has increased the percentage of materials
users regulatory support costs prorated to the fee-relief activity from
82 percent in FY 2008 to 85 percent in FY 2009. The resources for
licensing and inspection activities supporting NRC licensees in the
materials users fee class are not prorated to the fee-relief activity.
The number of NRC materials users licensees has been updated to
reflect the transfer of licensees to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Because of the effective date of March 31, 2009, the approximately 380
licensees transferring to the Commonwealth of Virginia will be subject
to one-half of their annual fee for FY 2009. The number of materials
users licensees are revised to reflect that the NRC will still collect
one-half of the annual fee from these licensees.
This is not a substantive policy change, but rather a calculation
change that will result in a more accurate estimate of the actual costs
of supporting Agreement State activities. If the Commonwealth of
Virginia does not become an Agreement State by the
[[Page 9135]]
publication of the final fee rule, the NRC will adjust the calculation
of the FY 2009 annual fees based on the latest information available at
that time. Any changes will be discussed in the final fee rule.
Also, Governor Jon Corizine of the State of New Jersey has by
letter dated October 16, 2008 formally requested that the NRC enter
into an Agreement with his state. If approved by the Commission, this
Agreement is expected to take effect by September 30, 2009.
Approximately 500 NRC licensees will be transferred to the State of New
Jersey. Because the expected effective date is September 30, 2009,
these licensees will be assessed annual fees by NRC for the full year
of FY 2009. Therefore, no changes to the FY 2009 fees or the number of
NRC licensees have been made for this potential event.
3. Revised Annual Fees
The NRC is proposing to revise its annual fees in Sec. Sec. 171.15
and 171.16 for FY 2009 to recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's
FY 2009 budget authority after subtracting the non-fee amounts and the
estimated amount to be recovered through part 170 fees. The part 170
estimate for this proposed rule increased by $28.5 million from the FY
2008 fee rule based on the latest invoice data available. The total
amount to be recovered through annual fees for FY 2009 is $544.6
million. The required annual fee collection in FY 2008 was $468.9
million.
The Commission has determined (71 FR 30733; May 30, 2006) that the
agency should proceed with a presumption in favor of rebaselining when
calculating annual fees each year. Under this method, the NRC's budget
is analyzed in detail and budgeted resources are allocated to fee
classes and categories of licensees. The Commission expects that most
years there will be budget and other changes that warrant the use of
the rebaselining method.
As compared with FY 2008 annual fees, rebaselined fees are higher
for three classes of licensees (power reactors, non-power reactors, and
fuel facilities), and lower for two classes of licensees (spent fuel
storage/reactor decommissioning and transportation). Within the
materials users and uranium recovery fee classes, annual fees for most
licensees increase, while annual fees for some licensees decrease.
The NRC's total fee recoverable budget, as mandated by law, is
approximately $92 million larger in FY 2009 as compared with FY 2008.
Much of this increase is for reactor renewal activities, new uranium
recovery facility applications, new uranium enrichment facility
applications, and materials licensing. The FY 2009 budget was allocated
to the fee classes that the budgeted activities support. As such, the
proposed annual fees for operating reactor, non-power reactor, fuel
facility, most uranium recovery and small materials licensees
increases. Also in FY 2009, generic NRC resources supporting new
uranium recovery applications are included in the budget allocated to
operating power reactors and fuel facility fee classes because these
licensees will potentially benefit from increased production of uranium
milled by new uranium recovery facilities. The impact of this
allocation on the operating reactors and fuel facilities annual fees is
less than one percent.
The factors affecting all annual fees include the distribution of
budgeted costs to the different classes of licenses (based on the
specific activities NRC will perform in FY 2009), the estimated part
170 collections for the various classes of licenses, and allocation of
the fee relief to all fee classes. The percentage of the NRC's budget
not subject to fee recovery remained unchanged at 10 percent from FY
2008 to FY 2009.
Table V shows the rebaselined annual fees for FY 2009 for a
representative list of categories of licenses. The FY 2008 fee is also
shown for comparative purposes.
Table V--Rebaselined Annual Fees for FY 2009
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2009
Class/category of licenses FY 2008 proposed
annual fee annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors (Including $4,167,000 $4,735,000
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor
Decommissioning Annual Fee)............
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor 135,000 127,000
Decommissioning........................
Test and Research Reactors (Non-power 76,500 124,500
Reactors)..............................
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility.... 3,007,000 4,721,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility..... 899,000 1,659,000
UFCO6 Conversion Facility.............. 589,000 975,000
Conventional Mills..................... 10,300 32,200
Typical Materials Users:
Radiographers (Category 3O)........ 11,100 23,100
Well Loggers (Category 5A)......... 3,400 9,900
Gauge Users (Category 3P).......... 2,100 3,800
Broad Scope Medical (Category 7B).. 22,900 36,800
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The work papers which support this proposed rule show in detail the
allocation of NRC's budgeted resources for each class of licenses and
how the fees are calculated. The reports included in these work papers
summarize the FY 2009 budgeted FTE and contract dollars allocated to
each fee class and fee-relief activities category at the planned
activity and program level, and compare these allocations to those used
to develop final FY 2008 fees. The work papers are available
electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at
Web site address https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The work
papers may also be examined at the NRC PDR located at One White Flint
North, Room O-1F22, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
The budgeted costs allocated to each class of licenses and the
calculations of the rebaselined fees are described in paragraphs a.
through h. of this Section. Individual values in the Tables presented
in this Section may not sum to totals due to rounding.
a. Fuel Facilities
The FY 2009 budgeted cost to be recovered in the annual fees
assessment to the fuel facility class of licenses [which includes
licensees in fee categories 1.A.(1)(a), 1.A.(1)(b), 1.A.(2)(a),
1.A.(2)(b), 1.A.(2)(c), 1.E., and 2.A.(1), under Sec. 171.16] is
approximately $23.1 million. This value is based on the full cost of
budgeted resources associated with all activities that support this fee
class, which is reduced by estimated part 170
[[Page 9136]]
collections and adjusted for allocated generic transportation
resources, and fee relief. In FY 2009, the LLW surcharge for fuel
facilities exceeds the allocated fee-relief (see Table IV in Section
II.B.1., ``Application of ``Fee Relief/Surcharge'' of this document).
The summary calculations used to derive this value are presented in
Table VI for FY 2009, with FY 2008 values shown for comparison.
Table VI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Fuel Facilities
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2008 FY 2009
Summary fee calculation final proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources..................... $31.5 $44.6
Less estimated part 170 receipts............. -17.2 -21.8
-------------------------
Net part 171 resources................... 14.3 22.8
Allocated generic transportation............. +0.5 +0.4
Allocated fee relief/surcharge............... -0.1 +0.2
Billing adjustments.......................... -0.8 -0.3
-------------------------
Total required annual fee recovery....... 13.9 23.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The increase in FY 2009 total budgeted resources allocated to this
fee class compared with FY 2008 is primarily due to increases in
resources for new uranium enrichment facility licensing activities
partially offset by a higher part 170 revenue estimate.
The total required annual fee recovery amount is allocated to the
individual fuel facility licensees based on the effort/fee
determination matrix developed for the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR
31447; June 10, 1999). In the matrix included in the NRC publicly
available work papers, licensees are grouped into categories according
to their licensed activities (i.e., nuclear material enrichment,
processing operations, and material form) and according to the level,
scope, depth of coverage, and rigor of generic regulatory programmatic
effort applicable to each category from a safety and safeguards
perspective. This methodology can be applied to determine fees for new
licensees, current licensees, licensees in unique license situations,
and certificate holders.
This methodology is adaptable to changes in the number of licensees
or certificate holders, licensed or certified material and/or
activities, and total programmatic resources to be recovered through
annual fees. When a license or certificate is modified, it may result
in a change of category for a particular fuel facility licensee as a
result of the methodology used in the fuel facility effort/fee matrix.
Consequently, this change may also have an effect on the fees assessed
to other fuel facility licensees and certificate holders. For example,
if a fuel facility licensee amends its license/certificate (e.g.,
decommissioning or license termination) that results in it not being
subject to part 171 costs applicable to the fee class, then the
budgeted costs for the safety and/or safeguards components will be
spread among the remaining fuel facility licensees/certificate holders.
The methodology is applied as follows. First, a fee category is
assigned based on the nuclear material and activity authorized by
license or certificate. Although a licensee/certificate holder may
elect not to fully use a license/certificate, the license/certificate
is still used as the source for determining authorized nuclear material
possession and use/activity. Second, the category and license/
certificate information are used to determine where the licensee/
certificate holder fits into the matrix. The matrix depicts the
categorization of licensees/certificate holders by authorized material
types and use/activities.
Each year, the NRC's fuel facility project managers and regulatory
analysts determine the level of effort associated with regulating each
of these facilities. This is done by assigning, for each fuel facility,
separate effort factors for the safety and safeguards activities
associated with each type of regulatory activity. The matrix includes
ten types of regulatory activities, including enrichment and scrap/
waste related activities (see the work papers for the complete list).
Effort factors are assigned as follows: One (low regulatory effort),
five (moderate regulatory effort), and ten (high regulatory effort).
These effort factors are then totaled for each fee category, so that
each fee category has a total effort factor for safety activities and a
total effort factor for safeguards activities.
The effort factors for the various fuel facility fee categories are
summarized in Table VII. The value of the effort factors shown, as well
as the percent of the total effort factor for all fuel facilities,
reflects the total regulatory effort for each fee category (not per
facility). Note that the effort factors for the High Enriched Uranium
Fuel (HEU) fee category have decreased from FY 2008. The safety and
safeguards factors decreased in FY 2009 to reflect process changes such
as HEU downblending and liquid UF6 workload. Taking into
account both of these changes, the total safety and safeguards effort
factor change is relatively small.
Table VII--Effort Factors for Fuel Facilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effort factors (percent of
Number of total)
Facility type (fee category) facilities -------------------------------
Safety Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a))........................ 2 87 (33.3) 97 (51.1)
Uranium Enrichment (1.E)....................................... 2 70 (26.8) 40 (21.1)
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))......................... 3 71 (27.2) 26 (13.7)
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1))....................................... 1 12 (4.6) 7 (3.7)
Limited Operations (1.A.(2)(a))................................ 1 12 (4.6) 3 (1.6)
[[Page 9137]]
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))........... 1 3 (1.1) 15 (7.9)
Hot Cell (1.A.(2)(c)).......................................... 1 6 (2.3) 2 (1.1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The budgeted resources before the surcharge for safety activities
($13,283,085) are allocated to each fee category based on its percent
of the total regulatory effort for safety activities. For example, if
the total effort factor for safety activities for all fuel facilities
is 100, and the total effort factor for safety activities for a given
fee category is 10, that fee category will be allocated 10 percent of
the total budgeted resources for safety activities. Similarly, the
budgeted resources before the surcharge for safeguards activities
($9,669,679) are allocated to each fee category based on its percent of
the total regulatory effort for safeguards activities. The fuel
facility fee class' portion of the surcharge ($192,336) is allocated to
each fee category based on its percent of the total regulatory effort
for both safety and safeguards activities. The annual fee per licensee
is then calculated by dividing the total allocated budgeted resources
for the fee category by the number of licensees in that fee category as
summarized in Table VIII.
Table VIII--Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2009 annual
Facility type (fee category) fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a))................ $4,721,000
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).............................. 2,823,000
Low Enriched Uranium (1.A.(1)(b))...................... 1,659,000
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1))............................... 975,000
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))... 924,000
Limited Operations Facility (1.A.(2)(a))............... 770,000
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))..................... 411,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NRC does not expect to authorize operation of any new uranium
enrichment facility in FY 2009. The annual fee applicable to any type
of new uranium enrichment facility is the annual fee in Sec. 171.16,
fee category 1.E., Uranium Enrichment, unless the NRC establishes a new
fee category for the facility in a subsequent rulemaking.
b. Uranium Recovery Facilities
The total FY 2009 budgeted cost to be recovered through annual fees
assessed to the uranium recovery class [which includes licensees in fee
categories 2.A.(2)(a), 2.A.(2)(b), 2.A.(2)(c), 2.A.(2)(d), 2.A.(2)(e),
2.A.(3), 2.A.(4), 2.A.(5) and 18.B., under Sec. 171.16], is
approximately $0.52 million. The derivation of this value is shown in
Table IX, with FY 2008 values shown for comparison purposes.
Table IX--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Uranium Recovery
Facilities
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2008 FY 2009
Summary fee calculations final proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources..................... $2.56 $6.97
Less estimated part 170 receipts............. -2.02 -6.38
-------------------------
Net part 171 resources................... $0.54 $0.59
Allocated generic transportation............. +N/A +N/A
Allocated fee relief......................... -0.03 -0.02
Billing adjustments.......................... -0.06 -0.05
-------------------------
Total required annual fee recovery....... 0.46 0.52
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The increase in the total required annual fee recovery is mainly
due to an increase in uranium recovery licensing and inspection
resources for the existing licensees. In FY 2009, NRC is proposing to
exclude the generic budget resources supporting applications for new
uranium recovery facilities from the annual fee charged to current
uranium recovery licensees. Instead the budget resources would be
allocated to operating reactors and fuel facility licensees since these
fee classes would potentially benefit from increased production of the
uranium milled by the new facilities. The generic resources supporting
the new uranium recovery facilities do not benefit the existing uranium
recovery licensees.
Since FY 2002, the NRC has computed the annual fee for the uranium
recovery fee class by allocating the total annual fee amount for this
fee class, between DOE and the other licensees in this fee class. The
NRC regulates DOE's Title I and Title II activities under the Uranium
Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA). The Congress established
the two programs, Title I and Title II under UMTRCA, to protect the
public and the environment from uranium milling. The UMTRCA Title I
program is for remedial action at abandoned mill tailings sites where
tailings resulted largely from production of uranium for the weapons
program. The NRC also regulates DOE's UMTRCA Title II program which is
directed toward uranium mill sites licensed by the NRC or Agreement
States in or after 1978.
In FY 2009, 35 percent of the total annual fee amount, less
$246,563 specifically budgeted for Title I activities, is allocated to
DOE's UMTRCA facilities. The remaining 65 percent of the total annual
fee (less the amounts specifically budgeted for Title I activities) is
allocated to other licensees. The reduction in resources for licensing
the DOE is based on the reduced effort expended for DOE UMTRCA. This is
a change from FY
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2008 when the distribution of the annual fee was 40 percent to DOE and
60 percent to non-DOE licensees. The change reflects NRC's current
level of effort. This change in the distribution of uranium recovery
fee class resources between non-DOE uranium recovery facilities and DOE
results in a decrease in annual fee for the DOE compared to the
increase in annual fee for non-DOE facilities. Of the required annual
fee collections, $342,000 (rounded) would be assessed to DOE for
licensing its UMTRCA activities as fee category 18.B in Sec. 170.16.
The remaining $176,000 (rounded) would be recovered through annual
fees assessed to the other licensees in this fee class (i.e.,
conventional mills, in-situ recovery (ISR) facilities), 11e.(2) mill
tailings disposal facilities (incidental to existing tailings sites),
and a uranium water treatment facility. Beginning in FY 2009, NRC is
proposing to replace the existing single fee category, 2.A.(2)(b) for
uranium ISR facilities with four fee categories based on the type of
ISR facilities. The addition of the new fee categories is needed to
reflect the diverse types of uranium recovery facilities planned for
construction and operation in the near future. Additionally, the new
fee categories will better reflect the NRC's regulatory benefit
provided to the different types of facilities, both existing and
planned.
The revised fee category, 2.A.(2)(b), would be for an ISR
yellowcake facility with zero to three satellites. These facilities
include a central processing plant (CPP) that includes all the
equipment necessary to collect uranium on resin, strip uranium from the
resin, and process the uranium into a yellowcake slurry or dried
yellowcake powder. These facilities may also receive resins from up to
three satellite facilities operated by the same company for further
processing of the contained uranium into yellowcake.
The new 2.A.(2)(c) fee category would be for an ISR yellowcake
facility with more than three satellites. These facilities have a CPP
with the same equipment as the fee category as stated previously, but
have four or more satellite facilities, which necessitates a
correspondingly greater allocation of the staff's generic resources.
The new 2.A.(2)(d) fee category would be for a stand-alone ISR
Resin facility which performs ISR recovery operations and includes
equipment for the collection of dissolved uranium from onsite
underground ore bodies onto ion exchange resins. The resins are then
transported to another company's facility for further processing of the
collected uranium into yellowcake.
The new fee category, 2.A.(2)(e), would be for a Resin Toll Milling
Facility. These facilities do not conduct any onsite recovery of
uranium but consist of a CPP for the purpose of processing resins from
other ISR facilities into yellowcake. Allocation of generic resources
for these facilities would be less than that allocated for the other
categories of ISR facilities.
The annual fee being assessed to DOE includes recovery of the costs
specifically budgeted for NRC's Title I activities plus 35 percent of
the remaining annual fee amount, including the fee-relief and generic/
other costs, for the uranium recovery class. The remaining 65 percent
of the fee-relief and generic/other costs are assessed to the other NRC
licensees in this fee class that are subject to annual fees. The costs
to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the uranium recovery
class are shown in Table X.
Table X--Costs Recovered Through Annual Fees; Uranium Recovery Fee Class
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE annual fee mount (UMTRCA title I and title II) general licenses:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
UMTRCA Title I budgeted costs.......................... $246,563
35 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted 103,269
costs..................................................
35 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief.............. -8,241
---------------
Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded).......... 342,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual fee amount for other uranium recovery licenses:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
65 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted 191,785
costs less the amounts specifically budgeted for Title
I activities...........................................
65 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief.............. -15,304
---------------
Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery 176,481
Licenses...........................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NRC will continue to use a matrix (which is included in the
supporting work papers) to determine the level of effort associated
with conducting the generic regulatory actions for the different (non-
DOE) licensees in this fee class. The weights derived in this matrix
are used to allocate the approximately $176,000, annual fee amount to
these licensees. The use of this uranium recovery annual fee matrix was
established in the FY 1995 final fee rule (60 FR 32217; June 20, 1995).
The FY 2009 matrix is described as follows.
First, the methodology identifies the categories of licenses
included in this fee class (besides DOE). In FY 2009, these categories
are conventional uranium mills and heap leach facilities, uranium
solution mining and resin ISR facilities mill tailings disposal
facilities (11e.(2) disposal facilities), and uranium water treatment
facilities.
Second, the matrix identifies the types of operating activities
that support and benefit these licensees. In FY 2009, the activities
related to generic decommissioning/reclamation are not included in the
matrix, because generic decommissioning/reclamation activities are
included in the surcharge, and therefore need not be a factor in
determining annual fees. The activities included in the FY 2009 matrix
are operations, waste operations, and groundwater protection. The
relative weight of each type of activity is then determined, based on
the regulatory resources associated with each activity. The operations,
waste operations, and groundwater protection activities have weights of
0, 5, and 10, respectively, in the FY 2009 matrix.
Each year, the NRC determines the level of benefit to each licensee
for generic uranium recovery program activities for each type of
generic activity in the matrix. This is done by assigning, for each fee
category, separate benefit factors for each type of regulatory activity
in the matrix. Benefit factors are assigned on a scale of 0 to 10 as
follows: zero (no regulatory benefit), five (moderate regulatory
benefit), and ten (high regulatory benefit). These benefit factors are
first multiplied by the relative weight assigned to each activity
(described previously). Total benefit factors by fee category, and per
licensee in each fee category, are then calculated. These benefit
factors thus reflect the relative regulatory benefit associated with
each licensee and fee category.
The benefit factors per licensee and per fee category, for each of
the non-DOE fee categories included in the uranium recovery fee class,
are as follows:
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Table XI--Benefit Factors for Uranium Recovery Licenses
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