Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2010, 34220-34248 [2010-14069]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34220-34248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14069]



[[Page 34219]]

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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 2010; Final Rule

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 115 / Wednesday, June 16, 2010 / 
Rules and Regulations

[[Page 34220]]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 170 and 171

 NRC-2009-0333
RIN 3150-AI70


Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2010

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending the 
licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its applicants and 
licensees. The amendments are necessary to implement the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, which requires the 
NRC to recover through fees approximately 90 percent of its budget 
authority in fiscal year (FY) 2010, not including 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 Energy and Water Development 
and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 2010, signed by the President 
on October 28, 2009, the NRC's required fee recovery amount for the FY 
2010 budget is approximately $912.2 million. After accounting for 
billing adjustments, the total amount to be billed as fees is 
approximately $911.1 million.

DATES: Effective Date: August 16, 2010.

ADDRESSES: The comments received on the proposed rule and the NRC's 
work papers that support these final changes to 10 CFR parts 170 and 
171 are available from the following locations:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2009-0333. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, 301-492-3668; e-mail 
Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Room 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 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Renu Suri, Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone 301-415-0161, e-mail Renu.Suri@NRC.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background
II. Response to Comments
III. Final 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
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
VII. Regulatory Analysis
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
IX. Backfit Analysis
X. Congressional Review Act

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 
through fees to NRC licensees and applicants, not including the 
following non-fee items: amounts appropriated from the NWF, amounts 
appropriated for WIR, and amounts appropriated for generic homeland 
security activities. The NRC receives 10 percent of its budget 
authority (not including 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. First, user fees, presented 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. For example, the NRC assesses 
these fees to cover the cost of inspections, applications for new 
licenses and license renewals, and requests for license amendments. 
Second, annual fees, presented in 10 CFR part 171 under the authority 
of OBRA-90, recover generic regulatory costs not otherwise recovered 
through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
    Based on Pub. L. 111-85, the NRC's required fee recovery amount for 
the FY 2010 budget is approximately $912.2 million, which is reduced by 
approximately $1.1 million to account for billing adjustments (i.e., 
expected unpaid invoices, payments for prior year invoices), resulting 
in a total of approximately $911.1 million to be billed as fees in FY 
2010.
    In accordance with OBRA-90, $22.2 million of the agency's budgeted 
resources for generic homeland security activities are excluded from 
the NRC's fee base in FY 2010. These funds cover generic activities 
such as rulemakings and the development of guidance documents that 
support entire license fee classes or classes of licensees. Under its 
IOAA authority, the NRC will continue to charge part 170 fees 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 2010, the 
NRC's total fee recovery amount has increased by $41.5 million from FY 
2009, mostly in response to increased activities for reactor oversight, 
new reactor programs, information technology support, homeland security 
issues, and licensing reviews for fuel facilities, non-power reactors 
and spent fuel storage. The FY 2010 budget was allocated to the fee 
classes that the budgeted activities support. As such, the annual fees 
for power reactor, most fuel facility, uranium recovery, and small 
materials licensees have increased. Another factor affecting the amount 
of annual fees for each fee class is the estimated collection under 
part 170, discussed in Section III, ``Final Action'', of this document.

II. Response to Comments

    The NRC published the FY 2010 proposed fee rule on March 10, 2010 
(75 FR 11375) to solicit public comment on its proposed revisions to 10 
CFR parts 170 and 171. By the close of the comment period (April 9, 
2010), the NRC received six comments and one comment thereafter, for a 
total of seven comments that were considered in this fee rulemaking. 
The comments have been grouped by issues and are addressed in a 
collective response.

[[Page 34221]]

A. Specific Part 171 Issues

1. Fuel Facilities Annual Fee Increase
    Comment. Some commenters were concerned about the increase in 
annual fees. For fee category 1.A.(1)(b), Low Enriched Uranium Fuel, 
one commenter noted that the increase appears disproportionate to the 
overall increase for FY 2010 annual fee. Another commenter requested 
NRC to reconsider the increase in annual fee for the fee category Gas 
Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration, because the risk of their facility 
licensed under 1.A.(2)(b) is very low relative to other operating fuel 
cycle facilities.
    Response. Annual fees fluctuate from year to year based on a number 
of factors, including the budgeted resources for a license fee class. 
The higher FY 2010 fee is primarily due to an increase in total 
budgeted resources allocated to the fuel facilities fee class for 
increased support for environmental reviews, and licensing amendments 
and renewals for existing fuel fabrication facilities. Because annual 
fees must recover all budgeted resources for a fee class not recovered 
through part 170 fees, annual fees for all facilities in the fee class 
are impacted by the lower part 170 fee collections estimate for FY 
2010. A higher fee-relief adjustment and low-level waste (LLW) 
surcharge for this fee class also increased the annual fee.
    The commenter requests reconsideration of their annual fee because 
their facility poses a lower risk relative to other fuel facilities due 
to the small amount of the radioactive material, uranium hexafluoride, 
that it is authorized to possess and because it has not deployed all 
the machines that are authorized in the license issued to the facility. 
However, the NRC is unable to change the fee for the following reasons. 
The NRC is mandated to recover most of its budget resources through 
fees based on the costs of providing regulatory services. Under NRC's 
methodology established through public notice and comment rulemaking 
(64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999) the total budgeted resources for fuel 
facilities are allocated to individual fuel facility fee categories 
based on the effort/fee determination matrix, which was described in 
detail in the FY 2010 proposed fee rule. Although a licensee 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. The NRC continues to believe that an 
effort/fee determination matrix, based on the commensurate level of 
regulatory effort related to the various fuel facility categories from 
a safety and safeguards perspective, results in annual fees that 
accurately reflect the current costs of providing generic and other 
regulatory services to each fuel facility type. As they do each year, 
the NRC's fuel facility project managers and regulatory analysts 
reviewed the safety and safeguards effort factors and did not make any 
changes for fee category 1.A.(2)(b). Therefore, the NRC is retaining 
the effort/fee determination matrix as outlined in the proposed rule. 
The Commission will continue to review these factors and make changes, 
as appropriate.
2. Uranium Recovery Annual Fees
    Comment: Some commenters were concerned that the percentage 
increase in uranium recovery fees is greater than the fee increase for 
power reactors.
    Response. Annual fees fluctuate from year to year based on a number 
of factors, including the budgeted resources for a license fee class. 
As stated in the proposed rule, the increase in the FY 2010 total 
required annual fee recovery amount for uranium recovery licensees is 
mainly due to increased budget resources allocated to support uranium 
recovery legal and program infrastructure. In addition, the FY 2010 
fee-relief adjustment amount is an additional charge compared to a 
reduction in FY 2009. For more discussion on the fee-relief adjustment, 
refer to Section III.B.1. of this final rule.
    In response to the concern that the proposed fee structure favors 
power reactors at the expense of other licensees, the NRC disagrees. 
The agency is mandated to recover most of its budget resources through 
fees. The NRC complies with this law by calculating fees based on 
allocation of budget resources to each fee class. The NRC strives to 
ensure that the fees are equitable and fair to each class of licensees. 
This is why in FY 2010, as noted in the March 2010 proposed fee rule, 
generic budgeted resources supporting applications for new uranium 
recovery facilities are excluded from the calculation of annual fee 
charged to current uranium recovery licensees. Instead these resources 
are included in the calculation of fee charged to operating reactors 
and fuel facility licensees because they will potentially benefit from 
increased production of the uranium milled by the new facilities. The 
NRC's annual fees for the uranium recovery licensees reflect the 
budgeted cost of NRC's regulatory services for this class of licensees.
3. Agreement State Activities
    Comment. Some commenters expressed concern about the impact on NRC 
materials program licensees once additional states beyond the State of 
New Jersey become Agreement States.
    Response. This concern has been largely addressed by legislation. 
To address fairness and equity concerns associated with licensees 
paying for the cost of activities that do not directly benefit them, 
the FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act amended 
OBRA-90 to decrease the NRC's fee recovery amount to 90 percent 
beginning in FY 2005. In response to concerns about decreasing numbers 
of NRC licensees as more states become Agreement States, the NRC notes 
that the fee calculation methodology considers the percentage of 
licensees in Agreement States in establishing fees for the materials 
users fee class. As explained in the proposed fee rule, the budgeted 
resources providing support to Agreement States or their licensees are 
included in total fee-relief costs, which are offset by the 10 percent 
non-fee recoverable funding (fee relief) provided by Congress. For 
example, if the NRC develops a rule, guidance document, or a tracking 
system that is associated with or otherwise benefits Agreement State 
licensees, the costs of these activities are prorated to the fee-relief 
activities according to the percentage of licensees in that fee class 
in Agreement States (e.g., if 85 percent of materials users licensees 
are in Agreement States, 85 percent of these regulatory infrastructure 
costs are included in the fee-relief category). To the extent that the 
10 percent fee relief is insufficient to cover the total cost of all 
fee-relief activities, these remaining costs are spread to all 
licensees based on their percentage of the budget.

B. Other Issues

1. Fee Increases Are Inconsistent With Current Economic Conditions
    Comment. Some commenters stated that the NRC fees are increasing in 
spite of the fact that the country is experiencing economic downturn. 
The commenters recommended revising the fees to be in line with 
inflation. They also expressed concern that the NRC hourly rate is 
extremely high.
    Response. The NRC acknowledges that an increase in fees is more 
difficult to absorb in the current economic downturn. In compliance 
with OBRA-90, as amended, NRC's fees are calculated to recover 90 
percent of its approved budget. Any adjustments in fees to align it 
with the rate of inflation

[[Page 34222]]

or other external factors could result in NRC's not recovering 90 
percent of its budget and thus not complying with the law. As such, the 
purpose of the FY 2010 fee rulemaking, as with prior year fee 
rulemakings, is to establish fees in a fair and transparent manner to 
recover the required portion of the NRC's budget.
    In response to the comment on the high hourly rate, the NRC's rate 
is calculated to recover all the budgeted costs supporting the services 
provided under part 170, including all programmatic and agency 
overhead, which is consistent with the full cost recovery concept 
emphasized in the Office of Management and Budget's Circular No. A-25, 
``User Charges.'' The NRC did not receive any comments suggesting ways 
to revise its hourly rate calculation methodology, and comments on this 
fee rule and other rulemakings have consistently supported the NRC's 
efforts to collect more of its budget through part 170 fees-for-
services rather than part 171 annual fees. As discussed in the proposed 
rule, the increase in the hourly rate is due to the higher budget 
necessary for supporting increased infrastructure and support costs for 
the new reactors program, fuel facility reviews, reactor licensing 
renewal, international activities, and spent fuel storage and 
transportation activities. Therefore, the NRC is retaining the hourly 
rate formula as presented in the FY 2010 proposed rule.
2. Hold an Annual Public Meeting To Share Fee Projections
    Comment. Some commenters expressed an interest in an annual public 
meeting early in the year with NRC stakeholders to share information on 
the budget request and its impact on the future fees.
    Response. The NRC's Congressional Budget Justification is submitted 
to Congress in early February for review and approval by the U.S. 
Congress and is publicly available at that time. An Appendix in this 
document provides an estimate of fees. The current document (NUREG-
1100, Volume 26) can be viewed on NRC's Web site https://www.nrc.gov. 
The proposed fee rule for the current fiscal year is published 
subsequent to the submittal of the Congressional document. The 
Commission acknowledges the importance of this information to a 
licensee's budget but cannot provide predecisional policies or certain 
administrative fee-related information until the proposed fee rule is 
published. The timing of a periodic meeting will depend on the timing 
of the budget process, publication of the proposed rule, and NRC staff 
availability.
3. Performance Based Licensing
    Comment. Some commenters recommended expansion of performance based 
licensing and the increased use of Safety and Environment Review Panel 
(SERP) to help in reducing review costs/hourly charges for uranium 
recovery facilities.
    Response. The NRC currently allows changes to a facility and tests 
through a SERP as part of a performance based license condition (PBLC). 
However, to use the PBLC, the licensee must not undertake an activity 
that falls outside the scope of the safety and environmental reviews 
already performed at a particular site. The scope of a SERP review is, 
therefore, necessarily limited to what is already known and reviewed 
about a particular site, i.e. to information that cannot change.
    The use of a SERP would have no effect on the uranium recovery 
facility annual fee because these fees are based on the generic 
activities that are not charged to a particular licensee, but to the 
industry as a whole. Furthermore, as noted previously, generic costs 
for the new uranium recovery facilities in FY 2010 were allocated to 
the operating power reactors and fuel facilities. A SERP would also 
have no effect on inspections and license renewal costs because the NRC 
must perform those functions. Most license amendments are of a nature 
that cannot be addressed by a SERP because of the necessary limitations 
that are placed on performance based licensing. Amendments such as 
expansions (i.e., new satellites and plant upgrades), restarts, surety 
updates, process changes, toll milling, and change-of-control comprise 
the majority of amendments that the staff reviews. None of these 
amendments can be addressed using a SERP. Therefore, the Commission 
disagrees that the use of a SERP can be expanded to the point where 
hourly or annual fees would substantively decrease.

III. Final Action

    The NRC is amending its licensing, inspection, and annual fees to 
recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2010 budget authority less 
the appropriations for non-fee items. The NRC's total budget authority 
for FY 2010 is $1,066.9 million. The non-fee items include $29.0 
million appropriated from the NWF, $2.1 million for WIR activities, and 
$22.2 million for generic homeland security activities. Based on the 90 
percent fee-recovery requirement, the NRC will have to recover 
approximately $912.2 million in FY 2010 through part 170 licensing and 
inspection fees and part 171 annual fees. The amount required by law to 
be recovered through fees for FY 2010 is $41.5 million more than the 
amount estimated for recovery in FY 2009, an increase of approximately 
5 percent.
    The FY 2010 fee recovery amount is reduced by $1.1 million to 
account for billing adjustments (i.e., for FY 2010 invoices that the 
NRC estimates will not be paid during the fiscal year, less payments 
received in FY 2010 for prior year invoices). This leaves approximately 
$911.1 million to be billed as fees in FY 2010 through part 170 
licensing and inspection fees and part 171 annual fees.
    Table I summarizes the budget and fee recovery amounts for FY 2010. 
(Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

          Table I--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts For FY 2010
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority..................................        $1,066.9
Less Non-Fee Items......................................           -53.3
                                                         ---------------
    Balance.............................................        $1,013.6
Fee Recovery Rate for FY 2010...........................             90%
Total Amount to be Recovered for FY 2010................          $912.2
    Less Part 171 Billing Adjustments:
    Unpaid FY 2010 Invoices (estimated).................             2.1
    Less Payments Received in FY 2010 for Prior Year                -3.2
     Invoices (estimated)...............................
                                                         ---------------
        Subtotal........................................            -1.1
Amount to be Recovered Through Parts 170 and 171 Fees...          $911.1

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    Less Estimated Part 170 Fees........................          -357.3
Part 171 Fee Collections Required.......................          $553.8
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In this final rule, NRC amends fees for the power reactors, non-
power reactors, some fuel facilities and small materials users, and 
DOE's Transportation license. The changes to the annual fee are 
primarily due to updated part 170 collections estimate. The NRC updated 
the part 170 collections estimate based on the latest billing data 
available, adjusted for FY 2010 budget changes, as appropriate. The 
total part 170 collections estimate for FY 2010 final rule decreased by 
approximately $6.7 million compared to the proposed rule, primarily for 
the operating reactors and spent fuel storage/reactors in 
decommissioning classes of licensees resulting in a greater amount to 
be recovered through annual fees from these licensees. The NRC 
estimates that $357.3 million will be recovered from part 170 fees in 
FY 2010 which represents an increase of approximately seven percent 
compared to $332.6 million in part 170 collections during FY 2009. The 
change for each class of licensees affected is discussed in Section 
III.B.3., below.
    The FY 2010 final fee rule is 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 2010 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 reactor licensees, 
10 CFR part 72 licensees, major fuel cycle facilities, and other 
licensees with annual fees of $100,000 or more, upon publication of the 
FY 2010 final rule. For these licensees, payment is due on the 
effective date of the FY 2010 final rule. Because these licensees are 
billed quarterly, the payment due is the amount of the total FY 2010 
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 2010 falls before the effective date of the FY 2010 
final rule will be billed for the annual fee during the anniversary 
month of the license at the FY 2009 annual fee rate. Those materials 
licensees whose license anniversary date falls on or after the 
effective date of the FY 2010 final rule will be billed for the annual 
fee at the FY 2010 annual fee rate during the anniversary month of the 
license, and payment will be due on the date of the invoice.
    The NRC currently does not routinely mail the final fee rule to 
licensees, but will send the final rule to any licensee or other person 
upon specific request. To request a copy, contact the Accounts 
Receivable and Payable Branch, 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 https://www.regulations.gov.
    The NRC plans to review its fee policies for power reactors. The 
NRC anticipates that it will receive applications to license small and 
medium sized commercial nuclear reactors. The NRC published an Advance 
Notice of Final Rulemaking (ANPR) on March 25, 2009 (74 FR 12735) to 
receive early input from the public on issues relevant to the 
establishment of an annual fee structure based on the size of the 
reactor. The NRC received sixteen comments in response to the ANPR. The 
general consensus from the commenters is that an adjustment to the 
current power reactor annual fee methodology is needed to account for 
small and medium sized power reactors. The NRC plans to analyze 
suggested methodologies for a variable annual fee structure for power 
reactors and present its findings in a future rule.
    The NRC is changing its current policy with regard to billing 
inspection costs. Currently, inspection costs are billed only after the 
inspection is completed (i.e., approximately 30 days after the 
inspection report is issued). As a result, in some cases inspection 
costs accumulate over several billing cycles, and the licensee receives 
one invoice for these accumulated costs rather than being billed as the 
costs are incurred. Therefore, the NRC will bill for accumulated 
inspection costs each quarter. Billing for incurred inspection costs 
will begin in the first quarter of FY 2011, when the NRC's new 
accounting system is implemented. This policy change does not require a 
revision to part 170.
    The NRC is amending 10 CFR parts 170 and 171, as follows:

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 2010, the NRC is increasing the hourly rate to recover the 
full cost of activities under part 170 and is using this rate to 
calculate ``flat'' application fees.
    The NRC is making 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 changing the FY 2010 hourly rate to 
$259. This rate would be applicable to all activities for which fees 
are assessed under Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31. The FY 2010 hourly 
rate is higher than the FY 2009 hourly rate of $257. The increase is 
primarily due to the higher FY 2010 budget supporting increased 
infrastructure and support costs for the new reactors program, fuel 
facility reviews, reactor licensing renewal, international activities, 
spent fuel storage, and transportation activities. 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 the 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 2010, the NRC is using 1,371 hours per direct FTE, the same 
amount as FY 2009, 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 2010 
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

[[Page 34224]]

excludes all indirect 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 2010 Hourly Rate Calculation
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission Direct Program Salaries & Benefits..............          $343.8
Mission Indirect Salaries & Benefits, and Contract                $135.6
 Activity...............................................
Agency Management and Support, and the IG...............          $330.4
                                                         ---------------
    Subtotal............................................          $809.8
Less Offsetting Receipts................................           -$0.0
                                                         ---------------
    Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate................          $809.8
Mission Direct FTEs.....................................           2,276
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budget Included in                  $259
 Hourly Rate divided by Mission Direct FTE Hours).......
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As shown in Table II, dividing the $809.8 million budgeted amount 
(rounded) included in the hourly rate by total mission direct FTE hours 
(2,276 FTE times 1,371 hours) results in an hourly rate of $259. The 
hourly rate is rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
2.``Flat'' Application Fee Changes
    The NRC is adjusting the current flat application fees in 
Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the revised hourly rate of 
$259. These flat fees are calculated by multiplying the average 
professional staff hours needed to process the licensing actions by the 
professional hourly rate for FY 2010. The agency estimates the average 
professional staff hours needed to process licensing actions every 
other year as part of its biennial review of fees performed in 
compliance with the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990. This review 
was last performed as part of the FY 2009 fee rulemaking. The higher 
hourly rate of $259 is the main reason for the increase in application 
fees.
    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 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 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 2010 final fee rule would be subject to the 
revised fees in the final rule.
3. Administrative Amendments
    In the FY 2009 final rule, Sec.  170.11, regarding fee exemptions 
for special projects, was changed to simplify the language. In the FY 
2010 final rule, the NRC is modifying the introductory text of 
paragraph (a)(1) to clarify that this paragraph applies to special 
projects. There is no change to the NRC's fee exemption policy.
    In addition, the NRC is updating some of the program codes found 
next to the materials users fee categories in Sec.  170.31. The program 
codes were added in the FY 2008 final rule, and the NRC plans to update 
the program codes as needed.
    In summary, the NRC is making the following changes to 10 CFR part 
170:
    1. Establish a revised professional hourly rate to use in assessing 
fees for specific services;
    2. Revise the license application fees to reflect the FY 2010 
hourly rate; and
    3. Make certain administrative changes for purposes of updating 
some program codes and improving the clarity of the rule.

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 NRC will recover its fee-relief shortfall by increasing all 
licensees' annual fees. This rulemaking also makes changes to the 
number of NRC licensees and to establish rebaselined annual fees based 
on Public Law 111-85. The amendments are described as follows:
1. Application of Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste Surcharge
    The NRC will recover its fee-relief shortfall by increasing 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 is 
totaled and then reduced by the amount of the NRC's fee relief. Any 
difference between the fee relief and the budgeted amount of these 
activities results in a fee-relief adjustment (increase or decrease) 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 2010, the NRC's 10 percent fee relief is less than the total 
budget for fee-relief activities by $7.1 million. In FY 2009, the 10 
percent fee relief exceeded the total budget by $3.2 million. The FY 
2010 budget for fee-relief activities is higher than FY 2009, primarily 
due to an increase in small entity subsidies, non-profit educational 
exemptions, and regulatory support to Agreement States.
    The NRC is increasing all licensees' annual fees to recover the 
shortfall amount of $7.1 million, based on their percent of the fee 
recoverable budget authority. This is consistent with the existing fee 
methodology, in that the fee-relief shortfall amount is allocated to 
licensees in the same manner as benefits are allocated as a reduction 
when the NRC receives enough fee relief to pay for fee-relief 
activities. In FY 2010, the power reactors class of licensees will be 
allocated approximately 88 percent of the fee-relief shortfall based on 
their share of the NRC fee recoverable budget authority.
    The FY 2010 budgeted resources for NRC's fee-relief activities are 
$108.5 million. The NRC's total fee relief in FY 2010 is $101.4 
million, leaving a $7.1 million fee-relief shortfall to be recovered by 
increasing all licensees' annual fees. These values are shown in Table 
III. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

[[Page 34225]]



                    Table III--Fee-Relief Activities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              FY 2010
                  Fee-relief activities                   Budgeted costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC
 licensee or class of licensee:
    a. International activities.........................           $18.2
    b. Agreement State oversight........................            11.2
    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                      17.4
     institutions.......................................
    b. Costs not recovered from small entities under 10              6.1
     CFR 171.16(c)......................................
    c. Regulatory support to Agreement States...........            23.1
    d. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (not related             15.1
     to the power reactor and spent fuel storage fee
     classes)...........................................
    e. In situ leach rulemaking and unregistered general             2.4
     licensees..........................................
                                                         ---------------
        Total fee-relief activities.....................           108.5
Less 10 percent of NRC's FY 2010 total budget (less non-          -101.4
 fee items).............................................
Fee-Relief Adjustment to be Allocated to All Licensees'              7.1
 Annual Fees............................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table IV shows how the NRC is allocating the $7.1 million fee-
relief adjustment to each license fee class. As explained previously, 
the NRC is allocating this fee-relief adjustment 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 adjustment is added to the 
required annual fee recovery from each fee class.
    Separately, the NRC has continued to allocate the 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 
recovered through annual fees. For FY 2010, 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 Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2010
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       LLW Surcharge         Fee-Relief adjustment      Total
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Percent         $         Percent         $            $
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors.......................         54.0         $1.3         87.8         $6.3         $7.5
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning.....           --           --          2.7          0.2          0.2
Test and Research Reactors.....................           --           --          0.2          0.0          0.0
Fuel Facilities................................         15.0          0.3          5.5          0.4          0.7
Materials Users................................         31.0          0.7          2.6          0.2          0.9
Transportation.................................           --           --          0.5          0.0          0.0
Uranium Recovery...............................           --           --          0.7          0.1          0.1
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................        100.0          2.3        100.0          7.1          9.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Agreement State Activities
    New Jersey became the 37th Agreement State, effective September 30, 
2009. Materials licenses transferred to a new Agreement State are 
terminated by the NRC. New Jersey assumed regulatory authority for 
approximately 500 former NRC licensees. A larger share of the generic 
budget resources for small materials licensees has been allocated to 
the Regulatory Support to Agreement States fee-relief category to 
mitigate the impact on the annual fee for the remaining small materials 
NRC licensees, as seen in Table III.
    Note that the continuing costs of oversight and regulatory support 
for the State of New Jersey, 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 has updated the 
proration percentage in its fee calculation to ensure that resources 
are allocated equitably between the NRC materials users fee class and 
the regulatory support to Agreement States fee-relief category. 
Accordingly, as a result of the State of New Jersey becoming an 
Agreement State, the NRC has increased the percentage of materials 
users regulatory support costs prorated to the fee-relief activity from 
85 percent in FY 2009 to 87 percent in FY 2010. The resources for 
licensing and inspection activities supporting NRC licensees in the 
materials users fee class are not prorated to the fee-relief activity.
3. Revised Annual Fees
    The NRC is revising its annual fees in Sec. Sec.  171.15 and 171.16 
for FY 2010 to recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's FY 2010 
budget authority, after subtracting the non-fee amounts and the 
estimated amount to be recovered through part 170 fees. The part 170 
collections estimate for this final rule increased by $23.4 million 
from the FY 2009 fee rule, based on the latest invoice data available. 
The total amount to be recovered through annual fees for FY 2010 is 
$553.8 million. The required annual fee collection in FY 2009 was 
$532.6 million.

[[Page 34226]]

    The Commission has determined (71 FR 30721; 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 budgetary and other changes that warrant the use of 
the rebaselining method.
    As compared with FY 2009 annual fees, rebaselined fees are higher 
for five classes of licensees (power reactors, spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning, transportation, uranium recovery and materials 
users), and lower for one class of licensees (non-power reactors). 
Within the fuel facilities fee class, annual fees for most licensees 
increase, while the annual fee for one fee category decreases.
    The NRC's total fee recoverable budget, as mandated by law, is 
approximately $41.5 million larger in FY 2010 as compared with FY 2009. 
Much of this increase is in response to increased activities for 
reactor oversight, new reactor programs, information technology 
support, homeland security issues, and licensing reviews for fuel 
facilities, non-power reactors, and spent fuel storage. The FY 2010 
budget was allocated to the fee classes that the budgeted activities 
support. As 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 the NRC will perform in FY 2010), the estimated 
part 170 collections for the various classes of licenses, and 
allocation of the fee-relief adjustment to all fee classes. The 
percentage of the NRC's budget not subject to fee recovery remained at 
10 percent from FY 2009 to FY 2010.
    Table V shows the rebaselined annual fees for FY 2010 for a 
representative list of categories of licenses. The FY 2009 fee is also 
shown for comparative purposes.

                    Table V--Rebaselined Annual Fees
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          FY2009  Annual      FY 2010
       Class/category of licenses               fee         Annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors (Including           $4,625,000      $4,784,000
 Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor
 Decommissioning Annual Fee)............
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor                       122,000         148,000
 Decommissioning........................
Test and Research Reactors (Non-power             87,600          81,700
 Reactors)..............................
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility.....       4,691,000       5,439,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility......       1,649,000       2,047,000
UF6 Conversion Facility.................         969,000       1,111,000
Conventional Mills......................          31,200          38,300
Typical Materials Users:
    Radiographers (Category 3O).........          22,700          28,200
    Well Loggers (Category 5A)..........           9,700          11,900
    Gauge Users (Category 3P)...........           3,700           4,500
    Broad Scope Medical (Category 7B)...          36,300          45,100
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The work papers that support this final 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 2010 budgeted FTE and contract dollars allocated to 
each fee class and fee-relief category at the planned activity and 
program level and compare these allocations to those used to develop 
the final FY 2009 fees. The work papers are available electronically at 
https://www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID: NRC-2009-0333 and 
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 2010 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 $28.8 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 collections and adjusted 
for allocated generic transportation resources and fee-relief. In FY 
2010, the LLW surcharge for fuel facilities is added to the allocated 
fee-relief adjustment (see Table IV in Section III.B.1., ``Application 
of Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste Surcharge'' of this document). The 
summary calculations used to derive this value are presented in Table 
VI for FY 2010, with FY 2009 values shown for comparison. (Individual 
values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

      Table VI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Fuel Facilities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Summary Fee Calculations           FY 2009 Final   FY 2010 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $44.6           $48.8
Less estimated part 170 receipts........           -22.0           -21.2
                                         -------------------------------
    Net part 171 resources..............            22.6            27.6

[[Page 34227]]

 
Allocated generic transportation........            +0.4            +0.5
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.....            +0.2            +0.7
Billing adjustments.....................            -0.2            -0.1
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            23.0            28.8
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The increase in total budgeted resources allocated to this fee 
class from FY 2009 to FY 2010 is primarily due to increased support for 
environmental reviews and for licensing amendments and renewals for 
existing fuel fabrication facilities. This is partially offset by 
reductions in fuel facility inspections and licensing and inspection 
activities for enrichment facilities. In the final rule, due to a small 
decrease ($16,000) in the generic transportation resources allocated to 
fuel facility fee class, the FY 2010 annual fee for some of the 
facilities decreased slightly from the proposed rule.
    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 publicly available 
NRC work papers, licensees are grouped into categories according to 
their licensed activities (i.e., nuclear material enrichment, 
processing operations, and material form) and 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 total effort factors for the High Enriched 
Uranium Fuel (HEU), Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (LEU), Hot Cell and 
Uranium Enrichment fee categories have increased from FY 2009, while 
the Limited Operations fee category decreased from FY 2009. The safety 
and safeguards factors increased in FY 2010 to reflect process changes, 
such as emphasis on emergency planning, ongoing uranium enrichment 
activities, and a new facility in the Uranium Enrichment fee category. 
The safety factor decreases for Low Enriched Uranium Fuel and Limited 
Operations fee categories in FY 2010 reflect the lower level of safety 
issues at two facilities. Taking into account the addition of a new 
facility, the total safety and safeguards effort factor change is 
relatively small.

                             Table VII--Effort Factors for Fuel Facilities, FY 2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Effort factors  (percent of
                                                                  Number of                  total)
                 Facility Type (fee category)                     facilities   ---------------------------------
                                                                                     Safety         Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a))......................               2        89 (32.5)        97 (44.3)
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b)).......................               3        70 (25.5)        35 (16.0)
Limited Operations (1.A.(2)(a))..............................               1          8 (2.9)          4 (1.8)
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b)).........               1          3 (1.1)         15 (6.8)
Hot Cell (1.A.(2)(c))........................................               1          6 (2.2)          3 (1.4)
Uranium Enrichment (1.E).....................................               3        86 (31.4)        58 (26.5)
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1)).....................................               1         12 (4.4)          7 (3.2)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 34228]]

    For FY 2010, the total budgeted resources for safety activities, 
before the fee-relief adjustment is made, is $15,613,008. This amount 
is 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 amount of $12,479,010 for safeguards activities is 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 fee-relief adjustment ($740,003) 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. The fee 
(rounded) for each facility is summarized in Table VIII.

               Table VIII--Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Facility type (fee category)              FY 2010 Annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).............          $5,439,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..............           2,047,000
Limited Operations Facility (1.A.(2)(a))............             702,000
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))           1,053,000
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))..................             526,000
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.)...........................           2,807,000
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1))............................           1,111,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC expects to authorize operation of one new uranium 
enrichment facility in FY 2010. 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. The 
applicable annual fee for a facility that is authorized to operate 
during the FY will be prorated in accordance with the provisions of 
Sec.  171.17.
b. Uranium Recovery Facilities
    The total FY 2010 budgeted costs 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 $0.91 million. The derivation of this value is shown 
in Table IX, with FY 2009 values shown for comparison purposes. 
(Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

     Table IX--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Uranium Recovery
                               Facilities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Summary fee calculations         FY 2009 Final       FY 2010 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........               $7.21               $6.69
Less estimated part 170 receipts              - 6.64              - 5.83
                                 ---------------------------------------
    Net part 171 resources......                0.57                0.86
Allocated generic transportation                 N/A                 N/A
Fee-relief adjustment...........              - 0.03              + 0.05
Billing adjustments.............              - 0.03              - 0.01
                                 ---------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee                   0.51                0.91
     recovery...................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The increase in the total required annual fee recovery is mainly 
due to increased support for uranium recovery legal and program 
infrastructure and the increased fee-relief adjustment, which was a 
reduction in FY 2009. As in FY 2009, the NRC is excluding the generic 
budgeted resources supporting applications for new uranium recovery 
facilities from the FY 2010 annual fee charged to current uranium 
recovery licensees. Because operating reactors and fuel facility 
licensees would potentially benefit from increased production of the 
uranium milled by the new facilities, the budgeted resources would be 
allocated to these fee classes. The generic resources supporting the 
new uranium recovery facilities do not benefit the existing uranium 
recovery licensees. In the final rule, there were no changes to the 
fees for this class of 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 the Department of Energy (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 2010, 35 percent of the total annual fee amount, less 
$419,769 specifically budgeted for Title I activities, is allocated to 
DOE's UMTRCA facilities. The budgeted resources for Title I activities 
increased in FY 2010 primarily due to additional Title I sites. The 
remaining 65 percent of the total annual fee (less the amounts 
specifically budgeted for Title I activities) is allocated to other 
licensees. This is the same as in FY 2009. The remaining $317,000 
(rounded) would be recovered through annual fees assessed to the other 
licensees in this fee class (i.e., conventional uranium mills and heap 
leach facilities, uranium solution mining and resin in-situ recovery 
(ISR) facilities, mill tailings disposal facilities (11e.(2) disposal 
facilities), and uranium water treatment facilities).
    The annual fee 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

[[Page 34229]]

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 Amount (UMTRCA Title I and Title II)
 general licenses:
    UMTRCA Title I budgeted costs...................            $419,769
    35 percent of generic/other uranium recovery                 151,950
     budgeted costs.................................
    35 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief                   + 18,519
     adjustment.....................................
                                                     -------------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded)...             590,000
Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery
 Licenses:
    65 percent of generic/other uranium recovery                 282,193
     budgeted costs less the amounts specifically
     budgeted for Title I activities................
    65 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief                   + 34,393
     adjustment.....................................
                                                     -------------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium                316,586
         Recovery Licenses..........................
-----------------------------------------------------------------