[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 28 (Friday, February 10, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7350-7380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1163]
[[Page 7349]]
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Part IV
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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10 CFR Parts 170 and 171
Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2006; Proposed Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 71 , No. 28 / Friday, February 10, 2006 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 7350]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 170 and 171
RIN 3150-AH83
Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2006
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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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 approximately 90 percent of its budget
authority in fiscal year (FY) 2006, less the amounts appropriated from
the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) and for Waste Incidental to Reprocessing
(WIR) activities. The required fee recovery amount for the FY 2006
budget is approximately $624 million, which is increased by
approximately $0.9 million to account for billing adjustments,
resulting in a total of approximately $625 million that must be
recovered through fees in FY 2006.
DATES: The comment period expires March 13, 2006. 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 2006 fees by September 30, 2006, 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-AH83 in the subject line of your
comments. Comments on rulemakings submitted in writing or in electronic
form will be made available to the public in their entirety on the NRC
rulemaking Web site. Personal information will not be removed from your
comments.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
E-mail comments to: [email protected]. If you do not receive a reply e-
mail confirming that we have received your comments, contact us
directly at (301) 415-1966. You may also submit comments via the NRC's
rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address questions
about our Web site to Ms. Carol Gallagher, 301-415-5905; e-mail
[email protected]. Comments can also be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. Federal workdays. (Telephone
301-415-1966).
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at
(301) 415-1101.
Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR), Room O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR reproduction contractor
will copy documents for a fee. Selected documents, including comments,
may be viewed and downloaded electronically via the NRC rulemaking Web
site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. The Commission notes that it is
providing improved summary documentation of the fee calculations used
in this rulemaking as part of the publicly available documents, and
believes that these new reports will enhance the transparency of the
fee calculations and provide additional explanation of any changes in
fees.
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC after
November 1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic
Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this
site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (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 PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209; 301-415-4737 or
by e-mail at [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tammy Croote, telephone 301-415-6041;
Office of the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Proposed Action
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
For FYs 1991 through 2000, OBRA-90 (Pub. L. 101-508), as amended,
required that the NRC recover approximately 100 percent of its budget
authority, less the amount appropriated from the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) administered NWF, by assessing fees. To address fairness
and equity concerns related to charging NRC license holders for agency
budgeted costs that do not provide a direct benefit to the licensee,
the FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act (Pub. L.
106-377) 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 Energy and Water Development
Appropriations Act (EWDAA) (Pub. L. 109-103), as amended by the
Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address
Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006
(Pub. L. 109-148), extended this 90 percent fee recovery requirement
through FY 2006. As a result, the NRC is required to recover
approximately 90 percent of its FY 2006 budget authority, less the
amounts appropriated from the NWF and for WIR activities, through fees.
The required fee recovery amount for the FY 2006 budget is
approximately $624 million, which is increased by approximately $0.9
million to account for billing adjustments, resulting in a total of
approximately $625 million that must be recovered through fees in FY
2006.
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
costs of providing special benefits to identifiable applicants and
licensees. Examples of the services provided by the NRC for which these
fees are assessed are the review of applications for new licenses and,
for certain types of existing licenses, the review of renewal
applications, the review of amendment requests, and inspections.
Second, annual fees established in 10 CFR part 171 under the authority
of OBRA-90, recover generic and other regulatory costs not otherwise
recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
The amount of the NRC's required fee collections are set by law and
are therefore outside the scope of this rulemaking. In FY 2006, the
NRC's total
[[Page 7351]]
fee recoverable budget increased by $83.4 million from FY 2005 in
response to increased workload. As such, most annual fees increased.
The budget, including the increases, was allocated to the fee classes
that the budgeted activities support. As discussed in more detail
below, another factor affecting the amount of annual fees for each fee
class is the estimated collection under part 170.
Additional factors will affect the NRC's required fee recovery in
future years. For example, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-
58) permanently extends the 90 percent fee recovery requirement
beginning in FY 2007. The Energy Policy Act also permanently removes
certain homeland security activities from the fee base beginning in FY
2007. Section 637 states that the NRC will not recover in fees:
(iv) amounts appropriated to the Commission for homeland security
activities of the Commission for the fiscal year, except for the
costs of fingerprinting and background checks required by section
149 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2169) and the costs
of conducting security inspections.
Under this legislative requirement, the budgeted resources for all
generic homeland security activities (those activities that support an
entire license fee class or classes of licensees, such as rulemakings,
guidance development, and vulnerability assessments) will be removed
from the fee base beginning with the FY 2007 fee rulemaking. Pursuant
to the NRC's authority under 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. This legislative change will provide fee relief for NRC
licensees. However, the net change in annual fees in FY 2007 will also
depend on other factors, especially the amount of the NRC's FY 2007
appropriated budget and the allocation of these resources to the
license fee classes and surcharge categories (surcharge categories
include the resources associated with activities for which the NRC does
not charge fees, as described in more detail in Section II of this
document), as well as any other policy decisions of the Commission.
II. Proposed Action
The NRC is proposing to amend its licensing, inspection, and annual
fees to recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2006 budget
authority less the appropriations received from the NWF and for WIR
activities. The NRC's total budget authority for FY 2006 is $741.5
million, of which approximately $45.7 million has been appropriated
from the NWF, and $2.5 million for WIR activities. Based on the 90
percent fee recovery requirement, the NRC must recover approximately
$624 million in FY 2006 through part 170 licensing and inspection fees
and part 171 annual fees. The amount required by law to be recovered
through fees for FY 2006 is $83.4 million more than the amount
estimated for recovery in FY 2005, an increase of over 15 percent.
The FY 2006 fee recovery amount is increased by $0.9 million to
account for billing adjustments (i.e., for FY 2006 invoices that the
NRC estimates will not be paid during the fiscal year, less payments
received in FY 2006 for FY 2005 invoices). There is no FY 2005
carryover to apply to FY 2006 fee collections. This leaves
approximately $625 million to be recovered in FY 2006 through part 170
licensing and inspection fees and part 171 annual fees.
The NRC estimates that approximately $188.7 million will be
recovered in FY 2006 from part 170 fees. This represents an increase of
over 22 percent as compared to the actual part 170 collections for FY
2005 of $154.1 million. The NRC derived the FY 2006 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 2006 budget, as appropriate, and the increase in the
hourly rates from FY 2005 to FY 2006. The remaining $436.2 million
would be recovered through the part 171 annual fees in FY 2006,
compared to $380.5 million for FY 2005, an increase of approximately 15
percent.
Table I summarizes the budget and fee recovery amounts for FY 2006
(individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding).
Table I.--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts for FY 2006
[Dollars in millions]
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Total Budget Authority..................................... $741.5
Less NWF and WIR....................................... -48.1
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Balance............................................ $693.4
Fee Recovery Rate for FY 2006.......................... x 90.0%
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Total Amount to be Recovered For FY 2006................... $624.0
Less Carryover from FY 2005............................ -0.0
Plus Part 171 Billing Adjustments:
Unpaid FY 2006 Invoices (estimated)................ 3.2
Less Payments Received in FY 2006 for Prior Year -2.3
Invoices (estimated)..............................
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Subtotal........................................... 0.9
============
Amount to be Recovered Through Parts 170 and 171 Fees...... $625.0
============
Less Estimated Part 170 Fees........................... -188.7
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Part 171 Fee Collections Required.......................... $436.2
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The FY 2006 final fee rule will be a ``major rule'' as defined by
the Congressional Review Act of 1996. Therefore, the NRC's fee
schedules for FY 2006 would 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 and major fuel cycle
facilities upon publication of the FY 2006 final rule. For these
licensees, payment would be due on the effective date of the FY 2006
rule. Those materials licensees whose license anniversary date during
FY 2006 falls before the effective date of the final FY 2006 rule would
be billed for the annual fee during the anniversary month of the
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license at the FY 2005 annual fee rate. Those materials licensees whose
license anniversary date falls on or after the effective date of the
final FY 2006 rule would be billed for the annual fee at the FY 2006
annual fee rate during the anniversary month of the license, and
payment would 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 2006 final fee rule or future final
fee rules to licensees.
However, 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 Financial Management, Office of the Chief
Financial Officer, at 301-415-7554, or e-mail [email protected]. The NRC
plans to publish the final fee rule no later than June 2006. In
addition to publication in the Federal Register, the final rule will be
available on the Internet at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov for at least 90
days after the effective date of the final rule.
The NRC is proposing to make changes to 10 CFR parts 170 and 171 as
discussed in Sections A and 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
The NRC is proposing to establish hourly rates to recover the full
cost of activities under part 170, and to use these rates to calculate
``flat'' application fees. Additionally, the NRC is proposing to charge
Federal agencies part 170 fees (with the exception of certain
Federally-owned test and research reactors); clarify that the tracking
and monitoring of shipments necessary for certain licensing actions is
subject to full cost fees under part 170; establish additional import/
export fee categories (subclasses); and make minor administrative
changes for purposes of clarification, consistency, and to eliminate
redundancy.
The NRC is proposing the following changes:
1. Hourly Rates
The NRC is proposing to establish in Sec. 170.20 two professional
hourly rates for NRC staff time. These proposed rates would be based on
the number of FY 2006 direct program full time equivalents (FTEs) and
the NRC's FY 2006 fee recoverable budget, excluding direct program
support costs. These rates are used in assessing full cost fees for
specific services provided, as well as flat fees for certain
application reviews. The proposed rate for the Nuclear Reactor Safety
(Reactor) Program is $217 per hour. This rate would be applicable to
all activities for which fees are assessed under Sec. 170.21 of the
fee regulations (with the exception of reactor decommissioning and
import/export licensing activities). The proposed rate for the Nuclear
Materials and Waste Safety (Materials) Program is $215 per hour. This
rate would be applicable to all activities for which fees are assessed
under Sec. 170.31 of the fee regulations, as well as the reactor
decommissioning and import/export activities under Sec. 170.21. In the
FY 2005 final fee rule, the Reactor and Materials Program rates were
$205 and $197, respectively. The increases to the Reactor and Materials
Program rates are due to the recent Government-wide pay raise and to
the more accurate allocation of agency overhead to these Programs and
fee-exempt activities.
The hourly rate is derived by dividing the sum of budgeted
resources for (1) direct labor, (2) allocated program overhead, and (3)
allocated agency overhead, by budgeted direct hours. This calculation
is performed for both the Reactor and Materials Programs, and excludes
the budgeted resources and associated overhead for fee exempt
activities. The specific method used to determine the two professional
hourly rates is as follows:
a. Direct program budgeted FTE, as well as all associated program
overhead (FTE and contracts), are allocated at the planned activity
level to the fee classes and surcharge (i.e., fee exempt) categories
based on who benefits from these activities. Direct contract support,
which is the use of contract or other services in support of the line
organization's mission-direct program, is excluded from the calculation
of the hourly rates because the costs for direct contract support are
recovered directly through either part 170 or 171 fees.
b. All management and support budgeted resources (FTE and
contracts), including resources associated with the Office of the
Inspector General, are allocated to each fee class and surcharge
category based on the percent of the total budgeted resources allocated
to each fee class and surcharge category in step a.
c. The hourly rate for the Reactor Program is calculated by
dividing the total budgeted resources (calculated in steps a. and b.)
allocated to the power reactor and test and research reactor fee
classes by the direct hours allocated to those classes. Similarly, the
hourly rate for the Materials Program is calculated by dividing the
total budgeted resources allocated to the spent fuel/reactor
decommissioning, fuel facility, transportation, materials users,
uranium recovery, rare earth, and import/export fee classes by the
direct hours allocated to those fee classes. An hourly rate for
surcharge activities is not needed, however, the appropriate allocation
of budgeted resources (including all associated overhead) and hours to
the surcharge categories is calculated to ensure that these budgeted
resources and hours are excluded from the Reactor and Materials Program
hourly rates.
The direct hours used in the denominator of this hourly rate
calculation continue to be calculated based on an estimate of 1,446
direct hours worked per direct FTE per year, as established in the FY
2005 fee rule (70 FR 30526; May 26, 2005). As explained in the FY 2005
fee rule, this estimate is based on data from the NRC's time and labor
system. The NRC continues to believe this estimate appropriately
reflects the direct time expended per direct FTE.
Table II shows the results of this hourly rate calculation
methodology. Due to rounding, adding the individual numbers in the
table may result in a total that is slightly different than the one
shown.
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Table II.--FY 2006 Budget Authority to be Included in Hourly Rates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reactor Materials
program program
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Direct Program Salaries & Benefits.......... $182.4M $41.4M
Program Overhead Salaries & Benefits, and 81.9M 18.0M
Contract Support...........................
Allocated Agency Management and Support..... 151.5M 34.0M
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Subtotal................................ 415.7M 93.4M
Less Offsetting Receipts.................... -0.1M -0.0M
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Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate.... $415.6M $93.4M
Program Direct FTEs......................... 1,322.8 300.6
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budget $217 $215
Included in Hourly Rate divided by Program
Direct FTE times 1,446 hours)..............
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As shown in Table II, dividing the $415.6 million budgeted amount
(rounded) included in the hourly rate for the Reactor Program by the
Reactor Program direct hours (1,322.8 FTE times 1,446 hours) results in
an hourly rate of $217 for the Reactor Program for FY 2006. Similarly,
dividing the $93.4 million budgeted amount (rounded) included in the
hourly rate for the Materials Program by the program direct hours
(300.6 FTE times 1,446 hours) results in an hourly rate of $215 for the
Materials Program in FY 2006. These hourly rates are rounded to the
nearest whole dollar.
2. Fee Adjustments
The NRC is proposing to adjust the current part 170 fees in
Sec. Sec. 170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the changes in the revised
hourly rates. The full cost fees assessed under Sec. Sec. 170.21 and
170.31 would be based on the proposed professional hourly rates and any
direct program support (contractual services) costs expended by the
NRC. Any professional hours expended on or after the effective date of
the final rule would be assessed at the FY 2006 hourly rates.
The fees in Sec. Sec. 170.21 and 170.31 that are based on the
average time to review an application (flat fees) would be adjusted to
reflect the change in the Materials Program professional hourly rate
from FY 2005. The proposed flat fees are calculated by multiplying the
average professional staff hours needed to process the licensing
actions by the proposed Materials Program professional hourly rate for
FY 2006. 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 (Pub. L. 101-578). (This review was last
performed as part of the FY 2005 fee rulemaking.) 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.'' 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.P, 4.B through 9.D, 10.B, 15.A through 15.R, 16, and 17
of Sec. 170.31. The proposed higher hourly rate of $215 for the
Materials Program is the reason for the increases in these proposed
licensing fees. Applications filed on or after the effective date of
the final rule would be subject to the revised fees in this proposed
rule.
3. Charging Part 170 Fees to Federal Agencies/Fees for Research
Reactors
The NRC proposes to amend Sec. Sec. 170.11 and 170.31 to provide
that part 170 fees will be assessed to Federal agencies where
applicable. Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Section 623), the NRC
was granted authority to assess fees for specific services provided to
any Federal government agency which applies to the NRC for, or is
issued by the NRC, a license or certificate. The NRC currently recovers
the costs of licensee-specific activities for non-Federal licensees,
applicants, and certificate holders under part 170, but lacked the
authority to assess these fees to Federal agencies (other than the
Tennessee Valley Authority) until the effective date of the Energy
Policy Act.
Because activities such as processing license applications provide
a specific benefit to the recipient, the Commission believes it is fair
and appropriate to implement this new authority and thereby recover the
costs of providing specific services to Federal agencies through part
170 fees. The NRC has provided written notification to Federal
agencies, that have an NRC license or certificate, that the NRC plans
to implement this new authority in the FY 2006 final fee rule, so that
they may include this cost in their budgets.
The Commission notes that this provision of the Energy Policy Act
of 2005 cannot legally be applied to services the NRC provides to
Federal agencies that are not NRC licensees, certificate holders, or
applicants. Therefore, the NRC is not proposing to charge part 170 fees
to Federal agencies for activities that are not subject to NRC
licensing. Examples of NRC activities not related to a license or
certificate, and therefore not subject to part 170 fees under this
proposed rulemaking, include those to support the DOE in its
decommissioning of the West Valley site in New York, and technical
assistance provided to the Department of Transportation for certain
foreign approved transport package designs for import/export (for which
NRC does not have regulatory authority).
Under these proposed changes to part 170, Federal agency licensees,
certificate holders, and applicants would be assessed fees in the same
manner as are non-Federal agency licensees, certificate holders, and
applicants. This means that Federal agencies would be required to pay
part 170 fees for NRC services provided, including reviews of
applications and other licensing actions, inspections, and
decommissioning activities. This change does not require the
calculation of any new fee amounts or establishment of new fee
categories for Federal agencies. The only exception is that the NRC is
proposing to establish a new flat application fee of $17,800 for fee
category 17, ``Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to
Government agencies,'' under Sec. 170.31. There is currently no
application fee listed for this fee category because the only licensees
in this fee category are for the Federal government. The proposed flat
application fee was calculated in the same manner as other flat
application fees; it equals the product of the average
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hours estimated to process these types of applications and the
Materials Program hourly rate. Because of insufficient data on average
processing times for these master materials licenses (because there are
only three such NRC licensees), the NRC based its estimate of average
processing time for master materials licensees on other license
applications of similar complexity.
Additionally, to implement this new authority, the NRC is proposing
to change fee category 18.A under Sec. 170.31 to specify that full
cost fees will be assessed for licensing and inspection activities
associated with DOE's part 71 Certificates of Compliance.
The NRC is proposing to exempt from part 170 fees Federally-owned
test and research reactors that meet the fee exemption criteria set
forth in Section 2903 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-
486). [These criteria relate to factors such as thermal power level and
whether the reactor contains a liquid fuel loading, and are listed
under both Sec. Sec. 170.11(a)(9) and 171.11(a)(2). Three Federally-
owned research reactors currently meet this criteria (reactors at the
Veteran's Administration Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S.
Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado, and the Armed Forces
Radiobiological Institute in Bethesda, Maryland)]. As implemented by
Sec. 171.11(a)(2), Federally-owned test and research reactors that
meet the statutory criteria are already exempt from paying annual fees.
At the time Congress enacted this fee exemption, however, Federally-
owned reactors (other than the Tennessee Valley Authority) were not
subject to part 170 fees. Therefore, the exemption criteria set forth
in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 did not specifically address part 170
fees. Now that NRC has the authority to charge part 170 fees to
Federally-owned reactors, the NRC believes that it is appropriate as a
matter of policy to apply the same criteria to Federally-owned test and
research reactors, and exempt those meeting the criteria from part 170
fees. State-owned reactors meeting this same criteria are currently
exempt from part 170 fees under Sec. 170.11(a)(9). The Commission
explained the rationale for this decision in the FY 1994 fee rule (59
FR 36895; July 20, 1994) by stating that the NRC believed this was ``*
* * consistent with the legislative intent of the Energy Policy Act of
1992 that government-owned research reactors be exempt from fees if
they meet the technical design criteria of the exemption and are used
primarily for educational training and academic research purposes.''
The Commission continues to believe this is consistent with the intent
of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, and therefore is proposing to exempt
these Federally-owned reactors from part 170 fees. However, the NRC
will re-evaluate this proposal in formulating its final rule after
reviewing any public comments.
Note, as part of the proposed revisions to Sec. 170.11(a)(9), the
NRC is clarifying that the fee exemption therein remains in effect even
after the reactors meeting this criteria are no longer authorized to
operate.
4. Charging Part 170 Fees for Tracking and Monitoring Shipments of
Classified Matter
The NRC is proposing to clarify that full cost part 170 fees will
be assessed to track and monitor shipments of classified materials
(e.g., components of gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facilities). The
NRC currently has under review applications to build and operate gas
centrifuge uranium enrichment facilities. Because of the sensitive
technology, many of the components associated with these facilities are
classified as Restricted Data under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (Pub.
L. 83-703), as amended. Furthermore, some of these components are
voluminous and cannot be transported under the standard classified
matter transportation requirements of Sec. 95.39(b) and (c) (e.g.,
double wrapping, marking, and tracking). In these cases, the NRC
requires the licensee or applicant to submit a security plan under
Sec. 95.39(e) for transporting this non-standard classified matter.
One aspect of classified matter transportation security plans is
continuous telemetric position monitoring and tracking of shipments of
classified matter, including a capability for notification of local law
enforcement officials and the NRC in the case of an emergency.
Because of the inherent national security concerns associated with
the transportation of Restricted Data components and the current threat
environment, the NRC has not considered permitting licensees to
establish their own telemetric position monitoring and tracking
capability for shipments of classified matter, nor to contract with a
commercial service to meet this requirement. Instead, the NRC intends
to require that these shipments be tracked and monitored by a U.S.
government owned or operated system (e.g., systems operated by the U.S.
Departments of Defense or Energy). As such, the NRC is establishing an
interagency agreement and memorandum of understanding and reimbursable
agreement with another government agency to provide the necessary
tracking, monitoring, and communications center capabilities.
Accordingly, the costs incurred by the NRC from this other government
agency in monitoring these shipments will be passed on to the
applicable licensee in full. While this is a new activity, the recovery
of these costs through part 170 fees is consistent with the NRC's
existing full cost recovery policy for licensing activities.
The NRC is proposing to make this clarification by modifying the
definition of ``special projects'' in Sec. 170.3 to include this type
of activity. This definition currently includes examples of special
projects; including this activity as an example would ensure that
licensees are informed that these activities are subject to part 170
fees.
5. Revisions to Import/Export Fee Categories
The NRC is proposing to modify the import and export fee categories
at Sec. 170.31 to reflect revisions to 10 CFR part 110 that were
published on July 1, 2005 (70 FR 37985), effective December 28, 2005.
These part 110 revisions take into account provisions in the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Code of Conduct on the Safety
and Security of Radioactive Sources concerning the import and export of
radioactive sources, and the supplemental IAEA guidance on the Import
and Export of Radioactive Sources.
The specific radioactive material and quantities newly covered by
NRC regulations, per the July 1, 2005 revisions, are listed in Table 1
of Appendix P to part 110, and are essentially identical to the list of
radioactive materials in Category 1 and Category 2 of the Code of
Conduct. The amendments to part 110 require NRC authorization of
certain exports and imports by specific license. As a result of these
changes, it is necessary to add additional import/export fee categories
under Sec. 170.31 to accommodate these new types of licensees.
Therefore, the NRC is proposing to modify fee category 15 at Sec.
170.31 to include separate fee categories for Category 1 Exports (fee
categories 15.F through 15.I), Category 2 Exports (fee categories 15.J
through 15.L), Category 1 Imports (fee categories 15.M and 15.N),
Category 2 Imports (fee category O), Category 1 Imports with Agent and
Multiple Licensees (fee categories 15.P and 15.Q), and minor amendments
to Category 1 and 2 Exports and Imports (fee category 15.R). As with
other flat fees established under Sec. 170.31, the proposed fees
associated with each fee category reflect the NRC's estimate of
[[Page 7355]]
average hours required to process the license application, multiplied
by the hourly rate. These proposed changes also establish that for a
combined import and export license application for material listed in
Appendix P to part 110, only the higher of the two applicable fee
amounts must be paid. This is because the difference in level of effort
associated with processing a combined import and export license versus
processing just the export license (for the material listed in Appendix
P to part 110, only) is negligible.
6. Administrative Amendments
The NRC is proposing to eliminate the reference to ``route
approvals for shipment of radioactive materials'' in the definition of
``special projects'' under Sec. 170.3. This activity is currently
covered under Sec. 170.31, fee category 10 C., which establishes full
cost recovery for this and other related activities; therefore, the
additional reference to this activity as a special project (for which
the NRC assesses full cost fees) is redundant.
The NRC is also proposing to modify Sec. 170.11(a)(4) to clarify
that the fee exemption does not apply if an institution meets at least
one of the criteria listed in Sec. 170.11(a)(4)(I)--(iv). Currently,
these criteria are connected with an ``and,'' rather than an ``or,''
making it unclear whether the fee exemption in Sec. 170.11(a)(4)
applies to an institution that meets one of the criteria. This revised
language would be consistent with the language used for this same
exemption as applied to part 171 fees under Sec. 171.11(a)(1) and
would enhance the clarity of this provision.
Additionally, the NRC is proposing to clarify which hourly rate is
applicable to which activities. Currently, Sec. 170.20 states that the
Reactor Program rate is applicable to Sec. 170.21 activities, and the
Materials Program rate is applicable to Sec. 170.31 activities. The
NRC is proposing to amend Sec. 170.20 to clarify that (1) the Reactor
Program hourly rate would be applicable to all activities for which
fees are assessed under Sec. 170.21 of the fee regulations, with the
exception of reactor decommissioning and import/export licensing
activities, and (2) the Materials Program rate is applicable to all
activities for which fees are assessed under Sec. 170.31 of the fee
regulations, as well as the reactor decommissioning and import/export
activities under Sec. 170.21. This change would better align the
applicable hourly rate with the data used to calculate that rate (i.e.,
reactor decommissioning resources are included in the Materials Program
hourly rate).
Finally, the NRC is proposing to create a new fee category under
Sec. 170.31, which would effectively split the current fee category
1.A.2.b (``other'' fuel facilities) into two categories, one for gas
centrifuge enrichment demonstration facilities and one for hot cell
facilities. This change would keep the fee categories under parts 170
and 171 consistent, in light of the same change the NRC is proposing to
make to Sec. 171.16. This change would not affect part 170 fee
recovery requirements, as each category would be subject to full cost
part 170 fees where applicable. This change would result in different
annual fees for the existing fee category 1.A.2.b and the new fee
category 1.A.2.c, as explained in more detail under Section B.5 of this
document.
In summary, the NRC is proposing the following changes to 10 CFR
part 170--
1. Establish revised Reactor and Materials Program hourly rates;
2. Revise the licensing fees to be assessed to reflect the Reactor
and Materials Program hourly rates;
3. Amend Sec. Sec. 170.11 and 170.31 to provide that part 170 fees
will be assessed to Federal agencies where applicable (except for
certain Federally-owned research reactors);
4. Revise Sec. 170.3 to clarify that full cost part 170 fees will
be assessed to track and monitor shipments of classified matter;
5. Modify the import and export fee categories under Sec. 170.31;
and
6. Make minor administrative changes for purposes of clarification,
consistency, and to eliminate redundancy.
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 proposes to proceed with a presumption in favor of
rebaselining annual fees beginning with the final FY 2006 rule; recover
generic transportation costs as part of other existing annual fees;
revise the annual fees for FY 2006 to reflect the FY 2006 budget,
changes in the number of NRC licensees, and the division of an existing
fuel facilities fee category into two categories; eliminate the
existing fee payment method exception for Class I and Class II uranium
recovery licensees; and make an administrative change to clarify the
definition of ``overhead and general and administrative costs.'' The
proposed amendments are described below.
1. Rebaselining Annual Fees
The NRC uses one of two methods to determine the amounts of the
annual fees established in its fee rule each year. One method is
``rebaselining,'' for which the NRC's budget is analyzed in detail and
budgeted resources are allocated to fee classes and categories of
licensees. The second method is the ``percent change'' method, for
which fees are revised based on the percent change in the total budget,
taking into account other adjustments, such as the number of licensees
and the projected revenue to be received from part 170 fees.
The NRC is proposing to establish rebaselined annual fees for FY
2006, and to proceed with a presumption in favor of rebaselining when
determining annual fees for FY 2007 and beyond. The Commission's
previous policy regarding the method of calculating annual fees, made
in the statement of consideration of the FY 1995 fee rule (60 FR 32218;
June 20, 1995), and further explained in the statement of consideration
of the FY 1999 fee rule (64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999), was that annual
fees would be rebaselined at least every third year, and more
frequently if there was a substantial change in the total NRC budget or
in the magnitude of the budget allocated to a specific class of
licensees. The NRC is proposing to establish a presumption in favor of
rebaselining beginning with the FY 2006 rulemaking because (1)
rebaselining is usually appropriate because there is often a
substantial change in the total NRC budget or in the magnitude of the
budget allocated to a specific class of licensees, and (2) delaying
rebaselining can result in larger fee changes in the years when fees
are rebaselined. The use of the percent change method would remain an
option should there be a year in which there are no significant changes
to the total budget or individual programs for fee classes. The NRC
expects that in most years, annual fees would be rebaselined.
Until FY 1996, annual fees were determined using the rebaselining
method. In an effort to stabilize fees, the NRC decided to adjust
annual fees using the percent change method beginning in FY 1996,
unless there was a substantial change in the NRC budget or in the
magnitude of a specific budget allocation to a class of licensees. Fees
were determined using the percent change method in the FYs 1996-1998
fee rules.
The NRC rebaselined fees in the FY 1999 fee rule, and solicited
comment on the use and frequency of the percent change method. Some
commenters,
[[Page 7356]]
such as the Nuclear Energy Institute, supported rebaselining every
year, believing that this method best supports the accurate alignment
of costs to fee classes and the in-depth review needed to maximize
agency efficiency. Other commenters appreciated the fee stability
provided by the percent change method. In response to these comments,
the Commission determined that annual fees should be rebaselined every
three years, or more frequently if there is a substantial change in the
total NRC budget or in the magnitude of the budget allocated to a
specific class of licensees. Fees were calculated using the percent
change method in FY 2000, and were rebaselined in FYs 2001-2005.
As mentioned previously, the NRC believes that it should proceed,
in future rulemakings, with a presumption in favor of rebaselining
because there is often a substantial change in the total NRC budget or
in the magnitude of the budget allocated to a specific class of
licensees. Changes occurring in FY 2006 and beyond that warrant a
rebaselining of fees include those in the areas of new reactor
licensing, homeland security (including the removal of certain homeland
security costs from the fee base beginning in FY 2007, per the Energy
Policy Act of 2005), and new regulatory authority for naturally
occurring and accelerator produced radioactive material. Accordingly,
the Commission has concluded that the percent change method should be
used infrequently, and therefore, is proposing to proceed with a
presumption in favor of rebaselining each year beginning with this fee
rule.
2. Recovering Generic Transportation Costs as Part of Other Existing
Annual Fees
The NRC is proposing that generic transportation costs unrelated to
DOE be recovered as part of existing annual fees for license fee
classes, rather than through a separate annual fee for part 71 Quality
Assurance (QA) program approval holders (as is the current practice).
Under this change, the annual fee for fee categories 10.B.1 and 10.B.2
under Sec. 171.16 would be eliminated; however, the NRC is not
proposing to change or eliminate the annual fee under Sec. 171.16, fee
category 18.A, for DOE transportation activities, which would continue
to be calculated using the current methodology (described further under
Section 3.h of this document). This change would enhance the equity of
NRC's fees, increase the consistency of 10 CFR parts 71 and 72 fee
recovery, and decrease the administrative burden associated with a
separate transportation annual fee.
All NRC licensees must perform some activities related to the
transportation of radioactive material as a necessary part of their
licensed activities. This transportation is authorized by their NRC
license (under 10 CFR parts 30, 40, 50, 70, etc.). [10 CFR 71.17
establishes a general license that authorizes NRC licensees to make
shipments using packages with an approved Certificate of Compliance
(CoC), without further approval.] For example, all licensees receive
licensed material at their site, and ship products and waste materials.
Because the NRC does not issue separate licenses under part 71 for
transportation activities, the NRC currently recovers the cost of all
``generic'' transportation activities (i.e., those activities that are
not licensee-specific, and therefore not recovered through part 170
fees) through annual fees for QA program approvals. QA program
approvals are required for entities holding NRC approved CoCs for
transportation packages and for licensees that ship large (Type B)
quantities of radioactive material or fissile material. NRC licensees
must also use an approved CoC to transport radioactive material.
The NRC currently charges annual fees for the two types of QA
program approvals it issues: (1) Use (approximately 80 programs), and
(2) use and fabrication (approximately 40 programs). However, the
resources for generic transportation activities--which are recovered
through these two annual fees--support many other transportation-
related NRC approvals and services, including the issuance of CoCs,
route approvals, and evaluations of transportation devices and security
plans. (The NRC charges part 170 fees for these specific services, not
annual fees for various reasons.)
One reason this approach raises fairness concerns is that a company
is required to have only one QA program approval regardless of the
number of CoCs it holds. This means companies pay the same annual fee
regardless of whether they own one or many CoCs. As industry
consolidation has increased over the past decade and the NRC has issued
fewer QA program approvals, this equity concern has increased.
The NRC believes generic transportation resources would be
recovered more equitably if these costs were included in the existing
annual fees for NRC licenses for 10 CFR parts 30, 40, 50, 70, etc. The
resources associated with generic transportation activities would be
distributed to the license fee classes based on the number of CoCs
benefitting (used by) that fee class, as a proxy for the generic
transportation resources expended for each fee class. (This is a method
similar to that used to calculate DOE's annual fee for transportation
activities under Sec. 171.16 fee category 18.A.) In this way, the
annual fee for a license would include the estimated share of
transportation resources needed to support that license, similar to the
recovery of other types of generic resources such as rulemakings and
risk assessments. Note the amount of generic transportation resources
distributed to the fee classes does not include the cost of activities
associated with fee-exempt entities (e.g., nonprofit educational
institutions). Additionally, the distribution of these resources to the
fee classes is adjusted to account for the licensees in each fee class
that are fee exempt. [For example, if two CoCs benefit the entire test
and research reactor class, but only four of 31 test and research
reactors are subject to annual fees, the number of CoCs used to
determine the proportion of generic transportation resources allocated
to test and research reactor annual fees equals ((4/31)*2), or 0.26
CoCs.]
Under this new approach, reactors would pay approximately 38
percent of these costs in FY 2006, materials users approximately 32
percent, fuel facilities approximately 21 percent, spent fuel/reactor
decommissioning licensees approximately nine percent, and test and
research reactors approximately 0.3 percent.
This new approach would also increase the consistency of parts 71
and 72 fee recovery. Part 72 QA programs are approved as part of the
CoC approval process, and an annual fee is not assessed for either this
QA approval or the CoC. The generic costs associated with spent fuel
storage are recovered as part of the annual fee assessed to operating
power reactors, decommissioning power reactors, and independent spent
fuel storage installation licensees who do not hold a part 50 license.
Finally, an additional benefit of this approach is that it would
decrease administrative burden and costs for both NRC and licensees by
eliminating a required systems interface for NRC fee billing purposes,
as well as reduce the number of NRC bills and accounts receivable
transactions.
3. Revised Annual Fees
The annual fees in Sec. Sec. 171.15 and 171.16 would be revised
for FY 2006 to recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's FY 2006
budget authority, less the estimated amount to be recovered through
part 170 fees and the amounts appropriated from the NWF and for WIR
activities. The total amount to be
[[Page 7357]]
recovered through annual fees for FY 2006 is $436.2 million, compared
to $380.5 million for FY 2005.
Rebaselining fees in FY 2006 would result in increased annual fees
compared to FY 2005 for all licensees, with the exception of certain
fuel facilities. The proposed increases in annual fees range from less
than one percent for certain fuel facilities to approximately 120
percent for uranium recovery facilities. However, most of the annual
fee increases are of similar magnitude to the percentage increase in
total required fee recovery of approximately 15 percent. The annual fee
for certain medical licensees (fee category 7C) and industrial users of
nuclear material (fee category 3P), which are the two fee categories
with the largest number of licensees (with a combined total of over
3,300 of the NRC's approximately 4,500 materials users licensees),
would increase by approximately 18 percent and 16 percent,
respectively.
As mentioned previously, the most significant factor affecting the
changes to the annual fee amounts is the increase in the NRC's fee
recoverable budget in FY 2006. The NRC's fee recoverable budget, as
mandated by law, is $83.4 million larger in FY 2006 as compared to FY
2005, an increase of over 15 percent. Much of this increase is for the
additional workload demand in areas such as new plant licensing and
security. Other factors include adjustments in the distribution of
budgeted costs to the different classes of licenses (based on the
specific activities NRC will perform in FY 2006) and the estimated part
170 collections for the various classes of licenses. The percentage of
the NRC's budget not subject to fee recovery remained unchanged at ten
percent from FY 2005 to FY 2006.
Note that the NRC's total estimated part 170 fee collections
increased by over 22 percent in FY 2006 (compared to FY 2005 actual
part 170 collections), so that the percent of total fees collected
under part 170 is estimated to be 30.2 percent in FY 2006, versus 29
percent for FY 2005. This increase is mainly due to the increase in the
FY 2005 hourly rates as compared to the FY 2004 hourly rates. As
discussed in the FY 2005 rulemaking, the higher hourly rates
established in FY 2005 would increase part 170 fee collections
beginning in FY 2006. (These rates took effect near the end of FY 2005,
and the NRC began collecting receipts from these higher rates as of the
beginning of FY 2006.) Because costs not recovered under part 170 are
recovered through part 171 annual fees, an increase in total part 170
fee collections results in a reduction in total annual fees by the same
amount. Because of the higher hourly rates and resulting higher part
170 fee collections in FY 2006, the FY 2006 annual fees are lower than
they would have been had NRC not established higher hourly rates in FY
2005.
Note the annual fees shown in this section are proposed annual fees
based on the latest information available during the development of
this proposed rule. Annual fees may change between the FY 2006 proposed
and final fee rules in light of revised projections of part 170 fee
collections for each fee class, which are based on the latest available
data on part 170 activities. Annual fees may also change if there are
significant changes in the allocation of the budget to planned
activities.
Table III shows the proposed rebaselined annual fees for FY 2006
for a representative list of categories of licenses. The FY 2005 fee is
also shown for comparative purposes.
Table III.--Rebaselined Annual Fees for FY 2006
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2005 FY 2006
Class/category of licenses annual fee annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors (including $3,155,000 $3,655,000
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor
Decommissioning annual fee)............
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor 159,000 168,000
Decommissioning........................
Test and Research Reactors (Nonpower 59,500 76,300
Reactors)..............................
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility..... 5,449,000 5,579,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility...... 1,632,000 1,643,000
UF6 Conversion Facility................. 699,000 1,076,000
Conventional Mills...................... 30,200 66,400
Typical Materials Users:
Radiographers....................... 12,800 15,300
Well Loggers........................ 4,100 4,700
Gauge Users (Category 3P)........... 2,500 2,900
Broad Scope Medical................. 27,300 32,600
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The annual fees assessed to each class of licenses include a
surcharge to recover those NRC budgeted costs that are not directly or
solely attributable to the classes of licenses, but must be recovered
from licensees to comply with the requirements of OBRA-90, as amended.
Based on the FY 2006 EWDAA, which amended OBRA-90 to require that the
NRC recover 90 percent of its budget in FY 2006, the total surcharge
costs for FY 2006 will be reduced by approximately $69.3 million. The
total FY 2006 budgeted costs for these activities and the reduction in
the total surcharge amount for fee recovery purposes are shown in Table
IV (individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding).
Table IV.--Surcharge Costs
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2006
Category of costs budgeted
costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee
or class of licensee:
a. International activities............................ $14.1
b. Agreement State oversight........................... 8.0
[[Page 7358]]
c. Activities for unlicensed sites (includes 5.4
decommissioning costs associated with unlicensed
sites, formerly referred to as site decommissioning
management plan activities not recovered under part
170; also includes activities associated with
unregistered general licensees).......................
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 11.9
b. Licensing and inspection activities associated with 1.4
other Federal agencies................................
c. Costs not recovered from small entities under 10 CFR 5.7
171.16(c).............................................
3. Activities supporting NRC operating licensees and
others:
a. Regulatory support to Agreement States \1\.......... 20.2
b. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (except those 6.5
related to power reactors)............................
============
Total surcharge costs.............................. 73.1
Less 10 percent of NRC's FY 2006 total budget (less NWF)... -69.3
------------
Total Net Surcharge Costs to be Recovered.......... 3.7
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This estimate includes the costs of homeland security activities
associated with sources in Agreement States, even though regulatory
authority remains with the NRC for these activities. However, fees are
not assessed to sources in Agreement States for these activities,
therefore these costs are included in this surcharge category.
Additionally, this estimate includes some costs associated with
establishing a regulatory infrastructure for naturally occurring and
accelerator produced radioactive material because this infrastructure
will further the future regulation of these sources by both NRC and
Agreement States.
As shown in Table IV, $3.7 million would be the total net surcharge
cost allocated to the various classes of licenses for FY 2006 (i.e.,
that portion of the total surcharge not covered by the NRC's 10 percent
fee relief). The NRC would continue to allocate these surcharge costs
to each class of licenses based on the percent of the budget for that
fee class compared to the NRC's total budget. The proposed surcharge
costs allocated to each class would be included in the annual fee
assessed to each licensee. The proposed FY 2006 surcharge costs (and
the percent of total surcharge costs) allocated to each class of
licenses, are shown in Table V (individual amounts may not sum to
totals due to rounding). Separately, the NRC would continue to allocate
the low-level waste (LLW) surcharge costs based on the volume of LLW
disposal of certain classes of licenses. For FY 2006, the LLW surcharge
costs are $3.5 million.
Table V.--Allocation of Surcharge
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLW surcharge Non-LLW surcharge Total
----------------------------------------------------- surcharge
-------------
Percent $M Percent $M $M
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors..................... 74 2.6 83.5 3.1 5.7
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decomm............ ........... ........... 4.4 0.2 0.2
Test and Research Reactors................... ........... ........... 0.1 0 0
Fuel Facilities.............................. 8 0.3 6.8 0.3 0.5
Materials Users.............................. 18 0.6 4.2 0.2 0.8
Transportation............................... ........... ........... 0.4 0 0
Rare Earth Facilities........................ ........... ........... 0.1 0 0
Uranium Recovery............................. ........... ........... 0.4 0 0
--------------
Total Surcharge.......................... 100 3.5 100.0 3.7 7.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The budgeted costs allocated to each class of licenses and the
calculations of the rebaselined fees are described in paragraphs a.
through h. below. The workpapers 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 Commission notes that it
is providing improved summary documentation of the fee calculations
used in this rulemaking as part of the publicly available documents,
and believes that these new reports will enhance the transparency of
the fee calculations and provide additional explanation of any changes
in fees. These reports summarize the FY 2006 budgeted FTE and contract
dollars, at the planned activity and program level, allocated to each
fee class and surcharge category, and compares these allocations to
those used to develop final FY 2005 fees. The workpapers are available
electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at
Web site address http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. During the
30-day public comment period, the workpapers may also be examined at
the NRC Public Document Room located at One White Flint North, Room O-
1F22, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738.
Note all budgeted resources and annual fee amounts presented in
this document reflect an increase in the full cost of an FTE. This
increase occurred due to the Government-wide pay raise
[[Page 7359]]
and the more accurate allocation of overhead to the FTEs supporting fee
classes versus surcharge categories, which increased the full cost of
FTEs supporting fee classes. (As a percent of total fee-based budgeted
resources, the resources associated with NRC's overhead actually
declined from FY 2005 to FY 2006). As such, some fee classes reflect a
small increase in the dollar value of allocated budgeted resources,
even while the number of FTE and value of contract dollars allocated to
that fee class declined slightly.
a. Fuel Facilities. The FY 2006 budgeted cost to be recovered in
the annual fees assessment to the fuel facility class of licenses is
approximately $25.5 million. This value is derived 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 to reflect the net allocated surcharge, any allocated generic
transportation resources, and billing adjustments. The summary
calculations used to derive this value are presented in Table VI for FY
2006, with FY 2005 values shown for comparison purposes (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 fuel facility fee FY 2005 FY 2006
class final proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources...................... $38.2 $41.0
Less estimated part 170 receipts.............. -14.3 -16.9
==============
Net part 171 resources.................... 24.0 24.1
Plus allocated generic transportation......... + N/A +0.8
Plus allocated surcharge...................... + 0.4 +0.5
Billing adjustments (including carryover and -0.2 +0.0
budget rescission)...........................
--------------
Total required annual fee recovery........ 24.1 25.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The increase in total fuel facilities annual fees is partly
attributable to a small increase in the value of total budgeted
resources supporting this fee class, which is due mostly to an increase
in the full cost of an FTE (as explained previously), along with the
addition of allocated transportation resources.
The total required annual fee recovery amount is allocated to the
individual fuel facility licensees based on the effort/fee
determination matrix established in the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR
31448; June 10, 1999). In the matrix (which is included in the NRC
workpapers that are publicly available), 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 in such a
way (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. Next, 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.
Once the structure of the matrix is established, 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 workpapers for the complete list). Effort factors are assigned
as follows: zero (no regulatory effort), one (low regulatory effort),
five (moderate regulatory effort), and ten (high regulatory effort).
These effort factors are then totaled for each fee category, such that
each fee category has a total effort factor for safety activities and a
total effort factor for safeguards activities.
The budgeted resources for safety activities are then 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 ten, that fee
category will be allocated ten percent of the total budgeted resources
for safety activities. Similarly, the budgeted resources for safeguards
activities are allocated to each fee category based on its percent of
the total regulatory effort for safeguards activities.
The proposed 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 for each fee category (not per
facility). Note this table includes the addition of a new fee
[[Page 7360]]
category, as discussed immediately following the table.
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...................................... 2 101 (38.0) 96 (52.2)
Enrichment...................................................... 2 70 (26.3) 40 (21.7)
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel....................................... 3 66 (24.8) 21 (11.4)
UF6 Conversion.................................................. 1 12 (4.5) 70 (3.8)
Limited Operations.............................................. 1 8 (3.0) 3 (1.6)
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration......................... 1 3 (1.1) 15 (8.2)
Hot Cell........................................................ 1 6 (2.3) 2 (1.1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NRC is proposing to divide fee category 1.A.2.b under Sec.
170.31 into two categories, and use the existing fee methodology to
establish separate annual fees for these two categories. Currently, fee
category 1.A.2.b captures all fuel facility licensees that do not fall
into other fee categories. There are currently two licensees in this
fee category; one is a gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration
facility, and one is a hot cell facility. The NRC provides
significantly different levels of regulatory support for these
facilities; for example, the gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration
facility generates and requires the safe management of significantly
greater amounts of sensitive information. For this reason, the NRC
proposes to divide this fee category into two categories to separately
establish annual fees for these two types of facilities based on the
NRC's resources (i.e., level of effort) specifically associated with
regulating each type of facility. This would better align the NRC's
budgeted resources with the fees assessed to these two facilities.
Applying the FY 2006 proposed effort factors (as summarized in
Table VII) to the safety, safeguards, and surcharge components of the
$25.5 million total annual fee amount for the fuel facility class
results in annual fees for each licensee within the categories of this
class summarized in Table VIII. Note that the proposed annual fees for
the gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration and UF6
conversion facilities are higher than the FY 2005 annual fees because
the safeguards effort factors for these facilities have been raised.
These revised factors better reflect the effort levels associated with
safeguards activities for these facilities, including those associated
with interim compensatory measures and the handling of sensitive
information.
Table VIII.--Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2006
Facility type (fee category) annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel.............................. $5,579,000
Uranium Enrichment...................................... 3,115,000
Low Enriched Uranium.................................... 1,643,000
UF6 Conversion.......................................... 1,076,000
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration................. 1,019,000
Limited Operations Facility............................. 623,000
Hot Cell................................................ 453,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As mentioned previously, the NRC is currently reviewing
applications to build and operate gas centrifuge uranium enrichment
facilities. If these facilities are licensed to operate, they will be
subject to an annual fee in accordance with the methodology described
previously. The NRC's current plans are to establish a separate fee
category for these facilities.
b. Uranium Recovery Facilities. The total proposed FY 2006 budgeted
cost to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the uranium
recovery class is approximately $1.1 million. The derivation of this
value is shown below, with FY 2005 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 uranium recovery fee FY 2005 FY 2006
class final proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources...................... $2.01 $2.34
Less estimated part 170 receipts.............. -1.30 -1.29
==============
Net part 171 resources.................... 0.71 1.05
Plus allocated generic transportation......... +N/A +N/A
Plus allocated surcharge...................... +0.01 +$0.01
Billing adjustments (including carryover and -0.01 +$0.00
budget rescission)...........................
--------------
[[Page 7361]]
Total required annual fee recovery........ 0.70 1.07
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The increase in budgeted resources reflects the reallocation of
existing NRC FTE to uranium recovery licensing and inspection
activities from other activities (e.g., Agreement State oversight). The
part 170 estimate (as shown above) reflects an increase, over
historical actual part 170 collections, to fully account for these
additional activities. The FY 2006 part 170 estimate is not much
different than the FY 2005 part 170 estimate because the FY 2005
estimate was higher than the actual part 170 collections.
Of the required annual fee collections, approximately $736,000
would be assessed to DOE. The remaining $332,000 would be recovered
through annual fees assessed to conventional mills, in-situ leach
solution mining facilities, and 11e.(2) mill tailings disposal
facilities (incidental to existing tailings sites).
Consistent with the change in methodology adopted in the FY 2002
final fee rule (67 FR 42612; June 24, 2002), the total annual fee
amount, less the amounts specifically budgeted for Title I activities,
is allocated equally between Title I and Title II licensees. This would
result in an annual fee being assessed to DOE to recover the costs
specifically budgeted for NRC's Title I activities plus 50 percent of
the remaining annual fee amount, including the surcharge and generic/
other costs, for the uranium recovery class. The remaining 50 percent
of the surcharge and generic/other costs are assessed to the NRC Title
II program licensees 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 [Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation
Control Act (UMTRCA) Title I and Title II general
licenses]:
UMTRCA Title I budgeted costs....................... $403,825
50 percent of generic/other uranium recovery 324,808
budgeted costs.....................................
50 percent of uranium recovery surcharge................ 7,010
---------------
Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded)....... 736,000
Annual Fee Amount for UMTRCA Title II Specific Licenses:
50 percent of generic/other uranium recovery 324,808
budgeted costs.....................................
50 percent of uranium recovery surcharge............ 7,010
---------------
Total Annual Fee Amount for Title II Specific 331,818
Licenses.......................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The matrix used to allocate the costs of various categories of
Title II specific licensees has been reviewed and proposes to continue
to equally weight, as in FY 2005, the effort levels for each category
of uranium recovery facilities, in accordance with the NRC's FY 2006
budgeted activities. As such, each non-DOE uranium recovery licensee
would be assessed an equal share of the total annual fee amount for
UMTRCA Title II specific licenses. Additionally, the NRC is proposing
to maintain the existing approach for establishing part 171 annual fees
for Title II uranium recovery licensees (established in the FY 1995 fee
rule; 60 FR 32218, June 20, 1995). This approach is as follows:
(1) The methodology identifies three categories of licenses:
conventional uranium mills (Class I facilities), uranium solution
mining facilities (Class II facilities), and mill tailings disposal
facilities (11e.(2) disposal facilities). Each category benefits from
the generic uranium recovery program efforts (e.g., rulemakings, staff
guidance documents);
(2) The matrix relates the category and the level of benefit by
program element and subelement;
(3) The two major program elements of the generic uranium recovery
program are activities related to facility operations and facility
closure;
(4) Each of the major program elements was further divided into
three subelements; and
(5) The three major subelements of generic activities associated
with uranium facility operations are regulatory efforts related to the
operation of mills, handling and disposal of waste, and prevention of
groundwater contamination. The three major subelements of generic
activities associated with uranium facility closure are regulatory
efforts related to decommissioning of facilities and land clean-up,
reclamation and closure of tailings impoundments, and groundwater
clean-up. Weighted values were assigned to each program element and
subelement considering health and safety implications and the
associated effort to regulate these activities. The applicability of
the generic program in each subelement to each uranium recovery
category was qualitatively estimated as either significant, some,
minor, or none.
The relative weighted factors per facility type for the various
categories of specifically licensed Title II uranium recovery licensees
are as follows:
[[Page 7362]]
Table XI.--Weighted Factors for Uranium Recovery Licenses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level of benefit total
Number of Category weight
Facility type facilities weight -------------------------
Value Percent
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class I (conventional mills)................................ 1 800 800 20
Class II (solution mining).................................. 3 800 2,400 60
11e.(2) disposal............................................ 0 0 0 0
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites...... 1 800 800 20
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applying these factors to the approximately $332,000 in budgeted
costs to be recovered from Title II specific licensees results in the
following revised annual fees:
Table XII.--Annual Fees for Title II Specific Licenses
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2006
Facility type annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class I (conventional mills)............................ $66,400
Class II (solution mining).............................. 66,400
11e.(2) disposal........................................ N/A
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites.. 66,400
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note because there are no longer any 11e.(2) disposal facilities
under the NRC's regulatory jurisdiction, the NRC has not allocated any
budgeted resources for these facilities, and therefore has not
established an annual fee for this fee category. If NRC issues a
license for this fee category in the future, then the Commission will
establish the appropriate annual fee.
As discussed in section 2. ``Eliminating the Existing Fee Payment
Exception for Uranium Recovery Licensees,'' the NRC is proposing that
all Title II facilities be subject to the billing provisions of Sec.
171.19(c), which state that annual fees that are less than $100,000 are
billed on the anniversary date of the license.
c. Operating Power Reactors. The approximately $362.7 million in
budgeted costs proposed to be recovered through FY 2006 annual fees
assessed to the power reactor class was calculated as shown in Table
XIII. (FY 2005 values shown for comparison purposes; individual amounts
may not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table XIII.--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Operating Power
Reactors
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations operating power FY 2005 FY 2006
reactors fee class final proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources...................... $440.7 $513.4
Less estimated part 170 receipts.............. -130.5 -158.2
==============
Net part 171 resources.................... 310.2 355.2
Plus allocated transportation................. + N/A + 1.5
Plus allocated surcharge...................... + 4.0 + $5.7
Billing adjustments (including carryover, any - 2.6 + 0.2
budget rescission............................
--------------
Total required annual fee recovery........ 311.6 362.7
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The budgeted costs to be recovered through annual fees to power
reactors, including those for homeland security activities related to
power reactors, is divided equally among the 104 power reactors
licensed to operate. This results in a FY 2006 annual fee of $3,487,000
per reactor. Additionally, each power reactor licensed to operate will
be assessed the FY 2006 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning
annual fee of $168,000. This results in a total FY 2006 annual fee of
$3,655,000 for each power reactor licensed to operate.
The proposed annual fee for power reactors increases due to an
increase in budgeted resources for a number of activities, including
regulatory infrastructure for new reactor licensing activities,
preparations for future combined license applications, homeland
security-related mitigating strategies, licensing tasks related to the
aging of reactor systems and components, and evaluating and resolving
operational issues. As shown previously, the NRC estimates an increase
in part 170 collections of approximately 21 percent from operating
power reactors; these collections offset the required annual fee
recovery amount by a total of over $158 million.
d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning. For FY 2006,
budgeted costs of approximately $20.5 million for spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning are proposed 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
[[Page 7363]]
fees. Table XIV below shows the calculation of this annual fee amount.
(FY 2005 values shown for comparison purposes; individual values may
not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table XIV.--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for the Spent Fuel Storage/
Reactor Decommissioning Fee Class
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations spent fuel storage/ FY 2005 FY 2006
reactor decommissioning fee class final proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources...................... $25.1 $27.0
Less estimated part 170 receipts.............. -5.7 -7.0
==============
Net part 171 resources.................... 19.4 20.0
Plus allocated generic transportation......... + N/A +0.4
Plus allocated surcharge...................... +0.1 +0.2
Billing adjustments (including carryover and, -0.1 0.0
budget rescission)...........................
-----------------------------------------------==============
Total required annual fee recovery........ 19.4 20.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among
the 122 licensees, resulting in a proposed FY 2006 annual fee of
$168,000 per licensee. The value of total budgeted resources for this
fee class increases due to an increase in contracts allocated for
homeland security and licensing/certification activities, and the
allocation of generic transportation resources. An increase of
approximately 23 percent in estimated part 170 collections essentially
offsets the required annual fee recovery amount for this fee class.
e. Test and Research Reactors (Nonpower Reactors). Approximately
$305,000 in budgeted costs is proposed to be recovered through annual
fees assessed to the test and research reactor class of licenses for FY
2006. Table XV summarizes the annual fee calculation for test and
research reactors for FY 2006 (as compared to FY 2005).
Table XV.--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Test and Research
Reactors
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations/test and research FY 2005 FY 2006
reactors fee class final proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources...................... $0.52 $0.88
Less estimated part 170 receipts.............. -0.28 -0.59
==============
Net part 171 resources.................... 0.24 -0.29
Plus allocated generic transportation......... N/A +0.01
Plus allocated surcharge...................... 0.00 +0.01
Billing adjustments (including carryover and 0.00 0.00
budget rescission)...........................
-------------------------------------------------------------
Total required annual fee recovery........ 0.24 0.31
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among
the four test and research reactors subject to annual fees, and results
in a proposed FY 2006 annual fee of $76,300 for each licensee. This
increase is due to a relatively large increase in budgeted resources
for licensing activities for test and research reactors, which is part
of an initiative to reduce a backlog of reactor licensing actions.
Although the NRC estimates that much of this increase will result in an
increase in estimated part 170 collections (which is factored into the
part 170 estimates above), some of these resources are projected to be
associated with non-licensee specific activities, and therefore will
need to be recovered under part 171.
f. Rare Earth Facilities. The FY 2006 budgeted costs of $97,900 for
rare earth facilities to be recovered through annual fees would be
assessed to the one licensee who has a specific license for receipt and
processing of source material, resulting in a FY 2006 annual fee of
$97,900. Table XVI summarizes the annual fee calculation for the rare
earth fee class for FY 2006 (as compared to FY 2005). (Individual
values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table XVI.--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Rare Earth Facilities
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2005 FY 2006
Summary fee calculations rare earth fee class final proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources...................... $0.875 $0.832
Less estimated part 170 receipts.............. -0.800 -0.740
==============
Net part 171 resources.................... 0.075 0.092
[[Page 7364]]
Plus allocated generic transportation......... +N/A +N/A
Plus allocated surcharge...................... +0.000 +0.005
Billing adjustments (including carryover and -0.000 +$0.000
budget rescission)...........................
--------------
Total required annual fee recovery........ 0.074 0.098
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The total allocated resources for this fee class decrease slightly
in FY 2006, but the annual fee increases due to lower estimated part
170 collections.
g. Materials Users. Table XVII below shows the calculation of the
proposed FY 2006 annual fee amount for materials users licensees. (FY
2005 values shown for comparison purposes; individual values may not
sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table XVII.--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Materials Users
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations/materials users fee FY 2005 FY 2006
class final proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources...................... $27.5 $30.5
Less estimated part 170 receipts.............. -1.9 -2.1
==============
Net part 171 resources.................... 25.6 28.4
Plus allocated generic transportation......... +N/A +1.3
Plus allocated surcharge...................... +0.6 +0.8
Billing adjustments (including carryover and -0.1 +0.0
budget rescission)...........................
--------------
Total required annual fee recovery........ 26.0 30.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To equitably and fairly allocate the $30.5 million in FY 2006
budgeted costs to be recovered in annual fees assessed to the
approximately 4,500 diverse materials users and registrants, the NRC
has continued to base the annual fees for each fee category within this
class on the part 170 application fees and estimated inspection costs
for each fee category. Because the application fees and inspection
costs are indicative of the complexity of the license, this approach
continues to provide a proxy for allocating the generic and other
regulatory costs to the diverse categories of licenses based on how
much it costs the NRC to regulate each category. The fee calculation
also continues to consider the inspection frequency (priority), which
is indicative of the safety risk and 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 x [Application Fee + (Average Inspection Cost
divided by Inspection Priority)]+ Inspection Multiplier x (Average
Inspection Cost divided by Inspection Priority) + Unique Category
Costs.
The constant is the multiple necessary to recover approximately
$22.3 million in general costs (including allocated generic
transportation costs) and is 1.22 for FY 2006. The inspection
multiplier is the multiple necessary to recover approximately $7.2
million in inspection costs, and is 1.51 for FY 2006. The unique
category costs are any special costs that the NRC has budgeted for a
specific category of licenses. For FY 2006, approximately $116,000 in
budgeted costs for the implementation of revised 10 CFR part 35,
Medical Use of Byproduct Material (unique costs), has been allocated to
holders of NRC human use licenses.
The annual fee assessed to each licensee also includes a share of
the $158,000 in surcharge costs allocated to the materials user class
of licenses and, for certain categories of these licenses, a share of
the approximately $631,000 in LLW surcharge costs allocated to the
class. The annual fee for each fee category is shown in Sec.
171.16(d).
The proposed annual fees for materials licensees increase in FY
2006 mainly because of an increase in budgeted resources for activities
relating to information technology/tracking systems for these types of
licensees (including tracking that relates to homeland security
purposes), increases for inspection activities, and the allocation of
generic transportation resources. Increases in annual fees for
materials users licensees (other than master materials licenses, for
which the annual fee increased 47 percent) range from approximately
five percent to approximately 21 percent. These changes reflect the
overall increase of over 17 percent in budgeted resources to be
recovered through annual fees to this fee class; the actual percentage
increase for different fee categories varies mainly because of the
difference in how inspection versus other types of resources are
distributed to the fee categories. For example, the inspection
resources to be recovered through annual fees increased more than non-
inspection resources from FY 2005 to FY 2006. Those fee categories that
receive a relatively larger share of these inspection budgeted costs
(due to their higher average hours per inspection), have proposed
annual fees that increase somewhat more than other fee categories, as
compared to FY 2005.
h. Transportation. Table XVIII shows the calculation of the
proposed FY 2006 generic transportation budgeted resources to be
recovered through annual fees. (FY 2005 values shown for comparison
purposes.)
[[Page 7365]]
Table XVIII.--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Transportation
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations/transportation fee FY 2005 FY 2006
class Ffinal proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources...................... $5.4 $6.6
Less estimated part 170 receipts.............. -1.1 -1.3
==============
Net part 171 resources (required annual 4.3 5.3
fee recovery)............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As discussed previously in more detail, the NRC is proposing to
recover generic transportation costs unrelated to DOE as part of
existing annual fees for license fee classes. Under this approach, the
annual fee for fee categories 10.B.1 and 10.B.2 under Sec. 171.16
would be eliminated, but the NRC would continue to assess a separate
annual fee under Sec. 171.16, fee category 18.A, for DOE
transportation activities.
The total FY 2006 budgeted resources for generic transportation
activities, including those to support DOE CoCs, is $5.3 million.
[Generic transportation resources associated with fee-exempt entities
are not included in this total; these costs are included in the
appropriate surcharge category (e.g., the surcharge category for
nonprofit educational institutions).] These resources are distributed
to DOE (to be included in its annual fee under fee category 18.A of
Sec. 171.16) and each license fee class based on the CoCs used by DOE
and each fee class, as a proxy for the generic resources expended for
each fee class. (Note the number of CoCs used by fee class is adjusted
to take into account the percentage of licensees in that fee class
subject to annual fees, as explained previously.) As such, the amount
of the generic resources allocated is calculated by multiplying the
percentage of total CoCs used by each fee class (and DOE) by the total
generic transportation resources to be recovered. The distribution of
these resources to the license fee classes and DOE is as follows
(individual values may not sum to total due to rounding):
Table XIX.--Distribution of Generic Transportation Resources, FY 2006
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
CoCs Percentage Allocated
License fee class/DOE benefitting of total generic
fee class CoCs* transportation
(or DOE) resources
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors...... 39 29.0 $1.54
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor 9 6.7 0.36
Decommissioning..............
Test and Research Reactors.... 0.3 0.2 0.01
Fuel Facilities............... 21 15.6 0.83
Materials Users............... 32 23.9 1.27
DOE........................... 33 24.6 1.30
--------------
Total..................... 134 100 5.31
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Note the percentages presented here are somewhat different than those
presented above under Section 2, ``Recovering Generic Transportation
Costs as Part of Other Existing Annual Fees'' because DOE is included
in the totals in this Section.
The NRC proposes to continue to assess DOE an annual fee based on
the part 71 CoCs it holds. The NRC is not proposing to allocate these
DOE-related resources to other licensees' annual fees because these
resources specifically support DOE; hence the current fee recovery
methodology for these resources remains efficient and equitable. Note
that DOE's annual fee includes a portion of the surcharge, resulting in
a total annual fee of $1,321,000 for FY 2006. This fee increases from
last year due to budgeted increases for safeguards and licensing/
certification activities.
4. Eliminating the Existing Fee Payment Exception for Uranium Recovery
Licensees
Under the payment provisions of Sec. 171.19, the NRC currently
bills licensees' part 171 fees annually if their annual fees are less
than $100,000, and quarterly if their annual fees are $100,000 or more.
However, the NRC bills Class I and Class II uranium recovery licensees
quarterly in accordance with Sec. 171.19(b), regardless of the amount
of their annual fee. The NRC established this payment exception for
Class I and Class II uranium recovery licensees in the FY 2001 final
rule (66 FR 32452; June 14, 2001) because the annual fees for these
licensees had been fluctuating just above or below $100,000. Since
then, uranium recovery license fees have been well below $100,000.
Because this billing exception is no longer needed and is
administratively burdensome to implement with the current fee billing
system, the NRC is proposing to eliminate the billing exception for
Class I and Class II uranium recovery licensees. These licensees would
become subject to the same payment provisions as all other licensees,
as described above.
5. Agreement State Activities
By letter dated July 6, 2004, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota
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 NRC staff has evaluated the Minnesota request and application and
has proceeded with the processing of the application. The comment
period on the draft assessment of the Minnesota proposed program closed
on December 9, 2005, and the staff is proceeding through the process
with an effective date for the Agreement of March 31, 2006.
[[Page 7366]]
The Commission approved this Agreement on January 26, 2006, and is
proceeding with the signing process which should be completed in
February 2006. Approximately 150 licenses will be transferred by the
effective date of March 31, 2006 to the State of Minnesota from the
NRC. Note that in accordance with Sec. 171.17(b), materials licenses
transferred to a new Agreement State during the fiscal year are
considered terminated by the NRC; as such, the annual fees associated
with these licenses are adjusted accordingly (i.e., a license will be
assessed a 50 percent prorated annual fee if it terminates between
October 1 and March 31, and a full annual fee if it terminates between
April 1 and September 30). The continuing costs of Agreement State
regulatory support and oversight for Minnesota, as for any other
Agreement State, will be recovered through the surcharge (as reduced by
the ten percent of its budget that the NRC receives in appropriations
each year for these types of activities), consistent with existing
policy.
The fees in this proposed rule do not reflect the transfer of
licensees to the State of Minnesota because the Agreement has not yet
been signed (as of the signature date of this rule). The final fee rule
will reflect this change which should occur before its publication.
6. Administrative Amendments
The NRC is proposing to clarify the definition of ``overhead and
general and administrative costs'' under Sec. 171.5. This definition
provides examples of organizations that are included as ``indirect
costs.'' The NRC would like to clarify that certain costs of some of
these organizations are not considered to be indirect; therefore, in
these instances, these costs are not included in overhead and general
and administrative costs. For example, the Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board Panel is listed as an indirect office in this definition. There
are instances in which this Panel performs direct mission-related work,
and the budgeted resources for these activities are considered to be
direct in the fee calculations (consistent with the categorization of
these resources in the NRC's budget). The NRC believes this
clarification will better reflect the most recent data on the types of
budgeted resources associated with these offices. Additionally, this
definition would be revised to eliminate reference to an organization
within the agency that no longer exists.
In summary, the NRC is proposing to--
1. Proceed with the presumption in favor of rebaselining beginning
with the FY 2006 fee rule;
2. Recover generic transportation costs as part of other existing
annual fees;
3. Revise the annual fees to reflect the FY 2006 budget and other
changes;
4. Eliminate the existing fee payment exception for Class I and
Class II uranium recovery licensees;
5. Revise the number of NRC licensees if Minnesota becomes an
Agreement State before the publication of the FY 2006 final fee rule;
and
6. Make an administrative change to clarify the definition of
``overhead and general and administrative costs.''
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 comments on this proposed rule
specifically with respect to the clarity and effectiveness of the
language used. Comments should be sent to the address listed under the
heading ADDRESSES above.
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995,
Public Law 104-113, 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. In this proposed rule, the
NRC would 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 2006 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.
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 regulation. 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 Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 1952
(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 (D.C. Cir. 1976); National
Association of Broadcasters v. Federal Communications Commission, 554
F.2d 1118 (D.C. Cir. 1976); Electronic Industries Association v.
Federal Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 1109 (D.C. Cir. 1976); and
Capital Cities Communication, Inc. v. Federal Communications
Commission, 554 F.2d 1135 (D.C. 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--
(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 and with applicable regulations;
(3) The NRC could charge for costs incurred in conducting
environmental reviews required by NEPA;
(4) The NRC properly included the costs of uncontested hearings and
of
[[Page 7367]]
administrative and technical support services in the fee schedule;
(5) The NRC could assess a fee for renewing a license to operate a
low-level 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 be recovered
through the assessment of fees. OBRA-90 was subsequently amended to
extend the 100 percent fee recovery requirement through FY 2000. As
mentioned previously, the FY 2001 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 is 90 percent in FY 2005. The FY 2006
EWDAA extended this 90 percent fee recovery requirement through FY
2006. As a result, the NRC is required to recover approximately 90
percent of its FY 2006 budget authority, less the amounts appropriated
from the NWF and for WIR activities, through fees. To comply with this
statutory requirement and in accordance with Sec. 171.13, the NRC is
publishing the amount of the FY 2006 annual fees for reactor licensees,
fuel cycle licensees, materials licensees, and holders of Certificates
of Compliance, 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 be based on approximately 90 percent of the
Commission's FY 2006 budget of $741.5 million less the funds directly
appropriated from the NWF to cover the NRC's high-level waste program
and for WIR 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.
10 CFR 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 (D.C. 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 (D.C. Cir. 1993).
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The NRC is required by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1990, as amended, to recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2006
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 2006. The
proposed 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 Congressional Review Act of 1996 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 2006.
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 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: Sec. 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)).
2. In Sec. 170.3, the definition of special projects is revised to
read as follows:
Sec. 170.3 Definitions.
* * * * *
Special projects means those requests submitted to the Commission
for review for which fees are not otherwise specified in this chapter
and contested hearings on licensing actions directly related to U.S.
Government national security initiatives, as determined by the NRC.
Examples of special projects include, but are not limited to, contested
hearings on licensing actions directly related to Presidentially
directed national security programs, topical report reviews, early site
reviews, waste solidification facilities, activities related to the
tracking and monitoring of shipment of classified matter, services
provided to certify licensee, vendor, or other private industry
personnel as instructors for part 55 reactor operators, reviews of
financial assurance submittals that do not require a license amendment,
reviews of responses to Confirmatory Action Letters, reviews of uranium
recovery licensees' land-use survey reports, and reviews of 10 CFR
50.71 final safety analysis reports. Special projects does not include
those contested hearings for which a fee exemption is granted in Sec.
170.11(a)(2),
[[Page 7368]]
including those related to individual plant security modifications.
* * * * *
3. In Sec. 170.11, paragraph (a)(5) is removed and reserved, and
paragraphs (a)(4)(iii), (a)(9) introductory text, (i), and (ii) are
revised as follows:
Sec. 170.11 Exemptions.
(a) * * *
(4) * * *
(iii) Distribution of byproduct material, source material, or
special nuclear material or products containing byproduct material,
source material or special nuclear material; or
* * * * *
(9) Federally-owned and State-owned research reactors used
primarily for educational training and academic research purposes. For
purposes of this exemption, the term research reactor means a nuclear
reactor that--
(i) Is licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under section
104c. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2134 (c)) at a
thermal power level of 10 megawatts or less; and
(ii) If so licensed at a thermal power level of more than 1
megawatt, does not contain--
* * * * *
4. Section 170.20 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 170.20 Average cost per professional staff-hour.
Fees for permits, licenses, amendments, renewals, special projects,
part 55 re-qualification and replacement examinations and tests, other
required reviews, approvals, and inspections under Sec. Sec. 170.21
and 170.31 will be calculated using the following applicable
professional staff-hour rates:
(a) Reactor Program (Sec. 170.21 Activities, excluding reactor
decommissioning and import/export licensing activities): $217 per hour
(b) Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Waste Program (Sec. 170.31
Activities, as well as the reactor decommissioning and import/export
licensing activities covered under Sec. 170.21): $215 per hour
5. In Sec. 170.21, Category K and footnotes 1 and 4 in the table
are revised to read as follows:
Sec. 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]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Facility categories and type of fees Fees\1\ \2\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
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...... $14,000
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...... 8,200
3. Application for export of components
requiring the assistance of the Executive
Branch to obtain foreign government assurances.
Application--new license, or amendment...... 2,600
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...... 1,700
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............................. 320
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Fees will not be charged for orders related to civil penalties or
other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under Sec. 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, 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. Fees for licenses
in this schedule that are initially issued for less than full power
are based on review through the issuance of a full power license
(generally full power is considered 100 percent of the facility's full
rated power). Thus, if a licensee received a low power license or a
temporary license for less than full power and subsequently receives
full power authority (by way of license amendment or otherwise), the
total costs for the license will be determined through that period
when authority is granted for full power operation. If a situation
arises in which the Commission determines that full operating power
for a particular facility should be less than 100 percent of full
rated power, the total costs for the license will be at that
determined lower operating power level and not at the 100 percent
capacity.
\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
at the time 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 Sec. 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 Sec. 170.20.
* * * * * * *
[[Page 7369]]
\4\ Imports only of major components for end-use at NRC-licensed
reactors are now authorized under NRC general import license.
6. Section 170.31 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 170.31 Schedule of fees for materials licenses and other
regulatory services, including inspections, and import and export
licenses.
Applicants for materials licenses, import and export licenses, and
other regulatory services, and holders of materials licenses or import
and export licenses shall pay fees for the following categories of
services. For those fee categories identified to be subject to full
cost fees, full cost fees will be assessed for all licensing and
inspection activities, unless otherwise indicated.
Schedule of Materials Fees
[See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Full Cost.
(High Enriched Uranium).
(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Full Cost.
Form Used for Fabrication of Power
Reactor Fuel.
(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. Full Cost.
(b) Gas centrifuge enrichment Full Cost.
demonstration facilities.
(c) Hot cell facilities................ Full Cost.
B. Licenses for receipt and storage of Full Cost.
spent fuel and reactor-related Greater
than Class C (GTCC) waste at an
independent spent fuel storage
installation (ISFSI).
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............................ $990.
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 Sec.
150.11 of this chapter, for which the
licensee shall pay the same fees as those
for Category 1A: \4\
Application............................ $2,000.
E. Licenses or certificates for Full Cost.
construction and operation of a uranium
enrichment facility.
2. Source material:
A.(1) Licenses for possession and use of Full Cost.
source material for refining uranium mill
concentrates to uranium hexafluoride.
(2) Licenses for possession and use of
source material in recovery operations
such as milling, in-situ leaching, 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) Class I facilities \4\............. Full Cost.
(b) Class II facilities \4\............ Full Cost.
(c) Other facilities \4\............... Full Cost.
(3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of Full Cost.
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 2A(2) or Category 2A(4).
(4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of Full Cost.
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 2A(2).
B. Licenses which authorize the possession,
use, and/or installation of source
material for shielding:
Application............................ $240.
C. All other source material licenses:
Application............................ $8,400.
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............................ $10,100.
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............................ $3,800.
C. Licenses issued under Sec. Sec. 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 Sec. 170.11(a)(4). These
licenses are covered by fee Category 3D.
Application............................ $5,200.
D. Licenses and approvals issued under Sec.
Sec. 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 Sec. Sec. 32.72 and/or
32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit
educational institutions whose processing
or manufacturing is exempt under Sec.
170.11(a)(4).
Application............................ $3,700.
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............................ $2,500.
[[Page 7370]]
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............................ $5,000.
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............................ $12,000.
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............................ $14,600.
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............................ $8,700.
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............................ $1,500.
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............................ $880.
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............................ $8,400.
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............................ $3,400.
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 4A,
4B, and 4C:
Application............................ $3,800.
O. Licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material issued under part 34 of
this chapter for industrial radiography
operations:
Application............................ $3,500.
P. All other specific byproduct material
licenses, except those in Categories 4A
through 9D:
Application............................ $1,200.
Q. Registration of a device(s) generally
licensed under part 31 of this chapter:
Registration........................... $730.
4. Waste disposal and processing:
A. Licenses specifically authorizing the Full Cost.
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.
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............................ $2,600.
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............................ $3,900.
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............................ $1,400.
B. Licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material for field flooding
tracer studies:
Licensing.............................. Full Cost.
6. Nuclear laundries:
A. Licenses for commercial collection and
laundry of items contaminated with
byproduct material, source material, or
special nuclear material:
Application............................ $17,100.
7. Medical licenses:
[[Page 7371]]
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 teletherapy devices:
Application............................ $9,400.
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:
Application............................ $6,700.
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............................ $2,300.
8. Civil defense:
A. Licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material, source material, or
special nuclear material for civil defense
activities:
Application............................ $490.
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............... $21,000.
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............... $21,000.
C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources
containing byproduct material, source
material, or special nuclear material,
except reactor fuel, for commercial
distribution:
Application--each source............... $2,400.
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............... $820.
10. Transportation of radioactive material:
A. Evaluation of casks, packages, and
shipping containers:
1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and Full Cost.
plutonium air packages.
2. Other Casks......................... Full Cost.
B. Quality assurance program approvals
issued under part 71 of this chapter.
1. Users and Fabricators
Application........................ $5,600.
Inspections........................ Full Cost.
2. Users
Application........................ $5,600.
Inspections........................ Full Cost.
C. Evaluation of security plans, route Full Cost.
approvals, route surveys, and
transportation security devices (including
immobilization devices).
11. Review of standardized spent fuel Full Cost.
facilities.
12. Special projects:
Including approvals, preapplication/ Full Cost.
licensing activities, and inspections.
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Full Cost.
Compliance.
B. Inspections related to storage of spent Full Cost.
fuel under Sec. 72.210 of this chapter.
14. A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear Full Cost.
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 Full Cost.
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, 2006.
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 $14,000.
amendment.
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 $8,200.
amendment.
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.
Application--new license, or $2,600.
amendment.
[[Page 7372]]
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 $1,700.
amendment.
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.................... $320.
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 (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 $14,000.
amendment.
G. Application for export of Category 1
materials requiring Executive Branch
review, Commission review, and
government to government consent.
Application--new license, or $8,200.
amendment.
H. Application for export of Category 1
materials requiring Commission review
and government to government consent.
Application--new license, or $5,200.
amendment.
I. Application for export of Category 1
material requiring government to
government consent.
Application--new license, or $4,300.
amendment.
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 $14,000.
amendment.
K. Applications for export of Category
2 materials requiring Executive Branch
review and Commission review.
Application--new license, or $8,200.
amendment.
L. Application for the export of
Category 2 materials.
Application--new license, or $3,900.
amendment.
Category 1 Imports
M. Application for the import of
Category 1 material requiring
Commission review.
Application--new license, or $4,100.
amendment.
N. Application for the import of
Category 1 material.
Application--new license, or $3,400.
amendment.
Category 2 Imports
O. Application for the import of
Category 2 material.
Application--new license, or $3,000.
amendment.
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 $4,700.
amendment.
Q . Application for the import of
Category 1 material with agent and
multiple licensees.
Application--new license, or $3,900.
amendment.
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.................... $ 320.
16. Reciprocity:
Agreement State licensees who conduct
activities under the reciprocity
provisions of 10 CFR 150.20.
Application............................ $1,900.
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope $17,800.
issued to Government agencies.
18. Department of Energy
A. Certificates of Compliance. Evaluation Full Cost.
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 Full Cost.
Act (UMTRCA) activities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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.
[[Page 7373]]
(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 1C only.
(b) Licensing fees. Fees for reviews of applications for new licenses
and for renewals and amendments to existing licenses, for pre-
application consultations and for reviews of other documents submitted
to NRC for review, and for project manager time for fee categories
subject to full cost fees (fee Categories 1A, 1B, 1E, 2A, 4A, 5B, 10A,
11, 12, 13A, and 14) are due upon notification by the Commission in
accordance with Sec. 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 a 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 Sec. 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 9A through 9D.
\3\ Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff
time multiplied by the appropriate professional hourly rate
established in Sec. 170.20 in effect at the time 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 Sec. 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 Sec.
170.20.
\4\ Licensees paying fees under Categories 1A, 1B, and 1E are not
subject to fees under Categories 1C and 1D 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, only the higher of the two
applicable fee amounts must be paid.
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
7. The authority citation for part 171 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: Sec. 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. 109-108, 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).
8. In Sec. 171.5, the definition of Overhead and general and
administrative costs is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 171.5 Definitions.
* * * * *
Overhead and general and administrative costs means:
(1) The Government benefits for each employee such as leave and
holidays, retirement and disability benefits, health and life insurance
costs, and social security costs;
(2) Travel costs;
(3) Direct overhead, e.g., supervision and support staff that
directly support the NRC safety mission areas (administrative support
costs, e.g., rental of space, equipment, telecommunications and
supplies); and
(4) Indirect costs that would include, but not be limited to, NRC
central policy direction, legal and executive management services for
the Commission and special and independent reviews, investigations, and
enforcement and appraisal of NRC programs and operations. Some of the
organizations included, in whole or in part, are the Commissioners,
Secretary, Executive Director for Operations, General Counsel,
Government and Public Affairs (except for international safety and
safeguards programs), Inspector General, Investigations, Enforcement,
Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and Civil Rights, the
Technical Training Center, Advisory Committees on Nuclear Waste and
Reactor Safeguards, and the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel.
The Commission views these budgeted costs as support for all its
regulatory services provided to applicants, licensees, and certificate
holders, and these costs must be recovered under Pub. L. 101-508.
* * * * *
9. In Sec. 171.15 paragraphs (b), (c), (d), and (e) are revised to
read as follows:
Sec. 171.15 Annual fees: Reactor licenses and independent spent fuel
storage licenses.
* * * * *
(b)(1) The FY 2005 annual fee for each operating power reactor
which must be collected by September 30, 2005, is $3,655,000.
(2) The FY 2006 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
(surcharges). The activities comprising the FY 2006 spent storage/
reactor decommissioning base annual fee are shown in paragraphs
(c)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section. The activities comprising the FY
2006 surcharge are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The
activities comprising the FY 2006 base annual fee for operating power
reactors are as follows:
(i) Power reactor safety and safeguards regulation except licensing
and inspection activities recovered under part 170 of this chapter and
generic reactor decommissioning activities.
(ii) Research activities directly related to the regulation of
power reactors, except those activities specifically related to reactor
decommissioning.
(iii) Generic activities required largely for NRC to regulate power
reactors (e.g., updating part 50 of this chapter, or operating the
Incident Response Center). The base annual fee for operating power
reactors does not include generic activities specifically related to
reactor decommissioning.
(c)(1) The FY 2006 annual fee for each power reactor holding a part
50 license that is in a decommissioning or
[[Page 7374]]
possession only status and has spent fuel onsite and each independent
spent fuel storage part 72 licensee who does not hold a part 50 license
is $168,000.
(2) The FY 2006 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 (surcharge). The activities
comprising the FY 2006 surcharge are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this
section. The activities comprising the FY 2006 spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning rebaselined annual fee are:
(i) Generic and other research activities directly related to
reactor decommissioning and spent fuel storage; and
(ii) Other safety, environmental, and safeguards activities related
to reactor decommissioning and spent fuel storage, except costs for
licensing and inspection activities that are recovered under part 170
of this chapter.
(d)(1) The activities comprising the FY 2006 surcharge are as
follows:
(i) Low-level waste disposal generic activities;
(ii) Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or
class of licenses (e.g., international cooperative safety program and
international safeguards activities, support for the Agreement State
program, decommissioning activities for unlicensed sites, and
activities for unregistered general licensees); and
(iii) Activities not currently subject to 10 CFR part 170 licensing
and inspection fees based on existing law or Commission policy (e.g.,
reviews and inspections conducted of nonprofit educational
institutions, licensing actions for Federal agencies, and costs that
would not be collected from small entities based on Commission policy
in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et
seq.).
(2) The total FY 2006 surcharge allocated to the operating power
reactor class of licenses is $5.7 million, not including the amount
allocated to the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning class. The
FY 2006 operating power reactor surcharge to be assessed to each
operating power reactor is approximately $55,000. This amount is
calculated by dividing the total operating power reactor surcharge
($5.7 million) by the number of operating power reactors (104).
(3) The FY 2006 surcharge allocated to the spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning class of licenses is $166,000. The FY 2006
spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning surcharge 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 part 72 licensee who does not hold a
part 50 license is approximately $1,400. This amount is calculated by
dividing the total surcharge 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 part 72 licensees who do not
hold a part 50 license.
(e) The FY 2006 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 Sec.
171.11(a), are as follows:
Research reactor........................................... $76,300.
Test reactor............................................... $76,300.
10. In Sec. 171.16, paragraph (d) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 171.16 Annual fees: materials licensees, holders of certificates
of compliance, holders of sealed source and device registrations,
holders of quality assurance program approvals, and government agencies
licensed by the NRC.
* * * * *
(d) The FY 2006 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee and
an additional charge (surcharge). The activities comprising the FY 2006
surcharge are shown for convenience in paragraph (e) of this section.
The FY 2006 annual fees for materials licensees and holders of
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
Category of materials licenses \1\ \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 $5,579,000
Enriched Uranium)..............................
(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form 1,643,000
Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel.....
(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.......... 623,000
(b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration 1,019,000
facilities.....................................
(c) Hot cell facilities......................... 453,000
B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel \11\ N/A
and reactor-related Greater than Class C (GTCC)
waste at an independent spent fuel storage
installation (ISFSI)...............................
C. Licenses for possession and use of special 2,400
nuclear material in sealed sources contained in
devices used in industrial measuring systems,
including x-ray fluorescence analyzers.............
D. All other special nuclear material licenses, 6,800
except licenses authorizing special nuclear
material in unsealed form in combination that would
constitute a critical quantity, as defined in Sec.
150.11 of this chapter, for which the licensee
shall pay the same fees as those for Category
1.A.(2)............................................
E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of a 3,115,000
uranium enrichment facility........................
2. Source material:
A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source 1,076,000
material for refining uranium mill concentrates to
uranium hexafluoride...............................
(2) Licenses for possession and use of source
material in recovery operations such as milling, in-
situ leaching, 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) Class I facilities \4\...................... 66,400
(b) Class II facilities \4\..................... 66,400
(c) Other facilities \4\........................ 97,900
[[Page 7375]]
(3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct \5\ N/A
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 2A(2) or Category
2A(4)..............................................
(4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct 66,400
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 2A(2).....
B. Licenses that authorize only the possession, use 880
and/or installation of source material for
shielding..........................................
C. All other source material licenses............... 14,800
3. Byproduct material:
A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of 28,800
byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33 of
this chapter for processing or manufacturing of
items containing byproduct material for commercial
distribution.......................................
B. Other licenses for possession and use of 9,300
byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
chapter for processing or manufacturing of items
containing byproduct material for commercial
distribution.......................................
C. Licenses issued under Sec. Sec. 32.72 and/or 11,700
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 Sec. 171.11(a)(1).
These licenses are covered by fee under Category 3D
D. Licenses and approvals issued under Sec. Sec. 6,800
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 Sec. Sec. 32.72 and 32.74 of this
chapter to nonprofit educational institutions whose
processing or manufacturing is exempt under Sec.
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.......................
E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct 4,800
material in sealed sources for irradiation of
materials in which the source is not removed from
its shield (self-shielded units)...................
F. Licenses for possession and use of less than 8,600
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...................
G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies 31,000
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...................
H. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32 of 19,400
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............................................
I. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32 of 11,800
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....................................
J. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 32 of 3,200
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...
K. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 31 of 1,900
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.............
L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of 16,400
byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33 of
this chapter for research and development that do
not authorize commercial distribution..............
M. Other licenses for possession and use of 6,900
byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
chapter for research and development that do not
authorize commercial distribution..................
N. Licenses that authorize services for other 7,300
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 4A, 4B, and 4C..........................
O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct 15,300
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...
P. All other specific byproduct material licenses, 2,900
except those in Categories 4A through 9D...........
Q. Registration of devices generally licensed under \13\ N/A
part 31 of this chapter............................
4. Waste disposal and processing:
A. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of \5\ N/A
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..........................
B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of 12,700
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............................
[[Page 7376]]
C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of 9,600
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.........................
5. Well logging:
A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct 4,700
material, source material, and/or special nuclear
material for well logging, well surveys, and tracer
studies other than field flooding tracer studies...
B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct \5\ N/A
material for field flooding tracer studies.........
6. Nuclear laundries:
A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of 27,500
items contaminated with byproduct material, source
material, or special nuclear material..............
7. Medical licenses:
A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of 15,100
this chapter for human use of 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...................................
B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical 32,600
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\.................
C. Other licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 6,000
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\...............................
8. Civil defense:
A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct 1,900
material, source material, or special nuclear
material for civil defense activities..............
9. Device, product, or sealed source safety evaluation:
A. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of 25,900
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 25,900
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 3,000
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 1,000
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.
1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and plutonium \6\ N/A
air packages...................................
2. Other Casks.................................. \6\ N/A
B. Quality assurance program approvals issued under
part 71 of this chapter.
1. Users and Fabricators........................ \6\ N/A
2. Users........................................ \6\ N/A
C. Evaluation of security plans, route approvals, \6\ N/A
route surveys, and transportation security devices
(including immobilization devices).................
11. Standardized spent fuel facilities.................. \6\ N/A
12. Special Projects.................................... \6\ N/A
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Compliance \6\ N/A
B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel under \12\ N/A
10 CFR 72.210......................................
14. Decommissioning/Reclamation:
A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material \7\ N/A
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 \7\ N/A
associated with unlicensed sites, regardless of
whether or not the sites have been previously
licensed...........................................
15. Import and Export licenses.......................... \8\ N/A
16. Reciprocity......................................... \8\ N/A
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to 370,000
Government agencies....................................
18. Department of Energy:
A. Certificates of Compliance....................... \10\ 1,321,000
B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act 736,000
(UMTRCA) activities................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Annual 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 fiscal year. However, 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, 2006, and permanently ceased
licensed activities entirely by September 30, 2006. Annual fees for
licensees who filed for termination of a license, downgrade of a
license, or for a possession only license during the fiscal year and
for new licenses issued during the fiscal year will be prorated in
accordance with the provisions of Sec. 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 1A(1) are not subject to the annual fees for Categies 1C and
1D for sealed sources authorized in the license.
[[Page 7377]]
\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 fiscal year, fees for these materials licenses will be
calculated and assessed in accordance with Sec. 171.13 and will be
published in the Federal Register for notice and comment.
\4\ A Class I license includes mill licenses issued for the extraction
of uranium from uranium ore. A Class II license includes solution
mining licenses (in-situ and heap leach) issued for the extraction of
uranium from uranium ores including research and development licenses.
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 who also hold nuclear medicine licenses
under Categories 7B or 7C.
\10\ This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to DOE that are not
under the Nuclear Waste Fund.
\11\ See Sec. 171.15(c).
\12\ See Sec. 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.
* * * * *
11. In Sec. 171.19 paragraphs (b) and (d) are revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 171.19 Payment.
* * * * *
(b) Annual fees in the amount of $100,000 or more and described in
the Federal Register document issued under Sec. 171.13, must be paid
in quarterly installments of 25 percent as billed by the NRC. The
quarters begin on October 1, January 1, April 1, and July 1 of each
fiscal year. The NRC will adjust the fourth quarterly invoice to
recover the full amount of the revised annual fee. If the amounts
collected in the first three quarters exceed the amount of the revised
annual fee, the overpayment will be refunded. Licensees whose annual
fee for the previous fiscal year was less than $100,000 (billed on the
anniversary date of the license), and whose revised annual fee for the
current fiscal year is $100,000 or greater (subject to quarterly
billing), will be issued a bill upon publication of the final rule for
the full amount of the revised annual fee for the current fiscal year,
less any payments received for the current fiscal year based on the
anniversary date billing process.
* * * * *
(d) Annual fees of less than $100,000 must be paid as billed by the
NRC. Materials license annual fees that are less than $100,000 are
billed on the anniversary date of the license. The materials licensees
that are billed on the anniversary date of the license are those
covered by fee categories 1C, 1D, 2A(2) Other Facilities, 2A(3), 2A(4),
2B, 2C, 3A through 3P, and 4B through 9D.
* * * * *
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of January, 2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jesse L. Funches,
Chief Financial Officer.
Note: This Appendix will not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
Appendix A to This Proposed Rule--Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for
the Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170 (License Fees) and 10 CFR Part 171
(Annual Fees)
I. Background
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 small entities (10 CFR 2.810). These size
standards were established based on the Small Business
Administration's most common receipts-based 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 Sec. 171.16(c) of this proposed rule are
based on the NRC's size standards.
From FY 1991 through FY 2000, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act (OBRA-90) (Pub. L. 101-508), as amended, required that the NRC
recover approximately 100 percent of its budget authority, less
appropriations from the Nuclear Waste Fund, by assessing license and
annual fees. The FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Act (Pub. L. 106-377) 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 is 90 percent in FY 2005. The FY 2006 Energy
and Water Development Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 109-103) extended
this 90 percent fee recovery requirement through FY 2006. As a
result, the NRC is required to recover approximately 90 percent of
its FY 2006 budget authority, less the amounts appropriated from the
Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) and for Waste incidental to Reprocessing
(WIR) activities, through fees. The total amount NRC is required to
recover in fees for FY 2006 is approximately $624.0 million.
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 NRC in identifying and determining the fees to
be assessed and collected in any given fiscal year.
The Commission is proposing to rebaseline its part 171 annual
fees in FY 2006. Rebaselining fees would result in increased annual
fees for all licensees, with the exception of certain fuel
facilities.
The Congressional Review Act of 1996 is intended to reduce
regulatory burdens imposed by Federal agencies on small businesses,
nonprofit organizations, and governmental jurisdictions. This Act
also 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 Congressional Review 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 RFA and the small entity
compliance guide (Attachment 1) have been prepared for the FY 2006
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 that are 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
[[Page 7378]]
previous final fee rules indicate that NRC licensees qualifying as
small entities under the NRC's size standards are primarily
materials licensees. Therefore, this analysis will focus on the
economic impact of the annual fees on materials licensees. In FY
2005, about 26 percent of these licensees (approximately 1,200
licensees) requested small entity certification.
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 high-volume 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 well-loggers, 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 license, approval, 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 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.
Because small entities in those Agreement States were paying the
fees, the NRC concluded that these fees did not have a significant
impact on a substantial number of small entities. Therefore, those
fees were considered a useful benchmark in establishing the NRC
maximum small entity annual fee.
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, the maximum small
entity annual fee increased from $1,800 to $2,300 in FY 2000. By
increasing the maximum annual fee for small entities from $1,800 to
$2,300, the annual fee for many small entities was reduced while at
the same time materials licensees, including small entities, would
pay for most of the costs attributable to them. The costs not
recovered from small entities are 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 less 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 (68 FR 36714; June 18, 2003),
and determined that a change was not warranted to the small entity
fees established in FY 2003.
The NRC again re-examined the small entity fees for FY 2005, and
did not believe that a change to the small entity fees was
warranted. Unlike the annual fees assessed to other licensees, the
small entity fees are not designed to recover the agency costs
associated with particular licensees. Instead, the reduced fees for
small entities are designed to provide some fee relief for
qualifying small entity licensees while at the same time recovering
from them some of the agency's costs for activities that benefit
them. The costs not recovered from small entities for activities
that benefit them must be recovered from other licensees. Given the
reduction in annual fees from FY 2000 to FY 2005, on average, for
those categories of materials licensees that contain a number of
small entities, the NRC has determined that the current small entity
fees of $500 and $2,300 continue to meet the objective of providing
relief to many small entities while recovering from them some of the
costs that benefit them.
Therefore, the NRC retained the $2,300 small entity annual fee
and the $500 lower
[[Page 7379]]
tier small entity annual fee for FY 2005, and is not proposing
changes to these fees in FY 2006. The NRC plans to re-examine the
small entity fees again in FY 2007.
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 $2,300 for small entities
and a lower-tier small entity annual fee of $500 for small
businesses and not-for-profit organizations with gross annual
receipts of less than $350,000, small governmental jurisdictions
with a population of less than 20,000, small manufacturing entities
that have less than 35 employees, and educational institutions that
are not State or publicly supported and have less 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. Therefore, the analysis and
conclusions previously established remain valid for FY 2006.
Attachment 1 to Appendix A--U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Small
Entity Compliance Guide; Fiscal Year 2006
Contents
Introduction
NRC Definition of Small Entity
NRC Small Entity Fees
Instructions for Completing NRC Form 526
Introduction
The Congressional Review Act of 1996 (CRA) 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 CRA. Therefore,
in compliance with the law, this guide has been prepared to assist
NRC materials licensees in complying with the FY 2006 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 2006 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 Part 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 Website at http://www.nrc.gov. The form can then be accessed by selecting ``License
Fees'' and under ``Forms'' selecting NRC Form 526. For licensees who
cannot access the NRC's Website, 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 [email protected]. 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 gross receipts of $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 $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 less 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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small business not engaged in manufacturing and small not-
for-profit organizations (Gross Annual Receipts):
$350,000 to $5 million..................................... $2,300
Less than $350,000......................................... 500
Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500
employees or less:
35 to 500 employees........................................ $2,300
Less than 35 employees..................................... 500
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly
supported educational institutions) (population):
20,000 to 50,000........................................... $2,300
Less than 20,000........................................... 500
Educational institutions that are not State or publicly
supported, and have 500 Employees or less:
35 to 500 employees........................................ $2,300
Less than 35 employees..................................... 500
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instructions for Completing NRC Small Entity Form 526
(1) File a separate NRC Form 526 for each annual fee invoice
received.
(2) Complete all items on NRC Form 526, as follows:
a. Enter the license number and invoice number exactly as they
appear on the annual fee invoice.
b. Enter the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) or North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) if known.
c. Enter the licensee's name and address as they appear on the
invoice. Name and/or address changes for billing purposes must be
annotated on the invoice. Correcting the name and/or address on NRC
Form 526, or on the invoice does not constitute a request to amend
the license. Any request to amend a license must be submitted to the
respective licensing staff in the NRC's regional or headquarters
offices.
d. Check the appropriate size standard for which the licensee
qualifies as a small entity. Check only one box. Note the following:
(i) A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large entity does not
qualify as a small entity.
(ii) The size standards apply to the licensee, including all
parent companies and affiliates--not the individual authorized users
listed in the license or the particular
[[Page 7380]]
segment of the organization that uses licensed material.
(iii) Gross annual receipts means all revenue in whatever form
received or accrued from whatever sources--not solely receipts from
licensed activities. There are limited exceptions as set forth at 13
CFR 121.104. These are: the term receipts excludes net capital gains
or losses; taxes collected for and remitted to a taxing authority
(if included in gross or total income), proceeds from the
transactions between a concern and its domestic or foreign
affiliates (if also excluded from gross or total income on a
consolidated return filed with the IRS); and amounts collected for
another entity by a travel agent, real estate agent, advertising
agent, or conference management service provider.
(iv) The owner of the entity, or an official empowered to act on
behalf of the entity, must sign and date the small entity
certification.
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 $2,300 or $500 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, 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.'' This means that the
amount due from a small entity is not the prorated amount shown on
the invoice, but rather one-half of the maximum annual fee shown on
NRC Form 526 for the size standard under which the licensee
qualifies, resulting in a fee of either $1,150 or $250 for each fee
category billed (instead of the full small entity annual fee of
$2,300 or $500).
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
must complete and return 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 [email protected], 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. 06-1163 Filed 2-9-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P