[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 125 (Tuesday, June 30, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37432-37464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-15763]
[[Page 37431]]
Vol. 80
Tuesday,
No. 125
June 30, 2015
Part IV
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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10 CFR Parts 170 and 171
Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2015; Final
Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 80 , No. 125 / Tuesday, June 30, 2015 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 37432]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 170 and 171
[NRC-2014-0200]
RIN 3150-AJ44
Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2015
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending the
licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its applicants and
licensees. These amendments are necessary to implement the Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, which requires
the NRC to recover through fees approximately 90 percent of its budget
authority in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, not including amounts appropriated
for Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR), the Nuclear Waste Fund
(NWF), generic homeland security activities, and Inspector General (IG)
services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). These
fees represent the cost of the NRC's services provided to applicants
and licensees.
DATES: This final rule is effective on August 31, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0200 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information for this final rule. You may
access publicly-available information related to this final rule by any
of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0200. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this final rule.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time
that a document is referenced. For the convenience of the reader, the
ADAMS accession numbers are provided in a table in the ``Availability
of Documents'' section of this document.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Arlette Howard, Office of the Chief
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-1481, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Discussion
III. Opportunities for Public Participation
IV. Public Comment Analysis
V. Section-by-Section Analysis
VI. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
VII. Regulatory Analysis
VIII. Backfitting and Issue Finality
IX. Plain Writing
X. National Environmental Policy Act
XI. Paperwork Reduction Act
XII. Congressional Review Act
XIII. Voluntary Consensus Standards
XIV. Availability of Guidance
XV. Availability of Documents
I. Background
Over the past 40 years the NRC (and earlier, as the Atomic Energy
Commission, the NRC's predecessor agency) has assessed and continues to
assess fees to applicants and licensees to recover the cost of its
regulatory program. The NRC's cost recovery principles for fee
regulation are governed by two major laws: (1) The Independent Offices
Appropriations Act of 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 483 (a)); and (2) OBRA-90
(42 U.S.C. 2214), as amended. The NRC is required each year, under
OBRA-90, as amended, to recover approximately 90 percent of its budget
authority, not including amounts appropriated for WIR, generic homeland
security activities, the NWF, and IG services for the DNFSB, through
fees to NRC licensees and applicants.
In addition to the requirements of OBRA-90, as amended, the NRC is
also required to comply with the requirements of the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This Act encourages small
businesses to participate in the regulatory process, and requires
agencies to develop more accessible sources of information on
regulatory and reporting requirements for small businesses and create a
small entity compliance guide. In this final rule, the NRC continues
using a fee methodology for qualifying small entities that establishes
a maximum annual fee and minimum annual fee at a reduced rate to ease
the financial burden for these licensees.
In compliance with the OBRA-90, as amended, requirement that the
NRC collect approximately 90 percent of its budget authority through
fee collection by the end of the fiscal year, this rulemaking is based
on the $1,015.3 million in appropriations received by the NRC as a
result of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act,
2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), signed by President Obama on December 16, 2014.
II. Discussion
In compliance with OBRA-90, as amended, and the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954 (AEA), the NRC amends its fee schedules for parts 170 and 171
of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) to recover
approximately 90 percent of its FY 2015 budget authority, less the
amounts appropriated for WIR, the NWF, generic homeland security
activities, and IG services for the DNFSB. The 10 CFR part 170 user
fees, under the authority of the IOAA, recover the NRC's costs of
providing specific regulatory benefits to identifiable applicants and
licensees. For example, the NRC assesses these fees to cover the costs
of inspections, applications for new licenses and license renewals, and
requests for license amendments. The 10 CFR part 171 annual fees, on
the other hand, recover generic regulatory costs that are not otherwise
recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
FY 2015 Fee Collection
The NRC received total appropriations of $1,015.3 million for FY
2015 as a result of Public Law 113-235, a decrease of $40.6 million
from FY 2014. Based on OBRA-90, as amended, the NRC is required to
recover $895.5 million through 10 CFR part 170 (user charges) and 10
CFR part 171 (annual fees) for FY 2015. This amount excludes non-fee
items for WIR activities totaling $1.4 million, IG services for the
DNFSB totaling $0.9 million, and generic homeland security activities
totaling $18.1 million. This required fee recovery amount is $35.2
million less than the FY 2014 required fee recovery amount of $930.7
million. After accounting for prior year billing adjustments, the fee
recoverable budget is further reduced to $888.7 million to be billed as
fees to licensees and applicants under 10 CFR parts 170 and 171. This
amount represents a decrease
[[Page 37433]]
of $30.2 million from FY 2014 final rule and a decrease of $37.5
million from the FY 2015 proposed fee rule published on March 23, 2015
(80 FR 15746). This decrease is due to the fact that the FY 2015
proposed fee rule was based on the President's proposed budget, rather
than the actual FY 2015 appropriation, which included a reduction for
fee-based unobligated carryover.
Table I summarizes the final budget and fee recovery amounts for
the FY 2015 final fee rule. The FY 2014 amounts are provided for
comparison purposes. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to
rounding.)
Table I--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
rule rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority.................. $1,055.9 $1,015.3
Less Non-Fee Items...................... -21.8 -$20.3
-------------------------------
Balance............................. $1,034.1 $995.0
Fee Recovery Rate....................... 90% 90%
-------------------------------
Total Amount to be Recovered:........... $930.7 $895.5
10 CFR Part 171 Billing Adjustments:
Unpaid Current Year Invoices 0.5 2.8
(estimated)........................
Less Current Year from Collections -2.2 0
(Terminated--Operating Reactors)...
Less Payments Received in Current -12.3 -9.6
Year for Previous Year Invoices
(estimated)........................
-------------------------------
Subtotal...................... -14.0 -6.8
Amount to be Recovered through 10 CFR $916.7 $888.7
Parts 170 and 171 Fees.................
Less Estimated 10 CFR Part 170 Fees. -332.5 -$321.7
Less Prior Year Unbilled 10 CFR Part -0.0 -0.0
170 Fees...........................
10 CFR Part 171 Fee Collections Required $584.2 $567.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes From the FY 2014 Final Fee Rule
In this final fee rule, the NRC amends fees for power reactors,
spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning, nonpower reactors, uranium
recovery facilities, fuel facilities, materials users, and the U.S.
Department of Energy's (DOE) transportation license as compared to the
FY 2014 final rule. The total amount of annual fees to be recovered,
$567 million, represents a decrease of $19.4 million from the FY 2014
final rule. Overall, annual fees for operating reactors decrease as a
result of reduced budgetary resources, but this decrease is partially
offset by a decline in 10 CFR part 170 billings and the permanent
shutdown of Vermont Yankee. Additionally, annual fees for the fuel
facilities fee class increase from FY 2014 as a result of the
following: (1) Reduced 10 CFR part 170 billings for operational
readiness reviews and inspections due to significant delays in
construction; and (2) the termination of the certificate for the United
States Enrichment Corporation's Paducah, Kentucky facility. For the
transportation fee class, the annual fees increase from FY 2014,
primarily due to rulemaking activities concerning 10 CFR part 71
compatibility with the International Atomic Energy Agency's
transportation standards and improvements. Additionally, the increase
in the annual fee for the transportation fee class is attributed to
reduced 10 CFR part 170 billings caused by shifts in workload
priorities. For 10 CFR part 170 hourly fees, the total amount to be
recovered is $321.7 million, a decrease of $10.8 million from FY 2014.
Changes From the FY 2015 Proposed Fee Rule (Including the FY 2015
Estimated Final Rule Amounts)
In comparison to the FY 2015 proposed fee rule and the estimated FY
2015 final budget and fee rule recovery amounts, the NRC will collect
$321.7 million in hourly fees (user charges), a decrease of $2.6
million from both estimates, respectively, for this final rule. This
change is a result of the decline in estimated 10 CFR part 170
collections for the power reactor fee class due to unexpected
application suspensions (particularly, the U.S. Evolutionary Power
Reactor (EPR) design certification application and the Calvert Cliffs
combined license application). The NRC will collect $567 million in
annual fees, a decrease of $34.9 million from the FY 2015 proposed fee
rule estimate and an increase of $4.8 million from the estimated FY
2015 final annual fees total. The change from the FY 2015 proposed fee
rule and estimated FY 2015 final annual fees total is the result of the
reduced estimated 10 CFR part 170 collections, as well as the 10 CFR
part 171 billing adjustment.
The NRC proposed to establish an annual fee for rare earth
facilities in the proposed FY 2015 fee rule. At the time the NRC issued
its proposed fee rule, the NRC estimated that a portion of the budgeted
resources for this fee class was not going to be collected through 10
CFR part 170 user fees, therefore requiring the establishment of an
annual part 10 CFR part 171 fee to recover the remainder of the
budgeted authority for this fee class. Upon further analysis, the NRC
determined all budgeted resources for the rare earth facilities will be
collected through 10 CFR part 170 this fiscal year. Therefore, NRC
lacks a statutory basis to assess 10 CFR part 171 fees to this fee
class, because that fee would not bear a reasonable relationship to the
cost of providing generic NRC services, as there are no generic
activities supporting this fee class. Therefore, in this final rule,
the NRC omits the annual fee for rare earth facilities.
Hourly Rate
The NRC's hourly rate is used in assessing full cost fees for
specific services provided by the NRC, as well as flat fees for
activities such as NRC review of applications. For FY 2015, the NRC's
hourly rate is $268, a decrease of $9 from the hourly rate in the FY
2015 proposed fee rule. The FY 2014 hourly rate (the current hourly
rate) is $279. This rate is applicable to all activities for which fees
are assessed under Sec. Sec. 170.21 and 170.31.
[[Page 37434]]
The decrease in the FY 2015 hourly rate is due to an increase in
estimated direct hours worked per mission-direct full-time equivalent
(FTE) during the year and reduced budget. The hourly rate is inversely
related to the mission-direct FTE rate. Therefore, as the FTE rate
increases, the hourly rate decreases.
The NRC's hourly rate is derived by dividing the sum of recoverable
budgeted resources for: (1) Mission-direct program salaries and
benefits; (2) mission-indirect program support; and (3) agency overhead
or indirect costs--which includes corporate support, office support,
and the IG. The mission-direct FTE hours are the product of the
mission-direct FTE multiplied by the hours per direct FTE. The only
budgeted resources excluded from the hourly rate are those for contract
activities related to mission-direct and fee-relief activities.
Billable contract activities are included as a separate line item on
the 10 CFR part 170 invoice.
In FY 2015, the NRC used 1,420 hours per direct FTE to calculate
the hourly fee rate, which is higher than the FY 2014 estimate of 1,375
hours per direct FTE and represents increased productivity. These hours
exclude all indirect activities such as training and general
administration. The NRC generated this figure by reviewing and
analyzing current available time and labor data from FY 2010 through FY
2012. As a result of that review, the NRC determined that the direct
hours per FTE for FY 2015 budget formulation should be revised.
Table II shows the results of the hourly rate calculation
methodology. The FY 2014 amounts are provided for comparison purposes.
(Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table II--Hourly Rate Calculation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
rule rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission-Direct Program Salaries & $359.2 $365.6
Benefits...............................
Mission-Indirect Program Support........ $21.0 $67.7
Agency Support (Corporate Support, $486.0 $422.7
Office Support and the IG).............
-------------------------------
Subtotal............................ $866.2 $856
Less Offsetting Receipts................ -$0.0 -$0.0
-------------------------------
Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate $866.2 $856
(Millions of Dollars)..............
Mission-Direct FTE (Whole numbers)...... 2,254 2,250
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budget $279 $268
Included in Hourly Rate Divided by
Mission-Direct FTE Hours-1420) (Whole
Numbers)...............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As shown in Table II, dividing the FY 2015 $856 million budget
amount included in the hourly rate by total mission-direct FTE hours
(2,250 FTE times 1,420 hours) results in an hourly rate of $268. The
hourly rate is rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
Flat Application Fee Changes
The NRC amends the current flat application fees in Sec. Sec.
170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the revised hourly rate of $268. These
flat fees are calculated by multiplying the average professional staff
hours needed to process the licensing actions by the professional
hourly rate for FY 2015. 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. The NRC performed this review for
the FY 2015 proposed rule. The lower hourly rate of $268 is the primary
reason for the decrease in application fees.
In general, any increases in application fees are due to the
increased number of hours required to perform specific activities based
on the biennial review. The NRC staff determined via a recent analysis
that application fees for 12 fee categories (2.D., 3.C., 3.H., 3.M.,
3.P., 3.R.2., 3.S., 4.B., 5.A., 7.A., 7.C., and 17 under Sec. 170.31)
will increase as a result of an increase in the average time spent
processing these types of license applications. (Fee category 17 should
have been counted in this analysis in the FY 2015 proposed fee rule.)
The decrease in fees for 7 fee categories (2.C., 2.E., 2.F., 3.B.,
3.I., 3.N., and 3.O. under Sec. 170.31) is primarily due to the
reduced hourly rate and a decrease in the average time to process these
types of applications. Also, the NRC staff determined via a recent
analysis that the application fees increase for 3 import and export fee
categories (K.4., K.5., and 15.D. under Sec. 170.31) and decrease for
13 import and export fee categories (15.A. thru 15.L., and 15.R. under
Sec. 170.31), an increase of 9 fee categories from the FY 2015
proposed fee rule as a result of the reduced hourly rate.
The amounts of the materials licensing flat fees are rounded so
that the fees would be convenient to the user and the effects of
rounding would be minimal. Fees under $1,000 are rounded to the nearest
$10, fees that are greater than $1,000 but less than $100,000 are
rounded to the nearest $100, and fees that are greater than $100,000
are rounded to the nearest $1,000.
The final licensing flat fees are applicable for fee categories
K.1. through K.5. of Sec. 170.21, and fee categories 1.C. through
1.D., 2.B. through 2.F., 3.A. through 3.S., 4.B. through 9.D., 10.B.,
15.A. through 15.L., 15.R., and 16 of Sec. 170.31. Applications filed
on or after the effective date of the FY 2015 final fee rule would be
subject to the revised fees in the final rule.
Application of Rebaselining, Fee-Relief, and Low-Level Waste (LLW)
Surcharge
For this rulemaking, the NRC established rebaselined annual fees in
accordance with SECY-05-0164, ``Annual Fee Calculation Method,''
September 15, 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. ML052580332). The rebaselining
method analyzes the budget in detail and allocates the budgeted costs
to various classes or subclasses of licensees. Stated otherwise,
rebaselining is the annual reallocation of NRC resources based on
changes in the NRC's budget. The NRC established the rebaselined
methodology for calculating annual fees through notice and comment
rulemaking in the FY 1999 fee rule (64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999),
determining that base annual fees will be re-established (rebaselined)
every third year, 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 licenses. The FY 2015 fee rulemaking
[[Page 37435]]
used this same rebaselining methodology.
Moreover, in FY 2015, the NRC will use its fee-relief surcharge to
increase all licensees' annual fees, based on their percentage share of
the budget. Every year, the NRC applies the 10 percent of its budget
that is excluded from fee recovery under OBRA-90 to offset the total
budget allocated for activities that do not directly benefit current
NRC licensees (these activities fall within the NRC's fee-relief
category). The budget for these fee-relief activities is totaled, and
then reduced by the amount of the NRC's fee relief. Any difference
between the 10-percent appropriation and the budgeted amount of these
activities results in a fee-relief adjustment (either an increase or
decrease) to all licensees' annual fees, based on their percentage
share of the budget. In FY 2015, there is an increase to all licensees'
annual fees, for the reasons stated.
From the FY 2015 proposed fee rule, the most significant change
under fee relief is under the scholarship and fellowship fee relief
category. For this category, the budgetary resources increased to $18.9
million from $4.1 million because the FY 2015 appropriations require
the NRC to fund the $15 million Integrated University Program.
Additionally, in the Staff Requirements Memorandum for SECY-14-
0082, ``Jurisdiction for Military Radium and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission Oversight of U.S. Department of Defense Remediation of
Radioactive Material'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML14356A070), the
Commission approved the staff's recommendation to finalize and
implement a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department
of Defense (DOD) for remediation of DOD unlicensed sites containing
radioactive materials subject to the NRC's regulatory authority. The
MOU is slated to be finalized in FY 2015. As part of this effort, the
Commission approved the establishment of a new fee-relief category for
the regulatory activities for the monitoring of DOD unlicensed sites
under the MOU. Consistent with this direction, the NRC includes a new
activity under fee-relief activities, within 10 CFR part 170 licensing
and inspection fees or 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. These program
activities capture site-specific oversight activities performed under
the MOU and any ongoing non-site specific MOU-related program
activities. These activities will, therefore, be funded by the agency's
10-percent appropriation.
The FY 2015 budgeted resources for fee-relief activities are
greater than the 10-percent fee relief amount by $1.0 million, which
differs from the -$14.6 million mentioned in the FY 2015 proposed fee
rule due to the reasons stated. After applying the generic LLW
surcharge amount of $3.9 million, the total net adjustment to fee
assessments is $4.9 million. The NRC allocates the LLW surcharge based
on the volume of LLW disposal of three classes of licenses: operating
reactors, fuel facilities, and materials users. Because LLW activities
support NRC licensees and Agreement States, the costs of these
activities are recovered through annual fees from NRC licensees.
In comparison, the FY 2014 fee relief resources were -$1.3 million.
After applying the generic LLW surcharge amount of $3.2 million, the
net FY 2014 fee relief adjustment to fee assessments was $1.9 million.
Table III summarizes the fee-relief activities for FY 2015. The FY 2014
amounts are provided for comparison purposes. (Individual values may
not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table III--Fee-Relief Activities
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2014 FY 2015
Fee-relief activities Budgeted costs Budgeted costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an
existing NRC licensee or class of
licensee:
a. International activities......... $11.2 $9.3
b. Agreement State oversight........ $12.6 $12.0
c. Scholarships and Fellowships..... $18.9 $18.9
d. Medical Isotope Production....... $3.1 $4.9
2. Activities not assessed under 10 CFR
part 170 licensing and inspection fees
or 10 CFR part 171 annual fees based on
existing law or Commission policy:
a. Fee exemption for nonprofit $11.9 $10.3
educational institutions...........
b. Costs not recovered from small $8.4 $8.8
entities under 10 CFR 71.16(c).....
c. Regulatory support to Agreement $17.9 $18.5
States.............................
d. Generic decommissioning/ $17.1 $16.4
reclamation (not related to the
power reactor and spent fuel
storage fee classes)...............
e. In Situ leach rulemaking and $1.0 $1.4
unregistered general licensees.....
f. Potential Department of Defense 0.0 0.0
remediation program MOU activities.
-------------------------------
Total fee-relief activities... $102.1 $100.5
Less 10 percent of the NRC's total FY -$103.4 -$99.5
budget (less non-fee items)............
Fee-Relief Adjustment to be Allocated to -$1.3 $1.0
All Licensees' Annual Fees.............
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table IV shows how the NRC allocated the $4.9 million fee-relief
assessment adjustment to each license fee class. As explained
previously, the NRC allocated this fee-relief adjustment to each
license fee class based on their percentage of the budget for their fee
class compared to the NRC's total budget. This adjustment was added to
the required annual fee recovery for each fee class.
Table IV also shows the allocation of the LLW surcharge activity.
For FY 2015, the total budget allocated for LLW activity is $3.9
million. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)
[[Page 37436]]
Table IV--Allocation of Fee-Relief Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2015
[Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLW Surcharge Fee-relief adjustment Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percent $ Percent $ $
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors........ 32 1.2 86.1 0.8 2.1
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor 0 0 3.8 0.0 0.0
Decommissioning................
Research and Test Reactors...... 0 0 0.3 0.0 0.0
Fuel Facilities................. 54 2.1 4.9 0.0 2.1
Materials Users................. 14 0.5 3.1 0.1 0.6
Transportation.................. 0 0 0.5 0.0 0.0
Rare Earth Facilities........... 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Uranium Recovery................ 0 0 1.2 0.0 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................... 100 3.9 100 1.0 4.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revised Annual Fees
As previously stated, the NRC is required to establish rebaselined
annual fees, which includes updating the number of NRC licensees in its
fee calculation methodology. In the agency's FY 2006 final fee rule (71
FR 30721; May 30, 2006), the Commission determined that the agency
should proceed with a presumption in favor of rebaselining when
calculating annual fees each year. Rebaselining involves a detailed
analysis of the NRC's budget, with the NRC allocating budgeted
resources to fee classes and categories of licensees.
Therefore, in FY 2015, the NRC revises its annual fees in
Sec. Sec. 171.15 and 171.16 to recover approximately 90 percent of the
NRC's FY 2015 budget authority, less non-fee amounts and the estimated
amount to be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees. For FY 2015, the
NRC's total fee recoverable budget, as mandated by law, is $895.5
million, a decrease of $35.2 million compared to FY 2014. After
accounting for billing adjustments, the fee recoverable budget is
further reduced to $888.7 million for FY 2015, a decrease of $28
million from FY 2014. The total estimated 10 CFR part 170 collections
for this final rule total are $321.7 million, a decrease of $10.8
million from the FY 2014 fee rule, primarily within the power reactor
and fuel facilities fee classes, while the spent fuel storage fee class
has increased 10 CFR part 170 collections. The total amount to be
recovered through annual fees from current licensees for this final
rule is $567 million, a decrease of $17.2 million from the FY 2014
final rule. These decreases are later explained in detail within each
fee class.
The FY 2015 budget was allocated to the appropriate fee class based
on budgeted activities. Compared to FY 2014 annual fees, the FY 2015
rebaselined fees decrease for operating reactors, spent fuel storage
and reactor decommissioning, and research and test reactors fee classes
while annual fees increase for DOE transportation activities, fuel
facilities fee classes, some materials users, and most uranium recovery
licensees.
The factors affecting all annual fees include the distribution of
budgeted costs to the different classes of licenses (based on the
specific activities the NRC will perform in FY 2015), the estimated 10
CFR part 170 collections for the various classes of licenses, and
allocation of the fee-relief surplus adjustment to all fee classes.
Table V shows the rebaselined fees for FY 2015 for a representative
list of categories of licensees. The FY 2014 amounts are provided for
comparison purposes. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to
rounding.)
Table V--Rebaselined Annual Fees
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
Class/Category of licenses annual fee annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors................ $4,999,000 $4,807,000
+ Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor 224,000 223,000
Decommissioning........................
Total, Combined Fee..................... 5,223,000 5,030,000
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor 224,000 223,000
Decommissioning........................
Research and Test Reactors (Nonpower 84,500 83,500
Reactors)..............................
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility..... 7,175,000 8,473,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility...... 2,469,000 2,915,000
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion Facility 1,466,000 1,731,000
Conventional Mills...................... 33,800 36,100
Typical Materials Users:
Radiographers (Category 3O)......... 29,800 25,800
Well Loggers (Category 5A).......... 13,600 14,400
Gauge Users (Category 3P)............... 6,800 8,000
Broad Scope Medical (Category 7B)....... 35,700 37,500
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The work papers (ADAMS Accession No. ML15160A434) that support this
final rule show in detail the allocation of the NRC's budgeted
resources for each class of licenses and how the fees are calculated.
The work papers are available as indicated in Section XV,
``Availability of Documents,'' of this document.
Paragraphs a. through h. of this section describes budgetary
resources allocated to each class of licenses and the calculations of
the rebaselined fees. Individual values in the tables
[[Page 37437]]
presented in this section may not sum to totals due to rounding.
a. Fuel Facilities.
The FY 2015 budgeted costs to be recovered in the annual fees
assessment to the fuel facility class of licenses (which includes
licensees in fee categories 1.A.(1)(a), 1.A.(1)(b), 1.A.(2)(a),
1.A.(2)(b), 1.A.(2)(c), 1.E., and 2.A.(1) under Sec. 171.16) are
approximately $42.9 million. This value is based on the full cost of
budgeted resources associated with all activities that support this fee
class, which is reduced by estimated 10 CFR part 170 collections and
adjusted for allocated generic transportation resources and fee-relief.
In FY 2015, the LLW surcharge for fuel facilities is added to the
allocated fee-relief adjustment (see Table IV, ``Allocation of Fee-
Relief Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2015,'' in Section II,
``Discussion,'' of this document). The summary calculations used to
derive this value are presented in Table VI for FY 2015, with FY 2014
values shown for comparison. (Individual values may not sum to totals
due to rounding.)
Table VI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Fuel Facilities
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................ $47.2 $42.8
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts. -$16.7 -$11.5
-------------------------------
Net 10 CFR part 171 resources....... $30.5 $31.3
Allocated generic transportation........ $0.6 $0.8
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge..... $1.1 $2.1
Billing adjustments..................... -$0.6 -$0.3
Reclassification of licensee current -$2.2 0.0
year fee billing received:.............
-------------------------------
Total remaining required annual fee $29.5 $33.9
recovery...........................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In FY 2015, the fuel facilities budgetary resources decreased due
to reduced construction activities and licensing amendments compared to
FY 2014. Despite the decrease in budgeted resources, the fuel
facilities annual fees in FY 2015 increase compared to FY 2014 due to
reduced 10 CFR part 170 billings for operation reviews and inspections
resulting from numerous delays at the Chicago Bridge and Iron AREVA MOX
Services Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, the International
Isotopes uranium de-conversion facility, the Global Laser Enrichment
(GLE) uranium enrichment facility, and the AREVA Eagle Rock Uranium
Enrichment facility. Annual fees also increased as a result of the
termination of the certificate for United States Enrichment
Corporation's Paducah, Kentucky facility. The NRC allocates the total
remaining annual fee recovery amount to the individual fuel facility
licensees, based on the effort/fee determination matrix developed for
the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR 31447; June 10, 1999). In the matrix
included in the publicly-available NRC work papers, licensees are
grouped into categories according to their licensed activities (i.e.,
nuclear material enrichment, processing operations, and material form)
and the level, scope, depth of coverage, and rigor of generic
regulatory programmatic effort applicable to each category from a
safety and safeguards perspective. This methodology can be applied to
determine fees for new licensees, current licensees, licensees in
unique license situations, and certificate holders.
This methodology is adaptable to changes in the number of licensees
or certificate holders, licensed or certified material and/or
activities, and total programmatic resources to be recovered through
annual fees. When a license or certificate is modified, it may result
in a change of category for a particular fuel facility licensee, as a
result of the methodology used in the fuel facility effort/fee matrix.
Consequently, this change may also have an effect on the fees assessed
to other fuel facility licensees and certificate holders. For example,
if a fuel facility licensee amends its license/certificate to reflect
cessation of licensed activities (e.g., decommissioning or license
termination), then that licensee will not be subject to 10 CFR part 171
costs applicable to the fee class, and the budgeted generic costs for
the safety and/or safeguards components that continue to be associated
with the license will have to 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 possessed or used, and/or the
activity or activities authorized by license or certificate. Although a
licensee/certificate holder may elect not to fully use a license/
certificate, the license/certificate is still used as the source for
determining authorized nuclear material possession and use/activity.
Second, the category and license/certificate information are used to
determine where the licensee/certificate holder fits into the matrix.
The matrix depicts the categorization of licensees/certificate holders
by authorized material types and use/activities.
Each year, the NRC's fuel facility project managers and regulatory
analysts determine the level of effort associated with regulating each
of these facilities. This is done by assigning, for each fuel facility,
separate effort factors for the safety and safeguards activities
associated with each type of regulatory activity. The matrix includes
10 types of regulatory activities, including enrichment and scrap/
waste-related activities (see the work papers for the complete list).
The NRC then calculates the total for all activities per licensee
benefit factors by each fee category.
The effort factors for the various fuel facility fee categories are
summarized in Table VII. In this rulemaking, some of the effort factors
changed from the FY 2015 proposed fee rule as a result of the
decertification of the Paducah facility. The value of the effort
factors shown, as well as the percent of the total effort factor for
all fuel facilities, reflects the total regulatory effort for each fee
category (not per facility). This results in the spreading of costs to
other fee categories.
[[Page 37438]]
Table VII--Effort Factors for Fuel Facilities, FY 2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effort factors (percent of
Number of total)
Facility type (fee category) facilities -------------------------------
Safety Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a))......................... 2 89 (44.3) 97 (56.7)
Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b)).......................... 3 70 (34.8) 26 (15.2)
Limited Operations (1.A.(2)(a))................................. 0 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))............ 1 3 (1.5) 15 (8.8)
Hot Cell (1.A.(2)(c))........................................... 1 6 (3.0) 3 (1.8)
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.)....................................... 1 21 (10.4) 23 (13.5)
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion (2.A.(1))....................... 1 12 (6.0) 7 (4.1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For FY 2015, the total budgeted resources for safety activities are
$17.2 million, excluding the fee-relief adjustment and the
reclassification adjustment. This amount is allocated to each fee
category based on its percent of the total regulatory effort for safety
activities. For example, if the total effort factor for safety
activities for all fuel facilities is 100, and the total effort factor
for safety activities for a given fee category is 10, that fee category
will be allocated 10 percent of the total budgeted resources for safety
activities. Similarly, the budgeted resources amount of $14.6 million
for safeguards activities is allocated to each fee category based on
its percent of the total regulatory effort for safeguards activities.
The fuel facility fee class' portion of the fee-relief/LLW adjustment,
$2.1 million, is allocated to each fee category based on its percent of
the total regulatory effort for both safety and safeguards activities.
The annual fee per licensee is then calculated by dividing the total
allocated budgeted resources for the fee category by the number of
licensees in that fee category. The fee (rounded) for each facility is
summarized in Table VIII.
Table VIII--Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2015
Facility type (fee category) Final
annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).................... $8,473,000
Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..................... 2,915,000
Limited Operations (1.A(2)(a))............................. 0
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))....... 1,640,000
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))......................... 820,000
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).................................. 4,009,000
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion (2.A.(1)).................. 1,731,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Uranium Recovery Facilities.
The total FY 2015 budgeted costs to be recovered through annual
fees assessed to the uranium recovery class (which includes licensees
in fee categories 2.A.(2)(a), 2.A.(2)(b), 2.A.(2)(c), 2.A.(2)(d),
2.A.(2)(e), 2.A.(3), 2.A.(4), 2.A.(5), and 18.B. under Sec. 171.16)
are approximately $1.0 million. The derivation of this value is shown
in Table IX, with FY 2014 values shown for comparison purposes.
Table IX--Annual Fee Summary Calculations
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................ $10.9 $11.3
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts. -$9.5 -$10.1
-------------------------------
Net 10 CFR part 171 resources........... $1.3 $1.2
Allocated generic transportation........ N/A N/A
Fee-relief adjustment................... -$0.0 -$0.0
Billing adjustments..................... -$0.1 -$0.1
-------------------------------
Total required annual fee recovery...... $1.2 $1.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In comparison to FY 2014, the FY 2015 budgetary resources for
uranium recovery licensees increased due, in part, to the additional
resources necessary to conduct the environmental reviews for materials
licenses applications for uranium recovery facilities (including tribal
consultations in support of the National Historic Preservation Act
Section 106 reviews). Specifically, the NRC staff has been developing
process changes to facilitate the environmental reviews for uranium
recovery applications.
Since FY 2002, the NRC has computed the annual fee for the uranium
recovery fee class by allocating the total annual fee amount for this
fee class between the DOE and the other licensees in this fee class.
The NRC regulates DOE's Title I and Title II activities under the
Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA). The Congress
established the two programs, Title I and Title II, under UMTRCA to
protect the public and the environment from uranium milling. The UMTRCA
Title I program is for remedial action at abandoned mill tailings sites
where tailings resulted largely from production of uranium for the
weapons program. The NRC also regulates DOE's UMTRCA Title II program,
which is directed toward uranium mill sites licensed by the NRC or
Agreement States in or after 1978.
In FY 2015, the annual fee assessed to DOE includes recovery of the
costs
[[Page 37439]]
specifically budgeted for the NRC's UMTRCA Title I and II activities,
plus 10 percent of the remaining annual fee amount, including generic/
other costs (plus 10 percent of the fee-relief/LLW adjustment), for the
uranium recovery class. The NRC assesses the remaining 90 percent
generic/other costs plus 90 percent of the fee-relief adjustment, to
the other NRC licensees in the fee class that are subject to annual
fees.
The costs to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the
uranium recovery class are shown in Table X.
Table X--Costs Recovered Through Annual Fees; Uranium Recovery Fee Class
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2015 Final
Summary of costs annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE Annual Fee Amount (UMTRCA Title I and Title II) $622,898
General Licenses:......................................
UMTRCA Title I and Title II budgeted costs less 10
CFR part 170 receipts
10 percent of generic/other uranium recovery 41,986
budgeted costs.....................................
10 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment 1,251
---------------
Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded)..... 666,000
Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery Licenses:.. 377,874
90 percent of generic/other uranium recovery
budgeted costs less the amounts specifically
budgeted for Title I and Title II activities.......
90 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment 11,255
---------------
Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium 389,129
Recovery Licenses............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NRC will continue to use a matrix, which is included in the
work papers, to determine the level of effort associated with
conducting the generic regulatory actions for the different (non-DOE)
licensees in this fee class. The weights derived in this matrix are
used to allocate the approximately $377,874 annual fee amount to these
licensees. The use of this uranium recovery annual fee matrix was
established in the FY 1995 final fee rule (60 FR 32217; June 20, 1995).
In this rulemaking, some of the matrix factors changed slightly from
the FY 2015 proposed fee rule to accurately reflect the number of
materials licensees. The matrix is described as follows.
First, the methodology identifies the categories of licenses
included in this fee class (besides DOE). These categories are:
Conventional uranium mills and heap leach facilities; uranium In Situ
Recovery (ISR) and resin ISR facilities, and mill tailings disposal
facilities, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the AEA (11e.(2) disposal
facilities); and uranium water treatment facilities.
Second, the matrix identifies the types of operating activities
that support and benefit these licensees. The activities related to
generic decommissioning/reclamation are not included in the matrix
because they are included in the fee-relief activities. Therefore, they
are not a factor in determining annual fees. The activities included in
the matrix relate to operations, waste operations, and groundwater
protection. The relative weight of each type of activity is then
determined, based on the regulatory resources associated with each
activity. The operations, waste operations, and groundwater protection
activities have weights of 0, 5, and 10, respectively, in the matrix.
These benefit factors are first multiplied by the relative weight
assigned to each activity. The NRC then calculates the total for all
activities per licensee benefit factors by each fee category.
Therefore, these benefit factors reflect the relative regulatory
benefit associated with each licensee and fee category.
Each year, the NRC determines the level of benefit to each licensee
for generic uranium recovery program activities for each type of
generic activity in the matrix. This is done by assigning, for each fee
category, separate benefit factors for each type of regulatory activity
in the matrix. The relative weight of each type of activity is then
determined, based on the regulatory resources associated with each
activity. These benefit factors are first multiplied by the relative
weight assigned to each activity. The NRC then calculates total and per
licensee benefit factors for each fee category.
Table XI displays the benefit factors per licensee and per fee
category, for each of the non-DOE fee categories included in the
uranium recovery fee class as follows:
Table XI--Benefit Factors for Uranium Recovery Licenses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Benefit factor Benefit factor
Fee category licensees per licensee Total value percent total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills (2.A.(2)(a)).. 1 150 150 9
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b)).. 6 190 1,140 71
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities 1 215 215 13
(2.A.(2)(c))...................................
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings 1 85 85 5
sites (2.A.(4))................................
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5))............... 1 25 25 2
---------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................................... 10 665 1,615 100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applying these factors to the approximately $389,129 in budgeted
costs to be recovered from non-DOE uranium recovery licensees results
in the total annual fees for each fee category. The annual fee per
licensee is calculated by dividing the total allocated budgeted
resources for the fee category by the number of licensees in
[[Page 37440]]
that fee category, as summarized in Table XII.
Table XII--Annual Fees for Uranium Recovery Licensees
(Other than DOE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2015 Final
Facility type (fee category) annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills (2.A.(2)(a)).......... $36,100
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b)).......... 45,800
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(c))....... 51,800
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites 20,500
(2.A.(4))..............................................
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5))....................... 6,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. Operating Power Reactors
The total budgeted costs to be recovered from the power reactor fee
class in FY 2015 in the form of annual fees is $475.9 million, as shown
in Table XIII. The FY 2014 values are shown for comparison. (Individual
values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table XIII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Operating Power Reactors
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................ $799.3 $762.1
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts. -$290.9 -$284.1
-------------------------------
Net 10 CFR part 171 resources....... $508.4 $478.0
Allocated generic transportation........ $1.1 $1.7
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge..... $0.6 $2.1
Billing adjustment...................... -$10.2 -5.9
-------------------------------
Total required annual fee recovery.. $499.9 $475.9
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In comparison to FY 2014, the operating reactor budgetary resources
decrease in FY 2015 to reflect the conclusion of Kewaunee, Crystal
River 3, and San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1 and 2,
operating reactor oversight responsibilities. In FY 2015, the operating
power reactor annual fee decreases as a result of reduced budgetary
resources and are partially offset by a decrease in 10 CFR part 170
billings due to unexpected new reactor application suspensions and the
shutdown of one power reactor, Vermont Yankee. The permanent shutdown
of the Vermont Yankee reactor decreases the fleet of operating
reactors, which subsequently increases the annual fees for the rest of
the fleet.
The budgeted costs to be recovered through annual fees to power
reactors are divided equally among the 99 power reactors licensed to
operate, resulting in an FY 2015 annual fee of $4,807,000 per reactor.
Additionally, each power reactor licensed to operate would be assessed
the FY 2015 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning annual fee of
$223,000. The total FY 2015 annual fee is $5,030,000 for each power
reactor licensed to operate. The annual fees for power reactors are
presented in Sec. 171.15.
d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactors in Decommissioning
For FY 2015, budgeted costs of $32.4 million for spent fuel
storage/reactor decommissioning would be recovered through annual fees
assessed to 10 CFR part 50 power reactors and to 10 CFR part 72
licensees who do not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license. Those reactor
licensees that have ceased operations and have no fuel onsite would not
be subject to these annual fees.
In comparison to FY 2014, the decreased annual fee is a result of a
decrease in budgetary resources and increased estimated 10 CFR part 170
collections for inspections at Beaver Valley and Pilgrim Power Stations
for FY 2015. Table XIV shows the calculation of this annual fee amount.
The FY 2014 values are shown for comparison. (Individual values may not
sum to totals due to rounding.)
Table XIV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for the Spent Fuel Storage/
Reactor in Decommissioning Fee Class
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................ $32.7 $32.4
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts. -$5.4 -$5.9
-------------------------------
Net 10 CFR part 171 resources....... $27.3 $26.5
Allocated generic transportation........ $0.6 $1.0
[[Page 37441]]
Fee-relief adjustment................... $0.0 -$0.0
-------------------------------
Billing adjustments..................... -$0.4 -$0.3
-------------------------------
Total required annual fee recovery.. $27.5 $27.2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among
122 licensees, resulting in an FY 2015 annual fee of $223,000 per
licensee.
e. Research and Test Reactors (Nonpower Reactors)
Approximately $330,000 in budgeted costs would be recovered through
annual fees assessed to the research and test reactor class of licenses
for FY 2015. Table XV summarizes the annual fee calculation for the
research and test reactors for FY 2015. The FY 2014 values are shown
for comparison. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to
rounding.)
Table XV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Research and Test Reactors
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary fee calculations FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................ $2.63 $2.51
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts. -$2.28 -$2.19
Net 10 CFR part 171 resources....... $0.35 $0.32
Allocated generic transportation........ $0.03 $0.03
Fee-relief adjustment................... -$0.01 -$0.00
-------------------------------
Billing adjustments..................... -$0.03 -$0.02
-------------------------------
Total required annual fee recovery.. $0.34 $0.33
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In FY 2015, the annual fees decrease for research and test reactors
as result of a slight decline in budgetary resources. The required
annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among the four research
and test reactors subject to annual fees and results in an FY 2015
annual fee of $83,500 for each licensee.
f. Materials Users.
The NRC will recover $35.7 million through annual fees assessed to
materials users licensed under 10 CFR parts 30, 40, and 70. Table XVI
shows the calculation of the FY 2015 annual fee amount for materials
users licensees. The FY 2014 values are shown for comparison. Note the
following fee categories under Sec. 171.16 are included in this fee
class: 1.C., 1.D., 1.F., 2.B., 2.C. through 2.F., 3.A. through 3.S.,
4.A. through 4.C., 5.A., 5.B., 6.A., 7.A. through 7.C., 8.A., 9.A.
through 9.D., and 17. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to
rounding.)
Table XVI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Materials Users
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary Fee Calculations FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................ $32.8 $34.1
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts. -$0.9 -$1.0
-------------------------------
Net 10 CFR part 171 resources....... $31.9 $33.1
Allocated generic transportation........ $1.3 $2.2
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge..... $0.2 $0.6
Billing adjustments..................... -$0.3 -$0.2
-------------------------------
Total required annual fee recovery.. $33.1 $35.7
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To equitably and fairly allocate the $35.7 million in FY 2015
budgeted costs to be recovered in annual fees from the approximately
2,900 diverse materials users licensees, the NRC continues to base the
annual fees for each fee category within this class on the 10 CFR 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 the NRC's cost to
regulate each category. This fee calculation also considers the
[[Page 37442]]
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/Inspection Priority)] + Inspection Multiplier x (Average
Inspection Cost/Inspection Priority) + Unique Category Costs.
For FY 2015, the constant multiplier necessary to recover
approximately $26 million in general costs (including allocated generic
transportation costs) is 1.52. The average inspection cost is the
average inspection hours for each fee category multiplied by the hourly
rate of $268. The inspection priority is the interval between routine
inspections, expressed in years. The inspection multiplier is the
multiple necessary to recover approximately $8.9 million in inspection
costs, and is 1.73 for FY 2015. The unique category costs are any
special costs that the NRC has budgeted for a specific category of
licenses. For FY 2015, approximately $235,000 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 to be assessed to each licensee also includes a
share of the fee-relief assessment of approximately $31,000 allocated
to the materials users fee class (see Table IV, ``Allocation of Fee-
Relief Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2015,'' in Section II,
``Discussion,'' of this document), and for certain categories of these
licensees, a share of the approximately $542,700 surcharge costs
allocated to the fee class. The annual fee for each fee category is
shown in Sec. 171.16(d).
g. Transportation
Table XVII shows the calculation of the FY 2015 generic
transportation budgeted resources to be recovered through annual fees.
In comparison to FY 2014, the total budgetary resources for generic
transportation activities, including those to support DOE Certificate
of Compliance (CoCs), increase in FY 2015 due to: (1) Rulemaking
activities involving 10 CFR part 71 Compatibility with IAEA
Transportation Standards and Improvements, (2) the increased activities
from the development of the Continued Storage Rule and associated
generic environmental impact statement combined, and (3) a significant
decrease in transportation licensing work due to shifts towards storage
licensing priorities. For FY 2015, the total amount of annual fees to
be collected for generic transportation activities, including those to
support DOE CoCs, is $7.4 million, due to the reasons mentioned.
The FY 2014 values are shown for comparison. (Individual values may
not sum to totals due to rounding.)
TABLE XVII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Transportation
[Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary Fee Calculations FY 2014 Final FY 2015 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budgeted Resources................ $8.0 $10.0
Less Estimated 10 CFR Part 170 Receipts. -$3.1 -$2.6
Net 10 CFR Part 171 Resources........... $4.9 $7.4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NRC must approve any package used for shipping nuclear material
before shipment. If the package meets NRC requirements, the NRC issues
a Radioactive Material Package CoC to the organization requesting
approval of a package. Organizations are authorized to ship radioactive
material in a package approved for use under the general licensing
provisions of 10 CFR part 71, ``Packaging and Transportation of
Radioactive Material.'' The resources associated with generic
transportation activities are 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.
Generic transportation resources associated with fee-exempt
entities are not included in this total. These costs are included in
the appropriate fee-relief category (e.g., the fee-relief category for
nonprofit educational institutions).
Consistent with the policy established in the NRC's FY 2006 final
fee rule (71 FR 30721; May 30, 2006), the NRC recovers generic
transportation costs unrelated to DOE as part of existing annual fees
for license fee classes. The NRC continues to assess a separate annual
fee under Sec. 171.16, fee category 18.A., for DOE transportation
activities. The amount of the allocated generic resources 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 shown in Table XVIII. The distribution is adjusted to account
for the licensees in each fee class that are fee-exempt. For example,
if four CoCs benefit the entire research and test reactor class, but
only 4 of 31 research and test reactors are subject to annual fees, the
number of CoCs used to determine the proportion of generic
transportation resources allocated to research and test reactor annual
fees equals (4/31) x 4, or 0.5 CoCs.
Table XVIII--Distribution of Generic Transportation Resources, FY 2015
[Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allocated
Number of CoCs Percentage of generic
License fee class/DOE benefiting fee total CoCs transportation
class or DOE resources
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total........................................................... 90.4 100.0 7.46
DOE............................................................. 20.0 22.1 1.65
Operating Power Reactors........................................ 21.0 23.2 1.73
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning...................... 12.0 13.3 0.99
[[Page 37443]]
Research and Test Reactors...................................... 0.4 0.4 0.03
Fuel Facilities................................................. 10.0 11.1 0.83
Materials Users................................................. 27.0 29.9 2.23
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NRC assesses an annual fee to DOE based on the 10 CFR part 71
CoCs it holds and does not allocate these DOE-related resources to
other licensees' annual fees, because these resources specifically
support DOE. Note that DOE's annual fee includes a reduction for the
fee-relief surplus adjustment (see Table IV, ``Allocation of Fee-Relief
Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2015,'' in Section II, ``Discussion,''
of this document), resulting in a total annual fee of $1,623,000
million for FY 2015. The overall increase is due to rulemaking
activities involving 10 CFR part 71 Compatibility with IAEA
Transportation Standards and Improvements combined with a significant
decrease in transportation licensing work due to shifts towards storage
licensing priorities. This rulemaking is essential for 10 CFR part 71
updates and compliance.
h. Small Entity Fees
For FY 2015, the NRC staff performed a biennial review using the
fee methodology developed in FY 2009 that applies a fixed percentage of
39 percent to the prior 2-year weighted average of materials users'
fees. This methodology disproportionately impacted NRC's small
licensees fees by increasing fees by an approximate 43 percent on
average compared to other materials licensees not eligible for small
entity fee status whose fees increased by 38 percent or less for FY
2015; therefore, the NRC staff limited the increase to 21 percent based
on historical applications of the fee methodology. Consequently, the
change resulted in a fee of $3,400 for an upper-tier small entity and
$700 for a lower-tier small entity for FY 2015. The NRC staff believes
these fees are reasonable and provide relief to small entities while
simultaneously recovering from those licensees some of the NRC's costs
for activities that benefit the industry.
The NRC prematurely published a change to the small entity size
standards in the FY 2015 proposed fee rule. Therefore, the NRC is not
changing or amending the size standards in the final fee rule.
Licensees should continue to refer to 10 CFR 2.810 to determine
eligibility under NRC's size standards. The NRC will conduct the next
biennial review in FY 2017.
Administrative Changes
The NRC also makes 11 administrative changes:
1. Increase Direct Hours per Full-Time Equivalent in the Hourly
Rate Calculation. The hourly rate in 10 CFR part 170 is calculated by
dividing the cost per direct FTE by the number of direct hours per
direct FTE in a year. ``Direct hours'' are hours charged to mission
direct activities in the Nuclear Reactor Safety Program and Nuclear
Reactor Materials and Waste Program. The FY 2014 final fee rule used
1,375 hours per direct FTE in the hourly rate calculations. During the
FY 2015 budget formulation process, the NRC staff reviewed and analyzed
time and labor data from FY 2010 through FY 2012 to determine whether
it should revise the direct hours per FTE. Between FY 2010 and FY 2012,
the total direct hours charged by direct employees increased. The
increase in direct hours was apparent in all mission business lines. To
reflect this increase in productivity as demonstrated by the time and
labor data, the staff determined that the number of direct hours per
FTE should increase to 1,420 hours for FY 2015. The staff used 1,420
hours in the FY 2015 budget formulation cycle.
2. Adds New Definition for ``Overhead and General and
Administrative Costs'' under 10 CFR 170.3, ``Definitions.'' The NRC
adds a new definition to describe overhead and general and
administrative costs that are included in full cost charges relating to
hours charged by resident inspectors and project managers to licensees.
The identical definition is added under 10 CFR 171.5, ``Definitions.''
3. Amends Definition for ``Utilization Facility'' under 10 CFR
170.3, ``Definitions.'' The NRC amends the definition for ``utilization
facility'' to reflect the definition contained in the direct final
rule, ``Definition of a Utilization Facility,'' published October 17,
2014 (79 FR 62329), and effective December 31, 2014. The amended
definition would allow the NRC to add SHINE Medical Technologies,
Inc.'s, proposed accelerator-driven subcritical operating assemblies to
the NRC's definition of a ``utilization facility.''
4. Revises the Assessment of Administrative Time for Project
Managers and Resident Inspectors. The NRC staff has examined the
charging of administrative allocation time for project managers and
resident inspectors under 10 CFR part 170. The current practice evenly
distributes overhead time charges among the sites assigned to the
individual. The NRC staff believes this method of distribution does not
consider that some licensees generate more direct work than others. The
NRC, therefore, will allocate administrative allocation costs to each
licensee based on direct time to each docket. This method ensures that
a licensee's administrative allocation costs are proportional to the
regulatory services rendered by the NRC. This method aligns with the
NRC's longstanding fee policy that fees assessed to licensees should,
to the maximum extent practicable, reflect the actual costs of NRC
regulatory services, and does not penalize licensees who require fewer
regulatory services.
5. Adds Fee Subcategories to 10 CFR 170.31 to Reflect a License
with Multiple Sites. The NRC adds fee subcategories to 3.L. licenses
(broad scope) under 10 CFR 170.31 to assess additional fees to
licensees such as the United States Department of Agriculture and the
Department of the Army, in order to accurately reflect the cost of
services provided by the NRC. The staff spends a disproportionate
amount of time on these licensees as compared to other licensees in the
same fee category. These two broad scope licenses also have a
considerable number of sites throughout the country and operate in a
manner similar to master materials licenses under fee category 17. In
FY 2014, the staff compared the work
[[Page 37444]]
efforts expended by the NRC for master materials licenses with multiple
sites to NRC work efforts for broad scope licenses with multiple sites.
The staff concluded that NRC work efforts for multi-site broad scope
licensees are similar to work efforts for master materials licensees.
Therefore, consistent with NRC policy that fees assessed to licensees
accurately reflect the cost of services provided, the NRC revises its
fee categories to consider the number of sites a broad scope licensee
has in establishing fees. An identical change is made to 10 CFR 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.''
6. Amends 10 CFR 170.31, Footnote 6, to Avoid Duplicate Billing.
The NRC amends footnote 6 to 10 CFR 170.31, ``Schedule of Fees for
Materials Licenses and Other Regulatory Services, Including
Inspections, and Import and Export Licenses,'' to avoid duplicate
billing for fuel cycle facility licensees. The NRC currently charges a
single annual fee to fuel cycle facility licensees for major
activities. These licensees are not charged additional annual fees for
ancillary activities. An identical change is made under 10 CFR 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.''
7. Modifies Definition for ``Overhead and General and
Administrative Costs'' under 10 CFR 171.5, ``Definitions.'' The NRC
modifies the definition for ``Overhead and General and Administrative
Costs'' to reflect the FY 2008 merger of the Advisory Committee on
Nuclear Waste with the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards.
8. Revises Fees to Reflect Biennial Review of Fees. To comply with
the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, the NRC evaluates, on a
biennial basis, the historical professional staff hours used to process
a new license application. The NRC also evaluates the inspection time
by reviewing hours spent by NRC staff on those materials users' fee
categories that are subject to flat application fees. This review also
includes new license and amendment applications for import and export
licenses. Changes resulting from this biennial review impact 10 CFR
part 170 flat fees for the small materials users and import and export
licensees.
Two program offices, the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards (NMSS) and the Office of International Programs (OIP), have
completed their biennial review to the CFO regarding the FY 2015 fees.
The NMSS recommended changes to the professional staff hours for most
of the small materials users. The OIP also recommended changes to the
hours for some import and export license fee categories.
Cumulatively, the FY 2015 biennial review resulted in increased
professional staff hours within 11 fee categories and decreased
professional staff hours within 11 fee categories. The changes in the
number of hours and the hourly rate are components that will be used to
determine the 10 CFR part 170 fees for the materials user's licenses as
well as import and export applications.
9. Modifies Small Entity Fees. In accordance with NRC policy, the
staff conducted a biennial review of small entity fees to determine if
the fees should be changed. The small entity fees primarily impact the
NRC's small materials licensees. In FY 2015, the staff performed a
biennial review using the fee methodology developed in FY 2009 that
applies a fixed percentage of 39 percent to the prior 2-year weighted
average of materials users' fees. As a result, the upper tier small
entity fee increased from $2,800 to $4,000 and the lower-tier fee
increased from $600 to $900. This constitutes a 43-percent and 50-
percent increase, respectively. Implementing this increase would have a
disproportionate impact upon the NRC's small licensees compared to
other licensees. Therefore, the NRC staff revised the increase to 21
percent for the upper-tier fee. The 21-percent increase was applied
based on historical trends in the small entity fee and has been used in
previous biennial reviews. The NRC staff amends the upper-tier small
entity fee to $3,400 and amends the lower-tier small entity fee to $700
for FY 2015. The staff believes these fees are reasonable and provide
relief to small entities while at the same time recovering from those
licensees some of the NRC's costs for activities that benefit them.
10. Adds Fee Subcategories to 10 CFR 171.16 to Reflect a License
with Multiple Sites. The NRC adds fee subcategories to 3.L. licenses
(broad scope) under 10 CFR 171.16 to assess additional fees to
licensees such as the United States Department of Agriculture and the
Department of the Army, in order to accurately reflect the cost of
services provided by the NRC. The staff spends a disproportionate
amount of time on these licensees as compared to other licensees in the
same fee category. These two broad scope licenses also have a
considerable number of sites throughout the country and operate in a
manner similar to master materials licenses under fee category 17. In
FY 2014, the staff compared the work efforts expended by the NRC for
master materials licenses with multiple sites to NRC work efforts for
broad scope licenses with multiple sites. The staff concluded that NRC
work efforts for multi-site broad scope licensees are similar to work
efforts for master materials licensees. Therefore, consistent with NRC
policy that fees assessed to licensees accurately reflect the cost of
services provided, the NRC modifies its fee categories to consider the
number of sites a broad scope licensee has in establishing fees.
11. Amends 10 CFR 171.16, Footnote 16, to Avoid Duplicate Billing.
The NRC modifies the footnote description under 10 CFR 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,'' to avoid duplicate billing for fuel cycle facility licensees.
The NRC's current policy charges a single, large annual fee to fuel
cycle facility licensees for major activities. These licensees are not
charged additional annual fees for ancillary activities.
FY 2015 Billing
The FY 2015 fee rule is a major rule as defined by the
Congressional Review Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 801-808). Therefore, the
NRC's fee schedules for FY 2015 will become effective 60 days after
publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. Upon publication
of the final rule, the NRC will send an invoice for the amount of the
annual fees to reactor licensees, 10 CFR part 72 licensees, major fuel
cycle facilities, and other licensees with annual fees of $100,000 or
more. For these licensees, payment is due 30 days after the effective
date of the FY 2015 final rule. Because these licensees are billed
quarterly, the payment amount due is the total FY 2015 annual fee less
payments made in the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
Materials licensees with annual fees of less than $100,000 are
billed annually. Those materials licensees whose license anniversary
date during FY 2015 falls before the effective date of the FY 2015
final rule will be billed for the annual fee during the anniversary
month of the license at the FY 2014 annual fee rate. Those materials
licensees whose license anniversary
[[Page 37445]]
date falls on or after the effective date of the FY 2015 final rule
will be billed for the annual fee at the FY 2015 annual fee rate during
the anniversary month of the license, and payment will be due on the
date of the invoice.
III. Opportunities for Public Participation
The NRC published the FY 2015 proposed fee rule in the Federal
Register on March 23, 2015 (80 FR 15476), for a 30-day public comment
period. The rule proposed to amend the licensing, inspection, and
annual fees charged to the NRC's applicants and licensees in order to
implement OBRA-90, as amended, which requires the NRC to recover
approximately 90 percent of its budget authority in FY 2015 through
fees (not including amounts appropriated for WIR, the NWF, generic
homeland security activities, and IG services for the DNFSB.) These
fees represent the cost of the NRC's services provided to applicants
and licensees. The public comment period for the proposed rule closed
on April 22, 2015.
The NRC also held a public meeting on April 20, 2015, to provide
more transparency regarding fees in relation to the budget process and
fulfill its commitment to external stakeholders to address NRC program
processes and inefficiencies mentioned in the comments submitted for
the FY 2014 proposed fee rule. The first session of the public meeting
addressed the FY 2015 budget for the following program areas: Operating
reactors, new reactors, fuel facilities, decommissioning, low-level
waste, and mission support. The second session of the public meeting
addressed the NRC fee process in relation to the budget laws that
govern fees, the calculation of fees, FY 2015 proposed fee rule
highlights including improvements, and next steps regarding the final
rule. Additionally, the second session addressed the fee billing
process including the charging of staff hours, validation of charges,
preparation of invoices, and allocation of administrative time for
program managers and resident inspectors. During the public meeting,
the NRC received comments on the FY 2015 proposed fee rule. These
comments are detailed in the transcription of the public meeting (ADAMS
Accession No. ML15153A028). All of these comments except one are
identical to comments later received as comment submissions for the FY
2015 proposed fee rule. The NRC responds to the one additional comment
raised in the public meeting, as well as all other comment submissions,
in Section IV, Public Comment Analysis, of this document.
IV. Public Comment Analysis
A. Overview of Public Comments
The NRC received 11 written comment submissions for the proposed
rule. A comment submission for the purpose of this rule is defined as a
communication or document submitted to the NRC by an individual or
entity, with one or more distinct comments addressing a subject or an
issue. A comment, on the other hand, refers to a statement made in the
submission addressing a subject or issue. Nine comment submissions were
received after the 30-day comment period closed; the NRC has addressed
all nine late-filed comment submissions as part of this final rule.
The primary concern for the majority of the commenters is that the
FY 2015 proposed fee rule was published late in the fiscal year and
that the work papers lacked adequate justification to substantiate a
change in fees, thereby denying the public an opportunity to submit
meaningful commentary for consideration in the FY 2015 final fee rule.
The commenters are listed in Table XIX, and are classified as follows:
One government agency (DOE); two members of the uranium industry
(Kennecott Uranium Company and Wyoming Mining Association (WMA)); one
materials licensee (Rendezvous Engineering, P.C.); one rare earth
applicant (Rare Element Resources); and six members of the nuclear
industry (Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC), Duke Energy (Duke),
Exelon Generation, LLC (Exelon), Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI),
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and AREVA, Inc. (AREVA)).
Table XIX--FY 2015 Proposed Fee Rule Commenter Submissions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commenter Affiliation ADAMS Accession No. Acronym
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas C. Pauling............. Department of ML15112A215 (#1).......................... DOE
Energy.
Anthony R. Pietrangelo........ Nuclear Energy ML15113A307 (#2).......................... NEI
Institute.
Jonathan Downing.............. Wyoming Mining ML15113B224 (#3).......................... WMA
Association.
Bryan C. Hanson............... Exelon Generation ML15113B230 (#4).......................... Exelon
C.R. Pierce................... Southern Nuclear ML15117A174 (#5).......................... SNC
Operating
Company.
M. Christopher Nolan.......... Duke Energy...... ML15117A324 (#6).......................... Duke
Gayle Elliott................. AREVA, Inc....... ML15119A447 (#7).......................... AREVA
Matthew F. Ostdiek, P.E....... Rendezvous ML15119A453 (#8).......................... N/A
Engineering, P.C.
Oscar Paulson................. Kennecott Uranium ML15119A504 (#9).......................... N/A
Company.
Jaye T. Pickarts.............. Rare Element ML15127A144 (#10)......................... N/A
Resources.
J.W. Shea..................... Tennessee Valley ML15131A477 (#11)......................... TVA
Authority.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information about obtaining the complete text of the comment
submissions is available in Section XV, ``Availability of Documents,''
of this document.
Public Comments and Overall NRC Responses
The NRC has carefully considered the public comments received. The
comments have been organized by topic followed by the NRC response.
A. Inadequate Explanation and Transparency
1. Uranium Recovery
Comment: Neither the FY 2015 proposed fee rule nor the work papers
explain the rationale for recovery costs associated with generic and
other uranium program activities that are assessed to DOE and other
uranium recovery licensees. (DOE)
Response: The NRC described the overall methodology for determining
fees for uranium recovery facilities, including DOE, in the 2002 fee
rule (67 FR 42612; June 24, 2002). The NRC recovers fees from DOE
through both user fees charged under 10 CFR part 170 and annual fees
charged under 10 CFR part 171. The user fees cover specific UMTRCA
oversight activities, while the 10 CFR part 171 fees cover generic work
related to UMTRCA and other uranium recovery activities. As shown in
the work papers, the NRC calculated the
[[Page 37446]]
total amount of budgeted resources for UMTRCA activities related to DOE
sites in the FY 2015 appropriation by computing the cost of staff hours
budgeted to conduct the work (in terms of FTE) and the budgeted
contract costs. The total amount of budgeted resources was then reduced
by the amount expected to be recovered by direct fees for site-specific
UMTRCA activities. The NRC produced this estimate of direct fees by
analyzing billing data and the actual contractual work charged to DOE
for the previous four quarters. The estimate, therefore, reflects any
recent reductions in NRC oversight activities. The remainder of the
UMTRCA budgeted amount related to DOE sites was assessed to DOE for
generic activities. In addition to those generic costs, DOE was
assessed for 10 percent of the overall generic costs attributable to
the uranium recovery program. The remaining 90 percent of the overall
generic costs was assessed to other members of the uranium recovery
class.
The NRC performs several types of activities in its oversight of
UMTRCA sites that have been transferred to DOE for long-term
surveillance and maintenance. The NRC staff reviews the reports
generated by DOE, including routine ground water monitoring reports,
annual site remediation performance reports, annual inspection reports
and other technical reports generated by DOE. The NRC staff also
reviews and provides comments on non-routine reports such as the
reports developed by DOE concerning the Many Devils Wash at the
Shiprock site and the Phytoremediation Pilot Study at the Monument
Valley site. In addition, if DOE proposes to revise a Ground Water
Corrective Action Plan or Remediation Plan at a site, the NRC staff
reviews and (if appropriate) concurs on the revised plan. The NRC staff
also performs Observational Site Visits at UMTRCA sites to observe the
DOE, and DOE contractors, performing the annual inspections of the
UMTRCA sites required by the site Long-Term Surveillance Plan. Other
significant staff actions include participating in the activities
related to the development and implementation of the 5-year plan to
address uranium contamination on the Navajo Nation. No change was made
to the final rule in response to this comment.
Comment: The FY 2015 proposed fee rule lacks adequate justification
regarding the 20-percent increase in fees for uranium recovery
licenses. The justification that the NRC provides regarding the Section
106 Tribal Consultation process as one of the factors triggering the
fee increase for uranium recovery licensees is not substantiated since
this process should be streamlined and not used as justification for
higher annual fees. (WMA, Kennecott Uranium Recovery)
Response: Regarding the 20-percent increase in annual fees, the FY
2015 annual fee recoverable amount was higher for all other uranium
recovery licensees for primarily two reasons. First, under the NRC's
established fee methodology, once the NRC determines how much the
UMTRCA program will need to pay in annual fees, then the remainder of
the NRC's budgetary authority must be recouped through the remaining
uranium recovery licensees. The reduced budgetary resources for the
UMTRCA program, therefore, contributed to this year's fee increase for
the other uranium recovery licensees. Second, there are increased
budgetary resources in FY 2015 to support contested uranium recovery
hearings before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; the work on
these contested hearings must be recouped through annual fees.
Additionally, the National Historic Preservation Act Section 106
consultation process associated with uranium recovery licensing actions
has grown significantly over the past several years. This growth can be
attributed to two main factors: (1) The siting of these projects in
areas that are known to be the aboriginal homelands of a large number
of Federally-recognized Native American tribes and tribes at or near
sites that are considered sacred by these tribes (e.g., the Pumpkin
Buttes, the Missouri Buttes, Devils Tower, and the Black Hills); and
(2) the increased interest from tribes to participate as consulting
parties in the Section 106 process for uranium recovery licensing
actions. No change was made to the final rule in response to this
comment.
Comment: The proposed rule and work papers do not reflect the
resources that have been authorized by the Further Continuing
Appropriations Act of 2015, which became law more than 3 months before
the publication of this rulemaking. Instead, the proposed rule and work
papers are based on the earlier President's Budget, which was $44.2
million greater than the appropriated amount. Due to this course of
action, it is impossible to determine whether any of the resource
allocations in the work papers are accurate. The proposed rule
indicates that the final rule will make appropriate estimated
adjustments without allowing the public any meaningful opportunity to
understand the actual calculations or comment on this adjustment.
(Exelon)
Response: In its proposed rule, the NRC provided estimated final FY
2015 calculations based on the anticipated impacts as a result of the
FY 2015 appropriation. To meet the requirements of OBRA-90 that NRC
collect approximately 90 percent of its appropriation by the end of the
fiscal year and Administrative Procedure Act requirements concerning
opportunity for public comment, the NRC published the proposed fee
rule, which included estimated FY 2015 final fees based on the most
accurate data available at the time of publication. No change was made
to the final rule in response to this comment.
2. Operating Reactor Fees
Comment: Regarding annual fees, the proposed fee rule and work
papers do not provide sufficient detail on how the 10 CFR parts 170 and
171 operating reactor fee estimates were calculated, rendering the
proposed fee rule arbitrary and capricious. (Exelon)
Response: The NRC disagrees with the comment that the work papers
contain insufficient detail with respect to how the 10 CFR parts 170
and 171 operating reactor fee estimates were calculated. Consistent
with prior years, license fees are based on the NRC's budget
formulation structure hierarchy of business lines, product lines, and
products. The NRC provides those business lines, product lines, and
products in its work papers. Detailed information below the product
level (e.g., cost centers) is determined when the budget is executed.
The work papers do not distinguish by specific budget line items which
fees are recovered through user and annual fees because it is
impractical for the NRC to determine in advance the precise percent of
a given business line that will be recovered through 10 CFR part 170
user fees versus 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. No change was made to the
final rule in response to this comment.
Comment: Neither the proposed rule nor the work papers provide any
information showing the specific costs that are being recovered through
annual fees. The work papers merely list all items comprising the
entire NRC-budgeted resources for new reactors, operating reactors, and
unexplained materials licensing activities and derive the annual fee by
subtracting the portion of estimated 10 CFR part 170 collections
attributed to entities paying user fees ($288.5 million). As a
consequence, it is impossible to determine which of the specific line
items are being recovered through user fees and which are being
recovered under annual fees. The descriptions of the line items are
very
[[Page 37447]]
vague, preventing one from determining whether they are generic, and
potentially appropriate for recovery under 10 CFR part 171 or
attributable to a service provided to an identifiable beneficiary and,
therefore, appropriate for recovery less than 10 CFR part 170. (Exelon)
Response: The NRC disagrees with the comment that the work papers
contain insufficient detail with respect to which specific line items
are being recovered through user fees, and which are being recovered
through annual fees. Consistent with prior years, license fees are
based on the NRC's budget formulation structure hierarchy of business
lines, product lines, and products. The commenter is correct that the
work papers do not distinguish these activities on the basis of whether
these line items will be recovered through user or annual fees. But,
that is because it would prove unduly burdensome for the NRC to perform
this type of calculation for every business line, product line, and
product in its budget. No change was made to the final rule in response
to this comment.
Comment: The proposed rule and the work papers do not state how the
estimated $324.3 million in 10 CFR part 170 costs are calculated for
licensees. (Exelon)
Response: The NRC estimates the amount of 10 CFR part 170 fees
based on established fee methodology guidelines (42 FR 22149; May 2,
1977), which specified that the NRC has the authority to recover the
full cost of providing services to identifiable beneficiaries. As in
previous years, the NRC applied longstanding principles to calculate
the 10 CFR part 170 estimates based on the analysis of financial data.
The data analyzed to devise the 10 CFR part 170 estimate included: (1)
Four quarters of the most recent billing data (hourly rate invoice
data); (2) actual contractual work charged (prior period data) to
develop contract work estimates; and (3) the number of FTE hours
charged, multiplied by the NRC professional hourly rate. These factors,
along with workload projections, are used by the NRC to determine the
10 CFR part 170 estimated charges. Because the fee calculation
worksheets used to develop the 10 CFR part 170 estimates involve
thousands of calculations, it would be impractical for the NRC to
provide details on every calculation, let alone explanations for every
calculation such that each individual calculation became accessible and
understandable to members of the public. No change was made to the
final rule in response to this comment.
Comment: The work papers allocate to operating reactors over $7
million for spent fuel storage and transportation (SFST). As there is
no meaningful description, one cannot determine whether the allocated
costs are attributable solely to the Waste Confidence rulemaking or
include other activities as well. (Exelon)
Response: The SFST business line activities include efforts to
maintain and enhance its technical capabilities and understanding of
the potential behavior of different geologic environments and
engineered barrier systems for disposal of spent fuel and high-level
waste, and monitoring national-level developments stemming from the
report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future and
DOE's response to that report. Beginning in FY 2011, the NRC began
budgeting for interim measures for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel.
At that time, the NRC determined that it was appropriate to include
these SFST resources in the power reactors fee class because power
reactors ultimately benefit from disposal of spent nuclear fuel. These
activities are in addition to the Waste Confidence (now Continued
Storage) rulemaking activities. No change was made to the final rule in
response to this comment.
Comment: The $7 million is in addition to the $28.9 million for
spent fuel storage and decommissioning activities recovered through an
annual fee on power reactors and 10 CFR part 72 licensees that do not
hold a 10 CFR part 50 license. The NRC should inform the operating
reactors whether the SFST costs assessed to operating reactors includes
activities pertaining to spent fuel disposal activities listed in the
FY 2014 CBJ. These costs should be counted separately or be an offset
from the carry-over appropriation relating to the review of Yucca
Mountain license application or recovered through user fees assessed to
DOE or the NWF. (Exelon)
Response: The Waste Confidence (Continued Storage) rulemaking was
completed in FY 2014. A small portion of the operating reactors' fees
include SFST business line activities to maintain and enhance the NRC's
technical capabilities and understanding of the potential behavior of
different geologic environments and engineered barrier systems for
disposal of spent fuel and high-level waste, and monitoring national-
level developments stemming from the report of the Blue Ribbon
Commission on America's Nuclear Future and DOE's response to that
report. Beginning in FY 2011, the NRC began budgeting for interim
measures for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. At that time, the NRC
determined that it was appropriate to include these SFST resources in
the power reactors fee class because power reactors ultimately benefit
from disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Further, it continues to be
neither feasible nor appropriate for the NRC to parse out fees for
activities that might be attributable to DOE's contractual obligations
with respect to spent fuel versus those fees that would have been borne
by licensees even if DOE had performed under the Standard Contract.
Finally, with respect to offsetting fees from the carryover
appropriations relating to the review of the Yucca Mountain
construction authorization application or recovering costs through user
fees assessed to the NWF, the NRC disagrees with the comment. Funds
appropriated from the NWF may only be used for activities prescribed in
section 302(d) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which includes
licensing activities associated with the Yucca Mountain high-level
waste repository. That section covers neither the NRC's work on interim
strategies for disposal of high-level waste, nor monitoring national-
level developments stemming from the report of the Blue Ribbon
Commission. Therefore, these activities are not chargeable to NWF
appropriations. The NRC's NWF carryover funding is not included in the
``fee relief items'' or any part of the FY 2015 budget that is to be
recovered by fees. No change was made to the final rule in response to
this comment.
Comment: The NRC work papers imply that up to $1 million/reactor
(20 percent) of the 10 CFR part 171 fees could be supporting NRC work
on new and advanced reactors. The NRC should justify in a transparent
manner how much of the annual fees support this new reactor business
line, and how this portion of the annual fee directly supports
operating plant regulatory activities. (SNC)
Response: The NRC does not compute new reactors costs separately
when it determines the operating reactor annual fee. In other words,
the NRC does not break the annual fee for operating reactors into
separate, constituent parts in such a way that it can extract new
reactor costs from operating reactor costs. This is because these costs
are all intertwined within the operating reactor annual fee
calculations. The fee calculation for the operating reactor fee class
is derived from a methodology that includes analyzing the NRC's budget
structure, and then making multiple adjustments to account for fee
relief, generic transportations cost, estimated 10 CFR part 170
collections, etc. It is
[[Page 37448]]
not, therefore, possible to simply analyze the budgeted business line
for new reactors, and then extrapolate from there. No change was made
to the final rule in response to this comment.
3. Rare Earth Facilities
Comment: The NRC should reevaluate the proposed annual fee for rare
earth facilities to assure consistency with the NRC's statutory
obligation to ``fairly and equitably'' allocate annual fees among
licensees in a manner that has a reasonable relationship to the cost of
providing regulatory services. The agency should explain in detail the
basis for the proposed rare earth facilities fee in Table XVI in
comparison to uranium recovery and other rare earth facilities fees.
The rare earth facilities' proposed annual fee amount of $83,800 is
more than double the conventional uranium mill facilities' proposed
annual fee ($40,700) and significantly larger than the fees associated
with in situ uranium recovery facilities ($51,500 and $58,300). In
addition, the annual fee charged by the California Radiologic Health
Branch for the Mountain Pass rare earth facility is capped at $29,418--
approximately one-third of the NRC's proposed annual fee. (Rare Element
Resources)
Response: The NRC agrees with this comment. As mentioned
previously, the proposed FY 2015 fee rule established an annual fee for
rare earth facilities. Upon further analysis, however, the NRC
determined that all the budgeted resources for the rare earth facility
fee class will be collected through 10 CFR part 170 fees this fiscal
year. Therefore, in this final rule, the NRC omitted the annual fee for
rare earth facilities in response to this comment.
B. Fairness of Fees
Comment: The proposed fee rule fails to subtract from the NRC
budget the cost of activities that are covered by appropriations and
carry-over appropriations from the NWF. There is no reason not to treat
a carry-over appropriation as an appropriation for the fiscal year,
because that appropriation remains available. But even if the NRC could
not deduct the carry-over appropriation as a non-fee item, it would be
inappropriate to charge the costs of the Yucca Mountain application to
reactors as an annual fee, because these costs are direct services to
an applicant (DOE), not generic costs. (Exelon)
Response: The NRC disagrees with the comment. The NRC received no
new NWF appropriations in FY 2015. The NRC's FY 2015 activities related
to review of the Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository application
are being charged to the carryover balance of the NRC's NWF
appropriations from prior years and will not be billed to licensees.
OBRA-90 specifies that the NRC must deduct from the annual charges
collected from all licensees any ``amounts appropriated to the
Commission from the Nuclear Waste Fund for the fiscal year.'' 42 U.S.C.
2214(c)(2)(A)(ii) (emphasis added). In FY 2015, the NRC did not receive
any new appropriations from the NWF. Therefore, there was no amount to
subtract from the budget in calculating FY 2015 annual fees; all the
carryover money that the NRC is using in FY 2015 was already deducted
during the years in which it was appropriated. No change was made to
the final rule in response to this comment.
Comment: The NRC should recover its generic new reactor costs
through a more focused class of licensees. Specifically, NRC should
recover its generic new reactor costs by creating a new fee class
consisting of the holders of design certifications and design
approvals, licensees that hold or have active applications for combined
licenses, holders of active construction permits, and holders of any
other NRC approvals allowing or pertaining to new plant activities.
(Exelon)
Response: Initially, to the extent that the NRC's new reactor
safety work directly benefits a licensee or applicant, the NRC assesses
10 CFR part 170 user fees to that licensee or applicant. As a result,
existing operating reactor licensees are not paying any fees for new
reactor work that directly benefits an entity engaged in new reactor
activities. As for the portion of the new reactor work that is not
collected through 10 CFR part 170 user fees, OBRA-90, as amended,
requires that the NRC allocate those costs of this work fairly and
equitably. Because the NRC's generic new reactor work yields benefits
for existing operating reactor licensees, the NRC's current system of
allocating all operating reactor costs to existing licensees satisfies
OBRA-90's requirements.
Implementing a new fee class would be unduly burdensome, costly,
and generally unworkable for two reasons. First, although generic new
reactor activities may preferentially benefit new reactor vendors or
licensees, there are many activities that appear to be focused on new
reactors but ultimately have a direct benefit to operating units. To
illustrate, consider the rulemaking effort to change the financial
qualification standards for merchant plants. Although this rulemaking
was initially focused on new reactor applicants, the Commission, in
approving the rulemaking, expanded its scope to include license
transfers, which provides a direct and appreciable benefit to existing
operating reactors. Similarly, the expertise developed in the areas of
seismic and flooding analysis was developed to address new reactor
applicants. Now, however, that expertise is being brought to bear on
seismic and flooding reevaluations being done in response to the
Fukushima event.
Contrary to Exelon's comment, these are not ``indirect'' benefits
to existing reactors, but rather concrete cases where work that, on its
face, was geared towards new reactor activities yielded valuable and
tangible benefits for the existing fleet, and therefore was
appropriately billed to existing reactors. To devise methods to
separate the NRC's generic new reactor costs from generic operating
reactor costs, and then implement oversight to ensure the costs were
correctly allocated, would require appreciable and recurring expenses
that would be billed to all licensees. Further, such a process, which
would have to be performed on a year-to-year basis, would be unworkable
in any practical sense given the fluid nature of the NRC's generic
regulatory work vis-[agrave]-vis power reactors.
Second, creating a new fee class would also prove impracticable
because entities holding licenses for currently operating reactors may
also be, either now or in the future, applicants for new nuclear power
plant licenses. Given the evolving nature of the new reactor landscape,
there is no practicable or reliable method to determine which existing
NRC licensees will develop an interest in future reactor activities.
Exelon's comment argues that the NRC should merely identify those
entities that have pending regulatory approvals pertaining to new plant
activities. But the existing marketplace is more fluid than Exelon's
comment suggests, and having a stable and predictable regulatory
infrastructure benefits more entities than just those currently seeking
pending regulatory approvals because it promotes business planning.
Exelon itself was engaged in new reactor activities from 2003-2012
(and, therefore, directly benefitted from all of the NRC's generic new
reactor work). It is plausible that an entity previously involved in
new reactor activities could re-engage in those activities at some time
in the future.
Ultimately, identification of fee classes is a matter of line-
drawing. By virtue of being a generic activity without a specific,
concrete beneficiary, activities that fall in the 10 CFR part 171
[[Page 37449]]
annual fee category could be theoretically parsed into an almost
infinite amount of fee classes. For example, if the NRC were to base
fees on distinctions such as whether generic work benefited boiling
water reactors versus pressurized water reactors or coastal versus
inland reactors, the exercise likely would result in distinctions that
are both artificial and unduly burdensome from an administrative and
recordkeeping standpoint. The NRC's decision to draw the fee class line
in such a way that encompasses generic new reactor work satisfies OBRA-
90's requirement that costs be allocated fairly and that, ``[t]o the
maximum extent practicable, the charges shall have a reasonable
relationship to the cost of providing regulatory services.'' No change
was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
Comment: The proposed fee rule fails to recover user fees from
every person who receives a service or thing of value the full cost of
such service or thing of value. Of the $935.3 million that the
Commission must recover through fees, only $324.5 million is estimated
to be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 user fees. This could be
correct only if approximately two-thirds of the NRC's budget does not
benefit any identifiable entity, which is presumably not the case. As
an example, user fees do not appear to be imposed for vendor
inspections despite the fact that vendors are identifiable persons
receiving the benefit of NRC inspections to establish their
qualifications to provide safety-related services. Also, the costs for
advanced reactor research should be recovered through user fees charged
to applicants or pre-applicants. (Exelon)
Response: Within the confines of the IOAA, the NRC recovers user
fees from as many people as legally possible. To take the commenter's
specific examples, the NRC cannot assess user fees when performing
vendor inspections. The NRC's vendor inspection program verifies that
reactor licensees are fulfilling their regulatory obligations with
respect to providing effective oversight of the supply chain. The
licensee, not the NRC, establishes a vendor's qualifications to provide
safety-related items and services; the vendor, therefore, does not
receive a tangible benefit from the NRC when the NRC performs its
inspection because the vendor is not receiving any sort of NRC stamp-
of-approval or certification. The NRC cannot bill vendor inspections
directly to specific licensees because the vendor is typically
supplying more than one licensee at any given time. It is expected that
many licensees will benefit from the inspection, both the specific
customers at the time of the inspection, future customers who may not
be known at the time of the inspection, and the industry in general
because the Nuclear Procurement Issues Committee (NUPIC) uses NRC
vendor inspection findings in preparation for its audits.
Regarding advanced reactor research, the NRC is not conducting any
generic research for advanced non-light water reactor designs that can
be charged as user fees to specific applicants. Because these are
generic costs that do not directly benefit a specific applicant, NRC
cannot legally recover these costs through IOAA user fees. No change
was made to the final rule in response to this document.
Comment: The annual fee for operating reactors should not be
assessed solely on the 99 current operating licensees licensed under 10
CFR part 50, but should also include holders of COLs under 10 CFR part
52. The NRC's generic activities for operating reactors, such as
Fukushima Near-Term Task Force activities, benefit 10 CFR part 52
combined license holders as much as 10 CFR part 50 operating licensees.
Assigning costs only to 10 CFR part 50 operating licenses is
inequitable, particularly because the current COL holders are far
better positioned to recover these costs than many current operating
licensees; they remain electric utilities able to recover costs through
rates and regulatory costs during construction are largely capitalized.
(Exelon)
Response: The NRC disagrees with the commenter's proposed
recommendation. Historically, plants licensed under 10 CFR part 50 did
not enter into the fee class of operating plants until permission was
granted by the NRC to load fuel and begin power operation. Although
combined license holders under 10 CFR part 52 do hold an operating
license, they do not approach a comparable status to plants licensed
under 10 CFR part 50 until the Commission determines that the
inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria are satisfied
pursuant to 10 CFR 52.103(g), all operational programs are functional,
and program compliance with regulations demonstrated. Therefore, the
NRC believes that fairness concerns dictate that the NRC should not
charge COL holders the same fees as operating plants during their
construction and pre-operation phases. No change was made to the final
rule in response to this comment.
Comment: The FY 2015 proposed fee rule hourly rate of $277 remains
high in comparison to the hourly rates of consultants working for the
uranium recovery industry which contributes to huge regulatory costs
for licensees due to the large number of hours expended by NRC staff.
(WMA, Kennecott Uranium Recovery)
Response: The fees assessed to licensees and applicants by the NRC
must conform to OBRA-90 and IOAA requirements, in contrast to industry
consultants working for the uranium recovery industry. Under the IOAA,
the NRC must recover the full costs of providing specific regulatory
benefits to identifiable applicants and licensees. In so doing, the NRC
establishes an hourly rate for its work. Consistent with the law, the
NRC determines its hourly rate by dividing the sum of recoverable
budgeted resources for: (1) Mission-direct program salaries and
benefits; (2) mission-indirect program support; and (3) agency overhead
or indirect costs--which includes corporate support, office support and
the IG. The mission-direct FTE hours are the product of the mission-
direct FTE multiplied by the hours per direct FTE. The only budgeted
resources excluded from the hourly rate are those for contract
activities related to mission-direct and fee-relief activities. No
change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
C. Fuel Facilities
Comment: The NRC should adequately explain the basis for the
significant increase in annual fees for fuel facilities in the proposed
fee rule. Although the proposed rule attributes the increase to a
reduction in 10 CFR part 170 fees from construction delays and a slight
increase in budgeted resources, it does not explain how or why the
redirected resources that were budgeted for construction-related
activities were redirected to 10 CFR part 171-related activities for
fuel facilities. (NEI)
Response: Fuel Facility Business Line (FFBL) fees for FY 2015 are
tied to the President's FY 2015 budget. As noted by the commenter, the
proposed FY 2015 FFBL budget, and corresponding FY 2015 fees, increased
significantly in FY 2015. When the FY 2015 budget request was developed
in FY 2013, drivers for the increased FFBL budget encompassed a number
of planned or proposed activities, including: construction oversight
activities for several facilities under construction; an increase in
the number of complex licensing activities associated with facilities
under construction; an application for a new facility; a continuation
of post-Fukushima activities; and a number of
[[Page 37450]]
infrastructure enhancements. These FY 2015 planning assumptions were
based on industry feedback and Commission direction. Some of this
projected work did not materialize and the FFBL budget was reduced
accordingly in the FY 2015 enacted budget. As a result of this
reduction, the final fee increase is not as significant as the
anticipated increase identified in the proposed rule, which was based
on higher FFBL resources in the President's budget.
In addition to an increase in the FFBL budget line, another factor
for the increase in FFBL annual fees is the reduced number of FFBL
licensees to whom the NRC can distribute those fees (one facility was
decertified in 2015). No change was made to the final rule in response
to this comment; however, the final rule has been changed to reflect
changes in the FFBL calculations.
D. Other Issues
Comment: We encourage the NRC to conduct future meetings regarding
fees. (NEI)
Response: The NRC supports future meetings that allow for the
exchange information between the NRC and the public in our efforts to
be more transparent. No change was made to the final rule in response
to this comment.
Comment: The NRC should improve the transparency, timeliness, and
predictability of the fee rule by more explicitly integrating the
rulemaking with NRC's budget process. The NRC's current schedule for
publishing the proposed and final annual fee rule falls short of these
objectives and inhibits sound financial planning by licensees in
budgeting for NRC fees. Greater transparency and predictability in fee
policy could be realized if the NRC published the proposed rule in the
first quarter of the fiscal year (based on the CBJ if Congress has yet
to enact appropriations) and the final fee rule in the second or early
third quarter of the fiscal year. (NEI)
Response: OBRA-90 requires that the NRC collect approximately 90
percent of its budget authority through fees by the end of the fiscal
year, and the NRC must set its fees in accordance with its own budget.
Further, the annual appropriation cycle places additional constraints
upon the NRC. Because the NRC does not know the amount of fees it will
need to collect until after it receives its annual appropriation from
Congress, the NRC cannot start the Federal rulemaking process until
sometime in the fall, usually after the first quarter. The NRC believes
that reliance on the most up-to-date financial data available in
determining fees as opposed to the CBJ ensures that the NRC meets the
requirements of OBRA-90 as this practice ensures that NRC fees assessed
bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of NRC services. The NRC
recognizes that the issuance of the rule may not coincide with budget
cycles of industry; however, the NRC must promulgate a notice-and-
comment rule based on the most accurate data available regarding the
cost of NRC services in the context of NRC's budget for a given fiscal
year. No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
Comment: The NRC estimates that the FY 2015 final fee rule hourly
rate will be $268, which is lower than the FY 2015 proposed fee rule
hourly rate. Imposing the higher hourly rate for the first three
quarters of FY 2015 amounts to an unjustified overcharge and appears
contrary to the IOAA. The IOAA requires that charges by federal
agencies be fair and based on, among other things, the costs to the
agency and the value of the service to the recipient. The NRC should
establish regulations in 10 CFR part 170 to allow for a remedy for
licensees to be reimbursed for these overcharges as a result of NRC's
issuance of the rule late in the year. (NEI, Exelon)
Response: The NRC disagrees with the comment that the estimated
lower 10 CFR part 170 hourly rate will result in an unjustified
overcharge and contradicts the IOAA. The hourly rate is established
annually in the NRC's final fee rules; in the prior two rules, the
effective dates were August 30, 2013, and August 29, 2014,
respectively. The NRC acknowledges that the hourly rate charged during
the first 3 quarters of the fiscal year is not the same as the hourly
rate proposed in the same fiscal year. However, the NRC cannot change
the current hourly rate during a fiscal year until 60 days after NRC
issuance of the final rule changing the hourly rate. The NRC notes that
for FY 2015, licensees will receive the majority of the benefit of the
reduced hourly rate in the following fiscal year, even if the FY 2016
proposed fee rule contains a higher hourly rate. Therefore, no
adjustments will be made to prior invoices as a result of the reduced
hourly rate. No change was made to the final rule in response to this
comment.
Comment: The portion of the budget allocated to corporate support--
a key factor in both the hourly rate and annual fee calculation--
appears to be disproportionately large with respect to the resources
allocated for mission-direct and mission-indirect activities.
Transparency in the fee rule is challenged by the use of the same term
``Corporate Support'' in the NRC CBJ, but which is apparently
calculated in a substantially different manner. In both the fee rule
and the CBJ, the budget for corporate support is excessive. Both fail
to provide a clear explanation of the overhead necessary to support the
NRC's core programs. The proposed fee rule also does not provide an
adequate explanation of why the level of corporate support differs by
more than $100 million between the FY 2015 CBJ and the FY 2015 proposed
fee rule. The NRC should provide a clear explanation of the overhead
necessary to support the NRC's core programs. (NEI, Duke Energy)
Response: Corporate support is one component of agency support (the
other components are office support and the IG). The NRC is committed
to cost-efficient budgeting and the prudent use of resources to achieve
the agency's mission objectives. In recent years, the NRC has taken a
comprehensive look at overhead resources, reducing both FTE and
contract support dollars through streamlining initiatives.
Centralization of corporate functions was a primary contributor to the
decrease. Another contributor included the merger between the Office of
Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management and the Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
To assist in the continued streamlining of corporate support
functions, the NRC recently contracted with an outside entity to
conduct a review of the agency's overhead functions and to identify
ways to reduce costs with no impact on the agency's ability to carry
out its mission. This review, which involved interviews with and
benchmarking against peer agencies, confirmed that there is no standard
government-wide definition of overhead costs, but found that NRC
overhead costs are roughly in line with peer agencies with respect to
the standard corporate support cost categories used by the Federal
Chief Executive Officers Council--acquisition, financial management,
information technology, human capital, and real property. However,
because of its mission, the NRC has additional security requirements
that contribute to higher overhead costs in areas such as physical and
personnel security. The review also resulted in recommendations on how
the NRC can implement leading practices that have reduced overhead
costs at peer agencies. The NRC will consider these recommendations in
implementing the Project AIM strategy approved by the Commission.
Finally, with respect to the commenters' concerns regarding
[[Page 37451]]
transparency, the NRC acknowledges that the different definitions of
``Corporate Support'' used in the fee rule and the agency's CBJ have
made it difficult for licensees and members of the public to understand
the relationship between the numbers presented in the two documents.
The NRC is committed to transparency, and it will examine ways to
present information about overhead costs more consistently in future
fee rules, and to clarify any differences necessitated by the unique
requirements of the fee rule calculations. In line with related
recommendations of the independent overhead review, the NRC will
continue to examine how the agency can more appropriately categorize
its resources to ensure that overhead and programmatic costs are
properly and clearly presented. A change was made to the final rule to
capture corporate support under agency support in this final rule as a
result of this comment.
Comment: The industry is concerned about the decrease in 10 CFR
part 170-related activities under the FY 2015 proposed fee rule. (NEI)
Response: The decline in 10 CFR part 170 activities concerning
power reactors is a result of unexpected application suspensions
(particularly, the U.S. EPR design certification application and the
Calvert Cliffs combined license application). As the NRC completes the
generic regulatory actions that resulted from the Fukushima Near-Term
Task Force (NTTF) report, the costs related to those generic actions
will decline. Relatedly, as the affected licensees and certificate
holders implement the NTTF recommendations, follow-up activities will
likely result in site-specific action on the part of the NRC. This
shift in activities will likely cause the costs related to site-
specific actions to increase for that workload, resulting in an
increase in fees for site-specific activities (10 CFR part 170). No
change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
Comment: The NRC invoices lack standard details that every
consultant, law or accounting firm in the private sector must provide
and the NRC's hourly rates exceed those of many of these organizations
in the Western part of the country. Also, the current invoices do not
offer industry any opportunity to gauge the reasonableness of fees
incurred for different phases of the licensing process making it
impossible to implement a lessons-learned initiative on future
licensing actions or provide for meaningful budget planning. (WMA,
Kennecott Uranium Company)
Response: The NRC currently offers to provide estimates of costs
incurred on a biweekly basis to licensees. The estimates include all
(10 CFR part 170) costs that accumulated for license fee billing during
the previous NRC pay period. The estimates include NRC staff names with
associated number of hours worked, as well as contractor company names
associated with contract costs which offer licensees additional detail.
These estimates may assist licensees in budget planning and preparing
to receive their next quarterly invoice. Licensees may request to
receive biweekly estimates by sending an email to [email protected]
with docket number(s) and licensee email address(es) to which the
estimates should be sent. Unlike other organizations, the fees assessed
by NRC to licensees and applicants including fees subject to NRC's
hourly rate must comply with OBRA-90 requirements. No change was made
to the final rule in response to this comment.
Comment: The NRC current estimate of the direct hours per FTE
provides does not appear to be justifiable. While the current estimate
of direct hours per FTE increased slightly from FY 2014 to 1420 hours
per FTE, that estimate remains below the 1446 hour estimated in 2005,
and even further below the 1776 hours estimated in previous fiscal
years. (Exelon)
Response: The NRC uses an estimate of the number of direct hours
per FTE to calculate the hourly rate used in 10 CFR part 170 billing.
The OMB's Circular A-25, ``User Charges,'' does not specifically
address the number of hours to assume per FTE in calculating fees, but
does emphasize that agency fees should reflect the full cost of
providing services to identifiable beneficiaries.
In the final fee rule for FY 2005 (70 FR 30526), the NRC revised
its estimate of the number of direct hours per FTE to use a realistic
estimate based on time and labor data for program employees who perform
activities directly associated with the programmatic mission of the
NRC. The NRC periodically reviews time and labor data to assess changes
in the average number of productive hours from year to year, and
determine a realistic estimate of direct hours per FTE based on the
most recent data. The estimate does not include time for
administrative, training, and other activities a direct program FTE may
perform that, while relevant to consider for certain costing purposes,
would more accurately be considered overhead rather than ``direct''
time for purposes of calculating a rate per hour of direct activities.
The analysis is conducted at the beginning of the budget formulation
cycle. The resulting productivity assumption informs workload and
resource estimates in the agency's budget request. When the NRC
calculates the fees required to recover the budget enacted by Congress,
this same estimate of direct hours per FTE is used to calculate the
hourly rate.
The estimate of 1,420 hours per FTE used in the fee rule
calculation for FY 2015 was based on an analysis of actual time and
labor data from FY 2011 through FY 2012. This was the most recent data
available when the FY 2015 budget was formulated. Use of an updated,
realistic estimate of direct hours per FTE helps ensure that the hourly
rate accurately reflects the current cost of providing 10 CFR part 170
services, allowing the NRC to more fully recover the costs of these
services through 10 CFR part 170 fees. No change was made to the final
rule in response this comment.
Comment: Regarding small entity size standards, the NRC should
consider establishing lower licensing fees by creating one or more
additional ranges between the $520,000 and $7,500,000 gross annual
receipts range. A fee rate schedule with more steps for small
businesses would help reduce the license fee burden on the smaller
entities and address small business concerns. (Rendezvous Engineering,
P.C.)
Response: To reduce the significance of the annual fees on a
substantial number of small entities, the NRC established the maximum
small entity fee in 1991. In FY 1992, the NRC introduced a second lower
tier to the small entity fee. Because the NRC's methodology for small
entity size standards has been approved by the Small Business
Administration, the NRC did not modify its current methodology for this
rulemaking. No change was made to the final rule in response to this
comment.
E. Comments on Matters Not Related to This Rulemaking
The NRC also received comments not related to this rulemaking.
These comments suggested that the NRC implement a number of
recommendations to improve the efficiency of NRC operations. These
recommendations included: favoring and enhancing risk-informed,
performance-based licensing and regulatory approaches; increasing the
efficiency of certain environmental reviews; adhering to existing
Commission-approved guidance while working to prepare new guidance with
the aid of stakeholder input; certifying
[[Page 37452]]
standardized designs for uranium recovery facilities to streamline the
application and review process; developing guidance, after an
opportunity for public comment, regarding the consultation process
under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act; shifting
experienced NRC staff personnel from the Office of New Reactors to the
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation; and increasing the agency's focus
on resource management and workload prioritization. (NEI, Exelon, WMA,
Duke, Kennecott Uranium Recovery). The NRC also received two comments
expressing support for the development of a proposed rule to address a
variable annual fee structure for small modular reactors. (AREVA, TVA)
All of these matters are outside the scope of this rulemaking. The
primary purpose of the NRC's annual fee recovery rulemaking is to
update the NRC's fee schedules to recover approximately 90 percent of
the appropriations that the NRC received for the current fiscal year,
and to make other necessary corrections or appropriate changes to
specific aspects of the NRC's fee regulations in order to ensure
compliance with OBRA-90, as amended. The NRC's annual fee recovery
rulemaking is to update the NRC's fee schedules to account for the
appropriations the NRC received for the current fiscal year, and to
make other necessary corrections or appropriate changes to specific
aspects of the NRC's fee regulations.
The NRC takes very seriously the importance of examining and
improving the efficiency of its operations and the prioritization of
its regulatory activities. Recognizing the importance of continuous
reexamination and improvement of the way the agency does business, the
NRC has undertaken, and continues to undertake, a number of significant
initiatives aimed at improving the efficiency of NRC operations and
enhancing the agency's approach to regulating. Though comments
addressing these issues may not be within the scope of this fee
rulemaking, the NRC will consider this input in our future program
operations.
V. Section-by-Section Analysis
The following paragraphs describe the specific amendments for this
final rule.
10 CFR 170.3, Definitions
The NRC adds a new definition of ``Overhead and General and
Administrative Costs'' and revises the definition for ``Utilization
facility.''
10 CFR 170.20, Average Cost per Professional Staff-Hour
The NRC revises this section to reflect the hourly rate for FY
2015.
10 CFR 170.21, Schedule of Fees for Production or Utilization
Facilities, Review of Standard Referenced Design Approvals, Special
Projects, Inspections, and Import and Export Licenses
The NRC revises fees for fee category code K. to reflect the FY
2015 hourly rate for flat fee applications.
10 CFR 170.31, Schedule of Fees for Materials Licenses and Other
Regulatory Services, Including Inspections, and Import and Export
Licenses
The NRC adds subcategories to fee category 3.L. licenses (broad
scope) to assess additional fees to licensees such as the United States
Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Army, in order to
accurately reflect the cost of services provided by the NRC. The NRC
revises footnote 6 to avoid duplicate billing for fuel cycle facility
licensees.
10 CFR 171.5, Definitions
The NRC modifies the definition for ``Overhead and General and
Administrative Costs'' to reflect the FY 2008 merger of the Advisory
Committee on Nuclear Waste with the Advisory Committee on Reactor
Safeguards.
10 CFR 171.15, Annual Fees: Reactor Licenses and Independent Fuel
Storage Licenses
The NRC revises paragraph (b)(1) to reflect the required FY 2015
annual fee to be collected from each operating power reactor by
September 30, 2015. The NRC revises the introductory text of paragraph
(b)(2) to reflect FY 2015 in reference to annual fees and fee-relief
adjustment. The NRC revises paragraph (c)(1) and the introductory text
of paragraph (c)(2) to reflect the FY 2015 spent fuel storage/reactor
decommissioning and spent fuel storage annual fee for 10 CFR part 50
licenses and 10 CFR part 72 licensees who do not hold a 10 CFR part 50
license, and the FY 2015 fee-relief adjustment. The NRC revises the
introductory text of paragraph (d)(1) and paragraphs (d)(2) and (d)(3)
to reflect the FY 2015 fee-relief adjustment for the operating reactor
power class of licenses, the number of operating power reactors, and
the FY 2015 fee-relief adjustment for spent fuel storage reactor
decommissioning class of licenses. The NRC revises paragraph (e) to
reflect the FY 2015 annual fees for research reactors and test
reactors.
10 CFR 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
The NRC revises paragraphs (d) and (e) to reflect FY 2015 annual
fees and the FY 2015 fee-relief adjustment. The NRC adds subcategories
to fee category 3.L. licenses (broad scope) to assess additional fees
to licensees such as the Department of Agriculture and the Department
of the Army, in order to accurately reflect the cost of services
provided by the NRC. The NRC also revises footnote 6 to avoid duplicate
billing for fuel cycle facility licensees.
VI. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
Section 604 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act requires agencies to
perform an analysis that considers the impact of a rulemaking on small
entities. The NRC's regulatory flexibility analysis for this final rule
is available as indicated in Section XV, Availability of Documents, of
this document, and a summary is provided in the following paragraphs.
The NRC is required by the OBRA-90, as amended, to recover
approximately 90 percent of its FY 2015 budget authority through the
assessment of user fees. The OBRA-90 further requires that the NRC
establish a schedule of charges that fairly and equitably allocates the
aggregate amount of these charges among licensees.
The FY 2015 final rule establishes the schedules of fees necessary
for the NRC to recover 90 percent of its budget authority for FY 2015.
The final rule estimates some increases in annual fees charged to
certain licensees and holders of certificates, registrations, and
approvals, and decreases in those annual fees charged to others.
Licensees affected by these final estimates include those who qualify
as small entities under the NRC's size standards in Sec. 2.810.
The NRC prepared a FY 2015 biennial regulatory analysis in
accordance with the FY 2001 final rule (66 FR 32467; June 14, 2001).
This rule also stated the small entity fees will be reexamined every 2
years and in the same years the NRC conducts the biennial review of
fees as required by the Chief Financial Officer's Act.
For this final rule, small entity fees increase to $3,400 for the
maximum upper-tier small entity fee and increase to $700 for the lower-
tier small entity as a result of the biennial review which factored in
the number of increased
[[Page 37453]]
hours for application reviews and inspections in the fee calculations.
The next small entity biennial review is scheduled for FY 2017.
Additionally, the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act 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. The NRC, in compliance with
the law, has prepared the ``Small Entity Compliance Guide,'' which is
available as indicated in Section XV, Availability of Documents, of
this document.
VII. Regulatory Analysis
Under OBRA-90, as amended, and the AEA, the NRC is required to
recover 90 percent of its budget authority, or total appropriations of
$1,015.3 million, in FY 2015. The NRC established fee methodology
guidelines for 10 CFR part 170 in 1978, and more fee methodology
guidelines through the establishment of 10 CFR part 171 in 1986. In
subsequent rulemakings, the NRC has adjusted its fees without changing
the underlying principles of its fee policy in order to ensure that the
NRC continues to comply with the statutory requirements for cost
recovery in OBRA-90 and the AEA.
In this rulemaking, the NRC continues this long-standing approach.
Therefore, the NRC did not identify any alternatives to the current fee
structure guidelines and did not prepare a regulatory analysis for this
rulemaking.
VIII. Backfitting and Issue Finality
The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does
not apply to this final rule and that a backfit analysis is not
required. A backfit analysis is not required because these amendments
do not require the modification of, or addition 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.
IX. Plain Writing
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized
manner. The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the
Plain Writing Act as well as the Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain
Language in Government Writing,'' published June 10, 1998 (63 FR
31883).
X. National Environmental Policy Act
The NRC has determined that this rule is the type of action
described in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Therefore, neither an environmental
impact statement nor an environmental assessment has been prepared for
this final rule.
XI. Paperwork Reduction Act
This rule does not contain any information collection requirements
and, therefore, is not subject to the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to a request for information or an information collection
requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
XII. Congressional Review Act
In accordance with the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C.
801-808), the NRC has determined that this action is a major rule and
has verified the determination with the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget.
XIII. 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 the use of such a standard is inconsistent with
applicable law or otherwise impractical. In this final rule, the NRC
amends 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 2015, as required by OBRA-90, as
amended. This action does not constitute the establishment of a
standard that contains generally applicable requirements.
XIV. Availability of Guidance
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act requires all
Federal agencies to prepare a written compliance guide for each rule
for which the NRC is required by 5 U.S.C. 604 to prepare a regulatory
flexibility analysis. The NRC, in compliance with the law, prepared the
``Small Entity Compliance Guide'' for the FY 2015 final fee rule. This
document is available as indicated in Section XV, ``Availability of
Documents,'' of this document.
XV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Document ADAMS Accession No./Web Link
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2015 Final Rule Work Papers......... ML15160A434.
FY 2015 Regulatory Flexibility Analysis ML15058A385.
FY 2015 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory ML15058A332.
Commission Small Entity Compliance
Guide.
NUREG-1100, Volume 30, ``Congressional http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
Budget Justification: Fiscal Year doc-collections/nuregs/staff/
2015'' (March 2014). sr1100/v30/.
NRC Form 526, Certification of Small http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
Entity Status for the Purposes of doc-collections/forms/
Annual Fees Imposed under 10 CFR Part nrc526.pdf.
171.
Consolidated and Further Continuing https://www.congress.gov/113/
Appropriations Act, 2015. bills/hr83/BILLS-
113hr83enr.pdf.
SECY-05-0164, ``Annual Fee Calculation ML052580332.
Method,'' September 15, 2005.
Staff Requirements Memorandum for SECY- ML14356A070.
14-0082, ``Jurisdiction for Military
Radium and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission Oversight of U.S.
Department of Defense Remediation of
Radioactive Material,'' December 22,
2014.
FY 2015 Proposed Fee Rule Comment ML15156A633.
Submissions.
OMB's Circular A-25, ``User Charges''.. https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a025/.
Transcript of Public Meeting on Fees, ML15153A028.
April 20, 2015.
FY 2015 Proposed Fee Rule.............. ML15057A090.
FY 2015 Proposed Fee Rule Work Papers.. ML15021A198.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 37454]]
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, Nonpayment
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 adopting 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
0
1. The authority citation for part 170 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Independent Offices Appropriations Act sec. 501 (31
U.S.C. 9701); Atomic Energy Act sec. 161(w) (42 U.S.C. 2201(w));
Energy Reorganization Act sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); Chief Financial
Officers Act sec. 205 (31 U.S.C. 901, 902); Government Paperwork
Elimination Act sec. 1704 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note); Energy Policy Act
secs. 623, Energy Policy Act of 2005 sec. 651(e), Pub. L. 109-58,
119 Stat. 783 (42 U.S.C. 2201(w), 2014, 2021, 2021b, 2111).
0
2. In Sec. 170.3, add a new definition for ``Overhead and general and
administrative costs'' in alphabetical order and revise the definition
for ``Utilization facility'' to read as follows:
Sec. 170.3 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) Overhead [e.g., supervision and support staff that directly
support the NRC's Nuclear Reactor Safety Program and Nuclear Materials
Safety and Waste Program; 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,
Congressional and Public Affairs (except for international safety and
safeguards programs), Inspector General, Investigations, Enforcement,
Small Business and Civil Rights, the Technical Training Center,
Advisory Committee on 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 Public Law 101-508.
* * * * *
Utilization facility means:
(1) Any nuclear reactor other than one designed or used primarily
for the formation of plutonium or U-233; or
(2) An accelerator-driven subcritical operating assembly used for
the irradiation of materials containing special nuclear material and
described in the application assigned docket number 50-608.
0
3. Revise Sec. 170.20 to read as follows:
Sec. 170.20 Average cost per professional staff-hour.
Fees for permits, licenses, amendments, renewals, special projects,
10 CFR 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 professional staff-hour
rate of $268 per hour.
0
4. In Sec. 170.21, in the table, revise the fee category K. to read as
follows:
Sec. 170.21 Schedule of fees for production or 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 or
utilization facilities or the export only of components
for production or utilization facilities issued under
10 CFR part 110.
1. Application for import or export of production or
utilization facilities \4\ (including reactors and
other facilities) and exports of components
requiring Commission and Executive Branch review,
for example, actions under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
Application--new license, or amendment; or $17,400
license exemption request....................
2. Application for export of reactor and other
components requiring Executive Branch review, for
example, those actions under 10 CFR 110.41(a).
Application--new license, or amendment; or 9,400
license exemption request....................
3. Application for export of components requiring
the assistance of the Executive Branch to obtain
foreign government assurances.
Application--new license, or amendment; or 4,300
license exemption request....................
4. Application for export of facility components and
equipment not requiring Commission or Executive
Branch review, or obtaining foreign government
assurances.
Application--new license, or amendment; or 4,800
license exemption request....................
5. Minor amendment of any active export or import
license, for example, to extend the expiration
date, change domestic information, or make other
revisions which do not involve any substantive
changes to license terms or conditions or to the
type of facility or component authorized for export
and, therefore, do not require in-depth analysis or
review or consultation with the Executive Branch,
U.S. host state, or foreign government authorities.
[[Page 37455]]
Minor amendment to license.................... 2,700
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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, 10
CFR 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.
\2\ Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff
time and appropriate contractual support services expended. For
applications currently on file and for which fees are determined based
on the full cost expended for the review, the professional staff hours
expended for the review of the application up to the effective date of
the final rule will be determined at the professional rates in effect
when the service was provided.
* * * * * * *
\4\ Imports only of major components for end-use at NRC-licensed
reactors are authorized under NRC general import license in 10 CFR
110.27.
0
5. In Sec. 170.31, revise the table to read as follows:
Sec. 170.31 Schedule of fees for materials licenses and other
regulatory services, including inspections, and import and export
licenses.
* * * * *
Schedule of Materials Fees
[See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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) [Program
Code(s): 21130].
(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Full Cost.
Form Used for Fabrication of Power
Reactor Fuel [Program Code(s): 21210].
(2) All other special nuclear materials
licenses not included in Category 1.A.(1)
which are licensed for fuel cycle
activities.
(a) Facilities with limited operations Full Cost.
[Program Code(s): 21310, 21320].
(b) Gas centrifuge enrichment Full Cost.
demonstration facilities.
(c) Others, including hot cell Full Cost.
facilities.
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) [Program Code(s):
23200].
C. Licenses for possession and use of
special nuclear material of less than a
critical mass as defined in Sec. 70.4 in
sealed sources contained in devices used
in industrial measuring systems, including
x-ray fluorescence analyzers.\4\
Application [Program Code(s): 22140]... $1,200.
D. All other special nuclear material
licenses, except licenses authorizing
special nuclear material in sealed or
unsealed form in combination that would
constitute a critical mass, as defined in
Sec. 70.4 of this chapter, for which the
licensee shall pay the same fees as those
under Category 1.A.\4\
Application [Program Code(s): 22110, $2,500.
22111, 22120, 22131, 22136, 22150,
22151, 22161, 22170, 23100, 23300,
23310].
E. Licenses or certificates for Full Cost.
construction and operation of a uranium
enrichment facility [Program Code(s):
21200].
F. For special nuclear materials licenses Full Cost.
in sealed or unsealed form of greater than
a critical mass as defined in Sec. 70.4
of this chapter.\4\ [Program Code(s):
22155].
2. Source material:
A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of Full Cost.
source material for refining uranium mill
concentrates to uranium hexafluoride or
for deconverting uranium hexafluoride in
the production of uranium oxides for
disposal. [Program Code(s): 11400].
(2) Licenses for possession and use of
source material in recovery operations
such as milling, in-situ recovery, heap-
leaching, ore buying stations, ion-
exchange facilities, and in processing of
ores containing source material for
extraction of metals other than uranium or
thorium, including licenses authorizing
the possession of byproduct waste material
(tailings) from source material recovery
operations, as well as licenses
authorizing the possession and maintenance
of a facility in a standby mode.
(a) Conventional and Heap Leach Full Cost.
facilities [Program Code(s): 11100].
(b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities Full Cost.
[Program Code(s): 11500].
(c) Expanded In Situ Recovery Full Cost.
facilities [Program Code(s): 11510].
(d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities Full Cost.
[Program Code(s): 11550].
(e) Resin Toll Milling facilities Full Cost.
[Program Code(s): 11555].
(f) Other facilities [Program Code(s): Full Cost.
11700].
(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 2.A.(2) or Category 2.A.(4)
[Program Code(s): 11600, 12000].
(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 2.A.(2)
[Program Code(s): 12010].
(5) Licenses that authorize the possession Full Cost.
of source material related to removal of
contaminants (source material) from
drinking water [Program Code(s): 11820].
B. Licenses which authorize the possession,
use, and/or installation of source
material for shielding.\6\ \7\ \8\
[[Page 37456]]
Application [Program Code(s): 11210]... $1,180.
C. Licenses to distribute items containing
source material to persons exempt from the
licensing requirements of part 40 of this
chapter.
Application [Program Code(s): 11240]... $2,700.
D. Licenses to distribute source material
to persons generally licensed under part
40 of this chapter.
Application [Program Codes(s): 11230, $2,700.
11231].
E. Licenses for possession and use of
source material for processing or
manufacturing of products or materials
containing source material for commercial
distribution.
Application [Program Code(s): 11710]... $2,500.
F. All other source material licenses.
Application [Program Code(s): 11200, $2,500.
11220, 11221, 11300, 11800, 11810].
3. Byproduct material:
A. Licenses of broad scope for the
possession and use of byproduct material
issued under parts 30 and 33 of this
chapter for processing or manufacturing of
items containing byproduct material for
commercial distribution.
Application [Program Code(s): 03211, $12,500.
03212, 03213].
B. Other licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material issued under part 30 of
this chapter for processing or
manufacturing of items containing
byproduct material for commercial
distribution.
Application [Program Code(s): 03214, $3,500.
03215, 22135, 22162].
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).
Application [Program Code(s): 02500, $5,000.
02511, 02513].
D. [Reserved].............................. N/A.
E. Licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material in sealed sources for
irradiation of materials in which the
source is not removed from its shield
(self-shielded units).
Application [Program Code(s): 03510, $3,100.
03520].
F. Licenses for possession and use of less
than 10,000 curies of byproduct material
in sealed sources for irradiation of
materials in which the source is exposed
for irradiation purposes. This category
also includes underwater irradiators for
irradiation of materials where the source
is not exposed for irradiation purposes.
Application [Program Code(s): 03511]... $6,300.
G. Licenses for possession and use of
10,000 curies or more of byproduct
material in sealed sources for irradiation
of materials in which the source is
exposed for irradiation purposes. This
category also includes underwater
irradiators for irradiation of materials
where the source is not exposed for
irradiation purposes.
Application [Program Code(s): 03521]... $59,800.
H. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part
32 of this chapter to distribute items
containing byproduct material that require
device review to persons exempt from the
licensing requirements of part 30 of this
chapter. The category does not include
specific licenses authorizing
redistribution of items that have been
authorized for distribution to persons
exempt from the licensing requirements of
part 30 of this chapter.
Application [Program Code(s): 03254, $6,400.
03255, 03257].
I. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part
32 of this chapter to distribute items
containing byproduct material or
quantities of byproduct material that do
not require device evaluation to persons
exempt from the licensing requirements of
part 30 of this chapter. This category
does not include specific licenses
authorizing redistribution of items that
have been authorized for distribution to
persons exempt from the licensing
requirements of part 30 of this chapter.
Application [Program Code(s): 03250, $10,600.
03251, 03252, 03253, 03256].
J. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part
32 of this chapter to distribute items
containing byproduct material that require
sealed source and/or device review to
persons generally licensed under part 31
of this chapter. This category does not
include specific licenses authorizing
redistribution of items that have been
authorized for distribution to persons
generally licensed under part 31 of this
chapter.
Application [Program Code(s): 03240, $1,900.
03241, 03243].
K. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part
32 of this chapter to distribute items
containing byproduct material or
quantities of byproduct material that do
not require sealed source and/or device
review to persons generally licensed under
part 31 of this chapter. This category
does not include specific licenses
authorizing redistribution of items that
have been authorized for distribution to
persons generally licensed under part 31
of this chapter.
Application [Program Code(s): 03242, $1,100.
03244].
L. Licenses of broad scope for possession
and use of byproduct material issued under
parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for
research and development that do not
authorize commercial distribution. Number
of locations of use: 1-5.
(1) 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. Number of
locations of use: 6-20.
(2) 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. Number of
locations of use: 20 or more.
Application [Program Code(s): 01100, $5,300.
01110, 01120, 03610, 03611, 03612,
03613].
M. Other licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material issued under part 30 of
this chapter for research and development
that do not authorize commercial
distribution.
Application [Program Code(s): 03620]... $4,800.
N. Licenses that authorize services for
other licensees, except:
(1) Licenses that authorize only
calibration and/or leak testing
services are subject to the fees
specified in fee Category 3.P.; and
(2) Licenses that authorize waste
disposal services are subject to the
fees specified in fee Categories 4.A.,
4.B., and 4.C.
Application [Program Code(s): 03219, $6,100.
03225, 03226].
[[Page 37457]]
O. Licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material issued under part 34 of
this chapter for industrial radiography
operations.
Application [Program Code(s): 03310, $3,100.
03320].
P. All other specific byproduct material
licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
through 9.D.\ 9\
Application [Program Code(s): 02400, $2,600.
02410, 03120, 03121, 03122, 03123,
03124, 03130, 03140, 03220, 03221,
03222, 03800, 03810, 22130].
Q. Registration of a device(s) generally
licensed under part 31 of this chapter.
Registration........................... $400.
R. Possession of items or products
containing radium-226 identified in 10 CFR
31.12 which exceed the number of items or
limits specified in that section.\5\
1. Possession of quantities exceeding
the number of items or limits in 10
CFR 31.12(a)(4), or (5) but less than
or equal to 10 times the number of
items or limits specified.
Application [Program Code(s): 02700]... $2,500.
2. Possession of quantities exceeding
10 times the number of items or limits
specified in 10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), or
(5).
Application [Program Code(s): 02710]... $2,400.
S. Licenses for production of accelerator-
produced radionuclides.
Application [Program Code(s): 03210]... $13,700.
4. Waste disposal and processing:
A. Licenses specifically authorizing the N/A.
receipt of waste byproduct material,
source material, or special nuclear
material from other persons for the
purpose of contingency storage or
commercial land disposal by the licensee;
or licenses authorizing contingency
storage of low-level radioactive waste at
the site of nuclear power reactors; or
licenses for receipt of waste from other
persons for incineration or other
treatment, packaging of resulting waste
and residues, and transfer of packages to
another person authorized to receive or
dispose of waste material. [Program
Code(s): 03231, 03233, 03235, 03236,
06100, 06101].
B. Licenses specifically authorizing the
receipt of waste byproduct material,
source material, or special nuclear
material from other persons for the
purpose of packaging or repackaging the
material. The licensee will dispose of the
material by transfer to another person
authorized to receive or dispose of the
material.
Application [Program Code(s): 03234]... $6,700.
C. Licenses specifically authorizing the
receipt of prepackaged waste byproduct
material, source material, or special
nuclear material from other persons. The
licensee will dispose of the material by
transfer to another person authorized to
receive or dispose of the material.
Application [Program Code(s): 03232]... $4,800.
5. Well logging:
A. Licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material, source material, and/
or special nuclear material for well
logging, well surveys, and tracer studies
other than field flooding tracer studies.
Application [Program Code(s): 03110, $4,400.
03111, 03112].
B. Licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material for field flooding
tracer studies.
Licensing [Program Code(s): 03113]..... 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 [Program Code(s): 03218]... $21,400.
7. Medical licenses:
A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,
and 70 of this chapter for human use of
byproduct material, source material, or
special nuclear material in sealed sources
contained in gamma stereotactic
radiosurgery units, teletherapy devices,
or similar beam therapy devices.
Application [Program Code(s): 02300, $10,700.
02310].
B. Licenses of broad scope issued to
medical institutions or two or more
physicians under parts 30, 33, 35, 40, and
70 of this chapter authorizing research
and development, including human use of
byproduct material, except licenses for
byproduct material, source material, or
special nuclear material in sealed sources
contained in teletherapy devices. This
category also includes the possession and
use of source material for shielding when
authorized on the same license.\10\
Application [Program Code(s): 02110]... $8,400.
C. Other licenses issued under parts 30,
35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human
use of byproduct material, source
material, and/or special nuclear material,
except licenses for byproduct material,
source material, or special nuclear
material in sealed sources contained in
teletherapy devices.
Application [Program Code(s): 02120, $4,300.
02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220,
02230, 02231, 02240, 22160].
8. Civil defense:
A. Licenses for possession and use of
byproduct material, source material, or
special nuclear material for civil defense
activities.
Application [Program Code(s): 03710]... $2,500.
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............... $5,200.
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............... $8,700.
C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources
containing byproduct material, source
material, or special nuclear material,
except reactor fuel, for commercial
distribution.
Application--each source............... $5,100.
[[Page 37458]]
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............... $1,020.
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........................ $4,000.
Inspections........................ Full Cost.
2. Users.
Application........................ $4,000.
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, pre-application/
licensing activities, and inspections.
Application [Program Code: 25110]...... Full Cost.
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, including MMLs. Application [Program
Code(s): 3900, 11900, 21135, 21215, 21240,
21325, 22200].
B. Site-specific decommissioning activities Full Cost.
associated with unlicensed sites,
including MMLs, regardless of whether or
not the sites have been previously
licensed.
15. Import and Export licenses:
Licenses issued under part 110 of this chapter
for the import and export only of special
nuclear material, source material, tritium and
other byproduct material, and the export only
of heavy water, or nuclear grade graphite (fee
categories 15.A. through 15.E.).
A. Application for export or import of
nuclear materials, including radioactive
waste requiring Commission and Executive
Branch review, for example, those actions
under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
Application--new license, or amendment; $17,400.
or license exemption request.
B. Application for export or import of
nuclear material, including radioactive
waste, requiring Executive Branch review,
but not Commission review. This category
includes applications for the export and
import of radioactive waste and requires
NRC to consult with domestic host state
authorities (i.e., Low-Level Radioactive
Waste Compact Commission, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, etc.).
Application--new license, or amendment; $9,400.
or license exemption request.
C. Application for export of nuclear
material, for example, routine reloads of
low enriched uranium reactor fuel and/or
natural uranium source material requiring
the assistance of the Executive Branch to
obtain foreign government assurances.
Application--new license, or amendment; $4,300.
or license exemption request.
D. Application for export or import of
nuclear material not requiring Commission
or Executive Branch review, or obtaining
foreign government assurances.
Application--new license, or amendment; $4,800.
or license exemption request.
E. Minor amendment of any active export or
import license, for example, to extend the
expiration date, change domestic
information, or make other revisions which
do not involve any substantive changes to
license terms and conditions or to the
type/quantity/chemical composition of the
material authorized for export and,
therefore, do not require in-depth
analysis, review, or consultations with
other Executive Branch, U.S. host state,
or foreign government authorities.
Minor amendment........................ $1,300.
Licenses issued under part 110 of this chapter
for the import and export only of Category 1
and Category 2 quantities of radioactive
material listed in Appendix P to part 110 of
this chapter (fee categories 15.F. through
15.R.).
Category 1 (Appendix P, 10 CFR Part 110)
Exports:
F. Application for export of Appendix P
Category 1 materials requiring Commission
review (e.g. exceptional circumstance
review under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4)) and to
obtain government-to-government consent
for this process. For additional consent
see 15.I.).
Application--new license, or amendment; $14,700.
or license exemption request.
G. Application for export of Appendix P
Category 1 materials requiring Executive
Branch review and to obtain government-to-
government consent for this process. For
additional consents see 15.I.
Application--new license, or amendment; $8,000.
or license exemption request.
H. Application for export of Appendix P
Category 1 materials and to obtain one
government-to-government consent for this
process. For additional consents see 15.I.
Application--new license, or amendment; $5,400.
or license exemption request.
I. Requests for each additional government-
to-government consent in support of an
export license application or active
export license.
Application--new license, or amendment; $270.
or license exemption request.
Category 2 (Appendix P, 10 CFR Part 110)
Exports:
J. Application for export of Appendix P
Category 2 materials requiring Commission
review (e.g. exceptional circumstance
review under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4)).
Application--new license, or amendment; $14,700.
or license exemption request.
K. Applications for export of Appendix P
Category 2 materials requiring Executive
Branch review.
[[Page 37459]]
Application--new license, or amendment; $8,000.
or license exemption request.
L. Application for the export of Category 2
materials.
Application--new license, or amendment; $4,000.
or license exemption request.
M. [Reserved].................................. N/A.
N. [Reserved].................................. N/A.
O. [Reserved].................................. N/A.
P. [Reserved].................................. N/A.
Q. [Reserved].................................. N/A.
Minor Amendments (Category 1 and 2, Appendix P,
10 CFR Part 110, Export):
R. Minor amendment of any active export
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........................ $1,300.
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
issued to Government agencies.
Application [Program Code(s): 03614]....... Full Cost.
18. Department of Energy.
A. Certificates of Compliance. Evaluation Full Cost.
of casks, 11packages, 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; issuances 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 Cost.s; applications filed by Agreement State
licensees to register under the general license provisions of 10 CFR
150.20; and applications for amendments to materials licenses that
would place the license in a higher fee category or add a new fee
category must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for
each category.
(1) Applications for licenses covering more than one fee category of
special nuclear material or source material must be accompanied by the
prescribed application fee for the highest fee category.
(2) Applications for new licenses that cover both byproduct material and
special nuclear material in sealed sources for use in gauging devices
will pay the appropriate application fee for fee category 1.C. only.
(b) Licensing fees. Fees for reviews of applications for new licenses,
renewals, and amendments to existing licenses, pre-application
consultations and other documents submitted to the NRC for review, and
project manager time for fee categories subject to Full Cost. fees are
due upon notification by the Commission in accordance with 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 an export or
import license or approval classified in more than one fee category
must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for the category
affected by the amendment, unless the amendment is applicable to two
or more fee categories, in which case the amendment fee for the
highest fee category would apply.
(d) Inspection fees. Inspections resulting from investigations conducted
by the Office of Investigations and nonroutine 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 fee categories 9.A. through
9.D.
\3\ Full Cost. fees will be determined based on the professional staff
time multiplied by the appropriate professional hourly rate
established in Sec. 170.20 in effect when the service is provided,
and the appropriate contractual support services expended.
\4\ Licensees paying fees under categories 1.A., 1.B., and 1.E. are not
subject to fees under categories 1.C., 1.D. and 1.F. for sealed
sources authorized in the same license, except for an application that
deals only with the sealed sources authorized by the license.
\5\ Persons who possess radium sources that are used for operational
purposes in another fee category are not also subject to the fees in
this category. (This exception does not apply if the radium sources
are possessed for storage only.)
\6\ Licensees subject to fees under fee categories 1.A., 1.B., 1.E., or
2.A. must pay the largest applicable fee and are not subject to
additional fees listed in this table.
\7\ Licensees paying fees under 3.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
for possession and shielding authorized on the same license.
\8\ Licensees paying fees under 7.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
for possession and shielding authorized on the same license.
\9\ Licensees paying fees under 3.N. are not subject to paying fees
under 3.P. for calibration or leak testing services authorized on the
same license.
\10\ Licensees paying fees under 7.B. are not subject to paying fees
under 7.C. for broad scope license 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 authorized on the same
license.
[[Page 37460]]
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
0
6. The authority citation for part 171 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act sec.
7601, Pub. L. 99-272, as amended by sec. 5601, Pub. L. 100-203, as
amended by sec. 3201, Pub. L. 101-239, as amended by sec. 6101, Pub.
L. 101-508, as amended by sec. 2903a, Pub. L. 102-486 (42 U.S.C.
2213, 2214), and as amended by Title IV, Pub. L. 109-103 (42 U.S.C.
2214); Atomic Energy Act sec. 161(w), 223, 234 (42 U.S.C. 2201(w),
2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841);
Government Paperwork Elimination Act sec. 1704 (44 U.S.C. 3504
note); Energy Policy Act of 2005 sec. 651(e), Pub. L. 109-58 (42
U.S.C. 2014, 2021, 2021b, 2111).
0
7. In Sec. 171.15, revise paragraph (b)(1), the introductory text of
paragraph (b)(2), paragraph (c)(1), the introductory text of paragraphs
(c)(2) and (d)(1), and paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3), and (e) to read as
follows:
Sec. 171.15 Annual fees: Reactor licenses and independent spent fuel
storage licenses.
* * * * *
(b)(1) The FY 2015 annual fee for each operating power reactor
which must be collected by September 30, 2015, is $5,030,000.
(2) The FY 2015 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee for
power reactors licensed to operate, a base spent fuel storage/reactor
decommissioning annual fee, and associated additional charges (fee-
relief adjustment). The activities comprising the spent storage/reactor
decommissioning base annual fee are shown in paragraphs (c)(2)(i) and
(ii) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 2015 fee-relief
adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The
activities comprising the FY 2015 base annual fee for operating power
reactors are as follows:
* * * * *
(c)(1) The FY 2015 annual fee for each power reactor holding a 10
CFR part 50 license that is in a decommissioning or possession-only
status and has spent fuel onsite, and for each independent spent fuel
storage 10 CFR part 72 licensee who does not hold a 10 CFR part 50
license, is $223,000.
(2) The FY 2015 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 a fee-relief adjustment. The activities comprising the FY
2015 fee-relief adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this
section. The activities comprising the FY 2015 spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning rebaselined annual fee are:
* * * * *
(d)(1) The fee-relief adjustment allocated to annual fees includes
a surcharge for the activities listed in paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this
section, plus the amount remaining after total budgeted resources for
the activities included in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and (d)(1)(iii) of
this section are reduced by the appropriations the NRC receives for
these types of activities. If the NRC's appropriations for these types
of activities are greater than the budgeted resources for the
activities included in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and (d)(1)(iii) of this
section for a given fiscal year, annual fees will be reduced. The
activities comprising the FY 2015 fee-relief adjustment are as follows:
* * * * *
(2) The total FY 2015 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the
operating power reactor class of licenses is a $2,088,700 fee-relief
surplus, not including the amount allocated to the spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning class. The FY 2015 operating power reactor fee-
relief adjustment to be assessed to each operating power reactor is
approximately a $21,098 fee-relief surplus. This amount is calculated
by dividing the total operating power reactor fee-relief surplus
adjustment, $2,088,700 million, by the number of operating power
reactors (99).
(3) The FY 2015 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the spent fuel
storage/reactor decommissioning class of licenses is a $37,100 fee-
relief assessment. The FY 2015 spent fuel storage/reactor
decommissioning fee-relief adjustment to be assessed to each operating
power reactor, each power reactor in decommissioning or possession-only
status that has spent fuel onsite, and to each independent spent fuel
storage 10 CFR part 72 licensee who does not hold a 10 CFR part 50
license, is a $304 fee-relief assessment. This amount is calculated by
dividing the total fee-relief adjustment costs allocated to this class
by the total number of power reactor licenses, except those that
permanently ceased operations and have no fuel onsite, and 10 CFR part
72 licensees who do not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license.
(e) The FY 2015 annual fees for licensees authorized to operate a
research or test (nonpower) reactor licensed under 10 CFR part 50 of
this chapter, unless the reactor is exempted from fees under Sec.
171.11(a), are as follows:
Research reactor............................................. $83,500
Test reactor................................................. 83,500
0
8. In Sec. 171.16, revise paragraph (d) and the introductory text of
paragraph (e) 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 2015 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee and
an allocation for fee-relief adjustment. The activities comprising the
FY 2015 fee-relief adjustment are shown for convenience in paragraph
(e) of this section. The FY 2015 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 $8,473,000
Enriched Uranium) [Program Code(s): 21130]...
(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form 2,915,000
Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel
[Program Code(s): 21210].....................
[[Page 37461]]
(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 0
[Program Code(s): 21310, 21320]..............
(b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration 1,640,000
facilities...................................
(c) Others, including hot cell facilities..... 820,000
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) [Program Code(s): 23200]......
C. Licenses for possession and use of special 3,200
nuclear material of less than a critical mass, as
defined in Sec. 70.4 of this chapter, in sealed
sources contained in devices used in industrial
measuring systems, including x-ray fluorescence
analyzers.\15\ [Program Code(s): 22140]............
D. All other special nuclear material licenses, 8,200
except licenses authorizing special nuclear
material in sealed or unsealed form in combination
that would constitute a critical mass, as defined
in Sec. 70.4 of this chapter, for which the
licensee shall pay the same fees as those under
Category 1.A.\15\ [Program Code(s): 22110, 22111,
22120, 22131, 22136, 22150, 22151, 22161, 22170,
23100, 23300, 23310]...............................
E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of a 4,009,000
uranium enrichment facility [Program Code(s):
21200].............................................
F. For special nuclear materials licenses in sealed 6,800
or unsealed form of greater than a critical mass as
defined in Sec. 70.4 of this chapter.\15\
[Program Code: 22155]..............................
2. Source material:
A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source 1,731,000
material for refining uranium mill concentrates to
uranium hexafluoride or for deconverting uranium
hexafluoride in the production of uranium oxides
for disposal. [Program Code: 11400]................
(2) Licenses for possession and use of source
material in recovery operations such as milling, in-
situ recovery, heap-leaching, ore buying stations,
ion-exchange facilities and in-processing of ores
containing source material for extraction of metals
other than uranium or thorium, including licenses
authorizing the possession of byproduct waste
material (tailings) from source material recovery
operations, as well as licenses authorizing the
possession and maintenance of a facility in a
standby mode.
(a) Conventional and Heap Leach facilities 36,100
[Program Code(s): 11100].....................
(b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities [Program 45,800
Code(s): 11500]..............................
(c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities 51,800
[Program Code(s): 11510].....................
(d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities [Program 0
Code(s): 11550]..............................
(e) Resin Toll Milling facilities [Program \5\ N/A
Code(s): 11555]..............................
(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 2.A.(2) or Category
2.A.(4) [Program Code(s): 11600, 12000]............
(4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct 20,500
material, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the
Atomic Energy Act, from other persons for
possession and disposal incidental to the disposal
of the uranium waste tailings generated by the
licensee's milling operations, except those
licenses subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2)
[Program Code(s): 12010]...........................
(5) Licenses that authorize the possession of source 6,000
material related to removal of contaminants (source
material) from drinking water [Program Code(s):
11820].............................................
B. Licenses that authorize possession, use, and/or 3,500
installation of source material for shielding.16 17
18 [Program Code: 11210]...........................
C. Licenses to distribute items containing source 6,800
material to persons exempt from the licensing
requirements of part 40 of this chapter. [Program
Code: 11240].......................................
D. Licenses to distribute source material to persons 6,800
generally licensed under part 40 of this chapter
[Program Code(s): 11230 and 11231].................
E. Licenses for possession and use of source 8,300
material for processing or manufacturing of
products or materials containing source material
for commercial distribution. [Program Code: 11710].
F. All other source material licenses. [Program 7,800
Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11300, 11800, 11810].
3. Byproduct material:
A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of 30,700
byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33 of
this chapter for processing or manufacturing of
items containing byproduct material for commercial
distribution [Program Code(s): 03211, 03212, 03213]
B. Other licenses for possession and use of 13,000
byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
chapter for processing or manufacturing of items
containing byproduct material for commercial
distribution [Program Code(s): 03214, 03215, 22135,
22162].............................................
C. Licenses issued under Sec. Sec. 32.72 and/or 13,500
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).
[Program Code(s): 02500, 02511, 02513].............
D. [Reserved]....................................... \5\ N/A
E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct 9,900
material in sealed sources for irradiation of
materials in which the source is not removed from
its shield (self-shielded units) [Program Code(s):
03510, 03520]......................................
F. Licenses for possession and use of less than 12,300
10,000 curies of byproduct material in sealed
sources for irradiation of materials in which the
source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This
category also includes underwater irradiators for
irradiation of materials in which the source is not
exposed for irradiation purposes [Program Code(s):
03511].............................................
G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies 108,900
or more of byproduct material in sealed sources for
irradiation of materials in which the source is
exposed for irradiation purposes. This category
also includes underwater irradiators for
irradiation of materials in which the source is not
exposed for irradiation purposes [Program Code(s):
03521].............................................
[[Page 37462]]
H. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of 12,400
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 [Program Code(s): 03254, 03255]............
I. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of 18,300
this chapter to distribute items containing
byproduct material or quantities of byproduct
material that do not require device evaluation to
persons exempt from the licensing requirements of
part 30 of this chapter, except for specific
licenses authorizing redistribution of items that
have been authorized for distribution to persons
exempt from the licensing requirements of part 30
of this chapter [Program Code(s): 03250, 03251,
03252, 03253, 03256]...............................
J. Licenses issued under subpart B of part 32 of 4,700
this chapter to distribute items containing
byproduct material that require sealed source and/
or device review to persons generally licensed
under part 31 of this chapter, except specific
licenses authorizing redistribution of items that
have been authorized for distribution to persons
generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter
[Program Code(s): 03240, 03241, 03243].............
K. Licenses issued under subpart B of part 32 of 3,500
this chapter to distribute items containing
byproduct material or quantities of byproduct
material that do not require sealed source and/or
device review to persons generally licensed under
part 31 of this chapter, except specific licenses
authorizing redistribution of items that have been
authorized for distribution to persons generally
licensed under part 31 of this chapter [Program
Code(s): 03242, 03244].............................
L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of 17,900
byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33 of
this chapter for research and development that do
not authorize commercial distribution. Number of
locations of use: 1-5. [Program Code(s): 01100,
01110, 01120, 03610, 03611, 03612, 03613]..........
(1) Licenses of broad scope for possession and 24,000
use of product material issued under parts 30
and 33 of this chapter for research and
development that do not authorize commercial
distribution. Number of locations of use: 6-
20...........................................
(2) Licenses of broad scope for possession and 29,900
use of byproduct material issued under parts
30 and 33 of this chapter for research and
development that do not authorize commercial
distribution. Number of locations of use: 20
or more......................................
M. Other licenses for possession and use of 12,400
byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
chapter for research and development that do not
authorize commercial distribution [Program Code(s):
03620].............................................
N. Licenses that authorize services for other 21,200
licensees, except: (1) Licenses that authorize only
calibration and/or leak testing services are
subject to the fees specified in fee Category 3.P.;
and (2) Licenses that authorize waste disposal
services are subject to the fees specified in fee
categories 4.A., 4.B., and 4.C. [Program Code(s):
03219, 03225, 03226]...............................
O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct 25,800
material issued under part 34 of this chapter for
industrial radiography operations. This category
also includes the possession and use of source
material for shielding authorized under part 40 of
this chapter when authorized on the same license
[Program Code(s): 03310, 03320]....................
P. All other specific byproduct material licenses, 8,000
except those in Categories 4.A. through 9.D.\19\
[Program Code(s): 02400, 02410, 03120, 03121,
03122, 03123, 03124, 03140, 03130, 03220, 03221,
03222, 03800, 03810, 22130]........................
Q. Registration of devices generally licensed under \13\ N/A
part 31 of this chapter............................
R. Possession of items or products containing radium-
226 identified in 10 CFR 31.12 which exceed the
number of items or limits specified in that
section: \14\
1. Possession of quantities exceeding the 8,000
number of items or limits in 10 CFR
31.12(a)(4), or (5) but less than or equal to
10 times the number of items or limits
specified [Program Code(s): 02700]...........
2. Possession of quantities exceeding 10 times 8,300
the number of items or limits specified in 10
CFR 31.12(a)(4) or (5) [Program Code(s):
02710].......................................
S. Licenses for production of accelerator-produced 31,100
radionuclides [Program Code(s): 03210].............
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 [Program Code(s): 03231,
03233, 03235, 03236, 06100, 06101].................
B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of 22,200
waste byproduct material, source material, or
special nuclear material from other persons for the
purpose of packaging or repackaging the material.
The licensee will dispose of the material by
transfer to another person authorized to receive or
dispose of the material [Program Code(s): 03234]...
C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of 14,700
prepackaged waste byproduct material, source
material, or special nuclear material from other
persons. The licensee will dispose of the material
by transfer to another person authorized to receive
or dispose of the material [Program Code(s): 03232]
5. Well logging:
A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct 14,400
material, source material, and/or special nuclear
material for well logging, well surveys, and tracer
studies other than field flooding tracer studies
[Program Code(s): 03110, 03111, 03112].............
B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct \5\ N/A
material for field flooding tracer studies.
[Program Code(s): 03113]...........................
6. Nuclear laundries:
A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of 40,100
items contaminated with byproduct material, source
material, or special nuclear material [Program
Code(s): 03218]....................................
7. Medical licenses:
A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of 24,700
this chapter for human use of byproduct material,
source material, or special nuclear material in
sealed sources contained in gamma stereotactic
radiosurgery units, teletherapy devices, or similar
beam therapy devices. This category also includes
the possession and use of source material for
shielding when authorized on the same license.
[Program Code(s): 02300, 02310]....................
[[Page 37463]]
B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical 37,500
institutions or two or more physicians under parts
30, 33, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter authorizing
research and development, including human use of
byproduct material, except licenses for byproduct
material, source material, or special nuclear
material in sealed sources contained in teletherapy
devices. This category also includes the possession
and use of source material for shielding when
authorized on the same license.\9\ [Program
Code(s): 02110]....................................
C. Other licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 13,300
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\ \20\ [Program Code(s): 02120,
02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220, 02230, 02231,
02240, 22160]......................................
8. Civil defense:
A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct 8,000
material, source material, or special nuclear
material for civil defense activities [Program
Code(s): 03710]....................................
9. Device, product, or sealed source safety evaluation:
A. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of 7,900
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 13,200
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 7,800
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 1,600
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 [Program Code(s): 25110]........... \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, including master
materials licenses (MMLs) [Program Code(s): 3900,
11900, 21135, 21215, 21240, 21325, 22200]..........
B. Site-specific decommissioning activities \7\ N/A
associated with unlicensed sites, including MMLs,
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 343,000
Government agencies [Program Code(s): 03614]...........
18. Department of Energy:
A. Certificates of Compliance....................... \10\ 1,623,000
B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act 666,000
(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 FY. The annual fee is waived
for those materials licenses and holders of certificates,
registrations, and approvals who either filed for termination of their
licenses or approvals or filed for possession only/storage licenses
before October 1, 2015, and permanently ceased licensed activities
entirely before this date. Annual fees for licensees who filed for
termination of a license, downgrade of a license, or for a possession-
only license during the FY and for new licenses issued during the FY
will be prorated in accordance with the provisions of 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.
\2\ Payment of the prescribed annual fee does not automatically renew
the license, certificate, registration, or approval for which the fee
is paid. Renewal applications must be filed in accordance with the
requirements of parts 30, 40, 70, 71, 72, or 76 of this chapter.
\3\ Each FY, fees for these materials licenses will be calculated and
assessed in accordance with Sec. 171.13 and will be published in the
Federal Register for notice and comment.
\4\ Other facilities include 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.
[[Page 37464]]
\9\ Separate annual fees will not be assessed for pacemaker licenses
issued to medical institutions that also hold nuclear medicine
licenses under fee categories 7.B. or 7.C.
\10\ This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to the U.S.
Department of Energy that are not funded from 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.
\14\ Persons who possess radium sources that are used for operational
purposes in another fee category are not also subject to the fees in
this category. (This exception does not apply if the radium sources
are possessed for storage only.)
\15\ Licensees paying annual fees under category 1.A., 1.B., and 1.E.
are not subject to the annual fees for categories 1.C., 1.D., and 1.F.
for sealed sources authorized in the license.
\16\ Licensees subject to fees under categories 1.A., 1.B., 1.E., or
2.A. must pay the largest applicable fee and are not subject to
additional fees listed in this table.
\17\ Licensees paying fees under 3.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
for possession
and shielding authorized on the same license.
\18\ Licensees paying fees under 7.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
for possession
and shielding authorized on the same license.
\19\ Licensees paying fees under 3.N. are not subject to paying fees
under 3.P. for calibration or leak testing services authorized on the
same license.
\20\ Licensees paying fees under 7.B. are not subject to paying fees
under 7.C. for broad scope license 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 authorized on the same
license.
(e) The fee-relief adjustment allocated to annual fees includes the
budgeted resources for the activities listed in paragraph (e)(1) of
this section, plus the total budgeted resources for the activities
included in paragraphs (e)(2) and (e)(3) of this section, as reduced by
the appropriations the NRC receives for these types of activities. If
the NRC's appropriations for these types of activities are greater than
the budgeted resources for the activities included in paragraphs (e)(2)
and (e)(3) of this section for a given fiscal year, a negative fee-
relief adjustment (or annual fee reduction) will be allocated to annual
fees. The activities comprising the FY 2015 fee-relief adjustment are
as follows:
* * * * *
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of June 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Maureen E. Wylie,
Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-15763 Filed 6-29-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P