[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 30, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-29481] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: November 30, 1994] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Part 2 RIN 3150-AF24 NRC Size Standards; Proposed Revision AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Proposed rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend the NRC's size standards used to qualify an NRC licensee as a ``small entity'' under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The amendments would: establish a separate standard to be used to determine whether a licensee who is a manufacturer would qualify as a small entity; and adjust the receipts-based standard to account for the effects of inflation since 1985. DATES: Comment period expires December 30, 1994. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. ADDRESSES: Mail written comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Attn: Docketing and Service Branch. Deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:45 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays. Copies of any comments received may be examined at the NRC Public Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW. (lower level), Washington, DC. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah N. Wigginton, Acting Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, Division of Freedom of Information and Publications Services, Office of Administration, telephone (301) 415-7158. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1983, the NRC surveyed its materials licensees to create an economic profile sufficient to consider regulatory alternatives tailored to the size of the licensee. After analyzing the data and consulting with the Small Business Administration (SBA), the NRC developed a proposed size standard that would be appropriate to use in determining which of its licensees would qualify as small entities for the purposes of compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The NRC published its proposed size standard for notice and comment in the Federal Register of May 21, 1985 (50 FR 20913). After considering the comments received, the NRC adopted its final size standards as noted in the Federal Register of December 9, 1985 (50 FR 50241). In the Federal Register of November 6, 1991 (56 FR 56671), the NRC restated the size standards to include the Regulatory Flexibility Act's definition of small governmental jurisdiction. To further improve clarity, the NRC changed the presentation of the size standards to conform to the listing of definitions of small entities in the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The size standards developed by the NRC were used in the NRC's final rule implementing Public Law 101-508 to provide for a reduced annual fee for those NRC licensees who qualified as small entities under these standards (56 FR 31472; July 10, 1991 and subsequent years). In response to these rules, the NRC has received a number of comments concerning its size standards and the failure of the NRC to promulgate a size standard that differentiates between manufacturing entities and service providers. These commenters indicated that applying a gross receipts standard to a manufacturing concern resulted in an adverse impact on a manufacturer. The gross receipts of a service provider reflect the value added by the service provider, which is essentially the value of the service itself. However, the gross receipts of a manufacturer that are equal to those of a service provider reflect a smaller percentage of the value added by the manufacturer. A manufacturer's gross receipts include the costs of the raw materials or components that, when added to the cost of manufacture, quickly send a manufacturer's gross receipts into fairly sizeable sums. The SBA size standards for manufacturers are prescribed in terms of a maximum number of employees rather than in terms of gross receipts. The NRC recently completed a survey to update the economic profile of its materials licensees. The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the continued efficacy of NRC's current size standards and to obtain the information that is necessary to determine the necessity and effect of a separate standard for manufacturers within the context of the nuclear industry. Of the licensees who responded to the survey request, approximately 20 percent (1131 of 5704) indicated that manufacturing was a primary line of their business. This indicates that a number of licensees would benefit from the establishment of a separate standard for businesses engaged in manufacturing. Therefore, the NRC is proposing to adopt a size standard for business concerns that are manufacturing entities. The NRC proposes to use a standard of 500 or fewer employees. This standard is the most commonly used SBA employee standard and would be the standard applicable to the types of industries that would hold an NRC license. Under this standard, approximately 48 percent of the licensees who indicated that they were manufacturers would qualify as small entities. On September 2, 1993 (58 FR 46573), SBA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would have streamlined its size standards by reducing the number of its fixed size standard levels from 30 to 9. As part of this proposed rule, the SBA proposed to adjust most of its receipts-based size standard levels to mitigate the effects of inflation from 1984 to the present. In a final rule published in the Federal Register of April 7, 1994 (59 FR 16513), the SBA adopted only that portion of its proposed rule that increased its receipts-based size standards as a result of inflation. The NRC is proposing to adjust its receipts-based size standard to accommodate inflation and to conform to the SBA final rule. The NRC proposes to raise its receipts-based small business size standard from $3.5 million to $5 million. After analyzing the data received in response to the survey and the revised SBA size standards, the NRC also is proposing to eliminate the separate $1 million size standard for private practice physicians and apply the revised receipts-based size standard of $5 million to this class of licensees. This would mirror the revised SBA standard of $5 million for medical practitioners. The survey of materials licensees indicates that 26 percent qualify as small entities under current NRC standards. If the NRC adopts the proposed revisions to its size standards presented in this document, 35 percent of these licensees would qualify as small entities, an increase of 9 percent. When NRC adopted its size standards in 1985, the NRC staff estimated that approximately 35 percent of the materials licensees would qualify as small entities. The Small Business Credit and Business Opportunity Enhancement Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-366) amended the Small Business Act concerning the establishment of agency specific small business size standards. The proposed NRC size standards have been developed so as to meet the criteria specified in Pub. L. 102-366. The NRC has submitted these proposed size standards for the review and approval of the Administrator, SBA. This proposed rule also would codify NRC's size standards in Part 2 of the Commission's regulations. Previously, NRC's size standards had been published in the notices section of the Federal Register. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion The NRC has determined that this proposed rule is the type of action described in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Therefore, neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental assessment has been prepared for this proposed regulation. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement This proposed rule does not contain a new or amended information collection requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget, approval number 3150-0136. Regulatory Analysis A regulatory analysis has not been prepared for this proposed rule because the proposed rule is administrative in that it would amend the criteria the NRC uses for determining which of its licensees would qualify as small entities for the purposes of compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The amended size standards would conform to SBA's revised standards and result in an increase in the number of NRC licensees that would qualify as small entities. Regulatory Flexibility Certification As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the Commission certifies that this rule, if adopted, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The proposed rule is administrative in that it would amend the criteria the NRC uses in determining which of its licensees would qualify as small entities for the purposes of compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The amended size standards would conform to SBA's revised standards and result in an increase in the number of NRC licensees that would qualify as small entities. Backfit Analysis The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does not apply to this proposed rule and, therefore, that a backfit analysis is not required for this proposed rule because these amendments do not impose any provisions which would impose backfits as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1). List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 2 Administrative practice and procedure, Antitrust, Byproduct material, Classified information, Environmental protection, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Penalties, Sex discrimination, Source material, Special nuclear material, Waste treatment and disposal. For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, and 5 U.S.C. 553, the NRC is proposing to adopt the following amendments to 10 CFR Part 2. PART 2--RULES OF PRACTICE FOR DOMESTIC LICENSING PROCEEDINGS AND ISSUANCE OF ORDERS 1. The authority citation for Part 2 continues to read as follows: Authority: Secs. 161, 181, 68 Stat. 948, 953, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2201, 2231); sec. 191, as amended, Pub. L. 87-615, 76 Stat. 409 (42 U.S.C. 2241); sec. 201, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5841); 5 U.S.C. 552. Section 2.101 also issued under secs. 53, 62, 63, 81, 103, 104, 105, 68 Stat. 930, 932, 933, 935, 936, 937, 938, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2073, 2092, 2093, 2111, 2133, 2134, 2135); sec. 114(f), Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2213, as amended (42 U.S.C. 10134(f)); sec. 102, Pub. L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4332); sec. 301, 88 Stat. 1248 (42 U.S.C. 5871). Sections 2.102, 2.103, 2.104, 2.105, 2.721 also issued under secs. 102, 103, 104, 105, 183, 189, 68 Stat. 936, 937, 938, 954, 955, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2132, 2133, 2134, 2135, 2233, 2239). Section 2.105 also issued under Pub. L. 97-415, 96 Stat. 2073 (42 U.S.C. 2239). Sections 2.200-2.206 also issued under secs. 161b, i, o, 182, 186, 234, 68 Stat. 948-951, 955, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2236, 2282); sec. 206, 88 Stat 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5846). Sections 2.600-2.606 also issued under sec. 102, Pub. L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4332). Sections 2.700a, 2.719 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 554. Sections 2.754, 2.760, 2.770, 2.780 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 557. Section 2.764 and Table 1A of Appendix C also issued under secs. 135, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2232, 2241 (42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161). Section 2.790 also issued under sec. 103, 68 Stat. 936, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2133) and 5 U.S.C. 552. Sections 2.800 and 2.808 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 553. Section 2.809 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 553 and sec. 29, Pub. L. 85-256, 71 Stat. 579, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2039). Subpart K also issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10154). Subpart L also issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2239). Appendix A also issued under sec. 6, Pub. L. 91-560, 84 Stat. 1473 (42 U.S.C. 2135). Appendix B also issued under sec. 10, Pub. L. 99-240, 99 Stat. 1842 (42 U.S.C. 2021b et seq.). 2. Section 2.810 is added to read as follows: Sec. 2.810 NRC Size Standards. The NRC shall use the size standards contained in this section to determine whether a licensee qualifies as a small entity in its regulatory programs. (a) A small business is a for-profit concern and is a-- (1) Concern that provides a service or a concern not primarily engaged in manufacturing with average gross receipts of $5 million or less over its last 3 completed fiscal years; or (2) A manufacturing concern with an average number of 500 or fewer employees based upon employment during each pay period for the preceding 12 calendar months. (b) A small organization is a not-for-profit organization which is independently owned and operated and has annual receipts of $5 million or less. (c) Small governmental jurisdictions are governments of cities, counties, towns, townships, villages, school districts, or special districts with a population of less than 50,000. (d) A small educational institution is one that is-- (1) Supported by a qualifying small governmental jurisdiction; or (2) One that is not state or publicly supported and has 500 employees or less. Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 21st day of November, 1994. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. James M. Taylor, Executive Director for Operations. [FR Doc. 94-29481 Filed 11-29-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P