[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 122 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29622-29657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13320]



[[Page 29621]]

Vol. 83

Monday,

No. 122

June 25, 2018

Part II





Nuclear Regulatory Commission





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10 CFR Parts 170 and 171





Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2018; Final 
Rule

Federal Register / Vol. 83 , No. 122 / Monday, June 25, 2018 / Rules 
and Regulations

[[Page 29622]]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 170 and 171

[NRC-2017-0026]
RIN 3150-AJ95


Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2018

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending the 
licensing, inspection, special project, and annual fees charged to its 
applicants and licensees. These amendments are necessary to implement 
the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, as amended (OBRA-90) 
which requires the NRC to recover approximately 90 percent of its 
annual budget through fees.

DATES: This final rule is effective on August 24, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0026 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this action by any of 
the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0026. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7c3f1d0e1310523b1d10101d1b14190e3c120e1f521b130a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f1b290839e9ddfb6909d9d9096999483b19f8392df969e87">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
    <bullet> 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#80f0e4f2aef2e5f3eff5f2e3e5c0eef2e3aee7eff6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ee9e8a9cc09c8b9d819b9c8d8bae809c8dc0898198">[email protected]</span></a>. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document. For the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession 
numbers and instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this 
document are provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of 
this document.
    <bullet> 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: Brian Harris, Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-6382, email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ca88b8a3aba4e482abb8b8a3b98aa4b8a9e4ada5bc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e5a7978c848bcbad8497978c96a58b9786cb828a93">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background; Statutory Authority
II. Discussion
III. Public Comment Analysis
IV. Public Comments and NRC Response
V. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
VI. Regulatory Analysis
VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality
VIII. Plain Writing
IX. National Environmental Policy Act
X. Paperwork Reduction Act
XI. Congressional Review Act
XII. Voluntary Consensus Standards
XIII. Availability of Guidance
XIV. Availability of Documents

I. Background; Statutory Authority

    The NRC's fee regulations are primarily governed by two laws: (1) 
The Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 
9701), and (2) OBRA-90 (42 U.S.C. 2214). The IOAA generally authorizes 
and encourages Federal regulatory agencies to recover--to the fullest 
extent possible--costs attributable to services provided to 
identifiable recipients. The OBRA-90 requires the NRC to recover 
approximately 90 percent of its budget authority for the fiscal year 
(FY) through fees; in FY 2018, amounts appropriated for waste-
incidental-to-reprocessing (WIR), generic homeland security activities, 
advanced reactor regulatory infrastructure activities, international 
activities, and Inspector General (IG) services for the Defense Nuclear 
Facilities Safety Board are excluded from this fee-recovery 
requirement. The OBRA-90 requires the NRC to use its IOAA authority 
first to collect service fees for NRC work that provides specific 
benefits to identifiable applicants and licensees (such as licensing 
work, inspections, and special projects). The regulations at part 170 
of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) authorize these 
fees. But, because the NRC's fee recovery under the IOAA (10 CFR part 
170) does not equal 90 percent of the NRC's budget authority for the 
fiscal year, the NRC also assesses ``annual fees'' under 10 CFR part 
171 to recover the remaining amount necessary to meet OBRA-90's fee-
recovery requirement. These annual fees recover costs that are not 
otherwise collected through 10 CFR part 170.

II. Discussion

FY 2018 Fee Collection--Overview

    The NRC is issuing the FY 2018 final fee rule based on the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Pub. L. 115-141) (the enacted 
budget), in the amount of $922.0 million, an increase of $4.9 million 
from FY 2017. As explained previously, certain portions of the NRC's 
total budget are excluded from the NRC's fee-recovery amount--
specifically, these exclusions include: $1.3 million for WIR 
activities, $1.1 million for IG services for the Defense Nuclear 
Facilities Safety Board, $10.0 million for advanced reactor regulatory 
infrastructure activities, and $15.2 million for generic homeland 
security activities. Also, for the first time, the enacted budget 
excludes $16.2 million for international activities from the fee-
recoverable budget. Additionally, OBRA-90 requires the NRC to recover 
approximately 90 percent of the remaining budget authority--10 percent 
of the remaining budget authority is not recovered through fees. The 
NRC refers to the activities included in this 10-percent as ``fee-
relief'' activities.
    After accounting for the OBRA-90 exclusions, the adjustment 
associated with the United States Agency for International Development 
(USAID) rescission,\1\ the fee-relief activities, and net billing 
adjustments (the sum of unpaid current year invoices (estimated) minus 
payments for prior year invoices), the NRC must bill approximately 
$789.3 million in FY 2018 to licensees and applicants. Of this amount, 
the NRC estimates that $280.8 million will be recovered through 10 CFR 
part 170 user fees, which leaves approximately $508.5 million to be 
recovered through 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. Table I summarizes the 
fee-recovery amounts for the FY 2018 final fee rule using the enacted 
budget and taking into account excluded activities, the fee-relief 
activities, and net billing adjustments (individual values may not sum 
to totals due to rounding). The Joint Explanatory Statement associated 
with the Consolidated Appropriations, Act 2018 includes direction for 
the NRC to use $15.0 million in carryover funds. The use of carryover 
funds allows the NRC

[[Page 29623]]

to accomplish the work needed without additional costs to licensees 
because consistent with the requirements of OBRA-90, fees are 
calculated based on the budget authority enacted for the current FY and 
not carryover funds.
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    \1\ The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, rescinds 
approximately $0.1 million of unobligated balances from funds 
previously transferred to the NRC from the United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID). The Joint Explanatory Statement 
for the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, includes an 
adjustment to the NRC's fee recovery amount associated with this 
rescission.

                                   Table I--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts 2
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  FY 2017  final  FY 2018  final    Percentage
                                                                       rule            rule           change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority..........................................          $917.1          $922.0             0.5
Less Excluded Fee Items.........................................           -23.1           -43.8            89.6
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Balance.....................................................           894.0           878.2            -1.7
Fee Recovery Percent............................................              90              90             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
Total Amount to be Recovered....................................           804.6           790.4            -1.7
Adjustment USAID Rescission 3...................................             0.0            -0.1          -100.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
Total Amount to be Recovered Post USAID.........................           804.6           790.3            -1.8
10 CFR Part 171 Billing Adjustments:
    Unpaid Current Year Invoices (estimated)....................             6.2             6.5             4.8
    Less Payments Received in Current Year for Previous Year                -4.9            -7.5            53.1
     Invoices (estimated).......................................
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        Subtotal................................................             1.3            -1.0          -176.9
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
Amount to be Recovered through 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171 Fees....           805.9           789.3            -2.0
Less Estimated 10 CFR Part 170 Fees.............................          -297.3          -280.8            -1.2
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    10 CFR Part 171 Fee Collections Required....................           508.6           508.5             0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2018 Fee Collection--Professional Hourly Rate
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    \2\ For each table, numbers may not add due to rounding.
    \3\ The adjustment to the NRC's fee recovery amount associated 
with the USAID rescission is shown in Table 1. Because the USAID 
rescission amount was approximately $0.1 million, the proportion of 
the USAID rescission applicable to each fee class is not shown in 
the accompanying tables for each fee class. Additional information 
on the amount of the USAID rescission applicable to each fee class 
is available in the work papers (ADAMS Accession No. ML18135A044).
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    The NRC uses a professional hourly rate to assess fees for specific 
services provided by the NRC under 10 CFR part 170. The professional 
hourly rate also helps determine flat fees (which are used for the 
review of certain types of license applications). This rate will be 
applicable to all activities for which fees are assessed under 
Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31.
    The NRC's professional hourly rate is derived by adding budgeted 
resources for: (1) Mission-direct program salaries and benefits; (2) 
mission-indirect program support; and (3) agency support (corporate 
support and the IG), and then subtracting certain offsetting receipts, 
and dividing this total by the mission-direct full-time equivalents 
(FTE) converted to hours. The NRC is adding the definitions for 
``mission-direct program salaries and benefits,'' ``mission-indirect 
program support,'' and ``agency support (corporate support and the 
IG)'' to 10 CFR 170.3, ``Definitions.'' The mission-direct FTE 
converted to hours is the product of the mission-direct FTE multiplied 
by the estimated annual mission-direct FTE productive hours. The only 
budgeted resources excluded from the professional hourly rate are those 
for mission-direct contract resources, which are generally billed to 
licensees separately. The following shows the professional hourly rate 
calculation (for this equation, ``budgeted resources'' does not include 
mission-direct contract resources):
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR25JN18.008

    For FY 2018, the NRC is increasing the professional hourly rate 
from $263 to $275. The 4.6 percent increase in the FY 2018 professional 
hourly rate is due primarily to the 7.3 percent decline in the number 
of mission-direct FTE compared to FY 2017, offset by a 2.4 percent 
decline in budgeted resources and a small increase in productive hours. 
The 7.3 percent decline in the number of mission-direct FTE was larger 
than the decline projected in the proposed rule due primarily to the 
exclusion of advanced reactor regulatory infrastructure activities and 
international activities from the fee-recoverable budget, which caused 
the mission-direct FTE assigned to these activities to be excluded from 
the professional hourly rate calculation. The FY 2018 estimated annual 
mission-direct FTE productive hours is 1,510 hours, up from 1,500 hours 
in FY 2017. This estimate, also referred to as the productive hours 
assumption, reflects the average number of hours that a mission-direct 
employee spends on mission-direct work in a given year. This excludes 
hours charged to annual leave, sick leave, holidays, training, and 
general administration tasks. Table II shows the professional hourly 
rate calculation methodology. The FY 2017 amounts are provided for 
comparison purposes.

[[Page 29624]]



                                 Table II--Professional Hourly Rate Calculation
                                     [Dollars in millions, except as noted]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  FY 2017  final  FY 2018  final    Percentage
                                                                       rule            rule           change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission-Direct Program Salaries & Benefits......................          $340.6          $325.7            -4.4
Mission-Indirect Program Support................................           137.3           135.0            -1.7
Agency Support (Corporate Support and the IG)...................           309.6           308.1            -0.4
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Subtotal....................................................           787.5           768.8            -2.4
Less Offsetting Receipts 4......................................            -0.1             0.0           100.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total Budgeted Resources Included in Professional Hourly              $787.4          $768.8            -2.4
     Rate.......................................................
Mission-Direct FTE (Whole numbers)..............................           1,996           1,851            -7.3
Annual Mission-Direct FTE Productive Hours (Whole numbers)......           1,500           1,510             0.7
Mission-Direct FTE Converted to Hours (Mission-Direct FTE                    3.0             2.8            -6.7
 multiplied by Annual Mission-..................................
Direct FTE Productive Hours) (In Millions)......................
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budgeted Resources Included in               263             275             4.6
 Professional Hourly Rate Divided by Mission-Direct FTE
 Converted to Hours) (Whole Numbers)............................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2018 Fee Collection--Flat Application Fee Changes
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    \4\ The fees collected by the NRC for Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) services and indemnity (financial protection required of 
licensees for public liability claims at 10 CFR part 140) are 
subtracted from the budgeted resources amount when calculating the 
10 CFR part 170 professional hourly rate, per the guidance in Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-25, User Charges. The 
budgeted resources for FOIA activities are allocated under the 
product for Information Services within the Corporate Support 
business line. The indemnity activities are allocated under the 
Licensing Actions and the Research & Test Reactors products within 
the Operating Reactors business line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC is amending the flat application fees that it charges to 
applicants for import and export licenses, applicants for materials 
licenses and other regulatory services, and holders of materials in its 
schedule of fees in Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the revised 
professional hourly rate of $275 and the exclusion of international 
activities from the fee-recoverable budget. The NRC calculates these 
flat fees by multiplying the average professional staff hours needed to 
process the licensing actions by the professional hourly rate for FY 
2018. The NRC analyzes the actual hours spent performing licensing 
actions and then estimates the average professional staff hours that 
are needed to process licensing actions as part of its biennial review 
of fees, which is required by Section 205(a) of the Chief Financial 
Officers Act of 1990 (31 U.S.C. 902(a)(8)). The NRC performed this 
review in FY 2017 and will perform this review again in FY 2019. The 
higher professional hourly rate of $275 is the primary reason for the 
increase in flat application fees. Please see the work papers for more 
detail (ADAMS Accession No. ML18135044).
    The NRC rounds these flat fees in such a way that ensures both 
convenience for its stakeholders and that any rounding effects are 
minimal. Accordingly, fees under $1,000 are rounded to the nearest $10, 
fees between $1,000 and $100,000 are rounded to the nearest $100, and 
fees greater than $100,000 are rounded to the nearest $1,000.
    The licensing flat fees are applicable for certain materials 
licensing actions (see fee categories 1.C. through 1.D., 2.B. through 
2.F., 3.A. through 3.S., 4.B. through 5.A., 6.A. through 9.D., 10.B., 
15.A. through 15.L., 15.R., and 16 of Sec.  170.31). Because the 
enacted budget excludes international activities from the fee-
recoverable budget, import and export licensing actions, wholly funded 
through the international activities product line, (see fee categories 
K.1. through K.5. of Sec.  170.21 and fee categories 15.A. through 
15.R. of Sec.  170.31) will not be charged fees under the final rule. 
To implement this, the NRC has revised fee categories K.1. through K.5. 
of Sec.  170.21 and fee categories 15.A.
    through 15.R. of Sec.  170.31 and included a new footnote in these 
tables.\5\ Applications filed on or after the effective date of the FY 
2018 final fee rule will be subject to the revised fees in this final 
rule.
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    \5\ The NRC has also removed the language relating to 
international activities in Sec. Sec.  171.15(d)(1)(ii) and 
171.16(e)(2) (which pertain to the fee-relief adjustment) because 
the enacted budget excludes international activities from the fee-
recoverable budget and thus international activities are not 
included in fee relief under the FY 2018 final fee rule.
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FY 2018 Fee Collection--Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste (LLW) Surcharge

    As previously noted, OBRA-90 requires the NRC to recover 
approximately 90 percent of its annual budget authority for the fiscal 
year. The NRC applies the remaining 10 percent that is not recovered to 
offset certain budgeted activities--see Table III for a full listing of 
these ``fee-relief'' activities. If the amount budgeted for these fee-
relief activities is greater or less than 10 percent of the NRC's 
annual budget authority (less the fee-recovery exclusions), then the 
NRC applies a fee adjustment (either an increase or decrease) to all 
licensees' annual fees, based on their percentage share of the NRC's 
budget.
    In FY 2018, the amount budgeted for fee-relief activities is less 
than the 10-percent threshold--therefore, the NRC will assess a fee-
relief credit that decreases all licensees' annual fees based on their 
percentage share of the budget. The credit is due primarily to the 
exclusion of international activities from the fee-recoverable budget. 
Table III summarizes the fee-relief activities budgeted for FY 2018. 
The FY 2017 amounts are provided for comparison purposes.

[[Page 29625]]



                                        Table III--Fee-Relief Activities
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      FY 2017         FY 2018
                      Fee-relief activities                          budgeted        budgeted       Percentage
                                                                       costs           costs          change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or
 class of licensees:
    a. International activities 6...............................           $13.8            $0.0          -100.0
    b. Agreement State oversight................................            12.9            13.5             4.5
    c. Scholarships and Fellowships.............................            17.9            15.0           -16.2
    d. Medical Isotope Production Infrastructure................             4.2             3.9            -7.1
2. Activities not assessed under 10 CFR part 170 service fees or
 10 CFR part 171 annual fees based on existing law or Commission
 policy:
    a. Fee exemption for nonprofit educational institutions.....             9.7             8.7            -9.9
    b. Costs not recovered from small entities under Sec.                    7.4             6.6           -10.8
     171.16(c)..................................................
    c. Regulatory support to Agreement States...................            18.5            17.4            -5.9
    d. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (not related to the              14.6            14.5            -1.0
     power reactor and spent fuel storage fee classes)..........
    e. In Situ leach rulemaking and unregistered general                     1.4             1.5             7.1
     licensees..................................................
    f. Potential Department of Defense remediation program MOU               1.1             1.2             2.0
     activities.................................................
    g. Non-military radium sites................................             N/A             1.7             N/A
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        Total fee-relief activities.............................           101.5            83.9           -17.3
Less 10 percent of the NRC's total FY budget (less the fee                 -89.4           -87.8             1.8
 recovery exclusions)...........................................
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Fee-Relief Adjustment to be Allocated to All Licensees'                 12.1            -3.9          -132.6
     Annual Fees................................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     
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    \6\ In prior years, this fee-relief category included amount 
includes international assistance activities. This fee-relief 
category also included conventions and treaty activities that are 
not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or class of licensees, 
and it included international cooperation activities that are not 
attributable to an existing NRC licensee or class of licensees.
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    Table IV shows how the NRC allocates the $3.9 million fee-relief 
credit to each licensee fee class. Also, in accordance with the staff 
requirements memorandum (SRM) dated September 7, 2017 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML17250A841), for SECY-17-0026, ``Policy Considerations and 
Recommendations for Remediation of Non-Military, Unlicensed Historic 
Radium Sites in Non-Agreement States'' dated February 22, 2017 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML17130A783), the NRC has established a new fee-relief 
category for non-military sites contaminated due to historic uses of 
radium.
    In addition to the fee-relief credit, the NRC also assesses a 
generic LLW surcharge of $3.4 million. Disposal of LLW occurs at 
commercially operated LLW disposal facilities that are licensed by 
either the NRC or an Agreement State. Four existing LLW disposal 
facilities in the United States accept various types of LLW. All are 
located in Agreement States and, therefore, are regulated by an 
Agreement State, rather than the NRC. The NRC allocates this surcharge 
to its licensees based on data available in the U.S. Department of 
Energy's (DOE's) Manifest Information Management System (MIMS). This 
database contains information on total LLW volumes and NRC usage 
information from four generator classes: Academic, industrial, medical, 
and utility. The ratio of utility waste volumes to total LLW volumes 
over a period of time is used to estimate the portion of this surcharge 
that will be allocated to the power reactors, fuel facilities, and 
materials fee classes. The materials portion is adjusted to account for 
the fact that a large percentage of materials licensees are licensed by 
the Agreement States rather than the NRC.
    The LLW surcharge amounts have changed since the proposed rule. 
After the NRC published the proposed rule for public comment, DOE 
updated the MIMS system with 2017 data. As a result of the update, the 
LLW surcharge for Operating Power Reactors fee class increased from 
$1.4 million to $2.6 million. For Fuel Facilities and Material Users, 
it decreased from $1.6 million to $0.7 million and from $0.4 million to 
$0.2 million, respectively. Additional details about these changes to 
the LLW surcharge resulting from DOE's update to the MIMS system can be 
found in Section IV(I).
    Table IV shows the LLW surcharge and fee-relief credit, and its 
allocation across the various fee classes.

                    Table IV--Allocation of Fee-Relief Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2018
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           LLW surcharge               Fee-relief adjustment           Total
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Percent            $            Percent            $               $
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors........            75.0             2.6            85.1            -3.4            -0.8
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor                   0.0             0.0             4.4            -0.2            -0.2
 Decommissioning................
Research and Test Reactors......             0.0             0.0             0.3             0.0             0.0
Fuel Facilities.................            20.0             0.7             4.6            -0.2             0.5
Materials Users.................             5.0             0.2             3.4            -0.1             0.0
Transportation..................             0.0             0.0             0.5             0.0             0.0
Rare Earth Facilities...........             0.0             0.0             0.0             0.0             0.0
Uranium Recovery................             0.0             0.0             1.7            -0.1            -0.1
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 29626]]

 
    Total.......................           100.0             3.4           100.0            -3.9            -0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2018 Fee Collection--Revised Annual Fees

    In accordance with SECY-05-0164, ``Annual Fee Calculation Method,'' 
dated September 15, 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. ML052580332), the NRC 
rebaselines its annual fees every year. ``Rebaselining'' entails 
analyzing the budget in detail and then allocating the budgeted costs 
to various classes or subclasses of licensees. It also includes 
updating the number of NRC licensees in its fee calculation 
methodology.
    The NRC revised its annual fees in Sec. Sec.  171.15 and 171.16 to 
recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's FY 2018 budget authority 
(less the fee-recovery exclusions and the estimated amount to be 
recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees). The total estimated 10 CFR 
part 170 collections for this final rule are $280.8 million, a decrease 
of $16.6 million from the FY 2017 fee rule. The NRC, therefore, must 
recover $508.5 million through annual fees from its licensees; an 
amount identical to the annual fees collected by the FY 2017 final fee 
rule.
    Table V shows the final rebaselined fees for FY 2018 for a 
representative list of license categories. The FY 2017 amounts are 
provided for comparison purposes.\7\
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    \7\ For each fee class, the FY 2017 fees and percentage change 
are shown for comparison purposes.
    \8\ See Table VII for percentage change for each fee category.

                                        Table V--Rebaselined Annual Fees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  FY 2017  final  FY 2018  final    Percentage
                    Class/category of license                       annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors........................................      $4,308,000      $4,333,000             0.6
+ Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning....................         188,000         198,000             5.3
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total, Combined Fee.........................................       4,496,000       4,531,000             0.8
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning......................         188,000         198,000             5.3
Research and Test Reactors (Non-power Reactors).................          81,400          81,300            -0.1
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility.............................       7,255,000       7,346,000             1.3
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility..............................       2,629,000       2,661,000             1.2
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion Facility........................       1,498,000       1,517,000             1.3
Conventional Mills..............................................          38,900          38,800            -0.3
Typical Materials Users:
    Radiographers (Category 3O).................................          27,000          25,000            -7.4
    Well Loggers (Category 5A)..................................          16,000          14,900            -6.9
    All Other Specific Byproduct Material Licensees (Category              9,300           8,600            -7.5
     3P)........................................................
    Broad Scope Medical (Category 7B)...........................          33,800          30,900            -8.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The work papers that support this final rule show in detail how the 
NRC allocates the budgeted resources for each class of license and 
calculates the fees.
    Paragraphs a. through h. of this section describe budgeted 
resources allocated to each class of license and the calculations of 
the rebaselined fees. For more information about detailed fee 
calculations for each class, please consult the accompanying work 
papers.
a. Fuel Facilities
    The NRC will collect $27.7 million in annual fees from the fuel 
facilities class.

                          Table VI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Fuel Facilities
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2017 final   FY 2018 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................           $33.9           $35.2             3.8
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................            -9.6            -9.2            -4.2
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................            24.3            26.0             7.0
Allocated generic transportation................................             1.6             1.3            -1.9
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................             2.5             0.5           -80.0
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.0             0.0             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total remaining required annual fee recovery \8\............            28.4            27.7            -2.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 29627]]

    In FY 2018, the fuel facilities budgeted resources increased 
slightly due to a 5.3 percent increase in the fully costed FTE rate and 
the transfer of 1 FTE of enforcement resources from the nuclear 
materials user fee class to the fuel facilities fee class to reflect 
the fee class benefiting from the work being performed by this FTE. The 
estimated 10 CFR part 170 billings declined by $0.4 million as a result 
of completing license renewals for GE Vallecitos and Westinghouse, as 
well as declining inspection workload for Honeywell. There was also a 
reduction to the LLW surcharge allotment because of decreased usage of 
LLW by this fee class as a percentage of licensees.
    The NRC allocates annual fees to individual fuel facility licensees 
based on the effort/fee determination matrix developed in the FY 1999 
final fee rule (64 FR 31447; June 10, 1999). To briefly recap, the 
matrix groups licensees within this fee class into various fee 
categories. The matrix lists processes conducted at licensed sites and 
assigns effort factors for the safety and safeguards activities 
associated with each process (these effort levels are presented in 
Table VII). The annual fees are then distributed across the fee class 
based on the regulatory effort reflected in the matrix.

                             Table VII--Effort Factors for Fuel Facilities, FY 2018
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                          Effort factors
                  Facility type (fee category)                       Number of   -------------------------------
                                                                    facilities        Safety        Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).........................               2              88              96
Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..........................               3              70              30
Limited Operations (1.A.(2)(a)).................................               0               0               0
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))............               0               0               0
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))..............................               0               0               0
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).......................................               1              21              23
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion (2.A.(1)).......................               1              12               7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In FY 2018, the total remaining required annual fee recovery amount 
of $27.7 million is comprised of safety activities, safeguards 
activities and the fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge. For FY 2018, 
the total budgeted resources to be recovered as annual fees for safety 
activities are $15.0 million. To calculate the annual fee, the NRC 
allocates this amount to each fee category based on its percent of the 
total regulatory effort for safety activities. Similarly, the NRC 
allocates the budgeted resources to be recovered as annual fees for 
safeguards activities, $12.2 million, to each fee category based on its 
percent of the total regulatory effort for safeguards activities. 
Finally, the portion of the fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge 
associated with the fuel facility fee class--$0.5 million--is allocated 
to each fee category based on its percentage 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. In comparison to FY 2017, there was a decrease of 2.5 percent 
for the total remaining required annual fee recovery in FY 2018 (see 
Table VI). However, there was an increase of approximately 1.3 percent 
in each fee category in FY 2018. The differences in the changes to the 
total required annual fee recovery and the annual fees for each fee 
category is due to two licensees leaving the fee class in FY 2017. The 
fee for each facility is summarized in Table VIII.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ No licensees in this fee category in FY 2018.

                                   Table VIII--Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   FY 2017 final   FY 2018 final    Percentage
                  Facility type  (fee category)                     annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).........................      $7,255,000      $7,346,000             1.3
Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..........................       2,629,000       2,661,000             1.2
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))............       1,366,000         \9\ N/A             N/A
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))..............................         710,000        \10\ N/A             N/A
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).......................................       3,470,000       3,513,000             1.2
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion (2.A.(1)).......................       1,498,000       1,517,000             1.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

b. Uranium Recovery Facilities
    The NRC will collect $0.5 million in annual fees from the uranium 
recovery facilities fee class, a decrease of 50.0 percent from FY 2017.

[[Page 29628]]



                    Table IX--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Uranium Recovery Facilities
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2017 final   FY 2018 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................           $14.3           $13.5            -5.6
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................           -13.5           -12.9            -4.4
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................             0.8             0.6           -25.0
Allocated generic transportation................................             N/A             N/A             N/A
Fee-relief adjustment...........................................             0.2            -0.1          -150.0
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.0             0.0             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................             1.0             0.5           -50.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2017, the FY 2018 budgeted resources for 
uranium recovery licensees decreased due to reductions in associated 
licensing work, realignment of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation 
Control Act (UMTRCA) program, and completed reviews for license 
amendments for Strata Energy and Jane Dough, offset by increased 
workload for the Marsland license amendment review.
    The NRC computes the annual fee for the uranium recovery fee class 
by dividing the total annual fee recovery amount among DOE and the 
other licensees in this fee class. The annual fee decreased for the 
DOE/UMTRCA program due to the decreased budgeted resources and an 
increase in 10 CFR part 170 billings for the Atlantic Richfield 
Bluewater disposal site review. The annual fee decreased slightly for 
the remaining uranium recovery licensees due to the fee relief credit. 
This was offset by a decrease in estimated 10 CFR part 170 billings for 
completed reviews for license amendments for Strata Energy and Jane 
Dough. There was an increase in 10 CFR part 170 billings for the 
Marsland license amendment review, which also contributed to the slight 
decrease in annual fees.
    The NRC regulates DOE's Title I and Title II activities under 
UMTRCA \10\ and the annual fee to DOE includes the costs specifically 
budgeted for the NRC's UMTRCA Title I and Title II activities, as well 
as 10 percent of the remaining budgeted costs for this fee class. The 
annual fee decreased for the overall fee class due to the decrease in 
budgeted resources. The NRC assesses the remaining 90 percent of its 
budgeted costs to the rest of the licensees in this fee class, as 
described in the work papers. This is reflected in Table X as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ 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.

                    Table X--Costs Recovered Through Annual Fees; Uranium Recovery Fee Class
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  FY 2017  final  FY 2018  final    Percentage
                        Summary of costs                             annual fee      annual fee       change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE Annual Fee Amount (UMTRCA Title I and Title II) General
 Licenses:
    UMTRCA Title I and Title II budgeted costs less 10 CFR part         $574,595         $80,921           -85.9
     170 receipts...............................................
    10 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted costs.          19,079          47,723           150.1
    10 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment........          21,940          -6,724          -130.6
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded)...............         616,000         122,000           -80.2
Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery Licenses:
    90 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted costs          171,714         429,509           150.1
     less the amounts specifically budgeted for UMTRCA Title I
     and Title II activities....................................
    90 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment........         197,464         -60,517          -130.6
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery               369,178         368,992            -0.1
         Licenses...............................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Further, for the non-DOE licensees, the NRC continues to use a 
matrix to determine the effort levels associated with conducting the 
generic regulatory actions for the different licensees in this fee 
class; this is similar to the NRC's approach for fuel facilities, 
described previously.
    The matrix methodology for uranium recovery licensees first 
identifies the licensee categories included within this fee class 
(excluding DOE). These categories are: Conventional uranium mills and 
heap leach facilities; uranium In Situ Recovery (ISR) and resin ISR 
facilities; mill tailings disposal facilities; and uranium water 
treatment facilities. The matrix identifies the types of operating 
activities that support and benefit these licensees, along with each 
activity's relative weight (for more information, see the work papers). 
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:

[[Page 29629]]



                             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            10.5
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b))..               5             190             950            66.7
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities                           1             215             215            15.1
 (2.A.(2)(c))...................................
Section 11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing                1              85              85             6.0
 tailings sites (2.A.(4)).......................
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5))...............               1              25              25             1.7
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................               9             665           1,425           100.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applying these factors to the approximately $368,992 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 that fee 
category, as summarized in Table XII.

                              Table XII--Annual Fees for Uranium Recovery Licensees
                                                [Other than DOE]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   FY 2017 final   FY 2018 final    Percentage
                  Facility type (fee category)                      annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills (2.A.(2)(a))..................         $38,900         $38,800            -0.3
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b))..................          49,200          49,200             0.0
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(c))...............          55,700          55,700             0.0
Section 11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites            22,000          22,000             0.0
 (2.A.(4))......................................................
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5))...............................           6,500           6,500             0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

c. Operating Power Reactors
    The NRC will collect $428.9 million in annual fees from the power 
reactor fee class in FY 2018, as shown in Table XIII. The FY 2017 fees 
and percentage change are shown for comparison purposes.

                    Table XIII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Operating Power Reactors
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2017 final   FY 2018 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................          $670.3          $669.9             0.0
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................          -256.3          -239.6            -6.5
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................           414.0           430.4             4.0
Allocated generic transportation................................             0.3             0.3             0.0
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................            11.1            -0.8          -107.2
Billing adjustment..............................................             1.1            -0.9          -181.8
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................           426.5           428.9             0.6
Total operating reactors........................................              99              99             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
Annual fee per reactor..........................................           4.308           4.333             0.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2017, the operating power reactors budgeted 
resources decreased slightly by $0.4 million due to a decline in FTEs 
needed for Fukushima-related work and combined license reviews. This 
decline in FTEs, however, was offset by increases in contract costs 
associated with research in the areas of safety and security of digital 
systems, materials degradation, the aging of cables, and the effects of 
concrete degradation.\11\ In FY 2018, contract costs also increased to 
support the new reactor design certification and early site permit 
reviews, as well as related infrastructure and technical assistance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ These contract costs were funded with prior year 
unobligated carryover in FY 2017, and thus, were not included in the 
FY 2017 final fee rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated billings under 10 CFR part 170 also slightly declined 
primarily due to South Carolina Electric and Gas Company's decision to 
abandon the construction of the two new nuclear units at V.C. Summer 
Nuclear Station.
    The budgeted resources are divided equally among the 99 operating 
power reactors, resulting in an annual fee of $4,333,000 per reactor. 
Additionally, each licensed power reactor is assessed the FY 2018 spent 
fuel storage/reactor decommissioning annual fee of $198,000 (see Table 
XIV and the discussion that follows). The combined FY 2018 annual fee 
for operating power reactors is, therefore, $4,531,000.

[[Page 29630]]

    On May 24, 2016, the NRC amended its licensing, inspection, and 
annual fee regulations to establish a variable annual fee structure for 
light-water small modular reactors (SMRs). Under the variable annual 
fee structure, effective June 23, 2016, an SMR's annual fee would be 
calculated as a function of its licensed thermal power rating. 
Currently, there are no operating SMRs; therefore, the NRC will not 
assess an annual fee in FY 2018 for this type of licensee.
d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning
    The NRC will collect $24.2 million in annual fees from 10 CFR part 
50 power reactors, and from 10 CFR part 72 licensees that do not hold a 
10 CFR part 50 license, to collect the budgeted costs for spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning.

     Table XIV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for the Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning Fee Class
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                      FY 2017  final  FY 2018  final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................           $29.5           $33.8            14.6
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................            -7.9           -10.2            29.1
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................            21.6            23.7             9.7
Allocated generic transportation costs..........................             0.8             0.7            12.5
Fee-relief adjustment...........................................             0.5            -0.2          -140.0
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.1             0.0          -100.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................            23.0            24.2             5.2
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total spent fuel storage facilities.........................             122             122             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
Annual fee per facility.........................................           0.188           0.198             5.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Compared to FY 2017, the FY 2018 budgeted resources for spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning increased due to: (1) An increase in 
resources to support the safety, security, emergency preparedness, and 
environmental reviews for two applications for consolidated interim 
storage facilities; and (2) efforts to consolidate the standard review 
plan for all facilities in the fee class. For this fee class, estimated 
billings under 10 CFR part 170 increased slightly due to an anticipated 
increase in workload for the Holtec International consolidated interim 
storage facility application, a renewal request for DOE Idaho, and an 
amendment request by TN Americas. This increase in 10 CFR part 170 
estimated billings was partly offset due to suspension of the review 
for the Waste Control Specialists consolidated interim storage facility 
application.
    The required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among 
122 licensees, resulting in an FY 2018 annual fee of $198,000 per 
licensee.
e. Research and Test Reactors (Non-Power Reactors)
    The NRC will collect $0.325 million in annual fees from the 
research and test reactor licensee class.

                    Table XV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Research and Test Reactors
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2017 final   FY 2018 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................          $1.982          $2.009             1.4
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................          -1.724          -1.698            -1.5
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................           0.258           0.311            20.5
Allocated generic transportation................................           0.034           0.027           -20.6
Fee-relief adjustment...........................................           0.031          -0.010           -67.7
Billing adjustments.............................................           0.003          -0.003          -200.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................           0.326           0.325            -0.3
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
Total research and test reactors................................               4               4             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total annual fee per reactor................................          0.0814          0.0813            -0.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For this fee class, the budgeted resources increased due to an 
increase in the fully costed FTE rate. Despite the increase in budgeted 
resources, the final FY 2018 annual fee decreased due to an increase in 
the fee-relief credit and a reduction in generic transportation costs 
from FY 2017. These were offset by a decline in estimated 10 CFR part 
170 billings due to the lower than projected workload associated with 
the delayed construction and license application submission schedules 
of two medical isotope production facilities. This decline was offset 
by increases in

[[Page 29631]]

estimated 10 CFR part 170 billings for Aerotest's license renewal and 
continued project management activities for the four research and test 
reactor sites.
    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 2018 annual fee of $81,300 for each licensee.
f. Rare Earth
    The NRC has not allocated any budgeted resources to this fee class; 
therefore, the NRC is not issuing an annual fee in FY 2018.
g. Materials Users
    The NRC will collect $32.4 million in annual fees from materials 
users licensed under 10 CFR parts 30, 40, and 70.

                         Table XVI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Materials Users
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2017 final  FY 2018  final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources for licensees not regulated by                    $33.7           $32.1            -4.7
 Agreement States...............................................
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................            -0.9            -0.9             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................            32.8            31.1            -5.2
Allocated generic transportation................................             1.6             1.3           -18.8
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................             0.9             0.0          -100.0
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.1             0.0          -100.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................            35.4            32.4            -8.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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. The total annual fee recovery for FY 2018 consists of the 
following: $24.9 million for general costs, $7.2 million for inspection 
costs, $0.3 million for unique costs for medical licenses, and $0.04 
million for the fee relief adjustment/LLW surcharge. To equitably and 
fairly allocate the $32.4 million required to be collected among 
approximately 2,600 diverse materials users licensees, the NRC 
continues to calculate the annual fees for each fee category within 
this class based 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 materials 
license, this approach provides a proxy for allocating the generic and 
other regulatory costs to the diverse fee categories. This fee-
calculation method also considers the inspection frequency (priority), 
which is indicative of the safety risk and resulting regulatory costs 
associated with the categories of licenses.
    The NRC is decreasing the annual fees for most materials licensees 
in this fee class in FY 2018 due to a reduction in budgeted resources 
for oversight activities through implementation of process enhancements 
and rebaselining of the materials program under Project Aim.
    The constant multiplier is established in order to recover the 
total general costs (including allocated generic transportation costs) 
of $24.9 million. To derive the constant multiplier, the general cost 
amount is divided by the product of all fee categories (application fee 
plus the inspection fee divided by inspection priority) then multiplied 
by the number of licensees. This calculation results in a constant 
multiplier of 1.36 for FY 2018. The average inspection cost is the 
average inspection hours for each fee category multiplied by the 
professional hourly rate of $275. The inspection priority is the 
interval between routine inspections, expressed in years. The 
inspection multiplier is established in order to recover the $7.2 
million in inspection costs. To derive the inspection multiplier, the 
inspection costs amount is divided by the product of all fee categories 
(inspection fee divided by inspection priority) then multiplied by the 
number of licensees. This calculation results in an inspection 
multiplier of 1.39 for FY 2018. The unique category costs are any 
special costs that the NRC has budgeted for a specific category of 
licenses. For FY 2018, unique category costs include approximately $0.3 
million in budgeted costs for the implementation of revised 10 CFR part 
35, ``Medical Use of Byproduct Material,'' which has been allocated to 
holders of NRC human-use licenses.
    The annual fee assessed to each licensee also includes a share of 
the $0.1 million fee-relief credit assessment allocated to the 
materials users fee class (see Table IV, ``Allocation of Fee-Relief 
Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2018,'' in Section III, 
``Discussion,'' of this document), and for certain categories of these 
licensees, a share of the approximately $0.2 million LLW surcharge 
costs allocated to the fee class. The annual fee for each fee category 
is shown in the revision to Sec.  171.16(d).
h. Transportation
    The NRC will collect $1.1 million in annual fees to recover generic 
transportation budgeted resources. The FY 2017 values are shown for 
comparison purposes.

                         Table XVII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Transportation
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                      FY 2017  final   FY 2018 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budgeted Resources........................................            $8.9            $7.9           -11.2
Less Estimated 10 CFR part 170 Receipts.........................            -3.1            -3.1             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------

[[Page 29632]]

 
    Net 10 CFR part 171 Resources...............................             5.8             4.7           -19.0
Less Generic Transportation Resources \12\......................            -4.5            -3.6           -20.0
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................             0.0             0.0             0.0
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.0             0.0             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................             1.5             1.1           -28.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2017, the total budgeted resources for FY 2018 
for generic transportation activities decreased due to a decline in the 
expected number of major licensing actions to be completed in FY 2018 
and a reduction in the Certificates of Compliance (CoCs) for DOE (from 
22 to 21). There was also a decline in budgeted resources within 
licensing and rulemaking support due to a transfer of certain budgeted 
resources to the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee class.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ New line item added to enhance clarity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 by including those costs in the 
annual fees for licensee 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 final annual fee decrease for DOE is 
mainly due to a decrease in CoCs from 22 to 21 in FY 2018.
    This resource distribution to the licensee fee classes and DOE is 
shown in Table XVIII. Note that for the research and test reactors fee 
class, the NRC allocates the distribution to only those licensees that 
are subject to annual fees. Although four CoCs benefit the entire 
research and test reactor class, only 4 out of 31 research and test 
reactors are subject to annual fees. Consequently, the number of CoCs 
used to determine the proportion of generic transportation resources 
allocated to research and test reactors annual fees has been adjusted 
to 0.5 so the research and test reactors subject to annual fees are 
charged a fair and equitable portion of the total. For more 
information, see the work papers.

                         Table XVIII--Distribution of Transportation Resources, FY 2018
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Allocated
                                                             Number of CoCs     Percentage of        generic
                  Licensee fee class/DOE                     benefiting fee      total CoCs      transportation
                                                              class or DOE                          resources
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Materials Users...........................................              25.0              27.9              $1.3
Operating Power Reactors..................................               5.0               5.6               0.3
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor................................              14.0              15.6               0.7
Decommissioning...........................................
Research and Test Reactors................................               0.5               0.6               0.0
Fuel Facilities...........................................              24.0              26.8               1.3
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
    Sub-Total of Generic Transportation Resources.........              68.5              76.5               3.6
DOE.......................................................              21.0              23.5               1.1
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
    Total.................................................              89.5             100.0               4.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC assesses an annual fee to DOE based on the 10 CFR part 71 
CoCs it holds. The NRC, therefore, does not allocate these DOE-related 
resources to other licensees' annual fees because these resources 
specifically support DOE.

FY 2018--Policy Change

    The NRC makes one policy change for FY 2018:
Changes to Small Materials Users Fee Categories for Locations of Use
    The NRC adds new fee subcategories to seven existing fee categories 
under 10 CFR 170.31, ``Schedule of Fees for Materials Licenses and 
Other Regulatory Services, Including Inspections, and Import and Export 
Licenses,'' and 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.'' Generally speaking, 10 
CFR 170.31 assigns the same fee to each licensee in the fee category, 
regardless of the number of locations where the licensee is authorized 
to work. Yet for some of these fee categories, the NRC staff recently 
determined that it spends a disproportionate amount of time on 
licensees with six or more locations compared to licensees in the same 
fee category with fewer than six locations. Therefore, the NRC is 
revising its fee categories so that these fees better align with the 
actual costs of providing regulatory services.
    Previously--in the FY 2015 final fee rule--the NRC added three fee 
subcategories under one fee category, 3.L. (research and development 
broad scope) for licenses with six or more locations of use. Although 
there are 14 additional fee categories that could be modified, the NRC 
determined that most

[[Page 29633]]

affected licenses are covered under 7 of the 14 fee categories. 
Accordingly, the NRC is adding subcategories to these seven fee 
categories:
    <bullet> Manufacturing broad scope licenses under fee category 3.A.
    <bullet> Other manufacturing licenses under fee category 3.B.
    <bullet> Medical product distribution licenses under fee category 
3.C.
    <bullet> Industrial radiography licenses under fee category 3.O.
    <bullet> Other byproduct licenses (e.g., portable and fixed gauges, 
measuring systems) under fee category 3.P.
    <bullet> Medical licenses under fee categories 7.A. and 7.B.
    To more accurately reflect the cost of services provided by the 
NRC, this change results in each fee category having subcategories for 
1-5, 6-20, and more than 20 locations of use. The NRC is also amending 
footnotes 9, 18, and 19, as numbered in the final rule, in Sec.  171.16 
and footnotes 7, 9, and 10 in Sec.  170.31 to reflect the new fee 
subcategories.

FY 2018--Administrative Changes

    The NRC is making ten \13\ of the eleven proposed administrative 
changes in this final rule:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ The change identified as item No.10 is not being made as 
part of the final rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1. Revise the methodology of charging licensees for overhead time 
for project managers (PMs) and resident inspectors (RIs).
    The NRC is revising the methodology for charging licensees for 
overhead time for PMs and RIs. The prior approach was that the NRC 
included an overhead cost of 6 percent of direct billable costs to all 
licensees' invoices. The overhead charge was intended to recover the 
full cost for PM and RI activities that provide a direct benefit to the 
assigned licensee or site.
    In FY 2015 to FY 2017, this 6-percent value was based on the 
analysis of 4 years of billing data (FY 2011 to FY 2014) for overhead 
activities recorded in the time and labor system by a PM or RI and 
billed to the dockets to which the PM or the RI were officially 
assigned. The NRC has reviewed the process and, as a process 
enhancement, created docket-related fee-billable cost activity codes to 
replace the prior 6-percent approach. Consistent with 10 CFR 
170.12(c)(1), which requires the NRC to assess fees to recover full 
cost for each RI (including the senior RI) assigned to a specific plant 
or facility (i.e., ``all time in a non-leave status,'' excluding time 
spent in support of activities at another site), RIs (including senior 
RIs) will begin recording time to these new docket-related fee-billable 
cost activity codes at the end of FY 2018. These new docket-related 
fee-billable cost activity codes will not be used by PMs. Agency 
efforts have significantly reduced the use of non-fee-billable overhead 
associated with PMs through improvements in the timekeeping system, 
additional staff training, and more robust control of hours recorded to 
the cost activity codes by the PMs. The agency continues to monitor the 
proper use of the limited range of indirect activities.
    The first invoice without the 6-percent overhead charge will be 
issued in January 2019. Instead, the licensee invoices will include the 
actual hours for RI activities that support and directly benefit the 
assigned licensee or site. The licensees should expect to see a cost 
activity code on their invoices which references these RI indirect 
hours.
    2. Add definitions for inputs in the professional hourly rate 
calculation in 10 CFR part 170, ``Fees for Facilities, Materials, 
Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services under the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended.''
    In response to the recommendations in the U.S. Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) report titled ``Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission: Regulatory Fee-Setting Calculations Need Greater 
Transparency'' (GAO-17-232), dated February 2, 2017, the NRC committed 
to add definitions for the professional hourly rate components in 10 
CFR part 170 during the FY 2018 fee rulemaking. The NRC, therefore, 
adds the definitions for ``agency support (corporate support and the 
IG),'' ``mission-direct program salaries and benefits,'' and ``mission-
indirect program support'' to 10 CFR 170.3, ``Definitions.''
    3. Delete the definition of ``overhead and general and 
administrative costs'' from 10 CFR 170.3 and 10 CFR 171.5.
    The term ``overhead and general and administrative costs'' is 
currently defined in 10 CFR 170.3 and 10 CFR 171.5, but it is not used 
in 10 CFR parts 170 and 171. Nor do the subordinate elements of the 
definition--``Government benefits,'' ``travel costs,'' ``overhead,'' 
``administrative support costs,'' and ``indirect costs''--appear 
elsewhere in 10 CFR parts 170 and 171. The NRC, therefore, deletes 
these definitions to enhance clarity.
    4. Amend language under 10 CFR 170.11, ``Exemptions,'' to add a new 
paragraph to include the timeframe in which a request for a fee 
exemption must be submitted to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) under 
10 CFR part 170.
    The NRC is amending its exemption requirements to specify that a 
request for a fee exemption under 10 CFR 170.11(a)(1) must be submitted 
to the CFO within 90 days of the date of the NRC's receipt of the work.
    5. Amend language under 10 CFR 170.31, ``Schedule of Fees for 
Materials Licenses and Other Regulatory Services, Including 
Inspections, and Import and Export Licenses,'' and 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 enhance clarity.
    When a materials license (or part of a materials license) changes 
from operational to decommissioning status, it transitions to fee 
category 14.A. There are two aspects of the fee treatment that follows 
transition to fee category 14.A. First, the materials license (or part 
of a materials license) that transitions to fee category 14.A is 
assessed full cost fees under 10 CFR part 170, even if, before the 
transition to this fee category, the licensee was assessed flat fees 
under 10 CFR part 170. Second, the materials license (or part of a 
materials license) that transitions to fee category 14.A is not 
assessed annual fees under 10 CFR part 171. If only part of a materials 
license is transitioned to fee category 14.A, the licensee may be 
charged annual fees (and any applicable 10 CFR part 170 fees) for other 
activities authorized under the license that are not in decommissioning 
status. This final rule adds a new footnote to the table in 10 CFR 
170.31 and to the table in 10 CFR 171.16 to emphasize the fee treatment 
that follows a transition to fee category 14.A.
    The NRC also adds new language to the description of fee category 
14.A. in both 10 CFR 170.31 and 171.16 in order to enhance clarity 
regarding when a materials license (or part of a materials license) 
transitions to fee category 14.A. Specifically, this transition occurs 
when a licensee has permanently ceased principal activities. For 
guidance on what constitutes ``permanently ceasing principal 
activities,'' please see Regulatory Issue Summary 2015-19, 
``Decommissioning Timeliness Rule Implementation and Associated 
Regulatory Relief'' (September 27, 2016, ADAMS Accession No. 
ML16008A242).
    6. Amend language under 10 CFR 171.3 and 10 CFR 171.16(a) to 
clarify when the assessment of annual fees begins for uranium recovery 
and fuel facility licensees.
    Both uranium recovery and fuel facilities licenses include a 
condition

[[Page 29634]]

that the NRC must complete a post-construction, pre-operational 
inspection to authorize a licensee to possess and use source material. 
In the FY 2007 final fee rule, the NRC added language to 10 CFR 171.3 
and 10 CFR 171.16(a) to codify its policy that annual fees for uranium 
enrichment facilities will be assessed after the NRC verifies through 
inspection that the facility has been constructed in accordance with 
the requirements of the license. The NRC is amending those sections to 
codify the policy that the assessment of annual fees for uranium 
recovery or fuel facility licensees, including uranium enrichment 
facility licensees, begins after the NRC inspection verifies that the 
facility has been constructed in accordance with the requirements of 
the license.
    7. Amend footnote 9 to the table in 10 CFR 171.16(d) for clarity.
    The NRC revises footnote 9 to clarify that nuclear medicine 
licensees under fee category 7.A. are not assessed a separate annual 
fee for pacemaker licenses.
    8. Delete footnote 15 to the table in 10 CFR 171.16(d).
    The NRC deletes footnote 15 because footnote 16 is more 
comprehensive and already includes the relevant information from 
footnote 15. The current footnote 16 is renumbered as footnote 15, and 
the footnotes that follow current footnote 16 are renumbered. All 
references to these footnotes in fee categories are adjusted 
accordingly.
    9. Amend footnote 16 to the table in 10 CFR 171.16(d) for clarity.
    The NRC renumbers footnote 16 as footnote 15, as indicated, and 
revises it to clarify that licensees paying fees under fee category 17 
are not subject to additional fees listed in the table.
    10. Proposal to add a new footnote to the table in 10 CFR 171.16(d) 
for clarity.
    In the proposed fee rule, the NRC proposed to add a new footnote 
(footnote 20 in the proposed fee rule) to clarify when licensees are 
exempt from paying annual fees under a specific fee category when they 
are licensed under multiple fee categories. Specifically, the NRC 
proposed to add references to the new footnote 20 for fee categories 
2.B., 3.N., and 3.P. The NRC, however, determined that the proposed 
footnote 20 was redundant to footnotes 17 and 18 for fee category 2B; 
to footnote 19 for fee category 3.P., as well as new fee categories 
3.P(1) and 3.P(2). The language in the proposed footnote 20 was also 
determined to be redundant to the description for fee category 3.N. 
Therefore, the NRC does not add this footnote to the table in Sec.  
171.16(d).
    11. Amend language under 10 CFR 171.17, ``Proration,'' to add a new 
sentence on the proration of fees.
    This final rule revises language regarding (1) reactors; (2) 
licensees under 10 CFR part 72, ``Licensing Requirements for the 
Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive 
Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater Than Class C Waste,'' who do not 
hold 10 CFR part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities,'' licenses; and (3) materials licensees with annual fees of 
$100,000 or greater for a single fee category. The NRC is basing the 
proration of annual fees for terminated and downgraded licensees on the 
fee rule in effect at the time the termination or downgrade action is 
official. The NRC bases the determinations on the proration 
requirements under 10 CFR 171.17(a)(2) and (3).
    Prior to this final rule, proration was based on the fee rule for 
the current fiscal year. This prevents the NRC from accurately billing 
the licensee at the time the termination or downgrade action is 
official based on the proration requirements under 10 CFR 171.17(a)(2) 
and (3). The NRC had wait until the current year's fee rule was 
effective (typically during the fourth quarter of a fiscal year) to 
either bill additional amounts or process refunds to the licensee based 
on the new fee rule amount.
    This amendment allows the NRC to prorate annual fees based on the 
fee rule in effect at the time the termination or downgrade action is 
official based on the proration requirements under 10 CFR 171.17(a)(2) 
and (3), thereby providing improved transparency for fee adjustments in 
the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. This change supports the fair 
and equitable assessment of fees because it ties annual fee proration 
to when the license actually becomes downgraded or terminated.
Update to the Fees Transformation Initiative
    The SRM, dated October 19, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16293A902), 
for SECY-16-0097, ``Fee Setting Improvements and Fiscal Year 2017 
Proposed Fee Rule'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML16194A365) directed staff to 
explore, as a voluntary pilot, whether a flat fee structure could be 
established for routine licensing matters in the area uranium recovery, 
and to accelerate the fees setting process improvements including the 
transition to an electronic billing system. With respect to the 
voluntary flat fees pilot, the staff has developed a project plan and 
is on target to complete this activity by September 2020. With respect 
to the fees setting process improvements, all 14 of the activities 
scheduled for FY 2017 and an additional 3 scheduled for FY 2018 were 
completed in FY 2017. These improvements included adding additional 
content to the FY 2018 Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ) to help 
licensees understand how the planned workload in the budget impacted 
fees, validating the budgeting process by comparing budgeted amounts 
with actual amounts in the CBJ, posting the estimated cost of various 
licensing actions for both the Reactors and Materials programs on the 
NRC's public website, and modifying the calculation of full-cost fees 
to facilitate publishing the proposed and final fee rules earlier.
    Two remaining fee setting improvements are scheduled to be 
completed for FY 2018. First, the change to the methodology for 
recovering RI/PM overhead costs is discussed in this document. Second, 
the NRC is adding an additional tab to the final fee rule work papers 
to improve transparency with the part 170 estimates impact on part 171 
annual fees by disclosing the ratios of the estimated part 170 to part 
171 collections for each fee class with the actual ratio of collections 
for FY 2017.
    For the remaining process changes recommended for future 
consideration, the NRC is well-positioned to complete them on schedule. 
For more information, please see the fees transformation 
accomplishments schedule, located on the license fees website at: 
https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing/fees-transformation-accomplishments.html.

III. Public Comment Analysis

Overview of Public Comments

    The NRC received 13 written comment submissions on the proposed 
rule. A comment submission for the purpose of this rule is defined as a 
written 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. In general, the 
commenters were supportive of the specific proposed regulatory changes, 
although most commenters expressed concerns about broader fee-policy 
issues related to transparency, fairness, and overall size of the 
budget.
    The commenters are listed in Table XIX.

[[Page 29635]]



                           Table XIX--FY 2018 Proposed Fee Rule Commenter Submissions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Commenter                      Affiliation           ADAMS Accession No.            Acronym
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Snider.......................  Anderson Engineering......  ML18038B689              AE
Aaron Ahern.......................  Unknown...................  ML18046A092              AA
W. B. Smith.......................  Unknown...................  ML18052B512              WBS
Stephen Cowne.....................  URENCO USA................  ML18053A945              UUSA
David Shafer......................  U.S. Department of Energy,  ML18053A946              DOE
                                     Office of Legacy
                                     Management.
J. Bradley Fewell.................  Exelon Generation Co. LLC.  ML18054B354              EXN
Duane Bollig......................  Water Remediation           ML18057B073              WRT
                                     Technology LLC.
Joyce Goldfield...................  Unknown...................  ML18057B550              JG
Douglas Weaver....................  Westinghouse Electric Co..  ML18057B551              WEC
Joseph Pollock....................  Nuclear Energy Institute    ML18058A206              NEI-1
                                     (NEI).
Pamela Cowan......................  NEI.......................  ML18058A247              NEI-2
Tyson R. Smith....................  Honeywell International     ML18058A305              HW
                                     Inc.
Richard J. Freudenberger..........  Nuclear Fuel Services Inc.  ML18068A693              NFS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Information about obtaining the complete text of the comment 
submissions is available in Section XIV, ``Availability of Documents,'' 
of this document.

IV. Public Comments and NRC Responses

    The NRC has carefully considered the public comments received on 
the proposed rule. The comments have been organized by topic. Comments 
from multiple commenters raising similar specific concerns were 
combined to capture the common essential issues raised by the 
commenters. Comments from a single commenter have been quoted to ensure 
accuracy; brackets within those comments are used show changes that 
have been made to the quoted comments. The NRC responses are preceded 
by a short summary of the issues raised by the commenters.

A. Transparency and Public Participation

    Comment: To ensure a meaningful opportunity to comment on proposed 
fees, the commenters request that the NRC re-issue the proposed rule to 
reflect any final FY 2018 appropriations. If timing constrains the 
NRC's ability to re-issue the proposed rule, the commenter requests 
that the NRC make publicly available as soon as possible a document 
reflecting how any FY 2018 appropriation will alter FY 2018 fees. Doing 
so will allow licensees to plan their internal budgets with more 
fidelity than continuing to rely on a proposed fee rule that is no 
longer valid. (EXN, NEI-1, NEI-2, NFS)
    Response: Several commenters expressed a general desire for the NRC 
to re-publish the proposed rule for comment based on the final enacted 
appropriations; alternatively, the commenters wanted the newly 
determined fees based on the final appropriations to be made publicly 
available in advance of the final rule. The NRC disagrees with these 
comments. The NRC strives to ensure that the proposed fee rule is as 
accurate as possible and explains its assumptions about the budgetary 
resources in order to provide the best information available regarding 
the fiscal year's proposed fees.
    However, the NRC must comply with statutory requirements, including 
OBRA-90 and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The OBRA-90 
requires the NRC to collect approximately 90 percent of its budget 
authority through fees assessed by the end of the fiscal year. Because 
the Office of Management and Budget has found the fee rule to be a 
major rule under the Congressional Review Act, the effective date of 
the final rule cannot be less than 60 days from the date of publication 
but must allow timely final billing prior to the end of the fiscal 
year. Because section 553 of the APA requires the NRC to give the 
public an opportunity to comment on a republished proposed rule, the 
NRC cannot republish the FY 2018 proposed fee rule, and meet its 
statutory requirement. No changes were made to the final rule as a 
result of these comments.

B. Budget Formulation

    Comment: In today's economic environment, NRC licensees are 
collectively taking actions to reduce the operating costs to secure 
continued operations. As reactors shut down, licensees idle facilities, 
and others delay operations, the NRC should take commensurate actions 
to reduce its budget, pursue meaningful efficiencies in operations, 
develop appropriate metrics, and improve the transparency and process 
for developing its budgets. (EXN, NEI-1, NEI-2, NFS, WEC)
    Response: Several commenters expressed concern regarding the NRC's 
budget related to the loss of licensees from particular fee classes, 
the challenge to fees that result from potentially larger budgets, the 
proper use of metrics and methods to determine the appropriate budget 
size and justifications, and a request for a public comment period on 
the proposed budget.
    The fees assessed to licensees and applicants by the NRC must 
conform to OBRA-90, which requires the NRC to collect approximately 90 
percent of its annual budget authority (less certain excluded items) 
through both user fees and annual fees. The NRC can assess these annual 
fees only to licensees or certificate holders, and the annual fee 
schedule must be fair and equitably allocate annual fees among the 
NRC's many licensees. To ensure compliance with OBRA-90, the NRC makes 
continual organizational improvements to align the resources needed to 
support its regulatory activities. These actions help mitigate impacts 
on the remaining licensees from licensees that leave a fee class by 
helping the NRC continue to develop budgets that account for regulating 
a fee class with a declining number of licensees.
    The NRC continues to examine and pursue improvements to its process 
and increases in efficiency that will allow it to meet its statutory 
responsibilities as the industry changes. The NRC continues to develop 
methods that would allow for more rapid adaption to future needs, 
changes to the technology, and the size of the licensed community.
    With regard to the request for a public comment period on the 
proposed budget, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) establishes 
the Executive Branch budget process through circulars, memoranda, and 
guidance documents. The OMB Circular No. A-11 (Circular A-11) is 
updated annually and contains extensive instructions and schedules for 
agency submission of budget requests and justification materials to 
OMB.

[[Page 29636]]

    No changes were made to the final rule as a result of these 
comments.

C. Work Papers

    Comment: Both the proposed rule and the work papers state that the 
operating power reactor annual fee increases in part due to increased 
support for new reactor design certification and early site permit 
reviews. However, neither document provides any more explanation as to 
the reason this work is increasing. Instead, one must consult the 
FY2018 Congressional Budget Justification to understand the purpose of 
this work (and even then, it remains at a fairly high level). Exelon 
recommends that at least the same level of explanation in the 
Congressional Budget Justification also be included in the proposed fee 
rule.
    The proposed rule and work papers list contract and Full Time 
Equivalent resources for general areas of research (e.g., ``engineering 
research'' and ``risk analysis''), but provides no explanation of the 
exact research activities being conducted. Breaking down these general 
research areas into more specific topics (with associated costs) would 
give licensees a more fulsome understanding of the NRC activities that 
our fees are funding. Moreover, the NRC should make clear how these 
research activities advance the agency's goals and objectives as set 
forth in its Strategic Plan.
    Similarly, the proposed rule states that certain mission-direct 
non-labor contract costs increased in FY[ ]2018 because those 
activities were funded in FY[ ]2017 with prior year unobligated 
carryover. However, the proposed rule and work papers do not describe 
whether the total contract costs for FY 2018 are increasing compared to 
FY 2017 (irrespective of the funding source). Since the work papers 
reflect these contract costs as having zero resources allocated in FY 
2017 (due to being funded by carryover), it is impossible to tell if 
more (or less) work is being done in these areas relative to last year. 
Exelon requests that, to the extent possible, in future final fee rules 
or work papers, the NRC identify which activities will be funded with 
carryover, and the amount of carryover allocated to each of those 
activities. This will enable licensees to compare total costs 
associated with NRC activities from year to year, regardless of how 
they were funded. (EXN)
    Response: The commenter is requesting additional detail in the work 
papers in order to better understand the change in work being 
performed, improved clarity regarding the use of carryover funding, and 
additional information regarding research efforts. Different 
information is provided in different publications, including the work 
papers and the CBJ because these documents serve different purposes. 
The fee rule and the supporting work papers, for instance, are 
published in order for the public and licensees to understand how fees 
are determined for a fee class and a fee category. Because consistent 
with the requirements of OBRA-90, fees are calculated based on the 
budget authority enacted for the current FY and not carryover, the fee 
rule and supporting work papers do not include information pertaining 
to carryover and including such information in these documents could 
cause confusion. The CBJ, alternatively, provides the agency 
explanation and justification for the resources being requested for the 
next FY to allow the agency to complete its mission, and it provides 
the reasoning for changes in the agency resource requests.
    Further, with respect to providing additional information regarding 
exact research activities, there are some limitations regarding the 
level of detail that can be shared on specific contracts. The NRC is 
preparing additional guidance for project managers on types of 
information that can be shared with contracts specifically assigned to 
licensee efforts. The CBJ provides an overview of the research 
activities being conducted during FY 2018. These activities include 
accident tolerant fuel confirmatory research, digital systems, 
materials degradation, cable aging, and concrete degradation. 
Additional information on research efforts is also available from the 
NRC's website at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/research.html. Including this information in the work papers for the 
proposed fee rule in future years is more likely to cause confusion 
regarding the scope of the fee rule. Additional information regarding 
the costs associated with research can be derived by comparing the work 
papers from the proposed fee rule to the final fee rule, which would 
allow the impact associated with the use of carryover to be identified 
between FYs. Work papers for the proposed and final fee rules for the 
last several years can be readily accessed at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing/fees.html.
    No changes were made to the final rule as a result of this comment.
    Comment: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reviewed the 
proposed 10 CFR 170 and 171 fee schedule for fiscal year 2018. DOE 
finds that the basis for the total annual fee amount and the level of 
effort to support the general licenses for Uranium Mill Tailings 
Radiation Control Act [(UMTRCA)] sites is not presented in the proposed 
rule or the associated work papers. Additionally, the bases for 
allocation percentages for DOE and other uranium recovery licensees and 
the generic/other uranium recovery costs in the proposed rule and work 
papers are not presented. DOE requests that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) clarify the rationale for the various fee components 
that are used to determine the total charge. This will help DOE 
evaluate whether the proposed NRC scope is consistent with anticipated 
DOE activities and establish the basis for DOE's estimate of annual 
uranium licensee fees in its budget request to Congress. (DOE)
    Response: The NRC described the overall methodology for determining 
fees for uranium recovery facilities, including DOE, in the FY 2002 fee 
rule (67 FR 42625; June 24, 2002), and the NRC continues to use this 
methodology. As the NRC explained in the proposed fee rule, the NRC 
recovers fees from DOE through both user fees charged under 10 CFR part 
170 for specific UMTRCA oversight activities and annual fees charged 
under 10 CFR part 171 for generic and other costs related to UMTRCA and 
other uranium recovery activities. As shown in the work papers 
referenced in the proposed fee rule, the NRC calculated the total 
amount of budgeted resources for UMTRCA activities related to DOE sites 
in the FY 2018 CBJ by computing the cost of staff hours budgeted to 
conduct the work (in terms of full-time equivalent, or FTE) and the 
budgeted contract costs. The total amount of budgeted resources was 
reduced by the amount expected to be recovered by part 170 user fees 
for site-specific UMTRCA activities. The NRC estimated the amount of 
part 170 user 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 is 
charged to DOE for generic activities. In addition to those generic 
costs, DOE is charged for 10 percent of the overall generic costs 
attributable to the uranium recovery program. In other words, the DOE 
fee includes the costs of generic activities related to DOE sites and 
10 percent of the overall generic costs attributable to the uranium 
recovery program. The remaining 90 percent of the overall generic costs 
is charged to other members of the uranium recovery class.

[[Page 29637]]

    The proposed fee rule described the methodology used by the NRC 
staff to determine the annual fees for uranium recovery facilities. In 
addition, Tables IX through XII of the proposed rule show the 
application of the NRC's rebaselining methodology. The supporting work 
papers for the fee calculations provided detail on the FTE and contract 
resources for each product activity that were allocated to uranium 
recovery fee class. The work papers also provided information on all 
the values of the effort/benefit factors used in the uranium recovery 
matrix for FY 2018.
    No changes were made to the final rule as a result of this comment.

D. Small Business Standards

    Comment: [Because the NRC has a different definition for small 
business in comparison to the Small Business Administration (SBA), i]t 
makes it difficult to keep track of [the] same definition creating 
additional recordkeeping which is not necessary and does not add to 
creation of business. The definition defined by the SBA better reflects 
the intent of a ``small business.'' The NRC [should] update its 
definition of small business for license purposes to [be the] same as 
SBA. (AE)
    Response: One commenter expressed concern regarding the NRC's small 
business definition. Under the SBA's regulations, other federal 
agencies may, at their discretion, establish their own standards 
through notice and comment rulemaking. The NRC updated its small 
business standards through notice and comment rulemaking, and those 
standards are separately codified at Sec.  2.810. Comments with respect 
to the NRC's size standards, therefore, are outside the scope of this 
rulemaking. No changes were made to the final rule as a result of this 
comment.
    Comment: To ensure consistency between Part 171 and Part 170 annual 
fees, NRC/[Office of the Chief Financial officer (OCFO)] should enact a 
process that addresses whether NRC has recognized a uranium water 
treatment licensee as a small entity for Part 171 fees, and if so, 
these licensees should be billed for the Part 170 annual fees in an 
amount that is commensurate with its small-entity designation. [Waste 
Remediation Technology (WRT)] is currently designated as a small entity 
under NRC regulations. It makes logical sense to designate small 
entities for fixed-fee amounts as they have limited employees, market 
share, and revenue. Coupled with the items noted above, the argument 
for changing the Part 170 fee category to a fixed-fee amount for 
entities such as WRT appears to make sense. (WRT)
    Response: The NRC's small business standards only apply to 10 CFR 
part 171 fees. Fees under 10 CFR part 170 are set as either full cost 
recovery (billed by the hour at the professional hourly rate of $275) 
or at a fixed fee depending on the fee class and fee category. As part 
of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, the NRC reviews the actual 
hours expended performing licensing actions and develops estimates of 
the average professional staff hours needed to process licensing 
actions. The most recent review was perform in FY 2017 and the next 
review is scheduled for FY 2019. Each year, the NRC calculates new flat 
fees for specific licensing actions based on the estimated average 
hours and the new professional hourly rate. As such, flat fees recover 
the full costs for a particular licensing action on average. No changes 
were made to the final rule as a result of this comment.

E. Fee Exemptions

    Comment: WRT disagrees with NRC's proposal that would limit the 
timeframe in which a request for a fee exemption must be submitted; 
limiting it to within ninety (90) days of the date of the NRC's receipt 
of the work. An applicant or a licensee should not be restricted 
regarding when it can request an exemption. In the case of a full-cost 
fee category, if the limit was set at within 90 days of receipt of an 
application or the work, that would allow for no more than one (1) 
quarterly invoice cycle from NRC. That is not enough time into the work 
for the applicant to assess billings and whether it has a need to 
request an exemption. An applicant should not be restricted as to when 
in the timeline it can request an exemption. In the alternative, if NRC 
sees fit to establish a timeline, a licensee should be permitted 180 
days to appeal thereby allowing for a thorough review of two quarterly 
invoices. Without such a timeframe, any licensee would have the 
incentive to dispute every single quarterly invoice and delay payment 
until a ruling is rendered by OCFO. WRT does not support abuse of the 
appeal process and believes this solution provides a disincentive to do 
so while maintaining fairness in the process. (WRT)
    Response: The proposed 90-day timing requirement applies to only 
those exemption requests submitted under Sec.  170.11(a)(1)--therefore, 
this 90-day timeframe is limited to only those who are seeking fee 
exemptions after submitting a request or report to the NRC. Because the 
basis for a fee exemption under Sec.  170.11(a)(1) exists at the time 
the entity submits the request/report to the NRC, the new 90-day 
timeframe will help ensure administrative efficiency and timeliness. 
Relatedly, because the basis for a fee exemption under Sec.  
170.11(a)(1) exists at the time the entity submits the request/report 
to the NRC, providing additional time to review invoices would not 
result in any material change to whether an exemption should be 
granted. Notably, this new timing requirement does not apply to 
applicants that submit an application for the NRC to review--those 
applicants remain free to seek a fee exemption at any time. No changes 
were made to the final rule as a result of this comment.

F. Uranium Recovery

    Comment: WRT is also aware of a planned pilot program to be 
initiated for several of NRC's classes of licensees to establish fixed 
fees for certain activities such as National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) processes. WRT fully supports the use of fixed fee programs to 
assure licensees or would-be-licensees of the amount of human and 
financial resources that will be necessary for obtaining and 
maintaining an NRC license, especially in the case of where a company 
such as WRT generates no revenue from the uranium source material 
generated by its services and the [Community Water Systems] that are 
being forced to comply with an unfunded federal mandate. To the extent 
practicable, WRT would like to offer its input and/or participate in 
this program to determine what accommodations can be made for it in the 
future in the event license amendments are sought or the next license 
renewal is required. (WRT)
    Response: The commenter appears to be referencing the flat fee 
pilot program that the NRC is currently in the process of developing 
for uranium recovery licensees. No licensees are actively participating 
in the flat fee pilot program at this time. At this point, the NRC has 
developed a new data reporting structure, trained staff on its use, and 
is actively collecting data on licensing costs in order to develop 
information that would allow the development of recommendations to the 
Commission regarding a potential flat fee program. The NRC expects to 
complete its data collection by the end of FY 2018. The staff expects 
to engage the public on whether to implement any flat fee program for 
uranium recovery licensees and applicants as part of the FY 2020 fee 
rulemaking. No changes were made to the final rule as a result of this 
comment.
    Comment: If Wyoming becomes an Agreement State for the purposes of 
regulating uranium recovery by the

[[Page 29638]]

beginning of FY 2019 (October 1, 2018) as NRC has stated, the remaining 
three licensees are not--nor should they be placed--in a position to 
pay for the current NRC programmatic infrastructure associated with 
this category of licensee. NRC has assured stakeholders that they are 
considering various funding options to avoid this potential outcome; 
yet, industry has had no visibility of what could be a significant NRC 
policy and fee rule decision which will impact licensees' purses in 
less than 8 months. We urge you to engage the potentially remaining NRC 
licensees on this matter today. Further, it is unclear whether 
conducting a ``flat fee'' pilot for this category of licensees in FY 
2020, as stated by NRC during the February 12, 2018 meeting, is the 
best use of limited NRC and industry resources. NRC should consult with 
the potentially remaining licensees and revisit this decision. (NEI-1)
    Response: The NRC is aware of the challenge and is currently 
evaluating options to ensure that annual fees for the uranium recovery 
fee class remain fair and equitable if Wyoming becomes an Agreement 
State in FY 2019. The NRC plans to share the results of the evaluation 
with stakeholders once it is complete. With respect to the flat fee 
pilot program, the NRC has already developed and implemented the new 
data structure necessary to collect information that would be used to 
inform recommendations that the staff would provide to the Commission 
on the uranium recovery fee class. Only a minimal effort is required to 
complete the collection of data. The data collection process is 
expected to be completed by November 2018. Based on Wyoming's status 
and the collected data, the staff will evaluate how best to proceed and 
whether the flat fee pilot program continues to be a good use of 
resources or whether other changes should be pursued. No changes were 
made to the final rule as a result of this comment.
    Comment: WRT asserts that the fee category for uranium drinking 
water treatment licensees should be changed from its current 
designation 2.A. (5), with the associated ``full-cost'' fee, to a 
category with a fixed annual fee. WRT suggests category 2.F. (Program 
Codes 11200 or 11300), All Other Source Material Licenses, or similar. 
Charging a full-cost fee to either a company like WRT, or an individual 
community water system (CWS) is unsustainable for them to comply with 
the radionuclide-treatment mandate of the [Safe Drinking Water Act 
(SDWA)]. These types of costs, licensing or otherwise, likely are a 
primary reason why many CWSs do not treat their water or resort to 
alternative and, potentially less protective, approaches such as 
blending water.
    The basic premise that uranium drinking water treatment should be 
in the same overall fee category (the 2.A. activities) with uranium 
recovery activities is misguided. All the licensed activities in this 
category are identified as licensees processing and/or recovering 
uranium source material for the inherent value of the source material, 
primarily for introduction to or refining in the commercial nuclear 
fuel cycle--that is where these activities derive their income. Many of 
these identified licensees also generate 11e. (2) Byproduct material 
and other kinds of regulated wastes, whereas WRT does not. The action 
phrases of these various identified licensees and/or activities listed 
in the 2.A. category of the Schedule speak directly to this point--
refining uranium mill concentrates, uranium recovery operations such as 
milling, ISR, etc. Even the source-material byproduct activities of 
2.A. (3) and (4) are activities that are subsequent to uranium recovery 
or processing operations. All such licensed activities are designed for 
the licensee to derive their income from the value of the uranium 
source material and are fuel-cycle or similar such facilities. Further, 
the level of risk associated with these licensed activities is very 
low, but those associated with WRT are even lower, and this low level 
of risk has been demonstrated through the Agreement State-licensed 
uranium water treatment systems data submitted in WRT's 2016 license 
renewal application.
    Now, compare these activities above with the action phrase of 
drinking water treatment currently in category 2.A. (5)--``removal of 
source material contaminants.'' This uranium source material has no 
inherent value; [Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)] deemed it a 
contaminant under the SDWA that needed to be removed (not recovered) 
from drinking water sources based on concerns for public health and 
safety. The public and private CWSs that must deal with this issue 
derive no income from the uranium, but instead, it costs them to comply 
with an unfunded federal mandate. Thus, either WRT or a CWS choosing to 
perform its own uranium water treatment must bear these costs. As a 
result, WRT cannot sustain these full-cost fees on its own based on the 
business model used by the licensee, and CWSs cannot sustain such costs 
on their own, whether WRT passes such costs on to them for payment, or 
if such CWSs elect to perform such activities themselves and are forced 
to pay such costs as an NRC licensee.
    It can similarly be argued that WRT is not a ``producer'' of source 
material, but rather a ``service provider'' consistent with NRC 
regulations and guidance. Indeed, WRT's initial license application and 
the format of its current license shows that the identified licensed 
activities in this license are services provided to third-party 
entities such as CWSs and not as a part of a mining/milling operation 
conducted by the same licensee.
    Therefore, WRT believes it would be a great source of relief to 
CWSs requiring uranium water treatment in accord with an unfunded 
federal mandate or entities such as WRT seeking to assist such CWSs in 
these endeavors if the fee category for WRT or other similar licensees 
was revised to a reasonable fixed fee amount.
    In the case of WRT's license, support for using the ``other source 
material'' designation of fee category 2.F. comes from the fact that 
nearly all of the Agreement State licenses (seven (7)--CA, GA, IL, NM, 
NC, TX, WI) that WRT holds for uranium and/or radium water treatment 
have both a fee category similar to NRC's ``other'' category 2.F., and 
a reasonable fixed fee. Two other Agreement States, Colorado and New 
Jersey, have issued WRT service-provider licenses, both with reasonable 
fixed annual fees, also similar to that of NRC fee category 2.F. 
Indeed, the use of the term ``other'' when describing certain source 
material licensees fits squarely within the way NRC regulations address 
WRT. For example, in addition to having the only NRC license of its 
kind through its performance-based, multi-site nature, NRC's most 
recent rulemaking regarding small quantities of source material or the 
rule that address the amount of source material that may be possessed 
at any one time and during a calendar year in total (i.e., 10 CFR . . . 
40.22) reduced the amount of such possessed source material from 
fifteen (15) pounds at any one time and 150 pounds in a calendar year 
to much lower limits based on identified entities that were not 
considered in previous rulemaking and in an attempt to protect public 
health and safety. However, in this rulemaking, NRC specifically 
identified licensees such as WRT as excluded from such lower limits and 
allowed a general license to remain in effect under the previous 15/150 
limits. Thus, by this exclusion, NRC specifically identified WRT as a 
licensee with extremely low risk and capable of handling such levels of 
source material. Further, the low

[[Page 29639]]

level of risk and low requirements for license maintenance (e.g., site 
registration) are further supported by technical and environmental data 
in WRT's license renewal application showing the previously projected 
health and safety risks are indeed extremely conservative and the 
actual risk is much lower. These unique factors further support 
treating WRT in a manner different from other 2.A licensees. (WRT)
    Response: While WRT's comment articulates a number of arguments to 
support changing the current fee category designation for uranium 
drinking water treatment licensees, the NRC considers this change to be 
outside the scope of this rulemaking because members of the public 
would not have had sufficient notice of the change requested by the 
commenter. Further, the NRC would need additional information not 
currently available to it in order to determine whether a flat fee 
would be appropriate and provide a method for setting the fee at an 
appropriate level in order to recover the NRC costs. The staff will 
take this comment into consideration as it prepares the policy paper in 
support of the FY 2019 proposed fee rule. As a result, the NRC expects 
to seek public comment on this issue as part of the FY 2019 fee 
rulemaking, and that would provide sufficient notice to the public and 
an opportunity to provide comments on the fee category. For FY 2018, 
WRT requested and was granted a partial fee-waiver (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML18102A477) in relation to the NRC's review of its license renewal 
application. No changes were made to the final rule as a result of this 
comment.

G. Variance Between Proposed Fee Rule and Final Fee Rule Amounts

    Comment: [T]here appears to be greater variance between the annual 
fees in the proposed and final fee rules in recent years. These 
fluctuations make it more difficult to manage costs associated with NRC 
activities over the course of each year. Accordingly, we would welcome 
any improvements to developing the fee rule that lead to less 
variability between the proposed and final rules. (HW)
    Response: One commenter expressed concern over the recent variance 
between the proposed rule and the final rule fee amounts. The agency 
strives to produce fees that accurately reflect the information 
available to it at the time that the proposed rule is issued for public 
comment. In the absence of an enacted appropriation, the agency uses 
the best information available, including the CBJ, information 
regarding historic appropriations, and a discussion of assumptions used 
in developing the budgetary resources used to calculate fees. Further, 
the NRC strives to provide conservative estimates in its proposed rule 
in order to provide licensees and applicants with information regarding 
the potential highest fees. Even with the NRC's effort to include 
conservative estimates in the proposed rule, changes associated with 
the enacted appropriations (including direction to use carryover, 
exclusion of activities from the fee-recoverable budget, and other 
changes) can cause the final fees to be different than the proposed 
rule. As a result of the FY 2018 enacted appropriations, the total 
annual fees to be recovered for fuel facilities is $27.7 million, which 
is a 2.5 percent decrease from FY 2017. However, average annual fees 
for each fee category in this fee class increased varied from 1.2 to 
1.3 percent due to the loss of two licensees. No changes were made to 
the final rule as a result of this comment.

H. Invoicing

    Comment: As Westinghouse understands the new [Enterprise Project 
Identifier (EPID)/Cost Activity Code (CAC)] structure, it is provided 
to increase visibility on the NRC charges. The EPIDs identify 
individual projects and the CACs are generically identified and defined 
by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO); based on the new 
structure, there is the possibility for one EPID to have multiple CACs. 
Based on the Westinghouse invoice, we are seeing mixed results in terms 
of transparency. In some areas, there are EPIDs with multiple CACs (for 
example, inspections are divided into preparation, travel, and 
performing the inspection), which we understand is the expectation to 
increase transparency on the invoices. However, in most areas, there is 
one CAC per EPID, so there is no further breakdown of the changes 
within the project and does not increase the transparency on the 
invoices. We would expect that the NRC offices would abide by the 
OCFO's new process and adopt more than one CAC per EPID. (WEC)
    Response: This comment is outside the scope of this rulemaking 
because the purpose of the NRC's annual fee recovery rulemaking is to 
update the NRC's fee schedules to recover approximately 90 percent of 
the NRC's budget authority for the current fiscal year, and to make 
other necessary corrections or appropriate changes to specific aspects 
of the NRC's fee regulations. However, as an informational update, the 
NRC notes that the use and guidance for EPIDs continues to be improved 
across the agency, which should continue to provide additional 
transparency to licensees and applicants. No changes were made to the 
final rule as a result of this comment.
    Comment: Recent improvements in the clarity and transparency of 
invoices issued to licensees are greatly appreciated. However, 
additional action is needed to address remaining areas of concern. One 
such area occurs in billing of inspection costs. Estimates of direct 
inspection hours are available for each inspection (totaling 
approximately 1,863 hours/site under the baseline inspection program), 
but invoices currently do not distinguish between direct inspection 
hours and inspection support activities. The cost for these support 
activities, which include documentation, preparation, travel and 
significance determination efforts, are in many cases double or triple 
the cost of direct inspection hours (Average 3,488 hours/site). The 
absence of estimates for support activities necessary for each 
inspection and a clear identification of support hours presents a 
challenge for accountability and tracking of inspection costs. Invoices 
should identify costs associated with the separate and distinct aspects 
of inspections (e.g., direct inspection hours, preparation, 
documentation, travel, significance determination process). (NEI-2)
    Response: This comment is outside the scope of this rulemaking 
because the purpose of the NRC's annual fee recovery rulemaking is to 
update the NRC's fee schedules to recover approximately 90 percent of 
the NRC's budget authority for the current fiscal year, and to make 
other necessary corrections or appropriate changes to specific aspects 
of the NRC's fee regulations. However, as an informational update, the 
NRC remains dedicated to improving transparency in its fee billing. On 
January 30, 2015, the staff submitted SECY-15-0015, ``Project Aim 2020 
Report and Recommendations'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML15012A594), to the 
Commission. That paper included, in part, recommendations associated 
with simplifying how the NRC calculates its fees, improving 
transparency in the fee billing process, and improving the timeliness 
of the NRC's communications about fee changes. The Commission approved 
these recommendations and since that time, the staff has been actively 
implementing them.
    The NRC is implementing a number of initiatives in response to the 
Commission's direction to provide

[[Page 29640]]

better fee billing information to licensees, including information 
related to the costs of inspections. For example:
    (a) As part of the fee transformation initiative, the agency posted 
resource estimate summaries, which were based on historical inspection 
data, at https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1727/ML17271A262.pdf (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML17271A262). These summaries include information related 
to direct inspection costs. The table also includes a line item for 
documentation, preparation, travel to and from the site, plant status, 
etc. Actual effort may vary based on regional and site needs.
    (b) As noted on the NRC's website at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing/sample-invoice.pdf, the bill to the licensee 
includes the names of the inspectors for the invoice period, the hours 
charged, the hourly rate, and total amount billed to the licensee in 
the invoice period. The bill also includes the cost activity code that 
the inspectors charged to. The cost activity code distinguishes the 
inspection-related work from the inspection support-related work.
    (c) The agency increased standardization of the financial charging 
system used by inspectors and all NRC personnel. The new system allows 
the grouping of costs for a single inspection or other project so that 
costs are no longer commingled within the invoice for multiple 
projects, and consolidates all the charges under a given project for 
the invoice period.
    (d) The Division of Inspection and Regional Support within the 
NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation is also working on a new 
document that will be made publicly available to explain the highlights 
and overall structure of the Reactor Oversight Process budget model.
    The NRC also notes that each inspection procedure includes the 
direct inspection resource estimates, in hours, required to complete 
the inspection. Because inspections also include necessary indirect 
inspection resources such as preparation, documentation and travel, and 
can vary in complexity depending on the issue being evaluated, the 
associated hours may deviate from the estimates in the inspection 
procedure in some cases. The agency looks for trends and biennially 
evaluates every baseline inspection procedure to determine if resource 
estimates need to be reallocated.
    In summary, the agency provides anticipated hours for inspections 
through the inspection procedure resource estimates and has taken 
action to provide better detail and transparency in the invoice. No 
changes were made to the final rule as a result of this comment.

I. Low-Level Waste Surcharge

    Comment: [W]e believe the staff should validate the ``Low Level 
Waste Surcharge'' (LLW) figures in table IV of the proposed rule (page 
3411 of the Federal Register Notice). Specifically, it seems illogical 
that the fuel facilities would be allocated the highest LLW surcharge 
percentage considering the number of facilities and plants nationwide 
in some stage of decommissioning. Since NRC fees are based in part on 
the LLW surcharge, NRC should work with the Department of Energy to 
ensure the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of data entered into 
DOE's Manifest Information Management System (MIMS). MIMS contains data 
on four generator classes, and it is unclear whether fuel cycle 
facilities are aligned with the class generically identified as 
``industrial.'' (NEI-1)
    Response: The DOE was required by law (42 U.S.C. 2021g(a)) to 
establish a computerized database to monitor low-level radioactive 
wastes. The DOE created and is responsible for the MIMS database that 
was created to monitor the management of commercial LLW in the United 
States. The LLW surcharge percentages included in Table IV in the 
proposed FY 2018 fee rule for Operating Power Reactors, Fuel 
Facilities, and Materials Users reflect the 5-year average of the data 
available in MIMS for the relevant licensees. Fuel facilities are 
aligned with the MIMS Class identified as ``Industry'' and the Fuel 
Facilities percentage is based on a fraction of the 5-year average for 
the Industry Class.
    At the time the proposed FY 2018 fee rule was issued, the most 
recent data available from the MIMS database was from 2016. The final 
FY 2018 fee rule includes updated LLW surcharge percentages which 
account for the 2017 MIMS data that was recently populated into the 
database by DOE. The 2017 data included a significant increase to the 
volume reported under the ``Utility'' Class, which is used to determine 
the percentage for Power Reactors. The increase to the volume reported 
under the Utility Class in 2017 shifted the percentages for Fuel 
Facilities and Power Reactors as seen in Table IV, ``Allocation of Fee-
Relief and LLW Surcharge FY 2018.'' As a result, compared to the 
proposed FY 2018 fee rule, the percentage of the LLW surcharge for 
Operating Power Reactors increased from 41.0 percent to 75 percent, 
Fuel Facilities decreased from 46 percent to 20 percent, and Material 
Users decreased from 13 percent to 5 percent. Please refer to Table IV 
and the accompanying discussion for additional details.

J. Efficiency

    Comment: The NRC needs to continue to pursue improvements in 
efficient operations. Over several years, the NRC has pursued 
efficiency improvements through Project AIM and other initiatives that 
has resulted in small declines of support functions included in the 
professional hourly rate. These improvements have not translated into 
the professional hourly rate or annual fees. (NEI-1, NEI-2, WEC)
    Response: This comment pertains to agency efficiency and is 
therefore outside the scope of this rulemaking because the purpose of 
the NRC's annual fee rulemaking is to update the NRC's fee schedules to 
recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's budget authority for the 
current fiscal year, and to make other necessary corrections or 
appropriate changes to specific aspects of the NRC's fee regulations. 
However, as an informational update, the NRC notes that it has 
completed several initiatives to improve the efficiency of the agency, 
some of which include: Reducing the size of the agency through early 
buy-outs and retirements, as well as reducing corporate support. The 
NRC continues to look for additional methods to improve the efficiency 
and flexibility. No changes were made to the final rule as a result of 
these comments.
    Comment: In the Proposed Fee Rule, NRC proposes eleven 
administrative changes. The first change is to ``revise the methodology 
of charging licensees for overhead time for project managers (PMs) and 
resident inspectors (Rls).'' The revised methodology proposes removing 
the 6% of direct billable costs added as an overhead cost to all 
licensees' invoices, and replace with the ``actual hours for activities 
that support and directly benefit the assigned licensee or site.''
    While Westinghouse applauds NRC for removing the unnecessary 
allocation, it is unclear how the replacement system (i.e., ``docket-
related fee-billable cost activity codes'') will drive efficient work 
from project managers. We would expect that, to the maximum extent 
practical, activities that support and directly benefit Westinghouse 
would be assigned to a specific Enterprise Project Identifier (EPID), 
rather than a general ``project management'' EPID/Cost Activity Code 
(CAC). Based on Westinghouse's most recently received invoices, the 
project manager was responsible for between 24% and 99%

[[Page 29641]]

of the invoiced charges to a given docket, so it seems unnecessary to 
have a separate ``project management'' EPID/CAC. Additionally, 
Westinghouse requests publically available guidance to the staff on 
what is ``fee-billable.'' (WEC)
    Response: This comment appears to address four distinct issues: (1) 
Removal of the 6-percent charge; (2) replacement methodology for the 6-
percent charge; (3) use of the project management CAC/EPID; and (4) 
publicly available guidance on fee-billable activities. While the first 
two items are within the scope of the rule, items 3 and 4 are outside 
the scope of this rulemaking because the purpose of the NRC's annual 
fee recovery rulemaking is to update the NRC's fee schedules to recover 
approximately 90 percent of the NRC's budget authority for the current 
fiscal year, and to make other necessary corrections or appropriate 
changes to specific aspects of the NRC's fee regulations. However, the 
NRC will provide an informational update on items 3 and 4.
    First, the commenter, like other commenters, appears to be 
generally supportive of the removal of the 6-percent overhead charge 
for the part 170 bills.
    Second, the commenter expresses concern that the replacement system 
described in the proposed fee rule (i.e., using new docket-related fee-
billable CACs) will not result in efficient work from PMs. For PMs, the 
NRC has decided that no new CACs will be implemented as part of the 
replacement system; only RIs will be using the new CACs established to 
replace the 6-percent charge. The replacement system is discussed in 
more detail above under ``FY 2018--Administrative Changes, 1. Revise 
the Methodology of charging licensees for overhead time for project 
managers (PMs) and resident inspectors (RIs).''
    Third, the commenter requests that activities that support and 
directly benefit Westinghouse be assigned to a specific EPID and not 
assigned to a general project management CAC/EPID. As an informational 
update, the NRC notes that PMs typically use the general project 
management CAC/EPID combination (e.g., 000958/L-2017-PMP-0023) to 
capture direct fee-billable services that are not associated with a 
specific request or activity. Such activities include, for example, 
time that the PM for a facility spends in discussions with the licensee 
regarding licensee operations, licensee plans for future license 
amendment and license renewal submittals, as well as other issues. The 
use of a more specific EPID would refer to a specific request or 
activity, and the work recorded under that CAC/EPID combination (e.g., 
000958/L-2012-TOP-002) would indicate substantive work on that specific 
request or activity. When looking at all of the CAC/EPID combinations, 
time spent on fee-billable general project management activities 
account for significantly less of the total part 170 fees charged to a 
particular docket. The NRC, however, appreciates the confusion that 
could be caused by the general project management CAC description and 
will consider whether improvements can be made with respect to the CAC.
    Fourth, the commenter requests publicly available fee-billable 
guidance for the staff. As an informational update, the NRC notes that 
the use and guidance for EPIDs continues to be improved across the 
agency, which should continue to provide additional transparency to 
licensees and applicants. At this time, the NRC does not intend to make 
additional guidance publically available. In 10 CFR part 170, the 
regulations identify the specific types of the activities that will 
incur fees for services.

K. Fuel Facilities

    Comment: Several commenters raised concerns regarding the ratio of 
part 170 fees for service to the part 171 annual fees for the Fuel 
Facilities fee class. They raised concerns regarding the differences in 
these ratios between different fee classes including the higher ratio 
of part 170 billing in the Operating Power Reactor fee class. They 
questioned the reason for these higher non-direct services in the Fuel 
Facilities fee class and whether the activities are reasonable and 
appropriate, and requested that the NRC provide additional information 
regarding these non-direct services. (HW, UUSA)
    Response: All NRC fee classes have slightly different ratios of 10 
CFR part 170 fees versus 10 CFR part 171 fees because the amount of 
fees collected by the agency under 10 CFR part 170 are directly 
impacted by licensee decisions. For the power reactors, for instance, 
the NRC has been working on new reactor application and design 
certification reviews, and Fukushima-related activities, license 
renewal activities, and other complex license amendments such as 
extended power-up rates have been completed or are winding down. These 
activities contribute to the lower ratio of 10 CFR part 170 fees versus 
10 CFR part 171 fees for the power reactor fee class. By contrast, 
licensees in the fuel facilities fee class have indicated that they 
have no desire to make changes to their licenses, which reduces the 
amount of fees that can be collected under 10 CFR part 170. Further, in 
a fee class with a small number of licensees (like fuel facilities), 
these licensing decisions can have a much larger impact on the ratio 
than with large fee classes (like the power reactors).
    With regard to the request for additional information, in public 
meetings conducted on February 12, 2018, and March 27, 2018, the NRC 
staff provided an overview of the fuel facilities budget and an 
illustrative breakdown of NRC costs recovered by 10 CFR part 170 
services fees and 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. Slides from these public 
meetings are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML18040A317 and 
ML18082A599, respectively. Also you can view them at https://adams.nrc.gov/wba/.
    No changes were made to the final rule as a result of these 
comments.
    Comment: Several commenters raised concerns regarding the 
prioritization of resources in the fuel facilities fee class to the 
most safety significant issues. They requested that the NRC improve the 
timeliness of license amendments and renewals, transition routine 
inspections to the resident inspectors, where applicable, reduce 
inspection frequencies to reflect historical inspection results, and 
eliminate unnecessary rulemaking initiatives, and maintenance of 
guidance documents. (NEI-1, NEI-2)
    Response: The NRC staff agrees that regulatory initiatives that are 
of the most benefit in terms of safety or safeguards should be given 
higher priority. The agency carefully considers the benefits of 
regulatory initiatives it pursues. For example, the rulemaking process 
(including associated guidance documents) is a very deliberate and open 
public process that invites input and feedback from a broad range of 
stakeholders. We do appreciate that stakeholders may have different 
views regarding the need for, or benefit to be derived from, various 
regulatory initiatives. The NRC carefully considers all stakeholder 
input in its determination of whether or not to recommend proceeding 
with a given initiative. For rulemakings, this determination is 
documented in a regulatory analysis which informs the Commission's 
decision on whether or not to ultimately proceed. In addition, public 
meetings with licensees on the cumulative effects of regulation have 
been an effective forum for dialogue on regulatory initiatives being 
considered and taken by the NRC. No changes were made to the final rule 
as a result of these comments.

[[Page 29642]]

    Comment: Several commenters provided views regarding the effort 
factors matrix, including requests to maintain the current matrix, 
requests to change the existing matrix's calculation methodology, and 
proposed changes to the classification of a licensee's specific effort 
factors. (HW, NFS, UUSA)
    Response: In response to industry concerns about the fairness and 
equity of annual fees charged to fuel facilities, the NRC analyzed its 
past practice of using an effort factors matrix to calculate annual 
fees for the fuel facilities fee class to determine if revisions to the 
current method may be warranted. The NRC held two public meetings to 
discuss possible alternative approaches to the method of calculating 
annual fees for the fuel facility fee class including changes to the 
effort factors matrix. As part of that process, the NRC received 
numerous comments on the current and alternative methods for 
determining annual fees. The comments were mixed as to whether NRC 
should continue working on changes to the methodology for calculating 
annual fees. Some stakeholders indicated that NRC should continue with 
this effort, while others stated that NRC should consider alternatives, 
such as a reduction of budgeted resources, before changing the current 
fuel facility effort factors matrix.
    During the meetings, the staff indicated that it did not intend to 
make any changes to the method of calculating annual fees in the FY 
2018 fee rule since it is in the process of engaging stakeholders, and 
any recommendations related to the effort factors matrix would be 
addressed as part of recommendations for the FY 2019 proposed fee rule. 
The NRC staff will consider these comments, and any other comments on 
the effort factors matrix, as it prepares the proposed fee rule for FY 
2019. No changes were made to the final rule as a result of these 
comments.

L. Comments Regarding the Size of the Fuel Facilities Budget

    Comment: Several commenters expressed concern that the fuel 
facility business line's budget is too large given the activities 
performed and the number of licensees. One commenter expressed concern 
that the level of resources assigned to the fuel facilities fee class 
was too large in light of the risk profile for the facilities. (HW, 
NEI-1, NFS, UUSA, WEC)
    Response: The fuel facilities business line is responsible for 
ensuring the safety and security of fuel cycle and greater than 
critical mass facilities. The business line leads the licensing and 
oversight of these facilities, as well as domestic material control and 
accounting and international safeguards implementation activities for 
the NRC. The business line also supports rulemaking and environmental 
review activities for fuel facilities.
    The NRC has taken steps to right-size the fuel facilities budget to 
ensure that it reflects the reduced workload in the business line. A 
peak workload was experienced in FY 2012. The FY 2018 fuel facilities 
budget of $35.1 million is a third less than the FY 2012 fuel 
facilities budget of $54.4 million. Further, the 114 FTE in the FY 2018 
fuel facilities budget is over a third less than the 184 FTE in the FY 
2012 fuel facilities budget.
    The NRC's FY 2018 fuel facilities budget has increased slightly 
from the FY 2017 fuel facilities budget. This small increase resulted 
from (a) the transfer of 1 FTE of enforcement resources from the 
nuclear materials users fee class to the fuel facilities fee class to 
reflect the fee class benefiting from the work being performed by this 
FTE, and (b) an increase in the NRC fully costed FTE rate. However, the 
``Congressional Budget Justification, Fiscal Year 2019,'' (NUREG-1100, 
Volume 34) includes a decrease of 6 FTE for the fuel facilities 
business line budget relative to the FY 2018 CBJ, which continues the 
overall downward trend in the fuel facilities budget.
    In public meetings conducted on February 12, 2018, and March 27, 
2018, the NRC provided an overview of the fuel facilities budget and an 
illustrative breakdown of NRC costs recovered by 10 CFR part 170 
services fees and 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. Slides from these public 
meetings are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML18040A317 and 
ML18082A599, respectively.
    Regarding the assertion that the NRC should reduce its budget 
commensurate with the reduction in the number of fuel facilities that 
pay fees, the NRC agrees, but that reduction is not linearly 
proportional as there is a cost for the infrastructure that must be 
maintained independent of the number of operational fuel facilities. 
These infrastructure costs include indirect services and the business 
line portion of corporate support. Indirect services include 
rulemaking, maintaining guidance for licensees, maintaining procedures 
for NRC staff, training, and travel. Corporate support includes, for 
example, the cost for information management, information technology, 
security, facilities management, rent, utilities, financial management, 
acquisitions, human resources, and policy support.
    The NRC continues to actively evaluate resource requirements, both 
in terms of overall budget numbers and FTEs, to address changes that 
occur between budget formulation and execution. The NRC will continue 
to assess resource requirements and evaluate programmatic efficiencies 
that could result in additional resource reductions, and make changes 
as appropriate during budget execution.
    One commenter expressed concern regarding the total number of FTEs 
assigned to a business line. The commenter stated that the resources 
supporting fuel facilities were 82 FTEs in FY 2017, and the resources 
increased to 114 FTEs in FY 2018. The numbers identified by the 
commenter refer to different categories of personnel and are not 
directly comparable. In FY 2017, 81.7 FTEs were identified as mission-
direct resources. In FY 2018, the mission-direct resources increased to 
82.7 FTEs. This is the 1 FTE increase discussed previously. The 114 
FTEs identified by the commenter refers to the FTE included in the FY 
2018 CBJ, which includes both mission-direct and mission-indirect 
resources.
    No changes were made to the final rule as a result of these 
comments.

M. Decline in Part 170 Fee Collections

    Comment: There are eight operating commercial nuclear power plants 
that have announced premature closings between now and 2025. As power 
reactors announce premature shutdowns and 10 CFR part 170 user fee 
collections decrease, the remaining operating power reactors will bear 
the burden of increased annual fees unless the fee-recoverable portion 
of the NRC's budget authority decreases. This disparity between lower 
10 CFR part 170 user fees and rising 10 CFR part 171 annual fees cannot 
be maintained and must be promptly corrected. (NEI-2, EXN)
    Response: The NRC is aware of and accounts for the decreasing 
number of nuclear power reactor licensees. For instance, as part of our 
budgeting process, the NRC tracks licensee plans to cease operations 
and adjusts its budget requests to reflect the anticipated work and 
ensure that agency will continue to meet its statutory requirements.
    The NRC, however, must comply with OBRA-90, which requires the NRC 
to collect approximately 90 percent of its annual budget authority 
(less certain excluded items) through both user fees and annual fees. 
The NRC can assess these annual fees only to licensees or certificate 
holders, and the annual fee schedule must be fair and must

[[Page 29643]]

equitably allocate annual fees among the NRC's many licensees. To 
ensure compliance with OBRA-90, the NRC makes continual organizational 
improvements to budget only the resources needed to support its 
regulatory activities.
    The amount of user fees collected under 10 CFR part 170 depends on 
a number of different factors including the professional hourly rate, 
licensee and applicant decisions to pursue licensing actions, and the 
amount of hours necessary to resolve any licensing actions. Due to 
OBRA-90 requirements, examining changes in the 10 CFR part 170 fees and 
the 10 CFR part 171 fees separately may not account for the overall 
decreases in the fee class budget or the realized efficiencies. Over 
the last several years, the fee class budget for the Operating Power 
Reactors fee class has decreased from $762.1 million in FY 2015 to 
$669.9 million in the FY 2018 final rule. In the ``Congressional Budget 
Justification: Fiscal Year 2019'' (NUREG-1100, Volume 34), the Nuclear 
Reactor Safety program shows continuing declines in requested budgetary 
resources for FY 2019.
    Despite the decreasing number of operating nuclear power plants, 
the number of licensing actions completed per year has slightly 
increased over the past two fiscal years and demonstrates the improving 
efficiencies realized from the Project Aim initiatives including 
reductions in FTEs and improved management focus on process 
improvements. The NRC continues to pursue additional improvements to 
efficiency and ensuring that its budgetary request accurately reflects 
the anticipated work.
    No changes were made to the final rule as a result of these 
comments.
    Comment: Several commenters expressed concern regarding the 
declining fraction of fees recovered under 10 CFR part 170 (Service 
Fees) relative to 10 CFR part 171 (Annual Fees), as well as the NRC's 
overall budget for the Fuel Facilities Fee Class. The commenters noted 
that these fees were being borne by a decreasing number of facilities 
with a decreasing number of licensing actions. They also asked for more 
information on what specific activities contribute to the non-direct 
portion of the budget that is recovered in the annual fees charged to 
licensees. (NEI-1, UUSA, WEC)
    Response: The NRC is aware of the current economic state of the 
fuel cycle industry and remains mindful of the impact of its budget on 
the fees for licensees. The Fuel Facilities Fee Class supports the 
activities of the fuel facilities business line, including both direct-
billable licensing actions and those general activities that indirectly 
support the agency's mission in these areas. The overall budget for the 
fuel facilities business line has decreased significantly in recent 
years. For example, the number of budgeted staff positions in the fuel 
facilities business line has decreased from 184 FTE in FY 2012 to 114 
FTE in FY 2018, or 38 percent. The NRC continues to adjust its proposed 
budget in line with anticipated work load for the business line.
    Since FY 2012, services billed directly to individual fuel facility 
licensees under 10 CFR part 170 have decreased. The reasons for this 
include: Fewer applications for new licenses, license renewals, and 
license amendments; fewer inspections; and less construction inspection 
activity. The decrease in 10 CFR part 170 collections in recent years 
has meant that the amount to be recovered by annual fees has not 
decreased commensurate with the overall decrease in the budget for the 
fuel facilities business line. Further, the decline in the number of 
operating fuel facilities (from ten in FY 2012 to seven in FY 2018) has 
led to an increase in the annual fee burden for the remaining fuel 
facilities, even though the total budgeted resources for this fee class 
have dropped during that time period.
    The business line must maintain certain minimum requirements in 
order to meet the NRC's regulatory and statutory oversight role. This 
includes maintaining expertise in a number of technical areas, 
including: Integrated safety analysis, radiation protection, 
criticality safety, chemical safety, fire safety, emergency management, 
environmental protection, decommissioning, management measures, 
material control and accounting, physical protection, and information 
security. Budgeted resources in technical areas are recovered through 
annual fees as well as user fees.
    In a public meeting on March 27, 2018, the NRC staff discussed how 
the annual fees support other activities that are necessary for the 
Fuel Facilities Fee Class as a whole. The presentations from the 
meeting address these areas and are available in ADAMS under Accession 
No. ML18082A604.
    As discussed in the meeting, these activities include, among 
others, fuel facilities' proportion of corporate support functions for 
the NRC (for example, infrastructure, financial and information 
services, and other administrative functions), supervisory and 
management functions, and non-billable licensing and oversight 
activities (for example, program development and program maintenance). 
The cost of these areas together constitute about three-quarters of 
what is recovered through 10 CFR part 171 annual fees, and thus about 
half of the total business line budget. The remainder of the annual fee 
portion includes small amounts to support rulemaking and guidance 
development, staff training and related travel, and event response. 
Further detail is presented in the slides on stakeholder feedback from 
the March 27, 2018 meeting (available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML18082A604). No changes were made to this final rule as a result of 
these comments.

N. Comments Generally Supporting Actions of the Agency

    Several commenters expressed comments generally in favor of actions 
that the agency is taking with respect to fees, billing, and other 
aspects of the fee rule process. Comments generally in favor of the 
agency's actions included comments supporting the public meetings on 
the proposed fee rule and invoicing, the move to new formats for 
invoices, plans to support e-billing, and the removal of the 6-percent 
overhead charge for the 10 CFR part 170 bills. No new or different 
information was developed as a result of these comments, and thus, no 
changes to the rule were made because of these comments.

O. Comments on Matters Not Related to This Rulemaking

    Several commenters raised issues outside the scope of the FY 2018 
fee rule. Commenters raised concerns with the agency's budgeting 
process and requesting public meetings on the agency's proposed budget. 
Other commenters were concerned with the agency's overall size. A few 
commenters raised concerns regarding the fees that are assessed as part 
of Sec. Sec.  11.15(e) and 25.17(f); however, those portions of the 
NRC's regulations are not within the scope of the FY 2018 fee rule. 
Another commenter raised concerns regarding copyright and tort reform 
for small businesses, and a commenter requested a ban on offsite 
drilling.
    These matters are outside the scope of this rulemaking. The primary 
purpose of the NRC's annual fee recovery final rule is to update the 
NRC's fee schedules to recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's 
budgeted authority 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.

[[Page 29644]]

    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 final rule, 
the NRC will consider this input in its future program operations.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended 
(RFA),\14\ the NRC has prepared a regulatory flexibility analysis 
relating to this rule. The regulatory flexibility analysis is available 
as indicated in Section XIV, Availability of Documents, of this 
document.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ 5 U.S.C. 603. The RFA, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, has been amended 
by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 
Public Law 104-121, Title II, 110 Stat. 847 (1996).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Regulatory Analysis

    Under OBRA-90, the NRC is required to recover approximately 90 
percent of its budget authority in FY 2018. The NRC established fee 
methodology guidelines for 10 CFR part 170 in 1978, and established 
additional fee methodology guidelines for 10 CFR part 171 in 1986. In 
subsequent rulemakings, the NRC has adjusted its fees without changing 
the underlying principles of its fee policy to ensure that the NRC 
continues to comply with the statutory requirements for cost recovery 
in OBRA-90.
    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.

VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109 (and 
similar provisions in the NRC's regulations for other licensee fee 
classes), 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.

VIII. 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 
31885).

IX. National Environmental Policy Act

    The NRC has determined that this rule amends the NRC's 
administrative requirements in 10 CFR part 170 and 10 CFR part 171. 
Therefore, this action is categorically excluded from needing 
environmental review as described in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Consequently, 
neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental 
assessment has been prepared for this final rule.

X. Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule does not contain a collection of information as defined 
in the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and, 
therefore, is not subject to the requirements of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.

Public Protection Notification

    The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless the document requesting 
or requiring the collection displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.

XI. Congressional Review Act

    This final rule is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review 
Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 801-808). The Office of Management and Budget has 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

XII. 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 2018, as required by OBRA-90. 
This action does not constitute the establishment of a standard that 
contains generally applicable requirements.

XIII. 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 agency 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 2017 proposed 
fee rule. The NRC plans to continue to use this compliance guide for FY 
2018 and has relabeled the compliance guide to reflect the current 
fiscal year. The FY 2018 version of the compliance guide is available 
as indicated in Section XIV, Availability of Documents, of this 
document. The next compliance guide will be developed when the NRC 
completes the next small entity biennial review in FY 2019.

XIV. 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./weblink
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECY-16-0009, ``Recommendations           ML16104A158.
 Resulting from the Integrated
 Prioritization and Re-Baselining of
 Agency Activities,'' February 9, 2016.
SECY-16-0097, ``Fee Setting Improvements  ML16194A365.
 and Fiscal Year 2017 Proposed Fee
 Rule,'' August 22, 2016.
SECY-17-0026, ``Policy Considerations     ML17130A783.
 and Recommendations for Remediation of
 Non-Military, Unlicensed Historic
 Radium Sites in Non-Agreement States''
 February 22, 2017.
Staff Requirements Memorandum for SECY-   ML17250A841.
 17-0026, September 7, 2017.
FY 2018 Final Rule Work Papers..........  ML18135A044.
FY 2018 Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.  ML17319A288.

[[Page 29645]]

 
FY 2018 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory           ML17319A291.
 Commission Small Entity Compliance
 Guide.
U.S. Government Accountability Office     http://www.gao.gov/products/
 (GAO) report titled ``Nuclear             GAO-17-232.
 Regulatory Commission: Regulatory Fee-
 Setting Calculations Need Greater
 Transparency'' (GAO-17-232), February
 2, 2017.
Regulatory Issue Summary 2015-19,         ML16008A242.
 ``Decommissioning Timeliness Rule
 Implementation and Associated
 Regulatory Relief,'' September 27, 2016.
NUREG-1100, Volume 33, ``Congressional    ML17137A246.
 Budget Justification: Fiscal Year
 2018'' (May 2017).
NUREG-1100, Volume 34, ``Congressional    ML18023B460.
 Budget Justification: Fiscal Year
 2019'' (February 2018).
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.
SECY-05-0164, ``Annual Fee Calculation    ML052580332.
 Method,'' dated September 15, 2005.
OMB's Circular A-25, ``User Charges''...  https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_default.
Fees Transformation Accomplishments.....  https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing/fees-transformaton-accomplishments.html.
FY 2018 Proposed Fee Rule...............  ML17313A419.
FY 2018 Proposed Rule Work Papers.......  ML17348A377.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 170

    Byproduct material, Import and export licenses, Intergovernmental 
relations, Non-payment penalties, Nuclear energy, Nuclear materials, 
Nuclear power plants and reactors, Source material, Special nuclear 
material.

10 CFR Part 171

    Annual charges, Approvals, Byproduct material, Holders of 
certificates, Intergovernmental relations, Nonpayment penalties, 
Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Registrations, 
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. 552 and 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:  Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 161(w) (42 
U.S.C. 2014, 2201(w)); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, sec. 201 
(42 U.S.C. 5841); 42 U.S.C. 2214; 31 U.S.C. 901, 902, 9701; 44 
U.S.C. 3504 note.


0
2. In Sec.  170.3, add the definitions for Agency support (corporate 
support and the IG), Mission-direct program salaries and benefits, and 
Mission-indirect program support in alphabetical order and remove the 
definition of Overhead and general and administrative costs to read as 
follows:


Sec.  170.3  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Agency support (corporate support and the IG) means resources 
located in executive, administrative, and other support offices such as 
the Office of the Commission, the Office of the Secretary, the Office 
of the Executive Director for Operations, the Offices of Congressional 
and Public Affairs, the Office of the Inspector General, the Office of 
Administration, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Office 
of the Chief Information Officer, the Office of the Chief Human Capital 
Officer and the Office of Small Business and Civil Rights. These 
resources administer the corporate or shared efforts that more broadly 
support the activities of the agency. These resources also include 
information technology services, human capital services, financial 
management, and administrative support.
* * * * *
    Mission-direct program salaries and benefits means resources that 
are allocated to perform core work activities committed to fulfilling 
the agency's mission of protecting the public health and safety, 
promoting the common defense and security, and protecting the 
environment. These resources include the core work activities assigned 
within the major program business lines (Operating Reactors, New 
Reactors, Fuel Facilities, Nuclear Materials Users, Decommissioning and 
Low-Level Waste, and Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation).
    Mission-indirect program support means resources that support the 
core mission-direct activities. These resources include supervisory and 
nonsupervisory support and mission travel and training. Supervisory and 
nonsupervisory support and mission travel and training resources 
assigned under direct business line structure are considered mission-
indirect due to their supporting role of the core mission activities.
* * * * *

0
3. In Sec.  170.11, add paragraph (c) to read as follows:


Sec.  170.11   Exemptions.

* * * * *
    (c) For purposes of paragraph (a)(1) of this section, a request for 
a fee exemption must be submitted to the CFO within 90 days of the date 
of the NRC's receipt of the work.

0
4. 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 $275 per hour.

0
5. In Sec.  170.21, in the table, revise 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.

* * * * *

[[Page 29646]]



                        Schedule of Facility Fees
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Facility categories and type of fees               Fees 1 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                              * * * * * * *
K. Import and export licenses: \6\
    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                       N/A
         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 license exemption
         request........................................
        2. Application for export of reactor and other               N/A
         components requiring Executive Branch review,
         for example, those actions under 10 CFR
         110.41(a). Application--new license, or
         amendment; or license exemption request........
        3. Application for export of components                      N/A
         requiring the assistance of the Executive
         Branch to obtain foreign government assurances.
         Application--new license, or amendment; or
         license exemption request......................
        4. Application for export of facility components             N/A
         and equipment not requiring Commission or
         Executive Branch review, or obtaining foreign
         government assurances. Application--new
         license, or amendment; or license exemption
         request........................................
        5. Minor amendment of any active export or                   N/A
         import license, for example, to extend the
         expiration date, change domestic information,
         or make other revisions which do not involve
         any substantive changes to license terms or
         conditions or to the type of facility or
         component authorized for export and, therefore,
         do not require in-depth analysis or review or
         consultation with the Executive Branch, U.S.
         host state, or foreign government authorities.
         Minor amendment to license.....................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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 August 24, 2018 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.
 * * * * * * *
\6\ Because the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, excludes
  international activities from the fee-recoverable budget in fiscal
  year 2018, import and export licensing actions will not be charged
  fees.


0
6. 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: \11\
    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) \6\ [Program
         Code(s): 21213].
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in             Full Cost.
         Dispersible Form Used for Fabrication
         of Power Reactor Fuel \6\ [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.\6\
        (a) Facilities with limited operations  Full Cost.
         \6\ [Program Code(s): 21240, 21310,
         21320].
        (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment           Full Cost.
         demonstration facilities.\6\ [Program
         Code(s): 21205].
        (c) Others, including hot cell          Full Cost.
         facilities.\6\ [Program Code(s):
         21130, 21133].
    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) \6\ [Program
     Code(s): 23200].
    C. Licenses for possession and use of       $1,300.
     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].
    D. All other special nuclear material       $2,600.
     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,
         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. Licenses for possession and use of       Full Cost.
     special nuclear material greater than
     critical mass as defined in Sec.   70.4
     of this chapter, for development and
     testing of commercial products, and other
     non-fuel-cycle activities.4 6 [Program
     Code(s): 22155].
2. Source material: \11\
    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.\6\ [Program Code(s): 11400].

[[Page 29647]]

 
    (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.\6\
        (a) Conventional and Heap Leach         Full Cost.
         facilities \6\ [Program Code(s):
         11100].
        (b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities   Full Cost.
         \6\ [Program Code(s): 11500].
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery           Full Cost.
         facilities \6\ [Program Code(s):
         11510].
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities   Full Cost.
         \6\ [Program Code(s): 11550].
        (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities \6\   Full Cost.
         [Program Code(s): 11555].
        (f) Other facilities \6\ [Program       Full Cost.
         Code(s): 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) \6\ [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) \6\ [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 \6\ [Program Code(s):
     11820].
    B. Licenses which authorize the             $1,200.
     possession, use, and/or installation of
     source material for shielding 7 8.
        Application [Program Code(s): 11210].
    C. Licenses to distribute items containing  $2,200.
     source material to persons exempt from
     the licensing requirements of part 40 of
     this chapter.
        Application [Program Code(s): 11240].
    D. Licenses to distribute source material   $2,700.
     to persons generally licensed under part
     40 of this chapter.
        Application [Program Code(s): 11230,
         11231].
    E. Licenses for possession and use of       $2,600.
     source material for processing or
     manufacturing of products or materials
     containing source material for commercial
     distribution.
        Application [Program Code(s): 11710].
    F. All other source material licenses.      $2,600.
        Application [Program Code(s): 11200,
         11220, 11221, 11300, 11800, 11810].
3. Byproduct material: \11\
    A. Licenses of broad scope for the          $12,900.
     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. Number of
     locations of use: 1-5.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03211,
         03212, 03213].
        (1) Licenses of broad scope for the     $17,100.
         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. Number of locations of
         use: 6-20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04010, 04012, 04014].
        (2) Licenses of broad scope for the     $21,400.
         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. Number of locations of
         use: More than 20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04011, 04013, 04015].
    B. Other licenses for possession and use    $3,500.
     of byproduct material issued under part
     30 of this chapter for processing or
     manufacturing of items containing
     byproduct material for commercial
     distribution. Number of locations of use:
     1-5.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03214,
         03215, 22135, 22162].
        (1) Other licenses for possession and   $4,700.
         use of byproduct material issued
         under part 30 of this chapter for
         processing or manufacturing of items
         containing byproduct material for
         commercial distribution. Number of
         locations of use: 6-20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04110, 04112, 04114, 04116].
        (2) Other licenses for possession and   $5,900.
         use of byproduct material issued
         under part 30 of this chapter for
         processing or manufacturing of items
         containing byproduct material for
         commercial distribution. Number of
         locations of use: More than 20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04111, 04113, 04115, 04117].
    C. Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.         $5,100.
     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). Number of locations of use:
     1-5.
        Application [Program Code(s): 02500,
         02511, 02513].
        (1) Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.    $6,800.
         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). Number of
         locations of use: 6-20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04210, 04212, 04214].
        (2) Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.    $8,500.
         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). Number of
         locations of use: More than 20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04211, 04213, 04215].
    D. [Reserved].............................  N/A.

[[Page 29648]]

 
    E. Licenses for possession and use of       $3,200.
     byproduct material in sealed sources for
     irradiation of materials in which the
     source is not removed from its shield
     (self-shielded units).
        Application [Program Code(s): 03510,
         03520].
    F. Licenses for possession and use of less  $6,400.
     than or equal to 10,000 curies of
     byproduct material in sealed sources for
     irradiation of materials in which the
     source is exposed for irradiation
     purposes. This category also includes
     underwater irradiators for irradiation of
     materials where the source is not exposed
     for irradiation purposes.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03511].
    G. Licenses for possession and use of       $61,400.
     greater 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): 03521].
    H. Licenses issued under subpart A of part  $6,600.
     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,
         03255, 03257].
    I. Licenses issued under subpart A of part  $9,800.
     32 of this chapter to distribute items
     containing byproduct material or
     quantities of byproduct material that do
     not require device evaluation to persons
     exempt from the licensing requirements of
     part 30 of this chapter. This category
     does not include specific licenses
     authorizing redistribution of items that
     have been authorized for distribution to
     persons exempt from the licensing
     requirements of part 30 of this chapter.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03250,
         03251, 03252, 03253, 03256].
    J. Licenses issued under subpart B of part  $2,000.
     32 of this chapter to distribute items
     containing byproduct material that
     require sealed source and/or device
     review to persons generally licensed
     under part 31 of this chapter. This
     category does not include specific
     licenses authorizing redistribution of
     items that have been authorized for
     distribution to persons generally
     licensed under part 31 of this chapter.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03240,
         03241, 03243].
    K. Licenses issued under subpart B of part  $1,100.
     32 of this chapter to distribute items
     containing byproduct material or
     quantities of byproduct material that do
     not require sealed source and/or device
     review to persons generally licensed
     under part 31 of this chapter. This
     category does not include specific
     licenses authorizing redistribution of
     items that have been authorized for
     distribution to persons generally
     licensed under part 31 of this chapter.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03242,
         03244].
    L. Licenses of broad scope for possession   $5,400.
     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.
        Application [Program Code(s): 01100,
         01110, 01120, 03610, 03611, 03612,
         03613].
        (1) Licenses of broad scope for         $7,200.
         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.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04610, 04612, 04614, 04616,
             04618, 04620, 04622].
        (2) Licenses of broad scope for         $9,000.
         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: More than 20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04611, 04613, 04615, 04617,
             04619, 04621, 04623].
    M. Other licenses for possession and use    $7,000.
     of byproduct material issued under part
     30 of this chapter for research and
     development that do not authorize
     commercial distribution.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03620].
    N. Licenses that authorize services for     $7,200.
     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, 03225, 03226].
    O. Licenses for possession and use of       $3,100.
     byproduct material issued under part 34
     of this chapter for industrial
     radiography operations. Number of
     locations of use: 1-5.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03310,
         03320].
        (1) Licenses for possession and use of  $4,200.
         byproduct material issued under part
         34 of this chapter for industrial
         radiography operations. Number of
         locations of use: 6-20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04310, 04312].
        (2) Licenses for possession and use of  $5,200.
         byproduct material issued under part
         34 of this chapter for industrial
         radiography operations. Number of
         locations of use: More than 20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04311, 04313].
    P. All other specific byproduct material    $3,400.
     licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
     through 9.D.\9\ Number of locations of
     use: 1-5.
        Application [Program Code(s): 02400,
         02410, 03120, 03121, 03122, 03123,
         03124, 03130, 03140, 03220, 03221,
         03222, 03800, 03810, 22130].
        (1) All other specific byproduct        $4,500.
         material licenses, except those in
         Categories 4.A. through 9.D.\9\
         Number of locations of use: 6-20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04410, 04412, 04414, 04416,
             04418, 04420, 04422, 04424,
             04426, 04428, 04430, 04432,
             04434, 04436, 04438].
        (2) All other specific byproduct        $5,700.
         material licenses, except those in
         Categories 4.A. through 9.D.\9\
         Number of locations of use: More than
         20.

[[Page 29649]]

 
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04411, 04413, 04415, 04417,
             04419, 04421, 04423, 04425,
             04427, 04429, 04431, 04433,
             04435, 04437, 04439].
    Q. Registration of a device(s) generally    $700.
     licensed under part 31 of this chapter.
     Registration.
    R. Possession of items or products
     containing radium-226 identified in 10
     CFR 31.12 which exceed the number of
     items or limits specified in that
     section.\5\
        1. Possession of quantities exceeding   $2,500.
         the number of items or limits in 10
         CFR 31.12(a)(4) or (5) but less than
         or equal to 10 times the number of
         items or limits specified.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             02700].
        2. Possession of quantities exceeding   $2,500.
         10 times the number of items or
         limits specified in 10 CFR
         31.12(a)(4) or (5).
            Application [Program Code(s):
             02710].
    S. Licenses for production of accelerator-  $14,100.
     produced radionuclides.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03210].
4. Waste disposal and processing: \11\
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing the    Full Cost.
     receipt of waste byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear
     material from other persons for the
     purpose of contingency storage or
     commercial land disposal by the licensee;
     or licenses authorizing contingency
     storage of low-level radioactive waste at
     the site of nuclear power reactors; or
     licenses for receipt of waste from other
     persons for incineration or other
     treatment, packaging of resulting waste
     and residues, and transfer of packages to
     another person authorized to receive or
     dispose of waste material.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03231,
         03233, 03236, 06100, 06101].
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the    $6,800.
     receipt of waste byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear
     material from other persons for the
     purpose of packaging or repackaging the
     material. The licensee will dispose of
     the material by transfer to another
     person authorized to receive or dispose
     of the material.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03234].
    C. Licenses specifically authorizing the    $5,000.
     receipt of prepackaged waste byproduct
     material, source material, or special
     nuclear material from other persons. The
     licensee will dispose of the material by
     transfer to another person authorized to
     receive or dispose of the material.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03232].
5. Well logging: \11\
    A. Licenses for possession and use of       $4,500.
     byproduct material, source material, and/
     or special nuclear material for well
     logging, well surveys, and tracer studies
     other than field flooding tracer studies.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03110,
         03111, 03112].
    B. Licenses for possession and use of       Full Cost.
     byproduct material for field flooding
     tracer studies..
        Licensing [Program Code(s): 03113]....
6. Nuclear laundries: \11\
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and   $21,900.
     laundry of items contaminated with
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03218].
7. Medical licenses: \11\
    A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,  $11,000.
     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. Number
     of locations of use: 1-5.
        Application [Program Code(s): 02300,
         02310].
        (1) Licenses issued under parts 30,     $14,600.
         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. Number
         of locations of use: 6-20.
        Application [Program Code(s): 04510,
         04512].
        (2) Licenses issued under parts 30,     $18,300.
         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. Number
         of locations of use: More than 20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04511, 04513].
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to        $8,600.
     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. Number of locations of use:
     1[dash]5.
        Application [Program Code(s): 02110].
        (1) Licenses of broad scope issued to   $11,400.
         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.
         Number of locations of use:
         6[dash]20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04710].
        (2) Licenses of broad scope issued to   $14,200.
         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.
         Number of locations of use: More than
         20.
            Application [Program Code(s):
             04711].
    C. Other licenses issued under parts 30,    $5,500.
     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.\10\

[[Page 29650]]

 
        Application [Program Code(s): 02120,
         02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220,
         02230, 02231, 02240, 22160].
8. Civil defense: \11\
    A. Licenses for possession and use of       $2,500.
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material for civil
     defense activities.
        Application [Program Code(s): 03710].
9. Device, product, or sealed source safety
 evaluation:
    A. Safety evaluation of devices or          $5,400.
     products containing byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear
     material, except reactor fuel devices,
     for commercial distribution.
        Application--each device.
    B. Safety evaluation of devices or          $8,900.
     products containing byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear
     material manufactured in accordance with
     the unique specifications of, and for use
     by, a single applicant, except reactor
     fuel devices.
        Application--each device.
    C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources      $5,200.
     containing byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material,
     except reactor fuel, for commercial
     distribution.
        Application--each source.
    D. Safety evaluation of sealed sources      $1,000.
     containing byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material,
     manufactured in accordance with the
     unique specifications of, and for use by,
     a single applicant, except reactor fuel.
        Application--each source.
10. Transportation of radioactive material:
    A. Evaluation of casks, packages, and
     shipping containers.
        1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and    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.  $4,200.
        Inspections...........................  Full Cost.
        2. Users. Application.................  $4,200.
        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- Full Cost.
 application/licensing activities, and
 inspections.
    Application [Program Code: 25110].
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. Decommissioning/Reclamation \11\
    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 master materials licenses
     (MMLs). The transition to this fee
     category occurs when a licensee has
     permanently ceased principal activities.
     [Program Code(s): 03900, 11900, 21135,
     21215, 21240, 21325, 22200].
    B. Site-specific decommissioning            Full Cost.
     activities associated with unlicensed
     sites, including MMLs, regardless of
     whether or not the sites have been
     previously licensed.
15. Import and Export licenses: \12\
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      N/A.
     nuclear materials, including radioactive
     waste requiring Commission and Executive
     Branch review, for example, those actions
     under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
        Application--new license, or
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    B. Application for export or import of      N/A.
     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
     the 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; or license exemption
         request.
    C. Application for export of nuclear        N/A.
     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; or license exemption
         request.
    D. Application for export or import of      N/A.
     nuclear material not requiring Commission
     or Executive Branch review, or obtaining
     foreign government assurances.
        Application--new license, or
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    E. Minor amendment of any active export or  N/A.
     import license, for example, to extend
     the expiration date, change domestic
     information, or make other revisions
     which do not involve any substantive
     changes to license terms and conditions
     or to the type/quantity/chemical
     composition of the material authorized
     for export and, therefore, do not require
     in-depth analysis, review, or
     consultations with other Executive
     Branch, U.S. host state, or foreign
     government authorities. Minor amendment.
Licenses issued under part 110 of this chapter
 for the import and export only of Category 1
 and Category 2 quantities of radioactive
 material listed in appendix P to part 110 of
 this chapter (fee categories 15.F. through
 15.R.). Category 1 (Appendix P, 10 CFR Part
 110) Exports:
    F. Application for export of appendix P     N/A.
     Category 1 materials requiring Commission
     review (e.g., exceptional circumstance
     review under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4)) and to
     obtain one government-to-government
     consent for this process. For additional
     consent see fee category 15.I.
        Application--new license, or
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.

[[Page 29651]]

 
    G. Application for export of appendix P     N/A.
     Category 1 materials requiring Executive
     Branch review and to obtain one
     government-to-government consent for this
     process. For additional consents see fee
     category 15.I.
        Application--new license, or
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    H. Application for export of appendix P     N/A.
     Category 1 materials and to obtain one
     government-to-government consent for this
     process. For additional consents see fee
     category 15.I.
        Application--new license, or
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    I. Requests for each additional government- N/A.
     to-government consent in support of an
     export license application or active
     export license.
        Application--new license, or
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
Category 2 (Appendix P, 10 CFR Part 110)
 Exports:
    J. Application for export of appendix P     N/A.
     Category 2 materials requiring Commission
     review (e.g., exceptional circumstance
     review under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4)).
        Application--new license, or
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    K. Applications for export of appendix P    N/A.
     Category 2 materials requiring Executive
     Branch review.
        Application--new license, or
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    L. Application for the export of Category   N/A.
     2 materials. Application--new license, or
     amendment; 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     N/A.
     license, for example, to extend the
     expiration date, change domestic
     information, or make other revisions
     which do not involve any substantive
     changes to license terms and conditions
     or to the type/quantity/chemical
     composition of the material authorized
     for export and, therefore, do not require
     in-depth analysis, review, or
     consultations with other Executive
     Branch, U.S. host state, or foreign
     authorities. Minor amendment.
16. Reciprocity: Agreement State licensees who  $1,800.
 conduct activities under the reciprocity
 provisions of 10 CFR 150.20. Application.
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope    Full Cost.
 issued to Government agencies.
    Application [Program Code(s): 03614].
18. Department of Energy:
    A. Certificates of Compliance. Evaluation   Full Cost.
     of casks, packages, and shipping
     containers (including spent fuel, high-
     level waste, and other casks, and
     plutonium air packages).
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control  Full Cost.
     Act (UMTRCA) activities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Types of fees--Separate charges, as shown in the schedule, will be
  assessed for pre-application consultations and reviews; applications
  for new licenses, approvals, or license terminations; possession-only
  licenses; 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 costs; applications filed by Agreement State
  licensees to register under the general license provisions of 10 CFR
  150.20; and applications for amendments to materials licenses that
  would place the license in a higher fee category or add a new fee
  category must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for
  each category.
(1) Applications for licenses covering more than one fee category of
  special nuclear material or source material must be accompanied by the
  prescribed application fee for the highest fee category.
(2) Applications for new licenses that cover both byproduct material and
  special nuclear material in sealed sources for use in gauging devices
  will pay the appropriate application fee for fee category 1.C. only.
(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.

[[Page 29652]]

 
\7\ Licensees paying fees under 3.C., 3.C.1, or 3.C.2 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., 3.P.1, or 3.P.2 for calibration or leak testing services
  authorized on the same license.
\10\ Licensees paying fees under 7.B., 7.B.1, or 7.B.2 are not subject
  to paying fees under 7.C. for broad scope 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.
\11\ A materials license (or part of a materials license) that
  transitions to fee category 14.A is assessed full-cost fees under 10
  CFR part 170, but is not assessed an annual fee under 10 CFR part 171.
  If only part of a materials license is transitioned to fee category
  14.A, the licensee may be charged annual fees (and any applicable 10
  CFR part 170 fees) for other activities authorized under the license
  that are not in decommissioning status.
\12\ Because the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, excludes
  international activities from the fee-recoverable budget in fiscal
  year 2018, import and export licensing actions will not be charged
  fees.

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
7. The authority citation for part 171 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 161(w), 223, 234 
(42 U.S.C. 2014, 2201(w), 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act of 
1974, sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); 42 U.S.C. 2214; 44 U.S.C. 3504 
note.


0
8. In Sec.  171.3, revise the last sentence to read as follows:


Sec.  171.3  Scope.

    * * * Notwithstanding the other provisions in this section, the 
regulations in this part do not apply to uranium recovery and fuel 
facility licensees until after the Commission verifies through 
inspection that the facility has been constructed in accordance with 
the requirements of the license.


Sec.  171.5   [Amended]

0
9. In Sec.  171.5, remove the definition of Overhead and general and 
administrative costs.

0
10. In Sec.  171.15, revise paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2) introductory 
text, (c)(1), (c)(2) introductory text, (d)(1) introductory text, 
(d)(1)(ii), (d)(2) and (3), and (f) to read as follows:


Sec.  171.15  Annual fees: Reactor licenses and independent spent fuel 
storage licenses.

* * * * *
    (b)(1) The FY 2018 annual fee for each operating power reactor that 
must be collected by September 30, 2018, is $4,333,000.
    (2) The FY 2018 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 fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning base annual fee are shown in paragraphs 
(c)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 
2018 fee-relief adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this 
section. The activities comprising the FY 2018 base annual fee for 
operating power reactors are as follows:
* * * * *
    (c)(1) The FY 2018 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 $198,000.
    (2) The FY 2018 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 
2018 fee-relief adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this 
section. The activities comprising the FY 2018 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 (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 (iii) of this section for a given 
fiscal year, annual fees will be reduced. The activities comprising the 
FY 2018 fee-relief adjustment are as follows:
* * * * *
    (ii) Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or 
class of licenses (e.g., support for the Agreement State program); and
* * * * *
    (2) The total FY 2018 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the 
operating power reactor class of licenses is a $3,349,085 fee-relief 
credit, not including the amount allocated to the spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning class. The FY 2018 operating power reactor fee-
relief adjustment to be assessed to each operating power reactor is 
approximately a $33,829 fee-relief credit. This amount is calculated by 
dividing the total operating power reactor fee-relief adjustment, 
$3,349,085, by the number of operating power reactors (99).
    (3) The FY 2018 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning class of licenses is a $172,641 fee-
relief credit. The FY 2018 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 
$1,415 fee-relief credit. This amount is calculated by dividing the 
total fee-relief adjustment costs allocated to this class by the total 
number of power reactors 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.
* * * * *
    (f) The FY 2018 annual fees for licensees authorized to operate a 
research or test (non-power) reactor licensed under 10 CFR part 50, 
unless the reactor is exempted from fees under Sec.  171.11(a), are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research reactor........................................         $81,300
Test reactor............................................          81,300
------------------------------------------------------------------------


0
11. In Sec.  171.16, revise paragraphs (a)(2), (d), (e) introductory 
text, and (e)(2) to read as follows:

[[Page 29653]]

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.

    (a) * * *
    (2) Notwithstanding the other provisions in this section, the 
regulations in this part do not apply to uranium recovery and fuel 
facility licensees until after the Commission verifies through 
inspection that the facility has been constructed in accordance with 
the requirements of the license.
* * * * *
    (d) The FY 2018 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee and 
an allocation for fee-relief adjustment. The activities comprising the 
FY 2018 fee-relief adjustment are shown for convenience in paragraph 
(e) of this section. The FY 2018 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 1
             Category of materials licenses                     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          $7,346,000
         Enriched Uranium) \15\ [Program Code(s): 21130]
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form           2,661,000
         Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel \15\
         [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 \15\                  N/A
         [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320]................
        (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration                  N/A
         facility \15\..................................
        (c) Others, including hot cell facility \15\....             N/A
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel                N/A
     and reactor-related Greater than Class C (GTCC)
     waste at an independent spent fuel storage
     installation (ISFSI) \11,15\ [Program Code(s):
     23200].............................................
    C. Licenses for possession and use of special                  2,900
     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. [Program Code(s): 22140]................
    D. All other special nuclear material licenses,                7,500
     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. [Program Code(s): 22110, 22111,
     22120, 22131, 22136, 22150, 22151, 22161, 22170,
     23100, 23300, 23310]...............................
    E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of a         3,513,000
     uranium enrichment facility \15\ [Program Code(s):
     21200].............................................
    F. Licenses for possession and use of special                  5,500
     nuclear materials greater than critical mass, as
     defined in Sec.   70.4 of this chapter, for
     development and testing of commercial products, and
     other non-fuel cycle activities.\4\ [Program Code:
     22155].............................................
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source           1,517,000
     material for refining uranium mill concentrates to
     uranium hexafluoride or for deconverting uranium
     hexafluoride in the production of uranium oxides
     for disposal.\15\ [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            38,800
             \15\ [Program Code(s): 11100]..............
            (b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities \15\            49,200
             [Program Code(s): 11500]...................
            (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities              55,700
             \15\ [Program Code(s): 11510]..............
            (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities \15\           \5\ N/A
             [Program Code(s): 11550]...................
        (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities \15\ [Program          \5\ N/A
         Code(s): 11555]................................
        (3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of               \5\ N/A
         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) \15\ [Program
         Code(s): 11600, 12000].........................
        (4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of                22,000
         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) \15\ [Program Code(s): 12010].
        (5) Licenses that authorize the possession of              6,500
         source material related to removal of
         contaminants (source material) from drinking
         water \15\ [Program Code(s): 11820]............
    B. Licenses that authorize possession, use, and/or             3,200
     installation of source material for shielding.16 17
     [Program Code: 11210]..............................
    C. Licenses to distribute items containing source              5,200
     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           6,000
     generally licensed under part 40 of this chapter
     [Program Code(s): 11230 and 11231].................
    E. Licenses for possession and use of source                   7,400
     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                9,200
     Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11300, 11800, 11810].
3. Byproduct material:

[[Page 29654]]

 
    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. Number of locations of use: 1-5.
     [Program Code(s): 03211, 03212, 03213].............
        (1) Licenses of broad scope for the possession            40,600
         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. Number of
         locations of use: 6-20. [Program Code(s):
         04010, 04012, 04014]...........................
        (2) Licenses of broad scope for the possession            50,600
         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. Number of
         locations of use: More than 20. [Program
         Code(s): 04011, 04013, 04015]..................
    B. Other licenses for possession and use of                   11,400
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for processing or manufacturing of items
     containing byproduct material for commercial
     distribution. Number of locations of use: 1-5.
     [Program Code(s): 03214, 03215, 22135, 22162]......
        (1) Other licenses for possession and use of              15,100
         byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
         chapter for processing or manufacturing of
         items containing byproduct material for
         commercial distribution. Number of locations of
         use: 6-20. [Program Code(s): 04110, 04112,
         04114, 04116]..................................
        (2) Other licenses for possession and use of              18,900
         byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
         chapter for processing or manufacturing of
         items containing byproduct material for
         commercial distribution. Number of locations of
         use: More than 20. [Program Code(s): 04111,
         04113, 04115, 04117]...........................
    C. Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   32.72 and/or            11,500
     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). Number of locations of use: 1-5.
     [Program Code(s): 02500, 02511, 02513].............
        (1) Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   32.72 and/         15,200
         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). Number of locations of
         use: 6-20. [Program Code(s): 04210, 04212,
         04214].........................................
        (2) Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   32.72 and/         18,800
         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). Number of locations of
         use: More than 20. [Program Code(s): 04211,
         04213, 04215]..................................
    D. [Reserved].......................................         \5\ N/A
    E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct               10,100
     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 or            11,000
     equal to 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 greater than            91,000
     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):
     03521].............................................
    H. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of              11,100
     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, 03257].....
    I. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of              15,500
     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               4,300
     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               3,100
     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          14,600
     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            19,300
         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.
         [Program Code(s): 04610, 04612, 04614, 04616,
         04618, 04620, 04622]...........................

[[Page 29655]]

 
        (2) Licenses of broad scope for possession and            24,000
         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: More
         than 20. [Program Code(s): 04611, 04613, 04615,
         04617, 04619, 04621, 04623]....................
    M. Other licenses for possession and use of                   13,300
     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                 17,600
     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               25,000
     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
     Number of locations of use: 1-5. [Program Code(s):
     03310, 03320]......................................
        (1) Licenses for possession and use of byproduct          33,400
         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. Number of locations of
         use: 6-20. [Program Code(s): 04310, 04312].....
        (2) Licenses for possession and use of byproduct          41,600
         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. Number of locations of
         use: More than 20. [Program Code(s): 04311,
         04313].........................................
    P. All other specific byproduct material licenses,             8,600
     except those in Categories 4.A. through 9.D.\18\
     Number of locations of use: 1-5. [Program Code(s):
     02400, 02410, 03120, 03121, 03122, 03123, 03124,
     03140, 03130, 03220, 03221, 03222, 03800, 03810,
     22130].............................................
        (1) All other specific byproduct material                 11,400
         licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
         through 9.D.\18\ Number of locations of use: 6-
         20. [Program Code(s): 04410, 04412, 04414,
         04416, 04418, 04420, 04422, 04424, 04426,
         04428, 04430, 04432, 04434, 04436, 04438]......
        (2) All other specific byproduct material                 14,400
         licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
         through 9.D.\18\ Number of locations of use:
         More than 20. [Program Code(s): 04411, 04413,
         04415, 04417, 04419, 04421, 04423, 04425,
         04427, 04429, 04431, 04433, 04435, 04437,
         04439].........................................
    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                 7,100
         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            7,500
         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            30,200
     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           18,900
     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           10,800
     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               14,900
     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          35,600
     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          20,600
     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.\9\
     Number of locations of use: 1-5. [Program Code(s):
     02300, 02310]......................................

[[Page 29656]]

 
        (1) Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and           30,100
         70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct
         material, source material, or special nuclear
         material in sealed sources contained in gamma
         stereotactic radiosurgery units, teletherapy
         devices, or similar beam therapy devices. This
         category also includes the possession and use
         of source material for shielding when
         authorized on the same license.\9\ Number of
         locations of use: 6-20. [Program Code(s):
         04510, 04512]..................................
        (2) Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and           34,100
         70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct
         material, source material, or special nuclear
         material in sealed sources contained in gamma
         stereotactic radiosurgery units, teletherapy
         devices, or similar beam therapy devices. This
         category also includes the possession and use
         of source material for shielding when
         authorized on the same license.9 19 Number of
         locations of use: More than 20. [Program
         Code(s): 04511, 04513].........................
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical                  30,900
     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\ Number of
     locations of use: 1-5. [Program Code(s): 02110]....
        (1) Licenses of broad scope issued to medical             40,700
         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\ Number of
         locations of use: 6-20. [Program Code(s):
         04710].........................................
        (2) Licenses of broad scope issued to medical             50,500
         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\ Number of
         locations of use: More than 20. [Program
         Code(s): 04711]................................
    C. Other licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and          13,900
     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 19 [Program Code(s): 02120,
     02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220, 02230, 02231,
     02240, 22160]......................................
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                7,100
     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           7,300
     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          12,100
     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           7,000
     sealed sources containing byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear material,
     except reactor fuel, for commercial distribution...
    D. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of           1,400
     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 20 0
     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). The transition to this
     fee category occurs when a licensee has permanently
     ceased principal activities. [Program Code(s):
     03900, 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

[[Page 29657]]

 
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to           320,000
 Government agencies.\15\ [Program Code(s): 03614]......
18. Department of Energy:
    A. Certificates of Compliance.......................  \10\ 1,082,000
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act               122,000
     (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 of the current FY, 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.
\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.A, 7.A.1, 7.A.2, 7.B., 7.B.1, 7.B.2,
  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 subject to fees under categories 1.A., 1.B., 1.E., 2.A.,
  and licensees paying fees under fee category 17 must pay the largest
  applicable fee and are not subject to additional fees listed in this
  table.
\16\ Licensees paying fees under 3.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
  for possession and shielding authorized on the same license.
\17\ Licensees paying fees under 7.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
  for possession and shielding authorized on the same license.
\18\ Licensees paying fees under 3.N. are not subject to paying fees
  under 3.P., 3.P.1, or 3.P.2 for calibration or leak testing services
  authorized on the same license.
\19\ Licensees paying fees under 7.B., 7.B.1, or 7.B.2 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.
\20\ No annual fee is charged for a materials license (or part of a
  materials license) that has transitioned to this fee category because
  the decommissioning costs will be recovered through 10 CFR part 170
  fees, but annual fees may be charged for other activities authorized
  under the license that are not in decommissioning status.

    (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 (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 (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 2018 fee-relief adjustment are as 
follows:
* * * * *
    (2) Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or 
class of licenses (e.g., support for the Agreement State program); and
* * * * *

0
12. In Sec.  171.17, revise paragraph (a) introductory text to read as 
follows:


Sec.  171.17   Proration.

* * * * *
    (a) Reactors, 10 CFR part 72 licensees who do not hold 10 CFR part 
50 licenses, and materials licenses with annual fees of $100,000 or 
greater for a single fee category. The NRC will base the proration of 
annual fees for terminated and downgraded licensees on the fee rule in 
effect at the time the action is official. The NRC will base the 
determinations on the proration requirements under paragraphs (a)(2) 
and (3) of this section.
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of June 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Maureen E. Wylie,
Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-13320 Filed 6-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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