115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1320 

AN ACT 

To amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 

related to Nuclear Regulatory Commission user fees and 

annual charges, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Utilization 

3 of Keynote Energy Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION USER FEES 

5 AND ANNUAL CHARGES THROUGH FISCAL 

6 YEAR 2020. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6101(c)(2)(A) of the Om8 nibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

9 2214(c)(2)(A)) is amended— 

10 (1) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

11 (2) in clause (iv), by striking the period at the 

12 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(v) amounts appropriated to the 

15 Commission for the fiscal year for activi16 ties related to the development of a regu17 latory infrastructure for advanced nuclear 

18 reactor technologies (which may not exceed 

19 $10,300,000).’’. 

20 (b) REPEAL.—Effective October 1, 2020, section 

21 6101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 

22 (42 U.S.C. 2214) is repealed. 

23 SEC. 3. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION USER FEES 

24 AND ANNUAL CHARGES FOR FISCAL YEAR 

25 2021 AND EACH FISCAL YEAR THEREAFTER. 

26 (a) ANNUAL BUDGET JUSTIFICATION.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the annual budget jus2 tification submitted by the Commission to Congress, 

3 the Commission shall expressly identify anticipated 

4 expenditures necessary for completion of the re5 quested activities of the Commission anticipated to 

6 occur during the applicable fiscal year. 

7 (2) RESTRICTION.—The Commission shall, to 

8 the maximum extent practicable, use any funds 

9 made available to the Commission for a fiscal year 

10 for the anticipated expenditures identified under 

11 paragraph (1) for the fiscal year. 

12 (3) LIMITATION ON CORPORATE SUPPORT

13 COSTS.—With respect to the annual budget justifica14 tion submitted to Congress, corporate support costs, 

15 to the maximum extent practicable, shall not exceed 

16 the following percentages of the total budget author17 ity of the Commission requested in the annual budg18 et justification: 

19 (A) 30 percent for each of fiscal years 

20 2021 and 2022. 

21 (B) 29 percent for each of fiscal years 

22 2023 and 2024. 

23 (C) 28 percent for fiscal year 2025 and 

24 each fiscal year thereafter. 

25 (b) FEES AND CHARGES.— 
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1 (1) ANNUAL ASSESSMENT.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, the 

3 Commission shall assess and collect fees and 

4 charges in accordance with paragraphs (2) and 

5 (3) in a manner that ensures that, to the max6 imum extent practicable, the amount assessed 

7 and collected is equal to an amount that ap8 proximates— 

9 (i) the total budget authority of the 

10 Commission for that fiscal year; less 

11 (ii) the budget authority of the Com12 mission for the activities described in sub13 paragraph (B). 

14 (B) EXCLUDED ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.— 

15 The activities referred to in subparagraph 

16 (A)(ii) are the following: 

17 (i) Any fee-relief activity, as identified 

18 by the Commission. 

19 (ii) Amounts appropriated for the fis20 cal year to the Commission— 

21 (I) from the Nuclear Waste Fund 

22 established under section 302(c) of 

23 the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 

24 (42 U.S.C. 10222(c)); 
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1 (II) for implementation of section 

2 3116 of the Ronald W. Reagan Na3 tional Defense Authorization Act for 

4 Fiscal Year 2005 (50 U.S.C. 2601 

5 note; Public Law 108–375); 

6 (III) for the homeland security 

7 activities of the Commission (other 

8 than for the costs of fingerprinting 

9 and background checks required 

10 under section 149 of the Atomic En11 ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2169) 

12 and the costs of conducting security 

13 inspections); 

14 (IV) for the Inspector General 

15 services of the Commission provided 

16 to the Defense Nuclear Facilities 

17 Safety Board; 

18 (V) for the partnership program 

19 with institutions of higher education 

20 established under section 244 of the 

21 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

22 U.S.C. 2015c); and 

23 (VI) for the scholarship and fel24 lowship programs under section 243 
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1 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

2 U.S.C. 2015b). 

3 (iii) Costs for activities related to the 

4 development of regulatory infrastructure 

5 for advanced nuclear reactor technologies 

6 (which may not exceed $10,300,000). 

7 (C) EXCEPTION.—The exclusion described 

8 in subparagraph (B)(iii) shall cease to be effec9 tive on January 1, 2026. 

10 (D) REPORT.—Not later than December 

11 31, 2023, the Commission shall submit to the 

12 Committee on Appropriations and the Com13 mittee on Environment and Public Works of the 

14 Senate and the Committee on Appropriations 

15 and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

16 of the House of Representatives a report de17 scribing the views of the Commission on the 

18 continued appropriateness and necessity of 

19 funding for the activities described in subpara20 graph (B)(iii). 

21 (2) FEES FOR SERVICE OR THING OF VALUE.— 

22 In accordance with section 9701 of title 31, United 

23 States Code, the Commission shall assess and collect 

24 fees from any person who receives a service or thing 

25 of value from the Commission to cover the costs to 
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1 the Commission of providing the service or thing of 

2 value. 

3 (3) ANNUAL CHARGES.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara5 graph (B) and except as provided in subpara6 graph (D), the Commission may charge to any 

7 licensee or certificate holder of the Commission 

8 an annual charge in addition to the fees set 

9 forth in paragraph (2). 

10 (B) CAP ON ANNUAL CHARGES OF CER11 TAIN LICENSEES.— 

12 (i) OPERATING REACTORS.—The an13 nual charge under subparagraph (A) 

14 charged to an operating reactor licensee, to 

15 the maximum extent practicable, shall not 

16 exceed the annual fee amount per oper17 ating reactor licensee established in the 

18 final rule of the Commission entitled ‘‘Re19 vision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for 

20 Fiscal Year 2015’’ (80 Fed. Reg. 37432 

21 (June 30, 2015)), as may be adjusted an22 nually by the Commission to reflect 

23 changes in the Consumer Price Index pub24 lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 

25 the Department of Labor. 
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1 (ii) FUEL FACILITIES.— 

2 (I) IN GENERAL.—The total an3 nual charges under subparagraph (A) 

4 charged to fuel facility licensees, to 

5 the maximum extent practicable, shall 

6 not exceed an amount that is equal to 

7 the total annual fees collected from 

8 the fuel facilities class under the final 

9 rule of the Commission entitled ‘‘Revi10 sion of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery 

11 for Fiscal Year 2016’’ (81 Fed Reg. 

12 41171 (June 24, 2016)), which 

13 amount may be adjusted annually by 

14 the Commission to reflect changes in 

15 the Consumer Price Index published 

16 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 

17 the Department of Labor. 

18 (II) EXCEPTION.—Subclause (I) 

19 shall not apply if the number of li20 censed facilities classified by the Com21 mission as fuel facilities exceeds 

22 seven. 

23 (III) CHANGES TO ANNUAL

24 CHARGES.—Any change in an annual 

25 charge under subparagraph (A) 
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1 charged to a fuel facility licensee shall 

2 be based on— 

3 (aa) a change in the regu4 latory services provided with re5 spect to the fuel facility; or 

6 (bb) an adjustment de7 scribed in subclause (I). 

8 (iii) WAIVER.—The Commission may 

9 waive, for a period of 1 year, the cap on 

10 annual charges described in clause (i) or 

11 (ii) if the Commission submits to the Com12 mittee on Appropriations and the Com13 mittee on Environment and Public Works 

14 of the Senate and the Committee on Ap15 propriations and the Committee on Energy 

16 and Commerce of the House of Represent17 atives a written determination that the cap 

18 on annual charges may compromise the 

19 safety and security mission of the Commis20 sion. 

21 (C) AMOUNT PER LICENSEE.— 

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

23 shall establish by rule a schedule of annual 

24 charges fairly and equitably allocating the 

25 aggregate amount of charges described in 
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1 clause (ii) among licensees and certificate 

2 holders. 

3 (ii) AGGREGATE AMOUNT.—For pur4 poses of this subparagraph, the aggregate 

5 amount of charges for a fiscal year shall 

6 equal an amount that approximates— 

7 (I) the amount to be collected 

8 under paragraph (1)(A) for the fiscal 

9 year; less 

10 (II) the amount of fees to be col11 lected under paragraph (2) for the fis12 cal year. 

13 (iii) REQUIREMENT.—The schedule of 

14 charges under clause (i)— 

15 (I) to the maximum extent prac16 ticable, shall be reasonably related to 

17 the cost of providing regulatory serv18 ices; and 

19 (II) may be based on the alloca20 tion of the resources of the Commis21 sion among licensees or certificate 

22 holders or classes of licensees or cer23 tificate holders. 

24 (D) EXEMPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall 

25 not apply to the holder of any license for a fed-
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1 erally owned research reactor used primarily for 

2 educational training and academic research pur3 poses. 

4 (c) PERFORMANCE AND REPORTING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall de6 velop for the requested activities of the Commis7 sion— 

8 (A) performance metrics; and 

9 (B) milestone schedules. 

10 (2) DELAYS IN ISSUANCE OF FINAL SAFETY

11 EVALUATION.—If the final safety evaluation for a 

12 requested activity of the Commission is not com13 pleted by the completion date required by the per14 formance metrics or milestone schedule under para15 graph (1), the Executive Director for Operations of 

16 the Commission shall, not later than 30 days after 

17 such required completion date, inform the Commis18 sion of the delay. 

19 (3) DELAYS IN ISSUANCE OF FINAL SAFETY

20 EVALUATION EXCEEDING 180 DAYS.—If a final safe21 ty evaluation described in paragraph (2) is not com22 pleted by the date that is 180 days after the comple23 tion date required by the performance metrics or 

24 milestone schedule under paragraph (1), the Com25 mission shall submit to the Committee on Environ-
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1 ment and Public Works of the Senate and the Com2 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

3 Representatives a timely report describing the delay, 

4 including a detailed explanation accounting for the 

5 delay and a plan for timely completion of the final 

6 safety evaluation. 

7 (d) ACCURATE INVOICING.—With respect to invoices 

8 for fees charged under subsection (b)(2), the Commission 

9 shall— 

10 (1) ensure appropriate review and approval 

11 prior to the issuance of invoices; 

12 (2) develop and implement processes to audit 

13 invoices to ensure accuracy, transparency, and fair14 ness; and 

15 (3) modify regulations to ensure fair and appro16 priate processes to provide licensees and applicants 

17 an opportunity to efficiently dispute or otherwise 

18 seek review and correction of errors in invoices for 

19 such fees. 

20 (e) REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 2022, 

21 the Commission shall submit to the Committee on Appro22 priations and the Committee on Environment and Public 

23 Works of the Senate and the Committee on Appropria24 tions and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

25 House of Representatives a report describing the imple-
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1 mentation of this section, including any effects of such im2 plementation and recommendations for improvement. 

3 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR.—The term 

5 ‘‘advanced nuclear reactor’’ means a nuclear fission 

6 or fusion reactor, including a prototype plant (as de7 fined in sections 50.2 and 52.1 of title 10, Code of 

8 Federal Regulations), with significant improvements 

9 compared to commercial nuclear reactors under con10 struction as of the date of enactment of this Act, in11 cluding improvements such as— 

12 (A) additional inherent safety features; 

13 (B) significantly lower levelized cost of 

14 electricity; 

15 (C) lower waste yields; 

16 (D) greater fuel utilization; 

17 (E) enhanced reliability; 

18 (F) increased proliferation resistance; 

19 (G) increased thermal efficiency; or 

20 (H) ability to integrate into electric and 

21 nonelectric applications. 

22 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

23 means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

24 (3) CORPORATE SUPPORT COSTS.—The term 

25 ‘‘corporate support costs’’ means expenditures for 
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1 acquisitions, administrative services, financial man2 agement, human resource management, information 

3 management, information technology, policy support, 

4 outreach, and training. 

5 (4) RESEARCH REACTOR.—The term ‘‘research 

6 reactor’’ means a nuclear reactor that— 

7 (A) is licensed by the Commission under 

8 section 104 c. of the Atomic Energy Act of 

9 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2134(c)) for operation at a 

10 thermal power level of not more than 10 

11 megawatts; and 

12 (B) if so licensed for operation at a ther13 mal power level of more than 1 megawatt, does 

14 not contain— 

15 (i) a circulating loop through the core 

16 in which the licensee conducts fuel experi17 ments; 

18 (ii) a liquid fuel loading; or 

19 (iii) an experimental facility in the 

20 core in excess of 16 square inches in cross21 section. 

22 (5) REQUESTED ACTIVITY OF THE COMMIS23 SION.—The term ‘‘requested activity of the Commis24 sion’’ means— 

25 (A) the processing of applications for— 
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1 (i) design certifications or approvals; 

2 (ii) licenses; 

3 (iii) permits; 

4 (iv) license amendments; 

5 (v) license renewals; 

6 (vi) certificates of compliance; and 

7 (vii) power uprates; and 

8 (B) any other activity requested by a li9 censee or applicant. 

10 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section takes effect on 

11 October 1, 2020. 

12 SEC. 4. STUDY ON ELIMINATION OF FOREIGN LICENSING 

13 RESTRICTIONS. 

14 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the Comptroller General shall transmit to Con16 gress a report containing the results of a study on the 

17 feasibility and implications of repealing restrictions under 

18 sections 103 d. and 104 d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 

19 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2133(d); 2134(d)) on issuing licenses for 

20 certain nuclear facilities to an alien or an entity owned, 

21 controlled, or dominated by an alien, a foreign corpora22 tion, or a foreign government. 
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1 SEC. 5. STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF THE ELIMINATION OF 

2 MANDATORY HEARING FOR UNCONTESTED 

3 LICENSING APPLICATIONS. 

4 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Comptroller General shall transmit to Con6 gress a report containing the results of a study on the 

7 effects of eliminating the hearings required under section 

8 189 a. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 

9 2239(a)) for an application under section 103 or section 

10 104 b. of such Act for a construction permit for a facility 

11 in the absence of a request of any person whose interest 

12 may be affected by the proceeding. 

13 SEC. 6. INFORMAL HEARING PROCEDURES. 

14 Section 189 a. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

15 U.S.C. 2239(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(3) The Commission may use informal adjudicatory 

18 procedures for any hearing required under this section for 

19 which the Commission determines that adjudicatory proce20 dures under section 554 of title 5, United States Code, 

21 are unnecessary.’’. 

22 SEC. 7. APPLICATION REVIEWS FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY 

23 PROJECTS. 

24 Section 185 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

25 U.S.C. 2235) is amended by adding at the end the fol26 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘c. APPLICATION REVIEWS FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY

2 PROJECTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) STREAMLINING LICENSE APPLICATION RE4 VIEW.—With respect to an application that is dock5 eted seeking issuance of a construction permit, oper6 ating license, or combined construction permit and 

7 operating license for a production or utilization facil8 ity, the Commission shall include the following pro9 cedures: 

10 ‘‘(A) Undertake an environmental review 

11 process and issue any draft environmental im12 pact statement to the maximum extent prac13 ticable within 24 months after the application is 

14 accepted for docketing. 

15 ‘‘(B) Complete the technical review process 

16 and issue any safety evaluation report and any 

17 final environmental impact statement to the 

18 maximum extent practicable within 42 months 

19 after the application is accepted for docketing. 

20 ‘‘(2) EARLY SITE PERMIT.— 

21 ‘‘(A) SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IM22 PACT STATEMENT.—In a proceeding for a com23 bined construction permit and operating license 

24 for a site for which an early site permit has 

25 been issued, any environmental impact state-
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1 ment prepared by the Commission and cooper2 ating agencies shall be prepared as a supple3 ment to the environmental impact statement 

4 prepared for the early site permit. 

5 ‘‘(B) INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE.— 

6 The supplemental environmental impact state7 ment shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) incorporate by reference the anal9 ysis, findings, and conclusions from the en10 vironmental impact statement prepared for 

11 the early site permit; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) include additional discussion, 

13 analyses, findings, and conclusions on mat14 ters resolved in the early site permit pro15 ceeding only to the extent necessary to ad16 dress information that is new and signifi17 cant in that the information would materi18 ally change the prior findings or conclu19 sions. 

20 ‘‘(3) PRODUCTION OR UTILIZATION FACILITY

21 LOCATED AT AN EXISTING SITE.—In reviewing an 

22 application for an early site permit, construction 

23 permit, operating license, or combined construction 

24 permit and operating license for a production or uti25 lization facility located at the site of a licensed pro-
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1 duction or utilization facility, the Commission shall, 

2 to the extent practicable, use information that was 

3 part of the licensing basis of the licensed production 

4 or utilization facility. 

5 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall 

6 initiate a rulemaking, not later than 1 year after the 

7 date of enactment of the Nuclear Utilization of Key8 note Energy Act, to amend the regulations of the 

9 Commission to implement this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(5) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DE11 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘environmental 

12 impact statement’ means a detailed statement re13 quired under section 102(C) of the National Envi14 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(C)). 

15 ‘‘(6) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—Nothing 

16 in this subsection exempts the Commission from any 

17 requirement for full compliance with section 

18 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 

19 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).’’. 

20 SEC. 8. REPORT IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICES FOR ES21 TABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF LOCAL 

22 COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARDS. 

23 (a) BEST PRACTICES REPORT.—Not later than 18 

24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Nu25 clear Regulatory Commission shall submit to Congress, 
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1 and make publicly available, a report identifying best prac2 tices with respect to the establishment and operation of 

3 a local community advisory board to foster communication 

4 and information exchange between a licensee planning for 

5 and involved in decommissioning activities and members 

6 of the community that decommissioning activities may af7 fect, including lessons learned from any such board in ex8 istence before the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 (b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection 

10 (a) shall include— 

11 (1) a description of— 

12 (A) the topics that could be brought before 

13 a local community advisory board; 

14 (B) how such a board’s input could be 

15 used to inform the decision-making processes of 

16 stakeholders for various decommissioning activi17 ties; 

18 (C) what interaction such a board could 

19 have with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

20 and other Federal regulatory bodies to support 

21 the board members’ overall understanding of 

22 the decommissioning process and promote dia23 logue between the affected stakeholders and the 

24 licensee involved in decommissioning activities; 

25 and 
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1 (D) how such a board could offer opportu2 nities for public engagement throughout all 

3 phases of the decommissioning process; 

4 (2) a discussion of the composition of a local 

5 community advisory board; and 

6 (3) best practices relating to the establishment 

7 and operation of a local community advisory board, 

8 including— 

9 (A) the time of establishment of such a 

10 board; 

11 (B) the frequency of meetings of such a 

12 board; 

13 (C) the selection of board members; 

14 (D) the term of board members; 

15 (E) the responsibility for logistics required 

16 to support such a board’s meetings and other 

17 routine activities; and 

18 (F) any other best practices relating to 

19 such a local community advisory board that are 

20 identified by the Commission. 

21 (c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the report de22 scribed in subsection (a), the Nuclear Regulatory Commis23 sion shall consult with any host State, any community 

24 within the emergency planning zone of an applicable nu-
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1 clear facility, and any existing local community advisory 

2 board. 

3 SEC. 9. REPORT ON STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS. 

4 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall sub6 mit to Congress a report on the status of addressing and 

7 implementing the recommendations contained in the 

8 memorandum of the Executive Director of Operations of 

9 the Commission entitled ‘‘Tasking in Response to the As10 sessment of the Considerations Identified in a ‘Study of 

11 Reprisal and Chilling Effect for Raising Mission-Related 

12 Concerns and Differing Views at the Nuclear Regulatory 

13 Commission’ ’’ and dated June 19, 2018 (ADAMS Acces14 sion No.: ML18165A296). 

Passed the House of Representatives September 25, 

2018. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1320 

AN ACT 

To amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 

purposes. sion user fees and annual charges, and for other of 1990 related to Nuclear Regulatory Commis-