31840 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 2, 140, 170, and 171

RIN 3150–AF 83

Revision of Fee Schedules; 100

Percent Fee Recovery, FY 1998

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is amending the

licensing, inspection, and annual fees

charged to its applicants and licensees.

The amendments are necessary to

implement the Omnibus Budget

Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA–90),

which mandates that the NRC recover

approximately 100 percent of its budget

authority in Fiscal Year (FY) 1998, less

amounts appropriated from the Nuclear

Waste Fund (NWF). The amount to be

recovered for FY 1998 is approximately

$454.8 million. The NRC is also

providing additional payment methods

for civil penalties and indemnity fees, as

well as annual and licensing fees.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 10, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of comments

received and the agency workpapers

that support these final changes to 10

CFR Parts 170 and 171 may be

examined at the NRC Public Document

Room, 2120 L Street NW (Lower Level),

Washington, DC 20555–0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Glenda Jackson, Office of the Chief

Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555–0001, Telephone 301–415–

6057.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background.

II. Responses to Comments.

III. Final Action.

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis.

V. Environmental Impact: Categorical

Exclusion.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement.

VII. Regulatory Analysis.

VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.

IX. Backfit Analysis.

X. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act.

I. Background

Public Law 101–508, the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990

(OBRA–90), enacted November 5, 1990,

required that the NRC recover

approximately 100 percent of its budget

authority, less the amount appropriated

from the Department of Energy (DOE)

administered NWF, for FYs 1991

through 1995 by assessing fees. OBRA–

90 was amended in 1993 to extend the

NRC’s 100 percent fee recovery

requirement through FY 1998.

The NRC assesses two types of fees to

recover its budget authority. First,

license and inspection fees, established

at 10 CFR Part 170 under the authority

of the Independent Offices

Appropriation Act (IOAA), 31 U.S.C.

9701, recover the NRC’s costs of

providing individually identifiable

services to specific applicants and

licensees. Examples of the services

provided by the NRC for which these

fees are assessed are the review of

applications for the issuance of new

licenses, approvals or renewals, and

amendments to licenses or approvals.

Second, annual fees, established in 10

CFR Part 171 under the authority of

OBRA–90, recover generic and other

regulatory costs not recovered through

10 CFR Part 170 fees.

On April 1, 1998 (63 FR 16046), the

NRC published a proposed rule to

establish the licensing, inspection, and

annual fees necessary for the NRC to

recover approximately 100 percent of its

budget authority for FY 1998, less the

appropriation received from the Nuclear

Waste Fund and the General Fund, and

to provide additional payment methods

for civil penalties and indemnity fees.

These changes were highlighted in the

proposed rule (63 FR 16046; April 1,

1998) and have been adopted in this

final rule for FY 1998. The major

changes are summarized as follows:

1. Adjust all 10 CFR 171 annual fees

by the percent change in the NRC

budget authority since its FY 1997

appropriation. In this final rule, FY

1998 annual fees have been adjusted

downward by about 0.1 percent. This

change is consistent with the NRC’s

intention stated in the FY 1995 final

rule. The NRC indicated that, beginning

in FY 1996, annual fees would be

stabilized by adjusting the prior year

annual fees by the percent change (plus

or minus) in the NRC budget authority

taking into consideration the estimated

collections from 10 CFR Part 170 fees

and the number of licensees paying fees;

2. Revise, by lowering, the two

professional hourly rates in § 170.20

that are used to determine the 10 CFR

Part 170 fees assessed by the NRC. The

rate for FY 1998 for the reactor program

is $124 per hour and the rate for the

materials program is $121 per hour.

3. Adjust downward the current

licensing and inspection fees in

§§ 170.21 and 170.31 for applicants and

licensees to reflect the changes in the

revised hourly rates.

4. Revise § 170.12(g) to include full

cost recovery for resident inspectors and

to recover costs incurred up to

approximately 30 days after issuance of

an inspection report.

5. Implement a procedural change to

assess fees under §§ 170.21 and 170.31

for activities, such as application

reviews and inspections, performed

during compensated overtime. The

compensated overtime hours will be

billed at the normal hourly rate.

II. Responses to Comments

The NRC received and evaluated four

comments on its proposed rule.

For evaluation purposes, comments

similar in nature have been grouped, as

appropriate, and addressed as single

issues in this final rule.

The comments are as follows.

A. Relationship Between Costs and

Annual Fees

1. Comment. Two commenters, the

Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and

Florida Power and Light Company

(FPL), indicated that the basis for the

increase in the annual fees was not

explained in the proposed rule. These

commenters indicated that NRC has not

followed the Congressional directive in

the Conference Report on the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990

(OBRA–90) that the annual charges, ‘‘to

the maximum extent practicable,

reasonably reflects the cost of providing

services to such licensees or classes of

licensees.’’ NEI stated that the general

descriptions of the activities comprising

the basis for the annual fee do not

provide sufficient information to enable

the public to comment meaningfully on

this aspect of the proposed rule, and

went on to argue that the NRC’s

obligation to examine its activities and

their associated costs annually pursuant

to OBRA–90 cannot be satisfied by

merely adjusting the FY 1995 baseline

determinations. Both of these

commenters indicated that the NRC

should not proceed with the rule as

proposed and should provide a clear

explanation of the relationship between

services provided and the proposed

annual fee. FPL stated that the

description and level of justification

should be no less than that employed

prior to 1995. NEI also stated that the

NRC did not provide any information to

enable an evaluation of the basis for the

judgment that neither of the two tests

for reexamining the basis for the annual

fees (e.g., a substantial change in the

NRC’s budget or in the magnitude of a

specific budget allocation to a class of

licensees) had been met.

Response. The NRC believes that it

has provided sufficient information to

allow public evaluation and comment

on the proposed fees. The proposed fee

rule contained specific explanations for
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31841

the changes to the annual fees,

including tables showing the calculation

of the percentage change to the annual

fees. In addition, as stated in the

proposed rule, the workpapers

supporting the proposed fee rule

changes are available for public

examination in the NRC Public

Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW

(Lower Level), Washington, DC 20555.

Moreover, a detailed explanation of

NRC’s budget is set forth in NUREG–

1100, Volume 13, Budget Estimates

Fiscal Year 1998 published in February

1997 and is available to commenters.

Finally, NRC staff during the comment

period responded to telephone requests

for additional explanation of the

proposed rule.

Contrary to the commenters’

inference, OBRA–90 does not require

NRC to rebaseline annual fees every

year. The statute states that ‘‘[t]o the

maximum extent practicable, the

charges shall have a reasonable

relationship to the cost of providing

regulatory services and may be based on

the allocation of the Commission’s

resources among licensees or classes of

licensees.’’ The Conference Report on

the statute makes clear that the Congress

recognized that the allocation of fees

would diverge from the allocation of

resources in the budget. The conferees

further ‘‘recognize[d] that there are

expenses that cannot be attributed either

to an individual licensee or a class of

licensees.’’ (House Conference Report

101–954, p. 962.) This language affords

the Commission some flexibility in

shaping its annual fee schedules.

In promulgating the FY 1995 fee rule,

the NRC solicited comments on a

proposal to establish the annual fees for

FY 1996 through FY 1998, and FY 1999

if OBRA–90 is extended, based on the

percentage decrease or increase in the

NRC’s total budget, unless there was a

substantial change in that total budget

or in the magnitude of a specific budget

allocation to a class of licensees. The

NRC indicated that the annual fees

would also be adjusted to compensate

for changes in Part 170 fee collections

and the number of licensees paying

annual fees. The NRC concluded that

this approach is ‘‘practicable’’ and fully

consistent with its statutory mandate.

Most commenters in FY 1995 agreed

that this method represented a

simplification and streamlining of the

fee-setting procedures and was

necessary to eliminate the large

fluctuations in annual fees that had

occurred in the past and to provide for

greater predictability of fees. At that

time, neither NEI nor any reactor

licensee objected to the proposed

method. Based on the comments

received supporting the methodology,

the NRC adopted the change, and the

revised method was used to determine

the FY 1996 and FY 1997 annual fees.

The revised method was not challenged

by commenters when it produced a

reduction of about 6 percent in FY 1996,

and at the time NEI stated that it was

‘‘pleased that the annual fees for

licensees are being lowered by slightly

over 6%’’ (letter to John C. Hoyle,

Secretary of the Commission, from

William H. Rasin, NEI, dated February

28, 1996). The Commission reaffirmed

the legality of its approach in its denial

of an NEI petition seeking

reconsideration of the final fee rule for

fiscal year 1997. See, October 1, 1997,

letter from John C. Hoyle, Secretary of

the Commission, to Robert W. Bishop,

Vice President and General Counsel,

Nuclear Energy Institute.

With regard to the question of

whether the criteria established by NRC

for rebaselining have been met, the NRC

specifically stated in the proposed rule

that there has not been a substantial

change in the NRC budget or the

magnitude of a specific budget

allocation to a class of licensees. The FY

1998 budgeted amount to be recovered

through NRC’s fees is $7.5 million less

than in FY 1997. This is clearly not a

substantial change. Similarly, as

reflected in the NRC’s annual budgets,

there have not been major changes in

the allocation of budgeted resources to

specific classes of licensees.

This final rule adopts the

methodology to streamline and stabilize

FY 1998 annual fees by adjusting these

fees by the percentage change in NRC’s

total budget authority. The FY 1997 fees

have been used as base annual fees, and

these fees have been adjusted for FY

1998 based on the percentage change in

NRC’s budget authority, taking into

consideration the total number of

licensees paying fees and estimated

collections from 10 CFR Part 170 fees.

The amounts of the annual fees for some

of the classes of licensees have

decreased since the publication of the

proposed rule. The proposed FY 1998

annual fees were developed using an

estimated number of days for proration

of the FY 1998 annual fees for Zion

Stations Units 1 and 2. As a result of

this estimation, the FY 1998 proposed

annual fees were based on the

equivalent of 2.5 fewer power reactors

paying annual fees in FY 1998 than in

FY 1997, and the proposed FY 1998

annual fees increased by 0.1 percent

compared to the actual (prior to

rounding) FY 1997 annual fees. The

final FY 1998 annual fees have been

developed based on the certification

dates for permanent cessation of

operations and permanent removal of

fuel from the Zion 1 and 2 reactor

vessels. The certifications were filed

later in the fiscal year than anticipated

when the proposed rule was developed,

resulting in the equivalent of 2.3 fewer

power reactors paying annual fees in FY

1998 than in FY 1997. The result is that

the final FY 1998 annual fees have

decreased by about 0.1 percent

compared to the FY 1997 actual (prior

to rounding) annual fees.

2. Comment. FPL stated that the

proposed rule does not reflect any

Commission consideration of the

specific services driving the cost

increase. FPL also questioned why the

reactor annual fee was not reduced in

light of the premature shutdown of four

nuclear units in FY 1997. Another

commenter, Tennessee Valley Authority

(TVA), stated that, with the shift from

operating reactor oversight to

decommissioning activities, strong

action to reduce overhead and central

staff appears appropriate. TVA also

stated that the 10 percent fewer power

licensees with much better average

performance than in the past should

yield reductions in total NRC fees.

Response. Although the proposed

reactor annual fee increased slightly, by

0.1 percent, from FY 1997, the total

budget to be recovered through fees

decreased by $7.5 million from FY 1997.

In fact, the proposed rule reflected a

decrease in the total annual fees for the

power reactor class of licensees of

approximately $7.4 million compared to

FY 1997. The slight increase in the

proposed annual fee to be assessed to

each reactor licensee was not the result

of increased costs or a lack of

consideration of the specific services.

Rather, the proposed change was

primarily the result of the equivalent of

2.5 fewer reactors paying the annual fee

compared to FY 1997. As explained in

response to the above comment, this

final rule reflects the equivalent of 2.3

fewer reactors paying the FY 1998 fees,

and as a result the final FY 1998 annual

fees decreased by 0.1 percent compared

to the FY 1997 exact (prior to rounding)

annual fees.

B. Fees for Services That do not Benefit

Licensees

1. Comment. NEI, FPL, and TVA

continued to urge NRC to take action to

eliminate fees for services that do not

benefit the licensees paying the annual

fees. FPL and NEI concluded that

recovering the costs of these activities

from reactor licensees violates the

provision of OBRA–90 that the charges

shall have a reasonable relationship to

the cost of providing regulatory services.

FPL argued that assessing these non-
31842 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

reactor costs to reactor licensees exceeds

the Congressional delegation of

authority and is arbitrary and

capricious, and therefore violates the

Equal Protection requirements of the

Due Process Clause of the Fifth

Amendment to the United States

Constitution. NEI suggested that the

NRC could conclude that recovering 88

percent of its budget authority by

eliminating these costs from fee

recovery is consistent with the

requirement of OBRA–90 to recover

‘‘approximately’’ 100 percent of its

budget authority from fees, or NRC

could seek legislation to resolve the

issue, as it has committed to do in the

past.

Response. As NRC has stated on many

occasions, it shares commenters’

concerns that licensees are paying for

activities that do not directly benefit

them. However, the NRC disagrees with

the assertion that recovering these costs

from licensees violates statutory

requirements. In fact, the Congressional

guidelines provided in the Conference

Report to the 100 percent fee recovery

legislation specifically provide for the

assessment of fees to licensees to

recover agency costs that may not

provide direct benefits to them. The

conferees recognized that ‘‘Congress

must indicate clearly its intention to

delegate to the Executive the

discretionary authority to recover

administrative costs not inuring directly

to the benefit of regulated parties’’ and

that Congress must provide guidelines

for making these assessments. The

conferees recognized that certain

expenses cannot be attributed either to

an individual or to classes of NRC

licensees. The conferees intended that

the NRC fairly and equitably recover

these expenses from its licensees

through the annual charge even though

these expenses cannot be attributed to

individual licensees or classes of

licensees. These expenses may be

recovered from the licensees as the

Commission, in its discretion,

determines can fairly, equitably, and

practicably contribute to their payment.

(136 Cong. Rec. at H12692–3.) Based on

these explicit guidelines, the NRC

concludes that the assessment of fees to

recover these costs from licensees is

neither arbitrary nor capricious, and

does not violate any statute.

Nevertheless, the NRC continues to

take action to minimize the impacts of

recovering the costs of these activities

from licensees. Although legislation

recommended in NRC’s February 23,

1994, Report to Congress to address

these concerns has not been enacted, the

NRC has taken several steps to mitigate

the perceived inequities within the

constraints of existing law. For example,

the Commission successfully obtained

appropriation legislation that removed

from the fee base certain costs incurred

as a result of regulatory reviews and

other assistance provided to the

Department of Energy and other Federal

agencies. In addition, when authorized

by law, the NRC has made a concerted

effort to obtain reimbursements for

services provided to other Federal

agencies. The NRC has not submitted

proposed legislation that would take out

of the fee base the costs of services that

do not provide direct benefits to

licensees because the Office of

Management and Budget has advised

that such legislation would be

inconsistent with the President’s

budget. The NRC notes that the Senate

Committee on Environment and Public

Works recently ordered to be reported

legislation which would exclude up to

$30 million each year from the NRC’s

fee base.

The NRC disagrees that eliminating

these costs from fee recovery, thereby

recovering 88 percent of the budget,

would meet the OBRA–90 requirement

that NRC recover approximately 100

percent of its budget authority through

fees. As the NRC stated in the statement

of considerations accompanying the FY

1991 final rule (56 FR 31474), it

interprets the words ‘‘approximately

100 percent’’ as meaning that the

Commission should promulgate a rule

that identifies and allocates as close to

100 percent of its budget authority to

the various classes of NRC licensees as

is practical. The Commission concluded

that, based on the Conference Report

guidelines, it was Congress’ intent that

the Commission allocate 100 percent of

its budget authority for fee assessment,

and that the term ‘‘approximately

100%’’ refers only to the inherent

uncertainties in estimating and

collecting the fees. Furthermore, in

NRC’s annual appropriations acts, the

Congress presumes that the NRC fee

collections will approximate 100

percent, not 88 percent, of its budget

authority. See, e.g., Title IV of the

Energy and Water Development

Appropriations Act, 1998, P.L. 105–62.

The Conference Report guidance also

provides that the costs be ‘‘recovered

from such licensees as the Commission

in its discretion determines can fairly,

equitably and practicably contribute to

their payment.’’ The FY 1995 fee rule,

which established the baselines used in

subsequent annual fee rules, including

the current one, allocated the cost of the

activities that raised fairness and equity

concerns to all licensees based on the

budgeted dollars for each class of

licensee. This allocation results in the

entire population of NRC licensees

paying for these costs (see 60 FR 14670,

14674). This continues to be a sensible

approach.

C. Part 170 Fees

1. Comment. NEI and FPL indicated

that NRC should increase the percentage

of costs recovered through Part 170 fees.

FPL claimed that there is no exemption

authority from the provision that ‘‘any

person who receives a service or thing

of value from the Commission shall pay

fees to cover the Commission’s costs in

providing any such service or thing of

value.’’ NEI stated that ‘‘.....79 percent of

the fees proposed to be collected from

NRC licensees are for non-discrete

services. This approach makes it too

easy to shift personnel from providing

discrete services to working on generic

issues, thereby increasing overhead

costs as actual services provided to

individual licensees decline, rather than

make the hard decisions of what

activities are really necessary.’’ FPL

concluded that NRC has not adequately

allocated costs to the beneficiaries of the

services. NEI and TVA supported NRC’s

proposed full-cost provision for resident

inspectors; however, TVA indicated that

time for resident inspectors assigned to

special inspections at other plants

should be charged to those specific

inspections. TVA supported the reduced

hourly rate and NRC’s proposed longterm policy to progress bill for all

inspections.

Response. The NRC previously

responded to commenters’ claim that

there is no exemption authority from the

provision that those receiving a service

shall pay fees to cover the Commission’s

costs of providing the service (62 FR

29195). As the NRC pointed out in that

response, the NRC is barred by law from

charging most Federal agencies 10 CFR

Part 170 fees, and exemptions from fees

granted by the NRC are well founded in

law and are granted only after full and

public consideration of the relevant

policy questions.

The proposed rule included several

actions that would lead to increased

cost recovery under Part 170 for services

provided to identifiable beneficiaries.

The NRC is adopting the proposed

change to recover full cost for resident

inspectors under 10 CFR Part 170;

however, as a result of the comments

received the NRC has clarified in 10

CFR 170.12(g) that time spent by a

resident inspector in support of

activities at other sites will not be billed

to the site to which the resident

inspector is assigned. The NRC is also

adopting the proposed change to recover

costs incurred within 30 days after the

inspection report is issued, and the
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31843

procedural change to assess Part 170

fees for licensing and inspection

activities performed during

compensated overtime. Because this

final rule will not be effective before the

fourth quarter of FY 1998, the increased

Part 170 collections for these activities

do not affect the FY 1998 fee

calculations, but will be reflected in the

FY 1999 fee rule. As indicated in the

proposed rule, the NRC will progress

bill for inspections under certain

circumstances. Based on the comments

received, the necessary changes to 10

CFR 170 will be made in future

rulemaking once the system is available

to accommodate progress billing for all

inspections.

The NRC has established in this FY

1998 final rule a professional hourly

rate of $124 for the reactor program and

$121 per hour for the materials program.

These revised rates, which are a

reduction from the FY 1997 rates, will

be used to determine the 10 CFR Part

170 fees.

The NRC has already taken steps to

evaluate other areas for potential cost

recovery under Part 170, with the

intention of including the recommended

activities in the FY 1999 proposed fee

rule for public comment.

D. Annual Fees for Certificates of

Compliance Issued to the United States

Enrichment Corporation

1. Comment. The United States

Enrichment Corporation (USEC)

requested that a single annual fee be

assessed for the two Gaseous Diffusion

Plants (GPDs) operated by USEC and

that the fee be reduced to a value

commensurate with the proposed fee for

the low-enriched uranium fuel

fabrication facilities. USEC submitted

detailed information to support its

request. USEC stated that its comments

not only address its belief that the

proposed rule is not fair and equitable,

but also serve as a request for

reconsideration of the NRC’s March 23,

1998, denial of USEC’s request for an

exemption from the annual fees.

Response. NRC rejected similar

arguments from USEC in the FY 1997

final rule (62 FR 29197), and in its

March 23, 1998, denial of USEC’s

annual fee exemption request. The NRC

continues to believe for the reasons

stated in these documents that the USEC

must pay a full annual fee for each of

its enrichment facilities and that its

facilities have been placed in the

appropriate fee category. Insofar as

USEC’s comment letter requested a

reconsideration of NRC’s March 23,

1998, denial of its annual fee exemption

request, the NRC will respond to that

request separately.

III. Final Action

The NRC is amending its licensing,

inspection, and annual fees to recover

approximately 100 percent of its FY

1998 budget authority, including the

budget authority for its Office of the

Inspector General, less the

appropriations received from the NWF

and the General Fund. For FY 1998, the

NRC’s budget authority is $472.8

million, of which $15.0 million has

been appropriated from the NWF. In

addition, $3.0 million has been

appropriated from the General Fund for

activities related to commercial

vitrification of waste stored at the

Department of Energy Hanford,

Washington, site and for the pilot

program for the external regulation of

the Department of Energy. The FY 1998

appropriation language states that the

$3.0 million appropriated for regulatory

reviews and other activities pertaining

to waste stored at the Hanford,

Washington, site and activities

associated with the pilot program for

external regulation of the Department of

Energy shall be excluded from license

fee revenues notwithstanding 42 U.S.C.

2214. Therefore, NRC is required to

collect approximately $454.8 million in

FY 1998 through 10 CFR Part 170

licensing and inspection fees and 10

CFR Part 171 annual fees.

The total amount to be recovered in

fees for FY 1998 is $7.5 million less

than the amount estimated for recovery

for FY 1997. The NRC estimates that

approximately $94.6 million will be

recovered in FY 1998 from fees assessed

under 10 CFR Part 170 and other

receipts, compared to $95.2 million in

FY 1997. The remaining $360.2 million

will be recovered in FY 1998 through

the 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees,

compared to $367.1 for FY 1997.

In addition to the decrease in the

amount to be recovered through annual

fees and the slight reduction in the

estimated amount to be recovered in 10

CFR Part 170 fees, the number of

licensees paying annual fees in FY 1998

has decreased compared to FY 1997. For

example, Commonwealth Edison

notified the NRC that the Zion Station

Units 1 and 2 ceased operations on

February 13, 1998. On March 11, 1998,

the NRC docketed Commonwealth

Edison’s certification that all fuel has

been removed from the Zion Station

Units 1 and 2 reactor vessels. In

addition, both the Haddam Neck Plant

and the Maine Yankee Plant ceased

operations during FY 1997 and therefore

are not subject to the FY 1998 annual

fees. This is equivalent to a reduction of

2.3 power reactors subject to the FY

1998 annual fees compared to FY 1997.

The Big Rock Point Plant, a small, older

reactor historically granted a partial

exemption from the annual fee, also

ceased operations in FY 1997 and is no

longer subject to annual fees.

The proposed FY 1998 annual fees

were developed using an estimated

number of days for proration of the FY

1998 annual fees for Zion Station Units

1 and 2. As a result of this estimation,

the FY 1998 proposed annual fees were

based on the equivalent of 2.5 fewer

power reactors paying annual fees in FY

1998 than in FY 1997, and the proposed

FY 1998 annual fees increased by 0.1

percent compared to the actual (prior to

rounding) FY 1997 annual fees. The

final FY 1998 annual fees have been

developed based on the Zion 1 and 2

certifications of permanent cessation of

operations and permanent removal of

fuel from the reactor vessels, which

were filed later in the fiscal year than

anticipated when the proposed rule was

developed, resulting in the equivalent of

2.3 fewer power reactors paying annual

fees in FY 1998 than in FY 1997. As a

result, the final FY 1998 annual fees

decreased by about 0.1 percent

compared to the FY 1997 actual (prior

to rounding) annual fees.

Because this is a slight decrease, the

final (rounded) FY 1998 annual fees for

many fee categories are the same as the

final (rounded) FY 1997 annual fees.

The change to the annual fees is

described in more detail in Section B.

The following examples illustrate the

changes in annual fees:

FY 1997 annual feeFY 1998 annual fee

Class of Licensees:

Power Reactors ................................................................................................................................................ $2,978,000 $2,976,000

Nonpower Reactors .......................................................................................................................................... 57,300 57,300

High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility ................................................................................................................ 2,606,000 2,604,000

Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility ................................................................................................................. 1,279,000 1,278,000

UF6 Conversion Facility .................................................................................................................................... 648,000 648,000
31844 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

FY 1997 annual feeFY 1998 annual fee

Uranium Mills .................................................................................................................................................... 61,800 61,700

Typical Materials Licenses:

Radiographers ................................................................................................................................................... 14,100 14,000

Well Loggers ..................................................................................................................................................... 8,200 8,200

Gauge Users ..................................................................................................................................................... 1,700 1,700

Broad Scope Medical ........................................................................................................................................ 23,500 23,500

Because the final FY 1998 fee rule

will be a ‘‘major’’ final action as defined

by the Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, the

NRC’s fees for FY 1998 will become

effective 60 days after publication of the

final rule in the Federal Register. The

NRC will send an invoice for the

amount of the annual fee upon

publication of the FY 1998 final rule to

reactors and major fuel cycle facilities.

For these licensees, payment will be due

on the effective date of the FY 1998 rule.

Those materials licensees whose license

anniversary date during FY 1998 falls

before the effective date of the final FY

1998 final rule will be billed during the

anniversary month of the license and

continue to pay annual fees at the FY

1997 rate in FY 1998. Those materials

licensees whose license anniversary

date falls on or after the effective date

of the FY 1998 final rule will be billed

at the FY 1998 revised rates during the

anniversary month of the license and

payment will be due on the date of the

invoice.

As announced in the proposed rule,

the NRC will no longer mail the final

rule to all licensees. In addition to

publication in the Federal Register, the

final rule is available on the Internet at

http://ruleforum.llnl.gov/.

Copies of the final rule will be mailed

upon request. To obtain a copy of the

final rule, contact the License Fee and

Accounts Receivable Branch, Division

of Accounting and Finance, Office of the

Chief Financial Officer, at 301–415–

7554. As a matter of courtesy, the NRC

plans to continue in future years to send

the proposed rule to all licensees.

The NRC also announced in the

proposed rule that it plans to reexamine

its current policy of exempting from

annual fees those licensees whose

facilities are being decommissioned, or

who have possession only licenses. The

proposed rule stated that this review

would also reexamine NRC’s annual fee

policy for reactors’ storage of spent fuel.

Any changes to the current fee policies

resulting from these reexaminations will

be included in the FY 1999 fee

rulemaking. One purpose of the study is

to assure consistent fee treatment for

both wet storage (i.e., spent fuel pool)

and dry storage (i.e., independent spent

fuel storage installations, or ISFSIs) of

spent fuel. The Commission has

previously determined that both storage

options are considered safe and

acceptable forms of storage for spent

fuel. Under current fee regulations, Part

50 licensees whose facilities are being

decommissioned and who store spent

fuel in a spent fuel pool are not assessed

an annual fee, but licensees who store

spent fuel in an ISFSI under Part 72 are

assessed an annual fee. The NRC will

review this policy as part of the overall

study of the issues related to annual fees

for licensees of facilities being

decommissioned.

The NRC is amending 10 CFR Parts

170 and 171 as discussed in Sections A.

and B. below

A. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170:

Fees for Facilities, Materials, Import and

Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory

Services

Four amendments have been made to

10 CFR Part 170. These amendments do

not change the underlying basis for the

regulation—that fees be assessed to

applicants, persons, and licensees for

specific identifiable services rendered.

The amendments also comply with the

guidance in the Conference Committee

Report on OBRA–90 that fees assessed

under the Independent Offices

Appropriation Act (IOAA) recover the

full cost to the NRC of identifiable

regulatory services that each applicant

or licensee receives.

First, the NRC is amending § 170.12(g)

to include the following for cost

recovery:

(1) Full-cost recovery for resident

inspectors.

Because the assignment of resident

inspectors to a site is an identifiable

service to a specific licensee, the NRC

will bill the specific licensee for all of

the resident inspectors’ time, excluding

leave and time spent by a resident

inspector in support of activities at

another site. This change is applicable

to all classes of licensees having

resident inspectors.

(2) Costs expended within

approximately 30 days after the

issuance of an inspection report.

Part 170 fees will be assessed for

activities that occur within

approximately 30 days after the

inspection report is issued, such as

follow-up on the inspection findings.

These activities are identifiable services

for specific licensees. This change will

result in recovery through Part 170 fees

of approximately 80 percent of the

accumulated costs expended after the

inspection report is sent, and will

continue to provide applicants and

licensees with a definitive point at

which billing will cease.

Second, the NRC is revising

§ 170.12(h) to include credit cards as an

additional method of payment, and to

provide additional information on

electronic payments. Credit card

payments will be accepted up to the

limit established by the credit card

bank. Electronic payments may be made

by Fedwire (a funds transfer system

operated by the Federal Reserve System)

or by Automated Clearing House (ACH).

ACH is a nationwide processing and

delivery facility that provides for the

distribution and settlement of electronic

financial transactions. Electronic

payment will not only expedite the

payment process, but will also save

applicants and licensees considerable

time and money over a paper-based

payment system.

Third, the two professional hourly

rates established in FY 1997 in § 170.20

are revised based on the FY 1998

budget. These rates are based on the FY

1998 direct FTEs and the FY 1998

budget excluding direct program

support (contractual services costs) and

the appropriation from the NWF or the

General Fund. These rates are used to

determine the Part 170 fees. The NRC

has established a rate of $124 per hour

($219,901 per direct FTE) for the reactor

program. This rate is applicable to all

activities for which fees are based on

full cost under § 170.21 of the fee

regulations. A second rate of $121 per

hour ($214,185 per direct FTE) is

established for the nuclear materials and

nuclear waste program. This rate is

applicable to all materials activities for

which fees are based on full cost under

§ 170.31 of the fee regulations. In the FY

1997 final fee rule, these rates were

$131 and $125, respectively. The

decrease in the hourly rates is primarily

due to a change in application of the
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31845

types of costs included in the hourly

rates. Previously, the hourly rates were

determined based on the premise that

surcharge costs should be shared by

those paying Part 170 fees for services

as well as those paying Part 171 annual

fees. The revised hourly rates have been

determined based on the principle that

the surcharge costs are more

appropriately included only in the Part

171 annual fee.

In addition, Section Chiefs are

included as overhead in the calculation

of the FY 1998 hourly rates, and any

specific Section Chief effort expended

for reviews and inspections will not be

billed to the applicant or licensee.

Previously, the Section Chiefs’ time for

specific licensing and inspection

activities were directly billed under Part

170 to the applicant or licensee. This

change is consistent with the current

budget structure which includes Section

Chiefs as overhead.

Fourth, the NRC has adjusted the

current Part 170 licensing fees in

§§ 170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the

revised hourly rates.

In addition, although not a specific

change to Part 170, the NRC will assess

Part 170 fees for compensated overtime

hours expended for activities covered by

Part 170, such as reviews of

applications, inspections, Part 55

exams, and special projects. The

compensated overtime hours will be

billed at the normal hourly rate.

The NRC will also bill for

accumulated inspection costs prior to

issuance of the inspection report under

certain circumstances. NRC plans to

progress bill for inspections in selected

cases where it is determined that such

billing would be in the best interest of

the agency and the licensee. If it is

determined that the accumulated costs

warrant an exception to the billing

method currently provided in 10 CFR

170.12(g), NRC will coordinate with the

licensee to establish a mutually

agreeable billing schedule and will issue

an invoice for inspection costs that have

accumulated.

The NRC is developing a system that

will accommodate routine billing for

accumulated inspection costs at a

specified interval. Once that system is

available, the NRC intends to progress

bill for all inspections. The staff sought

early comment on the long-term policy

in the FY 1998 proposed rule, and

received one comment supporting the

change. The necessary revision to 10

CFR 170 will be made in future

rulemaking when the system is available

to accomplish this.

B. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 171:

Annual Fees for Reactor Operating

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 NRC

Four amendments have been made to

10 CFR Part 171.

First, the NRC is amending § 171.13 to

delete specific fiscal year references.

Second, the NRC is amending

§§ 171.15 and 171.16 to revise the

annual fees for FY 1998 to recover

approximately 100 percent of the FY

1998 budget authority, less fees

collected under 10 CFR Part 170 and

funds appropriated from the NWF and

the General Fund. In the FY 1995 final

rule, the NRC stated that it would

stabilize annual fees as follows.

Beginning in FY 1996, the NRC would

adjust the annual fees only by the

percentage change (plus or minus) in

NRC’s total budget authority unless

there was a substantial change in the

total NRC budget authority or the

magnitude of the budget allocated to a

specific class of licensees. If either case

occurred, the annual fee base would be

recalculated as discussed in the FY 1995

final rule (60 FR 32225; June 20, 1995).

In the FY 1995 rule, the NRC also

indicated that the percentage change

would be adjusted based on changes in

10 CFR Part 170 fees and other

adjustments as well as on the number of

licensees paying the fees.

In the FY 1996 final rule, the NRC

stabilized the annual fees by

establishing the annual fees for all

licensees at a level of 6.5 percent below

the FY 1995 annual fees. For FY 1997,

the NRC followed the same method as

used in FY 1996. Because the amount to

be recovered through fees for FY 1997

was identical to the amount to be

recovered in FY 1996, establishing new

baseline fees was not warranted for FY

1997. Based on a change in the

distribution between Parts 170 and 171

fees, a reduction in the amount of the

budget recovered from 10 CFR Part 170

fees, a reduction in other offsetting

adjustments, and a reduction in the

number of licensees paying annual fees,

the FY 1997 annual fees for all licensees

increased 8.4 percent compared to the

FY 1996 annual fees. In addition,

beginning in FY 1997, the NRC made an

adjustment to recognize that all fees

billed in a fiscal year are not collected

in that year.

As indicated in the FY 1995 final rule,

because there has not been a substantial

change in the NRC budget or in the

magnitude of a specific budget

allocation to a class of licensees, the

NRC followed the same method used for

FY 1996 and FY 1997 to establish the

FY 1998 annual fees.

The FY 1998 amount to be recovered

through fees is approximately $454.8

million, which is $7.5 million less than

in FY 1997. The estimated amount to be

recovered in 10 CFR Part 170 fees is

$94.6 million, compared to $95.2

million for FY 1997. In addition, there

are the equivalent of 2.3 fewer power

reactors subject to annual fees in FY

1998. There is also a reduction of

approximately 200 transportation

quality assurance approvals as a result

of the rulemaking in 1997 that

combined these approvals with the Part

34 radiography licenses.

The NRC is establishing the FY 1998

annual fees for all licensees at about 0.1

percent below the FY 1997 actual (prior

to rounding) annual fees. Based on the

small change, the rounded FY 1998

annual fee for many fee categories is the

same as the final (rounded) FY 1997

annual fee. Therefore, for many

licensees, the annual fee for FY 1998 is

the same as the FY 1997 annual fee.

Table I shows the total budget and

amounts of fees for FY 1997 and FY

1998.

TABLE I.—CALCULATION OF THE PERCENTAGE CHANGE TO THE FY 1997 ANNUAL FEES

[Dollars in millions]

FY 1997 FY 1998

Total Budget ..................................................................................................................................................................... $476.8 $472.8

Less NWF ................................................................................................................................................................. ¥11.0 ¥15.0

Less General Fund (Hanford Tanks, Pilot for Regulation of DOE) .......................................................................... ¥3.5 ¥3.0

Total Fee Base ................................................................................................................................................................. 462.3 454.8

Less Part 170 Fees .................................................................................................................................................. ¥95.2 ¥94.6

Less other receipts ................................................................................................................................................... .................... ....................
31846 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

TABLE I.—CALCULATION OF THE PERCENTAGE CHANGE TO THE FY 1997 ANNUAL FEES—Continued

[Dollars in millions]

FY 1997 FY 1998

Part 171 Fee Collections Required .................................................................................................................................. 367.1 360.2

Part 171 Billing Adjustment: 1

Small Entity Allowance ............................................................................................................................................. 5.0 5.8

Unpaid current FY invoices ...................................................................................................................................... 3.0 3.9

Payments from prior year invoices ........................................................................................................................... ¥2.0 ¥3.2

Subtotal .............................................................................................................................................................. 6.0 6.5

Total Part 171 Billing ......................................................................................................................................... 373.1 366.7

1These adjustments are necessary to ensure that the ‘‘billed’’ amount results in the required collections. Positive amounts indicate amounts

billed that will not be collected in FY 1998.

Third, Footnote 1 of 10 CFR 171.16(d)

is amended to provide for a waiver of

annual fees for FY 1998 for those

materials licensees, 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, 1997, and permanently

ceased licensed activities entirely by

September 30, 1997. All other licensees

and approval holders who held a license

or approval on October 1, 1997, are

subject to FY 1998 annual fees. This

change is being made in recognition of

the fact that since the final FY 1997 rule

was published in May 1997, some

licensees have filed requests for

termination of their licenses or

certificates with the NRC. Other

licensees have either telephoned or

written to the NRC since the FY 1997

final rule became effective requesting

further clarification and information

concerning the annual fees assessed.

The NRC is responding to these requests

as quickly as possible. However, the

NRC was unable to respond and take

action on all requests before the end of

FY 1997 on September 30, 1997. Similar

situations existed after the FY 1991–

1996 rules were published, and in those

cases, the NRC provided an exemption

from the requirement that the annual fee

is waived only when a license is

terminated before October 1 of each

fiscal year.

Fourth, § 171.19 is amended to update

fiscal year references and to credit the

partial payments made by certain

licensees in FY 1998 either toward their

total annual fee to be assessed or to

make refunds, if necessary. Section

171.19(a) is also amended to provide

credit cards as an additional method of

payment, and to provide additional

information on electronic payments.

Credit card payments will be accepted

up to the limit established by the credit

card bank. Electronic payments may be

made by Fedwire (a funds transfer

system operated by the Federal Reserve

System) or by Automated Clearing

House (ACH). ACH is a nationwide

processing and delivery facility that

provides for the distribution and

settlement of electronic financial

transactions. Electronic payments will

not only expedite the payment process,

but will also save applicants and

licensees considerable time and money

over a paper-based payment system.

The NRC will send an invoice to

reactors and major fuel cycle facilities

for the amount of the annual fee after

publication of the FY 1998 final rule.

For these licensees, payment will be due

on the effective date of FY 1998 rule.

Those materials licensees whose license

anniversary date during the FY 1998

falls before the effective date of the final

FY 1998 rule will be billed during the

anniversary month of the license and

continue to pay annual fees at the FY

1997 rate in FY 1998. Those materials

licensees whose license anniversary

date falls on or after the effective date

of the final FY 1998 rule will be billed,

at the FY 1998 revised rates, during the

anniversary month of the license and

payment will be due on the date of the

invoice.

The final changes to 10 CFR Part 171

are consistent with the NRC’s FY 1995

final rule indicating that, for the period

FY 1996–1999, the expectation is that

annual fees would be adjusted by the

percentage change (plus or minus) to the

NRC’s budget authority adjusted for

NRC offsetting receipts and the number

of licensees paying annual fees.

In addition to the amendments to 10

CFR Parts 170 and 171, the NRC is

amending 10 CFR Parts 2 and 140 to

include the additional methods of

payments provided in 10 CFR Parts 170

and 171.

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis

The following analysis of those

sections that will be amended by this

final rule provides additional

explanatory information. All references

are to Title 10, Chapter I, U.S. Code of

Federal Regulations.

Part 2

Section 2.205 Civil Penalties

Paragraph 2.205(I) is amended to

provide additional methods of payment,

such as Automated Clearing House and

credit cards, and to clarify that

payments are to be made in U.S. funds

to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

Part 140

Section 140.7 Fees

Paragraphs (a)(5) and (c) are amended

to delete references to payment

instructions. A new paragraph (d) is

added to provide payment instructions,

including clarification that payments

are to be made in U.S. funds to the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission and to

provide additional methods of

payments, such as Automated Clearing

House and credit cards.

Part 170

Section 170.12 Payment of Fees

Paragraph (g) is amended to indicate

that costs incurred within

approximately 30 days after an

inspection report is issued will be billed

to the specific licensee, and that for

each site having a resident inspector(s),

the licensee will be billed for all of the

resident inspectors’ time, excluding

leave and time spent by a resident

inspector in support of activities at

another site.

Paragraph (h) is revised to provide

additional methods of payment for fees

assessed under 10 CFR Part 170 and to

clarify that payment should be made in

U.S. funds.

Section 170.20 Average Cost per

Professional Staff-Hour

This section is amended to establish

two professional staff-hour rates based

on FY 1998 budgeted costs—one for the
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31847

reactor program and one for the nuclear

material and nuclear waste program.

Accordingly, the NRC reactor direct

staff-hour rate for FY 1998 for all

activities whose fees are based on full

cost under § 170.21 is $124 per hour, or

$219,901 per direct FTE. The NRC

nuclear material and nuclear waste

direct staff-hour rate for all materials

activities whose fees are based on full

cost under § 170.31 is $121 per hour, or

$214,185 per direct FTE. The rates are

based on the FY 1998 direct FTEs and

NRC budgeted costs that are not

recovered through the appropriation

from the NWF or the General Fund. The

NRC has continued the use of cost

center concepts established in FY 1995

in allocating certain costs to the reactor

and materials programs in order to more

closely align budgeted costs with

specific classes of licensees. The

method used to determine the two

professional hourly rates is as follows:

1. Direct program FTE levels are

identified for both the reactor program

and the nuclear material and waste

program.

2. Direct contract support, which is

the use of contract or other services in

support of the line organization’s direct

program, is excluded from the

calculation of the hourly rate because

the costs for direct contract support are

charged directly through the various

categories of fees.

3. All other direct program costs (i.e.,

Salaries and Benefits, Travel) represent

‘‘in-house’’ costs and are to be allocated

by dividing them uniformly by the total

number of direct FTEs for the program.

In addition, salaries and benefits plus

contracts for general and administrative

support are allocated to each program

based on that program’s salaries and

benefits. This method results in the

following costs which are included in

the hourly rates.

TABLE II.—FY 1998 BUDGET AUTHORITY TO BE INCLUDED IN HOURLY RATES

[Dollars in millions]

Reactor

program

Materials

program

Direct Program Salaries & Benefits ................................................................................................................................. $103.9 $20.5

Overhead Salaries & Benefits, Program Travel and Other Support ............................................................................... 55.3 14.8

Allocated Agency Management and Support .................................................................................................................. 101.7 22.0

Subtotal ..................................................................................................................................................................... 260.9 57.3

Less offsetting receipts .................................................................................................................................................... .................... ....................

Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate ...................................................................................................................... 260.9 57.3

Program Direct FTEs ....................................................................................................................................................... 1,186.4 267.3

Rate per Direct FTE ......................................................................................................................................................... 219,901 214,185

Professional Hourly Rate (Rate per direct FTE divided by 1,776 hours) ........................................................................ 124 121

Dividing the $260.9 million (rounded)

budget for the reactor program by the

reactor program direct FTEs (1,186.4)

results in a rate for the reactor program

of $219,901 per FTE for FY 1998.

Dividing the $57.3 million (rounded)

budget for the nuclear materials and

nuclear waste program by the program

direct FTEs (267.3) results in a rate of

$214,185 per FTE for FY 1998. The

direct FTE hourly rate for the reactor

program is $124 per hour (rounded to

the nearest whole dollar). This rate is

calculated by dividing the cost per

direct FTE ($219,901) by the number of

productive hours in one year (1,776

hours) as indicated in the revised OMB

Circular A–76, ‘‘Performance of

Commercial Activities.’’ The direct FTE

hourly rate for the materials program is

$121 per hour (rounded to the nearest

whole dollar). This rate is calculated by

dividing the cost per direct FTE

($214,185) by the number of productive

hours in one year (1,776 hours).

The FY 1998 hourly rates are slightly

lower than the FY 1997 rates. The

decrease in the hourly rates is primarily

due to a change in application of the

types of costs included in the hourly

rates. Previously, the hourly rates were

determined based on the premise that

surcharge costs should be shared by

those paying Part 170 fees for services

as well as those paying Part 171 annual

fees. The FY 1998 hourly rates have

been determined based on the principle

that the surcharge costs are more

appropriately included only in the Part

171 annual fee.

Section 170.21 Schedule of Fees for

Production and Utilization Facilities,

Review of Standard Reference Design

Approvals, Special Projects, Inspections

and Import and Export Licenses

The NRC is revising the licensing and

inspection fees in this section, which

are based on full-cost recovery, to reflect

FY 1998 budgeted costs and to recover

costs incurred by the NRC in providing

licensing and inspection services to

identifiable recipients. The fees assessed

for services provided under the

schedule are based on the professional

hourly rate, as shown in § 170.20, for

the reactor program and any direct

program support (contractual services)

costs expended by the NRC. Any

professional hours expended on or after

the effective date of the final rule will

be assessed at the FY 1998 hourly rate

for the reactor program, as shown in

§ 170.20. The fees in § 170.21 for the

review of import and export licensing,

facility Category K, are adjusted for FY

1998 to reflect the revised hourly rate.

Section 170.31 Schedule of Fees for

Materials Licenses and Other Regulatory

Services, Including Inspections and

Import and Export Licenses

The licensing and inspection fees in

this section, which are based on fullcost recovery, are modified to recover

the FY 1998 costs incurred by the NRC

in providing licensing and inspection

services to identifiable recipients. The

fees assessed for services provided

under the schedule are based on both

the professional hourly rate as shown in

§ 170.20 for the materials program and

any direct program support (contractual

services) costs expended by the NRC.

Licensing fees based on the average time

to review an application (‘‘flat’’ fees) are

adjusted to reflect the decrease in the

professional hourly rate from $125 per

hour in FY 1997 to $121 per hour in FY

1998.

The amounts of the materials

licensing ‘‘flat’’ fees were rounded so

that the amounts would be de minimis

and the resulting flat fee would be

convenient to the user. Fees under

$1,000 are rounded to the nearest $10.

Fees that are greater than $1,000 but less

than $100,000 are rounded to the

nearest $100. Fees that are greater than

$100,000 are rounded to the nearest

$1,000.
31848 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

The licensing ‘‘flat’’ fees are

applicable to fee categories 1.C and 1.D;

2.B and 2.C; 3.A through 3.P; 4.B

through 9.D, 10.B, 15.A through 15.E

and 16. Applications filed on or after

the effective date of the final rule will

be subject to the fees in this final rule.

For those licensing, inspection, and

review fees that are based on full-cost

recovery (cost for professional staff

hours plus any contractual services), the

materials program hourly rate of $121,

as shown in § 170.20, applies to those

professional staff hours expended on or

after the effective date of the final rule.

Part 171

Section 171.13 Notice

The language in this section is revised

to delete specific fiscal year references.

Section 171.15 Annual Fee: Reactor

Operating Licenses

The annual fees in this section are

revised as described below.

Paragraphs (b), (c) (1), (c)(2), (e) and

(f) are revised to comply with the

requirement of OBRA–90 that the NRC

recover approximately 100 percent of its

budget for FY 1998.

Paragraph (b) is revised in its entirety

to establish the FY 1998 annual fee for

operating power reactors and to change

fiscal year references from FY 1997 to

FY 1998. The fees are established by

decreasing the FY 1997 annual fees

(prior to rounding) by 0.1 percent. In the

FY 1995 final rule, the NRC stated it

would stabilize annual fees by adjusting

the annual fees only by the percentage

change (plus or minus) in NRC’s total

budget authority and adjustments based

on changes in 10 CFR Part 170 fees as

well as in the number of licensees

paying the fees. The activities

comprising the base FY 1995 annual fee

and the FY 1995 additional charge

(surcharge) are listed in paragraphs (b)

and (c) for convenience purposes.

The FY 1998 annual fee for each

operating power reactor is $2,976,000.

Paragraph (e) is revised to show the

amount of the FY 1998 annual fee for

nonpower (test and research) reactors.

The 1998 annual fee of $57,300 is the

same as the FY 1997 annual fee. The

NRC will continue to grant exemptions

from the annual fee to Federally-owned

and State-owned research and test

reactors that meet the exemption criteria

specified in § 171.11(a)(2).

Paragraph (f) is revised to delete

specific fiscal year date references.

Section 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

Section 171.16(c) covers the fees

assessed for those licensees that can

qualify as small entities under NRC size

standards. A materials licensee may pay

a reduced annual fee if the licensee

qualifies as a small entity under the

NRC’s size standards and certifies by

completing and signing NRC Form 526

that it is a small entity. The NRC will

continue to assess two fees for licensees

that qualify as small entities under the

NRC’s size standards. In general,

licensees with gross annual receipts of

$350,000 to $5 million pay a maximum

annual fee of $1,800. A second or lowertier small entity fee of $400 is in place

for small entities with gross annual

receipts of less than $350,000 and small

governmental jurisdictions with a

population of less than 20,000. No

change in the amount of the small entity

fees is being made because the small

entity fees are not based on budgeted

costs but are established at a level to

reduce the impact of fees on small

entities. The small entity fees are shown

in the final rule for convenience.

Section 171.16(d) is revised to

establish the FY 1998 annual fees for

materials licensees, including

Government agencies, licensed by the

NRC. The annual fees were determined

by decreasing the FY 1997 annual fees

(prior to rounding) by about 0.1 percent.

After rounding, many of the FY 1998

annual fees for materials licensees are

the same as the FY 1997 annual fees.

The amount or range of the FY 1998

annual fees for materials licenses is

summarized as follows.

MATERIALS LICENSES ANNUAL FEE

RANGES

Category of license Annual fees

Part 70—High enriched

fuel facility.

$2,604,000

Part 70—Low enriched

fuel facility.

1,278,000

Part 40—UF6 conversion

facility.

648,000

Part 40—Uranium recovery facilities.22,300 to 61,700

Part 30—Byproduct Material Licenses.490 to $23,500 1

Part 71—Transportation

of Radioactive Material.

1,000 to $78,800

MATERIALS LICENSES ANNUAL FEE

RANGES—Continued

Category of license Annual fees

Part 72—Independent

Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel.

283,000

1Excludes the annual fee for a few military

‘‘master’’ materials licenses of broad-scope

issued to Government agencies, which is

$421,000.

Footnote 1 of 10 CFR 171.16(d) is

amended to provide a waiver of the

annual fees for materials licensees, and

holders of certificates, registrations, and

approvals, who either filed for

termination of their licenses or

approvals or filed for possession only/

storage only licenses before October 1,

1997, and permanently ceased licensed

activities entirely by September 30,

1997. All other licensees and approval

holders who held a license or approval

on October 1, 1997, are subject to the FY

1998 annual fees.

Holders of new licenses issued during

FY 1998 are subject to a prorated annual

fee in accordance with the current

proration provision of § 171.17. For

example, those new materials licenses

issued during the period October 1

through March 31 of the fiscal year will

be assessed one-half the annual fee in

effect on the anniversary date of the

license. New materials licenses issued

on or after April 1, 1998, will not be

assessed an annual fee for FY 1998.

Thereafter, the full annual fee is due

and payable each subsequent fiscal year

on the anniversary date of the license.

Beginning June 11, 1996, (the effective

date of the FY 1996 final rule), affected

materials licensees are subject to the

annual fee in effect on the anniversary

date of the license. The anniversary date

of the materials license for annual fee

purposes is the first day of the month in

which the original license was issued.

Section 171.19 Payment

Paragraph (a) is revised to provide

additional methods of payment and to

clarify that payments must be made in

U.S. funds.

Paragraph (b) is revised to give credit

for partial payments made by certain

licensees in FY 1998 toward their FY

1998 annual fees. The NRC anticipates

that the first, second, and third quarterly

payments for FY 1998 will have been

made by operating power reactor

licensees and some large materials

licensees before the final rule becomes

effective. Therefore, the NRC will credit

payments received for those quarterly

annual fee assessments toward the total

annual fee to be assessed. The NRC will

adjust the fourth quarterly invoice to
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31849

recover the full amount of the revised

annual fee or to make refunds, as

necessary. Payment of the annual fee is

due on the date of the invoice and

interest accrues from the invoice date.

However, interest will be waived if

payment is received within 30 days

from the invoice date.

Paragraphs (c) and (d) are revised to

delete specific fiscal year references.

As in FY 1997, the NRC will continue

to bill annual fees for most materials

licenses on the anniversary date of the

license (licensees whose annual fees are

$100,000 or more will continue to be

assessed quarterly). The annual fee

assessed will be the fee in effect on the

license anniversary date. This rule

applies to those materials licenses in the

following fee categories: 1.C. and 1.D;

2.A. (2) through 2.C.; 3.A. through 3.P.;

4.A. through 9.D., and 10.B. For annual

fee purposes, the anniversary date of the

materials license is considered to be the

first day of the month in which the

original materials license was issued.

For example, if the original materials

license was issued on June 17 then, for

annual fee purposes, the anniversary

date of the materials license is June 1

and the licensee will continue to be

billed in June of each year for the

annual fee in effect on June 1. Materials

licensees with anniversary dates in FY

1998 before the effective date of the FY

1998 final rule will be billed during the

anniversary month of the license and

continue to pay annual fees at the FY

1997 rate in FY 1998. Those materials

licensees with license anniversary dates

falling on or after the effective date of

the FY 1998 final rule will be billed, at

the FY 1998 revised rates, during the

anniversary month of their license and

payment will be due on the date of the

invoice.

During the past seven years many

licensees have indicated that, although

they held a valid NRC license

authorizing the possession and use of

special nuclear, source, or byproduct

material, they were either not using the

material to conduct operations or had

disposed of the material and no longer

needed the license. In response, the

NRC has consistently stated that annual

fees are assessed based on whether a

licensee holds a valid NRC license that

authorizes possession and use of

radioactive material. Whether or not a

licensee is actually conducting

operations using the material is a matter

of licensee discretion. The NRC cannot

control whether a licensee elects to

possess and use radioactive material

once it receives a license from the NRC.

Therefore, the NRC reemphasizes that

the annual fee will be assessed based on

whether a licensee holds a valid NRC

license that authorizes possession and

use of radioactive material. To remove

any uncertainty, the NRC issued minor

clarifying amendments to 10 CFR

171.16, footnotes 1 and 7 on July 20,

1993 (58 FR 38700).

V. Environmental Impact: Categorical

Exclusion

The NRC has determined that this

final rule is the type of action described

in categorical exclusion 10 CFR

51.22(c)(1). Therefore, neither an

environmental impact statement nor an

environmental impact assessment has

been prepared for the final regulation.

By its very nature, this regulatory action

does not affect the environment, and

therefore, no environmental justice

issues are raised.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act

Statement

This final rule contains no

information collection requirements

and, therefore, is not subject to the

requirements of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501

et seq.).

VII. Regulatory Analysis

With respect to 10 CFR Part 170, this

final rule was developed pursuant to

Title V of the Independent Offices

Appropriation Act of 1952 (IOAA) (31

U.S.C. 9701) and the Commission’s fee

guidelines. When developing these

guidelines the Commission took into

account guidance provided by the U.S.

Supreme Court on March 4, 1974, in its

decision of National Cable Television

Association, Inc. v. United States, 415

U.S. 36 (1974) and Federal Power

Commission v. New England Power

Company, 415 U.S. 345 (1974). In these

decisions, the Court held that the IOAA

authorizes an agency to charge fees for

special benefits rendered to identifiable

persons measured by the ‘‘value to the

recipient’’ of the agency service. The

meaning of the IOAA was further

clarified on December 16, 1976, by four

decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals

for the District of Columbia: National

Cable Television Association v. Federal

Communications Commission, 554 F.2d

1094 (D.C. Cir. 1976); National

Association of Broadcasters v. Federal

Communications Commission, 554 F.2d

1118 (D.C. Cir. 1976); Electronic

Industries Association v. Federal

Communications Commission, 554 F.2d

1109 (D.C. Cir. 1976) and Capital Cities

Communication, Inc. v. Federal

Communications Commission, 554 F.2d

1135 (D.C. Cir. 1976). These decisions of

the Courts enabled the Commission to

develop fee guidelines that are still used

for cost recovery and fee development

purposes.

The Commission’s fee guidelines were

upheld on August 24, 1979, by the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in

Mississippi Power and Light Co. v. U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 601

F.2d 223 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied,

444 U.S. 1102 (1980). The Court held

that—

(1) The NRC had the authority to

recover the full cost of providing

services to identifiable beneficiaries;

(2) The NRC could properly assess a

fee for the costs of providing routine

inspections necessary to ensure a

licensee’s compliance with the Atomic

Energy Act and with applicable

regulations;

(3) The NRC could charge for costs

incurred in conducting environmental

reviews required by NEPA;

(4) The NRC properly included the

costs of uncontested hearings and of

administrative and technical support

services in the fee schedule;

(5) The NRC could assess a fee for

renewing a license to operate a lowlevel radioactive waste burial site; and

(6) The NRC’s fees were not arbitrary

or capricious.

With respect to 10 CFR Part 171, on

November 5, 1990, the Congress passed

Public Law 101–508, the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990

(OBRA–90) that required for FYs 1991

through 1995, approximately 100

percent of the NRC budget authority be

recovered through the assessment of

fees. OBRA–90 was amended in 1993 to

extend the 100 percent fee recovery

requirement for NRC through FY 1998.

To accomplish this statutory

requirement, the NRC, in accordance

with § 171.13, is publishing the final

amount of the FY 1998 annual fees for

operating reactor licensees, fuel cycle

licensees, materials licensees, and

holders of Certificates of Compliance,

registrations of sealed source and

devices and QA program approvals, and

Government agencies. OBRA–90 and the

Conference Committee Report

specifically state that—

(1) The annual fees be based on the

Commission’s FY 1998 budget of $472.8

million less the amounts collected from

Part 170 fees and the funds directly

appropriated from the NWF to cover the

NRC’s high level waste program and the

general fund related to commercial

vitrification of waste at the Department

of Energy Hanford, Washington, site and

the pilot program pertaining to external

regulation of the Department of Energy;

(2) The annual fees shall, to the

maximum extent practicable, have a

reasonable relationship to the cost of
31850 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

regulatory services provided by the

Commission; and

(3) The annual fees be assessed to

those licensees the Commission, in its

discretion, determines can fairly,

equitably, and practicably contribute to

their payment.

10 CFR Part 171, which established

annual fees for operating power reactors

effective October 20, 1986 (51 FR 33224;

September 18, 1986), was challenged

and upheld in its entirety in Florida

Power and Light Company v. United

States, 846 F.2d 765 (D.C. Cir. 1988),

cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1045 (1989).

The NRC’s FY 1991 annual fee rule

was largely upheld by the D.C. Circuit

Court of Appeals in Allied Signal v.

NRC, 988 F.2d 146 (D.C. Cir. 1993).

VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

The NRC is required by the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to

recover approximately 100 percent of its

budget authority through the assessment

of user fees. OBRA–90 further requires

that the NRC establish a schedule of

charges that fairly and equitably

allocates the aggregate amount of these

charges among licensees.

This final rule establishes the

schedules of fees that are necessary to

implement the Congressional mandate

for FY 1998. The final rule results in a

slight decrease in the annual fees

charged to some licensees, and holders

of certificates, registrations, and

approvals. The Regulatory Flexibility

Analysis, prepared in accordance with 5

U.S.C. 604, is included as Appendix A

to this final rule. The Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of

1996 (SBREFA) was signed into law on

March 29, 1996. The SBREFA requires

all Federal agencies to prepare a written

compliance guide for each rule for

which the agency is required by 5 U.S.C.

604 to prepare a regulatory flexibility

analysis. Therefore, in compliance with

the law, Attachment 1 to the Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis (Appendix A to this

document) is the small entity

compliance guide for FY 1998.

IX. Backfit Analysis

The NRC has determined that the

backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does not

apply to this final rule; and therefore, a

backfit analysis is not required for this

final rule because these amendments do

not involve any provisions that would

impose backfits as defined in 10 CFR

Chapter I.

X. Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act

In accordance with the Small

Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996 the NRC has

determined that this action is a major

rule and has verified this determination

with the Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs of the Office of

Management and Budget.

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 2

Administrative practice and

procedure, Antitrust, Byproduct

material, Classified information,

Environmental protection, Nuclear

materials, Nuclear power plants and

reactors, Penalties, Sex discrimination,

Source material, Special nuclear

material, Waste treatment and disposal.

10 CFR Part 140

Criminal penalties, Extraordinary

nuclear occurrence, Insurance,

Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear

materials, Nuclear power plants and

reactors, Penalties, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

10 CFR Part 170

Byproduct material, Import and

export licenses, Intergovernmental

relations, Non-payment penalties,

Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants

and reactors, Source material, Special

nuclear material.

10 CFR Part 171

Annual charges, Byproduct material,

Holders of certificates, registrations,

approvals, Intergovernmental relations,

Non-payment penalties, Nuclear

materials, Nuclear power plants and

reactors, Source material, Special

nuclear material.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble and under the authority of the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended,

and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is

adopting the following amendments to

10 CFR Parts 2, 140, 170 and 171.

PART 2—RULES OF PRACTICE FOR

DOMESTIC LICENSING PROCEEDINGS

AND ISSUANCE OF ORDERS

1. The authority citation for Part 2

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 161, 181, 68 Stat. 948,

953, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2201, 2231); sec.

191, as amended, Pub. L. 87–615, 76 Stat. 409

(42 U.S.C. 2241); sec. 201, 88 Stat. 1242, as

amended (42 U.S.C. 5841); 5 U.S.C. 552.

Section 2.101 also issued under secs. 53,

62, 63, 81, 103, 104, 105, 68 Stat. 930, 932,

933, 935, 936, 937, 938, as amended (42

U.S.C. 2073, 2092, 2093, 2111, 2133, 2134,

2135); sec. 114(f), Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat.

2213, as amended (42 U.S.C. 10134(f)); sec.

102, Pub. L. 91–190, 83 Stat. 853, as amended

(42 U.S.C. 4332); sec. 301, 88 Stat. 1248 (42

U.S.C. 5871). Sections 2.102, 2.103, 2.104,

2.105, 2.721 also issued under secs. 102, 103,

104, 105, 183, 189, 68 Stat. 936, 937, 938,

954, 955, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2132, 2133,

2134, 2135, 2233, 2239). Section 2.105 also

issued under Pub. L. 97–415, 96 Stat. 2073

(42 U.S.C. 2239). Sections 2.200–2.206 also

issued under secs. 161 b, I, o, 182, 186, 234,

68 Stat. 948–951, 955, 83, Stat. 444, as

amended (42 U.S.C. 2201 (b), (I), (o), 2236,

2282); sec. 206, 88 Stat. 1246 (42 U.S.C.

5846). Section 2.205(j) also issued under Pub.

L. 101–410, 104 Stat. 890, as amended by

section 31001(s), Pub. L. 104–134, 110 Stat.

1321–373 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note). Sections

2.600–2.606 also issued under sec. 102, Pub.

L. 91–190, 83 Stat. 853, as amended (42

U.S.C. 4332). Sections 2.700a, 2.719 also

issued under 5 U.S.C. 554. Sections 2.754,

2.760, 2.770, 2.780 also issued under 5 U.S.C.

557. Section 2.764 also issued under secs.

135, 141, Pub. L. 97–425, 96 Stat. 2232, 2241

(42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161). Section 2.790 also

issued under sec. 103, 68 Stat. 936, as

amended (42 U.S.C. 2133) and 5 U.S.C. 552.

Sections 2.800 and 2.808 also issued under

5 U.S.C. 553. Section 2.809 also issued under

5 U.S.C. 553 and sec. 29, Pub. L. 85–256, 71

Stat. 579, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2039).

Subpart K also issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat.

955 (42 U.S.C. 2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97–

425, 96 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10154). Subpart

L also issued under sec. 189, 68 Stat. 955 (42

U.S.C. 2239). Appendix A also issued under

sec. 6, Pub. L. 91–560, 84 Stat. 1473 (42

U.S.C. 2135).

2. In § 2.205, paragraph (i) is revised

to read as follows:

§ 2.205 Civil penalties.

* * * * *

(i) Except when payment is made after

compromise or mitigation by the

Department of Justice or as ordered by

a court of the United States, following

reference of the matter to the Attorney

General for collection, payment of civil

penalties imposed under Section 234 of

the Act are to be made payable to the

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in

U.S. funds, by check, draft, money

order, credit card, or electronic funds

transfer such as Automated Clearing

House (ACH) using Electronic Data

Interchange (EDI). Federal agencies may

also make payment by the On-Line

Payment and Collections System

(OPAC’s). All payments are to be made

in accordance with the specific payment

instructions provided with Notices of

Violation that propose civil penalties

and Orders Imposing Civil Monetary

Penalties.

* * * * *

PART 140—FINANCIAL PROTECTION

REQUIREMENTS AND INDEMNITY

AGREEMENTS

3. The authority citation for Part 140

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 161, 170, 68 Stat. 948, 71

Stat. 576, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2201, 2210);

secs. 201, as amended, 202, 88 Stat. 1242, as

amended, 1244 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842).
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31851

4. In § 140.7, paragraphs (a) and (c)

are revised and paragraph (d) is added

to read as follows:

§ 140.7 Fees.

(a)(1) Each reactor licensee shall pay

a fee to the Commission based on the

following schedule:

(i) For indemnification from $500

million to $400 million inclusive, a fee

of $30 per year per thousand kilowatts

of thermal capacity authorized in the

license;

(ii) For indemnification from $399

million to $300 million inclusive, a fee

of $24 per year per thousand kilowatts

of thermal capacity authorized in the

license;

(iii) For indemnification from $299

million to $200 million inclusive, a fee

of $18 per year per thousand kilowatts

of thermal capacity authorized in the

license;

(iv) For indemnification from $199

million to $100 million inclusive, a fee

of $12 per year per thousand kilowatts

of thermal capacity authorized in the

license; and

(v) For indemnification from $99

million to $1 million inclusive, a fee of

$6 per year per thousand kilowatts of

thermal capacity authorized in the

license.

(2) No fee will be less than $100 per

annum for any nuclear reactor. This fee

is for the period beginning with the date

on which the applicable indemnity

agreement is effective. The various

levels of indemnity fees are set forth in

the schedule in this paragraph. The

amount of indemnification for

determining indemnity fees will be

computed by subtracting from the

statutory limit of liability the amount of

financial protection required of the

licensee. In the case of licensees subject

to the provision of § 140.11(a)(4), this

total amount will be the amount, as

determined by the Commission, of the

financial protection available to

licensees at the close of the calendar

year preceding the one in which the fee

becomes due. For those instances in

which a certified financial statement is

provided as a guarantee of payment of

deferred premiums in accordance with

§ 140.21(e), a fee of $1,000 or the

indemnity fee, whichever is greater, is

required.

* * * * *

(c) Each person licensed to possess

and use plutonium in a plutonium

processing and fuel fabrication plant

shall pay to the Commission a fee of

$5,000 per year for indemnification.

This fee is for the period beginning with

the date on which the applicable

indemnity agreement is effective.

(d) Indemnity fee payments, made

payable to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, are to be made in U.S.

funds by check, draft, money order,

credit card, or electronic funds transfer

such as ACH (Automated Clearing

House) using EDI (Electronic Data

Interchange). Federal agencies may also

make payments by the On-Line Payment

and Collections System (OPAC’s).

Where specific payment instructions are

provided on the invoices, payment

should be made accordingly, e.g.

invoices of $5,000 or more should be

paid via ACH through NRC’s Lockbox

Bank at the address indicated on the

invoice. Credit card payments should be

made up to the limit established by the

credit card bank, in accordance with

specific instructions provided with the

invoices, to the Lockbox Bank

designated for credit card payments.

PART 170—FEES FOR FACILITIES,

MATERIALS, IMPORT AND EXPORT

LICENSES, AND OTHER

REGULATORY SERVICES UNDER THE

ATOMIC ENERGY ACT OF 1954, AS

AMENDED

5. The authority citation for Part 170

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 31 U.S.C. 9701, sec. 301, Pub.

L. 92–314, 86 Stat. 222 (42 U.S.C. 2201w);

sec. 201, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42

U.S.C. 5841); sec. 205, Pub. L. 101–576, 104

Stat. 2842, (31 U.S.C. 901).

6. In Section 170.12, paragraphs (g)

and (h) are revised to read as follows:

§ 170.12 Payment of fees.

* * * * *

(g) Inspection fees. (1) Inspection fees

will be assessed to recover full cost for

each resident inspector assigned to a

specific plant or facility. The fees will

be assessed for all of the resident

inspectors’ time, excluding leave and

time spent by a resident inspector in

support of activities at another site. The

hours will be billed at the appropriate

hourly rate established in § 170.20.

(2) Fees for all inspections subject to

full cost recovery will be assessed on a

per inspection basis for costs incurred

up to approximately 30 days after

issuance of the inspection report.

Inspection costs include preparation

time, time on site, documentation time,

and follow-up activities and any

associated contractual service costs, but

exclude the time involved in the

processing and issuance of a notice of

violation or civil penalty.

(3) Fees for resident inspectors’ time

and for specific inspections subject to

full cost recovery will be billed on a

quarterly basis and are payable upon

notification by the Commission.

(h) Method of payment. All license fee

payments, made payable to the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, are to

be made in U.S. funds by check, draft,

money order, credit card, or electronic

funds transfer such as ACH (Automated

Clearing House) using EDI (Electronic

Data Interchange). Payment of invoices

of $5,000 or more should be paid via

ACH through NRC’s Lockbox Bank at

the address indicated on the invoice.

Credit card payments should be made

up to the limit established by the credit

card bank at the address indicated on

the invoice. Applicants and licensees

should contact the License Fee and

Accounts Receivable Branch at 301–

415–7554 to obtain specific written

instructions for making electronic

payments and credit card payments.

* * * * *

7. Section 170.20 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 170.20 Average cost per professional

staff-hour.

Fees for permits, licenses,

amendments, renewals, special projects,

Part 55 requalification and replacement

examinations and tests, other required

reviews, approvals, and inspections

under §§ 170.21 and 170.31 that are

based upon the full costs for the review

or inspection will be calculated using

the following applicable professional

staff-hour rates:

Reactor Program (§ 170.21

Activities).

$124 per hour.

Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Waste Program

(§ 170.31 Activities).

$121 per hour.

8. In § 170.21, the introductory text,

Category K in the table, and footnotes 1

and 2 to the table are revised to read as

follows:

§ 170.21 Schedule of fees for production

and utilization facilities, review of standard

referenced design approvals, special

projects, inspections and import and export

licenses.

Applicants for construction permits,

manufacturing licenses, operating

licenses, import and export licenses,

approvals of facility standard reference

designs, requalification and replacement

examinations for reactor operators, and

special projects and holders of

construction permits, licenses, and

other approvals shall pay fees for the

following categories of services:
31852 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

SCHEDULE OF FACILITY FEES

[See footnotes at end of table]

Facility categories and type of fees Fees 1 2

* * * * * * *

K. Import and export licenses:

Licenses for the import and export only of production and utilization facilities or the export only of components for production and utilization facilities issued pursuant to 10 CFR Part 110:

1. Application for import or export of reactors and other facilities and exports of components which must be reviewed

by the Commissioners and the Executive Branch, for example, actions under 10 CFR 110.40(b).

Application-new license .................................................................................................................................................. $7,900

Amendment .................................................................................................................................................................... $7,900

2. Application for export of reactor and other components requiring Executive Branch review only, for example, those

actions under 10 CFR 110.41(a)(1)–(8).

Application—new license ............................................................................................................................................... $4,800

Amendment .................................................................................................................................................................... $4,800

3. Application for export of components requiring foreign government assurances only.

Application—new license ............................................................................................................................................... $2,800

Amendment .................................................................................................................................................................... $2,800

4. Application for export of facility components and equipment not requiring Commissioner review, Executive Branch

review, or foreign government assurances.

Application—new license ............................................................................................................................................... $1,200

Amendment .................................................................................................................................................................... $1,200

5. Minor amendment of any export or import license to extend the expiration date, change domestic information, or

make other revisions which do not require in-depth analysis or review.

Amendment .................................................................................................................................................................... $180

1Fees will not be charged for orders issued by the Commission pursuant to § 2.202 of this chapter or for amendments resulting specifically

from the requirements of these types of Commission orders. 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., §§ 50.12, 73.5) and any other sections now or hereafter in

effect regardless of whether the approval is in the form of a license amendment, letter of approval, safety evaluation report, or other form. Fees

for licenses in this schedule that are initially issued for less than full power are based on review through the issuance of a full power license

(generally full power is considered 100 percent of the facility’s full rated power). Thus, if a licensee received a low power license or a temporary

license for less than full power and subsequently receives full power authority (by way of license amendment or otherwise), the total costs for the

license will be determined through that period when authority is granted for full power operation. If a situation arises in which the Commission determines that full operating power for a particular facility should be less than 100 percent of full rated power, the total costs for the license will be

at that determined lower operating power level and not at the 100 percent capacity. 2Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff time and appropriate contractual support services expended. For applications

currently on file and for which fees are determined based on the full cost expended for the review, the professional staff hours expended for the

review of the application up to the effective date of the final rule will be determined at the professional rates in effect at the time the service was

provided. For those applications currently on file for which review costs have reached an applicable fee ceiling established by the June 20, 1984,

and July 2, 1990, rules but are still pending completion of the review, the cost incurred after any applicable ceiling was reached through January

29, 1989, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional staff-hours expended above those ceilings on or after January 30, 1989, will be assessed at the applicable rates established by § 170.20, as appropriate, except for topical reports whose costs exceed $50,000. Costs which exceed $50,000 for any topical report, amendment, revision or supplement to a topical report completed or under review from January 30, 1989,

through August 8, 1991, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional hours expended on or after August 9, 1991, will be assessed at the

applicable rate established in § 170.20. In no event will the total review costs be less than twice the hourly rate shown in § 170.20.

* * * * *

9. Section 170.31 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 170.31 Schedule of fees for materials

licenses and other regulatory services,

including inspections, and import and

export licenses.

Applicants for materials licenses,

import and export licenses, and other

regulatory services and holders of

materials licenses, or import and export

licenses shall pay fees for the following

categories of services. This schedule

includes fees for health and safety and

safeguards inspections where

applicable:

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES

[See footnotes at end of table]

Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1 Fee 2 3

1. Special nuclear material:

A. Licenses for possession and use of 200 grams or more of plutonium in unsealed form or 350 grams or more of contained

U-235 in unsealed form or 200 grams or more of U-233 in unsealed form. This includes applications to terminate licenses

as well as licenses authorizing possession only:

License, renewal, amendment ................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel at an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI):

License, renewal, amendment ................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

C. Licenses for possession and use of special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in devices used in industrial

measuring systems, including x-ray fluorescence analyzers: 4

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $560.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $380.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31853

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued

[See footnotes at end of table]

Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1 Fee 2 3

D. All other special nuclear material licenses, except licenses authorizing special nuclear material in unsealed form in combination that would constitute a critical quantity, as defined in § 150.11 of this chapter, for which the licensee shall pay the

same fees as those for Category 1A: 4

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $750.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $290.

E. Licenses or certificates for construction and operation of a uranium enrichment facility.

License, renewal, amendment ................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

2. Source material:

A.(1) Licenses for possession and use of source material in recovery operations such as milling, in-situ leaching, heap-leaching, refining uranium mill concentrates to uranium hexafluoride, 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:

License, renewal, amendment ................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

(2) Licenses that authorize the receipt of 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 fees in Category 2.A.(1).

License, renewal, amendment ................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

(3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of 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.(1).

License, renewal, amendment ................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

B. Licenses which authorize the possession, use and/or installation of source material for shielding:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $120.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $280.

C. All other source material licenses:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $3,600.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $560.

3. Byproduct material:

A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Parts 30 and 33 of this chapter

for processing or manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $3,800.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $530.

B. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 30 of this chapter for processing or

manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $1,500.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $560.

C. Licenses issued pursuant to §§ 32.72, 32.73, and/or 32.74 of this chapter authorizing the processing or manufacturing and

distribution or redistribution of radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent kits and/or sources and devices containing byproduct material. This category does not apply to licenses issued to nonprofit educational institutions whose processing or

manufacturing is exempt under § 170.11(a)(4). These licenses are covered by fee Category 3D.

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $6,800.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $630.

D. Licenses and approvals issued pursuant to §§ 32.72, 32.73, and/or 32.74 of this chapter authorizing distribution or redistribution of radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent kits and/or sources or devices not involving processing of byproduct

material. This category includes licenses issued pursuant to §§ 32.72, 32.73, and/or 32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit educational institutions whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under § 170.11(a)(4).

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $1,900.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $420.

E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source is

not removed from its shield (self-shielded units):

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $1,100.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $380.

F. Licenses for possession and use of less than 10,000 curies of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater irradiators for irradiation of materials where the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes.

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $1,900.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $440.

G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies or more of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater irradiators for irradiation of materials where the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes.

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $4,500.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $740.

H. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart A of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that require device review to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of Part 30 of this chapter, 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:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $2,700.
31854 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued

[See footnotes at end of table]

Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1 Fee 2 3

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $1,000.

I. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart A of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material or quantities of byproduct material that do not require device evaluation to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of Part

30 of this chapter, 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:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $4,400.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $1,000.

J. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart B of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that require sealed source and/or device review to persons generally licensed under Part 31 of this chapter, except specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to persons generally licensed under

Part 31 of this chapter:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $1,700.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $300.

K. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart B of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material or quantities of byproduct material that do not require sealed source and/or device review to persons generally licensed under Part

31 of this chapter, except specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to

persons generally licensed under Part 31 of this chapter:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $1,000.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $340.

L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Parts 30 and 33 of this chapter

for research and development that do not authorize commercial distribution:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $5,400.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $760.

M. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 30 of this chapter for research and

development that do not authorize commercial distribution:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $1,800.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $620.

N. Licenses that authorize services for other licensees, except:

(1) Licenses that authorize only calibration and/or leak testing services are subject to the fees specified in fee Category

3P; and

(2) Licenses that authorize waste disposal services are subject to the fees specified in fee Categories 4A, 4B, and 4C:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $2,000.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $500.

O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 34 of this chapter for industrial radiography operations:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $4,300.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $680.

P. All other specific byproduct material licenses, except those in Categories 4A through 9D:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $730.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $340.

4. Waste disposal and processing:

A. Licenses specifically authorizing the 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:

License, renewal, amendment ................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material from

other persons for the purpose of packaging or repackaging the material. The licensee will dispose of the material by transfer to another person authorized to receive or dispose of the material:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $2,500.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $520.

C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of prepackaged waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear

material from other persons. The licensee will dispose of the material by transfer to another person authorized to receive

or dispose of the material:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $2,200.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $220.

5. Well logging:

A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, and/or special nuclear material for well logging,

well surveys, and tracer studies other than field flooding tracer studies:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $3,400.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $820.

B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material for field flooding tracer studies:

License, renewal, amendment ................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

6. Nuclear laundries:

A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of items contaminated with byproduct material, source material, or special

nuclear material:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $6,400.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $1,000.

7. Medical licenses:
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31855

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued

[See footnotes at end of table]

Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1 Fee 2 3

A. Licenses issued pursuant to Parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in teletherapy devices:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $3,500.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $390.

B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical institutions or two or more physicians pursuant to Parts 30, 33, 35, 40, and 70

of this chapter authorizing research and development, including human use of byproduct material, except licenses for byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in teletherapy devices:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $3,800.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $710.

C. Other licenses issued pursuant to Parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct material, source

material, and/or special nuclear material, except licenses for byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in teletherapy devices:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $1,800.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $450.

8. Civil defense:

A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material for civil defense activities:

Application—New license ........................................................................................................................................................ $570.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $400.

9. Device, product, or sealed source safety evaluation:

A. Safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, except reactor fuel devices, for commercial distribution:

Application—each device ......................................................................................................................................................... $3,600.

Amendment—each device ....................................................................................................................................................... $590.

B. Safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material manufactured in accordance with the unique specifications of, and for use by, a single applicant, except reactor fuel devices:

Application—each device ......................................................................................................................................................... $2,100.

Amendment—each device ....................................................................................................................................................... $1,100.

C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, except reactor fuel, for commercial distribution:

Application—each source ........................................................................................................................................................ $910.

Amendment—each source ...................................................................................................................................................... $610.

D. Safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, manufactured in accordance with the unique specifications of, and for use by, a single applicant, except reactor fuel:

Application—each source ........................................................................................................................................................ $460.

Amendment—each source ...................................................................................................................................................... $160.

10. Transportation of radioactive material:

A. Evaluation of casks, packages, and shipping containers:

Approval, renewal, amendment ............................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

B. Evaluation of 10 CFR Part 71 quality assurance programs:

Application—Approval .............................................................................................................................................................. $340.

Amendment .............................................................................................................................................................................. $620.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

11. Review of standardized spent fuel facilities:

Approval, renewal, amendment ............................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

12. Special projects: 5

Approvals and preapplication/Licensing activities ................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Compliance:

Approvals ................................................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

Amendments, revisions, and supplements .............................................................................................................................. Full Cost.

Reapproval ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

B. Inspections related to spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Compliance ................................................................................. Full Cost.

C. Inspections related to storage of spent fuel under § 72.210 of this chapter ............................................................................. Full Cost.

14. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material licenses and other approvals authorizing decommissioning, decontamination,

reclamation, or site restoration activities pursuant to Parts 30, 40, 70, and 72 of this chapter:

Approval, renewal, amendment ............................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

Inspections ............................................................................................................................................................................... Full Cost.

15. Import and Export licenses:

Licenses issued pursuant to Part 110 of this chapter for the import and export only of special nuclear material, source material, tritium and other byproduct material, heavy water, or nuclear grade graphite.

A. Application for export or import of high enriched uranium and other materials, including radioactive waste, which must

be reviewed by the Commissioners and the Executive Branch, for example, those actions under 10 CFR 110.40(b).

This category includes application for export or import of radioactive wastes in multiple forms from multiple generators

or brokers in the exporting country and/or going to multiple treatment, storage or disposal facilities in one or more receiving countries.

Application-new license .................................................................................................................................................... $7,900.

Amendment ....................................................................................................................................................................... $7,900.
31856 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued

[See footnotes at end of table]

Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1 Fee 2 3

B. Application for export or import of special nuclear material, source material, tritium and other byproduct material,

heavy water, or nuclear grade graphite, including radioactive waste, requiring Executive Branch review but not Commissioner review. This category includes application for the export or import of radioactive waste involving a single

form of waste from a single class of generator in the exporting country to a single treatment, storage and/or disposal

facility in the receiving country.

Application-new license .................................................................................................................................................... $4,800.

Amendment ....................................................................................................................................................................... $4,800.

C. Application for export of routine reloads of low enriched uranium reactor fuel and exports of source material requiring

only foreign government assurances under the Atomic Energy Act.

Application-new license .................................................................................................................................................... $2,800.

Amendment ....................................................................................................................................................................... $2,800.

D. Application for export or import of other materials, including radioactive waste, not requiring Commissioner review,

Executive Branch review, or foreign government assurances under the Atomic Energy Act. This category includes application for export or import of radioactive waste where the NRC has previously authorized the export or import of the

same form of waste to or from the same or similar parties, requiring only confirmation from the receiving facility and licensing authorities that the shipments may proceed according to previously agreed understandings and procedures.

Application-new license .................................................................................................................................................... $1,200.

Amendment ....................................................................................................................................................................... $1,200.

E. Minor amendment of any export or import license to extend the expiration date, change domestic information, or

make other revisions which do not require in-depth analysis, review, or consultations with other agencies or foreign

governments.

Amendment ....................................................................................................................................................................... $180.

16. Reciprocity:

Agreement State licensees who conduct activities under the reciprocity provisions of 10 CFR 150.20.

Application (initial filing of Form 241) ...................................................................................................................................... $1,100.

Revisions .................................................................................................................................................................................. $200.

1Types of fees—Separate charges, as shown in the schedule, will be assessed for preapplication consultations and reviews and applications

for new licenses and approvals, issuance of new licenses and approvals, amendments and certain renewals to existing licenses and approvals,

safety evaluations of sealed sources and devices, and certain inspections. The following guidelines apply to these charges:

(a) Application fees. Applications for new materials licenses and approvals; applications to reinstate expired, terminated or inactive licenses

and approvals except those subject to fees assessed at full costs, and applications filed by Agreement State licensees to register under the general license provisions of 10 CFR 150.20, must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for each category, except that:

(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.

(b) License/approval/review fees. Fees for applications for new licenses and approvals and for preapplication consultations and reviews subject

to full cost fees (fee Categories 1A, 1B, 1E, 2A, 4A, 5B, 10A, 11, 12, 13A, and 14) are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance

with § 170.12(b), (e), and (f).

(c) Renewal/reapproval fees. Applications subject to Full Cost.fees (fee Categories 1A, 1B, 1E, 2A, 4A, 5B, 10A, 11, 13A, and 14) are due

upon notification by the Commission in accordance with § 170.12(d).

(d) Amendment/Revision Fees.

(1) Applications for amendments to licenses and approvals and revisions to reciprocity initial applications, except those subject to fees assessed at full costs, must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment/revision fee for each license/revision affected. An application for an

amendment to a license or approval classified in more than one fee category must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for the

category affected by the amendment unless the amendment is applicable to two or more fee categories in which case the amendment fee for the

highest fee category would apply. For those licenses and approvals subject to full costs (fee Categories 1A, 1B, 1E, 2A, 4A, 5B, 10A, 11, 12,

13A, and 14), amendment fees are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance with § 170.12(c).

(2) An application for amendment to a materials license or approval that would place the license or approval in a higher fee category or add a

new fee category must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for the new category.

(3) An application for amendment to a license or approval that would reduce the scope of a licensee’s program to a lower fee category must

be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for the lower fee category.

(4) Applications to terminate licenses authorizing small materials programs, when no dismantling or decontamination procedure is required, are

not subject to fees.

(e) 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 § 170.12(g). 2Fees will not be charged for orders issued by the Commission pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202 or for amendments resulting specifically from the requirements of these types of Commission orders. However, 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 now

or hereafter in effect) regardless of whether the approval is in the form of a license amendment, letter of approval, safety evaluation report, or

other form. In addition to the fee shown, an applicant may be assessed an additional fee for sealed source and device evaluations as shown in

Categories 9A through 9D. 3Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff time and appropriate contractual support services expended. For those applications currently on file and for which fees are determined based on the Full Cost.expended for the review, the professional staff hours expended for the review of the application up to the effective date of the final rule will be determined at the professional rates in effect at the time

the service was provided. For applications currently on file for which review costs have reached an applicable fee ceiling established by the June

20, 1984, and July 2, 1990, rules, but are still pending completion of the review, the cost incurred after any applicable ceiling was reached

through January 29, 1989, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional staff-hours expended above those ceilings on or after January 30,

1989, will be assessed at the applicable rates established by § 170.20, as appropriate, except for topical reports whose costs exceed $50,000.

Costs which exceed $50,000 for each topical report, amendment, revision, or supplement to a topical report completed or under review from January 30, 1989, through August 8, 1991, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional hours expended on or after August 9, 1991, will be

assessed at the applicable rate established in § 170.20. The minimum total review cost is twice the hourly rate shown in § 170.20. 4 Licensees paying fees under Categories 1A, 1B, and 1E are not subject to fees under Categories 1C and 1D for sealed sources authorized

in the same license except in those instances in which an application deals only with the sealed sources authorized by the license. Applicants for

new licenses that cover both byproduct material and special nuclear material in sealed sources for use in gauging devices will pay the appropriate application fee for fee Category 1C only. 5Fees will not be assessed for requests/reports submitted to the NRC:
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31857

(a) In response to a Generic Letter or NRC Bulletin that does not result in an amendment to the license, does not result in the review of an alternate method or reanalysis to meet the requirements of the Generic Letter, or does not involve an unreviewed safety issue;

(b) In response to an NRC request (at the Associate Office Director level or above) to resolve an identified safety, safeguards, or environmental issue, or to assist NRC in developing a rule, regulatory guide, policy statement, generic letter, or bulletin; or

(c) As a means of exchanging information between industry organizations and the NRC for the purpose of supporting generic regulatory improvements or efforts.

PART 171—ANNUAL FEES FOR

REACTOR OPERATING 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 NRC

10. The authority citation for Part 171

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Sec. 7601, Pub. L. 99–272, 100

Stat. 146, as amended by sec. 5601, Pub. L.

100–203, 101 Stat. 1330, as amended by sec.

3201, Pub. L. 101–239, 103 Stat. 2106 as

amended by sec. 6101, Pub. L. 101–508, 104

Stat. 1388, (42 U.S.C. 2213); sec. 301, Pub. L.

92–314, 86 Stat. 222 (42 U.S.C. 2201(w)); sec.

201, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C.

5841); sec. 2903, Pub. L. 102–486, 106 Stat.

3125, (42 U.S.C. 2214 note).

11. Section 171.13 is revised to read

as follows:

§ 171.13 Notice.

The annual fees applicable to an

operating reactor and to a materials

licensee, including a Government

agency licensed by the NRC, subject to

this part and calculated in accordance

with §§ 171.15 and 171.16, will be

published as a notice in the Federal

Register as soon as is practicable but no

later than the third quarter of the fiscal

year. The annual fees will become due

and payable to the NRC in accordance

with § 171.19 except as provided in

§ 171.17. Quarterly payments of the

annual fees of $100,000 or more will

continue during the fiscal year and be

based on the applicable annual fees as

shown in §§ 171.15 and 171.16 until a

notice concerning the revised amount of

the fees for the fiscal year is published

by the NRC. If the NRC is unable to

publish a final fee rule that becomes

effective during the current fiscal year,

then fees would be assessed based on

the rates in effect for the previous fiscal

year.

12. In § 171.15, paragraphs (b), (c)

introductory text, (c)(1), (c)(2), (e), and

(f) are revised to read as follows:

§ 171.15 Annual Fees: Reactor operating

licenses.

* * * * *

(b) The FY 1998 annual fee for each

operating power reactor which must be

collected by September 30, 1998, is

$2,976,000. This fee has been

determined by adjusting the FY 1997

annual fee, (prior to rounding)

downward by about 0.1 percent. In the

FY 1995 final rule, the NRC stated it

would stabilize annual fees by adjusting

the annual fees only by the percentage

change (plus or minus) in NRC’s total

budget authority and adjustments based

on changes in 10 CFR Part 170 fees as

well as on the number of licensees

paying the fees. The first adjustment to

the annual fees using this method

occurred in FY 1996 when all annual

fees were decreased 6.5 percent below

the FY 1995 annual fees. The FY 1997

annual fees were also determined by

using this method. The FY 1997 annual

fees increased 8.4 percent above the FY

1996 annual fees. The FY 1995 annual

fee was comprised of a base annual fee

and an additional charge (surcharge).

The activities comprising the base FY

1995 annual fee are as follows:

(1) Power reactor safety and

safeguards regulation except licensing

and inspection activities recovered

under Part 170 of this chapter.

(2) Research activities directly related

to the regulation of power reactors.

(3) Generic activities required largely

for NRC to regulate power reactors, e.g.,

updating part 50 of this chapter, or

operating the Incident Response Center.

(c) The activities comprising the FY

1995 surcharge are as follows:

(1) Activities not attributable to an

existing NRC licensee or class of

licensees; e.g., reviews submitted by

other government agencies (e.g., DOE)

that do not result in a license or are not

associated with a license; international

cooperative safety program and

international safeguards activities; lowlevel waste disposal generic activities;

uranium enrichment generic activities.

(2) Activities not currently assessed

under 10 CFR Part 170 licensing and

inspection fees based on existing

Commission policy, e.g., reviews and

inspections conducted of nonprofit

educational institutions, and costs that

would not be collected from small

entities based on Commission policy in

accordance with the Regulatory

Flexibility Act.

* * * * *

(e) The FY 1998 annual fees for

licensees authorized to operate a

nonpower (test and research) reactor

licensed under Part 50 of this chapter,

except for those reactors exempted from

fees under § 171.11(a), are as follows:

Research reactor ...................... $57,300

Test reactor ............................... $57,300

(f) For each fiscal year, annual fees for

operating reactors will be calculated and

assessed in accordance with § 171.13.

13. In § 171.16, the introductory text

and table of paragraph (c) and

paragraphs (c)(1), (c)(4), (d), and (e) are

revised to read as follows:

§ 171.16 Annual Fees: Material 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.

* * * * *

(c) A licensee who is required to pay

an annual fee under this section may

qualify as a small entity. If a licensee

qualifies as a small entity and provides

the Commission with the proper

certification, the licensee may pay

reduced annual fees for FY 1998 as

follows:

Maximum

annual fee

per licensed

category

Small Businesses Not Engaged in Manufacturing and Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Gross Annual Receipts):

$350,000 to $5 million ...................................................................................................................................................................... $1,800

Less than $350,000 .......................................................................................................................................................................... 400

Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500 employees or less:

35 to 500 employees ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1,800

Less than 35 employees .................................................................................................................................................................. 400

Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly supported educational institutions) (Population):
31858 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

Maximum

annual fee

per licensed

category

20,000 to 50,000 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1,800

Less than 20,000 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 400

Educational Institutions that are not State or Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Less:

35 to 500 employees ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1,800

Less than 35 employees .................................................................................................................................................................. 400

(1) A licensee qualifies as a small

entity if it meets the size standards

established by the NRC (See 10 CFR

2.810).

* * * * *

(4) For FY 1998, the maximum annual

fee a small entity is required to pay is

$1,800 for each category applicable to

the license(s).

(d) The FY 1998 annual fees for

materials licensees and holders of

certificates, registrations or approvals

subject to fees under this section are

shown below. The FY 1998 annual fees,

which must be collected by September

30, 1998, have been determined by

adjusting downward the FY 1997 exact

annual fees (prior to rounding), by about

0.1 percent. As a result of rounding, the

FY 1998 annual fee for some fee

categories is the same as the FY 1997

annual fee. In the FY 1995 final rule, the

NRC stated it would stabilize annual

fees by adjusting the annual fees only by

the percentage change (plus or minus)

in NRC’s total budget authority and

adjustments based on changes in 10 CFR

Part 170 fees as well as on the number

of licensees paying the fees. The first

adjustment to the annual fees using this

method occurred in FY 1996, when all

annual fees were decreased 6.5 percent

below the FY 1995 annual fees. The FY

1997 annual fees were also determined

by using this method. The FY 1997

annual fees were increased 8.4 percent

above the FY 1996 annual fees. The FY

1995 annual fee was comprised of a base

annual fee and an additional charge

(surcharge). The activities comprising

the FY 1995 surcharge are shown for

convenience in paragraph (e) of this

section.

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS ANNUAL FEES AND FEES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY NRC

[See footnotes at end of table]

Category of materials licenses Annual

Fees 1, 2, 3

1. Special nuclear material:

A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of U–235 or plutonium for fuel fabrication activities.

(a) Strategic Special Nuclear Material:

Babcock & Wilcox SNM–42 ........................................................................................................................................... $2,604,000

Nuclear Fuel Services SNM–124 ................................................................................................................................... 2,604,000

(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel:

Combustion Engineering (Hematite) SNM–33 ............................................................................................................... 1,278,000

General Electric Company SNM–1097 .......................................................................................................................... 1,278,000

Siemens Nuclear Power SNM–1227 ............................................................................................................................. 1,278,000

Westinghouse Electric Company SNM–1107 ................................................................................................................ 1,278,000

(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:

B&W Fuel Company SNM–1168 ................................................................................................................................... 508,000

(b) All Others:

General Electric SNM–960 ............................................................................................................................................. 345,000

B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel at an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) ............................. 283,000

C. Licenses for possession and use of special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in devices used in industrial

measuring systems, including x-ray fluorescence analyzers ................................................................................................... 1,300

D. All other special nuclear material licenses, except licenses authorizing special nuclear material in unsealed form in combination that would constitute a critical quantity, as defined in § 150.11 of this chapter, for which the licensee shall pay

the same fees as those for Category 1.A.(2) . ......................................................................................................................... 3,100

E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of a uranium enrichment facility ............................................................................. 2,604,000

2. Source material:

A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source material for refining uranium mill concentrates to uranium hexafluoride .... 648,000

(2) Licenses for possession and use of source material in recovery operations such as milling, in-situ leaching, heap-leaching, ore buying stations, ion exchange facilities and in processing of ores containing source material for extraction of metals other than uranium or thorium, including licenses authorizing the possession of byproduct waste material (tailings)

from source material recovery operations, as well as licenses authorizing the possession and maintenance of a facility in

a standby mode.

Class I facilities 4 ................................................................................................................................................................... 61,700

Class II facilities 4 .................................................................................................................................................................. 34,900

Other facilities 4 ...................................................................................................................................................................... 22,300

(3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of 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) orCategory

2.A.(4) ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 45,300

(4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of 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) ................................................... 8,000

B. Licenses which authorize only the possession, use and/or installation of source material for shielding ............................... 490

C. All other source material licenses ............................................................................................................................................ 8,700
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31859

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS ANNUAL FEES AND FEES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY NRC—Continued

[See footnotes at end of table]

Category of materials licenses Annual

Fees 1, 2, 3

3. Byproduct material:

A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for processing or manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution ................................ 16,600

B. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 30 of this chapter for processing or

manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution ................................................................. 5,600

C. Licenses issued pursuant to §§ 32.72, 32.73, and/or 32.74 of this chapter authorizing the processing or manufacturing

and distribution or redistribution of radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent kits and/or sources and devices containing

byproduct material. This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding authorized pursuant to Part 40 of this chapter when included on the same license. This category does not apply to licenses issued to nonprofit educational institutions whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under § 171.11(a)(1). These licenses are covered by fee Category 3D .......................................................................................................................................................... 11,200

D. Licenses and approvals issued pursuant to §§ 32.72, 32.73, and/or 32.74 of this chapter authorizing distribution or redistribution of radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent kits and/or sources or devices not involving processing of byproduct material. This category includes licenses issued pursuant to §§ 32.72, 32.73 and 32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit

educational institutions whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under § 171.11(a)(1). This category also includes

the possession and use of source material for shielding authorized pursuant to Part 40 of this chapter when included on

the same license ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4,400

E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source

is not removed from its shield (self-shielded units) .................................................................................................................. 3,200

F. Licenses for possession and use of less than 10,000 curies of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater irradiators for irradiation of materials in which the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes .................................................................... 3,800

G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies or more of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater irradiators for irradiation of materials in which the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes .................................................................... 19,700

H. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart A of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that

require device review to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of Part 30 of this chapter, 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 .................................................................................................................................... 5,000

I. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart A of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material or

quantities of byproduct material that do not require device evaluation to persons exempt from the licensing requirements

of Part 30 of this chapter, 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 ......................................................... 8,900

J. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart B of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that require sealed source and/or device review to persons generally licensed under Part 31 of this chapter, except specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to persons generally licensed under

Part 31 of this chapter .............................................................................................................................................................. 3,800

K. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart B of Part 31 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, except specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for

distribution to persons generally licensed under Part 31 of this chapter ................................................................................. 3,200

L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for research and development that do not authorize commercial distribution .................................................................... 12,300

M. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 30 of this chapter for research and

development that do not authorize commercial distribution ..................................................................................................... 5,500

N. Licenses that authorize services for other licensees, except:

(1) Licenses that authorize only calibration and/or leak testing services are subject to the fees specified in fee Category

3P; and

(2) Licenses that authorize waste disposal services are subject to the fees specified in fee Categories 4A, 4B, and 4C 6,100

O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 34 of this chapter for industrial radiography operations. This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding authorized pursuant

to Part 40 of this chapter when authorized on the same license ............................................................................................. 14,000

P. All other specific byproduct material licenses, except those in Categories 4A through 9D ................................................... 1,700

4. Waste disposal and processing:

A. Licenses specifically authorizing the 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 ............................................................... 5 102,000

B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material

from other persons for the purpose of packaging or repackaging the material. The licensee will dispose of the material by

transfer to another person authorized to receive or dispose of the material ........................................................................... 14,500

C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of prepackaged waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material from other persons. The licensee will dispose of the material by transfer to another person authorized to

receive or dispose of the material ............................................................................................................................................ 7,700

5. Well logging:

A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, and/or special nuclear material for well logging,

well surveys, and tracer studies other than field flooding tracer studies ................................................................................. 8,200

B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material for field flooding tracer studies ....................................................... 13,200
31860 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS ANNUAL FEES AND FEES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY NRC—Continued

[See footnotes at end of table]

Category of materials licenses Annual

Fees 1, 2, 3

6. Nuclear laundries:

A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of items contaminated with byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material .................................................................................................................................................................. 14,700

7. Medical licenses:

A. Licenses issued pursuant to Parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in teletherapy devices. This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding when authorized on the same license ....................................................... 10,300

B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical institutions or two or more physicians pursuant to 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 .... 23,500

C. Other licenses issued pursuant to 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. This category also includes the possession and use of source

material for shielding when authorized on the same license.9 ................................................................................................. 4,700

8. Civil defense:

A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material for civil defense activities ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 1,800

9. Device, product, or sealed source safety evaluation:

A. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or

special nuclear material, except reactor fuel devices, for commercial distribution .................................................................. 7,200

B. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or

special nuclear material manufactured in accordance with the unique specifications of, and for use by, a single applicant,

except reactor fuel devices ....................................................................................................................................................... 3,700

C. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, except reactor fuel, for commercial distribution ..................................................................................... 1,600

D. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, manufactured in accordance with the unique specifications of, and for use by, a single applicant,

except reactor fuel .................................................................................................................................................................... 780

10. Transportation of radioactive material:

A. Certificates of Compliance or other package approvals issued for design of casks, packages, and shipping containers.

Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and plutonium air packages ................................................................................................ 6 N/A

Other Casks ........................................................................................................................................................................... 6 N/A

B. Approvals issued of 10 CFR Part 71 quality assurance programs.

Users and Fabricators ........................................................................................................................................................... 78,800

Users ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 1,000

11. Standardized spent fuel facilities ................................................................................................................................................... 6 N/A

12. Special Projects ............................................................................................................................................................................. 6 N/A

13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Compliance .................................................................................................................. 6 N/A

B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel under 10 CFR 72.210 .......................................................................................... 283,000

14. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material licenses and other approvals authorizing decommissioning, decontamination,

reclamation, or site restoration activities pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, 70, and 72 ................................................................ 7 N/A

15. Import and Export licenses ............................................................................................................................................................ 8 N/A

16. Reciprocity ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 N/A

17. Master materials licenses of broadscope issued to Government agencies ................................................................................. 421,000

18. Department of Energy:

A. Certificates of Compliance ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 $1,168,000

B. Uranium Mill Tailing Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) activities ............................................................................................ 1,964,000

1Annual 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 fiscal year. However, the annual fee is waived for those materials licensees and holders of certificates, registrations, and approvals who either filed for termination of their licenses or approvals or filed for possession only/storage licenses prior to October 1, 1997, and

permanently ceased licensed activities entirely by September 30, 1997. Annual fees for licensees who filed for termination of a license, downgrade of a license, or for a POL during the fiscal year and for new licenses issued during the fiscal year will be prorated in accordance with the

provisions of § 171.17. If a person holds more than one license, certificate, registration, or approval, the annual fee(s) will be assessed for each

license, certificate, registration, or approval held by that person. For licenses that authorize more than one activity on a single license (e.g.,

human use and irradiator activities), annual fees will be assessed for each category applicable to the license. Licensees paying annual fees

under Category 1.A.(1) are not subject to the annual fees of Category 1.C and 1.D for sealed sources authorized in the license. 2Payment 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, or 72 of this chapter. 3Each fiscal year, fees for these materials licenses will be calculated and assessed in accordance with § 171.13 and will be published in the

Federal Register for notice and comment. 4A Class I license includes mill licenses issued for the extraction of uranium from uranium ore. A Class II license includes solution mining licenses (in-situ and heap leach) issued for the extraction of uranium from uranium ores including research and development licenses. An ‘‘other’’

license includes licenses for extraction of metals, heavy metals, and rare earths. 5Two licenses were issued by NRC for land disposal of special nuclear material. Once NRC issues an LLW disposal license for byproduct and

source material, the Commission will consider establishing an annual fee for this type of license. 6Standardized spent fuel facilities, 10 CFR Parts 71 and 72 Certificates of Compliance, 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 the 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.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31861

9Separate annual fees will not be assessed for pacemaker licenses issued to medical institutions who also hold nuclear medicine licenses

under Categories 7B or 7C. 10This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to DOE that are not under the Nuclear Waste Fund.

(e) The activities comprising the FY

1995 surcharge are as follows:

(1) LLW disposal generic activities;

(2) Activities not attributable to an

existing NRC licensee or classes of

licensees; e.g., international cooperative

safety program and international

safeguards activities; support for the

Agreement State program; site

decommissioning management plan

(SDMP) activities; and

(3) Activities not currently assessed

licensing and inspection fees under 10

CFR Part 170 based on existing law or

Commission policy, e.g., reviews and

inspections conducted of nonprofit

educational institutions and Federal

agencies; activities related to

decommissioning and reclamation and

costs that would not be collected from

small entities based on Commission

policy in accordance with the

Regulatory Flexibility Act.

* * * * *

14. Section 171.19 is revised to read

as follows:

§ 171.19 Payment.

(a) Method of payment. Annual fee

payments, made payable to the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, are to

be made in U.S. funds by check, draft,

money order, credit card, or electronic

funds transfer such as ACH (Automated

Clearing House) using EDI (Electronic

Data Interchange). Federal agencies may

also make payment by the On-line

Payment and Collection System

(OPAC’s). Where specific payment

instructions are provided on the

invoices to applicants and licensees,

payment should be made accordingly,

e.g. invoices of $5,000 or more should

be paid via ACH through NRC’s

Lockbox Bank at the address indicated

on the invoice. Credit card payments

should be made up to the limit

established by the credit card bank, in

accordance with specific instructions

provided with the invoices, to the

Lockbox Bank designated for credit card

payments.

(b) For FY 1998, the Commission will

adjust the fourth quarterly invoice for

operating power reactors and certain

materials licensees to recover the full

amount of the revised annual fee. If the

amounts collected in the first three

quarters exceed the amount of the

revised annual fee, the overpayment

will be refunded. All other licensees, or

holders of a certificate, registration, or

approval of a QA program will be sent

a bill for the full amount of the annual

fee on the anniversary date of the

license. Payment is due on the invoice

date and interest accrues from the date

of the invoice. However, interest will be

waived if payment is received within 30

days from the invoice date.

(c) Annual fees in the amount of

$100,000 or more and described in the

Federal Register notice pursuant to

§ 171.13 must be paid in quarterly

installments of 25 percent as billed by

the NRC. The quarters begin on October

1, January 1, April 1, and July 1 of each

fiscal year.

(d) Annual fees of less than $100,000

must be paid as billed by the NRC. As

established in FY 1996, materials

license annual fees that are less than

$100,000 are billed on the anniversary

date of the license. The materials

licensees that are billed on the

anniversary date of the license are those

covered by fee categories 1.C. and 1.D.;

2.A.(2) through 2.C.; 3.A. through 3.P.;

4.B. through 9.D.; and 10.B. For annual

fee purposes, the anniversary date of the

license is considered to be the first day

of the month in which the original

license was issued by the NRC.

Beginning June 11, 1996, the effective

date of the FY 1996 final rule, licensees

that are billed on the license

anniversary date will be assessed the

annual fee in effect on the anniversary

date of the license. Materials licenses

subject to the annual fee that are

terminated during the fiscal year but

prior to the anniversary month of the

license will be billed upon termination

for the fee in effect at the time of the

billing. New materials licenses subject

to the annual fee will be billed in the

month the license is issued or in the

next available monthly billing for the

fee in effect on the anniversary date of

the license. Thereafter, annual fees for

new licenses will be assessed in the

anniversary month of the license.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd

day of May, 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Jesse L. Funches,

Chief Financial Officer.

Note: The following appendix will not

appear in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Appendix A to This Final Rule—Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis for the Amendments to

10 CFR Part 170 (License Fees) and 10 CFR

Part 171 (Annual Fees)

I. Background

The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as

amended, (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) establishes as

a principle of regulatory practice that

agencies endeavor to fit regulatory and

informational requirements, consistent with

applicable statutes, to a scale commensurate

with the businesses, organizations, and

government jurisdictions to which they

apply. To achieve this principle, the Act

requires that agencies consider the impact of

their actions on small entities. If the agency

cannot certify that a rule will not

significantly impact a substantial number of

small entities, then a regulatory flexibility

analysis is required to examine the impacts

on small entities and the alternatives to

minimize these impacts.

To assist in considering these impacts

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA),

first the NRC adopted size standards for

determining which NRC licensees qualify as

small entities (50 FR 50241; December 9,

1985). These size standards were clarified on

November 6, 1991 (56 FR 56672). On April

7, 1994 (59 FR 16513), the Small Business

Administration (SBA) issued a final rule

changing its size standards. The SBA

adjusted its receipts-based size standards

levels to mitigate the effects of inflation from

1984 to 1994. On November 30, 1994 (59 FR

61293), the NRC published a proposed rule

to amend its size standards. After evaluating

the two comments received, a final rule that

would revise the NRC’s size standards as

proposed was developed and approved by

the SBA on March 24, 1995. The NRC

published the final rule revising its size

standards on April 11, 1995 (60 FR 18344).

The revised standards became effective May

11, 1995. The revised standards adjusted the

NRC receipts-based size standards from $3.5

million to $5 million to accommodate

inflation and to conform to the SBA final

rule. The NRC also eliminated the separate

$1 million size standard for private practice

physicians and applied a receipts-based size

standard of $5 million to this class of

licensees. This mirrored the revised SBA

standard of $5 million for medical

practitioners. The NRC also established a size

standard of 500 or fewer employees for

business concerns that are manufacturing

entities. This standard is the most commonly

used SBA employee standard and is the

standard applicable to the types of

manufacturing industries that hold an NRC

license.

The NRC used the revised standards in the

final FY 1995, FY 1996, and FY 1997 fee

rules and is continuing their use in this FY

1998 final rule. The small entity fee

categories in § 171.16(c) of this final rule

reflect the changes in the NRC’s size

standards adopted in FY 1995. A new

maximum small entity fee for manufacturing

industries with 35 to 500 employees was

established at $1,800 and a lower-tier small

entity fee of $400 was established for those

manufacturing industries with less than 35

employees. The lower-tier receipts-based

threshold of $250,000 was raised to $350,000

to reflect approximately the same percentage

adjustment as that made by the SBA when

they adjusted the receipts-based standard

from $3.5 million to $5 million. The NRC
31862 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

believes that continuing these actions for FY

1998 will reduce the impact of annual fees

on small businesses. The NRC size standards

are codified at 10 CFR 2.810.

Public Law 101–508, the Omnibus Budget

Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA–90),

required that the NRC recover approximately

100 percent of its budget authority, less

appropriations from the Nuclear Waste Fund,

for Fiscal Years (FY) 1991 through 1995 by

assessing license and annual fees. OBRA–90

was amended in 1993 to extend the 100

percent recovery requirement for NRC

through 1998. For FY 1991, the amount for

collection was about $445.3 million; for FY

1992, about $492.5 million; for FY 1993

about $518.9 million; for FY 1994 about $513

million; for FY 1995 about $503.6 million; for

FY 1996 about $462.3 million; for FY 1997

about $462.3 million; and the amount to be

collected for FY 1998 is approximately

$454.8 million.

To comply with OBRA–90, the

Commission amended its fee regulations in

10 CFR Parts 170 and 171 in FY 1991 (56 FR

31472; July 10, 1991), in FY 1992 (57 FR

32691; July 23, 1992), in FY 1993 (58 FR

38666; July 20, 1993), in FY 1994 (59 FR

36895; July 20, 1994), in FY 1995 (60 FR

32218; June 20, 1995), in FY 1996 (61 FR

16203; April 12, 1996), and in FY 1997 (62

FR 29194; May 29,1997) based on a careful

evaluation of over 1,000 comments. These

final rules established the methodology used

by NRC in identifying and determining the

fees assessed and collected in FYs 1991–

1997.

The NRC indicated in the FY 1995 final

rule that it would attempt to stabilize annual

fees as follows. Beginning in FY 1996, it

would adjust the annual fees only by the

percentage change (plus or minus) in NRC’s

total budget authority unless there was a

substantial change in the total NRC budget

authority or the magnitude of the budget

allocated to a specific class of licensees, in

which case the annual fee base would be

recalculated (60 FR 32225; June 20, 1995).

The NRC also indicated that the percentage

change would be adjusted based on changes

in the 10 CFR Part 170 fees and other

adjustments as well as an adjustment for the

number of licensees paying the fees. As a

result, the NRC is establishing the FY 1998

annual fees for all licensees at about 0.1

percent below the FY 1997 exact (prior to

rounding) annual fees. Based on this small

change, the FY 1998 annual fees (rounded)

for many fee categories are the same as the

FY 1997 annual fees. Because there has not

been a substantial change in the NRC budget

or in the magnitude of a specific budget

allocation to a class of licensees, the NRC has

continued to stabilize annual fees by

following the same method used for FY 1996

and FY 1997 to establish the FY 1998 annual

fees.

Public Law 104–121, the Contract with

America Advancement Act of 1996, was

signed into law on March 29, 1996. Title III

of the law is entitled the Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

(SBREFA). The SBREFA has two purposes.

The first is to reduce regulatory burdens

imposed by Federal agencies on small

businesses, nonprofit organizations and

governmental jurisdictions. The second is to

provide the Congress with the opportunity to

review agency rules before they go into effect.

Under this legislation, the NRC fee rule,

published annually, is considered a ‘‘major’’

rule and therefore must be reviewed by

Congress and the Comptroller General before

the rule becomes effective. Section 312 of the

Act provides that for each rule for which an

agency prepared a final regulatory flexibility

analysis, the agency shall prepare a guide to

assist small entities in complying with the

rule. The NRC’s guide is Attachment 1 to

Appendix A of this final rule. A regulatory

flexibility analysis is prepared for the

proposed and final NRC fee rules as

implemented by 10 CFR Part 170 and 171 of

the Commission’s regulations. Therefore, in

compliance with the law, Attachment 1 to

this Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is the

small entity compliance guide for FY 1998.

II. Impact on Small Entities

The comments received on the proposed

FY 1991–1997 fee rule revisions and the

small entity certifications received in

response to the final FY 1991–1997 fee rules

indicate that NRC licensees qualifying as

small entities under the NRC’s size standards

are primarily those licensed under the NRC’s

materials program. Therefore, this analysis

will focus on the economic impact of the

annual fees on materials licensees.

The Commission’s fee regulations result in

substantial fees being charged to those

individuals, organizations, and companies

that are licensed under the NRC materials

program. Of these materials licensees, about

20 percent (approximately 1,400 licensees)

have requested small entity certification in

the past. In FY 1993, the NRC conducted a

survey of its materials licensees. The results

of this survey indicated that about 25 percent

of these licensees could qualify as small

entities under the current NRC size

standards.

The commenters on the FY 1991–1994

proposed fee rules indicated the following

results if the proposed annual fees were not

modified:

—Large firms would gain an unfair

competitive advantage over small entities.

One commenter noted that a small welllogging company (a ‘‘Mom and Pop’’ type

of operation) would find it difficult to

absorb the annual fee, while a large

corporation would find it easier. Another

commenter noted that the fee increase

could be more easily absorbed by a highvolume nuclear medicine clinic. A gauge

licensee noted that, in the very competitive

soils testing market, the annual fees would

put it at an extreme disadvantage with its

much larger competitors because the

proposed fees would be the same for a twoperson licensee as for a large firm with

thousands of employees.

—Some firms would be forced to cancel their

licenses. One commenter, with receipts of

less than $500,000 per year, stated that the

proposed rule would, in effect, force it to

relinquish its soil density gauge and

license, thereby reducing its ability to do

its work effectively. Another commenter

noted that the rule would force the

company and many other small businesses

to get rid of the materials license

altogether. Commenters stated that the

proposed rule would result in about 10

percent of the well-logging licensees

terminating their licenses immediately and

approximately 25 percent terminating their

licenses before the next annual assessment.

—Some companies would go out of business.

One commenter noted that the proposal

would put it, and several other small

companies, out of business or, at the very

least, make it hard to survive.

—Some companies would have budget

problems. Many medical licensees

commented that, in these times of slashed

reimbursements, the proposed increase of

the existing fees and the introduction of

additional fees would significantly affect

their budgets. Another noted that, in view

of the cuts by Medicare and other third

party carriers, the fees would produce a

hardship and some facilities would

experience a great deal of difficulty in

meeting this additional burden.

Since FY 1991 when annual fees were first

established, approximately 3,000 license,

approval, and registration terminations have

been requested. Although some of these

terminations were requested because the

license was no longer needed or licenses or

registrations could be combined, indications

are that other termination requests were due

to the economic impact of the fees.

The NRC continues to receive written and

oral comments from small materials

licensees. These commenters previously

indicated that the $3.5 million threshold for

small entities was not representative of small

businesses with gross receipts in the

thousands of dollars. These commenters

believe that the $1,800 maximum annual fee

represents a relatively high percentage of

gross annual receipts for these ‘‘Mom and

Pop’’ type businesses. Therefore, even the

reduced annual fee could have a significant

impact on the ability of these types of

businesses to continue to operate.

To alleviate the continuing significant

impact of the annual fees on a substantial

number of small entities, the NRC considered

alternatives, in accordance with the RFA.

These alternatives were evaluated in the

following rules: FY 1991 (56 FR 31472; July

10, 1991), FY 1992 (57 FR 32691; July 23,

1992), FY 1993 (58 FR 38666; July 20, 1993),

FY 1994 (59 FR 36895; July 20, 1994), FY

1995 (60 FR 32218; June 20, 1995), FY 1996

(61 FR 16203; April 12, 1996), and FY 1997

(62 FR 29194; May 29, 1997). The

alternatives considered by the NRC can be

summarized as follows.

—Base fees on some measure of the amount

of radioactivity possessed by the licensee

(e.g., number of sources).

—Base fees on the frequency of use of the

licensed radioactive material (e.g., volume

of patients).

—Base fees on the NRC size standards for

small entities.

The NRC has reexamined the FY 1991–

1997 evaluations of these alternatives. Based

on that reexamination, the NRC continues to

believe that establishment of a maximum fee

for small entities is the most appropriate

option to reduce the impact on small entities.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 31863

1 An educational institution referred to in the

size standards is an entity whose primary function

is education, whose programs are accredited by a

nationally recognized accrediting agency or

association, who is legally authorized to provide a

program of organized instruction or study, who

provides an educational program for which it

awards academic degrees, and whose educational

programs are available to the public.

The NRC established, and will continue for

FY 1998, a maximum annual fee for small

entities. The RFA and its implementing

guidance do not provide specific guidelines

on what constitutes a significant economic

impact on a small entity. Therefore, the NRC

has no benchmark to assist it in determining

the amount or the percent of gross receipts

that should be charged to a small entity. For

FY 1998, the NRC will rely on the analysis

previously completed that established a

maximum annual fee for a small entity and

the amount of costs that must be recovered

from other NRC licensees as a result of

establishing the maximum annual fees.

The NRC continues to believe that the 10

CFR Part 170 license fees (application and

amendment), or any adjustments to these

licensing fees during the past year, do not

have a significant impact on small entities. In

issuing this final rule for FY 1998, the NRC

concludes that the 10 CFR Part 170 materials

license fees do not have a significant impact

on a substantial number of small entities and

that the 10 CFR Part 171 maximum annual

small entity fee of $1,800 be continued.

By maintaining the maximum annual fee

for small entities at $1,800, the annual fee for

many small entities is reduced while at the

same time materials licensees, including

small entities, pay for most of the FY 1998

costs attributable to them. The costs not

recovered from small entities are allocated to

other materials licensees and to operating

power reactors. However, the amount that

must be recovered from other licensees as a

result of maintaining the maximum annual

fee is not expected to increase significantly.

Therefore, the NRC is continuing, for FY

1998, the maximum annual fee (base annual

fee plus surcharge) for certain small entities

at $1,800 for each fee category covered by

each license issued to a small entity.

While reducing the impact on many small

entities, the Commission agrees that the

maximum annual fee of $1,800 for small

entities, when added to the Part 170 license

fees, may continue to have a significant

impact on materials licensees with annual

gross receipts in the thousands of dollars.

Therefore, as in FY 1992–1997, the NRC is

continuing the lower-tier small entity annual

fee of $400 for small entities with relatively

low gross annual receipts. The lower-tier

small entity fee of $400 also applies to

manufacturing concerns, and educational

institutions not State or publicly supported,

with less than 35 employees. This lower-tier

small entity fee was first established in the

final rule published in the Federal Register

on April 17, 1992 (57 FR 13625) and now

includes manufacturing companies with a

relatively small number of employees.

III. Summary

The NRC has determined that the 10 CFR

Part 171 annual fees significantly impact a

substantial number of small entities. A

maximum fee for small entities strikes a

balance between the requirement to collect

100 percent of the NRC budget and the

requirement to consider means of reducing

the impact of the fee on small entities. On the

basis of its regulatory flexibility analyses, the

NRC concludes that a maximum annual fee

of $1,800 for small entities and a lower-tier

small entity annual fee of $400 for small

businesses and not-for-profit organizations

with gross annual receipts of less than

$350,000, small governmental jurisdictions

with a population of less than 20,000, small

manufacturing entities that have less than 35

employees and educational institutions that

are not State or publicly supported and have

less than 35 employees reduces the impact

on small entities. At the same time, these

reduced annual fees are consistent with the

objectives of OBRA–90. Thus, the fees for

small entities maintain a balance between the

objectives of OBRA–90 and the RFA.

Therefore, the analysis and conclusions

established in the FY 1991–1997 rules

remain valid for this final rule for FY 1998.

In compliance with Public Law 104–121, a

small entity compliance guide has been

prepared by NRC and is shown as

Attachment 1 to this Regulatory Flexibility

Analysis.

Attachment 1 to Appendix A

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Small

Entity Compliance Guide, Fiscal Year 1998

Contents

Introduction

NRC Definition of Small Entity

NRC Small Entity Fees

Instructions for Completing NRC Form 526

Introduction

The Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA)

requires all Federal agencies to prepare a

written guide for each ‘‘major’’ final rule as

defined by the Act. The NRC’s fee rule,

published annually to comply with the

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990

(OBRA–90) which requires the NRC to collect

approximately 100 percent of its budget

authority each year through fees, meets the

thresholds for being considered a ‘‘major’’

rule under the SBREFA. Therefore, in

compliance with the law, this small entity

compliance guide has been prepared for FY

1998. The purpose of this guide is to assist

small entities in complying with the NRC fee

rule.

This guide is designed to aid NRC

materials licensees. The information

provided in this guide may be used by

licensees to determine whether they qualify

as a small entity under NRC regulations and

are therefore eligible to pay reduced FY 1998

annual fees assessed under 10 CFR Part 171.

The NRC, in compliance with the Regulatory

Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), has established

separate annual fees for those materials

licensees who meet the NRC’s size standards

for small entities. These size standards,

developed in consultation with the Small

Business Administration, were revised by the

NRC and became effective on May 11, 1995.

The small entity size standards are found at

10 CFR 2.810 of the NRC’s regulations. To

comply with the RFA, the NRC has

established two tiers of small-entity fees.

These fees are found at 10 CFR 171.16(c) of

the NRC’s fee regulations.

Licensees who meet NRC’s size standards

for a small entity must complete NRC Form

526 in order to qualify for the reduced annual

fee. NRC Form 526 will accompany each

annual fee invoice mailed to materials

licensees. The completed form, along with

the appropriate small entity fee and the

payment copy of the invoice, should be

mailed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, License Fee and Accounts

Receivable Branch, to the address indicated

on the invoice.

NRC Definition of Small Entity

The NRC, in consultation with the Small

Business Administration, has defined a small

entity for purposes of compliance with its

regulations. The definition is codified in

NRC’s regulations at 10 CFR 2.810. Under the

NRC regulation, a small entity is a:

1. Small business—a for-profit concern that

provides a service or a concern not engaged

in manufacturing with average gross receipts

of $5 million or less over its last 3 completed

fiscal years;

2. Manufacturing industry—a

manufacturing concern with an average

number of 500 or fewer employees based

upon employment during each pay period for

the preceding 12 calendar months;

3. Small organization—a not-for-profit

organization which is independently owned

and operated and has annual gross receipts

of $5 million or less;

4. Small governmental jurisdiction—a

government of a city, county, town,

township, village, school district or special

district with a population of less than 50,000;

5. Small educational institution—an

educational institution supported by a

qualifying small governmental jurisdiction,

or one that is not state or publicly supported

and has 500 or fewer employees.1

NRC Small Entity Fees

The NRC has established two tiers of smallentity fees for licensees that qualify under the

NRC’s size standards. Currently, these fees

are as follows:
31864 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 111 /Wednesday, June 10, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

Maximum

annual fee

per licensed

category

Small Business Not Engaged in Manufacturing and Small Not-For Profit Organizations (Gross Annual Receipts):

$350,000 to $5 million ...................................................................................................................................................................... $1,800

Less than $350,000 .......................................................................................................................................................................... 400

Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500 employees or less:

35 to 500 employees ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1,800

Less than 35 employees .................................................................................................................................................................. 400

Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly supported educational institutions) (Population):

20,000 to 50,000 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1,800

Less than 20,000 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 400

Educational Institutions that are not State or Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Less:

35 to 500 employees ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1,800

Less than 35 employees .................................................................................................................................................................. 400

To pay a reduced annual fee, a licensee

must use NRC Form 526, enclosed with the

fee invoice, to certify that it meets NRC’s size

standards for a small entity. About 1,400

licensees certify each year that they qualify

as a small entity under the NRC size

standards and pay a reduced annual fee.

Approximately 800 licensees pay the small

entity fee of 1,800 while 600 licensees pay

the lower-tier, small-entity fee of 400.

Instructions for Completing NRC Form 526

1. File a separate NRC Form 526 for each

annual fee invoice received.

2. Complete all items on NRC Form 526 as

follows:

a. The license number and invoice number

must be entered exactly as they appear on the

annual fee invoice.

b. The Standard Industrial Classification

(SIC) Code should be entered if it is known.

c. The licensee’s name and address must be

entered as they appear on the invoice. Name

and/or address changes for billing purposes

must be annotated on the invoice. Correcting

the name and/or address on NRC Form 526

or on the invoice does not constitute a

request to amend the license. Any request to

amend a license is to be submitted to the

respective licensing staffs in the NRC

Regional or Headquarters Offices.

d. Check the appropriate size standard

under which the licensee qualifies as a small

entity. Check one box only. Note the

following:

(1) The size standards apply to the

licensee, not the individual authorized users

listed in the license.

(2) Gross annual receipts as used in the

size standards includes all revenue in

whatever form received or accrued from

whatever sources, not solely receipts from

licensed activities. There are limited

exceptions as set forth at 13 CFR 121.104.

These are: the term receipts excludes net

capital gains or losses, taxes collected for and

remitted to a taxing authority if included in

gross or total income, proceeds from the

transactions between a concern and its

domestic or foreign affiliates (if also excluded

from gross or total income on a consolidated

return filed with the IRS), and amounts

collected for another by a travel agent, real

estate agent, advertising agent, or conference

management service provider.

(3) A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large

entity does not qualify as a small entity.

(4) The owner of the entity, or an official

empowered to act on behalf of the entity,

must sign and date the small entity

certification.

3. The NRC sends invoices to its licensees

for the full annual fee, even though some

entities qualify for reduced fees as a small

entity. Licensees who qualify as a small

entity and file NRC Form 526, which certifies

eligibility for small entity fees, may pay the

reduced fee, which for a full year is either

$1,800 or $400 depending on the size of the

entity, for each fee category shown on the

invoice. Licensees granted a license during

the first six months of the fiscal year and

licensees who file for termination or for a

possession only license and permanently

cease licensed activities during the first six

months of the fiscal year pay only 50 percent

of the annual fee for that year. Such an

invoice states the ‘‘Amount Billed Represents

50% Proration.’’ This means the amount due

from a small entity is not the prorated

amount shown on the invoice but rather onehalf of the maximum annual fee shown on

NRC Form 526 for the size standard under

which the licensee qualifies, resulting in a

fee of either $900 or $200 for each fee

category billed instead of the full small entity

annual fee of $1,800 or $400.

4. A new small entity form (NRC Form 526)

is required to be filed with the NRC each

fiscal year in order to qualify for reduced fees

for that fiscal year. Because a licensee’s

‘‘size,’’ or the size standards, may change

from year to year, the invoice reflects the full

fee and a new Form must be completed and

returned for the fee to be reduced to the small

entity fee. LICENSEES WILL NOT BE

ISSUED A NEW INVOICE FOR THE

REDUCED AMOUNT. The completed NRC

Form 526, the payment of the appropriate

small entity fee, and the ‘‘Payment Copy ‘‘ of

the invoice should be mailed to the U. S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, License Fee

and Accounts Receivable Branch at the

address indicated on the invoice.

5. Questions regarding fee invoices may be

posed orally or in writing. Please call the

license fee staff at 301–415–7554 or write to

the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Office of

the Chief Financial Officer.

6. False certification of small entity status

could result in civil sanctions being imposed

by the NRC pursuant to the Program Fraud

Civil Remedies Act, 31 U.S.C. 3801 et. seq.

NRC’s implementing regulations are found at

10 CFR Part 13.

[FR Doc. 98–15140 Filed 6–9–98; 8:45 am]

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