[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 110 (Wednesday, June 10, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 27642-27673]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13425]



[[Page 27641]]

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Part III





Nuclear Regulatory Commission





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10 CFR Parts 170 and 171



Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2009; Final Rule

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 10, 2009 / 
Rules and Regulations

[[Page 27642]]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 170 and 171

[NRC-2008-0620]
RIN 3150-AI52


Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2009

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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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), as amended, which requires the 
NRC to recover through fees approximately 90 percent of its budget 
authority in fiscal year (FY) 2009, not including amounts appropriated 
from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF), amounts appropriated for Waste 
Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR), and amounts appropriated for generic 
homeland security activities. The NRC's required fee recovery amount 
for the FY 2009 budget is approximately $870.6 million. After 
accounting for billing adjustments, the total amount to be billed as 
fees is approximately $866.5 million.

DATES: Effective Date: August 10, 2009.

ADDRESSES: The comments received on the proposed rule and the NRC's 
work papers that support these final changes to 10 CFR parts 170 and 
171 are available from the following locations:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2008-0620. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-492-3668; e-mail 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c281a3b0adaeec85a3aeaea3a5aaa7b082acb0a1eca5adb4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="256644574a490b6244494944424d4057654b57460b424a53">[email protected]</span></a>.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this 
document using the following methods:
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Public 
File Area O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC after 
November 1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic 
Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this 
page, the public can gain entry into ADAMS, which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. If you do not have access to 
ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in 
ADAMS, contact the NRC's PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-
415-4737, or by e-mail to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#84f4e0f6aaf6e1f7ebf1f6e7e1c4eaf6e7aae3ebf2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a7d7c3d589d5c2d4c8d2d5c4c2e7c9d5c489c0c8d1">[email protected]</span></a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca I. Erickson, Office of the 
Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone 301-415-7126, e-mail 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#03516661666060622d46716a6068706c6d434d51402d646c75"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6c3e090e090f0f0d42291e050f071f03022c223e2f420b031a">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
II. Response to Comments
III. Final Action
    A. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170: Fees for Facilities, 
Materials, Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services 
Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, As Amended
    B. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 171: Annual Fees for Reactor 
Licenses and Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials Licenses, Including 
Holders of Certificates of Compliance, Registrations, and Quality 
Assurance Program Approvals and Government Agencies Licensed by the 
NRC
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
VII. Regulatory Analysis
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
IX. Backfit Analysis
X. Congressional Review Act

I. Background

    The NRC is required each year, under OBRA-90 (42 U.S.C. 2214), as 
amended, to recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority, 
not including amounts appropriated from the NWF, amounts appropriated 
for WIR, and amounts appropriated for generic homeland security 
activities (non-fee items), through fees to NRC licensees and 
applicants. The NRC receives 10 percent of its budget authority (not 
including non-fee items) from the general fund each year to pay for the 
cost of agency activities that do not provide a direct benefit to NRC 
licensees, such as international assistance and Agreement State 
activities (as defined under section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended).
    The NRC assesses two types of fees to meet the requirements of 
OBRA-90. First, user fees, set forth in 10 CFR part 170 under the 
authority of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 1952 (IOAA) 
(31 U.S.C. 9701), recover the NRC's cost of providing special benefits 
to identifiable applicants and licensees. For example, the NRC assesses 
these fees to cover the cost of inspections, applications for new 
licenses and license renewals, and requests for license amendments. 
Second, annual fees, set forth in 10 CFR part 171 under the authority 
of OBRA-90, recover generic regulatory costs not otherwise recovered 
through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
    In accordance with OBRA-90, $27.1 million of the agency's budgeted 
resources for generic homeland security activities are excluded from 
the NRC's fee base in FY 2009. These funds cover generic activities, 
such as rulemakings and the development of guidance documents, that 
support entire license fee classes or classes of licensees. Under its 
IOAA authority, the NRC will continue to charge part 170 fees for all 
licensee-specific homeland security-related services provided, 
including security inspections and security plan reviews.
    On March 11, 2009, the President signed the Omnibus Appropriations 
Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 111-8). This Act appropriated $1,045,516,000 to the 
NRC to carry out its mission in FY 2009. This amount is $24.3 million 
lower than the estimate used to develop the FY 2009 proposed rule (74 
FR 9129; March 2, 2009). The FY 2009 proposed rule was based on the FY 
2009 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill (H.R. 7324), 
reported by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. 
As discussed in the Statement of Consideration of the FY 2009 proposed 
rule, the NRC's FY 2009 final fee rule has been adjusted to reflect the 
enacted budget. However, because the $24.3 million decrease only 
affected the amount appropriated from the NWF, which is a non-fee item, 
the NRC's required fee recovery amount for the FY 2009 budget has not 
changed from the proposed fee rule.
    The amount of the NRC's required fee collections is set by law, and 
is, therefore, outside the scope of this rulemaking. In FY 2009, the 
NRC's total fee recovery amount has increased by $91.5 million from FY 
2008, mostly in response to an increased regulatory and infrastructure 
support workload for reactor renewal activities, new uranium recovery 
facility applications, new uranium enrichment facilities, and materials 
licensing. The FY 2009 budget was allocated to the fee classes that the 
budgeted activities support. As such, the annual fees for reactor, fuel 
facility, most uranium recovery, and small materials licensees have 
increased. Another factor affecting the amount of annual fees for each 
fee class is the estimated collection under part 170. The

[[Page 27643]]

annual fee amounts in the FY 2009 final fee rule are lower for most fee 
categories than those in the proposed rule primarily due to the 
increase in part 170 revenue estimates.

II. Response to Comments

    The NRC published the FY 2009 proposed fee rule on March 2, 2009 
(74 FR 9129) to solicit public comment on its proposed revisions to 10 
CFR parts 170 and 171. The NRC received eight comments by the close of 
the comment period (April 1, 2009) and two comments thereafter, for a 
total of 10 comments that were considered in this fee rulemaking. The 
comments have been grouped by issue and are addressed in a collective 
response.

A. Specific Part 170 Issue

1. Hourly Rate Increase
    Comment. Several commenters were concerned about the increase in 
the NRC's hourly rate. These commenters requested a better explanation 
for the 19 percent increase in the cost of agency administrative 
overhead and the 10 percent increase in the cost of salaries and 
benefits for mission direct full-time equivalents (FTE) from FY 2008 to 
FY 2009. Some commenters also noted that NRC's hourly rates have always 
exceeded those charged by private firms for similar work.
    Response. The NRC's hourly rate is based on budgeted costs and must 
be established each year to meet the NRC's fee recovery requirements. 
As discussed in the proposed rule, the increase in the hourly rate is 
due to the higher budget necessary for an increased regulatory and 
infrastructure support workload for reactor license renewals and 
applications from new uranium recovery and enrichment facilities. The 
increase in the agency's regulatory activities requires a comparable 
increase in agency administrative support (e.g., rent, supplies, and 
information technology). The 10 percent increase in the cost of 
salaries and benefits is primarily due to an increase of 101 mission 
direct FTEs in FY 2009 as compared with FY 2008 along with Government-
wide pay raises. The FTE increase reflects additional support for new 
facility applications.
    In response to comments that the NRC hourly rate is significantly 
higher than private industry rates, the NRC's rate is calculated to 
recover all of the budgeted costs supporting the services provided 
under part 170, including all programmatic and agency overhead, which 
is consistent with the full cost recovery concept emphasized in the 
Office of Management and Budget's Circular No. A-25, ``User Charges.'' 
The NRC did not receive any comments suggesting ways to revise its 
hourly rate calculation methodology, and comments on this fee rule and 
other rulemakings have consistently supported the NRC's efforts to 
collect more of its budget through part 170 fees-for-services rather 
than part 171 annual fees. Therefore, the NRC is retaining the hourly 
rate formula as presented in the FY 2009 proposed rule.
2. Multiple Hourly Rates
    Comment. One commenter requested that the NRC consider developing 
different hourly rates to account for the more complex licensing tasks 
of new licensed facilities as opposed to the routine work required for 
well-established programs.
    Response. From FY 1988 through FY 1994, the NRC used one agency-
wide professional hourly rate. In the FY 1995 fee rule (60 FR 32218; 
June 20, 1995), the NRC replaced the single rate with two professional 
hourly rates based on ``cost center concepts'' used for budgeting 
purposes to separately, and more equitably, allocate the costs 
associated with the reactor and materials programs. In the FY 2007 fee 
rule (72 FR 31401; June 6, 2007), the NRC returned to the use of one 
hourly rate. The NRC found that there was no longer a significant 
difference in the two hourly rates. Also, the NRC incurs administrative 
burden in calculating and billing two different hourly rates.
    As stated in the previous response, the NRC's hourly rate is based 
on budgeted costs and must be calculated each year to meet the agency's 
fee recovery requirements. The NRC believes that the added burden from 
requiring both mission direct and administrative staff to develop and 
provide annual review and oversight of a multiple hourly rate schedule 
would be counterproductive. In addition, there is not a significant 
difference in the NRC budget for the various programs that would result 
in different hourly rates. Therefore, the NRC is retaining the single 
hourly rate as presented in the FY 2009 proposed rule.
3. Fee Category 17 Description Revisions
    Comment. One commenter requested that NRC rescind the revision to 
the description of fee category 17, ``master materials licenses of 
broad scope issued to Government agencies and other entities,'' as 
stated in the proposed rule. This commenter stated that it understands 
and supports the NRC's need to meet its fee recovery responsibilities, 
but believes adequate notice should be given to impacted licensees as 
required under the Administrative Procedure Act. This commenter also 
noted that the addition of the phrase ``and other entities'' to the 
description of fee category 17 and further elaboration that this 
category is being expanded to include non-governmental entities with 
multi-site licenses did not clearly indicate that certain fee category 
3.C. entities would now fall under fee category 17.
    Response. The NRC's intent in revising the description of fee 
category 17 was to enhance the fairness and equity of its fee schedule. 
The data gathered for the FY 2009 biennial review of fees showed that 
the NRC's review efforts for large non-Federal multi-site, multi-region 
licenses under fee category 3.C. were similar to efforts for a Master 
Materials License (MML) (fee category 17) and, thus, there should be 
similar fees. However, NRC appreciates the concerns raised by this 
commenter. To address these concerns, NRC will rescind the proposed 
revision to the description for fee category 17 (MML). The NRC believes 
it is necessary to perform additional studies of the best way to 
equitably recover the costs of providing the regulatory oversight for 
multi-site licenses and such review will be addressed in a future 
rulemaking. The impact of removing the revised description from this 
final rule on fee categories 3.C. and 17 is discussed in Sections 
III.A.2, of this document, Flat Application Fee Changes, and III.B.3.g, 
Materials Users.

B. Specific Part 171 Issues

1. Increase in Annual Fee Base
    Comment. Some commenters requested a more detailed explanation for 
the bases for the increase in annual fees as opposed to an increase in 
the NRC hourly fee charges. The commenters recognized that additional 
fees are necessary to support increases in NRC staffing levels and the 
agency infrastructure required to license new facilities, but the 
commenters expected a larger percentage of the increase to be recovered 
through hourly fee charges.
    Response. As a matter of policy, the NRC strives to maximize its 
fee collections under part 170, and this has been addressed in previous 
fee rules. The NRC is rebaselining its fees in FY 2009, as noted in the 
proposed fee rule. Under this methodology, the agency's annual fee 
amounts are calculated based on budgeted resources allocated to the fee 
class and may fluctuate from one year to the next. In FY 2009 the NRC 
budget amount to be recovered increased by 14 percent. This is

[[Page 27644]]

reflected in the increase in annual fees for most licensees.
    Because NRC's annual fees must recover all fee class resources not 
collected through part 170 fees, the annual fees are also affected by 
the part 170 fees collected from that fee class. The NRC prepares its 
budget using the best information available at the time, including 
scheduled application and licensing activities. However, part 170 
revenue from a fee class is particularly difficult to predict in 
advance. Although the total part 170 revenue in FY 2009 is greater than 
FY 2008, fact-of-life issues, such as delays in application activities 
and restrictions in a six-month continuing resolution, resulted in 
lower than expected part 170 estimated revenues for some classes of 
licensees like fuel facilities. In addition, most of the FY 2009 part 
170 revenue is billed at the lower FY 2008 professional hourly rate of 
$238 because the higher FY 2009 rate of $257 is not effective until 60 
days after the publication of this final rule in the Federal Register. 
This has resulted in annual fee increases higher than the increase in 
total budget to be recovered for some licensees.
2. Fuel Facilities Annual Fees
    Comment. One commenter was concerned about the increase in annual 
fees for fee category 1.A.(1)(a), High Enriched Uranium Fuel (HEU), and 
requested that NRC re-evaluate the matrix used in determining the Fuel 
Facilities annual fees. In particular, this commenter believes that the 
annual fee for fee category 1.E., Uranium Enrichment, should have a 
higher percentage increase because the NRC stated that the primary 
reason for the Fuel Facilities budget increase was for new uranium 
enrichment facility licensing activities. The commenter then asserted 
that the proposed annual fee increase for an HEU facility was 
unjustified because the NRC said that the effort factors for the HEU 
fee category have decreased from FY 2008. Another commenter did not 
believe that the annual fee increase for a Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel 
Facility was justified and wanted the NRC to provide further 
explanation.
    Response. Annual fees fluctuate from year to year based on a number 
of factors, including the budgeted resources for a license fee class. 
The NRC acknowledges that the annual fees for fuel facilities increased 
by a large percentage (between 56 percent and 124 percent) from FY 2008 
to FY 2009. However, the annual fees decreased approximately 27 percent 
from FY 2007 to FY 2008. The licensing activities for the new uranium 
enrichment facility are not included in the annual fee for a specific 
facility licensed by the NRC. The NRC bills the applicant for these 
activities as part 170 hourly charges. The delay in the submission of 
the license application impacted the part 170 fee estimate for fuel 
facilities. Because annual fees must recover all budgeted resources for 
a fee class not recovered through part 170 fees, annual fees for all 
facilities in the fee class are impacted by the lower part 170 fee 
estimate, as explained in the answer to the previous comment.
    In response to the request to re-evaluate the matrix used for 
calculating annual fees for individual fuel facilities, the NRC 
established its methodology through public notice and comment 
rulemaking (64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999). Under this methodology the 
total budgeted resources for fuel facilities are allocated to 
individual fuel facility fee categories based on the effort/fee 
determination matrix, which was described in detail in the FY 2009 
proposed fee rule. As stated in the FY 1999 rulemaking, this 
methodology is adaptable to changes in the number of licensees or 
certificate holders, licensed or certified material and/or activities, 
and total programmatic resources to be recovered through annual fees. 
The NRC continues to believe that an effort/fee determination matrix, 
based on the commensurate level of regulatory effort related to the 
various fuel facility categories from a safety and safeguards 
perspective, results in annual fees that accurately reflect the current 
costs of providing generic and other regulatory services to each fuel 
facility type. In response to the comment on the decrease in effort 
factors for HEU fee category, the 2.6 percent decrease in the total 
safety and safeguards effort factor change is relatively small, as 
noted in the proposed rule. The primary reason for the increase in 
annual fees is the higher budget without a proportionate increase in 
part 170 revenue. The decrease in total effort factors for HEU fee 
category did not have a large impact on the annual fee. Therefore, the 
NRC is retaining the effort/fee determination matrix as outlined in the 
proposed rule.
3. Uranium Recovery Annual Fees
    Comment: One commenter, representing various stakeholders, stated 
that the proposed rule did not adequately explain the substantial 
increase in FY 2009 annual fees for in-situ recovery (ISR) operations 
and conventional mills from the $10,300 [corrected] annual fee in FY 
2008. This commenter was also concerned that contrary to the uranium 
recovery industry's expectations, the preparation of the Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for in-situ uranium recovery has 
not decreased NRC staff effort. This commenter supported the creation 
of three new classes of uranium recovery licenses as presented in the 
proposed rule, but requested the addition of a statement in the final 
rule to clarify that conventional mills will not be double-billed as a 
resin toll milling facility under fee category 2.A.(2)(e) if their 
license allows them to process uranium bearing resins from other sites 
and sources. Another commenter stated that the proposed fee rule did 
not adequately explain the basis for the Uranium Mill Tailings 
Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) Title I budgeted costs. This commenter 
worried that reductions in generic fees would result in reduced NRC 
support for UMTRCA license actions and requested site-specific budget 
details in the final rule and supporting documents.
    Response. The NRC acknowledges that the FY 2009 uranium recovery 
annual fees for in-situ recovery operations and conventional mills fee 
classes of $29,700 and $31,200, respectively, are significantly higher 
than the FY 2008 annual fee of $10,300 charged to these facilities. 
However, the annual fees charged to these facilities have decreased 
substantially since FY 2006 when the annual fee was $65,900. Annual 
fees fluctuate from year to year based on a number of factors, 
including the budgeted resources for a license fee class. The increase 
in the total required annual fee recovery is mainly due to an increase 
in uranium recovery licensing and inspection budget resources for the 
existing licensees, as stated in the proposed rule. The NRC's annual 
fees reflect the budgeted cost of its regulatory services to the class.
    In response to the request for clarification in the fee schedule to 
avoid the possibility of double-billing, most NRC materials licenses 
that authorize more than one activity on a single license will be 
assessed annual fees for each category applicable to the license (see 
Sec.  171.16, footnote 1, of this document). Thus, if an NRC license 
authorizes the operation of both a conventional mill and a resin toll 
milling facility then annual fees will be assessed for both fee 
category 2.A.(2)(a), Conventional Mills, and 2.A.(2)(e), Resin Toll 
Milling Facilities. As described in the proposed rule, each fee 
category for uranium recovery facilities reflects the NRC's regulatory 
effort expended for the different types of facilities, both existing 
and planned. Consistent with requirements under OBRA-90, the NRC 
believes the annual

[[Page 27645]]

fees have a reasonable relationship to the cost of its regulatory 
services to each fee category. Therefore, the final rule provides no 
exceptions.
    In response to comments on budgeted resources for specific uranium 
recovery activities, the NRC determines the budgeted costs to be 
allocated to each class of licensee through a comprehensive review of 
every planned activity in each of the agency's major program areas. The 
NRC's Performance Budget submitted to the Congress for review provides 
the objectives of the budget and how it supports the agency's Strategic 
Plan goals and strategies. Nonetheless, the NRC's budget and the manner 
in which the NRC carries out its activities are not within the scope of 
this rulemaking. Therefore, this final rule does not address the 
commenters' concerns regarding the NRC's budget and the use of NRC 
resources for specific activities, such as the GEIS and UMTRCA.
4. Agreement State Activities
    Comment. Some commenters requested more discussion of the fee 
impact on NRC licensees once additional states beyond the Commonwealth 
of Virginia and the State of New Jersey become Agreement States. One 
commenter worried that they would be required to pay fees to both the 
NRC and the Commonwealth of Virginia. This commenter also suggested 
that NRC consider implementing monthly billing for seasonal usage 
whereby the licensee would only be charged for the months during which 
the equipment was used.
    Response. In response to concerns about decreasing numbers of NRC 
licensees as more states become Agreement States, the NRC notes that 
the fee calculation methodology considers the percentage of licensees 
in Agreement States in establishing fees for the materials users fee 
class. As explained in the proposed fee rule, the budgeted resources 
providing support to Agreement States or their licensees are included 
in total fee-relief costs, which are offset by non-fee recovery funding 
provided by Congress. For example, if the NRC develops a rule, guidance 
document, or a tracking system that is associated with or otherwise 
benefits Agreement State licensees, the costs of these activities are 
prorated to the fee-relief activities according to the percentage of 
licensees in that fee class in Agreement States (e.g., if 85 percent of 
materials users licensees are in Agreement States, 85 percent of these 
regulatory infrastructure costs are included in the fee-relief 
category). To address fairness and equity concerns associated with 
licensees paying for the cost of activities that do not directly 
benefit them, the FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations 
Act amended OBRA-90 to decrease the NRC's fee recovery amount to 90 
percent beginning in FY 2005. To the extent that the 10 percent of 
NRC's budget authority which is not fee recoverable is insufficient to 
cover the total cost of all fee-relief activities, these remaining 
costs are spread to all licensees based on their percentage of the 
budget. In FY 2009, the NRC's fee relief exceeds the total fee-relief 
activities cost. This excess fee relief is used to reduce licensees' 
annual fees, based on their percentage of the fee recoverable budget 
authority.
    In response to the comment about paying fees to both NRC and the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, the proposed fee rule explained that, because 
of Virginia's effective Agreement date of March 31, 2009, the licensees 
transferring to Virginia are subject to one-half of their NRC annual 
fee for FY 2009. In response to the comment suggesting a monthly charge 
to account for seasonal usage, the NRC recognizes the assessment of 
fees to recover the agency's costs may result in a financial hardship 
for some licensees. However, the annual fees are based on the budgeted 
resources for activities such as licensing and inspection and the level 
of effort to perform these activities. The NRC does not believe that 
seasonal usage of equipment should be a factor in determining annual 
fees. Therefore, the NRC will continue to charge an annual fee to its 
licensees.

C. Other Issues

1. The NRC Budget and Explanation of Increases
    Comment. Several commenters stated that the proposed rule did not 
adequately explain the increase in NRC's total fee recovery for FY 2009 
and they felt that the NRC should provide a plan for controlling and 
limiting the rate of future budget increases. While the commenters 
recognized and supported NRC's hiring effort in the past five years in 
response to an increase of new licensees in several fee categories, 
they believe the proposed rule should have provided a more detailed 
explanation and justification for the fee increases.
    Response. The NRC appreciates the importance of developing cost-
efficient budgets. NRC offices conduct process reviews every year and 
rely on risk-informed practices to develop cost-efficient budgets that 
allow them to achieve the NRC's Strategic Plan mission objectives. As 
discussed previously, the NRC's budget is submitted to OMB and Congress 
for review and approval. The Congressionally-approved budget resulting 
from this process reflects the resources deemed necessary for the NRC 
to carry out its statutory obligations. In compliance with OBRA-90, 
NRC's fees are calculated to recover the required percentage of its 
approved budget. The NRC will continue efforts to ensure that the NRC 
carries out its statutory obligations in an efficient manner.
2. Need for Timely Budget Estimate
    Comment. Some commenters raised concerns that the timing of the fee 
rule makes it difficult for licensees to plan for regulatory expenses 
within the framework of their normal budget cycles. To address this 
issue, these commenters suggested that the NRC hold an annual public 
meeting for the purpose of sharing fee projection information. The 
commenters recognized NRC's efforts in providing information to the 
industry through an October 2008 public meeting but requested that an 
annual public meeting be held earlier in the year to align with their 
budget planning cycle. In addition, some commenters worried about the 
unpredictability of estimating proposed fee increases. One commenter 
recommended NRC publish advance notice of the NRC's next fiscal year 
budget during the first half of the current calendar year. Another 
commenter did not believe the NRC adequately communicated the impact of 
its budget increases to NRC licensees when the proposed FY 2009 budget 
was released to Congress. Some commenters recommended that the NRC 
improve its methods of communicating monthly inspection costs.
    Response. The NRC appreciates the concerns about fee predictability 
and stability, and strives to notify licensees of proposed fee changes 
as early as possible. The Commission also makes every effort to issue 
the proposed fee rule as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the NRC 
cannot precisely estimate its budget in advance, as much of the process 
is out of the agency's direct control. The NRC's proposed budget is 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for executive review 
before the President submits a budget to Congress, which often makes 
changes before approving the final budget for the President's 
signature. As was noted at the October 2008 public meeting, the NRC is 
committed to open communication within the confines of the rulemaking 
process, but the agency cannot provide predecisional policies or 
certain administrative fee-related

[[Page 27646]]

information until the proposed fee rule is published. However, the NRC 
agrees to hold an annual public meeting with interested licensees to 
share projected fee information as the commenters suggested. The date 
of the meeting will be determined annually, taking into consideration 
the timing of the budget process and NRC staff availability.
    In response to suggestions that the agency improve its methods of 
communicating monthly inspection costs, the NRC appreciates the 
concerns regarding invoice predictability. Nonetheless, providing 
estimated monthly inspection costs before invoicing is not within the 
scope of this rulemaking and will not be addressed in this final rule.

III. Final Action

    The NRC is amending its licensing, inspection, and annual fees to 
recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2009 budget authority minus 
the appropriations for non-fee items. The NRC's total budget authority 
for FY 2009 is $1,045.5 million. The non-fee items include $49 million 
appropriated from the NWF, $2 million for WIR activities, and $27.1 
million for generic homeland security activities. Based on the 90 
percent fee-recovery requirement, the NRC must recover approximately 
$870.6 million in FY 2009 through part 170 licensing and inspection 
fees and part 171 annual fees. The amount required by law to be 
recovered through fees for FY 2009 is $91.5 million more than the 
amount estimated for recovery in FY 2008, an increase of approximately 
12 percent.
    The FY 2009 fee recovery amount of $870.6 million is reduced by 
$4.1 million to account for billing adjustments (i.e., for FY 2009 
invoices that the NRC estimates will not be paid during the fiscal 
year, less payments received in FY 2009 for prior year invoices). This 
leaves approximately $866.5 million to be billed as fees in FY 2009 
through part 170 licensing and inspection fees and part 171 annual 
fees.
    Table I summarizes the budget and fee recovery amounts for FY 2009. 
(Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

          Table I--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts for FY 2009
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority................................          $1,045.5
    Less Non-Fee Items................................             -78.1
                                                       -----------------
        Balance.......................................            $967.4
    Fee Recovery Rate for FY 2009.....................           x 90.0%
                                                       -----------------
Total Amount to be Recovered for FY 2009..............            $870.6
    Less Part 171 Billing Adjustments:
        Unpaid FY 2009 Invoices (estimated)...........               1.9
        Less Payments Received in FY 2009 for Prior                 -6.0
         Year Invoices (estimated)....................
                                                       -----------------
            Subtotal..................................              -4.1
Amount to be Recovered Through Parts 170 and 171 Fees.            $866.5
    Less Estimated Part 170 Fees......................            -333.9
                                                       -----------------
Part 171 Fee Collections Required.....................            $532.6
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC added six updates to the FY 2009 fee calculations since the 
proposed rule. First, the agency updated the Part 171 Billing 
Adjustments based on the latest information available. The estimated 
payments received in FY 2009 for prior year invoices decreased by 
approximately $1.7 million, resulting in a greater amount to be 
recovered through fees. Second, the NRC updated the part 170 estimates 
based on the latest billing data available, adding adjustments to 
account for changes in the budget, as appropriate. In total, the part 
170 estimates increased by approximately $13.7 million. The NRC 
estimates that $333.9 million will be recovered from part 170 fees in 
FY 2009, which represents an increase of approximately 20 percent 
compared to the $277.3 million in part 170 collections during FY 2008. 
Part 171 annual fees account for the remaining $532.6 million to be 
recovered in FY 2009, an increase of approximately 13 percent compared 
to the $472.9 million in part 171 collections during FY 2008. Third, 
the NRC lowered the amount of resources for generic decommissioning 
(fee-relief) and correspondingly increased resources for the uranium 
recovery fee class. These changes more accurately allocate budgeted 
resources. Fourth, in response to a commenter's concerns, the NRC has 
not changed the definition for fee category 17. Fifth, the NRC 
corrected the ``Flat'' application fee for fee category 17, Master 
Materials License (MML). The proposed rule listed an application fee of 
$29,900, which was incorrect. The correct amount is $60,100, as shown 
in the proposed rule work papers. Sixth, the NRC adjusted the average 
number of professional staff hours needed to complete inspection 
actions for fee categories 3C and 17, and to complete licensing actions 
for fee category 17. This adjustment takes into account the unchanged 
definition for fee category 17.
    The impact of these updates on the FY 2009 fees is minimal. Fees 
for most licensees decreased between the FY 2009 proposed and final fee 
rules. The two most significant changes were: (1) A 30 percent decrease 
in the test and research reactor annual fee, which resulted from an 
increase in estimated part 170 fee collections for this fee class; and 
(2) a 144 percent increase in the ``Flat'' application fee for fee 
category 17, which resulted from a correction to the proposed fee 
amount and an adjustment to the average number of professional staff 
hours. Other fees decreased or increased by small amounts as a result 
of the changes listed in the preceding paragraph.
    The FY 2009 final fee rule is a ``major rule'' as defined by the 
Congressional Review Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 801-808). Therefore, the 
NRC's fee schedules for FY 2009 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 to reactors, part 72 
licensees, major fuel cycle facilities, and other licensees with annual 
fees of $100,000 or more, upon publication of the FY 2009 final rule. 
For these licensees, payment is due on the effective date of the FY 
2009 final rule. Because these licensees are billed

[[Page 27647]]

quarterly, the payment due is the amount of the total FY 2009 annual 
fee, less payments made in the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
    Materials licensees with annual fees of less than $100,000 are 
billed annually. Those materials licensees whose license anniversary 
date during FY 2009 falls before the effective date of the FY 2009 
final rule will be billed for the annual fee during the anniversary 
month of the license at the FY 2008 annual fee rate. Those materials 
licensees whose license anniversary date falls on or after the 
effective date of the FY 2009 final rule will be billed for the annual 
fee at the FY 2009 annual fee rate during the anniversary month of the 
license, and payment will be due on the date of the invoice.
    The NRC will not routinely mail the FY 2009 final fee rule or 
future final fee rules to applicants or licensees. The NRC will send 
the final rule to any licensee or other person upon specific request. 
To request a copy, contact the License Fee Team, Division of the 
Controller, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, at 301-415-7554, or 
e-mail <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f197949482df8394829e84839294b19f8392df969e87"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c0a6a5a5b3eeb2a5b3afb5b2a3a580aeb2a3eea7afb6">[email protected]</span></a>. In addition to publication in the Federal 
Register, the final rule will be available on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov [NRC Docket ID NRC-2008-0620].
    The NRC is amending 10 CFR parts 170 and 171 as discussed in 
Sections III.A and III.B of this document.

A. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170: Fees for Facilities, Materials, 
Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services Under the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, As Amended

    The NRC is establishing a single hourly rate of $257 to recover the 
full cost of activities under part 170, and using this rate to 
calculate ``flat'' application fees. The rule also makes revisions to 
descriptions of some fee categories.
    The NRC is making the following changes:
1. Hourly Rate
    The NRC's hourly rate is used in assessing full cost fees for 
specific services provided, as well as flat fees for certain 
application reviews. The NRC is increasing the FY 2009 hourly rate to 
$257. This rate is applicable to all activities for which fees are 
assessed under Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31. The FY 2009 hourly rate is 
higher than the hourly rate of $238 in the FY 2008 final fee rule. The 
increase is primarily due to the higher FY 2009 budget, which accounts 
for an increased regulatory and infrastructure support workload for 
reactor license renewals and applications from new uranium recovery and 
enrichment facilities. The hourly rate calculation is described in 
further detail in the following paragraphs.
    The NRC's hourly rate is derived by dividing the sum of recoverable 
budgeted resources for (1) mission direct program salaries and 
benefits; (2) mission indirect salaries and benefits and contract 
activity; and (3) agency management and support and Inspector General 
(IG), by mission direct FTE hours. The mission direct FTE hours are the 
product of the mission direct FTE times the hours per direct FTE. The 
only budgeted resources excluded from the hourly rate are those for 
mission direct contract activities.
    In FY 2009, the NRC is using 1,371 hours per direct FTE, the same 
as in FY 2008, to calculate the hourly fees. The NRC has reviewed data 
from its time and labor system to determine if the annual direct hours 
worked per direct FTE estimate requires updates for the FY 2009 fee 
rule. Based on its review of the most recent data, the NRC determined 
that 1,371 hours is the best estimate of direct hours worked annually 
per direct FTE. This estimate excludes all non-direct activities, such 
as training, general administration, and leave.
    Table II shows the results of the hourly rate calculation 
methodology. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

                Table II--FY 2009 Hourly Rate Calculation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission Direct Program Salaries & Benefits............            $322.0
Mission Indirect Salaries & Benefits, and Contract                129.2M
 Activity.............................................
Agency Management and Support, and IG.................            316.5M
                                                       -----------------
    Subtotal..........................................            767.7M
Less Offsetting Receipts..............................             -0.1M
                                                       -----------------
    Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate..............           $767.6M
Mission Direct FTEs...................................             2,180
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budget Included in                  $257
 Hourly Rate divided by Mission Direct FTE Hours).....
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As shown in Table II, dividing the $767.6 million budgeted amount 
(rounded) included in the hourly rate by total mission direct FTE hours 
(2,180 FTE times 1,371 hours) results in an hourly rate of $257. The 
hourly rate is rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
2. ``Flat'' Application Fee Changes
    As noted above, the NRC is adjusting the current flat application 
fees in Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the revised hourly rate 
of $257. These flat fees are calculated by multiplying the average 
professional staff hours needed to process the licensing actions by the 
professional hourly rate for FY 2009.
    Biennially, the NRC evaluates historical professional staff hours 
used to process a new license application for materials users fee 
categories subject to flat application fees. This is in accordance with 
the requirements of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990. The NRC 
conducted this biennial review for the FY 2009 fee rule which also 
included license and amendment applications for import and export 
licenses.
    Evaluation of the historical data in FY 2009 shows that the average 
number of professional staff hours required to complete licensing 
actions in the materials program should be increased in some fee 
categories and decreased in others to more accurately reflect current 
data for completing these licensing actions. The average number of 
professional staff hours needed to complete new licensing actions was 
last updated for the FY 2007 final fee rule. Thus, the revised average 
professional staff hours in this fee rule reflect the changes in the 
NRC licensing review program that have occurred since that time.
    The higher hourly rate of $257 is the main reason for the increases 
in the application fees. Application fees for some fee categories 
(2.B., 3.G., 3.O., 3.R.1., 4.B., 5.A., 8.A., 9.C., and 17 under Sec.  
170.31) also increase because of the results of the biennial review, 
which

[[Page 27648]]

showed an increase in average time to process these types of license 
applications. The decrease in fees for six fee categories (3.C., 3.H., 
3.S., 9.A., 9.B., and 10.B. under Sec.  170.31) is due to a decrease in 
average time to process these types of applications. As noted earlier, 
the application fee for fee category 17, Master Materials License (MML) 
was incorrect in the proposed rule. The correct proposed rule amount is 
$60,100, as shown in the proposed rule work papers.
    In light of concerns raised by a commenter, the proposed change to 
the definition for fee category 17 is rescinded in this final rule (see 
Section II.A.3., Response to Comments, of this document). Therefore, 
the NRC revised the biennial review resulting in a higher average 
number of professional staff hours needed to complete new MML licensing 
actions. This increased the MML application fee by approximately 22 
percent compared to the proposed rule corrected fee amount. Additional 
discussion is provided in Section III.B.3.g, Materials Users, of this 
document.
    The amounts of the materials licensing flat fees are rounded so 
that the fees would be convenient to the user and the effects of 
rounding would be minimal. Fees under $1,000 are rounded to the nearest 
$10, fees that are greater than $1,000 but less than $100,000 are 
rounded to the nearest $100, and fees that are greater than $100,000 
are rounded to the nearest $1,000.
    The licensing flat fees are applicable for fee categories K.1. 
through K.5. of Sec.  170.21, and fee categories 1.C., 1.D., 2.B., 
2.C., 3.A. through 3.S., 4.B. through 9.D., 10.B., 15.A. through 15.R., 
16, and 17 of Sec.  170.31. Applications filed on or after the 
effective date of the FY 2009 final fee rule will be subject to the 
revised fees in the final rule.
3. Fee Category Changes
    The NRC is revising the fee categories for uranium recovery 
facilities in Sec.  170.31. The new fee categories better reflect the 
NRC's regulatory effort expended for the different types of facilities, 
both existing and planned. A more detailed discussion follows in 
Section III.B.3.b. Uranium Recovery Facilities, of this document.
    In addition, the NRC is revising the description for fee category 
7.A. in Sec.  170.31. The NRC is amending fee category 7.A., related to 
medical licenses, to more precisely state which medical devices it 
covers. Currently, the fee category applies to teletherapy devices. The 
NRC has historically included gamma stereotactic radiosurgery units 
(gamma knives) in this category in accordance with NUREG 1556, Volume 
20, Appendix G. This amendment explicitly provides that fee category 
7.A. include gamma knives and other similar beam therapy devices. The 
new fee category description does not represent any additions to the 
types of licenses regulated by NRC. The change clarifies the types of 
licenses covered under specific categories for NRC licensees.
    In light of concerns raised by a commenter, the NRC is not revising 
the description for fee category 17 in Sec.  170.31.
4. Administrative Amendments
    In response to a number of questions on specific sub-sections 
related to fee exemptions for special projects, the NRC is simplifying 
Sec.  170.11 for ease of reading. There is no change to the NRC's fee 
exemption policy.
    In summary, the NRC is making the following changes to 10 CFR part 
170:
    1. Establish revised professional hourly rate to use in assessing 
fees for specific services;
    2. Revise the license application fees to reflect the proposed FY 
2009 hourly rate;
    3. Revise some fee categories to better reflect NRC's regulatory 
effort; and
    4. Make certain administrative changes for purposes of 
clarification.

B. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 171: Annual Fees for Reactor Licenses and 
Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials Licenses, Including Holders of 
Certificates of Compliance, Registrations, and Quality Assurance 
Program Approvals and Government Agencies Licensed by the NRC

    The NRC is using its fee relief to reduce all licensees' annual 
fees and changes in the number of NRC licensees. This rulemaking also 
establishes rebaselined annual fees based on the NRC's FY 2009 budget 
authority. The final amendments are described as follows:
1. Application of ``Fee-Relief/Surcharge''
    The NRC is using its fee relief to reduce all licensees' annual 
fees, based on their percent of the budget.
    The NRC applies the 10 percent of its budget that is excluded from 
fee recovery under OBRA-90 (fee relief), to offset the total budget 
allocated for activities which do not directly benefit current NRC 
licensees. The budget for these fee-relief activities are totaled, and 
then reduced by the amount of the NRC's fee relief. Any remaining fee-
relief activities budget is allocated to all licensees' annual fees, 
based on their percent of the budget (i.e., over 80 percent is 
allocated to power reactors each year).
    In FY 2009, the NRC's 10 percent fee relief exceeds the total 
budget for fee-relief activities by $3.2 million. In FY 2008, the 10 
percent fee relief exceeded the total budget by $8.9 million. The 
excess fee relief in FY 2009 is lower compared with FY 2008, primarily 
due to higher FY 2009 budget resources for Agreement States support and 
international activities.
    The excess fee relief for the FY 2009 final rule increased by 
approximately $0.3 million compared with the proposed rule primarily 
due to a change in the costs not recovered from the small entities 
under 10 CFR 171.16(c) and generic decommissioning/reclamation fee-
relief costs. The amounts in these fee-relief categories decreased from 
the proposed rule due to an increase in part 170 revenue estimate for 
the materials users fee class and a change resulting in a smaller 
budget resource allocation for generic decommissioning activities 
related to uranium recovery sites.
    As in FY 2008, the NRC is using the $3.2 million fee relief to 
reduce all licensees' annual fees, based on their percent of the fee 
recoverable budget authority. This is consistent with the existing fee 
methodology, in that the benefits of the NRC's fee relief are allocated 
to licensees in the same manner as deficit was allocated as surcharge 
when the NRC did not receive enough fee relief to pay for fee-relief 
activities. In FY 2009, the power reactors class of licensees will 
receive approximately 88 percent of the fee relief based on their share 
of the NRC fee recoverable budget authority.
    The FY 2009 budgeted resources for NRC's fee-relief activities are 
$93.5 million. The NRC's total fee relief in FY 2009 is $96.7 million, 
leaving $3.2 million in fee relief to be used to reduce all licensees' 
annual fees. These values are shown in Table III. (Individual values 
may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

[[Page 27649]]



                    Table III--Fee-Relief Activities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        FY 2009 budgeted
                                                              costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC
 licensee or class of licensee:
    a. International activities.......................             $17.6
    b. Agreement State oversight......................              11.2
    c. Scholarships and Fellowships...................              15.0
2. Activities not assessed part 170 licensing and
 inspection fees or part 171 annual fees based on
 existing law or Commission policy:
    a. Fee exemption for nonprofit educational                      11.5
     institutions.....................................
    b. Costs not recovered from small entities under                 3.7
     10 CFR 171.16(c).................................
    c. Regulatory support to Agreement States.........              17.5
    d. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (not                     13.6
     related to the power reactor and spent fuel
     storage fee classes).............................
    e. In situ leach rulemaking and unregistered                     3.5
     general licensees................................
                                                       -----------------
        Total fee-relief activities...................              93.5
Less 10 percent of NRC's FY 2009 total budget (non                 -96.7
 including non-fee items).............................
                                                       -----------------
        Fee Relief to be Allocated to All Licensees'               $-3.2
         Annual Fees..................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table IV shows how the NRC is allocating the $3.2 million in fee 
relief to each license fee class. As explained previously, the NRC is 
allocating this fee relief to each license fee class based on the 
percent of the budget for that fee class compared to the NRC's total 
budget. The fee relief is used to partially offset the required annual 
fee recovery from each fee class.
    Separately, the NRC has continued to allocate the low-level waste 
(LLW) surcharge based on the volume of LLW disposal of three classes of 
licenses, operating reactors, fuel facilities, and materials users. 
Table IV also shows the allocation of the LLW surcharge activity. 
Because LLW activities support NRC licensees, the costs of these 
activities are not offset by the NRC's fee relief. For FY 2009, the 
total budget allocated for LLW activity is $2.3 million. (Individual 
values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

                         Table IV--Allocation of Fee-Relief Activities and LLW Surcharge
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          LLW Surcharge                     Fee-Relief                 Total
                                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Percent           $M            Percent            $M               $M
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors.......            54.0             1.2             88              -2.8            -1.6
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor       ..............  ..............              2.5            -0.1            -0.1
 Decommissioning...............
Test and Research Reactors.....  ..............  ..............              0.1             0.0             0.0
Fuel Facilities................            15.0             0.3              5.2            -0.2             0.2
Materials Users................            31.0             0.7              3.0            -0.1             0.6
Transportation.................  ..............  ..............              0.4             0.0             0.0
Uranium Recovery...............  ..............  ..............              0.8             0.0             0.0
                                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total......................           100.0             2.3            100.0            -3.2            -0.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In FY 2009, the LLW surcharge exceeded the fee relief for two fee 
classes, fuel facilities and materials users. The net surcharge will be 
included in the annual fee for fuel facility and materials users 
licensees.
2. Agreement State Activities
    By letter dated June 12, 2008, Governor Timothy Kaine of the 
Commonwealth of Virginia requested that the NRC enter into an Agreement 
with the State as authorized by Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954. The NRC approved the request. This resulted in the transfer of 
approximately 386 licenses from the NRC to the Commonwealth of Virginia 
effective March 31, 2009.
    Note that the continuing costs of oversight and regulatory support 
for the Commonwealth of Virginia, as for any other Agreement State, are 
recovered as fee-relief activities consistent with existing policy. The 
budgeted resources for the regulatory support of Agreement State 
licensees are prorated to the fee-relief activity based on the percent 
of total licensees in Agreement States. The NRC has updated the 
proration percentage in its fee calculation to make sure that resources 
are allocated equitably between the NRC materials users fee class and 
the regulatory support to Agreement States fee-relief category. 
Accordingly, as a result of the Commonwealth of Virginia becoming an 
Agreement State, the NRC has increased the percentage of materials 
users regulatory support costs prorated to the fee-relief activity from 
82 percent in FY 2008 to 85 percent in FY 2009. The resources for 
licensing and inspection activities supporting NRC licensees in the 
materials users fee class are not prorated to the fee-relief activity.
    The number of NRC materials users licensees has been updated to 
reflect the transfer of licensees to the Commonwealth of Virginia. 
Because of the effective date of March 31, 2009, the approximately 386 
licensees transferring to the Commonwealth of Virginia will be subject 
to one-half of their annual fee for FY 2009. The number of materials 
users licensees is revised to reflect that the NRC will still collect 
one-half of the annual fee from these licensees.
    This is not a substantive policy change, but rather a calculation 
change that will result in a more accurate estimate of the actual costs 
of supporting Agreement State activities.

[[Page 27650]]

    Also, Governor Jon Corizine of the State of New Jersey has by 
letter dated October 16, 2008, formally requested that the NRC enter 
into an Agreement with his state. If approved by the Commission, this 
Agreement is expected to take effect by September 30, 2009. 
Approximately 500 NRC licensees will be transferred to the State of New 
Jersey. Because the expected effective date is September 30, 2009, 
these licensees will be assessed annual fees by NRC for the full year 
of FY 2009. Therefore, no changes to the FY 2009 fees or the number of 
NRC licensees have been made for this potential event.
3. Revised Annual Fees
    The NRC is revising its annual fees in Sec. Sec.  171.15 and 171.16 
for FY 2009 to recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's FY 2009 
budget authority after subtracting the non-fee amounts and the 
estimated amount to be recovered through part 170 fees. The part 170 
estimate for this final rule increased by approximately $13.7 million 
from the proposed fee rule based on the latest available invoice data. 
The total amount to be recovered through annual fees for FY 2009 is 
decreased to $532.6 million compared with $544.6 million in the 
proposed fee rule primarily due to the increase in the part 170 
estimate. The required annual fee collection in FY 2008 was $468.9 
million.
    The Commission has determined (71 FR 30733; May 30, 2006) that the 
agency should proceed with a presumption in favor of rebaselining when 
calculating annual fees each year. Under this method, the NRC's budget 
is analyzed in detail and budgeted resources are allocated to fee 
classes and categories of licensees. The Commission expects that most 
years there will be budget and other changes that warrant the use of 
the rebaselining method.
    As compared to FY 2008 annual fees, rebaselined fees are higher for 
three classes of licensees (power reactors, non-power reactors, and 
fuel facilities) and lower for spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning licensees. There is no change in rebaselined fees for 
the transportation fee class. Within the materials users and uranium 
recovery fee classes, annual fees for most licensees increase, while 
annual fees for some licensees decrease.
    The NRC's total fee recoverable budget, as mandated by law, has 
increased by approximately $92 million in FY 2009 as compared to FY 
2008. Much of this increase is for reactor renewal activities, new 
uranium recovery facility applications, new uranium enrichment facility 
applications, and materials licensing. The FY 2009 budget was allocated 
to the fee classes that the budgeted activities support. As such, the 
final annual fees for operating reactor, non-power reactor, fuel 
facility, most uranium recovery and small materials licensees increase. 
Also in FY 2009, generic NRC resources supporting new uranium recovery 
applications are included in the budget allocated to operating power 
reactors and fuel facility fee classes. This is because these licensees 
will potentially benefit from increased production of uranium milled by 
new uranium recovery facilities. The impact of this allocation on the 
operating reactors and fuel facilities annual fees is less than one 
percent.
    The factors affecting all annual fees include the distribution of 
budgeted costs to the different classes of licenses (based on the 
specific activities NRC will perform in FY 2009), the estimated part 
170 collections for the various classes of licenses, and allocation of 
the fee relief to all fee classes. The percentage of the NRC's budget 
not subject to fee recovery remained unchanged at 10 percent from FY 
2008 to FY 2009.
    Table V shows the rebaselined annual fees for FY 2009 for a 
representative list of categories of licenses. The FY 2008 fee is also 
shown for comparative purposes.

              Table V--Rebaselined Annual Fees for FY 2009
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       FY 2008  annual   FY 2009  final
     Class/category of licenses              fee           annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors (Including         $4,167,000        $4,625,000
 Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor
 Decommissioning Annual Fee)........
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor                     135,000           122,000
 Decommissioning....................
Test and Research Reactors (Non-                76,500            87,600
 power Reactors)....................
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility.         3,007,000         4,691,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility..           899,000         1,649,000
UF6 Conversion Facility.............           589,000           969,000
Conventional Mills..................            10,300            31,200
Typical Materials Users:
    Radiographers (Category 3O).....            11,100            22,700
    Well Loggers (Category 5A)......             3,400             9,700
    Gauge Users (Category 3P).......             2,100             3,700
    Broad Scope Medical (Category               22,900            36,300
     7B)............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The work papers which support this final rule show in detail the 
allocation of NRC's budgeted resources for each class of licenses and 
how the fees are calculated. The reports included in these work papers 
summarize the FY 2009 budgeted FTE and contract dollars allocated to 
each fee class and fee-relief category at the planned activity and 
program level, and compare these allocations to those used to develop 
the final FY 2008 fees. The work papers are available electronically as 
stated in the ADDRESSES section of this document.
    The budgeted costs allocated to each class of licenses and the 
calculations of the rebaselined fees are described in paragraphs a. 
through h. of this section. Individual values in the tables presented 
in this section may not sum to totals due to rounding.
a. Fuel Facilities
    The FY 2009 budgeted cost to be recovered in the annual fees 
assessment to the fuel facility class of licenses [which includes 
licensees in fee categories 1.A.(1)(a), 1.A.(1)(b), 1.A.(2)(a), 
1.A.(2)(b), 1.A.(2)(c), 1.E., and 2.A.(1), under Sec.  171.16] is 
approximately $23 million. This value is based on the full cost of 
budgeted resources associated with all activities that support this fee 
class, which is reduced by estimated part 170 collections and adjusted 
for allocated generic transportation resources, and fee relief. In FY 
2009, the LLW surcharge for fuel facilities exceeds the allocated fee-
relief (see Table IV in Section III.B.1., Application of Fee Relief/
Surcharge, of this document). The summary calculations used to derive

[[Page 27651]]

this value are presented in Table VI for FY 2009, with FY 2008 values 
shown for comparison.

      Table VI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Fuel Facilities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Summary fee calculations         FY 2008  Final    FY 2009  Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources............             $31.5             $44.6
Less estimated part 170 receipts....             -17.2             -22.0
                                     -----------------------------------
    Net part 171 resources..........             $14.3             $22.6
Allocated generic transportation....              +0.5              +0.4
Allocated fee relief................              -0.1              +0.2
Billing adjustments.................              -0.8              -0.2
                                     -----------------------------------
    Total required annual fee                    $13.9             $23.0
     recovery.......................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The increase in FY 2009 total budgeted resources allocated to this 
fee class compared with FY 2008 is primarily due to increases in 
resources for new uranium enrichment facility licensing activities 
partially offset by a higher part 170 revenue estimate. The part 170 
revenue estimate for the FY 2009 final rule increased by approximately 
one percent compared with the proposed rule due to increased billing 
for fuel facilities. This results in lower FY 2009 annual fees for fuel 
facilities in this final fee rule.
    The total required annual fee recovery amount is allocated to the 
individual fuel facility licensees based on the effort/fee 
determination matrix developed for the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR 
31447; June 10, 1999). In the matrix included in the NRC publicly 
available work papers, licensees are grouped into categories according 
to their licensed activities (i.e., nuclear material enrichment, 
processing operations, and material form) and according to the level, 
scope, depth of coverage, and rigor of generic regulatory programmatic 
effort applicable to each category from a safety and safeguards 
perspective. This methodology can be applied to determine fees for new 
licensees, current licensees, licensees in unique license situations, 
and certificate holders.
    This methodology is adaptable to changes in the number of licensees 
or certificate holders, licensed or certified material and/or 
activities, and total programmatic resources to be recovered through 
annual fees. When a license or certificate is modified, it may result 
in a change of category for a particular fuel facility licensee as a 
result of the methodology used in the fuel facility effort/fee matrix. 
Consequently, this change may also have an effect on the fees assessed 
to other fuel facility licensees and certificate holders. For example, 
if a fuel facility licensee amends its license/certificate (e.g., 
decommissioning or license termination) that results in it not being 
subject to part 171 costs applicable to the fee class, then the 
budgeted costs for the safety and/or safeguards components will be 
spread among the remaining fuel facility licensees/certificate holders.
    The methodology is applied as follows. First, a fee category is 
assigned based on the nuclear material and activity authorized by 
license or certificate. Although a licensee/certificate holder may 
elect not to fully use a license/certificate, the license/certificate 
is still used as the source for determining authorized nuclear material 
possession and use/activity. Second, the category and license/
certificate information are used to determine where the licensee/
certificate holder fits into the matrix. The matrix depicts the 
categorization of licensees/certificate holders by authorized material 
types and use/activities.
    Each year, the NRC's fuel facility project managers and regulatory 
analysts determine the level of effort associated with regulating each 
of these facilities. This is done by assigning, for each fuel facility, 
separate effort factors for the safety and safeguards activities 
associated with each type of regulatory activity. The matrix includes 
ten types of regulatory activities, including enrichment and scrap/
waste related activities (see the work papers for the complete list). 
Effort factors are assigned as follows: one (low regulatory effort), 
five (moderate regulatory effort), and ten (high regulatory effort). 
These effort factors are then totaled for each fee category, so that 
each fee category has a total effort factor for safety activities and a 
total effort factor for safeguards activities.
    The effort factors for the various fuel facility fee categories are 
summarized in Table VII. The value of the effort factors shown, as well 
as the percent of the total effort factor for all fuel facilities, 
reflects the total regulatory effort for each fee category (not per 
facility). Note that the effort factors for the HEU fee category have 
decreased from FY 2008. The safety and safeguards factors decreased in 
FY 2009 to reflect process changes such as HEU downblending and liquid 
UF<INF>6</INF> workload. Taking into account both of these changes, the 
total safety and safeguards effort factor change is relatively small.

                                  Table VII--Effort Factors for Fuel Facilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Effort factors  (percent of
                                                                     Number of                total)
                  Facility type (fee category)                      facilities   -------------------------------
                                                                                      Safety        Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).........................               2       87 (33.3)       97 (51.1)
Uranium Enrichment (1.E)........................................               2       70 (26.8)       40 (21.1)
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..........................               3       71 (27.2)       26 (13.7)
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1))........................................               1        12 (4.6)         7 (3.7)
Limited Operations (1.A.(2)(a)).................................               1        12 (4.6)         3 (1.6)

[[Page 27652]]

 
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))............               1         3 (1.1)        15 (7.9)
Hot Cell (1.A.(2)(c))...........................................               1         6 (2.3)         2 (1.1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The budgeted resources, before the fee relief adjustment, for 
safety activities ($13,206,181) are allocated to each fee category 
based on its percent of the total regulatory effort for safety 
activities. For example, if the total effort factor for safety 
activities for all fuel facilities is 100, and the total effort factor 
for safety activities for a given fee category is 10, that fee category 
will be allocated 10 percent of the total budgeted resources for safety 
activities. Similarly, the budgeted resources, before the fee relief 
adjustment, for safeguards activities ($9,613,695) are allocated to 
each fee category based on its percent of the total regulatory effort 
for safeguards activities. The fuel facility fee class' portion of the 
fee relief adjustment ($176,668) is allocated to each fee category 
based on its percent of the total regulatory effort for both safety and 
safeguards activities. The annual fee per licensee is then calculated 
by dividing the total allocated budgeted resources for the fee category 
by the number of licensees in that fee category as summarized in Table 
VIII.

               Table VIII--Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         FY 2009  annual
             Facility type (fee category)                      fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a))...............        $4,691,000
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).............................         2,804,000
Low Enriched Uranium (1.A.(1)(b)).....................         1,649,000
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1))..............................           969,000
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))..           918,000
Limited Operations Facility (1.A.(2)(a))..............           765,000
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))....................           408,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC does not expect to authorize operation of any new uranium 
enrichment facilities in FY 2009. The annual fee applicable to any type 
of new uranium enrichment facility is the annual fee in Sec.  171.16, 
fee category 1.E., Uranium Enrichment, unless the NRC establishes a new 
fee category for the facility in a subsequent rulemaking.
b. Uranium Recovery Facilities
    The total FY 2009 budgeted cost to be recovered through annual fees 
assessed to the uranium recovery class [which includes licensees in fee 
categories 2.A.(2)(a), 2.A.(2)(b), 2.A.(2)(c), 2.A.(2)(d), 2.A.(2)(e), 
2.A.(3), 2.A.(4), 2.A.(5) and 18.B., under Sec.  171.16], is 
approximately $0.51 million. The derivation of this value is shown in 
Table IX, with FY 2008 values shown for comparison purposes.

     Table IX--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Uranium Recovery
                               Facilities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Summary fee calculations           FY 2008 Final   FY 2009 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $2.56           $7.21
Less estimated part 170 receipts........           -2.02           -6.64
                                         -------------------------------
    Net part 171 resources..............           $0.54           $0.57
Allocated generic transportation........           + N/A           + N/A
Allocated fee relief....................           -0.03           -0.03
Billing adjustments.....................           -0.06           -0.03
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            0.46            0.51
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The increase in the total required annual fee recovery is mainly 
due to an increase in uranium recovery licensing and inspection 
resources for the existing licensees. In FY 2009, NRC is excluding the 
generic budget resources supporting applications for new uranium 
recovery facilities from the annual fee charged to current uranium 
recovery licensees. Instead, the budget resources have been allocated 
to operating reactors and fuel facility licensees because these fee 
classes would potentially benefit from increased production of the 
uranium milled by the new facilities. The generic resources supporting 
the new uranium recovery facilities do not benefit the existing uranium 
recovery licensees. The budgeted resources for the final rule increased 
by approximately $0.2 million compared with the proposed rule due to a 
correction in allocations to the uranium recovery fee class. These 
budget resources were incorrectly allocated to generic decommissioning 
activities related to uranium recovery sites. Therefore, resources from 
the fee-relief category, generic decommissioning/reclamation, were 
shifted to the uranium recovery fee class

[[Page 27653]]

for the final rule. This increase in the uranium recovery budget 
allocation was offset by the higher part 170 revenue estimate compared 
with the proposed rule. The annual fee in the final rule decreased 
compared with the proposed primarily due to the $0.3 million increase 
in part 170 revenue estimate.
    Since FY 2002, the NRC has computed the annual fee for the uranium 
recovery fee class by allocating the total annual fee amount for this 
fee class, between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the other 
licensees in this fee class. The NRC regulates DOE's Title I and Title 
II activities under the UMTRCA. The Congress established the two 
programs, Title I and Title II under UMTRCA, to protect the public and 
the environment from uranium milling. The UMTRCA Title I program is for 
remedial action at abandoned mill tailings sites where tailings 
resulted largely from production of uranium for the weapons program. 
The NRC also regulates DOE's UMTRCA Title II program which is directed 
toward uranium mill sites licensed by the NRC or Agreement States in or 
after 1978.
    In FY 2009, 35 percent of the total annual fee amount, less the 
amount specifically budgeted for Title I activities ($246,563), is 
allocated to DOE's UMTRCA facilities. The remaining 65 percent of the 
total annual fee (less the amount specifically budgeted for Title I 
activities) is allocated to other licensees. The reduction in resources 
for licensing the DOE is based on the reduced effort expended for DOE 
UMTRCA. This is a change from FY 2008 when the distribution of the 
annual fee was 40 percent to DOE and 60 percent to non-DOE licensees. 
The change reflects NRC's current level of effort. This change in the 
distribution of uranium recovery fee class resources between non-DOE 
uranium recovery facilities and DOE results in a decrease in the annual 
fee for the DOE compared to the increase in the annual fee for most of 
the non-DOE facilities. Of the required annual fee collections, 
$339,000 (rounded) will be assessed to DOE for licensing its UMTRCA 
activities as fee category 18.B in Sec.  170.16.
    The remaining $171,000 (rounded) will be recovered through annual 
fees assessed to the other licensees in this fee class (i.e., 
conventional mills, ISR facilities, 11e.(2) mill tailings disposal 
facilities (incidental to existing tailings sites), and a uranium water 
treatment facility.) Beginning in FY 2009, NRC is replacing the 
existing single fee category, 2.A.(2)(b), for uranium ISR facilities 
with four fee categories based on the type of ISR facilities. The 
addition of the new fee categories reflects the diverse types of 
uranium recovery facilities planned for construction and operation in 
the near future. Additionally, the new fee categories better reflect 
the NRC's regulatory benefit provided to the different types of 
facilities, both existing and planned.
    The revised fee category, 2.A.(2)(b), is for an ISR yellowcake 
facility with zero to three satellites. These facilities include a 
central processing plant (CPP) that includes all the equipment 
necessary to collect uranium on resin, strip uranium from the resin, 
and process the uranium into a yellowcake slurry or dried yellowcake 
powder. These facilities may also receive resins from up to three 
satellite facilities operated by the same company for further 
processing of the contained uranium into yellowcake.
    The new 2.A.(2)(c) fee category is for an ISR yellowcake facility 
with more than three satellites. These facilities have a CPP with the 
same equipment as the fee category as stated previously, but have four 
or more satellite facilities, which necessitates a correspondingly 
greater allocation of the staff's generic resources.
    The new 2.A.(2)(d) fee category is for a stand-alone ISR resin 
facility which performs ISR recovery operations and includes equipment 
for the collection of dissolved uranium from onsite underground ore 
bodies onto ion exchange resins. The resins are then transported to 
another company's facility for further processing of the collected 
uranium into yellowcake.
    The new fee category, 2.A.(2)(e), is for a resin toll milling 
facility. These facilities do not conduct any onsite recovery of 
uranium but consist of a CPP for the purpose of processing resins from 
other ISR facilities into yellowcake. Allocation of generic resources 
for these facilities is less than that allocated for the other 
categories of ISR facilities.
    The annual fee being assessed to DOE includes recovery of the costs 
specifically budgeted for NRC's Title I activities plus 35 percent of 
the remaining annual fee amount, including the fee-relief and generic/
other costs, for the uranium recovery class. The remaining 65 percent 
of the fee-relief and generic/other costs are assessed to the other NRC 
licensees in this fee class that are subject to annual fees. Table X 
shows the costs to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the 
uranium recovery class.

Table X--Costs Recovered Through Annual Fees; Uranium Recovery Fee Class
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE Annual Fee Amount (UMTRCA Title I and Title II)
 general licenses:
    UMTRCA Title I budgeted costs.....................          $246,563
    35 percent of generic/other uranium recovery                 101,425
     budgeted costs...................................
    35 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief.........           - 9,400
                                                       -----------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded).....           339,000
Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery Licenses:
    65 percent of generic/other uranium recovery                 188,361
     budgeted costs less the amounts specifically
     budgeted for Title I activities..................
    65 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief.........           -17,457
                                                       -----------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium                170,904
         Recovery Licenses............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC will continue to use a matrix (which is included in the 
supporting work papers) to determine the level of effort associated 
with conducting the generic regulatory actions for the different (non-
DOE) licensees in this fee class. The weights derived in this matrix 
are used to allocate the approximately $171,000, annual fee amount to 
these licensees. This uranium recovery annual fee matrix was 
established in the FY 1995 final fee rule (60 FR 32217; June 20, 1995). 
The FY 2009 matrix is described as follows.
    First, the methodology identifies the categories of licenses 
included in this fee class (besides DOE). In FY 2009, these categories 
are conventional uranium mills and heap leach facilities, uranium 
solution mining and resin ISR facilities mill tailings disposal 
facilities (11e.(2) disposal facilities), and uranium water treatment 
facilities.

[[Page 27654]]

    Second, the matrix identifies the types of operating activities 
that support and benefit these licensees. In FY 2009, the activities 
related to generic decommissioning/reclamation are not included in the 
matrix, because they are included in the fee-relief activities. 
Therefore they are not a factor in determining annual fees. The 
activities included in the FY 2009 matrix are operations, waste 
operations, and groundwater protection. The relative weight of each 
type of activity is then determined, based on the regulatory resources 
associated with each activity. The operations, waste operations, and 
groundwater protection activities have weights of 0, 5, and 10, 
respectively, in the FY 2009 matrix.
    Each year, the NRC determines the level of benefit to each licensee 
for generic uranium recovery program activities for each type of 
generic activity in the matrix. This is done by assigning, for each fee 
category, separate benefit factors for each type of regulatory activity 
in the matrix. Benefit factors are assigned on a scale of 0 to 10 as 
follows: zero (no regulatory benefit), five (moderate regulatory 
benefit), and ten (high regulatory benefit). These benefit factors are 
first multiplied by the relative weight assigned to each activity 
(described previously). Total benefit factors by fee category, and per 
licensee in each fee category, are then calculated. These benefit 
factors thus reflect the relative regulatory benefit associated with 
each licensee and fee category.
    The benefit factors per licensee and per fee category, for each of 
the non-DOE fee categories included in the uranium recovery fee class, 
are as follows:

                             Table XI--Benefit Factors for Uranium Recovery Licenses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Number of    Benefit factor                  Benefit factor
                  Fee category                       licensees     per licensee     Total value    percent total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills...............               1             200             200              18
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities...............               3             190             570              52
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities............               1             215             215              20
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings               1              65              65               6
 sites..........................................
Uranium water treatment.........................               1              45              45               4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The annual fee per licensee is calculated by dividing the total 
allocated budgeted resources for the fee category by the number of 
licensees in that fee category as summarized in Table XII. Applying 
these factors to the approximately $171,000 in budgeted costs to be 
recovered from non-DOE uranium recovery licensees results in the 
following annual fees for FY 2009:

 Table XII--Annual Fees for Uranium Recovery Licensees (Other Than DOE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         FY 2009  annual
             Facility type (Fee category)                      fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills (2.A.(2)(a))........           $31,200
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b))........            29,700
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(c)).....            33,600
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites            10,100
 (2.A.(4))............................................
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5)).....................             7,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

c. Operating Power Reactors
    The $468.3 million in budgeted costs to be recovered through FY 
2009 annual fees assessed to the power reactor class was calculated as 
shown in Table XIII. FY 2008 values are shown for comparison.

Table XIII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Operating Power Reactors
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Summary fee calculations           FY 2008 final   FY 2009 final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................          $698.8          $761.5
Less estimated part 170 receipts........          -258.1          -288.8
                                         -------------------------------
    Net part 171 resources..............           440.7           472.7
Allocated generic transportation........           + 1.0           + 0.9
Allocated fee relief....................            -5.9            -1.6
Billing adjustments.....................           -16.5            -3.6
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..           419.3           468.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The budgeted costs to be recovered through annual fees to power 
reactors are divided equally among the 104 power reactors licensed to 
operate. This results in a FY 2009 annual fee of $4,503,000 per 
reactor. Additionally, each power reactor licensed to operate will be 
assessed the FY 2009 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning annual 
fee of $122,000. This results in a total FY 2009 annual fee of 
$4,625,000 for each power reactor licensed to operate. The part 170 
revenue estimate for the final rule increased by approximately $12.1 
million compared with the

[[Page 27655]]

proposed rule primarily due to increased billings for work related to 
new applications and a correction to previous estimates. As a result, 
the annual fee for each power reactor decreased by approximately two 
percent in the final rule.
    The annual fee for power reactors increases in FY 2009 compared to 
FY 2008 primarily due to an increase in budgeted resources for 
licensing renewal activities and other licensing tasks. This increase 
is partially offset by the higher estimated part 170 collections and 
fee-relief adjustment. In FY 2009, the NRC estimates an increase in 
part 170 collections of about 12 percent for this fee class. These 
collections offset the required annual fee recovery amount by a total 
of approximately $288.8 million. The amended annual fees for power 
reactors are presented in Sec.  171.15.
d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning
    For FY 2009, budgeted costs of approximately $15.1 million for 
spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning are to be recovered through 
annual fees assessed to part 50 power reactors, and to part 72 
licensees who do not hold a part 50 license. Those reactor licensees 
that have ceased operations and have no fuel onsite are not subject to 
these annual fees. Table XIV shows the calculation of this annual fee 
amount. FY 2008 values are shown for comparison.

 Table XIV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for the Spent Fuel Storage/
                    Reactor Decommissioning Fee Class
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Summary fee calculations          FY 2008  final  FY 2009  final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $22.4           $21.1
Less estimated part 170 receipts........            -5.3            -6.1
                                         -------------------------------
    Net part 171 resources..............           $17.1           $15.0
Allocated generic transportation........           + 0.2           + 0.2
Allocated fee relief....................            -0.3            -0.1
Billing adjustments.....................            -0.5            -0.1
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            16.6            15.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among 
123 licensees, resulting in a FY 2009 annual fee of $122,000 per 
licensee. The value of total budgeted resources for this fee class 
decreases in FY 2009 compared to FY 2008 due to a decrease in the 
budgeted resources for decommissioning and the fee-relief adjustment. 
The part 170 revenue estimate for the final rule increased by 
approximately 11 percent due to increased billings for spent fuel 
storage and a correction to prior estimate, which resulted in a lower 
annual fee compared with the proposed rule.
e. Test and Research Reactors (Non-power Reactors)
    Approximately $350,000 in budgeted costs is to be recovered through 
annual fees assessed to the test and research reactor class of licenses 
for FY 2009. Table XV summarizes the annual fee calculation for test 
and research reactors for FY 2009. FY 2008 values are shown for 
comparison.

Table XV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Test and Research Reactors
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Summary fee calculations          FY 2008  final  FY 2009  final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $0.99           $1.22
Less estimated part 170 receipts........           -0.66           -0.87
                                         -------------------------------
    Net part 171 resources..............            0.33            0.35
Allocated generic transportation........          + 0.01          + 0.01
Allocated fee relief....................           -0.01           -0.00
Billing adjustments.....................           -0.02           -0.01
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            0.31            0.35
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among 
the four test and research reactors subject to annual fees, and results 
in a FY 2009 annual fee of $87,600 for each licensee. The increase in 
annual fees from FY 2008 to FY 2009 is due to an increase in budget 
resources for license renewal activities partially offset by higher 
part 170 revenue estimate for test and research reactors class. The 
part 170 revenue estimate for the final rule increased by approximately 
21 percent due to increased billings, which resulted in a lower annual 
fee compared to the proposed rule. The part 170 revenue estimates for 
FY 2009 increased by approximately 32 percent compared with FY 2008 due 
to increased billing for test and research reactors, including Federal 
facilities. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorizes the NRC to bill 
Federal facilities for part 170 services.
f. Rare Earth Facilities
    The one licensee who had an NRC specific license for receipt and

[[Page 27656]]

processing of source material under the Rare Earth fee class 
transferred to the Agreement State, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 
effective March 31, 2008.
    Because the NRC does not anticipate receiving an application for a 
rare earth facility this fiscal year, no budget resources were 
allocated to this fee class and no annual fee will be published in FY 
2009. NRC has also revised the fee category for this fee class from 
2.A.(2)(c) to 2.A.(2)(f) in FY 2009.
g. Materials Users
    Table XVI shows the calculation of the FY 2009 annual fee amount 
for materials users licensees. FY 2008 values are shown for comparison. 
Note the following fee categories under Sec.  171.16 are included in 
this fee class: 1.C., 1.D., 2.B., 2.C., 3.A. through 3.S., 4.A. through 
4.C., 5.A., 5.B., 6.A., 7.A. through 7.C., 8.A., 9.A. through 9.D., 16, 
and 17.

     Table XVI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Materials Users
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Summary fee calculations          FY 2008  final  FY 2009  final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................            22.8            28.7
Less estimated part 170 receipts........            -2.0            -1.7
                                         -------------------------------
    Net part 171 resources..............            20.8            27.0
Allocated generic transportation........           + 0.9           + 0.8
Allocated surcharge.....................           + 0.3           + 0.6
Billing adjustments.....................            -0.5            -0.1
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            21.4            28.4
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The annual fee for most material users decreased in the final rule 
compared with the proposed rule due to an increase in the part 170 
revenue estimate. However, the annual fee for fee category 17 increases 
in the final rule compared with the proposed rule due to the NRC's 
revision of the average professional staff hours for this fee category. 
The total required annual fees to be recovered from materials licensees 
increased in FY 2009 mainly because of increases in the budgeted 
resources allocated to this fee class for licensing activities, and a 
lower part 170 estimate. Annual fees for most fee categories within the 
materials users fee class increased. The number of licensees decreased 
because of the transfer of licensees to the Commonwealth of Virginia. 
Because the agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia became 
effective March 31, 2009, the licensees that transferred to the 
Commonwealth of Virginia are subject to one-half of the annual fees in 
FY 2009.
    To equitably and fairly allocate the $28.4 million in FY 2009 
budgeted costs to be recovered in annual fees assessed to the 
approximately 3,800 diverse materials users licensees, the NRC will 
continue to base the annual fees for each fee category within this 
class on the part 170 application fees and estimated inspection costs 
for each fee category. Because the application fees and inspection 
costs are indicative of the complexity of the license, this approach 
approximately allocates the generic and other regulatory costs to the 
diverse categories of licenses based on NRC's cost to regulate each 
category. This fee calculation also continues to consider the 
inspection frequency (priority), which is indicative of the safety risk 
and resulting regulatory costs associated with the categories of 
licenses.
    The annual fee for these categories of materials users licenses is 
developed as follows:
    Annual fee = Constant x [Application Fee + (Average Inspection Cost 
divided by Inspection Priority)] + Inspection Multiplier x (Average 
Inspection Cost divided by Inspection Priority) + Unique Category 
Costs.
    The constant is the multiple necessary to recover approximately 
$20.5 million in general costs (including allocated generic 
transportation costs) and is 1.3 for FY 2009. The average inspection 
cost is the average inspection hours for each fee category multiplied 
by the hourly rate of $257. The inspection priority is the interval 
between routine inspections, expressed in years. The inspection 
multiplier is the multiple necessary to recover approximately $7.2 
million in inspection costs, and is 1.71 for FY 2009. The unique 
category costs are any special costs that the NRC has budgeted for a 
specific category of licenses. No unique costs were identified for FY 
2009.
    The annual fee to be assessed to each licensee also includes a fee 
relief adjustment of $616,000 (see Section III.B.1., Application of Fee 
Relief/Surcharge, of this document). This adjustment is the result of 
subtracting the $96,000 in fee relief (reduction to annual fee) 
allocated to the materials users fee class from the approximately 
$712,000 in LLW surcharge costs allocated to the fee class.
    The annual fee for each fee category is shown in Sec.  171.16(d). 
Annual fees for most fee categories within the materials users fee 
class increase, while some decrease. As indicated previously, changes 
in the FY 2009 annual fees for categories of licensees within the 
materials users fee class reflect not only change in the budgeted 
resources supporting this fee class, but also changes in the estimates 
of average professional staff time for materials users license 
applications and inspections. This is derived from the biennial review 
performed for the FY 2009 fee rule (see discussion of the biennial 
review under Section III.A.2., Flat Application Fee Changes, of this 
document). Accordingly, the relatively large percentage increase in the 
annual fee for many of the fee categories under Sec.  171.16 is the 
result of a significant increase to the average professional staff time 
estimates.
h. Transportation
    Table XVII shows the calculation of the FY 2009 generic 
transportation budgeted resources to be recovered through annual fees. 
FY 2008 values are shown for comparison.

[[Page 27657]]



     Table XVII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Transportation
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Summary fee calculations           FY 2008 Final   FY 2009 Final
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................            $5.7            $6.1
Less estimated part 170 receipts........            -2.3            -2.9
                                         -------------------------------
    Net part 171 resources..............             3.4             3.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC must approve any package used for shipping nuclear material 
before shipment. If the package meets NRC requirements, the NRC issues 
a Radioactive Material Package Certificate of Compliance (CoC) to the 
organization requesting approval of a package. Organizations are 
authorized to ship radioactive material in a package approved for use 
under the general licensing provisions of 10 CFR Part 71. The resources 
associated with generic transportation activities are distributed to 
the license fee classes based on the number of CoCs benefitting (used 
by) that fee class, as a proxy for the generic transportation resources 
expended for each fee class.
    The total FY 2009 budgeted resources for generic transportation 
activities, including those to support DOE CoCs, are $3.1 million. The 
net part 171 resources for these activities in the FY 2009 final rule 
increased by $0.1 million compared with the proposed rule. This 
increase in the final rule is primarily due to approximately five 
percent decrease in the part 170 revenue estimate as a result of 
decreased billings for transportation-related reviews. Generic 
transportation resources associated with fee-exempt entities are not 
included in this total. These costs are included in the appropriate 
fee-relief category (e.g., the fee-relief category for nonprofit 
educational institutions).
    Consistent with the policy established in the NRC's FY 2006 final 
fee rule (71 FR 30734; May 30, 2006), the NRC will recover generic 
transportation costs unrelated to DOE as part of existing annual fees 
for license fee classes. NRC will continue to assess a separate annual 
fee under Sec.  171.16, fee category 18.A., for DOE transportation 
activities. The number of CoCs for DOE decreased in FY 2009 resulting 
in a slightly lower percent of the total CoCs compared with FY 2008.
    The amount of the generic resources allocated is calculated by 
multiplying the percentage of total CoCs used by each fee class (and 
DOE) by the total generic transportation resources to be recovered. In 
FY 2009, the generic transportation cost allocated to the most fee 
classes decreases compared to FY 2008 due to a higher part 170 
estimate.
    The distribution of these resources to the license fee classes and 
DOE is shown in Table XVIII. The distribution is adjusted to account 
for the licensees in each fee class that are fee exempt. For example, 
if 3 CoCs benefit the entire test and research reactor class, but only 
4 of 30 test and research reactors are subject to annual fees, the 
number of CoCs used to determine the proportion of generic 
transportation resources allocated to test and research reactor annual 
fees equals ((4/30)*3), or 0.4 CoCs.

                     Table XVIII--Distribution of Generic Transportation Resources, FY 2009
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Allocated
                                                               Number CoCs      Percentage of        generic
                   License fee class/DOE                     benefiting fee      total CoCs      transportation
                                                             class (or DOE)       (percent)         resources
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total.....................................................             121.5             100.0             $3.14
DOE.......................................................              29.0              23.9              0.75
Operating Power Reactors..................................              34.0              28.0              0.88
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning................               9.0               7.4              0.23
Test and Research Reactors................................               0.5               0.4              0.01
Fuel Facilities...........................................              17.0              14.0              0.44
Materials Users...........................................              32.0              26.3              0.83
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC will continue to charge DOE an annual fee based on the part 
71 CoCs it holds, and will not allocate these DOE-related resources to 
other licensees' annual fees, because these resources specifically 
support DOE. Note that DOE's annual fee includes a reduction for the 
fee relief (see Section III.B.1, Application of Fee Relief/Surcharge, 
of this document), resulting in a total annual fee of $719,000 for FY 
2009. This fee is the same as last year primarily due to a decrease in 
the generic transportation resources offset by a lower reduction for 
fee-relief and billing adjustments. The annual fee for DOE in the final 
rule increased by approximately six percent compared with the proposed 
rule due to a lower part 170 estimate.
4. Small Entity Fees
    The small entity annual fee is charged to those licensees who 
qualify as small entities and who would otherwise be required to pay 
annual fees as stipulated under Sec.  171.16(d). Based on an in-depth 
analysis conducted in FY 2009, the NRC is reducing the maximum small 
entity fee from $2,300 to $1,900 and the lower tier fee from $500 to 
$400. This reduction reflects the decrease in annual fees for the small 
materials licensees in the past two years.
    In 2007, the NRC revised its receipts-based size standards (72 FR 
44951; August 10, 2007) to conform to the Small Business Agency 
standards. The maximum average gross annual receipts (upper tier) to 
qualify as a small entity were changed to $6.5 million from $5 million. 
The NRC is revising the small entity lower tier receipts-based 
threshold to $450,000 from $350,000. This change is approximately the 
same percentage adjustment as the change in the upper tier receipts-
based standard.
5. Fee Category Changes
    The NRC is revising the fee categories for uranium recovery 
facilities in

[[Page 27658]]

Sec.  171.16. The new fee categories better reflect the NRC's 
regulatory effort expended for the different types of facilities, both 
existing and planned. A more detailed discussion is in Section 
III.B.3.b., Uranium Recovery Facilities, of this document. The NRC is 
also modifying footnote 4 in Sec.  171.16 to remove references to 
uranium milling. These references no longer apply because fee 
categories under 2.A.(2) related to uranium recovery facilities have 
been revised.
    The NRC is also revising the description for fee category 7.A. in 
Sec.  171.16. The NRC is amending fee category 7.A., related to medical 
licenses, to more precisely state which medical devices it covers. 
Currently, the fee category applies to teletherapy devices. The NRC has 
historically included gamma stereotactic radiosurgery units (gamma 
knives) in this category in accordance with NUREG 1556, Volume 20, 
Appendix G. This amendment explicitly provides that fee category 7.A. 
include gamma knives and other similar beam therapy devices.
    The new fee category description does not represent any additions 
to the types of licenses regulated by NRC. The change clarifies the 
types of licenses covered under specific categories for NRC licensees.
6. Administrative Amendments
    The NRC applies the 10 percent of its budget that it receives as 
fee relief under OBRA-90 to offset the budget resources supporting 
activities which do not directly benefit current NRC licensees (fee-
relief activities). Any remaining amount is allocated to all licensees' 
annual fees (see Section III.B.1., Application of Fee Relief/Surcharge, 
of this document). The NRC is replacing the term for this allocated 
amount in Sec.  171.15 and Sec.  171.16 from `surcharge' to `fee-relief 
adjustment'. The new term better describes the allocated amount because 
the fee relief is a reduction in the annual fee for most fee classes in 
FY 2009. The allocation is an adjustment to the annual fee.
    In summary, the NRC is--
    1. Using the NRC's fee relief to reduce all licensees' annual fees, 
based on their percent of the NRC budget;
    2. Revising the number of NRC licensees due to the Commonwealth of 
Virginia becoming an Agreement State effective March 31, 2009;
    3. Establishing rebaselined annual fees for FY 2009;
    4. Reducing the maximum small entity fee from $2,300 to $1,900, and 
the lower tier fee from $500 to $400;
    5. Revising some fee categories to better reflect NRC's regulatory 
effort; and
    6. Making certain administrative changes for purposes of 
clarification.

IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards

    The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 
U.S.C. 3701) requires that Federal agencies use technical standards 
that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies 
unless using these standards is inconsistent with applicable law or is 
otherwise impractical. In this final rule, the NRC is amending the 
licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its licensees and 
applicants as necessary to recover approximately 90 percent of its 
budget authority in FY 2009, as required by the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1990, as amended. This action does not constitute 
the establishment of a standard that contains generally applicable 
requirements.

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 assessment nor an environmental impact 
statement has been prepared for the final rule. 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 does not contain 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.).

Public Protection Notification

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

VII. Regulatory Analysis

    With respect to 10 CFR part 170, this final rule was developed 
under Title V of the 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 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 (DC 
Cir. 1976); National Association of Broadcasters v. Federal 
Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 1118 (DC Cir. 1976); Electronic 
Industries Association v. Federal Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 
1109 (DC Cir. 1976); and Capital Cities Communication, Inc. v. Federal 
Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 1135 (DC Cir. 1976). The 
Commission's fee guidelines were developed based on these legal 
decisions.
    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). This 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 of 1954, as amended, and with applicable 
regulations;
    (3) The NRC could charge for costs incurred in conducting 
environmental reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act 
(42 U.S.C. 4321);
    (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 
low-level 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 OBRA-90, which required that, for FYs 1991 through 1995, 
approximately 100 percent of the NRC budget authority, less 
appropriations from the NWF, be recovered through the assessment of 
fees. OBRA-90 was subsequently amended to extend the 100 percent fee 
recovery requirement through FY 2000. The FY 2001 Energy and Water

[[Page 27659]]

Development Appropriation Act (EWDAA) amended OBRA-90 to decrease the 
NRC's fee recovery amount by 2 percent per year beginning in FY 2001, 
until the fee recovery amount was 90 percent in FY 2005. The FY 2006 
EWDAA extended this 90 percent fee recovery requirement for FY 2006. 
Section 637 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 made the 90 percent fee 
recovery requirement permanent in FY 2007. As a result, the NRC is 
required to recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2009 budget 
authority, less the amounts appropriated from the NWF, WIR, and generic 
homeland security activities through fees. To comply with this 
statutory requirement and in accordance with Sec.  171.13, the NRC is 
publishing the amount of the FY 2009 annual fees for reactor licensees, 
fuel cycle licensees, materials licensees, and holders of CoCs, 
registrations of sealed source and devices, and Government agencies. 
OBRA-90, consistent with the accompanying Conference Committee Report, 
and the amendments to OBRA-90, provides that--
    (1) The annual fees will be based on approximately 90 percent of 
the Commission's FY 2009 budget of $1,045.5 million less the funds 
directly appropriated from the NWF to cover the NRC's high-level waste 
program, and for WIR, generic homeland security activities, and less 
the amount of funds collected from part 170 fees;
    (2) The annual fees shall, to the maximum extent practicable, have 
a reasonable relationship to the cost of 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.
    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 (DC Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 
490 U.S. 1045 (1989). Further, the NRC's FY 1991 annual fee rule 
methodology was upheld by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in Allied 
Signal v. NRC, 988 F.2d 146 (DC Cir. 1993).

VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    The NRC is required by the OBRA-90, as amended, to recover 
approximately 90 percent of its FY 2009 budget authority through the 
assessment of user fees. This Act 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 2009. This 
final rule results in increases in the annual fees charged to certain 
licensees and holders of certificates, registrations, and approvals, 
and decreases in annual fees for others. Licensees affected by the 
annual fee increases and decreases include those that qualify as a 
small entity under NRC's size standards in 10 CFR 2.810. 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 Act (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 is the small entity 
compliance guide for FY 2009.

IX. Backfit Analysis

    The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does 
not apply to this final rule and that a backfit analysis is not 
required for this final rule. The backfit analysis is not required 
because these amendments do not require the modification of, or 
additions to systems, structures, components, or the design of a 
facility, or the design approval or manufacturing license for a 
facility, or the procedures or organization required to design, 
construct, or operate a facility.

X. Congressional Review Act

    In accordance with the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 
801-808), the NRC has determined that this action is a major rule and 
has verified the determination with the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget.

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 170

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

10 CFR Part 171

    Annual charges, Byproduct material, Holders of certificates, 
Registrations, Approvals, Intergovernmental relations, Non-payment 
penalties, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Source 
material, Special nuclear material.

0
For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization Act of 
1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is adopting the 
following amendments to 10 CFR parts 170 and 171.

PART 170--FEES FOR FACILITIES, MATERIALS, IMPORT AND EXPORT 
LICENSES, AND OTHER REGULATORY SERVICES UNDER THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT 
OF 1954, AS AMENDED

0
1. The authority citation for part 170 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Section 9701, Pub. L. 97-258, 96 Stat. 1051 (31 
U.S.C. 9701); Sec. 301, Pub. L. 92-314, 86 Stat. 227 (42 U.S.C. 
2201w); sec. 201, Pub. L. 93-438, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 
U.S.C. 5841); Sec. 205a, Pub. L. 101-576, 104 Stat. 2842, as amended 
(31 U.S.C. 901, 902); Sec. 1704, 112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 
note), sec. 623, Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat. 783 (42 U.S.C. 2201(w)); 
Sec. 651(e), Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat. 806-810 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 
2021, 2021b, 2111).


0
2. In Sec.  170.11, the introduction text of paragraph (a)(1), 
paragraphs (a)(1)(ii), (a)(1)(iii) introductory text, (a)(1)(iii)(A), 
(B), and (C), and paragraph (b) are revised to read as follows:


Sec.  170.11  Exemptions.

    (a) * * *
    (1) A request/report submitted to the NRC--
* * * * *
    (ii) In response to an NRC request from the Associate Office 
Director level or above to resolve an identified safety, safeguards, or 
environmental issue, or to assist NRC in developing a rulemaking, 
regulatory guide, policy statement, generic letter, or bulletin; or
    (iii) As a means of exchanging information between industry 
organizations and the NRC. To receive this fee exemption:
    (A) The report should be submitted for the specific purpose of 
supporting ongoing NRC generic regulatory improvements or efforts 
(e.g., rules, regulations, regulatory guides and policy statements) and 
the agency, at the time the document is submitted, plans to use it for 
that purpose. The exemption applies even if ultimately the NRC does not 
use the document as planned.
    (B) The NRC must be the primary beneficiary of the NRC's review and 
approval of these documents. This exemption does not apply to a topical 
report submitted for the purpose of

[[Page 27660]]

obtaining NRC approval for future use of the report by the industry to 
address licensing or safety issues, even though the NRC may realize 
some benefits from its review and approval of the document.
    (C) The fee exemption is requested in writing to the Chief 
Financial Officer in accordance with 10 CFR 170.5, and the Chief 
Financial Officer grants this request in writing.
* * * * *
    (b) The Commission may, upon application by an interested person, 
or upon its own initiative, grant such exemptions from the requirements 
of this part as it determines are authorized by law and are otherwise 
in the public interest. Applications for exemption under this paragraph 
may include activities such as, but not limited to, the use of licensed 
materials for educational or noncommercial public displays or 
scientific collections.

0
3. Section 170.20 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  170.20  Average cost per professional staff-hour.

    Fees for permits, licenses, amendments, renewals, special projects, 
10 CFR part 55 re-qualification and replacement examinations and tests, 
other required reviews, approvals, and inspections under Sec. Sec.  
170.21 and 170.31 will be calculated using the professional staff-hour 
rate of $257 per hour.

0
4. In Sec.  170.21, in the table, fee category K is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec.  170.21  Schedule of fees for production and utilization 
facilities, review of standard referenced design approvals, special 
projects, inspections and import and export licenses.

* * * * *

                        Schedule of Facility Fees
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Facility categories and type of fees              Fees\1, 2\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                              * * * * * * *
K. Import and export licenses:
    Licenses for the import and export only of
     production and utilization facilities or the export
     only of components for production and utilization
     facilities issued under 10 CFR Part 110.
        1. Application for import or export of
         production and utilization facilities \4\
         (including reactors and other facilities) and
         exports of components requiring Commission and
         Executive Branch review, for example, actions
         under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
            Application--new license, or amendment; or           $16,700
             license exemption request..................
        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, or amendment; or             9,800
             license exemption request..................
        3. Application for export of components
         requiring the assistance of the Executive
         Branch to obtain foreign government assurances.
            Application--new license, or amendment; or             4,100
             license exemption request..................
        4. Application for export of facility components
         and equipment (examples provided in 10 CFR part
         110, Appendix A, Items (5) through (9)) not
         requiring Commission or Executive Branch
         review, or obtaining foreign government
         assurances.
            Application--new license, or amendment; or             2,600
             license exemption request..................
        5. Minor amendment of any active export or
         import license, for example, to extend the
         expiration date, change domestic information,
         or make other revisions which do not involve
         any substantive changes to license terms or
         conditions or to the type of facility or
         component authorized for export and therefore,
         do not require in-depth analysis or review or
         consultation with the Executive Branch, U.S.
         host state, or foreign government authorities.
            Minor amendment to license..................             770
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Fees will not be charged for orders related to civil penalties or
  other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under Sec.   2.202 of
  this chapter or for amendments resulting specifically from the
  requirements of these orders. For orders unrelated to civil penalties
  or other civil sanctions, fees will be charged for any resulting
  licensee-specific activities not otherwise exempted from fees under
  this chapter. Fees will be charged for approvals issued under a
  specific exemption provision of the Commission's regulations under
  Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (e.g., 10 CFR 50.12, 10
  CFR 73.5) and any other sections in effect now or in the future,
  regardless if the approval is in the form of a license amendment,
  letter of approval, safety evaluation report, or other form.
\2\ Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff
  time and appropriate contractual support services expended. For
  applications currently on file and for which fees are determined based
  on the full cost expended for the review, the professional staff hours
  expended for the review of the application up to the effective date of
  the final rule will be determined at the professional rates in effect
  when the service was provided. 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 Sec.   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 Sec.   170.20.
* * * * *
\4\ Imports only of major components for end-use at NRC-licensed
  reactors are now authorized under NRC general import license.


0
5. In Sec.  170.31, the table is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  170.31  Schedule of fees for materials licenses and other 
regulatory services, including inspections, and import and export 
licenses.

* * * * *

[[Page 27661]]



                       Schedule of Materials Fees
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Category of materials licenses and type of
                    fees\1\                             Fee \2,3\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Special nuclear material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of U-
     235 or plutonium for fuel fabrication
     activities.
        (a) Strategic Special Nuclear Material   Full Cost
         (High Enriched Uranium) [Program
         Code(s): 21130].
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible  Full Cost
         Form Used for Fabrication of Power
         Reactor Fuel [Program Code(s): 21210].
    (2) All other special nuclear materials
     licenses not included in Category 1.A.(1)
     which are licensed for fuel cycle
     activities.
        (a) Facilities with limited operations   Full Cost
         [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320].
        (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment            Full Cost
         demonstration facilities.
        (c) Others, including hot cell           Full Cost
         facilities.
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of       Full Cost
     spent fuel and reactor-related Greater
     than Class C (GTCC) waste at an
     independent spent fuel storage
     installation (ISFSI) [Program Code(s):
     23200].
    C. Licenses for possession and use of
     special nuclear material in sealed sources
     contained in devices used in industrial
     measuring systems, including x-ray
     fluorescence analyzers.\4\
            Application [Program Code(s):        $1,200
             22140].
    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 Sec.
     150.11 of this chapter, for which the
     licensee shall pay the same fees as those
     under Category 1.A.\4\
            Application [Program Code(s):        $2,400
             22110, 22111, 22120, 22131, 22136,
             22150, 22151, 22161, 22163, 22170,
             23100, 23300, 23310].
    E. Licenses or certificates for              Full Cost
     construction and operation of a uranium
     enrichment facility [Program Code(s):
     21200].
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of    Full Cost
     source material for refining uranium mill
     concentrates to uranium hexafluoride
     [Program Code(s): 11400].
    (2) Licenses for possession and use of
     source material in recovery operations
     such as milling, in-situ recovery, heap-
     leaching, ore buying stations, ion
     exchange facilities and in processing of
     ores containing source material for
     extraction of metals other than uranium or
     thorium, including licenses authorizing
     the possession of byproduct waste material
     (tailings) from source material recovery
     operations, as well as licenses
     authorizing the possession and maintenance
     of a facility in a standby mode.
        (a) Conventional and Heap Leach          Full Cost
         facilities [Program Code(s): 11100].
        (b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities    Full Cost
         [Program Code(s): ].
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery            Full Cost
         facilities [Program Code(s): ].
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities..  Full Cost
        (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities......  Full Cost
        (f) Other facilities [Program Code(s):   Full Cost
         11700].
    (3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of   Full Cost
     byproduct material, as defined in Section
     11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from
     other persons for possession and disposal,
     except those licenses subject to the fees
     in Category 2.A.(2) or Category 2.A.(4)
     [Program Code(s): 11600].
    (4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of   Full Cost
     byproduct material, as defined in Section
     11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from
     other persons for possession and disposal
     incidental to the disposal of the uranium
     waste tailings generated by the licensee's
     milling operations, except those licenses
     subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2).
    (5) Licenses that authorize the possession   Full Cost
     of source material related to removal of
     contaminants (source material) from
     drinking water.
    B. Licenses which authorize the possession,
     use, and/or installation of source
     material for shielding.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $570
             11210].
    C. All other source material licenses.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $10,100
             11200, 11220, 11221, 11230, 11300,
             11800, 11810].
3. Byproduct material:
    A. Licenses of broad scope for the
     possession and use of byproduct material
     issued under parts 30 and 33 of this
     chapter for processing or manufacturing of
     items containing byproduct material for
     commercial distribution.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $12,000
             03211, 03212, 03213].
    B. Other licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of
     this chapter for processing or
     manufacturing of items containing
     byproduct material for commercial
     distribution.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $4,500
             03214, 03215, 22135, 22162].
    C. Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   32.72
     and/or 32.74 of this chapter that
     authorize the processing or manufacturing
     and distribution or redistribution of
     radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent
     kits, and/or sources and devices
     containing byproduct material. This
     category does not apply to licenses issued
     to nonprofit educational institutions
     whose processing or manufacturing is
     exempt under Sec.   170.11(a)(4). These
     licenses are covered by fee Category 3.D.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $6,500
             02500, 02511, 02513].
    D. Licenses and approvals issued under Sec.
      Sec.   32.72 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 under Sec.  Sec.   32.72 and/or
     32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit
     educational institutions whose processing
     or manufacturing is exempt under Sec.
     170.11(a)(4).
            Application [Program Code(s):        $4,400
             02512, 02514].
    E. Licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material in sealed sources for
     irradiation of materials in which the
     source is not removed from its shield
     (self-shielded units).
            Application [Program Code(s):        $3,000
             03510, 03520].
    F. Licenses for possession and use of less
     than 10,000 curies of byproduct material
     in sealed sources for irradiation of
     materials in which the source is exposed
     for irradiation purposes. This category
     also includes underwater irradiators for
     irradiation of materials where the source
     is not exposed for irradiation purposes.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $6,000
             03511].

[[Page 27662]]

 
    G. Licenses for possession and use of
     10,000 curies or more of byproduct
     material in sealed sources for irradiation
     of materials in which the source is
     exposed for irradiation purposes. This
     category also includes underwater
     irradiators for irradiation of materials
     where the source is not exposed for
     irradiation purposes.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $28,700
             03521].
    H. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part
     32 of this chapter to distribute items
     containing byproduct material that require
     device review to persons exempt from the
     licensing requirements of part 30 of this
     chapter. The category does not include
     specific licenses authorizing
     redistribution of items that have been
     authorized for distribution to persons
     exempt from the licensing requirements of
     part 30 of this chapter.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $5,500
             03255].
    I. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part
     32 of this chapter to distribute items
     containing byproduct material or
     quantities of byproduct material that do
     not require device evaluation to persons
     exempt from the licensing requirements of
     part 30 of this chapter. This category
     does not include specific licenses
     authorizing redistribution of items that
     have been authorized for distribution to
     persons exempt from the licensing
     requirements of part 30 of this chapter.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $10,000
             03250, 03251, 03252, 03253, 03254,
             03256].
    J. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part
     32 of this chapter to distribute items
     containing byproduct material that require
     sealed source and/or device review to
     persons generally licensed under part 31
     of this chapter. This category does not
     include specific licenses authorizing
     redistribution of items that have been
     authorized for distribution to persons
     generally licensed under part 31 of this
     chapter.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $1,800
             03240, 03241, 03243].
    K. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part
     32 of this chapter to distribute items
     containing byproduct material or
     quantities of byproduct material that do
     not require sealed source and/or device
     review to persons generally licensed under
     part 31 of this chapter. This category
     does not include specific licenses
     authorizing redistribution of items that
     have been authorized for distribution to
     persons generally licensed under part 31
     of this chapter.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $1,100
             03242, 03244].
    L. Licenses of broad scope for possession
     and use of byproduct material issued under
     parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for
     research and development that do not
     authorize commercial distribution.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $10,100
             01100, 01110, 01120, 03610, 03611,
             03612, 03613].
    M. Other licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of
     this chapter for research and development
     that do not authorize commercial
     distribution.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $3,500
             03620].
    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 4.A.,
         4.B., and 4.C.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $6,100
             03219, 03225, 03226].
    O. Licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material issued under part 34 of
     this chapter for industrial radiography
     operations.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $5,800
             03310, 03320].
    P. All other specific byproduct material
     licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
     through 9.D.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $1,400
             02400, 02410, 03120, 03121, 03122,
             03123, 03124, 03220, 03221, 03222,
             03800, 03810, 22130].
    Q. Registration of a device(s) generally
     licensed under part 31 of this chapter.
            Registration.......................  $310
    R. Possession of items or products
     containing radium-226 identified in 10 CFR
     31.12 which exceed the number of items or
     limits specified in that section.\6\
        1. Possession of quantities exceeding
         the number of items or limits in 10
         CFR 31.12(a)(4), or (5) but less than
         or equal to 10 times the number of
         items or limits specified.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $1,180
             02700].
        2. Possession of quantities exceeding
         10 times the number of items or limits
         specified in 10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), or
         fee category (5).C.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $1,400
             02710].
    S. Licenses for production of accelerator-
     produced radionuclides.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $6,500
             03210].
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..
            [Program Code(s): 03231, 03233,      Full Cost
             03235, 03236, 06100, 06101].
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the
     receipt of waste byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear
     material from other persons for the
     purpose of packaging or repackaging the
     material. The licensee will dispose of the
     material by transfer to another person
     authorized to receive or dispose of the
     material.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $4,400
             03234].
    C. Licenses specifically authorizing the
     receipt of prepackaged waste byproduct
     material, source material, or special
     nuclear material from other persons. The
     licensee will dispose of the material by
     transfer to another person authorized to
     receive or dispose of the material.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $4,600
             03232].
5. Well logging:

[[Page 27663]]

 
    A. Licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material, source material, and/
     or special nuclear material for well
     logging, well surveys, and tracer studies
     other than field flooding tracer studies.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $3,400
             03110, 03111, 03112].
    B. Licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material for field flooding
     tracer studies.
            Licensing [Program Code(s): 03113].  Full Cost
6. Nuclear laundries:
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and
     laundry of items contaminated with
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $20,500
             03218].
7. Medical licenses:
    A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,
     and 70 of this chapter for human use of
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material in sealed sources
     contained in gamma stereotactic
     radiosurgery units, teletherapy devices,
     or similar beam therapy devices.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $11,200
             02300, 02310].
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to
     medical institutions or two or more
     physicians under parts 30, 33, 35, 40, and
     70 of this chapter authorizing research
     and development, including human use of
     byproduct material, except licenses for
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material in sealed sources
     contained in teletherapy devices. This
     category also includes the possession and
     use of source material for shielding when
     authorized on the same license.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $8,000
             02110].
    C. Other licenses issued under parts 30,
     35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human
     use of byproduct material, source
     material, and/or special nuclear material,
     except licenses for byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear
     material in sealed sources contained in
     teletherapy devices.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $2,300
             02120, 02121, 02200, 02201, 02210,
             02220, 02230, 02231, 02240, 22160].
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material for civil defense
     activities.
            Application [Program Code(s):        $1,180
             03710].
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...........  $8,300
    B. Safety evaluation of devices or products
     containing byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material
     manufactured in accordance with the unique
     specifications of, and for use by, a
     single applicant, except reactor fuel
     devices.
            Application--each device...........  $8,300
    C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources
     containing byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material,
     except reactor fuel, for commercial
     distribution.
            Application--each source...........  $5,800
    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...........  $980
10. Transportation of radioactive material:
    A. Evaluation of casks, packages, and
     shipping containers.
        1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and     Full Cost
         plutonium air packages.
        2. Other Casks.........................  Full Cost
    B. Quality assurance program approvals
     issued under part 71 of this chapter.
        1. Users and Fabricators.
            Application........................  $3,100
            Inspections........................  Full Cost
        2. Users.
            Application........................  $3,100
            Inspections........................  Full Cost
    C. Evaluation of security plans, route       Full Cost
     approvals, route surveys, and
     transportation security devices (including
     immobilization devices).
11. Review of standardized spent fuel            Full Cost
 facilities.
12. Special projects:
    Including approvals, preapplication/         Full Cost
     licensing activities, and inspections.
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of    Full Cost
 Compliance.
    B. Inspections related to storage of spent   Full Cost
     fuel under Sec.   72.210 of this chapter.
14. A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear     Full Cost
 material licenses and other approvals
 authorizing decommissioning, decontamination,
 reclamation, or site restoration activities
 under parts 30, 40, 70, 72, and 76 of this
 chapter.
    B. Site-specific decommissioning activities  Full Cost
     associated with unlicensed sites,
     regardless of whether or not the sites
     have been previously licensed.
15. Import and Export licenses:
    Licenses issued under part 110 of this
     chapter for the import and export only of
     special nuclear material, source material,
     tritium and other byproduct material, and
     the export only of heavy water, or nuclear
     grade graphite (fee categories 15.A.
     through 15.E).
    A. Application for export or import of
     nuclear materials, including radioactive
     waste requiring Commission and Executive
     Branch review, for example, those actions
     under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
            Application--new license, or         $16,700
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.

[[Page 27664]]

 
    B. Application for export or import of
     nuclear material, including radioactive
     waste, requiring Executive Branch review,
     but not Commission review. This category
     includes applications for the export and
     import of radioactive waste and requires
     NRC to consult with domestic host state
     authorities, Low-Level Radioactive Waste
     Compact Commission, the U.S. Environmental
     Protection Agency, etc.
            Application--new license, or         $9,800
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    C. Application for export of nuclear
     material, for example, routine reloads of
     low enriched uranium reactor fuel and/or
     natural uranium source material requiring
     the assistance of the Executive Branch to
     obtain foreign government assurances.
            Application--new license, or         $4,100
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    D. Application for export or import of
     nuclear material, including radioactive
     waste, not requiring Commission or
     Executive Branch review, or obtaining
     foreign government assurances. This
     category includes applications 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 located
     in the same country, 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, or         $2,600
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    E. Minor amendment of any active export or
     import license, for example, to extend the
     expiration date, change domestic
     information, or make other revisions which
     do not involve any substantive changes to
     license terms and conditions or to the
     type/quantity/chemical composition of the
     material authorized for export and,
     therefore, do not require in-depth
     analysis, review, or consultations with
     other Executive Branch, U.S. host state,
     or foreign government authorities.
            Minor amendment....................  $770
    Licenses issued under part 110 of this
     chapter for the import and export only of
     Category 1 and Category 2 quantities of
     radioactive material listed in Appendix P
     to part 110 of this chapter (fee
     categories 15.F. through 15.R.).\5\
Category 1 Exports:
    F. Application for export of Category 1
     materials involving an exceptional
     circumstances review under 10 CFR
     110.42(e)(4).
            Application--new license, or         $16,700
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    G. Application for export of Category 1
     materials requiring Executive Branch
     review, Commission review, and/or
     government-to-government consent.
            Application--new license, or         $9,800
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    H. Application for export of Category 1
     materials requiring Commission review and
     government-to-government consent.
            Application--new license, or         $6,200
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    I. Application for export of Category 1
     material requiring government-to-
     government consent.
            Application--new license, or         $5,100
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
Category 2 Exports:
    J. Application for export of Category 2
     materials involving an exceptional
     circumstances review under 10 CFR
     110.42(e)(4).
            Application--new license, or         $16,700
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    K. Applications for export of Category 2
     materials requiring Executive Branch
     review and/or Commission review.
            Application--new license, or         $9,800
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    L. Application for the export of Category 2
     materials.
            Application--new license, or         $4,600
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
Category 1 Imports:
    M. Application for the import of Category 1
     material requiring Commission review.
            Application--new license, or         $4,900
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    N. Application for the import of Category 1
     material.
            Application--new license, or         $4,100
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
Category 2 Imports:
    O. Application for the import of Category 2
     material.
            Application--new license, or         $3,600
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
Category 1 Imports with Agent and Multiple
 Licensees:
    P. Application for the import of Category 1
     material with agent and multiple licensees
     requiring Commission review.
            Application--new license, or         $5,700
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
    Q. Application for the import of Category 1
     material with agent and multiple
     licensees.
            Application B new license, or        $4,600
             amendment; or license exemption
             request.
Minor Amendments (Category 1 and 2 Export and
 Imports):
    R. Minor amendment of any active export or
     import license, for example, to extend the
     expiration date, change domestic
     information, or make other revisions which
     do not involve any substantive changes to
     license terms and conditions or to the
     type/quantity/chemical composition of the
     material authorized for export and,
     therefore, do not require in-depth
     analysis, review, or consultations with
     other Executive Branch, U.S. host state,
     or foreign authorities.
            Minor amendment....................  $770
    16. Reciprocity............................
        Agreement State licensees who conduct
         activities under the reciprocity
         provisions of 10 CFR 150.20.
            Application........................  $1,800
    17. Master materials licenses of broad
     scope issued to Government agencies:
            Application........................  $73,100
    18. Department of Energy.
    A. Certificates of Compliance. Evaluation    Full Cost
     of casks, packages, and shipping
     containers (including spent fuel, high-
     level waste, and other casks, and
     plutonium air packages).
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control   Full Cost
     Act (UMTRCA) activities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Types of fees--Separate charges, as shown in the schedule, will be
  assessed for pre-application consultations and reviews; applications
  for new licenses, approvals, or license terminations; possession only
  licenses; issuance of new licenses and approvals; certain amendments
  and renewals to existing licenses and approvals; safety evaluations of
  sealed sources and devices; generally licensed device registrations;
  and certain inspections. The following guidelines apply to these
  charges:

[[Page 27665]]

 
(a) Application and registration fees. Applications for new materials
  licenses and export and import licenses; applications to reinstate
  expired, terminated, or inactive licenses except those subject to fees
  assessed at full costs; applications filed by Agreement State
  licensees to register under the general license provisions of 10 CFR
  150.20; and applications for amendments to materials licenses that
  would place the license in a higher fee category or add a new fee
  category must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for
  each category.
(1) Applications for licenses covering more than one fee category of
  special nuclear material or source material must be accompanied by the
  prescribed application fee for the highest fee category.
(2) Applications for new licenses that cover both byproduct material and
  special nuclear material in sealed sources for use in gauging devices
  will pay the appropriate application fee for fee Category 1.C. only.
(b) Licensing fees. Fees for reviews of applications for new licenses
  and for renewals and amendments to existing licenses, pre-application
  consultations and reviews of other documents submitted to NRC for
  review, and project manager time for fee categories subject to full
  cost fees, are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance
  with Sec.   170.12(b).
(c) Amendment fees. Applications for amendments to export and import
  licenses must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for each
  license affected. An application for an amendment to an export or
  import license or approval classified in more than one fee category
  must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for the category
  affected by the amendment unless the amendment is applicable to two or
  more fee categories, in which case the amendment fee for the highest
  fee category would apply.
(d) Inspection fees. Inspections resulting from investigations conducted
  by the Office of Investigations and non-routine inspections that
  result from third-party allegations are not subject to fees.
  Inspection fees are due upon notification by the Commission in
  accordance with Sec.   170.12(c).
(e) Generally licensed device registrations under 10 CFR 31.5.
  Submittals of registration information must be accompanied by the
  prescribed fee.
\2\ Fees will not be charged for orders related to civil penalties or
  other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under 10 CFR 2.202 or
  for amendments resulting specifically from the requirements of these
  orders. For orders unrelated to civil penalties or other civil
  sanctions, fees will be charged for any resulting licensee-specific
  activities not otherwise exempted from fees under this chapter. Fees
  will be charged for approvals issued under a specific exemption
  provision of the Commission's regulations under Title 10 of the Code
  of Federal Regulations (e.g., 10 CFR 30.11, 40.14, 70.14, 73.5, and
  any other sections in effect now or in the future), regardless of
  whether the approval is in the form of a license amendment, letter of
  approval, safety evaluation report, or other form. In addition to the
  fee shown, an applicant may be assessed an additional fee for sealed
  source and device evaluations as shown in Categories 9.A. through 9.D.
\3\ Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff
  time multiplied by the appropriate professional hourly rate
  established in Sec.   170.20 in effect when the service is provided,
  and the appropriate contractual support services expended. 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 Sec.   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 Sec.
  170.20.
\4\ Licensees paying fees under Categories 1.A., 1.B., and 1.E. are not
  subject to fees under Categories 1.C. and 1.D. for sealed sources
  authorized in the same license except for an application that deals
  only with the sealed sources authorized by the license.
\5\ For a combined import and export license application for material
  listed in Appendix P to part 110 of this chapter, only the higher of
  the two applicable fee amounts must be paid.
\6\ Persons who possess radium sources that are used for operational
  purposes in another fee category are not also subject to the fees in
  this category. (This exception does not apply if the radium sources
  are possessed for storage only.)

PART 171--ANNUAL FEES FOR REACTOR LICENSES AND FUEL CYCLE LICENSES 
AND MATERIALS LICENSES, INCLUDING HOLDERS OF CERTIFICATES OF 
COMPLIANCE, REGISTRATIONS, AND QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM APPROVALS 
AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY THE NRC

0
6. The authority citation for part 171 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Section 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. 2132, as amended by Sec. 6101, 
Pub. L. 101-508, 104 Stat. 1388, as amended by Sec. 2903a, Pub. L. 
102-486, 106 Stat. 3125 (42 U.S.C. 2213, 2214), and as amended by 
Title IV, Pub. L. 109-103, 119 Stat. 2283 (42 U.S.C. 2214); Sec. 
301, Pub. L. 92-314, 86 Stat. 227 (42 U.S.C. 2201w); Sec. 201, Pub. 
L. 93-438, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5841); Sec. 1704, 
112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note), Sec. 651(e), Pub. L.109-58, 
119 Stat. 806-810 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2021, 2021b, 2111).


0
7. In Sec.  171.15, paragraph (b)(1), the introductory text of 
paragraph (b)(2), paragraph (c)(1), the introductory text of paragraph 
(c)(2) and the introductory text of paragraph (d)(1), and paragraphs 
(d)(2), (d)(3), and paragraph (e), are revised to read as follows:


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

* * * * *
    (b)(1) The FY 2009 annual fee for each operating power reactor 
which must be collected by September 30, 2009, is $4,503,000.
    (2) The FY 2009 annual fee is comprised of a base annual fee for 
power reactors licensed to operate, a base spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning annual fee, and associated additional charges (fee-
relief adjustment). The activities comprising the FY 2009 spent 
storage/reactor decommissioning base annual fee are shown in paragraphs 
(c)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 
2009 fee-relief adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this 
section. The activities comprising the FY 2009 base annual fee for 
operating power reactors are as follows:
* * * * *
    (c)(1) The FY 2009 annual fee for each power reactor holding a 10 
CFR part 50 license that is in a decommissioning or possession only 
status and has spent fuel onsite, and each independent spent fuel 
storage 10 CFR part 72 licensee who does not hold a 10 CFR part 50 
license is $122,000.
    (2) The FY 2009 annual fee is comprised of a base spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning annual fee (which is also included in 
the operating power reactor annual fee shown in paragraph (b) of this 
section), and an additional charge (fee-relief adjustment). The 
activities comprising the FY 2009 fee-relief adjustment are shown in 
paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 2009 
spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning rebaselined annual fee are:
* * * * *
    (d)(1) The fee-relief adjustment allocated to annual fees includes 
a surcharge for the activities listed in paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this 
section, plus the amount remaining after total budgeted resources for 
the activities included in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and (d)(1)(iii) of 
this section is reduced by the appropriations NRC receives for these 
types of activities. If the NRC's appropriations for these types of 
activities are greater than the budgeted resources for the activities 
included in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and (d)(1)(iii) of this section for a 
given FY, an annual fee reduction will be allocated to annual fees. The 
activities comprising the FY 2009 fee-relief adjustment are as follows:
* * * * *

[[Page 27666]]

    (2) The total FY 2009 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the 
operating power reactor class of licenses is -$1.6 million, not 
including the amount allocated to the spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning class. The FY 2009 operating power reactor fee-relief 
adjustment to be assessed to each operating power reactor is 
approximately -$15,400. This amount is calculated by dividing the total 
operating power reactor fee-relief adjustment (-$1.6 million) by the 
number of operating power reactors (104).
    (3) The FY 2009 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning class of licenses is -$79,500. The FY 
2009 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee-relief adjustment 
to be assessed to each operating power reactor, each power reactor in 
decommissioning or possession only status that has spent fuel onsite, 
and to each independent spent fuel storage 10 CFR part 72 licensee who 
does not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license is approximately -$646. This 
amount is calculated by dividing the total fee-relief adjustment costs 
allocated to this class by the total number of power reactor licenses, 
except those that permanently ceased operations and have no fuel 
onsite, and 10 CFR part 72 licensees who do not hold a 10 CFR part 50 
license.
    (e) The FY 2009 annual fees for licensees authorized to operate a 
test and research (non-power) reactor licensed under part 50 of this 
chapter, unless the reactor is exempted from fees under Sec.  
171.11(a), are as follows:

Research reactor.............................................    $87,600
Test reactor.................................................    $87,600
 


0
8. In Sec.  171.16, the introductory text of paragraph (b), paragraphs 
(c) and (d), and the introductory text of paragraph (e) are revised to 
read as follows:


Sec.  171.16  Annual fees: Materials licensees, holders of certificates 
of compliance, holders of sealed source and device registrations, 
holders of quality assurance program approvals, and government agencies 
licensed by the NRC.

* * * * *
    (b) The annual fee is comprised of a base annual fee and an 
allocation for fee-relief adjustment. The activities comprising the 
fee-relief adjustment are shown in paragraph (e) of this section. The 
base annual fee is the sum of budgeted costs for the following 
activities:
* * * * *
    (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 
along with its annual fee payment, the licensee may pay reduced annual 
fees as shown in the following table. Failure to file a small entity 
certification in a timely manner could result in the denial of any 
refund that might otherwise be due. The small entity fees are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Maximum annual
                                                        fee per licensed
                                                            category
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Businesses Not Engaged in Manufacturing (Average
 gross receipts over last 3 completed fiscal years):
    $450,000 to $6.5 million..........................            $1,900
    Less than $450,000................................               400
Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Annual Gross
 Receipts):
    $450,000 to $6.5 million..........................             1,900
    Less than $450,000................................               400
Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500
 employees or fewer:
    35 to 500 employees...............................             1,900
    Fewer than 35 employees...........................               400
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly
 supported educational institutions) (Population):
    20,000 to 50,000..................................             1,900
    Fewer than 20,000.................................               400
Educational Institutions that are not State or
 Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Fewer:
    35 to 500 employees...............................             1,900
    Fewer than 35 employees...........................               400
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (d) The FY 2009 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee and 
an allocation for fee-relief adjustment. The activities comprising the 
FY 2009 fee-relief adjustment are shown for convenience in paragraph 
(e) of this section. The FY 2009 annual fees for materials licensees 
and holders of certificates, registrations or approvals subject to fees 
under this section are shown in the following table:

   Schedule of Materials Annual Fees and Fees for Government Agencies
                             Licensed by NRC
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          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                $4,691,000
         (High Enriched Uranium) [Program Code(s):
         21130]...................................
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible                1,649,000
         Form Used for Fabrication of Power
         Reactor Fuel [Program Code(s): 21210]....
    (2) All other special nuclear materials
     licenses not included in Category............
        1.A.(1) which are licensed for fuel cycle
         activities...............................
            (a) Facilities with limited operations               765,000
             [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320]......
            (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment                        918,000
             demonstration facilities.............
            (c) Others, including hot cell                       408,000
             facilities...........................

[[Page 27667]]

 
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent                 \11\N/A
     fuel and reactor-related Greater than Class C
     (GTCC) waste at an independent spent fuel
     storage installation (ISFSI) [Program
     Code(s): 23200]..............................
    C. Licenses for possession and use of special                  2,700
     nuclear material in sealed sources contained
     in devices used in industrial measuring
     systems, including x-ray fluorescence
     analyzers [Program Code(s): 22140]...........
    D. All other special nuclear material                          7,600
     licenses, except licenses authorizing special
     nuclear material in unsealed form in
     combination that would constitute a critical
     quantity, as defined in Sec.   150.11 of this
     chapter, for which the licensee shall pay the
     same fees as those for Category 1.A.(2)
     [Program Code(s): 22110, 22111, 22120, 22131,
     22136, 22150, 22151, 22161, 22163, 22170,
     23100, 23300, 23310].........................
    E. Licenses or certificates for the operation              2,804,000
     of a uranium enrichment facility [Program
     Code(s): 21200]..............................
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of                    969,000
     source material for refining uranium mill
     concentrates to uranium hexafluoride [Program
     Code(s): 11400]..............................
    (2) Licenses for possession and use of source
     material in recovery operations such as
     milling, in-situ recovery, heap-leaching, ore
     buying stations, ion exchange facilities and
     in-processing of ores containing source
     material for extraction of metals other than
     uranium or thorium, including licenses
     authorizing the possession of byproduct waste
     material (tailings) from source material
     recovery operations, as well as licenses
     authorizing the possession and maintenance of
     a facility in a standby mode.................
        (a) Conventional and Heap Leach facilities                31,200
         [Program Code(s): 11100].................
        (b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities                     29,700
         [Program Code(s):].......................
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities                  33,600
         [Program Code(s):].......................
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities.....               \5\ N/A
        (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities.........               \5\ N/A
        (f) Other facilities\4\ [Program Code(s):                \5\ N/A
         11700]...................................
    (3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of                   \5\ N/A
     byproduct material, as defined in Section
     11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from other
     persons for possession and disposal, except
     those licenses subject to the fees in
     Category 2.A.(2) or Category 2.A.(4) [Program
     Code(s): 11600]..............................
    (4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of                    10,100
     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)......
    (5) Licenses that authorize the possession of                  7,000
     source material related to removal of
     contaminants (source material) from drinking
     water........................................
    B. Licenses that authorize only the                            1,310
     possession, use and/or installation of source
     material for shielding [Program Code(s):
     11210].......................................
    C. All other source material licenses [Program                17,400
     Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11230, 11300,
     11800, 11810]................................
3. Byproduct material:
    A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and                 40,000
     use of byproduct material issued under parts
     30 and 33 of this chapter for processing or
     manufacturing of items containing byproduct
     material for commercial distribution [Program
     Code(s): 03211, 03212, 03213]................
    B. Other licenses for possession and use of                   10,300
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of
     this chapter for processing or manufacturing
     of items containing byproduct material for
     commercial distribution [Program Code(s):
     03214, 03215, 22135, 22162]..................
    C. Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   32.72                   13,500
     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
     under part 40 of this chapter when included
     on the same license. This category does not
     apply to licenses issued to nonprofit
     educational institutions whose processing or
     manufacturing is exempt under Sec.
     171.11(a)(1). These licenses are covered by
     fee under Category 3.D. [Program Code(s):
     02500, 02511, 02513].........................
    D. Licenses and approvals issued under Sec.                    8,700
     Sec.   32.72 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 under Sec.
     Sec.   32.72 and 32.74 of this chapter to
     nonprofit educational institutions whose
     processing or manufacturing is exempt under
     Sec.   171.11(a)(1). This category also
     includes the possession and use of source
     material for shielding authorized under part
     40 of this chapter when included on the same
     license [Program Code(s): 02512, 02514]......
    E. Licenses for possession and use of                          6,600
     byproduct material in sealed sources for
     irradiation of materials in which the source
     is not removed from its shield (self-shielded
     units) [Program Code(s): 03510, 03520].......
    F. Licenses for possession and use of less                    12,700
     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
     [Program Code(s): 03511].....................
    G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000                  62,800
     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
     [Program Code(s): 03521].....................
    H. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32                  8,300
     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 [Program Code(s): 03255]........

[[Page 27668]]

 
    I. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32                 14,900
     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 [Program Code(s):
     03250, 03251, 03252, 03253, 03254, 03256]....
    J. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 32                  3,300
     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 [Program Code(s): 03240, 03241,
     03243].......................................
    K. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 32                  2,500
     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 [Program Code(s): 03242, 03244]......
    L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and                 19,800
     use of byproduct material issued under parts
     30 and 33 of this chapter for research and
     development that do not authorize commercial
     distribution [Program Code(s): 01100, 01110,
     01120, 03610, 03611, 03612, 03613]...........
    M. Other licenses for possession and use of                    7,500
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of
     this chapter for research and development
     that do not authorize commercial distribution
     [Program Code(s): 03620].....................
    N. Licenses that authorize services for other                 11,400
     licensees, except: (1) Licenses that
     authorize only calibration and/or leak
     testing services are subject to the fees
     specified in fee Category 3.P.; and (2)
     Licenses that authorize waste disposal
     services are subject to the fees specified in
     fee categories 4.A., 4.B., and 4.C. [Program
     Code(s): 03219, 03225, 03226]................
    O. Licenses for possession and use of                         22,700
     byproduct material issued under part 34 of
     this chapter for industrial radiography
     operations. This category also includes the
     possession and use of source material for
     shielding authorized under part 40 of this
     chapter when authorized on the same license
     [Program Code(s): 03310, 03320]..............
    P. All other specific byproduct material                       3,700
     licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
     through 9.D. [Program Code(s): 02400, 02410,
     03120, 03121, 03122, 03123, 03124, 03220,
     03221, 03222, 03800, 03810, 22130]...........
    Q. Registration of devices generally licensed               \13\ N/A
     under part 31 of this chapter................
    R. Possession of items or products containing
     radium-226 identified in 10 CFR 31.12 which
     exceed the number of items or limits
     specified in that section:\14\...............
        1. Possession of quantities exceeding the                  3,300
         number of items or limits in 10 CFR
         31.12(a)(4), or (5) but less than or
         equal to 10 times the number of items or
         limits specified [Program Code(s): 02700]
        2. Possession of quantities exceeding 10                   3,700
         times the number of items or limits
         specified in 10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), or (5)
         [Program Code(s): 02710].................
    S. Licenses for production of accelerator-                    12,200
     produced radionuclides [Program Code(s):
     03210].......................................
4. Waste disposal and processing:
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing the                     \5\ N/A
     receipt of waste byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material from
     other persons for the purpose of contingency
     storage or commercial land disposal by the
     licensee; or licenses authorizing contingency
     storage of low-level radioactive waste at the
     site of nuclear power reactors; or licenses
     for receipt of waste from other persons for
     incineration or other treatment, packaging of
     resulting waste and residues, and transfer of
     packages to another person authorized to
     receive or dispose of waste material [Program
     Code(s): 03231, 03233, 03235, 03236, 06100,
     06101].......................................
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the                      18,700
     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 [Program Code(s):
     03234].......................................
    C. Licenses specifically authorizing the                      11,800
     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 [Program Code(s):
     03232].......................................
5. Well logging:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of                          9,700
     byproduct material, source material, and/or
     special nuclear material for well logging,
     well surveys, and tracer studies other than
     field flooding tracer studies [Program
     Code(s): 03110, 03111, 03112]................
    B. Licenses for possession and use of                        \5\ N/A
     byproduct material for field flooding tracer
     studies [Program Code(s): 03113].............
6. Nuclear laundries:
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and                     35,400
     laundry of items contaminated with byproduct
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material [Program Code(s): 03218]............
7. Medical licenses:
    A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and                17,500
     70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material in sealed sources contained in gamma
     stereotactic radiosurgery units, teletherapy
     devices, or similar beam therapy devices.
     This category also includes the possession
     and use of source material for shielding when
     authorized on the same license [Program
     Code(s): 02300, 02310].......................
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical                  36,300
     institutions or two or more physicians under
     parts 30, 33, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter
     authorizing research and development,
     including human use of byproduct material
     except licenses for byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear material
     in sealed sources contained in teletherapy
     devices. This category also includes the
     possession and use of source material for
     shielding when authorized on the same
     license.\9\ [Program Code(s): 02110].........

[[Page 27669]]

 
    C. Other licenses issued under parts 30, 35,                   6,200
     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\ [Program
     Code(s): 02120, 02121, 02200, 02201, 02210,
     02220, 02230, 02231, 02240, 22160]...........
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of                          3,300
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material for civil defense
     activities [Program Code(s): 03710]..........
9. Device, product, or sealed source safety
 evaluation:
    A. Registrations issued for the safety                        10,400
     evaluation of devices or products containing
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material, except reactor fuel
     devices, for commercial distribution.........
    B. Registrations issued for the safety                        10,400
     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.........................
    C. Registrations issued for the safety                         7,300
     evaluation of sealed sources containing
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material, except reactor
     fuel, for commercial distribution............
    D. Registrations issued for the safety                         1,200
     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.................................
10. Transportation of radioactive material:
    A. Certificates of Compliance or other package
     approvals issued for design of casks,
     packages, and shipping containers............
        1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and                     \6\ N/A
         plutonium air packages...................
        2. Other Casks............................               \6\ N/A
    B. Quality assurance program approvals issued
     under part 71 of this chapter................
        1. Users and Fabricators..................               \6\ N/A
        2. Users..................................               \6\ N/A
    C. Evaluation of security plans, route                       \6\ N/A
     approvals, route surveys, and transportation
     security devices (including immobilization
     devices).....................................
11. Standardized spent fuel facilities............               \6\ N/A
12. Special Projects..............................               \6\ N/A
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of                    \6\ N/A
 Compliance.......................................
    B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel               \12\ N/A
     under 10 CFR 72.210..........................
14. Decommissioning/Reclamation:
    A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear                     \7\ N/A
     material licenses and other approvals
     authorizing decommissioning, decontamination,
     reclamation, or site restoration activities
     under parts 30, 40, 70, 72, and 76 of this
     chapter......................................
    B. Site-specific decommissioning activities                  \7\ N/A
     associated with unlicensed sites, whether or
     not the sites have been previously licensed..
15. Import and Export licenses....................               \8\ N/A
16. Reciprocity...................................               \8\ N/A
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope                     187,000
 issued to Government agencies....................
18. Department of Energy:
    A. Certificates of Compliance.................          \10\ 719,000
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act               339,000
     (UMTRCA) activities..........................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Annual fees will be assessed based on whether a licensee held a
  valid license with the NRC authorizing possession and use of
  radioactive material during the current FY. The annual fee is waived
  for those materials licenses and holders of certificates,
  registrations, and approvals who either filed for termination of their
  licenses or approvals or filed for possession only/storage licenses
  before October 1, 2007, and permanently ceased licensed activities
  entirely before this date. Annual fees for licensees who filed for
  termination of a license, downgrade of a license, or for a possession
  only license during the FY and for new licenses issued during the FY
  will be prorated in accordance with the provisions of Sec.   171.17.
  If a person holds more than one license, certificate, registration, or
  approval, the annual fee(s) will be assessed for each license,
  certificate, registration, or approval held by that person. For
  licenses that authorize more than one activity on a single license
  (e.g., human use and irradiator activities), annual fees will be
  assessed for each category applicable to the license. Licensees paying
  annual fees under Category 1.A.(1) are not subject to the annual fees
  for Categories 1.C. and 1.D. for sealed sources authorized in the
  license.
\2\ Payment of the prescribed annual fee does not automatically renew
  the license, certificate, registration, or approval for which the fee
  is paid. Renewal applications must be filed in accordance with the
  requirements of parts 30, 40, 70, 71, 72, or 76 of this chapter.
\3\ Each FY, fees for these materials licenses will be calculated and
  assessed in accordance with Sec.   171.13 and will be published in the
  Federal Register for notice and comment.
\4\ Another license includes licenses for extraction of metals, heavy
  metals, and rare earths.
\5\ There are no existing NRC licenses in these fee categories. If NRC
  issues a license for these categories, the Commission will consider
  establishing an annual fee for this type of license.
\6\ Standardized spent fuel facilities, 10 CFR parts 71 and 72
  Certificates of Compliance and related Quality Assurance program
  approvals, and special reviews, such as topical reports, are not
  assessed an annual fee because the generic costs of regulating these
  activities are primarily attributable to users of the designs,
  certificates, and topical reports.
\7\ Licensees in this category are not assessed an annual fee because
  they are charged an annual fee in other categories while they are
  licensed to operate.
\8\ No annual fee is charged because it is not practical to administer
  due to the relatively short life or temporary nature of the license.
\9\ Separate annual fees will not be assessed for pacemaker licenses
  issued to medical institutions that also hold nuclear medicine
  licenses under Categories 7.B. or 7.C.
\10\ This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to DOE that are not
  funded from the Nuclear Waste Fund.
\11\ See Sec.   171.15(c).
\12\ See Sec.   171.15(c).
\13\ No annual fee is charged for this category because the cost of the
  general license registration program applicable to licenses in this
  category will be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees.

[[Page 27670]]

 
\14\ Persons who possess radium sources that are used for operational
  purposes in another fee category are not also subject to the fees in
  this category. (This exception does not apply if the radium sources
  are possessed for storage only.)

    (e) The fee-relief adjustment allocated to annual fees includes the 
budgeted resources for the activities listed in paragraph (e)(1) of 
this section, plus the total budgeted resources for the activities 
included in paragraphs (e)(2) and (e)(3) of this section as reduced by 
the appropriations NRC receives for these types of activities. If the 
NRC's appropriations for these types of activities are greater than the 
budgeted resources for the activities included in paragraphs (e)(2) and 
(e)(3) of this section for a given FY, a negative fee-relief adjustment 
(or annual fee reduction) will be allocated to annual fees. The 
activities comprising the FY 2009 fee-relief adjustment are as follows:
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of May 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J.E. Dyer,
Chief Financial Officer.

    Note: This Appendix Will Not Appear in the Code of Federal 
Regulations.

APPENDIX A TO THIS FINAL RULE--REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS FOR THE 
FINAL AMENDMENTS TO 10 CFR PART 170 (LICENSE FEES) AND 10 CFR PART 171 
(ANNUAL FEES)

I. Background

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as amended 5 U.S.C. 601 et 
seq., requires that agencies consider the impact of their 
rulemakings on small entities and, consistent with applicable 
statutes, consider alternatives to minimize these impacts on the 
businesses, organizations, and government jurisdictions to which 
they apply.
    The NRC has established standards for determining which NRC 
licensees qualify as small entities (10 CFR 2.810). These standards 
were based on the Small Business Administration's most common 
receipts-based size standards and provides for business concerns 
that are manufacturing entities. The NRC uses the size standards to 
reduce the impact of annual fees on small entities by establishing a 
licensee's eligibility to qualify for a maximum small entity fee. 
The small entity fee categories in Sec.  171.16(c) of this final 
rule are based on the NRC's size standards.
    The NRC is required each year, under OBRA-90, as amended, to 
recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority (less 
amounts appropriated from the NWF and for other activities 
specifically removed from the fee base), through fees to NRC 
licensees and applicants. In total, the NRC is required to bill 
approximately $866.5 million in fees for FY 2009.
    OBRA-90 requires that the schedule of charges established by 
rulemaking should fairly and equitably allocate the total amount to 
be recovered from the NRC's licensees and be assessed under the 
principle that licensees who require the greatest expenditure of 
agency resources pay the greatest annual charges. Since FY 1991, the 
NRC has complied with OBRA-90 by issuing a final rule that amends 
its fee regulations. These final rules have established the 
methodology used by the NRC in identifying and determining the fees 
to be assessed and collected in any given FY.
    The Commission is rebaselining its part 171 annual fees in FY 
2009. Rebaselining fees results in increased annual fees for three 
classes of licensees (power reactors, non-power reactors, and fuel 
facilities), and decreased annual fees for two classes of licensees 
(spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning and transportation). 
Within the materials users and uranium recovery fee classes, annual 
fees for most licensees increase, while annual fees for some 
licensees decrease.
    The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act (SBREFA) provides 
Congress with the opportunity to review agency rules before they go 
into effect. Under this legislation, the NRC annual fee rule is 
considered a ``major'' rule and must be reviewed by Congress and the 
Comptroller General before the rule becomes effective.
    The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act also requires that 
an agency prepare a guide to assist small entities in complying with 
each rule for which a final RFA is prepared. As required by law, 
this analysis and the small entity compliance guide (Attachment 1) 
have been prepared for the FY 2009 fee rule as required by law.

II. Impact on Small Entities

    The fee rule results in substantial fees charged to those 
individuals, organizations, and companies licensed by the NRC, 
including those licensed under the NRC materials program. Comments 
received on previous proposed fee rules and the small entity 
certifications in response to previous final fee rules indicate that 
licensees qualifying as small entities under the NRC's size 
standards are primarily materials licensees. Therefore, this 
analysis will focus on the economic impact of fees on materials 
licensees. In FY 2008, about 26 percent of these licensees 
(approximately 1,100 licensees) qualified as small entities.
    Commenters on previous fee rulemakings consistently indicated 
that the following would occur if the proposed annual fees were not 
modified:
    1. Large firms would gain an unfair competitive advantage over 
small entities. Commenters noted that small and very small companies 
(``Mom and Pop'' operations) would find it more difficult to absorb 
the annual fee than a large corporation or a high-volume type of 
operation. In competitive markets, such as soil testing, annual fees 
would put small licensees at an extreme competitive disadvantage 
with their much larger competitors because the proposed fees would 
be identical for both small and large firms.
    2. Some firms would be forced to cancel their licenses. A 
licensee 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. Other licensees, especially well-loggers, noted 
that the increased fees would force small businesses to abandon the 
materials license altogether. Commenters estimated that the proposed 
rule would cause roughly 10 percent of the well-logging licensees to 
terminate their licenses immediately and approximately 25 percent to 
terminate before the next annual assessment.
    3. Some companies would go out of business.
    4. Some companies would have budget problems. Many medical 
licensees noted that, along with reduced reimbursements, the 
proposed increase of the existing fees and the introduction of 
additional fees would significantly affect their budgets. Others 
noted that, in view of the cuts by Medicare and other third party 
carriers, the fees would produce a hardship difficult for some 
facilities to meet.
    Over 3,000 licenses, approvals, and registration terminations 
have been requested since the NRC first established annual fees for 
materials licenses. Although some terminations were requested 
because the license was no longer needed or could be combined with 
registrations, indications are that the economic impact of the fees 
caused other terminations.
    To alleviate the significant impact of the annual fees on a 
substantial number of small entities, the NRC considered the 
following alternatives in accordance with the RFA in developing each 
of its fee rules since FY 1991.
    1. Base fees on some measure of the amount of radioactivity 
possessed by the licensee (e.g., number of sources).
    2. Base fees on frequency of use of licensed radioactive 
material (e.g., volume of patients).
    3. Base fees on the NRC size standards for small entities.
    The NRC has reexamined its previous evaluations of these 
alternatives and continues to believe that a maximum fee for small 
entities is the most appropriate and effective option for reducing 
the impact of fees on small entities.

III. Maximum Fee

    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 percent of gross receipts that should be 
charged to a small entity. In developing the maximum small entity 
annual fee in FY 1991, the NRC examined 10 CFR part 170 licensing 
and inspection fees and Agreement State fees for fee categories 
which were expected to have a substantial number

[[Page 27671]]

of small entities. Six Agreement States (Washington, Texas, 
Illinois, Nebraska, New York, and Utah), were used as benchmarks in 
the establishment of the maximum small entity annual fee in FY 1991.
    The NRC maximum small entity fee was established as an annual 
fee only. In addition to the annual fee, NRC small entity licensees 
were required to pay amendment, renewal and inspection fees. In 
setting the small entity annual fee, NRC ensured that the total 
amount small entities paid would not exceed the maximum paid in the 
six benchmark Agreement States.
    Of the six benchmark states, the NRC used Washington's maximum 
Agreement State fee of $3,800 as the ceiling for total fees. Thus 
NRC's small entity fee was developed to ensure that the total fees 
paid by NRC small entities would not exceed $3,800. Given the NRC's 
FY 1991 fee structure for inspections, amendments, and renewals, a 
small entity annual fee established at $1,800 allowed the total fee 
(small entity annual fee plus yearly average for inspections, 
amendments and renewal fees) for all categories to fall under the 
$3,800 ceiling.
    In FY 1992, the NRC introduced a second, lower tier to the small 
entity fee in response to concerns that the $1,800 fee, when added 
to the license and inspection fees, still imposed a significant 
impact on small entities with relatively low gross annual receipts. 
For purposes of the annual fee, each small entity size standard was 
divided into an upper and lower tier. Small entity licensees in the 
upper tier continued to pay an annual fee of $1,800 while those in 
the lower tier paid an annual fee of $400.
    Based on the changes that had occurred since FY 1991, the NRC 
re-analyzed its maximum small entity annual fees in FY 2000 and 
determined that the small entity fees should be increased by 25 
percent to reflect the increase in the average fees paid by other 
materials licensees since FY 1991, as well as changes in the fee 
structure for materials licensees. The structure of fees NRC charged 
its materials licensees changed during the period between 1991 and 
1999. Costs for materials license inspections, renewals, and 
amendments, which were previously recovered through part 170 fees 
for services, are now included in the part 171 annual fees assessed 
to materials licensees. Because of the 25 percent increase, in FY 
2000 the maximum small entity annual fee increased from $1,800 to 
$2,300. However, despite the increase, total fees for many small 
entities were reduced because they no longer paid part 170 fees. 
Costs not recovered from small entities were allocated to other 
materials licensees and to power reactors.
    While reducing the impact on many small entities, the NRC 
determined that the maximum annual fee of $2,300 for small entities 
could continue to have a significant impact on materials licensees 
with relatively low annual gross receipts. Therefore, the NRC 
continued to provide the lower-tier small entity annual fee for 
small entities with relatively low gross annual receipts, 
manufacturing concerns and for educational institutions not State or 
publicly supported with fewer than 35 employees. The NRC also 
increased the lower tier small entity fee by 25 percent, the same 
percentage increase to the maximum small entity annual fee, 
resulting in the lower tier small entity fee increasing from $400 to 
$500 in FY 2000.
    The NRC stated in the RFA for the FY 2001 final fee rule that it 
would re-examine the small entity fees every two years, in the same 
years in which it conducts the biennial review of fees as required 
by the Chief Financial Officers Act. Accordingly, the NRC examined 
the small entity fees again in FY 2003 and FY 2005, determining that 
a change was not warranted to those fees established in FY 2001.
    As part of the small entity review in FY 2007, the NRC also 
considered whether it should establish reduced fees for small 
entities under part 170. The NRC received one comment requesting 
that small entity fees be considered for certain export licenses, 
particularly in light of the recent increases to part 170 fees for 
these licenses. Because the NRC's part 170 fees are not assessed to 
a licensee or applicant on a regular basis (i.e., they are only 
assessed when a licensee or applicant requests a specific service 
from the NRC), the NRC does not believe that the impact of its part 
170 fees warrants a fee reduction for small entities, in addition to 
the part 171 small entity fee reduction. Regarding export licenses, 
the NRC notes that interested parties can submit a single 
application for a broad scope, multi-year license that permits 
exports to multiple countries. Because the NRC charges fees per 
application, this process minimizes the fees for export applicants. 
Because a single NRC fee can cover numerous exports, and because 
there are a limited number of entities who apply for these licenses, 
the NRC does not anticipate that the part 170 export fees will have 
a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Therefore, the NRC retained the $2,300 small entity annual fee and 
the $500 lower tier small entity annual fee for FY 2007, and FY 
2008.
    The NRC conducted an in-depth biennial review of the FY 2009 
small entity fees. The review noted significant changes between FY 
2000 and FY 2008 in both the external and internal environment which 
impacted fees for NRC's small materials users licensees. Since FY 
2000 small entity licensees in the upper tier have increased 
approximately 53 percent. In addition, due to changes in the law, 
NRC is now only required to recover 90 percent of its budget 
authority compared to 100 percent recovery required in FY 2000. This 
ten percent fee relief has influenced the small materials users' 
annual fees. A decrease in the NRC's budget allocation to the small 
materials users has also influenced annual fees in the last two 
years. Based on the review, the NRC will change the small entity fee 
for FY 2009 and establish a new methodology for reviewing small 
entity fees. The NRC will now determine the maximum small entity fee 
each biennial year using a fixed percentage of 39 percent applied to 
the prior two-year weighted average of small materials users fees 
for all fee categories which have small entity licensees.
    For FY 2009, these changes result in a maximum small entity fee 
of $1,900 and a lower tier annual fee of $400. This new methodology 
allows small entity licensees to be able to predict changes in their 
fee in the biennial year based on the small materials fees for the 
previous two years. Using a two-year weighted average will smooth 
the fluctuations caused by programmatic and budget variables and 
will reflect the importance of the fee categories with the majority 
of small entities. Since the current small entity annual fee of 
$2,300 is 39 percent of the two-year weighted average for all fee 
categories in FY 2005 and FY 2006 that have an upper tier small 
entity licensee, the agency will retain the 39 percent as the 
percentage applied to the prior two-year weighted average of small 
materials users fees. The lower tier annual fee remains at 22 
percent of the maximum small entity annual fee.

IV. 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 recover 90 percent of the NRC budget and the 
requirement to consider means of reducing the impact of the fee on 
small entities. Based on its regulatory flexibility analysis, the 
NRC concludes that a maximum annual fee of $1,900 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 $450,000, small governmental jurisdictions 
with a population of fewer than 20,000, small manufacturing entities 
that have fewer than 35 employees, and educational institutions that 
are not State or publicly supported and have fewer 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.
    In 2007, the NRC revised its receipts-based size standards (72 
FR 44951; August 10, 2007) to conform with the Small Business Agency 
standards. The maximum average gross annual receipts (upper tier) to 
qualify as a small entity were changed to $6.5 million from $5 
million. The NRC is now proposing to revise the small entity lower 
tier receipts-based threshold to $450,000 from $350,000 
approximately the same percentage adjustment as the change in the 
upper tier receipts-based standard.

ATTACHMENT 1 TO APPENDIX A-- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Small 
Entity Compliance Guide; Fiscal Year 2009

Contents

Introduction
NRC Definition of Small Entity
NRC Small Entity Fees
Instructions for Completing NRC Form 526

Introduction

    The Congressional Review Act 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), as amended, is 
considered a ``major'' rule under

[[Page 27672]]

the Congressional Review Act. Therefore, in compliance with the law, 
this guide has been prepared to assist NRC materials licensees in 
complying with the FY 2009 fee rule.
    Licensees may use this guide to determine whether they qualify 
as a small entity under NRC regulations and are eligible to pay 
reduced FY 2009 annual fees assessed under 10 CFR part 171. The NRC 
has established two tiers of annual fees for those materials 
licensees who qualify as small entities under the NRC's size 
standards.
    Licensees who meet the NRC's size standards for a small entity 
(listed in 10 CFR 2.810) must submit a completed NRC Form 526 
``Certification of Small Entity Status for the Purposes of Annual 
Fees Imposed under 10 CFR Part 171'' to qualify for the reduced 
annual fee. This form can be accessed on the NRC's Web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov. The form can then be accessed by selecting 
``Business with NRC,'' then ``NRC Forms,'' selecting NRC Form 526. 
For licensees who cannot access the NRC's Web site, NRC Form 526 may 
be obtained through the local point of contact listed in the NRC's 
``Materials Annual Fee Billing Handbook,'' NUREG/BR-0238, which is 
enclosed with each annual fee billing. Alternatively, the form may 
be obtained by calling the fee staff at 301-415-7554, or by e-
mailing the fee staff at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a5c3c0c0d68bd7c0d6cad0d7c6c0e5cbd7c68bc2cad3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="50363535237e2235233f25223335103e22337e373f26">[email protected]</span></a>. The completed form, 
the appropriate small entity fee, and the payment copy of the 
invoice should be mailed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
License Fee Team, at the address indicated on the invoice. Failure 
to file the NRC small entity certification Form 526 in a timely 
manner may result in the denial of any refund that might otherwise 
be due.

NRC Definition of Small Entity

    For purposes of compliance with its regulations (10 CFR 2.810), 
the NRC has defined a small entity as follows:
    (1) Small business--a for-profit concern that provides a 
service, or a concern that is not engaged in manufacturing, with 
average gross receipts of $6.5 million or less over its last 3 
completed fiscal years;
    (2) Manufacturing industry--a manufacturing concern with an 
average of 500 or fewer employees based on employment during each 
pay period for the preceding 12 calendar months;
    (3) Small organizations--a not-for-profit organization that is 
independently owned and operated and has annual gross receipts of 
$6.5 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 fewer than 50,000;
    (5) Small education institution--an educations institution 
supported by a qualifying small governmental jurisdiction, or one 
that is not State or publicly supported and has 500 or fewer 
employees.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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 education programs 
are available to the public.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To further assist licensees in determining if they qualify as a 
small entity, the following guidelines are provided, which are based 
on the Small Business Administration's regulations (13 CFR part 
121).
    (1) A small business concern is an independently owned and 
operated entity which is not considered dominant in its field of 
operations.
    (2) The number of employees means the total number of employees 
in the parent company, any subsidiaries and/or affiliates, including 
both foreign and domestic locations (i.e., not solely the number of 
employees working for the licensee or conducting NRC licensed 
activities for the company).
    (3) Gross annual receipts includes all revenue received or 
accrued from any source, including receipts of the parent company, 
any subsidiaries and/or affiliates, and account for both foreign and 
domestic locations. Receipts include all revenues from sales of 
products and services, interest, rent, fees, and commissions, from 
whatever sources derived (i.e., not solely receipts from NRC 
licensed activities).
    (4) A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large entity, including 
a foreign entity, does not qualify as a small entity.

NRC Small Entity Fees

    In 10 CFR 171.16(c), the NRC has established two tiers of fees 
for licensees that qualify as a small entity under the NRC's size 
standards. The fees are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Maximum annual
                                                        fee per licensed
                                                            category
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Businesses Not Engaged in Manufacturing (Average
 gross receipts over last 3 completed fiscal years):
    $450,000 to $6.5 million..........................            $1,900
    Less than $450,000................................               400
Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Annual Gross
 Receipts):
    $450,000 to $6.5 million..........................             1,900
    Less than $450,000................................               400
Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500
 employees or fewer:
    35 to 500 employees...............................             1,900
    Fewer than 35 employees...........................               400
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly
 supported educational institutions) (Population):
    20,000 to 50,000..................................             1,900
    Fewer than 20,000.................................               400
Educational Institutions that are not State or
 Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Fewer:
    35 to 500 employees...............................             1,900
    Fewer than 35 employees...........................               400
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Instructions for Completing NRC Small Entity Form 526

    1. Complete all items on NRC Form 526 as follows: (Note: 
Incomplete or improperly completed forms will be returned as 
unacceptable.)
    (a) Enter the license number and invoice number exactly as they 
appear on the annual fee invoice.
    (b) Enter the North American Industry Classification System 
(NAICS).
    (c) Enter the licensee's name and address exactly as they appear 
on the invoice. Annotate name and/or address changes for billing 
purposes on the payment copy of the invoice--include contact's name, 
telephone number, e-mail address, and company Web site address. 
Correcting the name and/or address on NRC Form 526 or on the invoice 
does not constitute a request to amend the license.
    (d) Check the appropriate size standard under which the licensee 
qualifies as a small entity. Check one box only. Note the following:
    (i) A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large entity, including 
foreign entities, does not qualify as a small entity. The 
calculation of a firm's size includes the employees or receipts of 
all affiliates. Affiliation with another concern is based on the 
power to control, whether exercised or not. Such factors as common 
ownership, common management and identity of interest (often found 
in members of the same family), among others, are indications of 
affiliation. The affiliated business concerns need not be in the 
same line of business.
    (ii) Gross annual receipts, as used in the size standards, 
include all revenue received or accrued by your company from all 
sources,

[[Page 27673]]

regardless of the form of the revenue and not solely receipts from 
licensed activities.
    (iii) NRC's size standards on a small entity are based on the 
Small Business Administration's regulations (13 CFR part 121).
    (iv) The size standards apply to the licensee, not to the 
individual authorized users who may be listed in the license.
    2. If the invoice states the ``Amount Billed Represents 50% 
Proration,'' the amount due is not the prorated amount shown on the 
invoice but rather one-half of the maximum small entity annual fee 
shown on NRC Form 526 for the size standard under which the licensee 
qualifies (either $950 or $200) for each category billed.
    3. If the invoice amount is less than the reduced small entity 
annual fee shown on this form, pay the amount on the invoice; there 
is no further reduction. In this case, do not file NRC Form 526. 
However, if the invoice amount is greater than the reduced small 
entity annual fee, file NRC Form 526 and pay the amount applicable 
to the size standard you checked on the form.
    4. The completed NRC Form 526 must be submitted with the 
required annual fee payment and the ``Payment Copy'' of the invoice 
to the address shown on the invoice.
    5. 10 CFR 171.16(c)(3) states licensees shall submit a new 
certification with its annual fee payment each year. Failure to 
submit NRC Form 526 at the time the annual fee is paid will require 
the licensee to pay the full amount of the invoice.
    The NRC sends invoices to its licensees for the full annual fee, 
even though some licensees qualify for reduced fees as small 
entities. Licensees who qualify as small entities and file NRC Form 
526, which certifies eligibility for small entity fees, may pay the 
reduced fee, which is either $1,900 or $400 for a full year, 
depending on the size of the entity, for each fee category shown on 
the invoice. Licensees granted a license during the first 6 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 6 months of the fiscal year, pay only 50 
percent of the annual fee for that year. Such invoices state that 
the ``amount billed represents 50% proration.''
    Licensees must file a new small entity form (NRC Form 526) with 
the NRC each fiscal year to qualify for reduced fees in that year. 
Because a licensee's ``size,'' or the size standards, may change 
from year to year, the invoice reflects the full fee and licensees 
must complete and return NRC Form 526 for the fee to be reduced to 
the small entity fee amount. LICENSEES WILL NOT RECEIVE 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 Team at the address indicated on 
the invoice.
    If you have questions regarding the NRC's annual fees, please 
contact the license fee staff at 301-415-7554, e-mail the fee staff 
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6b0d0e0e1845190e18041e19080e2b051908450c041d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ec8a89899fc29e899f83999e8f89ac829e8fc28b839a">[email protected]</span></a>, or write to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Office of the 
Chief Financial Officer.
    False certification of small entity status could result in civil 
sanctions being imposed by the NRC under 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. E9-13425 Filed 6-9-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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