27642 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 10, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

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. 

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 

Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 

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 

pdr.resource@nrc.gov. 

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 

Rebecca.Erickson@NRC.gov. 

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 securityrelated 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 


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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 wellestablished 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 nongovernmental 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 


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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 LowEnriched 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 reevaluate 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 insitu 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 § 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 


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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 feerelief 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 riskinformed practices to develop costefficient 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 


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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 .............................................................................................................................................. × 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 Year Invoices (estimated) ...................................................................... ¥6.0 

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 


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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 

fees.resource@nrc.gov. 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 §§ 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 Activity ............................................................................................................ 129.2M 

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 Hourly Rate divided by Mission Direct FTE Hours) ..................................... $257 

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 

§§ 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 § 170.31) also increase because of 

the results of the biennial review, which 


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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 § 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 

§ 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 § 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 

§ 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 

§ 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 

§ 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 § 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 feerelief 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 feerelief 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.) 


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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 institutions ........................................................................................................... 11.5 

b. Costs not recovered from small entities under 10 CFR 171.16(c) ...................................................................................... 3.7 

c. Regulatory support to Agreement States ............................................................................................................................. 17.5 

d. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (not related to the power reactor and spent fuel storage fee classes) ................. 13.6 

e. In situ leach rulemaking and unregistered general licensees ............................................................................................. 3.5 

Total fee-relief activities .................................................................................................................................................... 93.5 

Less 10 percent of NRC’s FY 2009 total budget (non including non-fee items) ............................................................................ ¥96.7 

Fee Relief to be Allocated to All Licensees’ Annual Fees ............................................................................................... $¥3.2 

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 Decommissioning ................. ........................ ........................ 2 .5 ¥0.1 ¥0.1 

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 feerelief 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. 


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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 

§§ 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 

Class/category of licenses FY 2008 

annual fee 

FY 2009 

final annual fee 

Operating Power Reactors (Including Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning Annual Fee) ............. $4,167,000 $4,625,000 

Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning .............................................................................................. 135,000 122,000 

Test and Research Reactors (Non-power Reactors) ...................................................................................... 76,500 87,600 

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 7B) ....................................................................................................... 22,900 36,300 

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 § 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 


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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 recovery .......................................................................................................... $13.9 $23.0 

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 UF6 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

Facility type (fee category) Number of 

facilities 

Effort factors 

(percent of total) 

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) 


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TABLE VII—EFFORT FACTORS FOR FUEL FACILITIES—Continued 

Facility type (fee category) Number of 

facilities 

Effort factors 

(percent of total) 

Safety Safeguards 

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

Facility type (fee category) FY 2009 

annual 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 § 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 § 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 feerelief category, generic 

decommissioning/reclamation, were 

shifted to the uranium recovery fee class 


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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 nonDOE 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 § 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 budgeted costs ............................................................................................... 101,425 

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 budgeted costs less the amounts specifically budgeted for Title I activities 188,361 

65 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief ................................................................................................................................ ¥17,457 

Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery Licenses ................................................................................... 170,904 

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. 


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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 nonDOE fee categories included in the 

uranium recovery fee class, are as 

follows: 

TABLE XI—BENEFIT FACTORS FOR URANIUM RECOVERY LICENSES

Fee category Number of 

licensees 

Benefit factor 

per licensee Total value Benefit factor 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 sites ........................................ 1 65 65 6 

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) 

Facility type (Fee category) FY 2009 

annual 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 (2.A.(4)) .......................................................................................................... 10,100 

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 


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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 § 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 (Nonpower 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 


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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 

§ 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 × [Application 

Fee + (Average Inspection Cost divided 

by Inspection Priority)] + Inspection 

Multiplier × (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 § 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 

§ 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. 


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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 § 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] 

License fee class/DOE 

Number CoCs 

benefiting fee 

class (or DOE) 

Percentage of 

total CoCs 

(percent) 

Allocated generic 

transportation 

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 § 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 receiptsbased 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 


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§ 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 § 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 

§ 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 

§ 171.15 and § 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 lowlevel radioactive waste burial site; and 

(6) The NRC’s fees were not arbitrary 

or capricious. 

With respect to 10 CFR part 171, on 

November 5, 1990, the Congress passed 

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 


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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 § 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. 

■ 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 

■ 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). 

■ 2. In § 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: 

§ 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 


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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. 

■ 3. Section 170.20 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 170.20 Average cost per professional 

staff-hour. 

Fees for permits, licenses, 

amendments, renewals, special projects, 

10 CFR part 55 re-qualification and 

replacement examinations and tests, 

other required reviews, approvals, and 

inspections under §§ 170.21 and 170.31 

will be calculated using the professional 

staff-hour rate of $257 per hour. 

■ 4. In § 170.21, in the table, fee 

category K is revised to read as follows: 

§ 170.21 Schedule of fees for production 

and utilization facilities, review of standard 

referenced design approvals, special 

projects, inspections and import and export 

licenses. 

* * * * * 

SCHEDULE OF FACILITY FEES

[See footnotes at end of table] 

Facility categories and type of fees Fees1, 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 license exemption request ..................................................................... $16,700 

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 license exemption request ..................................................................... 9,800 

3. Application for export of components requiring the assistance of the Executive Branch to obtain foreign government 

assurances. 

Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ..................................................................... 4,100 

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 license exemption request ..................................................................... 2,600 

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 

1Fees will not be charged for orders related to civil penalties or other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under § 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. 2Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff time and appropriate contractual support services expended. For applications 

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

review of the application up to the effective date of the final rule will be determined at the professional rates in effect 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 § 170.20, as appropriate, except for topical reports whose costs exceed $50,000. Costs which exceed $50,000 for any topical report, amendment, revision or supplement to a topical report completed or under review from January 30, 1989, 

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

applicable rate established in § 170.20. 

*****

4 Imports only of major components for end-use at NRC-licensed reactors are now authorized under NRC general import license. 

■ 5. In § 170.31, the table is revised to 

read as follows: 

§ 170.31 Schedule of fees for materials 

licenses and other regulatory services, 

including inspections, and import and 

export licenses. 

* * * * * 


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SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES

[See footnotes at end of table] 

Category of materials licenses and type of fees1 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 (High Enriched Uranium) [Program Code(s): 21130] ................................................ Full Cost 

(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel [Program Code(s): 21210] ... Full Cost 

(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 [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320] ................................................................................. Full Cost 

(b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration facilities ........................................................................................................... Full Cost 

(c) Others, including hot cell facilities ...................................................................................................................................... Full Cost 

B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel and reactor-related Greater than Class C (GTCC) waste at an independent 

spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) [Program Code(s): 23200].

Full Cost 

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

measuring systems, including x-ray fluorescence analyzers.4

Application [Program Code(s): 22140] ............................................................................................................................. $1,200 

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

same fees as those under Category 1.A.4

Application [Program Code(s): 22110, 22111, 22120, 22131, 22136, 22150, 22151, 22161, 22163, 22170, 23100, 

23300, 23310].

$2,400 

E. Licenses or certificates for construction and operation of a uranium enrichment facility [Program Code(s): 21200] .............. Full Cost 

2. Source material: 

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

[Program Code(s): 11400].

Full Cost 

(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 [Program Code(s): 11100] ................................................................................. Full Cost 

(b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities [Program Code(s): ] ....................................................................................................... Full Cost 

(c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities [Program Code(s): ] ................................................................................................ Full Cost 

(d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities ........................................................................................................................................ Full Cost 

(e) Resin Toll Milling facilities .................................................................................................................................................. Full Cost 

(f) Other facilities [Program Code(s): 11700] .......................................................................................................................... Full Cost 

(3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct material, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from 

other persons for possession and disposal, except those licenses subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2) or Category 

2.A.(4) [Program Code(s): 11600].

Full Cost 

(4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct material, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from 

other persons for possession and disposal incidental to the disposal of the uranium waste tailings generated by the licensee’s milling operations, except those licenses subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2).

Full Cost 

(5) Licenses that authorize the possession of source material related to removal of contaminants (source material) from 

drinking water.

Full Cost 

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

Application [Program Code(s): 11210] ............................................................................................................................. $570 

C. All other source material licenses. 

Application [Program Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11230, 11300, 11800, 11810] .................................................... $10,100 

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): 03211, 03212, 03213] ..................................................................................................... $12,000 

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): 03214, 03215, 22135, 22162] ........................................................................................ $4,500 

C. Licenses issued under §§ 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 § 170.11(a)(4). These licenses are covered by fee Category 3.D. 

Application [Program Code(s): 02500, 02511, 02513] ..................................................................................................... $6,500 

D. Licenses and approvals issued under §§ 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 §§ 32.72 and/or 32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit educational institutions 

whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under § 170.11(a)(4). 

Application [Program Code(s): 02512, 02514] ................................................................................................................. $4,400 

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

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

Application [Program Code(s): 03510, 03520] ................................................................................................................. $3,000 

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): 03511] ............................................................................................................................. $6,000 


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27662 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 10, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued 

[See footnotes at end of table] 

Category of materials licenses and type of fees1 Fee 2,3

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): 03521] ............................................................................................................................. $28,700 

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): 03255] ............................................................................................................................. $5,500 

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): 03250, 03251, 03252, 03253, 03254, 03256] ................................................................ $10,000 

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): 03240, 03241, 03243] ..................................................................................................... $1,800 

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): 03242, 03244] ................................................................................................................. $1,100 

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): 01100, 01110, 01120, 03610, 03611, 03612, 03613] .................................................... $10,100 

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): 03620] ............................................................................................................................. $3,500 

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

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

3P; and 

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

4.C. 

Application [Program Code(s): 03219, 03225, 03226] ..................................................................................................... $6,100 

O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued under part 34 of this chapter for industrial radiography operations. 

Application [Program Code(s): 03310, 03320] ................................................................................................................. $5,800 

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

Application [Program Code(s): 02400, 02410, 03120, 03121, 03122, 03123, 03124, 03220, 03221, 03222, 03800, 

03810, 22130].

$1,400 

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): 02700] ............................................................................................................................. $1,180 

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): 02710] ............................................................................................................................. $1,400 

S. Licenses for production of accelerator-produced radionuclides. 

Application [Program Code(s): 03210] ............................................................................................................................. $6,500 

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, 03235, 03236, 06100, 06101] ................................................................................... Full Cost 

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

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

Application [Program Code(s): 03234] ............................................................................................................................. $4,400 

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): 03232] ............................................................................................................................. $4,600 

5. Well logging: 


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SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued 

[See footnotes at end of table] 

Category of materials licenses and type of fees1 Fee 2,3

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): 03110, 03111, 03112] ..................................................................................................... $3,400 

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): 03218] ............................................................................................................................. $20,500 

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): 02300, 02310] ................................................................................................................. $11,200 

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): 02110] ............................................................................................................................. $8,000 

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): 02120, 02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220, 02230, 02231, 02240, 22160] ............... $2,300 

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): 03710] ............................................................................................................................. $1,180 

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 plutonium air packages .............................................................................................. Full Cost 

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 approvals, route surveys, and transportation security devices (including immobilization 

devices).

Full Cost 

11. Review of standardized spent fuel facilities .................................................................................................................................... Full Cost 

12. Special projects: 

Including approvals, preapplication/licensing activities, and inspections ....................................................................................... Full Cost 

13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Compliance ..................................................................................................................... Full Cost 

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

14. A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material licenses and other approvals authorizing decommissioning, decontamination, reclamation, or site restoration activities under parts 30, 40, 70, 72, and 76 of this chapter.Full Cost 

B. Site-specific decommissioning activities associated with unlicensed sites, regardless of whether or not the sites have been 

previously licensed.

Full Cost 

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 amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $16,700 


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27664 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 10, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES—Continued 

[See footnotes at end of table] 

Category of materials licenses and type of fees1 Fee 2,3

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 amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $9,800 

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 amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $4,100 

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 amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $2,600 

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 amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $16,700 

G. Application for export of Category 1 materials requiring Executive Branch review, Commission review, and/or governmentto-government consent. 

Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $9,800 

H. Application for export of Category 1 materials requiring Commission review and government-to-government consent. 

Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $6,200 

I. Application for export of Category 1 material requiring government-to-government consent. 

Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $5,100 

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 amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $16,700 

K. Applications for export of Category 2 materials requiring Executive Branch review and/or Commission review. 

Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $9,800 

L. Application for the export of Category 2 materials. 

Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $4,600 

Category 1 Imports: 

M. Application for the import of Category 1 material requiring Commission review. 

Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $4,900 

N. Application for the import of Category 1 material. 

Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $4,100 

Category 2 Imports: 

O. Application for the import of Category 2 material. 

Application—new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $3,600 

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 amendment; or license exemption request ....................................................................... $5,700 

Q. Application for the import of Category 1 material with agent and multiple licensees. 

Application B new license, or amendment; or license exemption request ...................................................................... $4,600 

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 of casks, packages, and shipping containers (including spent fuel, high-level waste, 

and other casks, and plutonium air packages).

Full Cost 

B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) activities ............................................................................................ Full Cost 

1Types 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: 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 10, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 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 § 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 § 170.12(c). 

(e) Generally licensed device registrations under 10 CFR 31.5. Submittals of registration information must be accompanied by the prescribed 

fee. 2Fees 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 

§ 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 

§ 170.20, as appropriate, except for topical reports whose costs exceed $50,000. Costs which exceed $50,000 for each topical report, amendment, revision, or supplement to a topical report completed or under review from January 30, 1989, through August 8, 1991, will not be billed to 

the applicant. Any professional hours expended on or after August 9, 1991, will be assessed at the applicable rate established in § 170.20. 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. 5For 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. 6Persons 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 

■ 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). 

■ 7. In § 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: 

§ 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: 

* * * * * 


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(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 § 171.11(a), are as follows: 

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

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

■ 8. In § 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: 

§ 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 feerelief 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 fees1,2,3

1. Special nuclear material: 

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

(a) Strategic Special Nuclear Material (High Enriched Uranium) [Program Code(s): 21130] .................................. $4,691,000 

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

21210] .................................................................................................................................................................... 1,649,000 

(2) All other special nuclear materials licenses not included in Category.

1.A.(1) which are licensed for fuel cycle activities.

(a) Facilities with limited operations [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320] ........................................................... 765,000 

(b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration facilities ..................................................................................... 918,000 

(c) Others, including hot cell facilities ................................................................................................................ 408,000 


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

[See footnotes at end of table] 

Category of materials licenses Annual fees1,2,3

B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel and reactor-related Greater than Class C (GTCC) waste at an 

independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) [Program Code(s): 23200] .......................................................... 11N/A 

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 [Program Code(s): 22140] ............................... 2,700

D. All other special nuclear material licenses, except licenses authorizing special nuclear material in unsealed form 

in combination that would constitute a critical quantity, as defined in § 150.11 of this chapter, for which the licensee shall pay the same fees as those for Category 1.A.(2) [Program Code(s): 22110, 22111, 22120, 22131, 

22136, 22150, 22151, 22161, 22163, 22170, 23100, 23300, 23310] .......................................................................... 7,600 

E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of a uranium enrichment facility [Program Code(s): 21200] ..................... 2,804,000 

2. Source material: 

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

hexafluoride [Program Code(s): 11400] ....................................................................................................................... 969,000 

(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 [Program Code(s): 11100] ................................................................... 31,200 

(b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities [Program Code(s):] .......................................................................................... 29,700 

(c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities [Program Code(s):] ................................................................................... 33,600 

(d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities .......................................................................................................................... 5 N/A 

(e) Resin Toll Milling facilities ................................................................................................................................... 5 N/A 

(f) Other facilities4 [Program Code(s): 11700] .......................................................................................................... 5 N/A 

(3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct material, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy 

Act, from other persons for possession and disposal, except those licenses subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2) 

or Category 2.A.(4) [Program Code(s): 11600] ............................................................................................................ 5 N/A 

(4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct material, as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy 

Act, from other persons for possession and disposal incidental to the disposal of the uranium waste tailings generated by the licensee’s milling operations, except those licenses subject to the fees in Category 2.A.(2) ............... 10,100

(5) Licenses that authorize the possession of source material related to removal of contaminants (source material) 

from drinking water ....................................................................................................................................................... 7,000 

B. Licenses that authorize only the possession, use and/or installation of source material for shielding [Program 

Code(s): 11210] ............................................................................................................................................................ 1,310 

C. All other source material licenses [Program Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11230, 11300, 11800, 11810] ........... 17,400 

3. Byproduct material: 

A. Licenses of broad scope for 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 [Program Code(s): 03211, 03212, 03213] .......................................................................................................................... 40,000 

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 [Program Code(s): 03214, 

03215, 22135, 22162] ................................................................................................................................................... 10,300 

C. Licenses issued under §§ 32.72 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 

§ 171.11(a)(1). These licenses are covered by fee under Category 3.D. [Program Code(s): 02500, 02511, 02513] 13,500 

D. Licenses and approvals issued under §§ 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 §§ 32.72 and 32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit 

educational institutions whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under § 171.11(a)(1). This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding authorized under part 40 of this chapter when included on the same license [Program Code(s): 02512, 02514] .................................................................................. 8,700 

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) [Program Code(s): 03510, 03520] .................................. 6,600 

F. Licenses for possession and use of less than 10,000 curies of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation 

of materials in which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater 

irradiators for irradiation of materials in which the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes [Program 

Code(s): 03511] ............................................................................................................................................................ 12,700 

G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies or more of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation 

of materials in which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater 

irradiators for irradiation of materials in which the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes [Program 

Code(s): 03521] ............................................................................................................................................................ 62,800 

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, 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] ........................................................ 8,300 


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

[See footnotes at end of table] 

Category of materials licenses Annual fees1,2,3

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, 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] ...................................................................................... 14,900 

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, 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] ...................................................... 3,300 

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, 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] ........................................................................................................................................................................... 2,500 

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 [Program Code(s): 01100, 

01110, 01120, 03610, 03611, 03612, 03613] .............................................................................................................. 19,800 

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 [Program Code(s): 03620] ...................................... 7,500 

N. Licenses that authorize services for other licensees, except: (1) Licenses that authorize only calibration and/or 

leak testing services are subject to the fees specified in fee Category 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] ............................................................................................................................................................... 11,400 

O. Licenses for possession and use of 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] ................... 22,700 

P. All other specific byproduct material 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] ......................... 3,700 

Q. Registration of devices generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter ................................................................... 13 N/A 

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 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] ..................................... 3,300

2. Possession of quantities exceeding 10 times the number of items or limits specified in 10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), 

or (5) [Program Code(s): 02710] ........................................................................................................................... 3,700 

S. Licenses for production of accelerator-produced radionuclides [Program Code(s): 03210] ....................................... 12,200 

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, 03235, 03236, 06100, 06101] ...................................................................................... 5 N/A 

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 [Program Code(s): 

03234] ........................................................................................................................................................................... 18,700 

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 [Program Code(s): 03232] ................................................................... 11,800 

5. Well logging: 

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

logging, well surveys, and tracer studies other than field flooding tracer studies [Program Code(s): 03110, 03111, 

03112] ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9,700 

B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material for field flooding tracer studies [Program Code(s): 03113] 5 N/A 

6. Nuclear laundries: 

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

or special nuclear material [Program Code(s): 03218] ................................................................................................ 35,400 

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. This category also includes the possession and use of source 

material for shielding when authorized on the same license [Program Code(s): 02300, 02310] ................................ 17,500 

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.9 [Program Code(s): 02110] .......................................................................................... 36,300 


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

[See footnotes at end of table] 

Category of materials licenses Annual fees1,2,3

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. 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] ...................................................................................... 6,200 

8. Civil defense: 

A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material for civil defense activities [Program Code(s): 03710] ................................................................................................................... 3,300 

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

A. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, except reactor fuel devices, for commercial distribution .......................................... 10,400 

B. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material manufactured in accordance with the unique specifications of, and for use by, a 

single applicant, except reactor fuel devices ................................................................................................................ 10,400 

C. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, 

or special nuclear material, except reactor fuel, for commercial distribution ............................................................... 7,300 

D. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, 

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

applicant, except reactor fuel ........................................................................................................................................ 1,200 

10. Transportation of radioactive material: 

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

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

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

B. Quality assurance program approvals issued under part 71 of this chapter.

1. Users and Fabricators ........................................................................................................................................... 6 N/A 

2. Users ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6 N/A 

C. Evaluation of security plans, route approvals, route surveys, and transportation security devices (including immobilization devices) .......................................................................................................................................................... 6 N/A 

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

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

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

B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel under 10 CFR 72.210 .............................................................................. 12 N/A 

14. Decommissioning/Reclamation: 

A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material licenses and other approvals authorizing decommissioning, decontamination, reclamation, or site restoration activities under parts 30, 40, 70, 72, and 76 of this chapter .................. 7 N/A 

B. Site-specific decommissioning activities associated with unlicensed sites, whether or not the sites have been previously licensed ............................................................................................................................................................. 7 N/A 

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

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

17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to Government agencies .................................................................... 187,000 

18. Department of Energy: 

A. Certificates of Compliance ........................................................................................................................................... 10 719,000 

B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) activities .............................................................................. 339,000 

1Annual fees will be assessed based on whether a licensee held a valid license with the NRC authorizing possession and use of radioactive 

material during the 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 

§ 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. 2Payment of the prescribed annual fee does not automatically renew the license, certificate, registration, or approval for which the fee is paid. 

Renewal applications must be filed in accordance with the requirements of parts 30, 40, 70, 71, 72, or 76 of this chapter. 3Each FY, fees for these materials licenses will be calculated and assessed in accordance with § 171.13 and will be published in the FEDERAL

REGISTER for notice and comment. 4Another license includes licenses for extraction of metals, heavy metals, and rare earths. 

5There 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. 6Standardized 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. 9Separate 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. 10This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to DOE that are not funded from the Nuclear Waste Fund. 11See § 171.15(c). 12See § 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. 


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14Persons 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 feerelief 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 receiptsbased 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 § 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, nonpower 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 highvolume 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 wellloggers, 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 


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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 twoyear 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 


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27672 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 10, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

1An 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. 

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 

fees.resource@nrc.gov. 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

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, 


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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 

fees.resource@nrc.gov, 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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