Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/07/03/2012-16252/receipts-based-small-business-size-standard
Timestamp: 2017-08-17 08:09:50
Document Index: 526850397

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 2', 'art 171', 'arts 2', 'arts 2', '§\u20092', 'art 171', '§\u2009171']

Federal Register :: Receipts-Based, Small Business Size Standard
Receipts-Based, Small Business Size Standard
A Rule by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 07/03/2012
The direct final rule will become effective on August 22, 2012, unless significant adverse comments on the amendment are received by August 2, 2012. If the rule is withdrawn as a result of such comments, timely notice of the withdrawal will be published in the Federal Register. Comments received after August 2, 2012 will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.
77 FR 39385
39385-39387 (3 pages)
3150-AJ14
2012-16252
Receipts-Based Small Business Size Standard
Sections 2.810(a)(1) and (b)
Section 171.16(c)
XI. Plain Writing
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-16252 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-16252
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0062 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this final rule. You may access information and comment submittals related to this final rulemaking, which the NRC possesses and are publicly available, by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0062.
Theresa Barczy, Regulations Specialist, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, telephone: 301-492-3666, email: Theresa.Barczy@nrc.gov.
The NRC is using the direct final rule procedure because it considers this action noncontroversial and routine. This direct final rule is updating the NRC's size standard to reflect that of the SBA. The amendments in this rule will become effective on August 22, 2012, unless significant adverse comments are received by August 2, 2012. A significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. If the rule is withdrawn, timely notice will be published in the Federal Register.
The NRC established its size standards on December 9, 1985 (50 FR 50241). On November 6, 1991 (56 FR 56671), the NRC conformed its format for size standards to mirror the definitions of small entities in the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended. On April 11, 1995 (60 FR 18344), the NRC again adjusted its receipts-based, small business size standard in a final rule published in the Federal Register. In a direct final rule published in the Federal Register on August 10, 2007 (72 FR 44951), the NRC adjusted its receipts-based small business size standard in order to conform to the SBA size standard for nonmanufacturing industries.
The NRC is amending Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 2, “Rules of Practice for Domestic Licensing Proceedings and Issuance of Orders,” and 10 CFR part 171, “Annual Fees for Reactor Licenses and Fuel Cycle License and Materials Licenses, Including Holders of Certificates of Compliance, Registrations, and Quality Assurance Program Approvals and Government Agencies Licensed by the NRC,” to reflect its receipts-based, small business size standard increasing from $6.5 million to $7.0 million. This adjustment is to conform to the SBA receipts-based, small business size standard, the most commonly used SBA standard for the non-manufacturing industries. The SBA adjusted this standard for inflation on January 23, 2002 (67 FR 3041), on December 6, 2005 (70 FR 72577), and again on July 18, 2008 (73 FR 41237). The NRC is not revising any of its other size standards at this time. The NRC informed the Chief, Office of Size Standards, SBA, of these amendments.[1] This rule change will result in reduced annual fees being imposed on licensees under the Fiscal Year 2012 fee rule for those licensees with receipts between $6.5 million and $7.0 million.
Section 2.810 establishes the size standards for determining whether a licensee qualifies as a small entity in the NRC's regulatory programs. The NRC is increasing its receipts-based, small business size standard from $6.5 million to $7.0 million. Therefore, paragraphs (a)(1) and (b) are amended by revising “$6.5” to read “$7.0.”
Section 171.16 establishes the annual fees that will be paid by the following: 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. The NRC is increasing its receipts-based, small business size standard from $6.5 million to $7.0 million. Therefore, the chart within the introductory text of paragraph (c) is amended by revising “$6.5” to read “7.0.”
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Public Law 104-113, requires that Federal agencies use technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies, unless using a standard is inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. This direct final rule is updating the NRC's receipts-based, small business size standard to reflect that of the SBA. This action is administrative in nature and does not involve the establishment or application of a technical standard containing generally applicable requirements.
This direct final rule does not contain any 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.).
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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
A regulatory analysis has not been prepared for this direct final rule. This direct final rule amends the criteria that the NRC uses to determine which of its licensees qualify as small entities for the purpose of compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended. The amended size standard conforms to the SBA's revised standard and is expected to result in an increase in the number of NRC licensees that qualify as small entities for annual fee assessments and other purposes. These amendments are administrative in nature and will neither impose new safety requirements nor relax existing ones and therefore do not call for the sort of safety/cost analysis described in the NRC's regulatory analysis guidelines in NUREG/BR-0058, Revision 4, “Regulatory Analysis Guidelines of the US NRC,” September 2004 (ADAMS Accession No. ML042820192).
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), the Commission certifies that this direct final rule amending 10 CFR parts 2 and 171 does not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The direct final rule is administrative in that it amends the criteria that the NRC uses to determine which of its licensees qualify as small entities for the purposes of compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended. The amended size standard conforms to the SBA's revised standard and is expected to result in an increase in the number of NRC licensees that qualify as small entities.
The NRC has determined that the backfit rule does not apply to this direct final rule and that a backfit analysis is not required, because these amendments do not include any provisions that would impose backfits as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1).
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 2 and 171.
2. In § 2.810, paragraphs (a)(1) and (b) are amended by removing “$6.5” and adding in its place “$7.0”.
3. The authority citation for part 171 is revised to read as follows:
Authority: Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act sec. 6101 Pub. L. 99-272, as amended by sec. 5601, Pub. L. 100-203, as amended by sec. 3201, Pub. L. 101-239, as amended by sec. 6101, Pub. L. 101-508, as amended by sec. 2903a, Pub. L. 102-486 (42 U.S.C. 2213, 2214), and as amended by Title IV, Pub. L. 109-103 (42 U.S.C. 2214);
Atomic Energy Act secs. 161(w), 223, 234 (42 U.S.C. 2201(w), 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); Government Paperwork Elimination Act sec. 1704 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note); Energy Policy Act of 2005 sec. 651(e), Pub. L. 109-58 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2021, 2021b, 2111).
4. In § 171.16, paragraph (c) is revised to read as follows:
(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, then the licensee may pay a reduced annual fee as shown in the following table. Failure to file small entity certification in a timely manner could result in the receipt of a delinquent invoice requesting the outstanding balance due and/or denial of any refund that might otherwise be due. The small entity fees are as follows:
$450,000 to $7.0 million $2,300
Less than $450,000 500
$450,000 to $7.0 million 2,300
Fewer than 35 employees 500
Fewer than 20,000 500
Educational institutions that are not State or publicly supported, and have 500 employees or fewer:
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of June, 2012.
1. The NRC's letter to the Chief, Office of Size Standards, SBA, is in ADAMS under Accession No. ML120810390.
[FR Doc. 2012-16252 Filed 7-2-12; 8:45 am]