Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2005/02/22/05-3128/revision-of-fee-schedules-fee-recovery-for-fy-2005
Timestamp: 2017-10-22 18:04:34
Document Index: 668757818

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A Proposed Rule by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 02/22/2005
The comment period expires March 24, 2005. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure only that comments received on or before this date will be considered. Because OBRA-90 requires that the NRC collect the FY 2005 fees by September 30, 2005, requests for extensions of the comment period will not be granted.
8677-8703 (27 pages)
3. Charging Fees for Licensee-Specific Activities Resulting From Most Orders
4. Charging Fees for Unlicensed Sites in Decommissioning
6. Full Cost Recovery of Project Manager Time
7. Administrative Amendments
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
3. Agreement State Activities
5. Administrative Amendments
Attachment 1 to Appendix A—U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Small Entity Compliance Guide Fiscal Year 2005
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/05-3128 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/05-3128
You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. Please include number RIN 3150-AH61 in the subject line of your comments. Comments on rulemakings submitted in writing or in electronic form will be made available to the public in their entirety on the NRC rulemaking Web site. Personal information will not be removed from your comments.
E-mail comments to: SECY@nrc.gov. If you do not receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments, contact us directly at (301) 415-1966. You may also submit comments via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address questions about our Web site to Ms. Carol Gallagher, (301) 415-5905; e-mail CAG@nrc.gov. Comments can also be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.
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 site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (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 PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209; (301) 415-4737 or by e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov.
Tammy Croote, telephone (301) 415-6041; Office of the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
For FYs 1991 through 2000, OBRA-90, as amended, required that the NRC recover approximately 100 percent of its budget authority, less the amount appropriated from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) administered NWF, by assessing fees. To address fairness and equity concerns raised by the NRC related to charging NRC license holders for agency budgeted costs that do not provide a direct benefit to the licensee, the FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act 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 is 90 percent in FY 2005. As a result, the NRC is required to recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2005 budget authority, less the amounts appropriated from the NWF, through fees. In the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447), as adjusted by the rescission discussed in Section 122(a), Congress appropriated $669.3 million to the NRC for FY 2005. This sum includes $68.5 million appropriated from the NWF. The total amount NRC is required to recover in fees for FY 2005 is approximately $540.7 million. After accounting for carryover and billing adjustments, the net amount to be recovered through fees is approximately $538 million.
While the total amount that the NRC must recover in fees in FY 2005 has been determined by Congress and, therefore, is outside the scope of this rulemaking, the NRC notes that it has supported previous legislative efforts to remove additional costs from the fee base and continues to do so. In the 2003 Congressional session, an Energy Policy Bill (H.R. 6) was introduced that would have amended OBRA-90 to remove many homeland security costs from the fee base (except homeland security costs associated with fingerprinting, background checks, and security inspections). In its August 29, 2003, letter to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Commission supported the fee recovery provisions of this bill. The NRC continues to support legislative efforts to remove homeland security costs from the fee base.
The NRC assesses two types of fees to meet the requirements of OBRA-90, as amended. First, license and inspection fees, established 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 costs of providing special benefits to identifiable applicants and licensees. Examples of the services provided by the NRC for which these fees are assessed are the review of applications for new licenses and, for certain types of existing licenses, the review of renewal applications, the review of amendment requests, and inspections. Second, annual fees established in 10 CFR part 171 under the authority of OBRA-90, recover generic and other regulatory costs not otherwise recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees. Start Printed Page 8679
The NRC is proposing to amend its licensing, inspection, and annual fees to recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2005 budget authority less the appropriations received from the NWF. The NRC's total budget authority for FY 2005 is $669.3 million, of which approximately $68.5 million has been appropriated from the NWF. Based on the 90 percent fee recovery requirement, the NRC must recover approximately $540.7 million in FY 2005 through part 170 licensing and inspection fees, part 171 annual fees, and other offsetting receipts. The total amount to be recovered through fees and other offsetting receipts for FY 2005 is $4.6 million less than the amount estimated for recovery in FY 2004.
The FY 2005 fee recovery amount is reduced by a $2.2 million carryover from additional collections in FY 2004 that were unanticipated at the time the final FY 2004 fee rule was published, and by an additional $0.5 million for billing adjustments (i.e., for FY 2005 invoices that the NRC estimates will not be paid during the fiscal year, and for payments received in FY 2005 for FY 2004 invoices). This leaves approximately $538 million to be recovered in FY 2005 through part 170 licensing and inspection fees, part 171 annual fees, and other offsetting receipts.
The NRC estimates that approximately $166.8 million will be recovered in FY 2005 from part 170 fees and other offsetting receipts. The NRC derived this estimate based on the previous four quarters of billing data for each license class, with adjustments to account for changes in the NRC's FY 2005 budget as appropriate. The remaining $371.2 million would be recovered through the part 171 annual fees, compared to $389.9 million for FY 2004.
The primary reason for the decrease in total fees for FY 2005 is that the NRC's fee recovery is 90 percent in FY 2005, compared to 92 percent in FY 2004, in accordance with the FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act. This decrease in the NRC's required fee recovery is sufficient to offset the increase of 1.5 percent in the NRC's non-NWF budget in FY 2005.
Table I summarizes the budget and fee recovery amounts for FY 2005.
Table 1.—Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts for FY 2005
Total Budget Authority $669.3
Less NWF − 68.5
Balance $600.8
Fee Recovery Rate for FY 2005 × 90.0%
Total Amount To Be Recovered for FY 2005 $540.7
Less Carryover From FY 2004 − 2.2
Less Part 171 Billing Adjustments
Unpaid FY 2005 Invoices (estimated) 2.7
Less Payments Received in FY 2005 for Prior Year Invoices (estimated) − 3.2
Subtotal −0.5
Amount To Be Recovered Through Parts 170 and 171 Fees $538.0
Less Estimated Part 170 Fees − 166.8
Part 171 Fee Collections Required $371.2
The FY 2005 final fee rule will be a “major rule” as defined by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. Therefore, the NRC's fee schedules for FY 2005 would 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 and major fuel cycle facilities upon publication of the FY 2005 final rule. For these licensees, payment would be due on the effective date of the FY 2005 rule. Those materials licensees whose license anniversary date during FY 2005 falls before the effective date of the final FY 2005 rule would be billed for the annual fee during the anniversary month of the license at the FY 2004 annual fee rate. Those materials licensees whose license anniversary date falls on or after the effective date of the final FY 2005 rule would be billed for the annual fee at the FY 2005 annual fee rate during the anniversary month of the license, and payment would be due on the date of the invoice.
As a matter of courtesy, the NRC plans to continue mailing the proposed fee rule to all licensees, although, as a cost saving measure, in accordance with its FY 1998 announcement, the NRC has discontinued mailing the final fee rule to all licensees. Accordingly, the NRC does not plan to routinely mail the FY 2005 final fee rule or future final fee rules to licensees.
However, 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 Financial Management, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, at (301) 415-7554, or e-mail fees@nrc.gov. The NRC plans to publish the final fee rule in May 2005. In addition to publication in the Federal Register, the final rule will be available on the Internet at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov for at least 90 days after the effective date of the final rule.
The NRC is proposing to establish the hourly rates used to calculate fees and to adjust the part 170 fees based on the proposed hourly rates and the results of the agency's biennial review of fees required by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-578, November 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 2838). Additionally, the NRC is proposing to revise part 170 to provide for the assessment of full cost fees for licensee-Start Printed Page 8680specific activities resulting from most orders and decommissioning activities associated with unlicensed sites; clarify that part 170 fee waivers need to be requested from, and granted by, the CFO in writing in certain instances; notify licensees that the NRC intends to apply its existing full cost recovery policy for project managers to license renewal project managers; and make minor administrative changes to enhance consistency between the fee categories used in part 170 and part 171.
The NRC is proposing to establish in § 170.20 two professional hourly rates for NRC staff time. These proposed rates would be based on the number of FY 2005 direct program full time equivalents (FTEs) and the FY 2005 NRC budget, excluding direct program support costs and NRC's appropriations from the NWF. These rates are used to determine the part 170 fees. The proposed rate for the reactor program is $205 per hour ($296,898 per direct FTE). This rate would be applicable to all activities for which fees are assessed under § 170.21 of the fee regulations. The proposed rate for the materials program (nuclear materials and nuclear waste programs) is $198 per hour ($285,944 per direct FTE). This rate would be applicable to all activities for which fees are assessed under § 170.31 of the fee regulations. In the FY 2004 final fee rule, the reactor and materials program rates were $157 and $156, respectively. The increase to the reactor and the materials program rates is primarily due to the NRC's use of a revised estimate of the number of direct hours per FTE in calculating these rates. The recent Government-wide pay raise is another reason for the proposed increase in the hourly rates.
As described in further detail below, the NRC currently assumes 1,776 hours per direct FTE are available for direct program work, while the new hourly rate assumes 1,446 hours per direct FTE are available for direct program work. Because the NRC's hourly rates are calculated by dividing the total annual costs of a direct FTE by average annual direct hours per FTE, the lower the number of direct hours per FTE used in the calculation, the higher the hourly rates.
The NRC is proposing to revise its estimate of direct hours per FTE to more accurately reflect the NRC's costs of providing part 170 services, which would allow the NRC to more fully recover the costs of these services through part 170 fees. Because costs not recovered under part 170 are recovered through part 171 annual fees, the increase in total part 170 fees (caused by the hourly rate increase) would result in a reduction to total annual fees of the same amount. As such, this hourly rate increase would shift some fee recovery from part 171 annual fees to part 170 fees for licensee-specific services. (Because revenue from these increased part 170 fees would not be received by the NRC until FY 2006—in light of the effective date of the final rule and the timing of the NRC's regular billing cycle—the reduction in annual fees from this change would not occur until FY 2006.)
Previously, the NRC used an estimate of 1,776 hours per FTE to calculate the reactor and materials program hourly rates, based on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Circular A-76, “Performance of Commercial Activities.” However, this Circular provides assumptions to be used to estimate personnel costs for the competition of commercial activities, and does not provide guidance about assumptions to be used for purposes of fee calculation. (OMB's Circular A-25, “User Charges,” also does not specifically address the number of hours to assume per FTE in calculating fees, but does emphasize that agency fees should reflect the full cost of providing services to identifiable beneficiaries.) The 1,776 estimate from Circular A-76 includes time for administrative, training, and other activities a direct program FTE may perform that, while relevant to consider for certain costing purposes, would more accurately be considered overhead. Therefore, this estimate should not be assumed to be “direct” time for purposes of calculating a rate per hour of direct activities, which is the intended purpose of the NRC's hourly rates. While the 1,776 estimate would be a useful fee calculation input were more detailed information not available, the NRC has been collecting more detailed information from its new time and labor system since November 2001, which is now the NRC's established source of data for employee work activities. The NRC has performed a review of its time and labor data, which indicates that 1,446 hours per FTE more accurately reflects the time expended by NRC program employees performing activities directly associated with the programmatic mission of the NRC.
The NRC recognizes that the proposed increase to the hourly rates is more significant than those hourly rate changes that have occurred in previous years. However, the NRC believes that this increase is justified in light of the review of the NRC's time and labor data, which showed that NRC direct employees spend, on average, 1,446 hours per year on activities directly associated with the programmatic mission of the NRC. The NRC believes that the use of 1,446 hours per FTE is more appropriate for the purpose of the NRC's fee calculation than other estimates of hours per FTE used for different agency financial purposes. By using an estimate of hours per FTE that reflects only direct staff time, the resulting hourly rates more accurately reflect the full cost of providing services under part 170. For this reason, the NRC believes that this revised estimate of hours per FTE is consistent with guidance provided in OMB Circular A-25 on recovering the full cost of services provided to identifiable recipients. This change also supports industry comments that consistently recommend that the NRC collect more of its budget through part 170 fees-for-services vs. part 171 annual fees.
Higher hourly rates would result in (1) increased full cost fees for licensing and inspection activities, and (2) increased materials flat fees for license applications. As noted, total part 171 annual fees would decrease by the same amount as the increase in total part 170 fees. This shift from part 171 to part 170 would be greater for those fee classes with a higher proportion of part 170 to part 171 work activities (e.g., operating power reactors, uranium recovery, rare earth). Because annual fees are adjusted to recover the remainder of the budgeted resources for a license fee class not recovered under part 170, the total estimated fees (parts 170 plus 171) recovered from a license fee class are the same regardless of the amount of the hourly rate, however, when implemented, higher hourly rates would result in some individual licensees paying less total fees than if this change were not enacted. This would be true for those licensees for whom the NRC performs fewer hours of part 170 services than it does, on average, for a licensee in that class. Similarly, licensees for which the NRC performs more hours of part 170 services would pay more in total fees under the proposed higher hourly rates.
a. Direct program FTE levels are identified for the reactor program and the materials program (nuclear materials and nuclear waste programs). All program costs, except contract support, are included in the hourly rate for each program by allocating them uniformly based on the total number of direct FTEs Start Printed Page 8681for the program. Direct contract support, which is the use of contract or other services in support of the line organization's direct program, is excluded from the calculation of the hourly rates because the costs for direct contract support are recovered directly through either part 170 or 171 fees.
b. All non-program costs for management and support and the Office of the Inspector General, are allocated to each program based on that program's costs.
This method results in the following costs, which are included in the hourly rates. Due to rounding, adding the individual numbers in the table may result in a total that is slightly different than the one shown.
Table II.—FY 2005 Budget Authority To Be Included In Hourly Rates
Direct Program Salaries & Benefits $150.5M $39.0M
Overhead Salaries & Benefits, Program Travel and Other Support 77.5M 17.8M
Allocated Agency Management and Support 126.1M 31.4M
Subtotal 354.1M 88.3M
Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate 354.0M 88.3M
Program Direct FTEs 1,192.5 308.7
Rate per Direct FTE 296,898 285,944
Professional Hourly Rate (Rate per direct FTE divided by 1,446 hours) 205 198
As shown in Table II, dividing the $354.0 million budgeted amount (rounded) included in the hourly rate for the reactor program by the reactor program direct FTEs (1,192.5) results in a rate for the reactor program of $296,898 per FTE for FY 2005. The Direct FTE Hourly Rate for the reactor program would be $205 per hour (rounded to the nearest whole dollar). This rate is calculated by dividing the cost per direct FTE ($296,898) by the number of direct billable hours in one year (1,446 hours). Similarly, dividing the $88.3 million budgeted amount (rounded) included in the hourly rate for the materials program by the program direct FTEs (308.7) results in a rate of $285,944 per FTE for FY 2005. The Direct FTE Hourly Rate for the materials program would be $198 per hour (rounded to the nearest whole dollar). This rate is calculated by dividing the cost per direct FTE ($285,944) by the number of direct billable hours in one year (1,446 hours).
The NRC is proposing to adjust the current part 170 fees in §§ 170.21 and 170.31 to reflect both the proposed hourly rates and the results of the biennial review of part 170 fees required by the CFOs Act. To comply with the requirements of the CFOs Act, the NRC has evaluated historical professional staff hours used to process a new license application for those materials licensees whose fees are based on the average cost method, or “flat” fees. This review also included new license and amendment applications for import and export licenses.
Evaluation of the historical data shows that fees based on 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 costs incurred in completing these licensing actions. The data for the average number of professional staff hours needed to complete new licensing actions was last updated in FY 2003 (68 FR 36714; June 18, 2003). Thus, the revised average professional staff hours in this proposed fee rule reflect the changes in the NRC licensing review program that have occurred since FY 2003.
As a result of the biennial review, the proposed licensing fees that are based on the average professional staff hours reflect an increase in average time for new license applications for five of the 33 materials program fee categories, a decrease in average time for eight fee categories, and the same average time for the remaining 20 fee categories. The average time for new license applications and amendments for export and import licenses remained the same for each of the five fee categories in §§ 170.21 and 170.31.
The proposed licensing fees for fee categories K.1 through K.5 of § 170.21, and fee categories 1C, 1D, 2B, 2C, 3A through 3P, 4B through 9D, 10B, 15A through 15E, and 16 of § 170.31 are based on the revised average professional staff hours needed to process the licensing actions multiplied by the proposed materials program professional hourly rate for FY 2005. As previously noted, the proposed higher hourly rate of $198 for the materials program is a key reason for the increases in the proposed licensing fees.
The biennial review also included the “flat” fee for the general license registrations covered by fee Category 3.Q. As a result of this review, the proposed fee per registration is $630, compared to the current fee of $610. The proposed fee is based on the current estimated number of registrants, current annual resource estimates for the program, and the FY 2005 materials program hourly rate. The next biennial review of the registration fee will be included in the FY 2007 fee rule; however, the registration fee may change in the FY 2006 fee rule if there is a change to the materials program hourly rate for FY 2006.
The amounts of the materials licensing “flat” fees are rounded as follows: 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. Applications filed on or after the effective date of the final rule would be subject to the revised fees in this proposed rule.
The NRC proposes to amend §§ 170.21 and 170.31 to provide that part 170 fees will be assessed for any licensee-specific activity resulting from orders issued by the Commission not related to civil penalties or other civil sanctions. Currently, part 170 fees are not assessed for amendments or other Start Printed Page 8682licensee-specific activities resulting from the requirements of Commission orders. This is because in cases where the order proposes the imposition of a civil penalty or other civil sanctions, the assessment of additional costs could be viewed as augmenting the amount of the civil penalty and could discourage licensees from contesting proposed enforcement actions. However, in recent years, the NRC's use of orders to impose additional requirements for safety or security reasons has increased. For example, subsequent to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Commission imposed security requirements on various groups of licensees through orders. These orders resulted in the NRC's review of licensee-specific amendments and other activities that normally would have been billable under part 170, except that they were associated with orders.
Given the changing regulatory environment and the extent of licensee-specific activities that are resulting from orders unrelated to civil penalties or other civil sanctions, the NRC is proposing that its regulations be revised to allow for full cost recovery of these activities under part 170 from NRC licensees. The NRC is not proposing to change cost recovery for the development of these orders; these costs would continue to be recovered under part 171.
The NRC currently does not charge part 170 fees to owners or operators of unlicensed sites in decommissioning. However, the NRC does perform work related to the decommissioning of these sites that is recoverable under IOAA through part 170 fees because this work is associated with an identifiable beneficiary. These costs are currently recovered through either a surcharge that is included in NRC licensees' annual fees or through taxpayer-funded appropriations (i.e., Department of Treasury's General Fund). Recovering the site-specific decommissioning costs associated with these unlicensed sites through part 170 fees is consistent with the full cost recovery provisions of IOAA and the OMB's guidance in Circular A-25, “User Charges.” By recovering the costs of decommissioning activities from the owners or operators of these unlicensed sites, as NRC does from licensed sites, the NRC believes the fairness and equity of its fee schedule would be enhanced. Therefore, the NRC is proposing to add a new category (14B) to “Schedule of Materials Fees” at § 170.31 that would provide for the assessment of part 170 fees to recover the full cost of site-specific decommissioning activities for unlicensed sites. (The current Category 14 at § 170.31 would be renumbered as Category 14A.) Section 170.2 would also be revised to expand the scope of part 170 to cover an owner or operator of an unlicensed site in decommissioning being conducted under NRC oversight.
Under § 170.11(a)(1)(iii), part 170 fees are not required for a report/request that has been submitted to the NRC specifically for the purpose of supporting NRC's development of generic guidance and regulations. The NRC proposes to clarify this section by stating that this fee exemption applies only when it is requested from, and granted by, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in writing. While this is consistent with current practice in requesting and granting these fee waivers, the NRC believes this revision would enhance clear communication about implementation of this fee waiver provision.
The FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999) expanded the scope of part 170 fee assessments to include full cost recovery for project managers assigned to a specific plant or facility. Under this policy at § 170.12(b)(iv), most project managers' time, excluding leave and time spent on generic activities such as rulemaking, is recovered through part 170 fees assessed to the specific applicant or licensee to which the project manager is assigned. The NRC will begin applying this policy to “license renewal” project managers as of the effective date of this final rule. Although the NRC does not currently apply this full cost recovery policy to license renewal project managers, this change does not require a modification to its regulations. Rather, given the increase in license renewal activities since 1999, when full cost recovery for project managers was enacted, the NRC recognizes that the existing policy should also apply to license renewal project managers. However, because this is a change in the application of existing policy, the NRC is notifying licensees of this change through this proposed rule and will not implement it until the effective date of the final rule.
The NRC is proposing to modify the number or letter identifiers associated with fee categories listed in § 170.31, as well as make other minor administrative changes, so that the fee categories under part 170 are consistent with those used in the ‘Schedule of Materials Annual Fees and Fees for Government Agencies Licensed by NRC’ at § 171.16(d). While the fee categories are, for the most part, consistent between the fee tables at §§ 170.31 and 171.16(d), in some instances they are slightly different. This change would enhance the NRC's ability to track parts 170 and 171 fees for license categories and simplify communication to licensees about applicable fee categories.
In summary, the NRC is proposing the following changes under 10 CFR part 170 —
1. Establish revised materials and reactor programs hourly rates to better reflect the full cost of providing part 170 services;
3. Revise §§ 170.21 and 170.31 to provide that part 170 fees will be assessed for any licensee-specific activity resulting from orders issued by the Commission not related to civil penalties or other civil sanctions;
4. Revise §§ 170.2 and 170.31 to provide that part 170 fees will be assessed for any licensee-specific activities associated with unlicensed sites in decommissioning being conducted under NRC oversight;
5. Revise § 170.11 to clarify that certain fee waivers need to be requested from, and granted by, the CFO in writing;
6. Apply the existing policy at § 170.12 of full cost recovery for project managers to license renewal project managers; and
7. Make minor administrative changes to § 170.31 to enhance consistency in the identification of fee categories between parts 170 and 171.
The NRC proposes to revise the annual fees for FY 2005 to reflect the FY 2005 budget and changes in the number of NRC licensees (including those resulting from the transfer of regulatory responsibility to Agreement States), eliminate ‘size of reactor’ as a reason for granting annual fee exemptions, and make certain administrative Start Printed Page 8683amendments. The proposed amendments are as follow:
The NRC is proposing to establish rebaselined annual fees for FY 2005. The Commission's policy commitment, made in the statement of considerations accompanying the FY 1995 fee rule (60 FR 32218; June 20, 1995), and further explained in the statement of considerations accompanying the FY 1999 fee rule (64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999), determined that base annual fees will be re-established (rebaselined) at least every third year, and more frequently if there is a substantial change in the total NRC budget or in the magnitude of the budget allocated to a specific class of licensees. The fees were last rebaselined in FY 2004. Based on the change in the magnitude of the budget allocated to certain classes of licensees, the Commission has determined that it is appropriate to rebaseline the annual fees again this year. Rebaselining fees would result in decreased annual fees compared to FY 2004 for five classes of licenses (operating power reactors, test and research reactors, spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning, rare earth mills, and transportation), and increased annual fees for two classes (fuel facilities and uranium recovery). For the materials users class, two categories (sub-classes) of licenses would have decreased annual fees while the remainder would have increased annual fees. The annual fee for industrial users of nuclear material (Category 3P), which is the largest materials users category and includes nearly 1,700 of the NRC's approximately 4,500 materials licensees, would not change.
The annual fees in §§ 171.15 and 171.16 would be revised for FY 2005 to recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's FY 2005 budget authority, less the estimated amount to be recovered through part 170 fees and the amounts appropriated from the NWF. The total amount to be recovered through annual fees for FY 2005 is $371.2 million, compared to $389.9 million for FY 2004.
Within the eight fee classes of licensees that pay annual fees, the FY 2005 annual fees would increase for many categories of licenses, decrease for others, and remain the same in two instances. The increases in annual fees range from approximately two percent for a master materials license to approximately 267 percent for registrations issued for device or product safety evaluations. The proposed decreases in annual fees range from approximately six percent for operating power reactors to approximately 55 percent for rare earth mills.
Factors affecting the changes to the annual fee amounts include: adjustments in budgeted costs for the different classes of licenses; the reduction in the fee recovery rate from 92 percent for FY 2004 to 90 percent for FY 2005; the estimated part 170 collections for the various classes of licenses; the decrease in the number of licensees for certain categories of licenses; and the $2.2 million carryover from additional collections in FY 2004 that were unanticipated at the time the FY 2004 final rule was published (i.e., this FY 2004 carryover was used to reduce the FY 2005 fees).
Table III below shows the proposed rebaselined annual fees for FY 2005 for a representative list of categories of licenses. The FY 2004 fee is also shown for comparative purposes.
Table III.—Rebaselined Annual Fees for FY 2005
FY 2005 annual fee
Operating Power Reactors (including Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning annual fee) $3,283,000 $3,067,000
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning 203,000 164,000
Test and Research Reactors (Nonpower Reactors) 62,500 54,400
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility 4,573,000 5,383,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility 1,533,000 1,612,000
UF6 Conversion Facility 657,000 691,000
Conventional Mills 14,500 27,700
Users/Fabricators 91,300 80,200
Users Only 7,400 4,300
Radiographers 11,900 12,800
Well Loggers 4,600 4,100
Gauge Users (Category 3P) 2,500 2,500
Broad Scope Medical 25,000 27,300
The annual fees assessed to each class of licenses include a surcharge to recover those NRC budgeted costs that are not directly or solely attributable to the classes of licenses, but must be recovered from licensees to comply with the requirements of OBRA-90, as amended. Based on the FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, which 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 is 90 percent in FY 2005, the total surcharge costs for FY 2005 will be reduced by approximately $60.1 million. The total FY 2005 budgeted costs for these activities and the reduction to the total surcharge amount for fee recovery purposes are shown in Table IV.
FY 2005 budgeted costs
a. International activities $10.0
b. Agreement State oversight 8.1
c. Activities for unlicensed sites (includes decommissioning costs associated with unlicensed sites, formerly referred to as site decommissioning management plan activities not recovered under part 170; also includes activities associated with unregistered general licensees) 3.5
a. Fee exemption for nonprofit educational institutions 8.8
b. Licensing and inspection activities associated with other Federal agencies 1.4
c. Costs not recovered from small entities under 10 CFR 171.16(c) 5.9
a. Regulatory support to Agreement States1 13.9
b. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (except those related to power reactors) 10.0
Total surcharge costs 61.6
Less 10 percent of NRC's FY 2005 total budget (less NWF) −60.1
Total surcharge costs to be recovered 1.5
1 This estimate includes the costs of homeland security activities associated with sources in Agreement States, even though regulatory authority remains with the NRC for these activities. However, fees are not assessed to sources in Agreement States for these activities, therefore these costs are included in this surcharge category.
As shown in Table IV, $1.5 million would be the total surcharge cost allocated to the various classes of licenses for FY 2005 (i.e., that portion of the total surcharge not covered by the NRC's 10 percent fee relief). The NRC would continue to allocate these surcharge costs to each class of licenses based on the percent of the budget for that fee class compared to the NRC's total budget. The proposed surcharge costs allocated to each class would be included in the annual fee assessed to each licensee. The proposed FY 2005 surcharge costs allocated to each class of licenses are shown in Table V. Separately, the NRC would continue to allocate the low-level waste (LLW) surcharge costs based on the volume of LLW disposal of certain classes of licenses. For FY 2005, the LLW surcharge costs are $2.8 million.
Operating Power Reactors 74 2.1 82.4 1.2 3.3
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decomm 4.7 0.1 0.1
Nonpower Reactors 0.1 0 0
Fuel Facilities 8 0.2 7.2 0.1 0.3
Materials Users 18 0.5 4.0 0.1 0.6
Transportation 1.0 0 0
Rare Earth Facilities 0.2 0 0
Uranium Recovery 0.4 0 0
Total Surcharge 100 2.8 100.0 1.5 4.3
a. Fuel Facilities. The FY 2005 budgeted cost to be recovered in annual fees assessment to the fuel facility class of licenses is approximately $23.8 million compared to $21.6 million in FY 2004. The annual fee increase is partly attributable to the decrease in estimated part 170 revenue for the fuel facility class compared to FY 2004. This FY 2005 decrease results partly from part 170 fuel facilities' revenue in FY 2004 including a one-time $2.1 million adjustment (increase) for revenue to account for fuel facilities fees that were improperly coded (i.e., costs associated with the Duke Cogema Stone and Webster application) and not factored into the fee calculations for FY 2001, FY 2002, and FY 2003, as discussed in the FY 2004 final fee rule. The annual fee increase is also due to an increase in budgeted resources for this class of licensees. The annual fees are allocated to the individual fuel facility licensees based on the effort/fee determination matrix established in the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999). In the matrix (which is included in the NRC workpapers that are publicly Start Printed Page 8685available), 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 in such a way (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 effort factors for the various subclasses of fuel facility licenses, including the proposed new subclass, are summarized in Table VI.
High Enriched Uranium Fuel 2 101 (38.0) 86 (58.1)
Enrichment 2 70 (26.3) 34 (23.0)
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel 3 66 (24.8) 18 (12.2)
UF6 Conversion 1 12 (4.5) 0 (0)
Limited Operations Facility 1 8 (3.0) 3 (2.0)
Others 2 9 (3.4) 7 (4.7)
Applying these factors to the safety, safeguards, and surcharge components of the $23.8 million total annual fee amount for the fuel facility class results in annual fees for each licensee within the categories of this class summarized in Table VII.
High Enriched Uranium Fuel $5,383,000
Uranium Enrichment 2,994,000
Low Enriched Uranium 1,612,000
UF6 Conversion 691,000
Limited Operations Facility 633,000
Others 461,000
b. Uranium Recovery Facilities. The proposed FY 2005 budgeted cost, including surcharge costs, to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the uranium recovery class is approximately $677,611. Approximately $539,000 of this amount would be assessed to DOE. The remaining $139,000 would be recovered through annual fees assessed to conventional mills, in-situ leach solution mining facilities, and 11e.(2) mill tailings disposal facilities. The annual fees for these facilities would increase in FY 2005 due to a slight increase in budgeted resources for this license fee class, and because the NRC estimates that a smaller proportion of these resources will be recovered under part 170.
Consistent with the change in methodology adopted in the FY 2002 final fee rule (67 FR 42612; June 24, 2002), the total annual fee amount, less the amounts specifically budgeted for Title I activities, is allocated equally between Title I and Title II licensees. This would result in an annual fee being assessed to DOE to recover the costs specifically budgeted for NRC's Title I activities plus 50 percent of the remaining annual fee amount, including the surcharge and generic/other costs, for the uranium recovery class. The remaining 50 percent of the surcharge and generic/other costs are assessed to the NRC Title II program licensees that are subject to annual fees. The costs to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the uranium recovery class are shown below. Start Printed Page 8686
UMTRCA Title I budgeted costs $400,322
50 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted costs 135,619
50 percent of uranium recovery surcharge 3,026
Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE 538,966
Total Annual Fee Amount for Title II Specific Licenses 138,644
The matrix used to allocate the costs of various categories of Title II specific licensees has been updated to equally weight the effort levels for each category of uranium recovery facilities, in accordance with the NRC's FY 2005 budgeted activities. It has also been revised to reflect two fewer uranium recovery facilities, in light of the fact that regulatory responsibility for these two facilities has been transferred to Utah (see discussion under “Agreement State Activities” below). However, consistent with the methodology established in the FY 1995 fee rule (60 FR 32218; June 20, 1995), the approach for establishing part 171 annual fees for Title II uranium recovery licensees has not changed, and is as follows:
(4) Each of the major program elements was further divided into three subelements; and
Class I (conventional mills) 1 800 800 20
Class II (solution mining) 3 800 2,400 60
11e.(2) disposal 0 0 0 0
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites 1 800 800 20
Applying these factors to the approximately $139,000 in budgeted costs to be recovered from Title II specific licensees results in the following revised annual fees:
Class I (conventional mills) $27,700
Class II (solution mining) 27,700
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites 27,700
In the FY 2001 final rule (66 FR 32478; June 14, 2001), the NRC revised § 171.19 to establish a quarterly billing schedule for Class I and Class II licensees, regardless of the annual fee Start Printed Page 8687amount. Therefore, as provided in § 171.19(b), if the amounts collected in the first three quarters of FY 2005 exceed the amount of the revised annual fee, the overpayment will be refunded; if the amounts collected in the first three quarters are less than the final revised annual fee, the remainder will be billed after the FY 2005 final fee rule is published. The remaining categories of Title II facilities are subject to billing based on the anniversary date of the license as provided in § 171.19(c).
c. Operating Power Reactors. The approximately $301.9 million in budgeted costs to be recovered through FY 2005 annual fees assessed to the power reactor class, including budgeted costs for homeland security activities related to power reactors, is divided equally among the 104 power reactors licensed to operate. This results in a FY 2005 annual fee of $2,903,000 per reactor. Additionally, each power reactor licensed to operate will be assessed the FY 2005 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning annual fee of $164,000. This results in a total FY 2005 annual fee of $3,067,000 for each power reactor licensed to operate. While budgeted resources for power reactors increased in FY 2005, annual fees would decrease because the NRC estimates that it will collect more of these resources through part 170 fees to power reactors.
d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning. For FY 2005, budgeted costs of approximately $20 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. The costs are divided equally among the 122 licensees (with the exception of a new license issued on November 30, 2004, which will pay an 83 percent prorated annual fee), resulting in a FY 2005 annual fee of $164,000 per licensee. Annual fees would decrease for these licensees due to a reduction in budgeted resources for this license fee class.
e. Test and Research Reactors (Nonpower Reactors). Approximately $218,000 in budgeted costs is to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the test and research reactor class of licenses for FY 2005. This amount is divided equally among the four test and research reactors subject to annual fees. This results in a FY 2005 annual fee of $54,400 for each licensee. While budgeted resources for test and research reactors increase in FY 2005, annual fees would decrease due to a projected increase in the proportion of these resources recovered through part 170 fees to test and research reactors.
f. Rare Earth Facilities. The FY 2005 budgeted costs of $71,000 for rare earth facilities to be recovered through annual fees will be assessed to the one licensee who has a specific license for receipt and processing of source material, resulting in a FY 2005 annual fee of $71,000. While total budgeted resources for the rare earth fee class increase in FY 2005, this increase is due to licensee-specific activities, the costs of which would be recovered under part 170. The annual fee for the operating rare earth facility would decrease due to a slight decrease in generic activities performed for this fee class.
g. Materials Users. To equitably and fairly allocate the $26.1 million in FY 2005 budgeted costs to be recovered in annual fees assessed to the approximately 4,500 diverse materials users and registrants, the NRC has continued 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 continues to provide a proxy for allocating the generic and other regulatory costs to the diverse categories of licenses based on how much it costs the NRC to regulate each category. Changes in FY 2005 annual fees for categories of licensees within the materials class reflect not only changes in budgeted resources for the materials class of licensees, but also changes in estimates of average professional staff time for materials users license applications and inspections, derived from the biennial review performed for the FY 2005 fee rule. (Large percentage increases in certain materials users fee categories, e.g., 3H, 3I, 9A, and 9B, are the result of significant changes to these average professional staff time estimates.) The 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 licenses is developed as follows:
The constant is the multiple necessary to recover approximately $20.9 million in general costs and is 1.27 for FY 2005. The inspection multiplier is the multiple necessary to recover approximately $4.5 million in inspection costs for FY 2005, and is 1.08 for FY 2005. The unique category costs are any special costs that the NRC has budgeted for a specific category of licenses. For FY 2005, approximately $36,000 in budgeted costs for the implementation of revised part 35, Medical Use of Byproduct Material (unique costs), has been allocated to holders of NRC human use licenses.
The annual fee assessed to each licensee also includes a share of the $60,000 in surcharge costs allocated to the materials user class of licenses and, for certain categories of these licenses, a share of the approximately $504,000 in LLW surcharge costs allocated to the class. The annual fee for each fee category is shown in § 171.16(d). Because the budgeted resources for this class of licensees increase in FY 2005, annual fees would increase for most of the fee categories in this class.
h. Transportation. Of the approximately $4.3 million in FY 2005 budgeted costs to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the transportation class of licenses, approximately $1.1 million will be recovered from annual fees assessed to DOE based on the number of part 71 Certificates of Compliance that it holds. Of the remaining $3.2 million, approximately 16 percent is allocated to the 84 quality assurance plans authorizing use only and the 35 quality assurance plans authorizing use and design/fabrication. The remaining 84 percent is allocated only to the 35 quality assurance plans authorizing use and design/fabrication. This results in an annual fee of $4,300 for each of the holders of quality assurance plans that authorize use only, and an annual fee of $80,200 for each of the holders of quality assurance plans that authorize use and design/fabrication. Fees would decrease for transportation licensees in FY 2005 due to a reduction in budgeted resources allocated to this fee class compared to FY 2004.
The NRC stated in the FY 2001 fee rule (66 FR 32452; June 14, 2001), 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 CFOs Act. Accordingly, the NRC has re-examined the small entity fees, and does not believe that a change to the small entity fees is warranted for FY 2005. The revision to the small entity fees in FY 2000 (65 FR 36946; June 12, 2000) was Start Printed Page 8688based on the 25 percent increase in average total fees assessed to other materials licensees in selected categories (those categories that include a number of small entities) since the small entity fees were first established, and changes that had occurred in the fee structure for materials licensees over time. While proposed fees for many of these selected categories of materials licensees would increase in FY 2005 compared to FY 2004, these fees are still lower, on average, than those charged in FY 2000, when small entity fees were last revised.
Unlike the annual fees assessed to other licensees, the small entity fees are not designed to recover the agency costs associated with particular licensees. Instead, the reduced fees for small entities are designed to provide some fee relief for qualifying small entity licensees while at the same time recovering from them some of the agency's costs for activities that benefit them. The costs not recovered from small entities for activities that benefit them must be recovered from other licensees. Given the reduction in annual fees from FY 2000 to FY 2005, on average, for those categories of materials licensees that contain a number of small entities, the NRC has determined that the current small entity fees of $500 and $2,300 continue to meet the objective of providing relief to many small entities while recovering from them some of the costs that benefit them.
Therefore, the NRC is proposing to retain the $2,300 small entity annual fee and the $500 lower tier small entity annual fee for FY 2005. The NRC plans to re-examine the small entity fees again in FY 2007.
On August 10, 2004, the NRC approved an Agreement with the State of Utah under Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1954, as amended. This Agreement transferred to the State the Commission's regulatory responsibility for uranium mills and mill tailings sites. This Agreement became effective August 16, 2004. Utah previously had become an Agreement State for certain other categories of materials, effective April 1, 1984. This Agreement was amended to include commercial low-level waste disposal responsibilities, effective May 9, 1990.
As a result of this Agreement, four former NRC uranium recovery licensees are now Utah licensees, two of which are uranium mills that are in decommissioning and reclamation. Because NRC does not charge fees to Agreement States or their licensees, the NRC will not collect fees in FY 2005 or thereafter for these four former NRC licensees. (The NRC did not collect annual fees for the mills in decommissioning while under the NRC's regulatory authority, because licensees in decommissioning are exempt from annual fees.) The costs of Agreement State regulatory support and oversight activities for Utah, as for any other Agreement State, would be recovered through the surcharge, consistent with existing fee policy.
The NRC is proposing to modify § 171.11(c) to eliminate ‘size of the reactor’ as a consideration in evaluating annual fee exemption requests. In the Statement of Consideration in the 1986 final fee rule (51 FR 33227; September 18, 1986), the Commission decided against determining its fees based on the size of the reactor because it found no necessary relationship between the thermal megawatt rating of a reactor and the agency's regulatory costs. Because it was not the Commission's intent to issue a fee schedule that would have the effect of forcing smaller, older reactors to shut down, it added an annual fee exemption provision which takes reactor size, age, and other relevant factors into consideration.
However, none of these smaller reactors is still licensed to operate. For several years the NRC has issued no waivers on the basis of size. Moreover, the NRC streamlined its fee program in the FY 1995 final fee rule (60 FR 32218; June 20, 1995) by establishing a uniform annual fee for power reactors, based on an analysis that showed that the difference in fees resulting from a breakdown of reactors into different fee categories was small relative to the amount of the annual fee per reactor. Therefore, the NRC believes that the current reference to ‘size of the reactor’ in § 171.11(c), as a consideration in evaluating annual fee exemption requests, is no longer needed. No other class of licensee contains an exemption provision based on size.
The NRC is proposing to eliminate reference to specific facility names under Category 1.A of the “Schedule of Materials Annual Fees and Fees for Government Agencies Licensed by the NRC” in § 171.16. This administrative change would be made to streamline the fee schedule in light of the fact that the listing of individual facilities within a fee category is not necessary to identify license fee amounts. Given this change, a licensee within Category 1.A would determine its annual fee amount by the fee subcategory assigned to its license, as is the practice for other licensees.
Additionally, the NRC is proposing to modify §§ 171.15(d)(1)(ii) and 171.16(e)(2) to clarify that activities comprising the annual fee surcharge include activities associated with unlicensed sites and unregistered general licensees. Currently, these paragraphs state that complex materials site decommissioning activities not covered under part 170 are included in the surcharge. Because this surcharge category also includes part 171, or generic costs associated with these decommissioning sites, the NRC is proposing to eliminate the phrase, “not covered under part 170.” (Note that if the regulatory revision to charge unlicensed sites in decommissioning, as previously discussed, is implemented, this surcharge category would not include part 170 activities associated with these sites.) In addition, activities associated with unregistered general licensees are included in this surcharge category.
Finally, the NRC is proposing to include, for each fee subcategory listed in the “Schedule of Materials Annual Fees and Fees for Government Agencies Licensed by NRC” at § 171.16(d), a unique number or letter identifier, and to make other minor administrative changes to enhance the consistency of fee categorizations between parts 170 and 171. This change would enhance the NRC's ability to track part 170 and part 171 fees for license categories and simplify communication to licensees about applicable fee categories.
1. Establish rebaselined annual fees for FY 2005;
2. Retain the current reduced fees for small entities;
3. Adjust the annual fees to reflect changes in Agreement State activities;
4. Modify § 171.11 to eliminate “size of reactor” as a consideration in evaluating annual fee exemption requests; and
5. Eliminate reference to specific facility names under Category 1.A of § 171.16, revise §§ 171.15 and 171.16 to clarify the activities that comprise the annual fee surcharge, and make other minor administrative changes to enhance the consistency of fee categorizations between parts 170 and 171.
The Presidential Memorandum dated June 1, 1998, entitled, “Plain Language in Government Writing” directed that the Government's writing be in plain language. This memorandum was Start Printed Page 8689published on June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31883). The NRC requests comments on this proposed rule specifically with respect to the clarity and effectiveness of the language used. Comments should be sent to the address listed under the heading ADDRESSES above.
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-113, 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 proposed rule, the NRC would amend 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 2005 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.
With respect to 10 CFR Part 170, this proposed rule was developed under Title V of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 9701) and the Commission's fee guidelines. When developing these guidelines the Commission took into account guidance provided by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 4, 1974, in National Cable Television Association, Inc. v. United States, 415 U.S. 36 (1974) and Federal Power Commission v. New England Power Company, 415 U.S. 345 (1974). In these decisions, the Court held that the IOAA authorizes an agency to charge fees for special benefits rendered to identifiable persons measured by the “value to the recipient” of the agency service. The meaning of the IOAA was further clarified on December 16, 1976, by four decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia: National Cable Television Association v. Federal Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 1094 (D.C. Cir. 1976); National Association of Broadcasters v. Federal Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 1118 (D.C. Cir. 1976); Electronic Industries Association v. Federal Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 1109 (D.C. Cir. 1976); and Capital Cities Communication, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 1135 (D.C. Cir. 1976). The Commission's fee guidelines were developed based on these legal decisions.
With respect to 10 CFR Part 171, on November 5, 1990, the Congress passed Pub. L. 101-508, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), which required that, for FYs 1991 through 1995, approximately 100 percent of the NRC budget authority 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 Development Appropriations Act 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 is 90 percent in FY 2005. The NRC's fee recovery amount for FY 2005 is 90 percent. To comply with this statutory requirement and in accordance with § 171.13, the NRC is publishing the amount of the FY 2005 annual fees for reactor licensees, fuel cycle licensees, materials licensees, and holders of Certificates of Compliance, registrations of sealed source and devices and QA program approvals, and Government agencies. OBRA-90, consistent with the accompanying Conference Committee Report, and the amendments to OBRA-90, provides that—
(1) The annual fees be based on approximately 90 percent of the Commission's FY 2005 budget of $669.3 million less the amounts collected from part 170 fees and funds directly appropriated from the NWF to cover the NRC's high-level waste program;
The NRC is required by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, as amended, to recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2005 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 proposed rule would establish the schedules of fees that are necessary to implement the Congressional mandate for FY 2005. The proposed rule would result 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 Start Printed Page 8690Analysis, prepared in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604, is included as Appendix A to this proposed rule.
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 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 2005.
2. In § 170.2, paragraph (t) is added to read as follows:
3. In § 170.11, paragraphs (a)(1)(iii)(A)(1) and (2) are revised and paragraph (3) is added to read as follows:
(1) It has been demonstrated that the report/request has been submitted to the NRC specifically for the purpose of supporting NRC's development of generic guidance and regulations (e.g., rules, regulations, guides and policy statements);
(2) The NRC, at the time the document is submitted, plans to use it for one of the purposes given in paragraph (a)(1)(iii)(A)(1) of this section. In this case, the exemption applies even if ultimately the NRC does not use the document as planned; and
(3) The fee exemption is requested in writing by the person submitting the report/request to the Chief Financial Officer in accordance with 10 CFR 170.5, and the Chief Financial Officer grants this request in writing.
(a) Reactor Program (§ 170.21 Activities): $205 per hour.
(b) Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Waste Program (§ 170.31 Activities): $198 per hour.
5. In § 170.21, Category K in the table and footnote 1 are revised and footnote 4 is added to read as follows:
Application—new license, or amendment $12,900
Application—new license, or amendment $7,500
Application—new license, or amendment $2,400
Application—new license, or amendment $1,600
Amendment $300
1 Fees 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, 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. Fees for licenses in this schedule that are initially issued for less than full power are based on review through the issuance of a full power license (generally full power is considered 100 percent of the facility's full rated power). Thus, if a licensee received a low power license or a temporary license for less than full power and subsequently receives full power authority (by way of license amendment or otherwise), the total costs for the license will be determined through that period when authority is granted for full power operation. If a situation arises in which the Commission determines that full operating power for a particular facility should be less than 100 percent of full rated power, the total costs for the license will be at that determined lower operating power level and not at the 100 percent capacity.
(a) Strategic Special Nuclear Material (High Enriched Uranium) Full Cost.
(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel Full Cost.
(a) Facilities with limited operations Full Cost.
(b) All Others Full Cost.
Application $910.
A.(1) Licenses for possession and use of source material for refining uranium mill concentrates to uranium hexafluoride Full Cost.
(a) Class I facilities 4 Full Cost.
(b) Class II facilities 4 Full Cost.
(c) Other facilities 4 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 2A(2) or Category 2A(4) 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 2A(2) Full Cost.
Application $220.
Application $7,800.
Application $9,300.
Application $3,400.
Application $4,600.
Application $11,000.
Application $13,500.
Application $8,000.
Application $810.
Application $3,100.
Registration $630.
Application $15,800.
Application $8,600.
Application—each device $19,300.
Application—each source $2,200.
Application—each source $750.
Application $5,200.
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:
Application—new license, or amendment $12,900.
Application—new license, or amendment $7,500.
Application—new license, or amendment $2,400.
Application—new license, or amendment $1,600.
Amendment $300.
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to Government agencies N/A.5
A. Certificates of Compliance N/A.5
B. Uranium Mill Tailing Radiation N/A.5
(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 a license or approval classified in more than one fee category must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for the category affected by the amendment unless the amendment is applicable to two or more fee categories, in which case the amendment fee for the highest fee category would apply. Start Printed Page 8695
2 Fees will not be charged for orders related to civil penalties or other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under 10 CFR 2.202 or for amendments resulting specifically from the requirements of these orders. For orders unrelated to civil penalties or other civil sanctions, fees will be charged for any resulting licensee-specific activities not otherwise exempted from fees under this chapter. Fees will be charged for approvals issued under a specific exemption provision of the Commission's regulations under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (e.g., 10 CFR 30.11, 40.14, 70.14, 73.5, and any other sections in effect now or in the future), regardless of whether the approval is in the form of a license amendment, letter of approval, safety evaluation report, or other form. In addition to the fee shown, an applicant may be assessed an additional fee for sealed source and device evaluations as shown in Categories 9A through 9D.
5 The NRC does not charge part 170 fees to Federal agencies, per 31 U.S.C. 9701.
8. Section 171.11 is amended by removing paragraph (c)(2), and paragraphs (c)(3), (c)(4), and (c)(5) are redesignated as (c)(2), (c)(3), and (c)(4), respectively.
9. In § 171.15 paragraphs (b), (c), (d), and (e) are revised to read as follows:
(b)(1) The FY 2005 annual fee for each operating power reactor which must be collected by September 30, 2005, is $3,067,000.
(2) The FY 2005 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 (surcharges). The activities comprising the FY 2005 spent storage/reactor decommissioning base annual fee are shown in paragraphs (c)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 2005 surcharge are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 2005 base annual fee for operating power reactors are as follows:
(c)(1) The FY 2005 annual fee for each power reactor holding a part 50 license that is in a decommissioning or possession only status and has spent fuel onsite and each independent spent fuel storage part 72 licensee who does not hold a part 50 license is $164,000.
(2) The FY 2005 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 (surcharge). The activities comprising the FY 2005 surcharge are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 2005 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning rebaselined annual fee are:
(d)(1) The activities comprising the FY 2005 surcharge are as follows:
(ii) Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or class of licenses (e.g., international cooperative safety program and international safeguards activities, support for the Agreement State program, decommissioning activities for unlicensed sites, and activities for unregistered general licensees); and
(2) The total FY 2005 surcharge allocated to the operating power reactor class of licenses is $3.3 million, not including the amount allocated to the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning class. The FY 2005 operating power reactor surcharge to be assessed to each operating power reactor is approximately $31,700. This amount is calculated by dividing the total operating power reactor surcharge ($3.3 million) by the number of operating power reactors (104).
(3) The FY 2005 surcharge allocated to the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning class of licenses is $70,000. The FY 2005 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning surcharge to be assessed to each Start Printed Page 8696operating power reactor, each power reactor in decommissioning or possession only status that has spent fuel onsite, and to each independent spent fuel storage part 72 licensee who does not hold a part 50 license is approximately $580. This amount is calculated by dividing the total surcharge 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 part 72 licensees who do not hold a part 50 license.
(e) The FY 2005 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 $54,400
Test reactor 54,400
10. In § 171.16, paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) are revised to read as follows:
(2) A licensee who seeks to establish status as a small entity for the purpose of paying the annual fees required under this section must file a certification statement with the NRC. The licensee must file the required certification on NRC Form 526 for each license under which it is billed. NRC Form 526 can be accessed through the NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov. 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. The form can also be obtained by calling the fee staff at (301) 415-7554, or by e-mailing the fee staff at fees@nrc.gov.
(d) The FY 2005 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee and an additional charge (surcharge). The activities comprising the FY 2005 surcharge are shown for convenience in paragraph (e) of this section. The FY 2005 annual fees for materials licensees and holders of certificates, registrations or approvals subject to fees under this section are shown in the following table:
(a) Strategic Special Nuclear Material (High Enriched Uranium) $5,383,000
(b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel 1,612,000
(a) Facilities with limited operations 633,000
(b) All Others 461,000
C. Licenses for possession and use of special nuclear material in sealed sources contained in devices used in industrial measuring systems, including x-ray fluorescence analyzers 2,100
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) 5,800
E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of a uranium enrichment facility 2,994,000
A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source material for refining uranium mill concentrates to uranium hexafluoride 691,000
(a) Class I facilities 4 27,700
(b) Class II facilities 4 27,700
(c) Other facilities 4 71,000
(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 2A(2) or Category 2A(4) 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 2A(2) 27,700
B. Licenses that authorize only the possession, use and/or installation of source material for shielding 750
C. All other source material licenses 13,500
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 24,800
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 8,200
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 3D 10,200
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 6,100
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) 4,300
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 7,800
G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies or more of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiation of materials in which the source is exposed for irradiation purposes. This category also includes underwater irradiators for irradiation of materials in which the source is not exposed for irradiation purposes 26,800
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 18,400
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 11,100
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 2,800
K. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 31 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material or quantities of byproduct material that do not require sealed source and/or device review to persons generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter, except specific licenses authorizing redistribution of items that have been authorized for distribution to persons generally licensed under part 31 of this chapter 1,700
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 14,700
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 6,100
N. Licenses that authorize services for other licensees, except: (1) Licenses that authorize only calibration and/or leak testing services are subject to the fees specified in fee Category 3P; and (2) Licenses that authorize waste disposal services are subject to the fees specified in fee categories 4A, 4B, and 4C 6,600
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 12,800
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 4,100
A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of items contaminated with byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material 25,200
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 teletherapy devices. This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding when authorized on the same license 13,700
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 27,300
A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material for civil defense activities 1,600
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 24,600
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 24,600
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 2,800
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 960
1. Users and Fabricators 80,200
2. Users 4,300
B. Site-specific decommissioning activities associated with unlicensed sites, regardless of whether or not the sites have been previously licensed 7 N/A
A. Licenses 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). This category includes licenses for export and import of radioactive waste 8 N/A
B. Licenses for export or import of nuclear material, radioactive waste, requiring Executive Branch review, but not Commission review. This category includes licenses 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 8 N/A
C. Licenses for export of nuclear material, for example, routine reloads of low enriched uranium reactor fuel and/or natural uranium source material requiring only the assistance of the Executive Branch to obtain foreign government assurances 8 N/A
D. Licenses 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 licenses 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 8 N/A
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 8 N/A
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to Government agencies 251,000
A. Certificates of Compliance 10 1,087,000
B. Uranium Mill Tailing Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) activities 539,000
1 Annual fees will be assessed based on whether a licensee held a valid license with the NRC authorizing possession and use of radioactive material, or a construction authorization for a mixed oxide fuel facility, during the current fiscal year. However, 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, 2004, and permanently ceased licensed activities entirely by September 30, 2004. Annual fees for licensees who filed for termination of a license, downgrade of a license, or for a possession only license during the fiscal year and for new licenses issued during the fiscal year will be prorated in accordance with the provisions of § 171.17. If a person holds more than one license, certificate, registration, or approval, the annual fee(s) will be assessed for each license, certificate, registration, or approval held by that person. For licenses that authorize more than one activity on a single license (e.g., human use and irradiator activities), annual fees will be assessed for each category applicable to the license. Licensees paying annual fees under Category 1A(1) are not subject to the annual fees for Category 1C and 1D for sealed sources authorized in the license.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of February, 2005.
From FY 1991 through FY 2000, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA-90), as amended, required that the NRC recover approximately 100 percent of its budget authority, less appropriations from the Nuclear Waste Fund, by assessing license and annual fees. The FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act 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 is 90 percent in FY 2005. The amount to be recovered for FY 2005 is approximately $540.7 million.
Based on the change in the magnitude of the budget to be recovered through fees, the Commission has determined that it is appropriate to rebaseline its part 171 annual fees again in FY 2005. Rebaselining fees will result in decreased annual fees for the majority of the fee classes of licensees. However, annual fees would increase for other classes including most materials licensees in the materials users class.
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA) is intended to reduce regulatory burdens imposed by Federal agencies on small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and governmental jurisdictions. SBREFA also 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. SBREFA also requires that an agency prepare a guide to assist small entities in complying with each rule for which a final regulatory flexibility analysis is prepared. This Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RFA) and the small entity compliance guide (Attachment 1) have been prepared for the FY 2005 fee rule as required by law.
The fee rule results in substantial fees being charged to those individuals, organizations, and companies that are licensed by the NRC, including those licensed under the NRC materials program. The comments received on previous proposed fee rules and the small entity certifications received in response to previous final fee rules indicate that NRC 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 the annual fees on materials licensees. About 26 percent of these licensees (approximately 1,200 licensees for FY 2004) have requested small entity certification in the past. A 1993 NRC survey of its materials licensees indicated that about 25 percent of these licensees could qualify as small entities under the NRC's size standards.
The RFA and its implementing guidance do not provide specific guidelines on what constitutes a significant economic impact on a small entity; therefore, the NRC has no benchmark to assist it in determining the amount or the percent of gross receipts that should be charged to a small entity. In developing the maximum small entity annual fee in FY 1991, the NRC examined its 10 CFR part 170 licensing and inspection fees and Agreement State fees for those fee categories which were expected to have a substantial number of small entities. Six Agreement Start Printed Page 8701States (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. Because small entities in those Agreement States were paying the fees, the NRC concluded that these fees did not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Therefore, those fees were considered a useful benchmark in establishing the NRC maximum small entity annual fee.
The NRC examined the small entity fees again in FY 2003 (68 FR 36717; June 18, 2003), and determined that a change was not warranted to the small entity fees established in FY 2003. The NRC stated in the Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 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 CFO Act.
Accordingly, the NRC re-examined the small entity fees for FY 2005, and did not believe that a change to the small entity fees was warranted. Unlike the annual fees assessed to other licensees, the small entity fees are not designed to recover the agency costs associated with particular licensees. Instead, the reduced fees for small entities are designed to provide some fee relief for qualifying small entity licensees while at the same time recovering from them some of the agency's costs for activities that benefit them. The costs not recovered from small entities for activities that benefit them must be recovered from other licensees. Given the reduction in annual fees from FY 2000 to FY 2005, on average, for those categories of materials licensees that contain a number of small entities, the NRC has determined that the current small entity fees of $500 and $2,300 continue to meet the objective of providing relief to many small entities while recovering from them some of the costs that benefit them.
Therefore, the NRC proposed to retain the $2,300 small entity annual fee and the $500 lower tier small entity annual fee for FY 2005. The NRC plans to re-examine the small entity fees again in FY 2007.
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 $2,300 for small entities and a lower-tier small entity annual fee of $500 for small businesses and not-for-profit organizations with gross annual receipts of less than $350,000, small governmental jurisdictions with a population of less than 20,000, small manufacturing entities that have less than 35 employees, and educational institutions that are not State or publicly supported and have less than 35 employees reduces the impact on small entities. At the same time, these reduced annual fees are consistent with the objectives of OBRA-90. Thus, the fees for small entities maintain a balance between the objectives of OBRA-90 and the RFA. Therefore, the analysis and conclusions previously established remain valid for FY 2005.
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA) requires all Federal agencies to prepare a written guide for each “major” final rule, as defined by the Act. The NRC's fee rule, published annually to comply with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, is considered a “major” rule under SBREFA. Therefore, in compliance with the law, this guide has been prepared to assist NRC materials licensees in complying with the FY 2005 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 2005 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 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 “License Fees” and under “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@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.
(1) Small business—a for-profit concern that provides a service, or a concern that is not engaged in manufacturing, with average Start Printed Page 8702gross receipts of $5 million or less over its last 3 completed fiscal years;
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:
Small business not engaged in manufacturing and small not-for-profit organizations (Gross Annual Receipts):
To pay a reduced annual fee, a licensee must use NRC Form 526. Licensees can access this form on the NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov. The form can then be accessed by selecting “License Fees” and under “Forms” selecting NRC Form 526. Those licensees that qualify as a “small entity” under the NRC size standards at 10 CFR 2.810 can complete the form in accordance with the instructions provided, and submit the completed form and the appropriate payment to the address provided on the invoice. 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 invoice. Alternatively, licensees may obtain the form by calling the fee staff at (301) 415-7554, or by e-mailing us at fees@nrc.gov.
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 $2,300 or $500 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.” This means that the amount due from a small entity is not the prorated amount shown on the invoice, but rather one-half of the maximum annual fee shown on NRC Form 526 for the size standard under Start Printed Page 8703which the licensee qualifies, resulting in a fee of either $1,150 or $250 for each fee category billed (instead of the full small entity annual fee of $2,300 or $500).
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@nrc.gov, or write to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-3128 Filed 2-18-05; 8:45 am]