ML20045B696
| ML20045B696 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/08/1993 |
| From: | Selin I, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Baucus M, Lieberman J, Simpson A SENATE, ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC WORKS |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9306180303 | |
| Download: ML20045B696 (23) | |
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. June 8, 1993-
~ CHAIRMAN -
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.The Honorable Max' Baucus, Chairman
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Committee on: EnvironmentL and Public Works United States Senate
. Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I am: responding to your May.12, 1993 letter concerning NRC user fees. -The.
answers to your specific questions are provided in Enclosure 1.
If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.
Sincerely, i
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Ivan Selin -
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Enclosure:
As stated j
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June 8, 1993 CH AIRM AN The Honorable Alan K. Simpson Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Regulation Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate Washington, D.C.
20510
Dear Senator Simpson:
I am responding to your May 12, 1993 letter concerning NRC user fees.
The answers to your specific questions are provided in Enclosure 1.
If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.
Sincerely, edg Ivan Selin
Enclosure:
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June B, 1993 V
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CHAIRMAN The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman, Chairman Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Regulation Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate Washington, D.C.
20510
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I am responding to your May 12, 1993 letter concerning NRC user fees.
The answers to your specific questions are provided in Enclosure 1.
If I can ce of further assistance, please let me know.
Sincerely,
- ' /
Ivan Selin'
Enclosure:
As stated l
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i OVEST10N 1.
What is the NRC's estimate of the number of licensees that have ceased licensed activities -as a result of the. increase in NRC user fees pursuant to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (0BRf) of 19907 i
(a)
How many licensees were there prior to the 1990 OBRA?
ANSWER.
There were approximately 9,000 licensees prior to the 1990 OBRA.
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' OVESTION 1.
What is the NRC's estimate of the number of licensees that have ceased licensed activities as a result of the increase in NRC user fees pursuant to the.0mnibus Budget Recor' 'iation Act (OBRA) of 19907 (b)
How many were there in 1991, 1992 and-'are there now.in 1993?
ANSWER About 9.000 licensees were subject to the new annual fees established as a result of OBRA-90 in FY 1991.
For FY 1992, there were approximately 7,000 licensees and about 6,800 for FY 1993 subject to fees.
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00ESTION 1.
What is 'the NRC's estimate of the number of licensees that
. have ceased licensed activities as a result of the increase 1 in NRC user fees pursuant to the Omnibus Budget i
Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 19907 (c)
Is it possible to determine how many of these were
" active" prior to their termination?
ANSWER We are unable to provide a specific. number of licenses that were " active"-
prior to their termination because licensees are not required to indicate and normally do not indicate wnether they are using their license. liowever, based on correspondence, some licensees and registration holders have indicated that they were neither using nor planning to use the license or registration certificate.
In some instances, the licensee did not process any licensed
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material.
In other instances, the licensee elected to consolidate two or i
three licenses or registration certificates into one license or certificate.
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q-L OVESTION 2.
NON-POWER REACTORS --
(a)
What.is the status of federal non-power reactors?-
Which of these pay fees, how much are.these fees, which of these reactors-do not pay fees, and why is there a difference in treatment?
ANSWER.
In FY 1991, annual fees were assessed for the first : time to the four Federal non-power reactors licended by the NRC.
The licensees are the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Veteran's Administration Medical Center (VA).
Each of these four reactors paid annual fees of $50,000 for FY 1991.
l Section 2903(a)(4) of the Energy Policy Act specifically exempts from annual fees certain Federally-owned research reactors for FY 1992.or any succeeding-year.
Consistent with this exemption requirement, the NRC'is exempting AFRRI 1
and the VA from the annual fees for FY 1992 and subsequent years. An exemption request from the U.S. Geological Survey is pending. Additional information relating to the use of the reactor has been requested. The NIST.
reactor has not been exempted from annual fees because the reactor is licensed at greater than 10 megawatts thermal and therefore does not meet the exemption criteria in the Energy Policy Act.
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'0VESTION 2.
NON-POWER REACTORS --
P (b)
When a federal-non-power reactor receives an exemption, which other licensees become subject to additional charges as a result? How much is the additional charge per licensee as a result of the exemption?
y ANSWER.
The exemptions granted for FY 1992 required t' e. NRC to make refunds of the n
I fees. Thus, no one becomes subject' to the additional charges because the final rule was promulgated before the exemptions were granted.
For FY 1993, operating power reactors will be subject to additiont.i fees as a result of.the
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exemptions to Federal nonpower reactors. The total fee. amount for the three
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.-J Federal nonpower reactors eligible for the exemption is about $1,800 per power lI
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90ESTION 3.
What percentage of the NRC budget is recovered from:
(a) nuclear power plant licensees; (b) materials licensees?
ANSWER.
For FY 1993, we estimated that it will recover approximately 83 percent of its
.1 budget authority from fees assessed to nuclear power plants and 13 percent from fees assessed to materials licensees. The remaining four percent comes l
from the Nuclear Waste Fund.
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e OVEST10N 4 10AA FEES FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES --
(a)
How much money.is recovered from the NRC's authority l
under the 10AA?-
-t ANSWER.
For FY 1993, the NRC estimates that approximately $117 million will be recovered from 10AA fees.
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'0VESTION 4 10 A FEES'FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES --
(b)
How-much of this is recovered from private (i.e., non-federal agencies) persons?
ANSWER.
About 95 percent of the amount recovered from 10AA fees is estimated to bo i
recovered from private persons or companies.
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'00ESTION 4.
10AA FEES FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES --
(c)
Which federal agencies are subject to 10AA fees? How much does each of these agencies pay in 10AA fees?
ANSWER.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Uranium Enrichment Corporation are subject to 10AA fees.
TVA is assessed fees only for its power reactor licenses pursuant to Section 161w. of the Atomic Energy Act.
For other services that NRC provides, TVA is exempt from 10AA fees.
For FY 1992, TVA paid a total of about $6 million for 10AA fees.
To date, the Uranium Enritnment Corporation has not been assessed any 10AA fees. We plan to begin assessing fees to the Corporation on July 1, 1993, the date the Corporation comes into existence.
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0VESTION 4, 10AA FEES FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES --
(d)
'Which federal agencies.which receive NRC services are exempt
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from 10AA fees? How much would the NRC recover from these agencies if these agencies were not exempt from 10AA fees?
- ANSWER, The Federal agencies which receive NRC services and are exempt from 10AA fees are listed in Enclosure 2.
The NRC would recover about $5 million annually in 1
10AA fees from these agencies if the exemption were eliminated.
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' 0VESTION 4.
10AA FEES FOR FEDERAL AGEllCIES --
(e)
Who ends up paying for services provided to federal agencies that are exempt from the 10AA?
ANSWER.
Operating power reactors currently pay for most of the services provided to Federal agencies that are exempt from 10AA fees.
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'0VESTION 4 10AA FEES FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES --
(f)
What legislation would be needed to remove this exemption for federal agencies?
ANSWER.
i d-The Atomic Energy Act could be modified to permit the assessment of license and inspection fees to all Federal agencies. EThe modification would be similar to that enacted by the Congress to permit the NRC to assess 10AA fees to the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Uranium Enrichment Corporation.
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'OVESTION 4.
'I0AA FEES FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES --
(g)
If the Congress were to amend'the law so that the NRC could collect 10AA fees from all federal agencies, what effect would this change have upon the fees of other NRC licensees? Whose fees would or could be-reduced, and by how much?
- ANSWER, Amending the Atomic Energy Act to permit NRC to collect 10AA fees from all' Federal agencies would reduce the annual fees for operating power reactors.
For FY 1993, it is estimated that the total annual fees for operating power-reactors would be reduced by approximately $5 million.
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'0VESTION 5.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS --
(a)
What are the international activities that the Commission believes can be "directly charged"' to licensees? What is the difference between those that can be directly charged i
and those that cannot be directly charged?
ANSWER.
t The primary international activities that the NRC believes can be "directly charged" to licensees are those that provide a direct benefit to the NRC's regulatory program or to NRC licensees. These activities include:
1.
Issuing and amending export / import licenses.
2.
Exchanges of information and other regulatory cooperation with advanced nuclear countries and international organizations regarding safety, safeguards, and environmental activities.
For example, these include certain IAEA/NES activities (standard setting, sharing of operational experiences and safeguards improvements) and cooperative research projects such as those related-to reactor aging.
The international activities that are not directly related to NRC licensees involve those that are performed in support of broad U.S. interests such as i
nuclear non-proliferation and foreign policy.
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'0VESTION 5.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS --
(b)
For the second example listed by the Commission --
consultations on export activities--is there a direct i
beneficiary ~ of the Commission's activity who -is not l
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being assessed a fee? Would it be possible to assess these persons fees for the export activities. provided by NRC7 ANSWER.
The NRC assesses licensing fees for export licenses that it issues. The NRC i
also consults with DOE and the Department of Commerce on export approvals for l
which these agencies are responsible.
Since the companies which are exporting j
are not licensed by the NRC and therefore do not receive a direct service, an NRC fee is not charged. As noted in the response to question 4, the NRC cannot charge the Federal agencies a fee for the consultation.
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' 0VESTION 5.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS --
(c)
If the Congress amended the user fee statutory requirement so that NRC were no longer required to charge user fees for the 40% of the budget of-the international programs that cannot be directly charged j
to licensees, how would this affect the user fee schedule? Whose fees would be decreased, and by how much?
I ANSWER.
If "angress amended the user fee statutory requirement as suggested, the total FY 1993 fees for operating power reactors would be reduced by about $5-million.
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'OVEST10N 6.
AGREEMENT-STATE PROGRAM --
(a)
How much does it cost to implement the Agreement. State' I
program? What are the activities in this program?
ANSWER.
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The FY 1993 estimate of the direct cost to implement the Agreement State Program is approximately $3 million.
The activities in this program include those necessary to administer agreements with the 29 Agreement States and to provide assistance to Non-Agreement States seeking Agreement State status.
The specific activities include: conducting major training courses, special topic workshops and technical meetings for Agreement State staff; making annual visits to review programs for adequacy and compatibility with NRC ~
programs; ensuring early and substantive involvement of the Agreement States l
in NRC rulemaking and other regulatory efforts;- and providing assistance to State and local governments in radiation control.
The NRC also provides technical assistance to Agreement States to assist them in implementing these safety responsibilities.
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' OVESTION 6.
AGREEMENT STATE PROGRAM --
-(b)
Who pays for the activities in this program? How much? How are the user fees assessed to cover the costs of this program?
3 ANSWER.
The activities in this program are paid for by all NRC licensees. The estimated FY 1993 amount for this activity is 53 million.
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'0VESTION 6.
AGREEMENT STATE PROGRAM --
i (c)
If the Congress amended the user fee statutory requirement so that the NRC were not required to charge user fees to cover the Agreement State program, how would this affect the user fee schedule? Whose fees would be decreased, and by how much?
ANSWER.
If the user fee statutory requirements were amended, this would have the 1
effect of reducing fees for all licenses. The FY 1993 fees would be decreased by about $3.0 million.
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-l Federal Agencies with NRC licenses and Certificates of Compliance
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Defense Logistics Agency Defense Nuclear Agency Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce i
i Department of Defense Department of Energy Department of Health & Human Services Department of Justice
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Department of Labor Department of Transportation
- l Department of the Air Force L
Department of the Army
'l Department of the Interior Department of the Navy Department of the Treasury Department of Veterans Affairs Environmental Protection Agency Federal Emergency Management Agency j
General Service Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Center for Health Statistics l
National Gallery of Art Smithsonian Institution Tennessee Valley Authority U.S. Secret Service 20
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