ML22202A459
| ML22202A459 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/19/2022 |
| From: | Clay Johnson NRC/OCFO |
| To: | Tony Brown Nuclear Energy Institute |
| CYL2 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML22202A454 | List: |
| References | |
| OCFO-22-00141 | |
| Download: ML22202A459 (3) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 August 19, 2022 Tony Brown, Technical Advisor Regulatory Affairs Nuclear Energy Institute 1201 F Street, NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20004
SUBJECT:
LETTER TO TONY BROWN IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FOR A FEE EXEMPTION FOR NEI 21-05
Dear Tony Brown:
On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter dated July 13, 2022, (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System [ADAMS]
Accession No. ML22195A020), requesting a fee exemption under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 170.11(a)(1)(ii) for staff review of Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)
Draft Technical Report NEI 21-05, Reporting Guidance for Licensees with Risk Informed Licensing Bases.
The NRC has established regulations for the granting of fee exemptions under 10 CFR 170.11 Exemptions. An interested person may apply for an exemption under 10 CFR 170.11 in accordance with 10 CFR 170.5, Communications.1 The NRC staff reviewed your request based on the regulations in 10 CFR 170.11(a)(1)(ii) and 10 CFR 170.11(a)(13). Section 170.11(a)(1)(ii) states:
No application fees, license fees, renewal fees, inspection fees, or special project fees shall be required for: (1) A special project that is a request/report submitted to the NRC... (ii) When the NRC, at the time the request/report is submitted, plans to use the information in response to an NRC request from the Office Director level or above to resolve an identified safety, safeguards, or environmental issue, or to assist the NRC in generic regulatory improvements or efforts (e.g., rules, regulatory guides, regulations, policy statements, generic letters, or bulletins).
Section 170.11(a)(13) states:
All fee exemption requests must be submitted in writing to the Chief Financial Officer in accordance with § 170.5, and the Chief Financial Officer will grant or deny such requests in writing.
1 10 CFR 170.5 provides that All communications concerning the regulations in this part should be addressed to the NRCs Chief Financial Officer, either by mail to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; by hand delivery to the NRCs offices at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; or, where practicable, by electronic submission, for example, via Electronic Information Exchange, or CD-ROM.
T. Brown In your letter, you state that NEI should be granted a fee exemption because you believe the NRC staffs review constitutes a generic regulatory improvement and would benefit both the NRC and an appreciable portion of the commercial reactor fleet, thereby providing a broad public benefit. In your letter, you also request that NEI 21-05 be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390. NEI will make the document available to all members and to non-members for a reasonable fee. You also state that NEI does not plan to seek NRC endorsement of the guidance.
After review, I have determined that your request for NRC review of draft NEI 21-05 does not meet the criteria for an exemption pursuant to 10 CFR 170(a)(1)(ii) as a generic regulatory improvement or effort. As stated above, Section 170.11 (a)(1)(ii) defines examples of generic regulatory improvements as rules, regulatory guides, regulations, policy statements, generic letters, or bulletins. Your request states that NEI 21-05 would provide guidance to licensees in complying with reporting requirements but does not explain how this document will assist the NRC in generic regulatory improvements or efforts, particularly given that NEI is not seeking endorsement of the guidance. In addition, you request that NEI 21-05 be withheld from the public and state that the document will only be available to non-NEI members for a fee. Generic regulatory improvements in the context of 10 CFR Part 170 typically apply to a broad group of licensees. The key question, though, is not how many operating reactors an action applies to, but whether the NRCs associated review allows the agency to make programmatic regulatory improvements that apply to a generic and non-arbitrary class. Some reports, for instance, may be used by the NRC to generate a policy statement that applies to only pressurized water reactors. Such reports may result in fee exemptions being granted under 10 CFR 170.11(a)(1)(ii) even though the policy statement would not apply to all operating reactors. However, because NEI 21-05 will be non-public and not available to non-NEI members without a fee, it appears that any potential programmatic improvement would be restricted to a specific class of NEI members.
Further, in accordance with the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA), the NRC is required to recover through fees, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 percent of its annual budget authority, less the budget authority for excluded activities. Under NEIMA, the NRC must also use its Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1952, authority first to collect fees that provide specific benefits to identifiable recipients, such as licensing activities, inspections, and special projects. In this case, it would not be fair to recover, through annual fees to the operating power reactors fee class, the NRC costs that were derived from reviewing a specific NEI request for the benefit of NEI members.
If you have any technical questions regarding this matter, please contact Richard Chang at 301-415-5888. Please contact Jo Jacobs, of my staff, at 301-415-8388 for any fee-related questions.
Sincerely, Cherish K. Johnson Chief Financial Officer Signed by Johnson,Cherish on 08/19/22
SUBJECT:
LETTER TO TONY BROWN IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FOR A FEE EXEMPTION FOR NEI 21-05, DATED: AUGUST 19, 2022 DISTRIBUTION: OCFO-22-00141 NAridi, OCFO CSpeer, NRR JHarvey, NRR RidsNrrOd Resource ADAMS Accession Number: ML22202A454 Package; ML22202A459 Memo OFFICE OCFO/DOB OCFO/DOB NRR/DORL NRR/DRO NRR/DORL NAME JJacobs BBlaney LFields LRegner RChang DATE 07/21/2022 07/25/2022 07/26/2022 07/26/2022 07/27/2022 OFFICE NRR/DORL NRR/DRO OGC OCFO/DOC OCFO/DOC NAME GSuber CMiller CMcCann NLO MHerrera MBlair DATE 07/28/2022 07/27/2022 08/17/2022 08/01/2022 08/1/2022 OFFICE OCFO/DOB OCFO/DOB OCFO/DOB CFO CFO NAME ACRossi RCAllwein JEShay (RAllwein for)
BFicks CKJohnson DATE 08/17/2022 08/17/2022 08/19/2022 08/19/2022 08/19/2022 OFFICIAL RECORD ONLY