ML24152A073
| ML24152A073 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/20/2024 |
| From: | Neville M NRC/OCFO |
| To: | Alejandre E US Executive Office of the President, Office of Mgmt & Budget (OMB) |
| References | |
| Download: ML24152A073 (1) | |
Text
Kristine Arboleda The Office of Management and Budget 725 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20503
Dear Kristine Arboleda:
On June 20, 2024, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published the fiscal year (FY) 2024 final fee rule in the Federal Register (89 FR 51789), which is enclosed. The FY 2024 final fee rule amends the fee requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 170, Fees for Facilities, Materials, Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended and, 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. These amendments are necessary to comply with the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA).
Under NEIMA, the NRC must recover, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 percent of its total budget authority for the fiscal year, less the budget authority for excluded activities, through fees. Under section 102(b)(1)(B) of NEIMA, excluded activities include any fee-relief activity as identified by the Commission, generic homeland security activities, waste incidental to reprocessing activities, Nuclear Waste Fund activities, advanced reactor regulatory infrastructure activities, Inspector General (IG) services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, research and development at universities in areas relevant to the NRCs mission, and a nuclear science and engineering grant program. In FY 2024, in addition to the fee-relief activities identified by the Commission in prior fee rules, the resources for the Minority Serving Institutions Grant Program are also identified as a fee-relief activity to be excluded from the fee recovery requirement. All excluded activities are listed in Table 1Excluded Activities, of the FY 2024 final fee rule.
The NRC is issuing this FY 2024 final fee rule based on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (the enacted budget). The FY 2024 final fee rule reflects a total budget authority in the amount of $944.1 million, an increase of $16.9 million from FY 2023. As explained previously, certain portions of the NRCs total budget authority are excluded from NEIMAs fee recovery requirement under section 102(b)(1)(B) of NEIMA. Based on the enacted budget, these exclusions total $137.1 million, which is a decrease of $18.9 million from the FY 2024 budget request, and an increase of $0.1 million from FY 2023. These excluded activities consist of
$96.8 million for fee-relief activities, $23.8 million for advanced reactor regulatory infrastructure activities, $14.0 million for generic homeland security activities, $1.0 million for waste incidental to reprocessing activities, and $1.5 million for IG services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. By law, the NRC is required to collect all fees by September 30, 2024.
June 20, 2024
After accounting for the exclusions from the fee recovery requirement and net billing adjustments (i.e., for FY 2024 invoices that the NRC estimates will not be paid during the FY, less payments received in FY 2024 for prior-year invoices), the NRC must recover approximately $808.3 million in fees in FY 2024. Of this amount, the NRC estimates that
$202.2 million will be recovered through 10 CFR Part 170 service fees and approximately
$606.1 million will be recovered through 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees.
The amendments to 10 CFR Part 170 revise the professional hourly rate and flat license application fees charged to licensees and applicants. The hourly rate used to assess 10 CFR Part 170 fees increases from $300 in FY 2023, to $317 in FY 2024.
The annual fees for operating power reactors do not exceed the cap established by NEIMA and are decreasing, when compared to FY 2023 fees. Annual fees are increasing for fuel facilities, spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning activities, non-power production or utilization facilities, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) transportation activities, the non-DOE uranium recovery licensee, the DOE Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act Program, and all materials users fee categories. Generally, 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees are impacted by changes to the budget, fees for services, the number of licensees, the results of the biennial review of fees, and other factors. Additionally, the FY 2024 final fee rule includes no proposed policy changes and eleven administrative changes. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions regarding the proposed fee rule.
Sincerely, Marcellino M. Neville, Budget Director Division of Budget Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Enclosure:
Federal Register Notice cc: Christine McDonald, OMB Signed by Neville, Marcellino on 06/20/24
SUBJECT:
FISCAL YEAR 2024 FINAL FEE RULE LETTER TO THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET, DATED: JUNE 20, 2024 DISTRIBUTION:
RidsOcfoMailCenterResource OCFO/RF ADAMS Accession Number: ML24152A073 OFFICE OCFO/DOB OCFO/DOB OCFO/DOB NAME JJacobs WBlaney ARossi DATE 06/05/2024 06/04/2024 06/10/2024 OFFICE OCFO/DOB OCFO/DOB NAME LYee MNeville DATE 06/12/2024 06/20/2024 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY