ML20111B728

Responds to NRC Re Imminent Fee Notifications & 850211 Bills D0184 & D0185.Util Respectfully Declines Payment of Fees W/O Further Documentation & Analysis. Conference or Personal Interview W/Nrc Requested

ML20111B728
Person / Time
Site:	Midland
Issue date:	03/07/1985
From:	Jackie Cook CONSUMERS ENERGY CO. (FORMERLY CONSUMERS POWER CO.)
To:	Miller W NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION (ADM)
Shared Package
ML20111B703	List: ML20111B702 ML20111B728 ML20111B755
References
32196, NUDOCS 8503130209
Download: ML20111B728 (3)

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Consurners Ce'Potver General offices:

James W Cook Vice President - Projects, Engineering and Construction 1945 West Parnell Road, Jackson Mt 4920 1 + (517) 788-0453 March 7,1985 William G. Miller, Chief

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License Fee Management Branch i Office of Administration US Nuclear Regulatory Washington, D.C. Commission 20655 FILE:

MIDLAND 0485.11, 1300 ENERGY CENTER OPERATING L

{ SERIAL: ICENSE 32196 FEE ASSESSMENT This letter responds to your l your notifications were imminent etter ofandFebruary 8, 1985 info and 2 office (No for the operating licens two fee bills dated Februa rming us that fee Consumers. D0185).

Power Coapany respectfully dThese bills request o. D0184) paymente rev bills D0184 and D0185 without f of $3,077,400 urther documentation and analy ieclines at th ee June 23, 1984The bills state total operati s s.

figures were a,rrived atbut give no supporting datang license review tatio to support the figures set forth in thConsumers requeststhesecosts or analysis showing how that you for NRC invite' applicantsStatement of Considerations e bills. provide back-up documen- f 21300 (Mcy 21, 1984.). or licensees toor the 1984 amendments . .

to 10 C F RIn addition, in t audit NRC costs.

part 170, the NRC then a' low Consumers pehad at, an Reg.

49 Fed. opportunity 21293, to review the NRC k= ops to support place. it e initial rsonnel to documentation for thafter Consumers has authori tyConaneers se6 PowersCompany time charges furth at a mutuallyaudit the detailed back-up r s which bills for

' east 90 days in order to allforth inuse10 C.F.R. $ 15 31(b)

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records be/ ore reaching a final of the With respect position.

owand extend us time the due to review and date ee of the f analyze NRC i regulations and the 1978 and 1984 Stc particular items, Cons elecents of review Without review of documentaticharges tatements of Considerationumers are properly excludablrom the Power Compa ascertain is Consumers with Power certainty Company'that timon and full audit we are, of coe from the total fe relating to the soils remedial s position that any time .

associit t de However, has been im v.

beyond what would have been perf ae work, and in particular any ge twith reviewo ormed for an ordinary operatin echnical review OC0385-0011A-MP02 g license, is 85 31 g $ h $

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not properly billable. In addition, time expended in preparation for, atten-dance at, or otherwise associated with contested hearings, either the OM hearings or the OL hearings, is also properly excludable, under existing NRC regulations, from the fee bill. Thus, the total amounts aggregated should be reduced by any charges which are related to suca costs.

In addition, we believe that time may be improperly allocated between units.

For example, hours expended in reviewing common or duplicate systems should be charged under one of the two units and should thus come under the ceiling for the single unit. In addition, we believe that some review time which is charged for unit 2 may be properly applicable to unit 1, or vice versa.

Consumers Power Company believes also that the application of the ceiling of

$3,077,400 to the fees for each unit at Midland is erroneous as a matter _of law because it is a retroactive application of a new fee schedule. Consumers Power Company believes that its Midland OL fees became " fixed" when review time for the OL appifcations reached the ceilings established in the 1978 regulations. Any other interpretation of the regulations results in an application of a fee schedule retroactively, which is impermissible under the Independent Office Appropriations Act, 31 U.S.C. 9701 as interpreted in New England Power Company v. NRC, 683 F.2d 12, 15 n.4 (1st Cir. 1982).

In addition, even if the NRC could apply a new ceiling retroactively, the Statement of Considerations does not give fair notice of any NRC intent to do so. If fact, the Commission indicated to the contrary in the Statement of Considerations:

Since the final rule would not retain ceilings for most major licens-es, and the hourly rates established by this rule will apply only to work that occurs after the effective date of the final rule, this particular aspect of the question of " retroactive" application of the amendments is no longer germane.

49 Fed. Reg. 21293, 21296 (May 21, 1984).

In summary, Consumers Power Company requests that the NRC extend the due date for its fee bills for at least 90 days, that the NRC provide written documen-tation for the fee bills, that the NRC then provide Consumers with an opportu-nity to audit the supporting records and that tne NRC apply the ceilings under the 1978 regulations to the fee bills.

Consumers Power Company would like to discuss these considerations with you.at your convenience. Therefore, we request that you either schedule a conference pursuant to 10 C.F.R. I 15.31(c) or a personal interview with Consumers Power

• Review of the Midland Operating License applications began prior to the effective date.of the 1978 regulation when there was no " cost-based" fee schedule in effect. Accordingly, no fees should be assessed for time expended prior to March 23, 1978.

OCO385-0011A-MP02

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4 . 3 Company pursuant to 10 C.F.R. 5 15.25(b) . Such a conference or interview

would most likely be more productive if held after Consumers has had an opportunity to review documentation and audit records. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. ,

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