ML20137Q554

Informs That Assessment of 50 Percent of Annual Fee Under Fee Category 10B(1) for FY97 Will Be Issued Either in Jul 1997 or Upon Issuance of Final Rule Revising Billing for Terminated Licenses

ML20137Q554
Person / Time
Site:	07100853
Issue date:	04/09/1997
From:	Gerard Jackson NRC OFFICE OF THE CONTROLLER
To:	Borland V AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
References
NUDOCS 9704110023
Download: ML20137Q554 (1)

Text

, ,, Laurel Technologies, Inc. '

. April 9, 1997 ATTN: Ms. Victoria Borland 15508 Park Hall Court C6 Laurel, MD 20707

Dear Ms. Borland:

I am responding to your March 24, 1997, letter requesting the immediate  !

termination of Quality Assurance Program Approval Number 0853. Your letter states that it is your understanding that by taking this action, you will avoid the annual fee for the second half of FY 1997. The approval was terminated April 3, 1997.

One of the proposed changes in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's license fee regulations in 10 CFR Part 171 for FY 1997 (copy enclosed) is to assess the annual fee for licenses that are terminated during the fiscal year but prior to the anniversary month of the license upon termination for the fee in effect at the time of the billing. As provided in 10 CFR 171.17, licenses for which termination requests are filed during the period October 1 through March 31 of the fiscal year are assessed one-half of the annual fee.

Based on the above, Laurel Technologies, Inc., will be assessed 50 percent of the annual fee under fee Category 10B(1) for FY 1997 for QA-0853. The bill will be issued either in July 1997, based on the anniversary month, or upon.

issuance of the final rule revising the billing for terminated licenses, whichever occurs first.

Sincerely, fjanedby a Gl'eNdaC.Ykson, Chief License fee Section License fee and Accounts Receivable Branch Division of Accounting and Finance  :

Office of the Controller

Enclosure:

As stated I cci J. Jankovich, NMSS  !

Distribution:  !

OC/DAF/LFARB RF w/o inc & encl Docket file 71-0853 w/inc & encl NUDOCS (ML-61) w/inc & encl PDR w/inc & encl OC/DAF RF (DAF-7-000) w/o inc & encl OC/DAF SF (LF-3.2.2) w/ orig inc & encl LF-97-56 w/o inc & encl DOCUMENT NAME: G:\LRLTECH (in ewe =e a ry er em dwummat ed.mu in en boa: aca - c.,y .ma emiebm v. mci - T - c.py .4.amhm.ot neiam w - w py.

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%8 March 24,1997 L. .

. Diane Dandois, Chief  :

License Fee & Debt Collection Branch 7 j_gg 3 ,

Office of the Controller US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555  ;

Dear Ms. Dandois:

Laurel Technologies, Inc is the holder of Quality Assurance Program Approval Number 0853 for i radioactive material packages. We wish to terminate that approval effective immediately. It is our understanding that by taking this action, we~will avoid the annual fee for the second halfoffiscal year 1997.

Very truly yoursj k

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-N O TIC E-THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION RELATING TO PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION'S LICENSE FEE REGULATIONS IN 10 CFR PARTS 170 AND 171 FOR FY 1997.

THE PROPOSED CHANGES AFFECT A_LL APPLICANTS FOR AND HOLDERS OF NRC LICENSES, CERTIFICATES AND APPROVALS.

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-NOTlCE-THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION RELATING TO PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION'S LICENSE FEE REGULATIONS IN 10 CFR PARTS 170 AND 171 FOR FY 1997.

THE PROPOSED CHANGES AFFECT A_LL APPLICANTS FOR AND HOLDERS OF NRC LICENSES, CERTIFICATES AND APPROVALS.

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION .

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20eeH001 j

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February 25, 1997 l lMPORTANT NOTICE I I

._TO: ALL PARTS 30, 40, 50, 61, 70, 71, 72, 73, AND 110 LICENSEES,

' APPLICANTS AND REACTOR VENDORS

SUBJECT:

PROPOSED REVISIONS TO 10 CFR PARTS 170 AND 171 ON-

< LICENSE, INSPECTION AND ANNUAL FEES FOR FY 1997 l

Within the next few days, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will publish in the j

, Federal Register for public comment the enclosed Proposed Notica of Rulemaking. '

This notics proposes revisions to the fee requirements of 10 CFR Part 170 (" Fees for Facilities and Materials Licenses and Other Regulatory Services . . . ") and Part 171

(" Annual Fees for Reactor Operating Licenses and Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials Licenses, . . .). These proposed revisions are being made to implement Public Law 101-508 enacted on November 5,1990, which mandates that the NRC recover approximately 100 percent of its budget authority less the appropriation from the Nuclear Waste Fund in FY 1997.

l The amount,of the FY 1997 budget to be recovered from fees is $462.3 million, the same amount estimated for recovery in FY 1996. Thus, the total fees assessed will be the same as FY 1996. However, the distribution between 10 CFR Part 170 fees for services and 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees would change. The NRC estimates  ;

that approximately $96 million would be recovered in FY 1997 from fees assessed '

under 10 CFR Part 170 and other receipts compared to $120.5 million in FY 1996.

The remaining $366.3 million in FY 1997 would be recovered through the 10 CFR ,

Part 171 annual fees. Because the 10 CFR Part 170 fees and other offsetting receipts for FY 1997 are below the estimate for FY 1996, annual fees must increase  ;

to recover approximately 100 percent of NRC's budget authority. The NRC is  !

proposing to establish annual fees for all licensees at a level of 8.2 percent above the l FY 1996 annual fees. '

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The FY 1996 annual fees and the proposed FY 1997 annual fees are as follows:

Proposed FY 1996 FY 1997 Class of Licensees Annual Fee _ _ Annual Fee Power Reactors

$2,746,000 $2,972,000 Nonpower Reactors 52,800 57,200 High Enriched Fuel Facility 2,403,000 Low Enriched Fuel Facility 2,600,000 1,179,000 1,276,000 UF, Conversion 597,800 647,000 Uranium Mills 57,000 61,600 Spent Fuel Storage 260,900 Transportation Cask User 282,000 950 1,000 Typical Materials Licensees Radiographers 13,000 14,000 Well Loggers 7,500 8,200 Gauge Users 1,600 1,700 Broad Scope Medical 21,700 23,500 Other Medical 4,300 4,700 The specific changes to Parts 170 and 171 would:

1. Part 170 (a) Revise the two professional hourly rates in 170.20 which will be used to determine the 10 CFR Part 170 fees assessed by the NRC. The new rate for the reactor program is $131 per hour compared to $128 per hour in FY 1996, and the new rate for the materials program is $125 per hour compared to $120 per hour in FY 1996; (b)

Adjust the S170.31 licensing (application and amendment) " flat" fees for materials licenses to reflect the costs of providing the licensing services; (c)

Revise the fees in $@170.21 and 170.31 that relate to the export and import of radioactive material to reflect the costs of providing the services;

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l, (d) Amend $170.11 to add a' fee exemption provision for those amendments to portable gauge licenses referencing NUREG 1556 that would change {

only the name of the Radiation Safety Officer and .  ;

(e)- Implement a procedural change whereby fees would be assessed under

$$170.21 and 170.31 to verify quality assurance, safeguards  !

contingency and emergency plan changes submitted by licensees.  ;

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2. Part 171 ~

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(a) . Adjust all annual fees upward by about 8 percent. The proposed l; change is consistent with the NRC's intention stated in the FY 1995 final rule, that beginning in FY 1996, annual fees would be stabilized by

• adjusting prior year annual fees by the percent change (plus or minus)  ;

in the NRC budget authority taking into consideration the estimated collections from 10 CFR Part 170 fees and the number of licensees paying fees; and  :

(b)' Establish a_ new annual fee of $2,600,000 (fee Category 1.E.) for each Certificate of Compliance issued to the United Sates Enrichment Corporation.

All parties desiring to submit written comments for consideration should send them to the Secretary of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555, Attention: Docketing and Services Branch, within 30 days from publication in the ,

Federal Register. Questions relating to the proposed revisions should be directed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,' Washington, D.C. 20555, Attention: Office of the Chief Financial Officer.  ;

-WN '

Ronald M. Scroggins  !

Acting Chief Financial Officer j

Enclosure:

Proposed Notice of Rulemaking i

1

[7590-01-P]

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISS70N 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171

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i RIN: 3150-AF 55 l Revision of Fee Schedules; 100% Fee Recovery, FY 1997 1

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend the licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its applicants and licensecs. The proposed amendments are necessary to implement the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA- j 90), which mandates that the NRC recover approximately 100 i percent of its budget authority in Fiscal Year (FY) 1997 less amounts appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF). The j amount to be recovered for FY 1997 is approximately $462.3 l million.

DATES: The comment period expires (30 days after publication).

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 receivsd on or before this date will be considered.

Because OBRA-9L requires that NRC collect the FY 1997 fees by September 30, 1997, requests for' extensions of the comment period will not be granted.  ;

ADDRESSES: Mail written comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN:

Docketing and Services Branch. Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:45 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays. (Telephone 301-415-1678). Copies of comments received may be examined at the NRC Public Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC 20555-0001.

For information on submitting comments electronically, see the discussion under Electronic Access in the Supplementary Information Section.

The agency workpapers that support these proposed changes to 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171 may be examined at the NRC Public Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC 20555-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: C. James Holloway, Jr., Office of the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Telephone 301-415-6213.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background.

II. Proposed Action.

i iO d u 5 O ih 5 (, q g . j

III.

IV.

Section-by-Section Analysis.

V.

Electronic Access.

VI.

Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion.

VII. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement.

VIII.

Regulatory Analysis.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.

IX. Backfit Analysis.

I. Background Public Law 101-508, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), enacted November 5, 1990, requires that the NRC recover the amount approximately appropriated 100 frompercent of its budget authority, less the Departmen administered NWF, for FYs 1991 through 19 of Energy (DOE)

OBRA-90 was amended in 1993 oy assessing fees.

recovery requirement through FY 1998.to extend the NRC's 100 percent fee The NRC authority. assesses two types of fees to recover its budget First, license and inspection fees, established in a 10 CFR Part 170 under the authority of the Independent Appropriation Act (IOAA), 31 U.S.C. 9701, recover the NRC's costs Offices N

of providing applicants andindividually licensees. identifiable services to specific the NRC for which these fees are assessed are the review ofExamples of t applications renewals, for the issuance of new licenses, approvals or annual fees, and amendments to licenses or approvals. Second, of OBRA-90, established in 10 CFR Part 171 under the authority recover generic and other regulatory costs not recovered through 10 CFR Part 170 fees.

On April 12, 1996 (61 FR 16203), the NRC published its final rule establishing the licensing, inspection, and annual fees budget authority for FY 1996,necessary for the NRC to recover approximately from the Nuclear Waste Fund. less the appropriation received assessed for FY 1996 were adopted by the NRC.Several changes to the fees

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highlighted in the final rule (61 FR 16203 These changes were April 12, 1996) and bear on the approach this proposed rule. for establishing annua;l fees set forth in II. Proposed Action The NRC is proposing to cmend its licensing, inspection, and budget authority, including rne budget authority for its Offic of the Inspector General, lees the appropriations received from the NWF and the General Fund. For FY 1997, the NRC's budget authority is $476.8 appropriated from themillion, NWF. of which $11.0 million has been In addition, appropriated from the General Fund for activities related to$3.5 million has been commercial vitrification of waste stored at the Department of 2

_ __ _ _ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ ~ - - -

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. Energy Hanford, Washington, site. The FY 1997-appropriation statute states thatithe $3.5 million appropriated-for regulatory reviews and other activities pertaining to waste stored at the Hanford,-Washington, site shall be excluded-from license fee revenues notwithstanding 42 U.S.C. 2214. Therefore, NRC is required-to collect approximately $462.3 million in FY.1997 through 10 CFR Part 170 licensingfand inspection fees and 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees.

The total amount to be Yecovered for FY'1997, and'therefore the total fees, is the same as the amount estimated for recovery for FY 1996. However,.the distribution of the total amount to be  :

collected between.the two types of fees is different. The NRC  ;

estimates that approximately $96 million would be recovered in FY ,

1997 from fees assessed under 10LCFR Part 170 and other receipts compared-to $120.5 million in FY 1996. The remaining $366.3 million in FY 1997 would be recovered through the 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees. Because the'10 CFR Part 170 fees and other offsetting receipts for FY 1997 is below the estimate for FY.

1996, annual-fees must increase. The lower estimate for 10 CFR Part 170 fees plus other changes cause an 8.2 percent increare in FY 1997 annual fees compared to FY 1996. These changes are more fully explained in Section B. The following examples illustrate the changes in annual fees.

FY 1996 FY 1997 Proposed Class of Licensees Annual Fee Annual Fee Power Reactors $2,746,000 $2,972,000 Nonpower Reactors 52,800 57,200 High Enriched Uranium Fuel 2,403,000 2,600,000 Facility Low Enriche.d Uranium Fuel 1,179,000 1,276,000 Facility UF Conversion Facility 597,800 647,000 Uranium Mills 57,000 61,60L

. Tvnical Materials Licenses Radiographers 13,000 14,000 Well Loggers 7,500 8,200 Gauge Users 1,600 1,700 Broad Scope Medical ~ 21,700 23,500 3

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\ Because the final FY 1997 fee rule will be aEnforcement " major l action as defined by the Small Business Regulatorythe in the NRC's fees for FY 1 l Fairness Act of 1996, l

/ effective 60 days after publication offinal the final rule to rureactors eThe NRC will send a l

Federal Register. annual fee upon publication of the FY 1997For Thosethese licensees, paym and major fuel cycle facilities. Y 1997 rule.

date during FY 1997 would be due on the effective date of the F final rule materials licensees whose license anniversaryfalls in FY 1997.

before th will be billed during the anniversary month o date falls on continue to pay annual fees at the FY 3496 i ary month rateThose ma or after the effective date of the FY billed at the FY 1997 revised rates during the ann 1997 date of vers the of the license and payment would be due on the invoice. Fees for Facilitieat 170:

A. Amendments to 10 CFR PartLicenses, and Other Regulatpry M_aterials, Imoort and Exocrt Servicea. 170 and one The NRC proposes three amendments to 10 CFR PartThese amendments that fees be change in practice under Part 170. change the underlying basis fo for specific assessed to applicants, persons, and licenseesThe amendments also comply with identifiable services rendered. t on OBRA-90Act that i

the guidance in the Conference Committee Repor i fees assessed under the Independent Officesives. Appropr at on (IOAA) recover the full cost to the NRC of identifiable regulatory services each applicant or licensee rece h the NRC is proposing to amend 5170.11 of t e for ovision First, Commission's fee regulations to add an exemption prlicenses referencing those amendments to materials portable gauge Radiation NUREG 1556 that would change onlyin the draft nameNUREG-1556,of theThis proposed c Safety Officer (RSO). il the proposed regulatory approach outlined Volume 1, entitled " Consolidated Program-Specific Guidance Guidance About Portable AboutGauge No Mater a s Licenses, 1996, for public comment.to portable Licenses" issued October 3, sed in the amendment fees would be assesseditments for the amendm final NUREG-1556, Volume 1, licensee concerning RSO qualifications and if those comm h ical are included in the amendment application, then aIftec nThe NRC expec not, review is not required. finalized before the final fee rule becomes effective then this proposed change will not be include regulation. l hourly Second, the NRC proposes that the two professiona 4

rates established in FY 1996 in-S170.20 be revised based on the l FY 1997 budget. These proposed rates would be based on the FY 1997 direct FTEs and that portion of the FY 1997 budget that either does not constitute direct program support (contractual i services costs) or is not recovered through.the appropriation l from the NWF or the General Fund. These-rates are used to determine the Part 170 fees. The NRC is proposing to establish a rate of $131 per hour ($233,055 per direct FTE) for the reactor program. This rate would be applicable to all activities whose fees are based on full cost under S170.21 of the fee regulations.

A second rate of $125 per hour ($222,517 per direct FTE) is proposed for the nuclear materials and nuclear waste program.

This rate would be applicable to all materials activities whose fees are based on full cost under S170.31 of the fee regulations.

In the FY 1996 final fee rule, these rates were $128 and $120 respectively.

The two rates are based on cost center concepts adopted in FY 1995 (60 FR 32225; June 20, 1995) and used for NRC budgeting purposes. In implementing cost center concepts, all budgeted resources are assigned to cost centers to the extent they can be l distinguished. These costs include all salaries and benefits, ]

contract support, and travel that support each cost center l activity.

Third, the NRC proposes to adjust the current Part 170 licensing and inspection fees in SS170.21 and 170.31 for applicants and licensees to reflect both the changes in the ,

revised hourly rates and the results of the review required by  ;

the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act. To comply with the requirements of the CFO Act, the NRC has evaluated historical professional staff hours used to process a licensing action (new license and amendment) for those materials licensees whose fees are based on the average cost method (flat fees). This review also included new license and amendment applications for import and export licenses.

Evaluation of the historical data shows that the average number of professional staff hours needed to complete materials licensing actions should be increased in some categories and decreased in others to reflect the costs incurred in completing the licensing actions. Thus, the revised average professional staff hours reflect the changes in the NRC licensing review program that have occurred since FY 1995. The proposed licensing fees are based on the revised average professional staff hours needed to process the licensing actions multiplied by the proposed nuclear materials professional hourly rate for FY 1997 of $125 per hour. The data for the average number of professional staff hours needed to complete licensing actions were last updated in FY 1995 (60 FR 32218; June 20, 1995). For new materials licenses, the proposed licensing fees for FY 1997 are increased in approximately 70 percent of the categories, 5

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while the proposed fees for materials amendments would increase in over 60 percent of the categories.

In addition to the above rule changes, the NRC is clarifying how it would recover the costs of post-implementation reviews of changes licensees make without prior.NRC review; for example, changes under SS50.54, 50.59 and 70.32. The NRC is announcing here that licensees would be billed for post-implementation review of these changes under 55170.21 and 170.31, beginning with the effective date of the FY 1997 final fee rule. There will be no change in how fees are assessed for any pre-implementation interactions, including any review prior to licensee submissions, between NRC and licensees. As in the past, any pre-implementation interaction should not be fee bearing. It is noted the NRC plans to inform reactor licensees in the near future that their submittals under 550.54 (a) , (p) and (q) should not ask for pre-implementation reviews; instead, licensees are required to perform their analyses, implement their changes (if the analyses show that the changes do not degrade plans the NRC has already approved), and rake their submittals under the relevant subsection of 550.54. The NRC will then verify that the chnnges are in compliance with 550.54.

In summary, the NRC is proposing to:

(1) Revise the two 10 CFR Part 170 hourly rates; (2) Revise the licensing (application and amendment) fees assessed under 10 CFR Part 170 in order to comply with the CFO Act's requirement that fees be revised to reflect the cost to the agency of providing the service; (3) Add a provision to the regulations exempting from 10 CFR Part 170 fees certain amendments to materials portable gauge licenses issued in accordance with NUREG-1556; and (4) Charge under Part 170 for post-implementation quality )

assurance plan, safeguards contingency plan and emergency plan changes B. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 171: Annual Fees for Reactor Oceratina Licenses. and Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials ,

Licenses. Includina Holders of Certificates of Compliance, 1 Reaistrations, and Ouality Assurance Procram Accrovals and i Government Acencies Licensed by NRC.

The NRC proposes six amendments to 10 CFR Part 171. First, the NRC proposes to amend S171.13 to revise the language to <

indicate that if the NRC ic unable to publish a fee rule with an I effective date within the current fiscal year, then the NRC would 6

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! continue 1to assess'feescon the same basis as the previous fiscal' i  : year. ~The NRC believes that it will be able'to publish an effective' fee rule within a current fiscal. year as it has done i since FY'1991. However, as a: contingency the NRC believes.the rule;should be amended to permit NRC to' meet the requirements of OBRA-90-in the-case that unforeseen events prevent NRC from publishing a new; rule during a fiscal year.

[ .Second,. the NRC. proposes'to amend 55171.15 and 171.16 to 2 revise the annual fees for FY 1997 to recover approximately 100

. percent of the FY 1997 budget authority, less fees collected

.under 10 CFR Part 170 and. funds appropriated from.the NWF and the General Fund. In the FY 1995 final rule, the NRC stated that'it l would. stabilize. annual fees as follows.- Beginning in FY 1996,. '

the NRC-would adjust the annual fees only.by the percentage 1 4

change (plus or minus) in.NRC's total budget authority unless  ;

there wasia substantial change ~in the total NRC budget authority )

~ or.the magnitude of the budget allocated to a specific class of j L ~1icensees. If either case occurred, the annual fee base would be recalculated (60 FR 32225; June 20, 1995). The NRC also 4 indicated that the percentage change would be adjusted based on I changes in 10 CFR.Part 170 fees and other adjustments as well as l- on the number of licensees paying the fees.

4 In the FY 1996 final rule, the NRC stabilized the annual  ;

fees by establishing the annual fees for all licensees at a level I of 6.5 percent below the FY 1995 annual fees. In this FY 1997 l proposed rule, the NRC intends to follow the same method as used 1

. in FY-1996. Because the total amount estimated for' recovery )

through fees in FY 1997 is identical to the> amount to be recovered in FY 1996, establishing new baseline fees.is not m, warranted for FY 1997. While the total amount collected is the same, the distribution between Part 170 and 171 fees would change. ~In FY 1996, 26% was estimated to be collected from 10

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CFR-Part.170 fees. This decreases to 21% in FY 1997. Therefore, to recover 100 percent of the budget, 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees

! must' increase in FY 1997 compared to FY 1996. The NRC is establishing the FY 1997 annual fees for all licensees at a level of.842 percent above the FY 1996 annual fees. The 8.2 percent increase results primarily from a reduction in the amount of the budget recovered for 10 CFR Part 170 fees, a reduction in other

~ offsetting adjustments, and reduction in the number of licensees paying' annual fees. In addition, the NRC has made adjustments to

< recognize that all fees billed in a fiscal year are not collected in that year. Table I shows the total budget and amounts of fee

-billed and collected for FY 1996 and FY 1997. l 1

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I TABLE I .

Calculation of t he Percentaae chance ' to the FY 1996 Annual Fees  !

(Dollars in Millions).

FY96 -FY97  ;

Total Budget- $473.3 5476.8

.Less.NWF -11.0 -11.0 j Less General Fund I (Hanford Tanks). ----

-3.5

• Total Fee Base $462.3 $462.3 Less.Part 170 Fees 114.5 96.0 Less other receipts 6.0" ----

'l; Part 171 Fee Collections i Required $341.8 $366.3 Part 171 Billino Ad.iustments_2/

Small Entity Allowance 4.9 5.0 {,

Unpaid FY 1997 bills 3.0 Payments from prior year bills --

-2.O Subtotal 4.9 6.0 Total Part 171 Billing $346.7 $372.3 l' $6 million in excess collection, from FY 1995 were available to reduce FY 1996 annual fees.

2/ These adjustments are necessr.*y to ensure that the " billed" amount results in the required collections. "ositive amounts indicate amounts billed that will not be collected in FY F)97.

As shown in Table I, the total amount of annual fees to be billed in FY 1997 is $25.6M ($372.3-$346.7) or 7.4 percent higher than the amount that was to be billed in annual fees in FY 1996.

The.NRC notes'that the reduction in the estimates of 10 CFR Part 177 fees for FY 1997 is primarily in the areas relating to the review of applications for reactor operating licenses and the .

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review of standard plant applications. In addition, for the i first time the estimates take into consideration an allowance for bad debt by estimating billings in the fiscal year that are not i projected to be collected in that fiscal year and. collections 1 received in_the current fiscal year as a result of billings from-a prior fiscal year. These adjustments to the annual fees will allow the NRC to come closer to meeting its obligation to recover approximately 100 percent of its budget authority through the assessm9nt of fees.

In addition to changes in 10 CFR Part 170 fees and other adjustments, the number of licensees to pay fees in FY 1997 has decreased compared to FY 1996. This decrease in the number of licensees paying fees causes annual fees to increase by an additional 0.8 percent. For example, the Haddam Neck power reactor has ceased operations and the fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor. Therefore, the utility will pay only a partial annual fee in FY 1997. In addition, Massachusetts is expected to become an Agreement State in FY 1997 and approximately 425 NRC lic'nses will be transferred to

-Massachusetts. These licenses are projected to pay only one half of the annual fee.

Third, an annual fee is proposed in S171.16 (d) , fee Category 1.E., for each certificate of compliance issued to the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) on November 26, 1996, to ,

operate the two gaseous diffusion plants (GDPs) located at  !

Paducah, Kentucky and at Piketon, Ohio. The NRC intends to assume regulatory jurisdiction over the two plants from the U.S.

Department of Energy (DOE) on March 3, 1997.

Fourth, Footnote 1 of 10 CFR 171.16 (d) would be amended to provide for a waiver of annual fees for FY 1997 for those materials licensees, 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, 1996, and permanently ceased licensed activities entirely by September 30, 1996. All other licensees and approval holders who held a license or approval on October 1, 1996, are subject to FY 1997 annual fees. This change is being made in recognition of the fact that since the final FY 1996 rule was published in April 1996, some licensees have filed requests for termination of their licenses or certificates with the NRC.

Other licensees have either called or written to the NRC since the FY 1996 final rule became effective requesting further clarification and information concerning the annual fees assessed. The NRC is responding to these requests as quickly as possible. However, the NRC was unable to respond and take action on all such requests before the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 1996. Similar situations existed after the FY 1991-1995 rules were published, and in those cases, the NRC provided an exemption from the requirement that the annual fee is 9

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waived only fiscal-year.when a license is terminated before October 1 of ea Fifth provisions,in reactor provision in S171.17 S171.17(a) for reactor and materials lithe NR on censees. The changes in 10 CFR Part 50 relating to the dwould be revised to reflect th 39278). ecommissioning of power reactors which became effective thatAgreemen new licenses transferred to an Agreem 1996 (61 FR to recognize August 28Th fee purposes,t are effectively terminated by the NRC,ent State as a result of becomes effective.on the date that the Agreement with for annual the State Sixth references,and to credit the partial paymentsS171.19 r would b made by certain

! -licensees assessed or to make in FY 1997 refunds, either if necessary. toward nual their fee to betotal an materials during the fiscallicenses year. terminatedngand schedulenew for materialalso s licenses issued facilities for the amount of the annual fThe NRC the FY 1997 final rule. ee u major fuel cycle on the effective date of FY 1997 ruleFor these licensees,pon payment will be publication due of effective date of the final FY 1997 the anniversary month of the license a rulethewill bwhose li s before 1

! e billed during fees at the FY 1996 rate in FY 1997 and continue to pay annual whose license anniversary date falls on orThose materials licensees date of the final FY 1997 rule would be billafter the effective payment would be due on the ce. date of the e license and invoirevised ra underlying of license basis for 10 CFRthat Part 171;The 1 do not change proposed the amendm licensees.es for NRC costs attributable to that class ofis, charging a class FY 1995 final The proposed rule changes indicating that are consistent with th the expectation is that annual fees, for the period FY e NRC's percentage change (plus or minus) would be adjusted by the1996-1999, paying annual fees. adjusted for NRC offsetting receipts and thto the NRC's e number of licensees III.

Section-by-Section Analysis The following analysis of those section amended by this proposed rule provides additis that would be information.

Code of Federal Regulations.All references are to Title1,10, Chapter U.S.onal explanatcry 10

I Part 170 Section 170.11 Exemptions.

This section would be amended to add a new paragraph indicating that amendments to materials portable gauge licenses issued in accordance with NUREG 1556'that change only the name of i the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) would be exempt from amendment ,

fees. This change is consistent with the recent Business Process Redesign (BPR) initiative and NUREG-1556, Volume 1, issued for 1 public comment October 3, 1996 (61 FR 51729). No amendment fees would be assessed for the amendments issued in accordance with -

NUREG 1556 to portable gauge licenses because the regulatory program would include commitments from the licensee concerning RSO qualifications and if those commitments are included in the amendment application then there would be no technical review -

conducted by the NRC. The NRC expects NUREG 1556 to be finalized ,

before the final fee rule becomes effective. If not, then this j proposed change will not be included in the final fee regulation.

1 Section 170.20 Average cost per professional staff-hour.

This section would be amended to establish two professional staff-hour rates based on FY 1997 budgeted costs--one for the reactor program and one for the nuclear material and nuclear waste program. Accordingly, the NRC reactor direct staff-hour rate for FY 1997 for all activities whose fees are based on full 4 cost under S170.21 would be $131 per hour, or $233,055 per direct FTE. The NRC nuclear material and nuclear waste direct staff-hour rate for all materials activities whose fees are based on full cost under $170.31 would be $125 per hour, or $222,517 per 4 direct FTE. The rates are based on the FY 1997 direct FTEs and NRC budgeted costs that are not recovered through the appropriation from the NWF or the General Fund. The NRC has

continued the use of cost center concepts established in FY 1995 in allocating certain costs to the reactor and materials programs in order to more closely align budgeted costs with specific classes of licensees. The method used to determine the two l professional hourly rates is as follows

1. Direct program FTE levels are identified for both the reactor program and the nuclear material and waste program.

2. 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 rate because the costs for direct contract support are charged directly through the various categories of fees.

3. All other direct program costs (i.e., Salaries and j Benefits, Travel) represent "in-house" costs and are to be allocated by dividing them uniformly by the total number of  ;

i 11

direct FTEs for the program. In addition, plus contracts for general and administrative susalaries and benefits benefits. to each program based on that program'pport allocated s salaries are and costs which are included in the hourly rates.This method results in the following Table II FY 1997 Budget Authority to be Included in Hourly Rates (Dollars in millions)

Reactor Materials Procram _Procram Salary and Benefits

$155.3 $48.4 Allocated Agency Management & Support 42.5 _13.2 Subtotel $197.8 $61.6 Qgngral and Administrative Succort (G&AL Program Travel and Other Support 9.6 2.5 Allocated Agency Management and Support 72.1 22.4 Subtotal $81.7 $24.9 Less offsetting receipts _

.1 -----

l Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate $279.4

$86.5 Program Direct FTEs 1,196 9 388.7 Rate per Direct FTE

$233,055 $222,517 Professional Hourly Rate

$131 $125 by the number of reactor program direct FTEsDividing ogram the $279.4 (1196.9) results in Dividing the $86.5 million budgeta rate perfor FTEthefor reactor FY 1997 program of $233 nuclear waste program (388.7) results by$222,517 in a rate of the number of program direct FTEsfor the nuclear m per FTE for FY 1997. The Direct FTE Hourly Rate for the reactor program would 1be hour $13 per (rounded to the nearest whole dollar).

calculated by dividing the cost per direct FTEThis rate is number of productive hours in one year ($233,055) by the in the revised OMB Circular A-76, Activities." (1776 hours0.0206 days <br />0.493 hours <br />0.00294 weeks <br />6.75768e-4 months <br />) as indicated The Direct FTE Hourly Rate for the materials" Performance of Comm program would be $125 per hour (rounded to the nearest whole 12

dollar)'. This rate is' calculated.by dividing the~ cost per direct.

FTE ($222,517) by.the number of productive hours in r one year

'(1776 hours0.0206 days <br />0.493 hours <br />0.00294 weeks <br />6.75768e-4 months <br />). The FY 1997 rate is slightly. higher than the FY ,

1996 rate due in part'to the Federal. pay raise given to all l Federal employees in January 1996.

Section 170.21 Schedule of Fees-for eroduction and Utilization Facilities, Review of Standard Reference Design Approvals, ,

t .Special' Projects, Inspections and Import and Export Licenses.

+ _

.The.NRC-is; proposing to-revise the licensing and inspection fees in this section, which are based on full-cost recovery, to reflect FY 1997 budgeted costs and to recover costs incurred by the NRC in providing licensing and inspection services to identifiable recipients. -The fees assessed for services provided ,

under the schedule are based on the professional hourly rate, as shown in S170.20, for the reactor program and any direct program ,

support (contractual services) costs expended by the NRC. Any  ;

professional hours expended on or after the effective-date of the <

final rule will be assessed at the FY-1997 hourly rate for the  ;

i reactor program, as shown in S170.20. The fees in 5170.21 for l the review of import and export licensing, facility Category K, I i would be adjusted for FY 1997 to reflect both the increase in the hourly rate and the revised average professional staff hours needed to process certain types of licensing actions.

$ For those applications currently on file and pending completion, footnote 2 of_S170.21 would be revised to provide that professional hours expended up to the effective date of the i final rule will be assessed at the professional rates in effect at the time the service was rendered. For topical report applications currently on file that are still pending completion of the review, and for which review costs have reached the l applicable fee ceiling established by the July 2, 1990 rule, the  !

costs incurred after any applicable ceiling was reached through August 8, 1991, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional hours expended for the review of topical report  ;

applications, amendments, revisions, or supplements to a topical report on or after August 9, 1991, are assessed at the applicable rate established by S170.20. >

Section 170.31 Schedule of Fees for Materials Licenses and Other Regulatory Services, Includi7g Tnepections and Import and Export Licenses.  :

~

The licensing and inspection fees in this section, which are  !

based on full-cost recovery, would be modified to recover the FY F 1997 costs incurred by the NRC in providing licensing and i inspection services to identifiable recipients. The fees  ;

. assessed for services provided under the schedule would be based t on both the professional hourly rate as shown in S170.20 for the ,

materials program and any direct program support (contractual J 13 4

e ,

--c ,

services) costs expended by the NRC. Licensing fees based on the average time to review an application (" flat" fees) would be adjusted to reflect both the revised average professional staff hours needed to process a licensing action (new license and amendment) and the increase in the professional hourly rate from

$120 per hour in FY 1996 to $125 per hour in FY 1997.

As previously indicated, the CFO Act requires that the NRC conduct a biennial review of fees and other charges imposed by the agency for its services and revise those charges to raflect Consistent with the costs incurred in providing the services.the.NRC has completed its most recent the CFO Act requirement, The review review of license fees assessed by the agency.

focused on the flat fees that are charged to nuclear materials The usere for licensing actions (new licenses and amendments).

(e.g., for fuel cycle full cost license and inspection feesincluded in this biennial facilities) and annual fees were not review because the hourly rate for full cost fees and the annual 100

. fees are reviewed and updated annually in order to recover percent of the NRC budget authority.

To determine the licensing flat fees for materials licensees and applicants, the NRC uses historical data to determine the average number of professional hours requiredThese to perform averagea hours licensing action for each license category.

are multiplied by the proposed materials program The professional review indicated hourly rate of $125 per hour for FY 1997.

that the NRC needed to modify the average number of hours on which the current licensing flat fees are based in The order to average recover the cost of providing licensing services.

number of hours required for licensing actions was last Thusreviewed the and modified in 1995 (60 FR 32218; June 20, 1995).

revised hours used to determine the proposed fees for FY 1997 reflect the changes in the licensing program that have occurred since that time. For new licenses, the proposed fees for FY 1997 are increased in approximately 70 percent of the fee categories, while the proposed fees for amendments have increased in over 60 percent of the fee categories.

The " flat" fees in S170.31 for the review of import and export licensing applications have increased from FY 1996 as aresult o fees are biennial review. The proposed licensing "2.B flat"and 2.C; 3.A applicable to fee categories 1.C and 1.D;15.A through 15.E and 16.

through 3.P; 4.B through 9.D, 10.B, Applications filed on or after the effective date of the final rule would be subject to the fees in this proposed rule.

The amounts of the materials licensing " flat" fees were rounded off so that the amounts would be de minimis and Feesthethat resulting flat fee would be convenient to the user. are rounded to are greater than $1,000 but are less than $100,000 14 l

i i

the nearest $100. ' Fees.that are_ greater than $100,000 are ,

i rounded to the nearest $1,000. Fees under $1,000 are rounded to j the nearest $10.  ;

For those licensing, inspection, and review fees that are f based on full-cost recovery (cost for professional staff hours ,

j plus any' contractual services), the materials program hourly rate i

- of $125, as shown in S170.20, would apply to those professional staff hours expended on or after-the effective date of the final rule. j t '

i In addition to the above rule changes, the NRC is clarifying-d how it would recover the costs of post-implementation reviews of  !

changes licensees make without prior NRC review; for example,  !

I changes under SS50.54, 50.59 and 70.32. The NRC is announcing here that licensees would be billed for post-implementation 1 reviews of these changes under SS170.21 and 170.31, beginning  ;

with the' effective date of the FY 1997 final fee rule. There  ;

will be no change in how fees are assessed for any pre- [i

, z implementation interactions including any review prior to

licensee submissions, between the NRC and licensees. As in the '

past, any pre-implementation interaction will not be fee-bearing.

7 It is noted that the-NRC plans to inform reactor licensees in the i near future that their submittals under S50.54 (a) , (p) and (q) should not ask for pre-implementation reviews; instead, licensees are required to perform their analyses, implement their changes  !*

i (if the analyses show that the changes do not degrade plans the NRC has already approved), and make their submittals under the j relevant subsection of S50.54. The NRC will then verify that the l changes are in compliance with 550.54. l

. Part 171 Section 171.13 Notice.

E ' i The language in this section would be revised to indicate

)

j that in the unlikely event the NRC is unable to publish a fee rule with an effective date within the current fiscal year, then i the NRC would continue to assess fees at the same rates as the  ;

previous fiscal year. The NRC believes that it will be able to 1

publish an effective fee rule within a current fiscal year as it has done since FY 1991 when 100 percent fee recovery was l initiated. However, the possibility exists that the NRC might be {

unable to establish fees for a current fiscal year through the  ;

notice and comment process. Therefore, as a contingency plan for ,

meeting the requirement of OBRA-90, the NRC is proposing to amend  !

l S171.13 to indicate that if the NRC is unable to promulgate a final fee rule within a current fiscal year, then fees would continue to be assessed.at the same rates.as the previous fiscal ,

year. The NRC will continue to work diligently to publish the i

fee rules at the earliest possible time during the fiscal year.

15 t

- -.y- -y.y-,,-.-

Section 171.15 Annual Fee: Reactor Operating Licenses.

The annual fees in this section would be revised as described below. Paragraphs (a), (b), (c) (1), (c) (2) , (e), and (f) would be revised to comply with the requirement of OBRA-90 that the NRC recover approximately 100 percent of its budget for FY 1997.

Paragraph (b) would be revised in its entirety to establish the FY 1997 annual fee for operating power reactors and to change fiscal year references from FY 1996 to FY 1997. The fees would be established by increasing FY 1996 annual fees (prior to rounding) by 8.2 percent. In the FY 1995 final rule, the NRC stated it would stabilize annual fees by adjusting the annual fees only by the percentage change (plus or minus) in NRC's total budget authority and adjustments based on changes in 10 CFR Part 170 fees as well as in the number of licensees paying the fees.

The first adjustment to the annual fees using this method occurred in FY 1996 when all annual fees were decreased 6.5 percent below the FY 1995 annual fees. The activities comprising the base FY 1995 annual fee and the FY 1995 additional charge (surcharge) are listed in paragraphs (b) and (c) for convenience purposes.

With respect to Big Rock Point, a smaller, older reactor, the NRC proposes to grant a partial exemption from the FY 1997 annual fees similar to FY 1996 based on a request filed with the NRC in accordance with S171.11.

Each operating power reactor, except Big Rock Point, would pay an annual fee of $2,972,000 in FY 1997.

Paragraph (e) would be revised to show the amount of the FY 1997 annual fee for nonpower (test and research) reactors. In FY 1997, the proposed fee of $57,200 is 8.2 percent above the FY 1996 level. The NRC will continue to grant exemptions from the annual fee to Federally-owned and State-owned research and test reactors that meet the exemption criteria specified in S171.11 (a) (2) .

Paragraph (f) would br: revised to change fiscal year date references.

Section 171.16 Annual fees: Materials Licensees, Holders of Certificates of Compliance, Holders of Sealed Source and Device Registrations, Holders of Quality Assurance Program Approvals, and Government agencies licensed by the NRC.

Section 171.16(c) covers the fees assessed for those licensees that can qualify as small entities under NRC size standards. The NRC will continue te assess two fees for licensees that qualify as small entities under the NRC's size 16

standards. In general, licensees with gross annual receipts of

$350,000 to $5 million pay a maximum fee of $1,800. A second or lower-tier small entity fee of $400 is in place for small entities with gross annual receipts of less than $350,000 and small governmental jurisdictions with a population of less than 20,000. No change in the amount of the small entity fees is .

being proposed because the small entity fees are not based on the budget but are established at a level to reduce the impact of fees on small entities. The small entity fees are shown in the proposed. rule for convenience. A materials licensee may pay a reduced annual fee if the licensee qualifies as a small entity under the NRC's size standards and certifies that it is a small entity using NRC Form 526.

Section 171.16(d) would be revised to establish the FY 1997 annual fees for materials licensees, including Government agencies, licensed by the NRC. These fees were determined by increasing the FY 1996 annual fees (prior to rounding) by 8.2

. percent.

In addition, an annual fee is proposed in 5171.16 (d) , fee Category 1.E., for each certificate of Compliance issued to the ^

USEC on November 26, 1996, to operate the two gaseous diffusion plants (GDPs) located at Paducah, Kentucky, and at Piketon, Ohio.

The NRC announced its intent to issue the compliance certificates to USEC on September 19, 1996 (61 FR 49360). The NRC intends to assume regulatory jurisdiction over the two plants from DOE on March 3, 1997. Because the two plants have been certified in FY j 1997, the NRC is proposing to establish an annual fee of  ;

$2,600,000 for each of these two facilities. The NRC methodology l for determining annual fees for major fuel facilities was I explained in the FY 1995 final fee rule published in the Federal Register on June 20, 1995 (60 FR 32234). As indicated in the Federal Register, the methodology can be applied to determine annual fees for new licenses or certificates. The NRC has applied the methodology to the USEC facilities and has concluded that the relative weighted safety and safeguards factors for these facilities is similar to a high enriched uranium facility. ,

Therefore, the NRC is proposing to establish the annual fee for 1 each USEC uranium enrichment facility at $2,600,000, the same as ,

that for a high enrichment facility (fee category 1. A. (1) (a)) .

Because the certifications would be in effect for the last six months of FY 1997, the NRC would assess one-half of the annual fee or $1,300,000 to USEC for each certificate for the last half of FY 1997.

I 17 l

_m.. )

The amount or range of the FY 1997 annual fees for all materials licensees is summarized as'follows:

Materials Licenses Annual Fee Rances Cateoorv of License Annual Fees Part 70 - High $2,600,000 ,

enriched fuel facility >

Part 70 - Low $1,276,000 enriched fuel facility t Part 40 - UF, $647,000 conversion facility Part 40 - Uranium $22,300 to $61,600 recovery facilities Part 30 - Byproduct $490 to $23,5001/

Material Licenses Part 71 - Trans- $1,000 to $78,700 portion of Radioactive Material Part 72 -

Independent $282,000 l Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel l' Excludes the annual fee for a few military " master" materials licenses of broad-scope issued to Government agencies, which is

$420,000.

Footnote 1 of 10 CFR 171.16 (d) would be amended to provide a waiver of the annual fees for materials licensees, and holders of certificates, registrations, and approvals, who either filed for termination of their licenses or approvals or filed for possession only/ storage only licenses before October 1, 1996, and permanently ceased licensed activities entirely by September 30, 1996. All other licensees and approval holders who held a license or approval on October 1, 1996, are subject to the FY 1997 annual fees.

Section 171.17 Proration.

The NRC is proposing to amend the proration provisions in S171.17 for reactor and materials licenses. Paragraph (a) would ,

be amended to reflect the changes in 10 CFR Part 50 relating to  :

the decommissioning of power reactors which became effective August 28, 1996 (61 FR 39278). Reactor annual fees would be ,

18

prorated based on the _ requirements of 550.82 (a) (2) that upon docketing of the certifications for permanent cessation of operations and permanent removal of fuel from the reactor vessel or when a final legally effective order to permanently cease  !

operations has come into effect, the 10 CFR Part 50 license no

{

longer authorizes operation of the reactor or emplacement or '

retention of fuel into the reactor vessel. Previously the proration of reactor annual fees was based on the date of ,

issuance of the possession only license (POL). l l

Paragraph (b) would be amended to recognize that. materials licenses transferred to a new Agreement State are considered terminated by the NRC for annual fee purposes, on the date that the Agreement with the State becomes effective. The State of Massachusetts is expected to become an Agreement State in FY 1997 and approximately 425 licenses will be transferred to the State on the effective date of the Agreement. The NRC would assess the

-annual fees for those licenses being transferred to the State of ,

Massachusetts using the current proration provisions of l S171.17 (b) whereby the licenses would be considered terminated on I the effective date of the Agreement with Massachusetts.

New licenses issued during FY 1997 would receive a prorated .

annual fee in accordance with the current proration provision of I S171.17. For example, those new materials licenses issued during the period October 1 through March 31 of the FY will be assessed one-half the annual fee in effect on the anniversary date of the license. New materials licenses issued on or after April 1, 1997, will not be assessed an annual fee for FY 1997.

Thereafter, the full annual fee is due and payable each subsequent fiscal year on the anniversary date of the license.

Beginning June 11, 1996, (the effective date of the FY 1996 final rule), affected materials licensees will be subject to the annual fee in effect on the anniversary date of the license. Affected licensees who are not sure of the anniversary date of their materials license should check the original issue date of the license.

Section 171.19 Payment.

Paragraph (b) would be revised to give credit for partial payments made by certain licensees in FY 1997 toward their FY 1997 annual fees. The NRC anticipates that the first, second, and third quarterly payments for FY 1997 will have been made by operating power reactor licensees and some large materials licensees before the final rule becomes effective. Therefore, the NRC would credit payments received for those quarterly annual fee assessments toward the total annual fee to be assessed. The NRC would adjust the fourth quarterly bill to recover the full amount of the revised annual fee or to make refunds, as necessary. Payment of the annual fee is due on the date of the invoice and interest accrues from the invoice date. However, 19

interest will be waived if payment is received within 30 days from the invoice date.

Paragraph (c) would be revised to update fiscal year references. Paragraph (d) would be revised to modify the billing '

schedule for terminated materials licenses and new materials licenses. Licenses subject to the annual fee that are terminated during the fiscal year but prior to the anniversary month of the license will be billed upon termination for the fee in effect at the time of the billing. New licenses subject to the annual fee will be billed in the month the license is issued or in the next available monthly billing for the fee in effect on the anniversary date of the license. Thereafter, annual fees for new licenses will be assessed in the anniversary month of the license.

As in FY 1996, the NRC would continue to bill annual fees for most materials licenses on the annive - sry date of the license (licensees whose annual fees are ,100,000 or more will continue to be assessed quarterly). The annual fee assessed will be the fee in effect on the license anniversary date. This proposed rule applies to those materials licenses in the following fee categories: 1.C. and 1.D.; 2. A. (2) through 2.C.;

3.A. through 3.P.; 4.A. through 9.D., and 10.B. For annual fe" purposes, the anniversary date of the materials license is considered to be the first day of the month in which the original materials license was issued. For example, if the original materials license was issued on June 17 then, for annual fee purposes, the anniversary date of the materials license is June 1 and the licensee would continue to be billed in June of each year for the annual fee in effect on June 1. Materials licensees with anniversary dates in FY 1997 before the effective date of the FY 1997 final rule will be billed during the anniversary month of the license and continue to pay annual fees at the FY 1996 rate in FY 1997. Those materials licensees with license anniversary dates falling on or after the effective date of the FY 1997 final rule would be billed, at the FY 1997 revised rates, during their anniversary month of their license and payment would be due on the date of the invoice.

During the past six years many licensees have indicated that, although they held a valid NRC license authorizing the possession and use of special nuclear, source, or byproduct material, they were either not using the material to conduct operations or had disposed of the material and no longer needed the license. In response, the NRC has consistently stated that annual fees are assessed based on whether a licensee holds a valid NRC license that authorizes possession and use of radioactive material. Whether or not a licensee is actually conducting operations using the material is a matter of licensee discretion. The NRC cannot control whether a licensee elects to possess and use radioactive material once it receives a license 20 i

I l

l 1

from the NRC. Therefore, the NRC reemphasizes that the annual fee will be assessed based on whether a licensee holds a valid NRC license that authorizes possession and use of radioactive l material. To remove any uncertainty, the NRC issued minor clarifying amendments to 10 CFR 171.16, footnotes 1 and 7 on July 20, 1993 (58 FR 38700). l IV. Electronic Access l Comments on the proposed rule may be submitted through the Internet by addressing electronic mail to INTERNET:SECY@NRC. GOV. J Comments may also be submitted electronically, in either ASCII '

text or Wordperfect format (version 5.1 or later), by calling the NRC Electronic Rulemaking Bulletin Board (BBS) on FEDWORLD.

The BBS is an electronic information system operated by the National Technical Information Service of the Department of Commerce. The purpose of this BBS is to facilitate public participation in the NRC regulatory process, particularly This proposed rulemaking is available for review rulemakings.

and comment on the BBS. The BBS may be accessed using a personal I computer, a modem, and one of the commonly available communications software packages, or directly via the Internet.

I The NRC rulemaking bulletin board (rulemaking subsystem) on FEDWORLD can be accessed directly by using a personal computer and modem, and dialing the toll free number 1-800-303-9672.

Communication software parameters should be set as follows: l parity to none, data bits to 8, and stop bits to 1 (N,8,1).

Using ANSI or VT-100 terminal emulation, the NRC rulemaking subsystem can then be accessed by selecting the " Rules Menu" opcion from the "NRC Main Menu." For further information about options available for NRC at FEDWORLD consult the

" Help /Information Center" from the "NRC Main Menu." Users will find the "FEDWORLD Online User's Guides" particularly helpful.

The i:OC subsystem on FEDWORLD also can be accessed by a direct dial phone number for the main FEDWORLD BBS at 703-321-3339, or by using Telnet via Internet: fedworld. gov.

Using the 703 number to contact FEDWORLD, the NRC subsystem will be accessed from the main FEDWORLD menu by selecting the

" Regulatory, Government Administration and State Systems," then l

selecting " Regulatory Information Mall." At that point, a menu l will be displayed that has the option "U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission" that will take you to the NRC Online main menu. The NRC Online area also can be accessed directly by typing "/go nrc" at a FEDWORLD command line. If you access NRC from FEDWORLJ's main menu, you may return to FEDWORLD by selecting the " Return to FEDWORLD" option from the NRC Online Main Menu. However, if you access NRC at FEDWORLD by using NRC's toll-free number, you will have full access to all NRC systems, but you will not have access 21 l-

to the main FEDWORLD system.

If you contact FEDWORLD using Telnet, you will see the NRC area and menus, including the " Rules Menu." Although you will be able to download documents and leave messages, you will not be able to write comments or upload files. If you contact FEDWORLD using File Transfer Program (FTP), all files can be accessed and downloaded, but uploads are not allowed, and all you will see is a list of files without descriptions (normal Gopher look). An index file listing all files within a subdirectory, with  ;

descriptions, is available. There is a 15-minute time limit for i FTP access. I Licnough FEDWORLD can be accessed through the World Wide Web as well, like FTP, that mode only provides access for downloading files and does not display the NRC " Rules Menu."

For more information on NRC bulletin boards call Mr. Arthur Davis, Systems Integration and Development Branch, U.S. Nuclear I Regulatory Commission, Washingten, DC 20555, telephone 301-415-5780; e-mail AXD3@nrc. gov.

V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion The NRC has determined that this proposed rule is the type of action described in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22 (c) (1) .

Therefore, neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental impact assessment has been prepared for the proposed regulation. By its very nature, this regulatory action does not affect the environment, and therefore, no environmental justice issues are raised.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements and, therefore, is not subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S. C. 3501 et seq.).

VII. Regulatory Analysis With respect to 10 CFR Part 170, this proposed rule was .

developed pursuant to 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 its decision of National Cable  ;

Television Association, Inc. v. United States, 415 U.S. 36 (1974) and Federal Power Commission v. New Encland 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  !

22 w-~ _ _

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 Caoital Cities Communication. Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 1135 (D.C. Cir. 1976). These decisions of the Courts enabled the Commission to develop fee guidelines that are still used for cost recovery and fee development purposes.

The Commission's fee guidelines were upheld on August 24, 1979, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Mississioni Power and Licht Co. v. U.S. Nuclear Reculatory Commission, 601 F.2d 223 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S.

1102 (1980). The Court held that--

(1) The NRC had the authority to recover the full cost of providing services to identifiable beneficiaries; (2) The NRC could properly assess a fee for the costs of providing routine inspections necessary to ensure a licensee's compliance with the Atomic Energy Act and with applicable regulations; (3) The NRC could charge for costs incurred in conducting environmental reviews required by NEPA; (4) The NRC properly included the costs of uncontested hearings and of administrative and technical support services in the fee schedule; (5) The NRC could assess a fee for renewing a license to operate a low-level radioactive waste burial site; and (6) The NRC's fees were not arbitrary or capricious.

With respect to 10 CFR Part 171, on November 5, 1990, the Congress passed Public Law 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 amended in 1993 to extend the 100 percent fee recovery requirement for NRC through FY 1998. To accomplish this statutory requirement, the NRC, in accordance with S171.13, is publishing the proposed amount of the FY 1997 annual fees for operating 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 and the Conference Committee Report specifically state that--

23

(1) The annual fees be based on the Commission's FY 1997 budget of $476.8 million less the amounts collected from Part 170 fees and the funds directly appropriated from the NWF to cover the NRC's high level waste program and the general fund related to commercial vitrification of waste at the Department of Energy l Hanford, Washington site.

(2) The annual fees shall, to the maximum extent practicable, have a reasonable relationship to the cost of regulatory services provided by the Commission; and (3) The annual fees be assessed to those licensees the Commission, in its discretion, determines can fairly, equitably, and practicably contribute to their payment.

10 CFR Part 171, which established annual fees for operating 1986 (51 FR 33224; power reactors effective October 20,was challenged and upheld in its entirety in September 18, 1986), 846 F.2d 765 Florida Power and Licht Comoany v. United1045 Stater, (1989).

(D.C. Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S.

The NRC's FY 1991 annual fee rule was largelyNRC, upheld 988by the F.2d D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in Allied Sianal v.

146 (D.C. Cir. 1993).

VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis The NRC is required by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to recover approximately 100 percent of OBRA-90 its budgetfurther authority through the assessment of user fees.

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 establishes the schedules of fees that are necessary to implement the Congressional mandate for FY 1997.

The proposed rule results in an increase in the annual fees charged to all licensees, and holders of certificates, registrations, and approvals. The Regulatory 604, Flexibility is included Analysis, prepared in accordance with 5The U.S.C.

Small Business as Appendix A to this proposed rule. (SBREFA) was signed Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996The SBREFA requires all Federal into law on March 29, 1996.

agencies to prepare a written compliance604 guide for each rule for to prepare a which the agency is required by 5 U.S.C.

regulatory flexibility analysis. Therefore, in compliance wi':h the law, Attachment 1 to the Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (Appendix A to this document) is the small entity compliance guide for FY 1997.

l

)

24

IX. Backfit Analysis The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does not apply to this proposed rule and that a backfit analysis is not required for this proposed rule. The backfit analysis is not required because these proposed amendments do not require the modification of or additions to systems, structures, components, or the design of a facility or the design approval or manufacturing license for a facility or the procedures or organization required to design, construct or operate a facility.

i List of Subjects 10 CFR Part 170 -- Byproduct material, Import and export licences, Intergovernmental relations, Non-payment penalties, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Source material, Special nuclear material.

10 CFR Part 171 -- Annual charges, Byproduct material, Holders of certificates, registrations, approvals, Intergovernmental relations, Non-payment penalties, Nuclear 1 materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Source material, Special nuclear material.

For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 5 U.S.C. 553, the NRC is proposing to adopt the following amendments to 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171.

PART 170 -- FEES FOR FACILITIES, MATERIALS, IMPORT AND EXPORT LICENSES, AND OTHER REGULATORY SERVICES UNDER THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT OF 1954, AS AMENDED l

1. The authority citation for Part 170 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 31 U.S.C. 9701, 96 Stat. 1051; sec. 301, Pub. L.92-314, 86 Stat. 222 (42 U.S. C. 2201w) ; sec. 201, Pub. L. 93-4381, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5841); sec. 205, Pub.

L. 101-576, 104 Stat. 2842, (31 U.S.C. 901).

2. In 5170.11, paragraph (a) (11) is added to read as follows:

S170.11 Exemotions.

(a) * * *

(11) Materials portable gauge licenses issued in accordance with NUREG-1556 that are amended to change only the name of the Radiation Safety Officer. This exemption does not apply to those materials portable gauge licenses that also 25

- _ - - - - ~~ _ ~~ - - - ~ -

t I i ls for other authorize possession and use of nuclear mater a activities. * * * * *

3. Section 170.20 is revised to read as follows:

3170.20 Averace cost oer orofessional staff-hour.

licenses, amendments, renewals, specialment examinati Fees for permits, l projects, Part 55 requalificationapprovals, and rep and aceinspectionsthe full costs for I

and tests, other required reviews,under l SS170.21 and 170.31 th the review or inspection will $131 be per cahour cu aapplicable professi Reactor Program (S170.21 Activities)

Nuclear Materials and $125 per hour Nuclear Waste Program (S170.31 Activities)

Category K, and 4.

In S170.21, the introductor" text, d as follows:

footnotes 1 and 2 to the table areilization revised valsm to rea J170.21 facilities.

Schedule of fees insoections and imoort for andoroduction exoort licensea. and utrevie special oroiects, f turing licenses, f

Applicants forimport construction permits, and export manu licenses, ac approvals o operating licenses, requalification and and special facility standard reference designs, licenses, and other replacement examinations for reactor operators, i projects and holders of constructioni perm ts, categories of approvals shall pay fees for the folauw ng services.

Schedule of Facility Fees (see footnotes at end of table)Feesl'I' Facility Categories and Type of Fees K. Import and export licenses: f production ,

l Licenses for the import and export only o nly of /

and utilization facilities or the export o facilities components for production and utilization issued pursuant to 10 CFR Part 110.

26

~_

l l

1. Application for-import or exportLof reactors and other facilities and exports of~ components.which must be reviewed by the Commissioners and the' Executive Branch, for example, actions under 10 l CFR.110.40fb).

Application-new license ~. . . . . $8,100 Amendment . . . . . . . . _ . . . . .

$8,100

2. Application.for export of reactor and other components requiring Executive Branch review only, for example, those actions under'10 CFR 110. 41 (a) '(1) - (8 ) . j Application-new license'. . . . .- $5,000 l Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 {

i

3. Application for export of. components requiring  !

foreign government assurances only.

i Application-new license . . . . . . $2,900  ;

Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,900

{

4. Application for export of facility components and i equipment not requiring commissioner. review, )

Executive Branch review, or foreign government  !

assurances. ,

Application-new license . . . . . $1,300 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,200

5. Minor amendment of any export or import license to extend the expiration dete, change domestic  !

information, or make other revisions which do not 7 require in-depth analysis or review.

Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $190 .

F Fees will not be charged for orders issued by the Commission ,

pursuant to 52.202 of this chapter or for amendments resulting  :

specifically from the requirements of these types of Commission orders. 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., SS50.12, l 73.5) and any other sections now or hereafter in effect  !

regardless of whether the approval is in the form of a license  !

-amendment, letter of approval, safety evaluation report, or other l 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 l considered 100 percent of the facility's full rated power).  ;

'Thus, if a licensee received a low power license or a temporary f

27 1 i

I l

. _ _ __ _ _ ~ - . _ _ _ _ ..,

license for less than full power and subseque: Ly .emeives full power authority (by way of license amendment or ocherwise), 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 cperating 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.

F Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff time and appropriate contractual support services expended.

For applications currently on file and for which fees are determined based on the full cost expended for the review, the professional staff hours expended for the review of the application up to the effective date of the final rule will be determined at the professional rates in effect at the time the service was provided. For those applications currently on file for which review costs have reached an applicable fee ceiling established by the June 20, 1984, and July 2, 1990, rules but are still pending completion of the review, the cost incurred after any applicable ceiling was reached through January 29, 1989, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional staff-hours expended above those ceilings on or after January 30, 1989, will be assessed at the applicable rates established by S170.20, as appropriate, except for topical reports whose costs exceed

$50,000. Costs which exceed $50,000 for any topical report, amendment, revision or supplement to a topical report completed or under review from January 30, 1989, through August 8, 1991, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional hours expended on or after August 9, 1991, will be assessed at the applicable rate established in 5170.20. In no event will the total review costs be less than twice the hourly rate shown in S170.20.

5. Section 170.31 is revised to read as follows:

E170.31 Schedule of fees for materials licenses and other reculatory services, includina insoections, and imoort and export licenses, g Applicants for materials licenses, import and export licenses, and other regulatory services and holders of materials licenses, or import and export licenses shall pay fees for the following categories of services. This schedule includes fees for health and safety and safeguards inspections where applicable.

28

/

-t i

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS FEES (See footnotes at end of table)

Cateoorv of materials licenses and tvoe of f_g.ggF EggF F 1., Special nuclear material:

A. Licenses for possession and use of 200 grams or more of plutonium in unsealed form or 350 grams or more-of contained U-235 in unsealed form or 200. grams or more of U-233 in unsealed form. This includes applications to terminate  !

licenses as well as licenses authorizing possession only:

License, Renewal, Amendment . . . . . . Full Cost _ <

. Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost B. Licenses for receipt.and storage of spent fuel at an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI):

License, Renewal, Amendment . . . . . Full Cost Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost C. Licenses for possession and use of special nuclear material in sealed caQrces contained in devices used in industrial measuring systems, including x-ray fluorescence analyzers:F Application - New license . . . . . . $580 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $390  :

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 S150.11 of this chapter, for which j the licensee shall pay the same fees as those for Category 1A:F Application - New license . . . . . . $780 l Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300 E. Licenses or certificates for construction and operation of a uranium enrichment facility.

Application . . . . . . . . . . . $125,000 License, Renewal, Amendment . . . Full Cost Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost 29

r

2. Source material:

A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source material in recovery operations such as milling, in-situ leaching, heap-leaching, refining uranium mill concentrates to uranium hexafluoride, ore buying stations, ion exchange facilities and in processing of ores containing source material for extraction of metals other than uranium or thorium, including licenses authorizing the possession of byproduct waste material (tailings) from source material recovery operations, as well as licenses authorizing the possession and maintenance of a facility in a standby mode:

License, Renewal, Amendment . . . . Full Cost Full Cost Inepections . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2) 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 fees in Category 2. A. (1) .

License, renewal, amendment . . . . . Full Cost Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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 incidental tc the disposal of the uranium waste tailings generated by the licensee's milling e operations, except those licenses subject to the fees in Category 2. A. (1) .

License, renewal, amendment . . . . . Full Cost Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost )

B. Licenses which authorize the possession, use and/or installation of source material for shielding:

Application - New license . . . . . $130 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $290 C. All other source material licenses:

Application - New license . . . . $3,700 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $580

3. Byproduct material:

30

(

~

A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for processing or manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution:

Application - New license . . . . . $3,900 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $550 B. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 30 of this chapter for processing or manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution:

Application - New license . . . . . $1,600 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $580 C. Licenses issced pursuant to SS32.72, 32.73, 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 does not apply to licenses issued to nonprofit educational institutions whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under 10 CFR 170.11(a) (4) . 1 These licenses are covered by fee Category 3D. I l

Application - New license . . . . . $7,100 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $650 D. Licenses and approvals issued pursuant to SS32.72, 32.73, 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 pursuant to SS32.72, 32.73, and/or 32.74 to nonprofit educational  ;

institutions whose processing or manufacturing is i exempt under 10 CFR 170.11(a) (4) . )

l Application - New license . . . . . $2,000  ;

Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $440 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) :

Application - New license . . . . . . $1,100 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $390 F. Licenses for possession and use of less than 10,000 31

irradiation of materialscuries of byproduct material in sealed sour for irradiation purposes.in which the source is exposed where the source is not exposed for irradiationu purposes.

Application - New license .

Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . $2,000

. . . . . $450 G.

Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies or more of byproduct material irradiation of materials in sealed sources for for irradiation purposes.in which the source is exposed where the source is not exposed for irradiationu purposes.

Application - New license .

Amendment . . . . $4,700 H.

............. $760 Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart A of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing by product material that require device review to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of Part 30 of thi chapter, except specific licenses authorizing s distribution to persons exempt from the licensin requirements of Part 30 of this chapter:

Application - New license . . . . .

Amendment $2,800 I.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,000 this chapter to distribute items yproduct containing of bLicens l

material or quantities of byproduct material that d o not require device evaluation to persons exempt from the licensing requirements of Part 30 of thi s chapter, of items that have been authorized for o n distribution persons 30 of thisexempt chapter:from the licensing requirements of Part Application - New license .

Amendment J.

. . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. $4,500

$1,100 Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart B of Partof 32 this chapter to distribute items containin g byproduct material that require sealed source and/or device review this to persons generally licensed under Part 31 of chapter, except specific licenses authorizing 1

redistribution of items that have been authorized or f 32

' distribution to persons generally licensed under Par?.

s 31 of this chapter:

Application - New license . . . . . $1,800

, ' Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . .' $310 K. Licenses issued pursuant to-Subpart B of'Part'32 of this chapter to distribute items,containing byproduct-materialcor 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 1

31'of-this. chapter:-

Application - New license . . . . . $1,000 t Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $350 L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of '

byproduct material issued pursuant to Parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for research and development that do not authorize ~ commercial distribution:

i Application - New license . . . . $5,600

• Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $780 M. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 30 of this chapter for research and development that do not' authorize ,

- commercial distribution:

r Application - New license . . . . . $1,900 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $640 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 i

. 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:

Application - New license . . . . . $2,100 ,

Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $510 .

O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material l issued pursuant to Part 34 of this chapter for '

industrial radiography operations:

J 33 ,

. . . . $4,400 Application - New license . $700 Amendment .............

P.

All other specific byproduct material licenses, except those in Categories 4A through 9D:

. . . . . $750 Application - New license . $350 Amendment ..............

4.

Waste disposal and processing:

A. Licenses specifict11y authorizing the receipt of material from other persons for the purpose of contingency storage or commercial land disposal by the licensee; or licenses authorizing contingency storage of low-level radioactive waste at the site of nuc other persons for incineration or other treatment, and transfer packaging of resulting waste and residues,of package dispose of waste material:

renewal, amendment . . . Full Cost License, Full Cost Inspections . . . . . . . . . . .

B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of material from other persons for the purpose The of licensee packaging or repackaging the material. h will dispose of the material by transfer to anot er person authorized to receive or dispose of the material:

. . . $2,600 Application - New license . $540 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . .

C.

Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt ofsource material, prepackaged waste byproduct material, The or special nuclear material from other persons.

licensee will dispose of the material by transfer toa material:

. . . $2,300 Application - New license . $230 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . .

5. Well logging:

A.

Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, for source material, and/or special nuclear material well logging, well surveys, and tracer studies other l

34

than field flooding tracer studies:

Application - New license . . . . $3,600  !

Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $850 i B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material for field flooding tracer studies:

License, renewal, amendment . . . Full Cost

6. ' Nuclear laundries:

A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of items  ;

contaminated with byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material:

Application - New license . . . . $6,600 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,000

7. Medical licenses: .

A. Licenses issued pursuant to 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:

Application - New license . . . . $3,600 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $400 B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical institutions or two or more physicians pursuant to 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:

Application - New license . . . . $3,900 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $740 C. Other licenses issued pursuant to Parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of tlis chapter for human use of byproduct material, source merial, and/or special nuclear material, except 1. enses for byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material in sealed sources  !

contained in teletherapy devices: 1 Application - New license . . . . $1,800 ,

Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $460 l

8. Civil defense:

35

A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, l source material, or special nuclear material for civil defense activities:

Application - New license . . . . . $590 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $410

9. Device, product, or sealed source safety evaluation:

A. Safety evaluation of devices or products containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, except reactor fuel devices, for commercial distribution:

Application - each device . . . . .$3,700 Amendment - each device . . . . . $610 B. 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:

Application - each device . . . . $2,200 Amendment - each device . . . . . $1,100 C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources containing byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material, except reactor fuel, for commercial distribution:

Application - each source . . . . $940 Amendment - each source . . . . . . $630 D. 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:

Application - each source . . . . . $480 Amendment - each source . . . . . . $160 I

10. Transportation of radioactive material:

A. Evaluation of casks, packages, and shipping containers:

Approval, Renewal, Amendment . . Full Cost Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost ,

\

B. Evaluation of 10 CFR Part 71 quality assurance programs:

36

_ ___. ._ _ __ _ =_ _ _ . . _ . _ _ _ __ . _

a

> 1 i

j Application ' Approval . .. . . . $3501

- Amendment' . . . . . . . . . . . . .$640; i Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost i

11.. Review of standardized spent fuelLfacilities: .l

' Approval,. Renewal, Amendment'. . Full Cost

_ . Inspections . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost

12. Special, projects:F Approvals and preapplication / .

I licensing activities . . . . . Full Cost  !

Inspections . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost i i

13. A.- Spent fuel storage cask Certificate'of. Compliance:  ;

Approvals . . . . . . . . . . . . Full' Cost f Amendments, revisions, and supplements . .. . . . . . . . Full Cost *

'Reapproval- . . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost  ;

B. . Inspections related to spent fuel storage cask l Certificate of Compliance . . . . . . Full Cccc 4

C. Inspections related to storage of spent fuel under 572.210 of this chapter . . . . . . . . Full Cost

14. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material licenses and other approvals authorizing decommissioning, I decontamination, reclamation, or site restoration activities pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, 70, and 72 of this chapter: ,

I' Approval, Renewal, Amendment . . Full Cost Inspections . . . . . . . . . . Full Cost

15. I'mport and Export licenses:

Licenses issued pursuant to 10 CFR Part 110 of this chapter for the import and export only of special nuclear material,

- source material, tritium and other byproduct material, heavy water, or nuclear grade graphite.

A. Application for export or import of high enriched uranium and other materials, including radioactive waste, which must be reviewed by the Commissioners and the Executive Branch, for. example, those actions under 10 CFR 110.40(b). This category includes application for export-or import of radioactive wastes in multiple forms'from multiple generators or brokers in the exporting country and/or going to multipl.e treatment, storage or disposal facilities in one or more receiving 37

t t

P countries.

Application-new license . . . . . $8,100 [

Amendment'. . . . . . . . . . . _ . $8,100 B. Application-for export or' import of special nuclear material, source material, tritium and other byproduct  ;

material, heavy water, or nuclear grade graphite,.  :

including' radioactive waste, requiring Executive Branch  !

review but not Commissioner review. This category = 1 includes application for the export or import of ,

radioactive waste involving a single form of waste from a single class of generator,in the exporting country to a single treatment, storage and/or disposal facility in the receiving country.

1

. Application-new license . . . . . $5,000 i

. Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 C. Application for export of routine reloads of low enriched uranium reactor fuel and exports of source ',

material requiring only foreign government assurances under the Atomic Energy Act.

Application-new license . . . . . $2,900 Amendment . . .. . . . . . . . . . $2,900 l D. Application for export or import of other materials, including radioactive waste, not requiring Commissioner '

review, Executive Branch review, or foreign government assurances under the Atomic Energy Act. This category

. includes application 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, requiring only confirmation from the receiving facility and  ;

licensing authorities that the shipments may proceed  !

according to previously agreed understandings and  ;

procedures. '

Application-new license . . . . . $1,300 Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,300 i e

E. Minor amendment of any export or import license to extend the expiration date, change domestic information, or make other. revisions which do not require in-depth analysis, review, or consultations with other' agencies or foreign governments.

Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . $190

16. _ Reciprocity:

38

Agreement State licensees who conduct activities under the reciprocity provisions of 10 CFR 150.20. 1 Application (initial filing of l Form 241) , . . . . . . . . . $1,100 Revisions . . . . . . . . . . . $200 F Tvues of fees - Separate charges, as shown in the schedule, will be assessed for preapplication consultations and reviews and applications for new licenses and approvals, issuance of new licenses and approvals, amendments and certain renewals to existing licenses and approvals, safety evaluations of sealed sources and devices, and certain inspections. The following guidelines apply to these charges:

(a) Apolication fees. Applications for new materials licenses and approvals; applications to reinstate expired, terminated or inactive licenses and approvals except those subject to fees assessed at full costs, and applications filed by Agreement State licensees to register under the general license provisions of 10 CFR 150.20, must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for each category, except that:

(1) Applications for licenses covering more than one l fee category of special nuclear material or source material must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for the highest fee category; and ,

(2) Applications for licenses under Category 1E must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee of $125,000.

(b) License /anoroval/ review fees. Fees for applications for new licenses and approvals and for preapplication  ;

consultations and reviews subject to full cost fees (fee '

Categories 1.A, 1B, 1E, 2A, 4A, 5B, 10A, 11, 12, 13A, and 14) are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance with S170.12(b), (e), and (f). ,

(c) Renewal /reacoroval fees. Applications subject to full cost fees (fee Categories 1A, 1B, IE, 2A, 4A, SB, 10A, 11, 13A, and 14) are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance with S170.12 (d) .

(d) Amendment / Revision Fees.

(1) Applications for amendments to licenses and approvals and revisions to reciprocity initial applications, except those subject to fees assessed at full costs, must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment / revision fee for each license / revision 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 39

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. For those licenses and approvals subject to full costs (fee Categories 1A, 1B, 1E, 2A, 4A, 5B, 10A, 11, 12, 13A, and 14), amendment fees are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance with S170.12 (c) .

, (2) An application for amendment to a materials license or approval that would place the license or approval in a higher fee category or add a new fee category must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for the new category.

(3) An application for amendment to a license or approval that would reduce the scope of a licensee's program to a lower fee category must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for the lower fee category.

(4) Applications to terminate licenses authorizing small materials programs, when no dismantling or decontamination procedure is required, are not subject to fees.

(e) Insoection feeg. Inspections resulting from investigations conducted by the Office of Investigations and nonroutine inspections that result from third-party allegations are not subject to fees. The fees assessed at full cost will be determined based on the professional staff time required to conduct the inspection multiplied by the rate established under S170.20 plus any applicable contractual support services costs.

incurred. Inspection fees are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance with S170 12 (g) .

1/ Fees will not be charged for orders issued by the Commission pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202 or for amendments resulting specifically from the requirements of these types of Commission orders.

However, 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 now or hereafter in effect) 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.

l' Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff time and appropriate contractual support services expended.

For those applications currently on file and for which fees are determined based on the full cost expended for the review, the professional staff hours expended for the review of the application up to the effective date of the final rule will be determined at the professional rates in effect at the time the service was provided. For applications currently on file for i

40

\

.< which review costs have reached an applicable fee ceiling established by the June 20, 1984, and July 2, 1990, rules, but are still pending completion of the review, the cost incurred after any applicable ceiling was reached through January 29, 1989, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional staff-hours expended above those ceilings on or after January 30, 1989, will be assessed at the applicable rates established by S170.20, as appropriate, except for topical reports whose costs exceed $50,000. Costs which exceed $50,000 for each topical report, amendment, revision, or supplement to a topical report completed or under review from January 30, 1989, through August 8, 1991, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional hours expended on or after August 9, 1991, will be assessed at the applicable rate established in 5170.20. The minimum total review cost is twice the hourly rate shown in S170.20.

F Licensees paying fees under Categories 1A, 1B, and 1E are not subject to fees under Categories 1C and 1D for sealed sources authorized in the same license except in those instances in which an application deals only with the sealed sourcea authorized by the license. Applicants for new licenses that cover both byproduct material and special nuclear material in sealed sources for use in gauging devices will pay the appropriate application fee for fee Category IC only.

F Fees will not be assessed for requests / reports submitted to the NRC:

(a) In response to a Generic Letter or NRC Bulletin that does not result in an amendment to the license, does not result in the review of an alternate method or reanalysis to meet the requirements of the Generic Letter, or does not involve an unreviewed safety issue; (b) In response to an NRC request (at the Associate Office Director level or above) to resolve an identified safety or environmental issue, or to assist NRC in developing a rule, regulatory guide, policy statement, generic letter, or bulletin; or (c) As a means of exchanging informaticn between industry organizations and the NRC for the purpose of sapporting generic regulatory improvements or efforts.

PART 171 -- ANNUAL FEES FOR REACTOR OPERATING 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.

6. The authority citation for Part 171 continues to read as follows:

41

7-I Authority: Sec. 7601, Pub. L.99-272, 100 Stat. 146, as amended by sec. 5601, Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330, as amended i by Sec. 3201, Pub. L. 101-239, 103 Stat. 2106 as amended by sec.

I 6101, Pub. L. 101-508, 104 Stat. 1388, (42 U.S C. 2213); sec. 301, Pub. L.92-314, 86 Stat. 222 (42 U.S.C. 2201 (w) ) ; sec. 201, l

88. Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5841); sec. 2903, Pub. L.

102-486, 106 Stat. 3125, (42 U.S.C. 2214 note).

7. Section 171.13 is revised to read as icilows.

S171.13 Notice.

The annual fees applicable to an operating reactor and to a materials licensee, including a Government agency licensed by the NRC, subject to this part and calculated in,accordance with 55171.15 and 171.16, will be published as a notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER as soon as is practicable but no later than the third quarter of FY 1997 and 1998. The annual fees will become due and payable to the NRC in accordance with S171.19 except as provided in 5171.17. Quarterly payments of the annual fees of $100,000 or more will continue during the fiscal year and be based on the applicable annual fees as shown in SS171.15 and 171.16 of the regulations until a notice concerning the revised amount of the fees for the fiscal year is published by the NPC. If the NRC is unable to publish a final fee rule that becomes effective during the current fiscal year, then fees would be assessed based on the rates in effect for the previous fiscal year.

8. In S171.15, paragraphs (a), (b), (c) (1) , (c) (2) , (e),

and (f) are revised to read as follows:

6171.15 Annual Fees: Reactor coeratina licenses.

(a) Each person licensed *,o operate a power, test, or research reactor shall pay the annual fee for each unit for which the person holds an operating license at any time during the Federal FY in which the fee is due, except for those test and research reactors exempted in S171.11(a) (1) and (a) (2) .

(b) The FY 1997 uniform annual fee for each operating power reactor which must be collected by September 30, 1997, is

$2,972,000. This fee has been determined by adjusting the FY 1996 annual fee upward by 8.2 percent. In the FY 1995 final rule, the NRC stated it would stabilize annual fees by adjusting l the annual fees only by the percentage change (plus or minus) in I NRC's total budget authority and adjustments based on changes in 10 CFR Part 170 fees as well as on the number of licensees paying the fees. The first adjustment to the annual fees using this method occurred in FY 1996 when all annual fees were decreased 6.5 percent below the FY 1995 annual fees. The FY 1995 annual fee was comprised of a base annual fee and an additional charge (surcharge). The activities comprising the base FY 1995 annual l 42

i fee are as follows:

(1) Power reactor safety and safeguards regulation except licensing and inspection activities recovered under 10 CFR Part 170 of this chapter.

(2) Research activities directly related to the regulation of power reactors.

(3) Generic activities required largely for NRC to regulate ;

power reactors, e.g., updating Part 50 of this chapter, or i operating the Incident Response Center. l l

(c) The activities comprising the FY 1995 surcharge are as l follows:

(1) Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or class of licensees; e.g., reviews submitted by other government agencies (e.g., DOE) that do not result in a license or are not associated with a license; international cooperative  ;

safety program and international safeguards activities; low-level l waste disposal generic activities; uranium enrichment generic activities; and (2) Activities not currently assessed under 10 CFR Part 170 I licensing and inspection fees based on existing Commission i policy, e.g., reviews and inspections conducted of nonprofit educational institutions, and costs that would not be collected from small entities based on Commission policy in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

(e) The FY 1997 annual fees for licensees authorized to )

operate a nonpower (test and research) reactor licensed under l Part 50 of this chapter, except for those reactors exempted from fees under S171.11(a), are as follows:

1 Research reactor $57,200 Test reactor $57,200 (f) For FY 1997 and FY 1998, annual fees for operating '

reactors will be calculated and assessed in accordance with S171.13 of this section.

l

9. In S171.16, the introductory text of paragraph (c) and l paragraphs (c) (1) , (c) (4) , (d), and (e) are revised to read as follows:

S371.16 Annual Fees: Materials Licensees. Holders of Certificates of Comoliance. Holders of Sealed Source and Device Reaistrations. Holders of Ouality Assurance Procram Acorovals and 43

l l

Government acencies~ licensed by the'NRC. i

• * * ** }

i (c) ~ A licensee who is' required to pay an annual fee under )

this section may qualify as a small entity. If a licensee  :

-qualifies as a small entity and provides the Commission with the i

[ proper certification, the licensee may pay reduced annual fees  ;

, for FY 1997 as follows:  ;

Small Businesses Not Encaced Maximum Annual Fee j in Manufacturina and Small Per Licensed Cateaorv  ;

Not-For-Profit-Oraanizations

, (Gross Annual-Receiots) l 4

$350,000.to $5 million $1,800 j 1

Less than $350,000 $400

Manufacturina entities that i have an averace of 500 i emolovees or less ,

1 i-

! 35 to 500' employees- $1,800 q

, I j; Less than 35 empl'oyees $400 l Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Includina oublicly succorted .

educational institutions) l

_Pooulation)

( {

20,000 to 50,000 $1,800 ,

j Less than 20,000 $400  !

, 1 Educational Institutions that  !

are not State or Publicly j Succorted, and have 500 Emolovees or Less.

. 35 to 500 employees $1,800 l Less than 35 employees $400 1

(1) A licensee qualifies as a small entity if it meets the j size standards established by the NRC (See 10 CFR 2.810).

• • • • * ]

(4) For FY 1997, the maximum annual fee a small entity is l required to pay is $1,800 for each category applicable to the t

t 44

license (s) .

(d) The FY 1997 annual fees for materials licensees and holders of certificates, registrations or approvals subject to fees under this section are shown below. The FY 1997 annual fees, which must be collected by September 30, 1997, have been determined by adjusting upward the FY 1996 annual fees by 8.2 percent. In the FY 1995 final rule, the NRC stated it would stabilize annual fees by adjusting the annual fees only by the percentage change (plus or minus) in NRC's total budget authority and adjustments based on changes in 10 CFR Part 170 fees as well as on the number of licensees paying the fees. The first adjustment to the annual. fees using this method occurred in FY 1996 when all annual fees were decreased 6.5 percent below the FY 1995 annual fees. The FY 1995 annual fee was comprised of a base annual fee and an additional charge (surcharge). The activities comprising the FY 1995 surcharge are shown for convenience in paragraph (e) of this section.

SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS ANNUAL FEES AND FEES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY NRC (See footnotes at end of table)

Catecorv of materials licenses Annual Fees,2, t 2

1. Special nuclear material:

A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of U-235 or plutonium for fuel fabrication activities.

(a) Strategic Special Nuclear Material:

Babcock & Wilcox SNM-42 $2,600,000 Nuclear Fuel Services SNM-124 $2,600,000 (b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersable Form Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel:

Combustion Engineering (Hematite) SNM-33 $1,276,000 General Electric Company SNM-1097 $1,276,000 Siemens Nuclear Power SNM-1227 $1,276,000 Westinghouse Electric SNM-1107 $1,276,000 Company (2) 'All other special nuclear materials licenses not included in Category 1. A. (1) which are licensed for fuel cycle activities.

(a) Facilities with limited operations:

45

B&W Fuel Company SNM-1168 $508,000 (b) All Others:

General Electric SNM-960 $345,000 B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel at an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). $282,000 ,

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. $1,300 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 S150.11 of this chapter, for which the licensee shall pay the same fees as those for Category 1. A. (2) . $3,000 E. Licenses or certificates for the "

operation of a uranium enrichment facility. $2,600,000 3

2. Source material:

A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source material for refining uranium mill concentrates to uranium hexafluoride. $647,000 (2) Licenses for possession and use of source material in recovery operations such as milling, in-situ leaching, heap-leaching, ore buying stations, ion exchange facilities and in processing of ores containing source material for extraction of metals other than uranium ,

or thorium, including licenses authorizing the possession of byproduct waste material (tailings) from source material recovery operations, as well as licenses authorizing the possession and maintenance of a facility in a standby mode.

Class I facilities * . . . . . . . $61,600 46

1 I

s <

Class II facilities' . . . . . . . $34,800 Other facilities *^ $22,300 1 (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 2. A. (2) or Category 2. A. (4) . $45,200

-(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 a disposal incidental to the disposal of the uranium j waste tailings generated by the licensee's milling ,

operations,Lexcept those licenses subject to the fees in Category'2.A.(2). $8,000 B. Licenses which authorize only the possession,_ use end /or installation of source material to- shielding. $490 C. All other source material licenses. $8,700

3. Byproduct material:

A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for processing or manufacturing of items containing byproduct material for commercial distribution. $16,600 B. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 30 of this chapter for processing or manufacturing of items ,

containing byproduct material for  !

commercial distribution. $5,600 j C. Licenses issued pursuant to SS32.72, 32.73, and/or 32.74 of this chapter authorizing the~ processing or j 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 pursuant to Part 40 of this chapter when included on the same license. This category does not apply 47

-i to licenses. issued to nonprofit educational institutions.whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under 10 CFR 171.11(a) (1) . These licenses are covered by fee. Category 3D. $11,200 D. Licenses and-approvals issued-pursuant to.SS32.72, 32.73, and/or 32.74'of this chapter authorizing distribu-tion or redistribution of radiophar-maceuticals, generators,, reagent kits and/or sources or devices not involving  ;

processing of byproduct material. This category includes licenses. issued

. pursuant to S$32.72, 32.73 and 32.74 to nonprofit educational-institutions whose processing or manufacturing is exempt under 10 CFR 171.11(a) (1) . This category also includes the possession and use of. source material for shielding authorized pursuant to Part 40 of this chapter when included on the same license. $4,400 E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material in sealed sources for irradiatjon of materials in which I the source is not removed from its shield (self-shielded units) . $3,200 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 i irradiation purposes. $3,800 G. Licenses for possession and use of J 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 i underwater irradiators for irradiation of materials in which the source is not expoced for irradiation purposes. $19,600 H. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart A 48

of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that require device review to persons exempt i from the licensing requirements of Part 30 l 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. $5,000 I. Licenses issued pursuant to 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. $8,900 J. Licenses issued pursuant to Subpart B of Part 32 of this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct material that require reealed 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 I persons generally licensed under Part 31 of this chapter. $3,800 ,

l K. Licenses issued pursuant. to Subpart B l of Part 31 of this chapter to l 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. $3,200 L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Parts 30 and 33 of this 49

chapter for research and development [

that do not authorize commercial distribution. $12,300 M. Other licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant >

to Ptrt 30 of this chapter for research and development that do not authorize commercial distribution. $5,500 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 disposa'.

services are subject to the fees specified in fee Categories 4A, 4B, and 4C. $6,100

o. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material issued pursuant to Part 34 of this chapter for industrial radiography operations. This category also includes the possession and use of ,

source material for shielding authorized  ;

pursuant to Part 40 of this chapter when authorized on the same license. $14,000 P. All other specific byproduct mater.;l  !

licenses, except those in Categories 4A through 9D. $1,700

4. Waste disposal and processing:

A. Licenses specifically authc. >ing the receipt of waste byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material from other persons for the purpose of contingency storage or commercial land disposal by the licensee; or licenses authorizing contingency storage of low-level radioactive waste at the site of nuclear power r2 actors; or licenses for receipt of waste from other i persons for incineration or other treatment, packaging of resulting waste and residues, and transfer of packages to another person authorized to receive or dispose 50

T

?

t of waste. material. $102,000F B.  ! Licenses specifically. authorizing the )

receipt' of- waste byproduct material, .j source material, cr e special nuclear '

material from other persons for the purpose of packaging or repackaging i

.the material. The licensee will dispose of the material by transfer to another person authorized to receive or dispose of the material. $14,400

.C. Licenses specifically' authorizing the receipt'of prepackaged waste byproduct .;

material, source material, or special nuclear material from other persons.  ;

The licensee will dispose of the l material by transfer to another person authorized to receive or dispose of the material. $7,700 ,

5. Well logging:

A. Licenses for possession and use of j byproduct material, source material, and/or special. nuclear material for well logging, well surveys, and tracer studies other than field flooding tracer studies. $8,200 B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material for field flooding tracer studies. $13,200

6. Nuclear laundries:

)

A. Licenses for commercial collection and i

laundry of items contaminated with byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material. $14,700 l

7. Medical licenses:

A. ' Licenses issued pursuant to Parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for human use of byproduct material, source material,-or special nuclear material in sealedJsources contained in teletherapy devices. This category also includes the possession and use of source material for shielding when authorized on the same license. $10,300 51

B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical institutions or two or more physicians pursuant to 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.F $23,500 C. Other licenses issued pursuant to Parts 30, 35, 40, and 70 of this

! chapter for human use of byproduct material, source material, and/or i

special nuclear 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.F $4,700

8. Civil defense:

A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material for civil defense activities. $1,800

9. Device, product, or sealed source safety evaluation:

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. $7,200 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. $3,700 52

m . _ .._ _ _ _.,__ ... .. _- _ . _ _ _ _ _ ._.

9 L

C. Registrations' issued for the safety evaluation of sealed sources ,

containing byproduct material, source material ~, cnr special nuclear material, '

except reactor fuel, for commercial  !

' distribution. $1,600  !

D. Registrations issued for the safety

• evaluation of sealed sources ,

containing byproduct material, source t material, or special nuclear material, manufactured in accordance with the

. unique specifications of, and for use ,

by, a single applicant, except reactor ,

fuel. $780

10. Transportation of radioactive material:

A. Certificates of Compliance or other .

package approvals issued for design of casks, packages, and shipping containers.

Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and N/AU plutonium air packages Other Casks N/AF t B. Approvals issued of 10 CFR Part 71 ,

quality assurance programs. j Users and Fabricators $78,700 Users $1,000

11. Standardized spent fuel facilities. N/AU

12. Special Projects N/AU L3. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate N/AU  !

of Compliance.

B. General licenses for storage of $282,000  ;

spent fuel under 10 CFR 72.210. j

14. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear N/AU material licenses and other approvals authorizing decommissioning, decontamination, reclamation, or site restoration activities pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, 70, and 72.

d. Import and Export licenses N/AU

16. Reciprocity N/AU 53

~~

17. Master materials licenses of broad $420,000 scope issued to Government agencies.

18. Department of Energy:

A. Certificates of Compliance . . . . . $1,166,000H/

B. Uranium Mill Ta.' ling Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) activities . . . . . . $1,961,000 F Annual fees will be assessed based on whether a licensee held a valid license with the NRC authorizing possession and use of radioactive material during the 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 prior to October 1, 1996, and permanently ceased licensed activities entirely by September 30, 1996. Annual fees for licensees who filed for termination of a license, downgrade of a license, or for a POL during the fiscal year and for new licenses issued during the fiscal year will be prorated in accordance with the provisions of S171.17. 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 feet, will be assessed for each category applicable to the license.

Licensees paying annual fees under Category 1. A. (1) . are not subject to the annual fees of Category 1.C and 1.D for sealed sources authorized in the license.

l' Payment of the prescribed annual fee does not automatically renew the license, certificate, registration, or approval for which the fee is paid. Renewal applications must be filed in accordance with the requirements of Parts 30, 40, 70, 71, or 72 of this chapter.

2/ For FY 1998, fees for these materials licenses will be calculated and assessed in accordance with S171.13 and will be published in the Federal Register for notice and comment.

i/ A Class I license includes mill licenses issued for the extraction of uranium from uranium ore. A Class II license includes solution mining licenses (in-situ and heap leach) issued for the extraction of uranium from uranium ores including research and development licenses. An "other" license includes licenses for extraction of metals, heavy metals, and rare earths.

l' Two licenses have been issued by NRC for land disposal of 54

special nuclear material. Once NRC issues a LLW disposal license for byproduct and source material, the Commission will consider establishing an annual fee for this type of license.

1/ Standardized spent fuel facilities, Parts 71 and 72 Certificates of Compliance, and special reviews, such as topical reports,.are not assessed an annual fee because the generic costs of regulating these activities are primarily attributable to the users of the designs, certificates, and topical reports.

I/ Licensees in this category are not, assessed an annual fee because they are charged an annual fee ~in other categories while they are licensed to operate.

E' No annual fee is charged because it is not practical tc administer due to the relatively short life or temporary .ture of the license.

1/ Separate annual fees will not be assessed for pacemaker licenses issued to medical institutions who also hold nuclear medicine licenses under Categories 7B or 7C.

M/ This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to DOE that are not under the Nuclear Waste Fund.

(e) The activities comprising the FY 1995 surcharge are as follows:

(1) LLW disposal generic activities; 1

(2) Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee !

or classes of licensees; e.g., international cooperative safety i program and international safeguards activities; support for the j Agreement State program; site decommissioning management plan (SDMP) activities and (3) Activities not currently assessed under 10 CFR Part 170 licensing and inspection fees based on existing law or Commission policy, e.g., reviews and inspections conducted of nonprofit educational institutions and Federal agencies; activities related to decommissioning and reclamation and costs that would not be collected from small entities based on Commission policy in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

10. In S171.17, paragraphs (a) and (b) (1) are revised to read as follows:

S171.17 Proration.

Annual fees will be prorated for NRC licensees as follows:

55

i l

-(a)_ . Reactors. The annual fee for reactors (power and nonpower) that'are subject to fees under.this part and are granted a' license to operate on or after October 1 of a Fiscal  :

Year is prorated on the basis of the number of days remaining in. l the fiscal year. Thereafter, the full fee is due and payable

each subsequent fiscal year. Licensees who have requested [

amendmentLto withdraw operating authority permanently during the l 1

fiscal year will be prorated based on the number of days during~ t j the fiscal' year the license was in effect before docketing of the t certifications for permanent cessation of operations and  !

permanent removal of fuel from the reactor vessel or when'a final  !

1 legally effective order to permanently cease operations has come  !

into effect.  !

s  ?

I .(b) ' Materials licenses-(including fuel cycle licenses). l r

, (1) ~ New licenses and terminations. The annual fee for a materials license that is subject to fees under thi s part and i issued on or after October 1 of the FY is prorated on the basis  !

of when the NRC issues the new license. New licenses issued i

[ during the period October 1 through March 31 of the FY will be  !

, assessed one-half the annual fee for that FY. New licenses L issued on or after April 1 of the FY will not be assessed an annual fee for that FY. Thereafter, the full fee is due and i i

payable each subsequent FY. The annual fee will be prorated for i licenses for which a termination request or a request for a POL l has been received on or after October 1 of a FY on the basis of ,

- when the application for termination or POL is received by the )

NRC provided the licensee permanently ceased licensed activities ,

during the specified period. Licenses for which applications for  !

termination or POL are filed during the period October 1 through j March 31 of the FY are assessed one-half the annual fee for the >

. applicable category;ies) for that FY. Licenses for which l applications for termination or POL are filed on or after April 1  !

of the FY are assessed the full annual fee for that FY.

j Materialu licenses transferred to a new Agreement State during  ;

the FY are considered terminated by the NRC, for annual fee  ;

purposes, on the date that the Agreement with the State becomes i effective; therefore, the same proration provisions will apply as l l

4 if the licenses were terminated.

11. In S171.19, paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) are revised to l 1 read as follows-I E171.19 Payment.  ;

j 4 (b) For FYs 1997 and FY 1998, the Commission will adjust i the fourth quarterly bill for operating power reactors and I

certain materials licensees to recover the full amount of the revised annual fee. If the amounts collected in the first three I

56 i i

quarters exceed the amount of the revised annual fee, the j overpayment will be refunded. All other licensees, or holders of '

a certificate, registration, or approval of a OA program will be sent a bill for the full amount of the annual fee on the  ;

anniversary date of the license. Payment is due on the invoice l date and interest accrues from the date of the invoice. However, interest will be waived if payment is received within 30 days from the invoice date.

(c) For FYs 1997 and 1998, annual fees in the amount of

$100,000 or more and described in the Federal Register notice pursuant to S171.13 must be paid in quarterly installments of 25 percent as billed by the NRC. The quarters begin on October 1, January 3, April 1, and July 1 of each fiscal year.

(d) For FYs 1997 and 1998, annual fees of less than

$100,000 must be paid as billed by the NRC. As established in FY ,

1996, materials license annual fees that are less than $100,000 are billed on the anniversary of the license. The materials licensees that are billed on the anniversary date of the license are those covered by fee categories 1.C. and 1.D.; 2. A. (2) through 2.C.; 3.A. through 3.P.; 4.B. through 9.D.; and 10.B.

For annual fee purposes, the anniversary date of the license is considered to be the first day of the month in which the original license was issued by the NRC. Beginning June 11, 1996, the ,

effective date of the FY 1996 final rule, licensees that are l billed on the license anniversary date will be assessed the annual fee in effect on the anniversary date of the license.

Materials licenses subject to the annual fee that are terminated during the fiscal year but prior to the anniversary month of the license will be billed upon termination for the fee in effect at the time of the billing. New materials licenses subject to the annual-fee will be billed in the month the license is issued or in the next available monthly billing for the fee in effect on the anniversary date of the license. Thereafter, annual fees for new licenses will be assessed in the anniversary month of the

! license.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this /fd day of /M~__, "

1997.

For t Nuclear Regulat y Commission.

AAW. -

Ronald M. Scroggins, Ac%T6g Chief Financial Officer.

57

APPENDIX A TO THIS PROPOSED RULE REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS FOR THE AMENDMENTS TO 10 CFR PART 170 (LICENSE FEES) AND 10 CFR PART 171 (ANNUAL FEES)

I. Backcround. '

The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended, (5 U.S . C. 601 et seq.) establishes as a principle of regulatory practice that agencies endeavor to fit regulatory and informational requirements, consistent with applicable statutes, to a scale commensurate with the businesses, organizations, and government jurisdictions to which they apply. To achieve this l principle, the Act requires that agencies consider the impact of their actions on small entities. If the agency cannot certify ,

that a rule will not significantly impact a substantial number of  !

small entities, then a regulatory flexibility analysis is I required to examine the impacts on small entities and the l alternatives to minimize these impacts. I i

To assist in considering these impacts under the Regulatory '

Flexibility Act (RFA), first the NRC adopted size standards for determining which NRC licensees qualify as small entities (50 FR 50241; December 9, 1985). These size standards were clarified November 6, 1991 (56 FR 56672). On April 7, 1994 (59 FR 16513),

l the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule changing itc size standards. The SBA adjusted its receipts-based size standards levels to mitigate the effects of inflation from 1984 to 1994. On November 30, 1994 (59 FR 61293), the NRC  !

published a proposed rule to amend its size standards. After i evaluating the two comments received, a final rule that would revise the NRC's size standards as proposed was developed and approved by the SBA on March 24, 1995. .The NRC published the l

! final rule revising its size standards on April 11, 1995 (60 FR )

18344). The revised standards became effective May 11, 1995.  !

s The revised standards adjusted the NRC receipts-based size standards from $3.5 million to $5 million to accommodate  ;

inflation and to conform to the SBA final rule. The NRC also eliminated the separate $1 million size standard for private l practice physicians and applied a receipts-based size standard of

$5 million to this class of licensees. This mirrored the revised SBA standard of $5 million for medical practitioners. The NRC also established a size standard of 500 or fewer employees for business concerns that are manufacturing entities. This standard ,

is the most commonly used SBA employee standard and is the  !

standard applicable to the types of manufacturing industries that  !

hold an NRC license. l The NRC used the revised standards in the final FY 1995 and FY 1996 fee rules and proposes to continue their use in this FY 1997 proposed rule. The small entity fee categories in S171.16 (c) of this proposed rule reflect the changes in the NRC's l

58

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size standards adopted in FY.1995. A new maximum small entity 7 fee for manufacturing industries with 35 to 500 employees was established at $1,600 and a lower-tier small entity fee of $400-was established for those manufacturing industries with less than 35 employees.' The lower-tier receipto-based threshold of- ,

$250,000 was raised to $350,000 to reflect approximately-the same percentage adjusttent as that made by the SBA when they adjusted the receipts-based standard from $3.5 million to $5 million. The NRC believes that continuing these actions for FY 1997 will .

reduce the impact of annual fees on'small businesses. The NRC l size standards are. codified at 10 CFR 2.810.

Public Law 101-508, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of -

1990 (OBRA-90), requires that the NRC recover approximately 100  ;

percent of its budget authority, less appropriations from the f i Nuclear Waste Fund, for Fiscal Years (FY) 1991 through 1995 by  :

assessing license and annual fees. OBRA-90 was amended in 1993 to extend the 100 percent recovery requirement'for NRC through  ;

1998. For FY 1991, the amount for collection was approximately 0$445.3 million; for FY 1992, approximately $492.5 million; for FY

- 1993 about $518.9 million; for FY 1994 about $513 million; for FY  ;

1995 about $503.6 million; for FY 1996 about $462.3 million and l I

the amount to be collected in FY 1997 is approximately $462.3 million.

To comply with OBRA-90, the Commission amended its fee regulations in 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171 in FY 1991 (56 FR 31472; July 10, 1991) in FY 1992, (57 FR 32691; July 23, 1992) in FY 1993 (58 FR 38666; July 20, 1993) in FY 1994 (59 FR 36895; July 20, 1994) in FY 1995 (60 FR 32218; June 20, 1995) and in FY 1996 (61 FR 16203) based on a careful evaluation of over 1,000 comments. These final rules established the methodology used by NRC in identifying and determining the fees assessed and collected in FYs 1991-1996.

The NRC indicated in the FY 1995 final rule that it would l attempt to stabilize annual fees as follows. Beginning in FY 1996, it would adjust the annual fees only by the percentage change -(plus or minus) in NRC's total budget authority unless 1 there was a substantial change in the total NRC budget authority or the magnitude of the budget allocated to a specific class of ,

licensees, in which case the annual fee base would be  ;

recalculated'(60 FR 32225; June 20, 1995). The NRC also indicated that the percentage change would be adjusted based on changes'in the 10 CFR Part 170 fees and other adjustments as well as an adjustment for the number of licensees paying the fees. As a result, the NRC is proposing to establish the FY 1997 annual fees for all licensees at 8.2 percent above the FY 1996 annual fees. Because the total amount to be recovered through fees in FY 1997 is identical to the amount estimated for recovery in FY 1996,,the-NRC believes that est&blishing new baseline fees for FY 1997 is not warranted.

59

1 Public Law 104-121, the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 was signed into law on March 29, 1996. Title III of I the law is entitled the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement  !

Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA). The SBREFA has two purposes. The first is to reduce regulatory burdens imposed by Federal agencies on small businesses, nonprofit organizations and governmental I jurisdictions. The second is to provide the Congress with the opportunity to review agency rules before they go into effect.

Under this legislation, the NRC fee rule, published annually, is I considered a " major" ru3e and therefore must be reviewed by Congress and the Comptroller General before the rule becomes effective. Section 312 of the Act provides that for each rule i for which an agency prepared a final regulatory flexibility I analysis, the agency shall prepare a guide to assist small entities in complying with the rule. A regulatory flexibility analysis is prepared for the proposed and final NRC fee rules as implemented by 10 CFR Part 170 and 171 of the Commission's l regulations. Therefore, in compliance with the law, Attachment 1 to this Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is the small entity l compliance guide for FY 1997. I II. Imoact on small entities.

l The comments received on the proposed FY 1991-1996 fee rule '

revisions and the small entity certifications received in response to the final FY 1991-1996 fee rules indicate that NRC l licensees qualifying as small entities under the NRC's size standards are primarily those licensed under the NRC's materials program. Therefore, this analysis will focus on the economic impact of the annual fees on materials licensees.

The Commission's fee regulations result in substantial fees being charged to those individuals, organizations, and companies that are licensed under the NRC materials program. Of these materials licensees, about 20 percent (approximately 1,400 licensees) have requested small entity certification in the past.

In FY 1993, the NRC conducted a survey of its materials licensees. The results of this survey indicated that about 25 percent of these licensees could qualify as small entities under the current NRC size standards.

The commenters on the FY 1991-1994 proposed fee rules indicated the following results if the proposed annual fees were not modified:

Large firms would gain an unfair competitive advantage over small entities. One commenter noted that a small well-logging corupany (a " Mom and Pop" type of operation) would find it difficult to absorb the annual fee, while a large corporation would find it easier.

Another commenter noted that the fee increase could be more easily absorbed by a high-volume nuclear medicine 60

i clinic. A gauge licensee noted that, in the very  !

competitive soils testing market, the annual fees would put it at an extreme disadvantage with its much larger competitors because the proposed fees would be the same for a two-person licensee as for a large firm with thousands of employees.

i Some firms would be forced to cancel their licenses.

One commenter, with receipts of less than $500,000 per year, stated that the proposed rule would, in ef"ect, force it to relinquish its soil density gauge and license, thereby reducing its ability to do its' work effectively. Another commenter noted that the rule would force the company and many other amall businesses to get rid of the materials license altogether.

Commenters stated that the proposed rule would result in about 10 percent of the well-logging licensees terminating their licenses immediately and approximately 25 percent terminating their licenses before the next annual assessment.

Some companies would go out of business. One commenter noted that the proposal would put it, and several other small companies, out of business or, at the very least, make it hard to survive.

l

- Some companies would have budget problems. Many medical licensees commented that, in these times of slashed reimbursements, the proposed increase of the existing fees and the introduction of additional fees ,

would significantly affect their budgets. Another l noted that, in view of the cuts by Medicare and other i third party carriers, the fees would produce a hardship and some facilities would experience a great deal of difficulty in meeting this additional burden.

1 Over the past five years, approximately 2,900 license, approval, and registration terminations have been requested.

Although some of these terminations were requested because the license was no longer needed or licenses or registrations could be combined, indications are that other termination requests were due to the economic impact of the fees. j The NRC continues to receive written and oral comments from small materials licensees. These commenters previously indicated that the $3.5 million threshold for small entities was not representative of small businesses with gross receipts in the thousands of dollars. These commenters believe that the $1,800 maximum annual fee represents a relatively high percentage of gross annual receipts for these " Mom and Pop" type businesses.

Therefore, even the reduced annual fee could have a significant impact on the ability of these types of businesses to continue to G1

operate.

To alleviate the continuing significant impact of the annual fees on a substantial number of small entities, the NRC considered alternatives, in accordance with the RFA. These alternatives were evaluated in the FY 1991 rule (56 FR 31472; July 10, 1991) in the FY 1992 rule (57 FR 32691; July 23, 1992),

in the FY 1993 rule (58 FR 38666; July 20, 1993); in the FY 1994 rule (59 FR 36895; July 20, 1994); in the FY 1995 rule (60 FR 32218; June 20, 1995) and in the FY 1996 rule (61 FR 16203; April 12, 1996). The alternatives considered by the NRC can be summarized as follows.

Base fees on some measure of the amount of radioactivity possessed by the licensee (e.g., number of sources).

Base fees on the frequency of use of the licensed radioactive material (e.g., volume of patients).

Base fees on the NRC size standards for small entities.

The NRC has reexamined the FY 1991-1996 evaluations of the these alternatives. Based on that reexamination, the NRC continues to believe that establishment of a maximum fee for small entities is the most appropriate option to reduce the impact on small entities.

The NRC established, and is proposing to continue for FY 1997, a maximum annual fee for small entities. 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. For FY 1997, the NRC will rely on the analysis previously completed that established a maximum annual fee for a small entity and the amount of costs that must be recovered from other NRC licensees as a result of establishing the maximum annual fees.

The NRC continues to believe that the 10 CFR Part 170 license fees (application and amendment), or any adjustments to these licensing fees during the past year, do not have a significant impact on small entities. In issuing this proposed rule for FY 1997, the NRC concludes that the 10 CFR Part 170 materials license fees do not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities and that the 10 CFR Part 171 maximum annual small entity fee of $1,800 be continued.

By maintaining the maximum annual fee for small entities at

$1,800, the annual fee for many small entities is reduced while at the same time materials licensees, including small entities, 62

pay for most of the FY 1997 costs attributable to them. The costs not recovered from small entities are allocated to other-materials licensees and to operating power reactors. However, the amount that must be recovered from other licensees as a result of maintaining the maximum annual fee is not expected to increase significantly. Therefore, the NRC is continuing, for FY 1997, the maximum annual fee (base annual fee plus surcharge) for certain small entities at $1,800 for each fee category covered by each license issued to a small entity.

While reducing the impact on many small entities, the Commission agrees that the maximum annual fee of $1,800 for small entities, when added to the Part 170 license fees, may continue l to have a significant impact on materials licensees with annual i gross receipts in the thousands of dollars. Therefore, as in FY  !

1992-1996, the NRC is proposing to continue the lower-tier small entity annual fee of $400 for small entities with relatively low gross annual receipts. The lower-tier small entity fee of $400 also applies to manufacturing concerns, and educational institutions not State or publicly supported, with less than 35 employees. This lower-tier small entity fee was first established in the final rule published in the Federal Register on April 17, 1992 (57 FR 13625) and now includes manufacturing companies with a relatively small number of employees.

7II. Summarv.

The NRC has determined the 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees significantly impacts a substantial number of small entities. A maximum fee for small entities strikes a balance between the requirement to collect 100 percent of the NRC budget and the requirement to consider means of reducing the impact of the fee on small entities. On the basis of its regulatory flexibility analyses, the NRC concludes that a maximum annual fee of $1,800 for small entities and a lower-tier small entity annual fee of

$400 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 lesa than 35 employees reduces the impact on amall entities. At the same time, these reduced annual fees are consistent with the objectives of OBRA-90. Thus, the proposed fees for small entities maintain a balance between the objectives of OBRA-90 and the RFA. Therefore, the analysis and conclusions established in the FY 1991-1996 rules remain valid for this proposed rule for FY 1997. In compliance with Public Law 104-121, a small entity compliance guide has been prepared by NRC and is shown as Attachment 1 to this Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, i

63

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ATTACHMENT 1-TO APPENDIX A U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Small Entity Compliance Guide Fiscal Year 1997

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Instructions for. Completing NRC Form 526 . . . . . 5  !

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Introduction The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA) requires all Federal agencies to prepare a written guide for each " major" final action as defined by the Act. The NRC's fee rule published annually to comply with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA- 90) which requires the NRC to collect approximately 100 percent of its budget authority each year through fees meets the thresholds for being considered

" major" under the SBREFA. Therefore, in compliance with the law, this small entity compliance guide has been prepared for FY 1997.

The purpose of this guide is to assist small entities in .

complying with the NRC fee rule. l 4

This guide is designed to aid NRC materials licensees. The information provided in this guide may be used by licensees to determine whether they qualify as a small entity under NRC regulations and are therefore eligible to pay reduced FY 1997 annual fees assessed under 10 CFR Part 171. Licensees who meet NRC's size standards for a small entity must complete NRC Form 526 in order to qualify for the reduced annual fee. NRC Form 526 I will accompany each annual fee invoice mailed to materials i licensees. The completed form, along with the appropriate small )

entity fee payment copy of the invoice, should be mailed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, License Fee and Accounts ,

Receivable Branch, P.O. Box 954514, St. Louis, MO 63195-4514.

l The NRC, in compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), has established separate annual fees for those  !

materials licenseen who meet the NRC's size standards for small I entities. These size standards, developed in consultation with the Small Business Administration, were revised by the NRC  ;

effective May 11, 1995. The small entity size standards are  !

found in 10 CFR 2.810 of the NRC's regulations. To comply with '

the RFA, the NRC has established two tiers of small entity fees. .

These fees are found in 10 CFR 171.16 (c) of the fee regulations. I NRC Definition of Small Entity The NRC has defined small entity in consultation with the Small Business Administration. The definition is codified in NRC's regulations at 10 CFR 2.810. Under the NRC regulation, small entities are:

1. Small business - a for-profit concern that provides a service or a concern not engaged in manufacturing with average gross receipts of $5 million or less over its last 3 completed ficcal years; '

2. Manufncturing industry - a manufacturing concern with an average number of 500 or fewer employees 2

based upon employment during each pay period for the preceding 12 calendar months;

3. Small organization - a not-for-profit organization which is independently owned and operated and has annual gross receipts of $5 million or less;

4. .Small governmental jurisdiction - a government of a city, county, town, township, village, school district or special district with a population of less than 50,000;

5. Small educational institution - an educational institution supported by a qualifying small governmental jurisdiction, or one that is not state or publicly supported and has 500 or fewer employees NRC Small Entity Fees The NRC has established two tiers of small entity fees for licensees that qualify under the NRC's size standards.

Currently, these fees are as follows:

1 l Small Business Not Encaoed Maximum Annual Fee l in Ma'nufacturina and Small Per Licensed Not-For Profit Oroanizations Cateaorv (Gross Annual Receiots)

L $350,000 to $5 million $1,800 l

Less than $350,000 $400 Manufacturina entities that have an averace of 500 emolovees or less 35 to 500 employees $1,800 Less than 35 employees $400 Small Governmental Jurisdictions 2

An educational Jnstitution referred to in the size standards is an entity whose primary function is education, whose programs are accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association, who is legally authorized to provide a program of organized instruction or study, who provides an j educational program for which it awards academic degrees, and *

whose educational programs are available to the public.

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'(Includino cubliclv succorted educational institutiongl (Pooulation) 20,000 to 50,000 $1,800 Less than 20,000 $400 Educational Institutions that are not State or Publiclv SuoDorted. and have 500 Emolovees or Lesg 35 to 500 employees $1,800 Less than 35 employees $400 To pay a reduced annual fee, a licensee must use NRC Form 526, enclosed with the fee bill, to certify that it meets NRC's size standards for a small entity. About 1,400 licensees certify each year that they qualify as a small entity under the NRC size standards and pay a reduced annual fee. Approximately 900 licensees pay the small entity fee of $1,800 while 500 licensees pay the lower-tier small entity Lee of $400.

Instructions for Comoletina NRC Form 526

1. File a separate NRC Form 526 for each annual fee invoice received.

2. Complete all items on NRC Form 526 as follows: i

a. The license number and invoice number must be entered exactly as they appear on the annual fee invoice.

b. The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code should be entered if it is known.

c. The licensee's name and address must be entered as they appear on the invoice. Name and/or address changes for billing purposes must be annotated on the invoice.

Correcting the name and/or address on NRC Form 526 or on the invoice does not constitute a request to amend the license. Any request to amend a license are to be submitted to the respective licensing staffs in the NRC Regional or Headquarters Offices.

d. Check the appropriate size standard under which the licensee qualifies as a small entity. Check one box only. Note the following:

(1) The size standards apply to the licensee, not the 4

individual authorized users listed in the license.

(2) Gross annual receipts'as used in the' size standards includes all revenue in whatever form received or accrued from whatever sources, not-solely receipts from licensed activities.

.(3) A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large entity does not qualify as a small entity.

-(4) The owner of the entity, or an official empowered to act on behalf of the entity, must sign and date the small entity certification.

3. The NRC sends invoices to its licensees for the full annual fee, even though some entities qualify for reduced fees as a small entity. Licensees who qualify as a small entity and file NRC Form 526, which certifies eligibility for small entity fees may pay the reduced fee, which for a full year is either $1,800 or $400, for each fee category shown on the invoice depending on the size of the entity. Licensees granted a license during the first six 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 six montha of the fiscal year pay only 50 percent of the annual fee for that year. Such an invoice states the " Amount Billed Represents 50%

Proration." This means 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 which the licensee qualifies resulting in a fee of (either $900 or $200) for each fee category billed instead of the full annual fee of $1,800 or $400.

4. A new small entity form is required to be filed with the NRC each fiscal year in order to qualify for aduced fees for that fiscal year. Because a licensee's " size," or the size standards, may change from year to year, the invoice reflects the full fee and a new form must be completed and returned for the fee to be reduced to the small entity fee.

I LICENSEES WILL NOT BE ISSUED A NEW INVOICE FOR THE REDUCED AMOUNT. The completed form, the payment of the appropriate small entity fee, and the " Payment Copy " of the invoice should be mailed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, License Fee and Accounts Receivable Branch, P.O. Box 954514, St. Louis, MO 63195-4514.

-5. Questions regarding fee bills may be posed orally or in writing. Please call the licensing fee staff at 301-415-7554 or write to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

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