AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Proposed rule.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend the licensing, inspection, special project, and annual fees charged to its applicants and licensees. These proposed amendments are necessary to implement the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, as amended (OBRA-90), which requires the NRC to recover approximately 90 percent of its annual budget through fees less certain amounts excluded from this fee-recovery requirement.

DATES:

Submit comments by March 19, 2020. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this date. Because OBRA-90 requires the NRC to collect the FY 2020 fees by September 30, 2020, the NRC must finalize any revisions to its fee schedules promptly, and thus be unable to grant any request for an extension of the comment period.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by any of the following methods (unless this document describes a different method for submitting comments on a specific subject):

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0228. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this proposed rule.
• Email comments to: Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. If you do not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact us at 301-415-1677.
• Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301-415-1101.
• Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
• Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.

For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see “Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments” in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Anthony Rossi, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-7341; email: Anthony.Rossi@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

II. Background; Statutory Authority

III. Petition for Rulemaking: (PRM-171-1; NRC-2019-0084)

IV. Discussion

V. Regulatory Flexibility Certification

VI. Regulatory Analysis

VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality

VIII. Plain Writing

IX. National Environmental Policy Act

X. Paperwork Reduction Act Public Protection Notification

XI. Voluntary Consensus Standards

XII. Availability of Guidance

XIII. Public Meeting

XIV. Availability of Documents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0228 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly-available information related to this action by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0228.
• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/​reading-rm/​adams.html. To begin the search, select “Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.” For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document (if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. For the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are also provided in a table in the “Availability of Documents” section of this document.
• NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

Please include Docket ID NRC-2017-0228 in the subject line of your comment submission in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission publicly available in this docket.

The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC posts all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove identifying or contact information.

If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submissions. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Background; Statutory Authority

The NRC's fee regulations are primarily governed by two laws: (1) The Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 9701), and (2) OBRA-90 (42 U.S.C. 2214). The IOAA generally authorizes and encourages Federal regulatory agencies to recover—to the fullest extent possible—costs attributable to services provided to identifiable recipients. Under OBRA-90, the NRC must recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority for the fiscal year through fees. In FY 2020, the following appropriated amounts are excluded from the fee-recovery requirement: The development of a regulatory infrastructure for advanced nuclear reactor technologies, international activities, generic homeland security activities, Waste Incidental to Reprocessing, and Inspector General services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Under OBRA-90, the NRC must use its IOAA authority first to collect service fees for NRC work that provides specific benefits to identifiable applicants and licensees (such as licensing work, inspections, and special projects).

The NRC's regulations in part 170 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), “Fees for Facilities, Materials, Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended,” authorize the fees the agency is required to collect from specific beneficiaries. But, because the NRC's fee recovery under the IOAA (10 CFR part 170) will not equal 90 percent of the agency's budget authority for the fiscal year, the NRC also assesses “annual fees” under 10 CFR part 171, “Annual Fees for Reactor Licenses and Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials Licenses, Including Holders of Certificates of Compliance, Registrations, and Quality Assurance Program Approvals and Government Agencies Licensed by the NRC,” to recover the remaining amount necessary to meet OBRA-90's fee-recovery requirement.

III. Petition for Rulemaking: (PRM-171-1; NRC-2019-0084)

On February 28, 2019, the NRC received a petition for rulemaking (ADAMS Accession No. ML19081A015) from Dr. Michael D. Meier, on behalf of the Southern Nuclear Operating Company (the petitioner). The petitioner requested that the NRC revise its regulations in 10 CFR part 171 related to the start of the assessment of annual fees for combined license (COL) holders licensed under 10 CFR part 52, “Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,” to align with the commencement of “commercial operation,” of a licensed nuclear power plant. Specifically, the petitioner requested that the NRC revise the timing of when annual fees commence for COL holders to coincide when a reactor achieves “commercial operation,” rather than when the NRC finds (under § 52.103(g)) that the acceptance criteria in the COL are met, after which the licensee can operate the facility. The NRC regulations at § 171.15 currently require a 10 CFR part 52 COL holder to pay the annual fee upon the Commission's finding under § 52.103(g). The NRC published a notice of docketing in the Federal Register (84 FR 26774; June 10, 2019), and requested public comment on the issues raised in PRM-171-1.

The NRC received five public comment submissions, containing seven comments, during the 30-day public comment period, from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), several industry stakeholders, and one non-government organization. All comments supported the petitioner's request raised in the PRM. The petitioner requested the NRC consider this rule change within the context of its annual fee rulemaking to amend 10 CFR parts 170 and 171 to collect FY 2020 fees. The NRC published a notice in the Federal Register (84 FR 65032; November 26, 2019) that granted partial consideration by modifying the timing regarding the assessment of annual fees for 10 CFR part 52 COL holders in the FY 2020 proposed fee rule. In addition, two of the seven comments requested that the NRC expand the scope of any rulemaking associated with the PRM to include certain licensees under 10 CFR part 50. All responses to comments received on the petition will be addressed in the final fee rule.

Based on its review of PRM-171-1 and the public comments, the NRC is proposing to amend § 171.15(a) to modify the timing regarding the assessment of annual fees for 10 CFR part 52 COL holders. In addition, the NRC is proposing to amend the timing regarding the assessment of annual fees to apply to future 10 CFR part 50 power reactor licensees. See the FY 2020 Policy Changes section of this proposed rule for additional information on the proposed amendment resulting from PRM-171-1.

IV. Discussion

FY 2020 Fee Collection—Overview

The NRC is issuing this FY 2020 proposed fee rule based on Public Law (Pub. L.) 116-93—Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, (the enacted budget). The proposed fee rule reflects a budget authority in the amount of $855.6 million, a decrease of $55.4 million from FY 2019. As explained previously, certain portions of the NRC's total budget are excluded from OBRA-90's fee-recovery requirement. Based on the FY 2020 enacted budget, these exclusions total $46.6 million, consisting of $15.5 million for the development of a regulatory infrastructure for advanced nuclear reactor technologies; $14.5 million for international activities; $14.1 million for generic homeland security activities; $1.3 million for Waste Incidental to Reprocessing activities; and $1.2 million for Inspector General services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Additionally, OBRA-90 requires the NRC to recover only approximately 90 percent of the remaining budget authority for the fiscal year—10 percent of the remaining budget authority need not be recovered through fees. The NRC refers to the activities included in this 10-percent as “fee-relief” activities.

After accounting for the fee-recovery exclusions, the fee-relief activities, and net billing adjustments (i.e., the sum of unpaid current year invoices (estimated) minus payments for prior year invoices, and current year collections made for the termination of one operating power reactor), the NRC must recover approximately $728.5 million in fees in FY 2020. Of this amount, the NRC estimates that $230.6 million will be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 service fees and approximately $497.9 million will recovered through 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. Table I summarizes the fee-recovery amounts for the FY 2020 proposed fee rule using the enacted budget, and taking into account excluded activities, fee-relief activities, and net billing adjustments. For all information presented in the following tables, individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding. Please see the work papers (ADAMS Accession No. ML19343A735) for actual amounts.

Public Law 116-93—Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, also includes direction for the NRC to use $40.0 million in prior year unobligated carryover funds. The use of carryover funds allows the NRC to accomplish the work needed without additional costs to licensees because, consistent with the requirements of OBRA-90, fees are calculated based on the budget authority enacted for the current fiscal year and not carryover funds.

FY 2020 Fee Collection—Professional Hourly Rate

The NRC uses a professional hourly rate to assess fees under 10 CFR part 170 for specific services it provides. The professional hourly rate also helps determine flat fees (which are used for the review of certain types of license applications). This rate would be applicable to all activities for which fees are assessed under §§ 170.21 and 170.31.

The NRC's professional hourly rate is derived by adding budgeted resources for: (1) Mission-direct program salaries and benefits, (2) mission-indirect program support, and (3) agency support (corporate support and the Inspector General). The NRC then subtracts certain offsetting receipts and divides this total by the mission-direct full-time equivalents (FTE) converted to hours (the mission-direct FTE converted to hours is the product of the mission-direct FTE multiplied by the estimated annual mission-direct FTE productive hours). The only budgeted resources excluded from the professional hourly rate are those for mission-direct contract resources, which are generally billed to licensees separately. The following shows the professional hourly rate calculation:

For FY 2020, the NRC is proposing to increase the professional hourly rate from $275 to $279. The 0.4 percent increase in the FY 2020 professional hourly rate is due primarily to the anticipated decline in the number of mission-direct FTE compared to FY 2019. The number of mission-direct FTE is expected to decline by 109, primarily due to (1) the anticipated completion of the NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) design certification review; (2) a reduction in workload associated with the Clinch River Nuclear Site (Clinch River) early site permit; (3) the power reactor plant closures of Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (Oyster Creek), Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Pilgrim), Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 1 (TMI 1); and (4) the expected decline in submissions for fuel facility license renewal applications, the decrease in the number of license amendments, the termination of the Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility construction authorization, and efficiencies gained within the fuel facilities inspection program. The FY 2020 estimate for annual mission-direct FTE productive hours is 1,510 hours, which is unchanged from FY 2019. This estimate, also referred to as the productive hours assumption, reflects the average number of hours that a mission-direct employee spends on mission-direct work in a given year. This estimate therefore excludes hours charged to annual leave, sick leave, holidays, training, and general administrative tasks. Table II shows the professional hourly rate calculation methodology. The FY 2019 amounts are provided for comparison purposes.

FY 2020 Fee Collection—Flat Application Fee Changes

The NRC proposes to amend the flat application fees that it charges in its schedule of fees in §§ 170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the revised professional hourly rate of $279. The NRC charges these fees to applicants for materials licenses and other regulatory services, as well as holders of materials licenses. The NRC calculates these flat fees by multiplying the average professional staff hours needed to process the licensing actions by the proposed professional hourly rate for FY 2020. As part of its calculations, the NRC analyzes the actual hours spent performing licensing actions and estimates the five-year average professional staff hours that are needed to process licensing actions as part of its biennial review of fees, which is required by Section 205(a) of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (31 U.S.C. 902(a)(8)). The NRC performed this review in FY 2019 and will perform this review again in FY 2021. The higher professional hourly rate of $279 is the primary reason for the increase in application fees. Please see the work papers for more detail.

The NRC rounds these flat fees in such a way that ensures both convenience for its stakeholders and that any rounding effects are minimal. Accordingly, fees under $1,000 are rounded to the nearest $10, fees between $1,000 and $100,000 are rounded to the nearest $100, and fees greater than $100,000 are rounded to the nearest $1,000.

The proposed licensing flat fees are applicable for certain materials licensing actions (see fee categories 1.C. through 1.D., 2.B. through 2.F., 3.A. through 3.S., 4.B. through 5.A., 6.A. through 9.D., 10.B., 15.A. through 15.L., 15.R., and 16 of § 170.31). Because the enacted budget excludes international activities from the fee-recoverable budget, the NRC is not proposing to charge flat fees for import and export licensing actions described in § 170.21. Applications filed on or after the effective date of the FY 2020 final fee rule will be subject to the revised fees in the final rule.

FY 2020 Fee Collection—Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste Surcharge

As previously noted, OBRA-90 requires the NRC to recover approximately 90 percent of its annual budget authority for the fiscal year. The NRC applies the remaining 10 percent that is not recovered to offset certain budgeted activities—see Table III for a full listing of these “fee-relief” activities. If the amount budgeted for these fee-relief activities is greater or less than 10 percent of the NRC's annual budget authority (less the fee-recovery exclusions), then the NRC applies a fee adjustment (either an increase or decrease) to all licensees' annual fees, based on the percentage of the NRC's budgeted resources allocated to each fee class.

In FY 2020, the amount budgeted for fee-relief activities is less than the 10 percent threshold. Therefore, the NRC proposes to assess a fee-relief credit that decreases all licensees' annual fees. Table III summarizes the fee-relief activities budgeted for FY 2020. The FY 2019 amounts are provided for comparison purposes.

Table IV shows how the NRC proposes to allocate the $1.7 million fee-relief credit to each licensee fee class. In addition to the fee-relief credit, the NRC proposes assessing a generic low-level waste (LLW) surcharge of $3.4 million. Disposal of LLW occurs at commercially operated LLW disposal facilities that are licensed by either the NRC or an Agreement State. Four existing LLW disposal facilities in the United States accept various types of LLW. All are located in Agreement States and, therefore, are regulated by an Agreement State, rather than the NRC. The NRC proposes to allocate this surcharge to its licensees based on data available in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Manifest Information Management System. This database contains information on total LLW volumes and NRC usage information from four generator classes: Academic, industrial, medical, and utility. The ratio of utility waste volumes to total LLW volumes over a period of time is used to estimate the portion of this surcharge that will be allocated to the power reactors, fuel facilities, and materials fee classes. The materials portion is adjusted to account for the fact that a large percentage of materials licensees are licensed by the Agreement States rather than the NRC.

Table IV shows the LLW surcharge and fee-relief credit, and its proposed allocation across the various fee classes.

FY 2020 Fee Collection—Revised Annual Fees

In accordance with SECY-05-0164, “Annual Fee Calculation Method” (ADAMS Accession No. ML052580332), the NRC rebaselines its annual fees every year. “Rebaselining” entails analyzing the budget in detail and then allocating the budgeted costs to various classes or subclasses of licensees. It also includes updating the number of NRC licensees in its fee calculation methodology.

The NRC proposes to revise its annual fees in §§ 171.15 and 171.16 to recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's FY 2020 enacted budget (less the fee-recovery exclusions and the estimated amount to be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees). The total estimated 10 CFR part 170 collections for this proposed rule are $230.6 million, a decrease of $21.5 million from the FY 2019 final rule (see the specific fee class sections for a discussion of this decrease). The NRC, therefore, proposes to recover $497.9 million through annual fees from its licensees, which is a decrease of $32.6 million from the FY 2019 final rule.

Table V shows the proposed rebaselined fees for FY 2020 for a representative list of licensee categories. The FY 2019 amounts are provided for comparison purposes.

The work papers that support this proposed rule show in detail how the NRC proposes to allocate the budgeted resources for each class of licensees and calculate the fees.

Paragraphs a. through h. of this section describe budgeted resources allocated to each class of licensees and the calculations of the rebaselined fees. For more information about detailed fee calculations for each class, please consult the accompanying work papers.

a. Operating Power Reactors

The NRC proposes to collect $430.7 million in annual fees from the operating power reactors fee class in FY 2020, as shown in Table VI. The FY 2019 fees and percentage changes are shown for comparison purposes.

In comparison to FY 2019, the resources budgeted for the operating power reactors fee class decreased by $46.3 million due to a decline in FTEs as a result of the following: (1) The closures of Oyster Creek, Pilgrim, and TMI 1; (2) the delay in receipt of the Utah Associated Municipal Power System SMR application; (3) withdrawal of the Blue Castle large light-water reactor application; (4) delay in the submittal of the Advanced Passive 1000 design certification renewal application; (5) the near completion of the NuScale SMR design certification review; (6) the completion of the Clinch River early site permit technical review; (7) a reduction in license amendment requests for the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant; (8) expected delays in construction and operating license application review activities for Bellefonte Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2; (9) efficiencies gained from the merger of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and the Office of New Reactors; and (10) the completion of flooding and integrated assessment work related to lessons learned from the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi in Japan. In addition, the total budgeted resources decreased due to the utilization of prior year unobligated carryover funding.

The 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings declined primarily due to decreases in both licensing actions and inspections resulting from the shutdown of the Pilgrim and TMI-1 reactors at the end of FY 2019; the planned shutdown of Indian Point Nuclear Generating, Unit 2 (Indian Point 2) during FY 2020; and the completion of the Advanced Power Reactor-1400 design certification, which was issued in FY 2019, for Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., LTD. Additionally, estimated billings under 10 CFR part 170 are expected to decline due to the completion of the NuScale SMR design certification review and the completion of the Clinch River early site permit technical review.

The recoverable budgeted costs are divided equally among the 95 licensed operating power reactors, resulting in a proposed annual fee of $4,534,000 per reactor. As part of the proposed annual fee, an approximate $2,442,000 current year collection adjustment was included in the operating power reactors calculation due to the planned shutdown of Indian Point 2 as shown in Table VI. Additionally, each licensed operating power reactor is assessed the FY 2020 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning proposed annual fee of $172,000 (see Table VII and the discussion that follows). The combined proposed FY 2020 annual fee for each operating power reactor is, therefore, $4,706,000.

In 2016, the NRC amended its licensing, inspection, and annual fee regulations to establish a variable annual fee structure for light-water SMRs (81 FR 32617). Under the variable annual fee structure, an SMR's annual fee would be calculated as a function of its licensed thermal power rating. Currently, there are no operating SMRs; therefore, the NRC is not proposing an annual fee in FY 2020 for this type of licensee.

b. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning

The NRC proposes to collect $21.0 million in annual fees from 10 CFR part 50 power reactors, and from 10 CFR part 72 licensees that do not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license, to recover the budgeted costs for the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee class, as shown in Table VII. The FY 2019 fees and percentage changes are shown for comparison purposes.

In comparison to FY 2019, the resources budgeted for the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee class increased for reviews of new storage license renewal applications for Holtec HI-Storm 100, TN-32, TN-68, NAC UMS, NAC-MPC, Westinghouse W-150, and GE-Hitachi Morris Operation, which are expected in FY 2020; inspection activities related to site preparation for decommissioning of TMI-1, Pilgrim, Oyster Creek, and Indian Point; and fuel performance research. In addition, budgeted resources for contract costs increased due to a reduction in the utilization of prior year unobligated carryover funding compared to FY 2019.

The 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings for FY 2020 decreased due to the completion of certain follow-up inspections and enforcement activities for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. This decrease in the 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings is offset by increased work in the reactors-in-decommissioning program resulting from the final status reviews at multiple sites, and also due to the license transfer application for the Crystal River Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit 3.

The required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among 122 licensees, resulting in a proposed FY 2020 annual fee of $172,000 per licensee.

c. Fuel Facilities

The NRC proposes to collect $18.1 million in annual fees from the fuel facilities fee class, as shown in Table VIII. The FY 2019 fees and percentage changes are shown for comparison purposes.

In comparison to FY 2019, the resources budgeted for the fuel facilities fee class decreased in FY 2020. The reduction in budgetary resources is primarily due to an expected decline in submissions for license renewal applications, the decrease in the number of license amendments, the termination of the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility construction authorization, and efficiencies gained because of changes to the Fuel Facilities Inspection Program and workload projections. The 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings decrease as a result of the license application for the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility being withdrawn.

The NRC proposes to continue allocating annual fees to individual fuel facility licensees based on the effort/fee determination matrix developed in the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR 31447; June 10, 1999). To briefly recap, the matrix groups licensees within this fee class into various fee categories. The matrix lists processes conducted at licensed sites and assigns effort factors for the safety and safeguards activities associated with each process (these effort levels are reflected in Table IX). The annual fees are then distributed across the fee class based on the regulatory effort assigned by the matrix. The effort factors in the matrix represent regulatory effort that is not recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees (e.g., rulemaking, guidance). Regulatory effort for activities that are subject to 10 CFR part 170 fees, such as the number of inspections, is not applicable to the effort factor.

In FY 2020, the total remaining amount of annual fees to be recovered, $18.1 million, is comprised of safety activities, safeguards activities, and the fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge. For FY 2020, the total budgeted resources to be recovered as annual fees for safety activities are $10.0 million. To calculate the annual fee, the NRC allocates this amount to each fee category based on its percentage of the total regulatory effort for safety activities. Similarly, the NRC allocates the budgeted resources to be recovered as annual fees for safeguards activities, $7.7 million, to each fee category based on its percentage of the total regulatory effort for safeguards activities. Finally, the fuel facilities fee class portion of the fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge—$0.4 million—is allocated to each fee category based on its percentage of the total regulatory effort for both safety and safeguards activities. The annual fee per licensee is then calculated by dividing the total allocated budgeted resources for the fee category by the number of licensees in that fee category. The fee and percentage change for each facility is summarized in Table X.

d. Uranium Recovery Facilities

The NRC proposes to collect $0.2 million in annual fees from the uranium recovery facilities fee class, which is stable compared to FY 2019, as shown in Table XI. The FY 2019 fees and percentage changes are shown for comparison purposes.

In comparison to FY 2019, the budgeted resources and 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings for the uranium recovery fee class decreased due to the expected reduction in support for adjudicatory actions, the uncertainty associated with the construction of the NuFuels Crownpoint site, and Cameco's announcement to cease U.S. uranium recovery operations. Budgeted resources also decreased to include additional uranium recovery resources in the fee-relief category, “In Situ leach rulemaking and unregistered general licenses,” in order to ensure the equitability and the stability of annual fees.

The NRC regulates DOE's Title I and Title II activities under Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) ^[3] and the proposed annual fee to DOE includes the costs specifically budgeted for the NRC's UMTRCA Title I and II activities, as well as 10 percent of the remaining budgeted costs for this fee class. The DOE's UMTRCA annual fee decreased compared to FY 2019 due to an increase in the 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings for processing groundwater corrective action plans site reviews, the anticipated workload increase at various DOE UMTRCA sites, and the fee-relief credit. The NRC assesses the remaining 90 percent of its budgeted costs to the remaining licensee in this fee class, as described in the work papers. This is reflected in Table XII as follows:

Further, for any non-DOE licensees, the NRC proposes to continue using a matrix to determine the effort levels associated with conducting generic regulatory actions for the different licensees in the uranium recovery fee class; this is similar to the NRC's approach for fuel facilities, described previously. The matrix methodology for uranium recovery licensees first identifies the licensee categories included within this fee class (excluding DOE). These categories are: Conventional uranium mills and heap leach facilities, uranium in situ recovery (ISR) and resin ISR facilities, mill tailings disposal facilities, and uranium water treatment facilities. The matrix identifies the types of operating activities that support and benefit these licensees, along with each activity's relative weight (for more information, see the work papers). Currently, there is only one remaining non-DOE licensee which is a Basic In Situ Recovery facility. Table XIII displays the benefit factors for the non-DOE licensee in that fee category:

The annual fee for the remaining non-DOE licensee is calculated by allocating 100 percent of the budgeted resources, as summarized in Table XIV.

e. Research and Test Reactors (Non-Power Reactors)

The NRC proposes to collect $0.317 million in annual fees from the research and test reactor licensee class, as shown in Table XV. The FY 2019 fees and percentage changes are shown for comparison purposes.

In comparison to FY 2019, the budgeted resources for the research and test reactors increased primarily within the medical isotope production facilities due to the submittal of the SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc. (SHINE) operating license application.

The 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings also increased due to the following: (1) The submittal of SHINE's operating license application for a medical production facility; (2) the review of Aerotest Operations, Inc.'s request to amend its operating license to possession only; and (3) reviews of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy America's, LLC Nuclear Test Reactor license amendments for security plan reviews.

The proposed annual fee-recovery amount is divided equally among the four research and test reactors subject to annual fees and results in an FY 2020 annual fee of $79,200 for each licensee.

f. Rare Earth

The NRC has not allocated any budgeted resources to this fee class; therefore, the NRC is not proposing an annual fee for this fee class in FY 2020.

g. Materials Users

The NRC proposes to collect $34.1 million in annual fees from materials users licensed under 10 CFR parts 30, 40, and 70, as shown in Table XVI. The FY 2019 fees and percentage changes are shown for comparison purposes.

The annual fee for these categories of materials users' licenses is developed as follows: Annual Fee = Constant × [Application Fee + (Average Inspection Cost/Inspection Priority)] + Inspection Multiplier × (Average Inspection Cost/Inspection Priority) + Unique Category Costs.

The total annual fee recovery of $34.1 million proposed for FY 2020 shown in Table XVI consists of $26.5 million for general costs and $7.5 million for inspection costs. To equitably and fairly allocate the $34.1 million required to be collected among approximately 2,600 diverse materials users licensees, the NRC continues to calculate the annual fees for each fee category within this class based on the 10 CFR part 170 application fees and estimated inspection costs for each fee category. Because the application fees and inspection costs are indicative of the complexity of the materials license, this approach provides a proxy for allocating the generic and other regulatory costs to the diverse fee categories. This fee-calculation method also considers the inspection frequency (priority), which is indicative of the safety risk and resulting regulatory costs associated with the categories of licenses.

The NRC proposes to decrease annual fees for licensees in this fee class in FY 2020 due to the utilization of prior year unobligated carryover funding and reductions of regional resources for the Nuclear Regulatory Apprenticeship Network (formerly the Nuclear Safety Professional Development Program), and budget estimates that are better aligned with projected workload. In addition, there was a reduction of materials users licensees from FY 2019. The materials users fee class increased the number of Certificates of Compliance (CoCs) from 25 to 26, which increased the percentage of transportation resources that benefit the fee class.

The constant multiplier is established to recover the total general costs (including allocated generic transportation costs) of $26.5 million. To derive the constant multiplier, the general cost amount is divided by the product of all fee categories (application fee plus the inspection fee divided by inspection priority) then multiplied by the number of licensees. This calculation results in a constant multiplier of 1.27 for FY 2020. The average inspection cost is the average inspection hours for each fee category multiplied by the professional hourly rate of $279. The inspection priority is the interval between routine inspections, expressed in years. The inspection multiplier is established in order to recover the $7.5 million in inspection costs. To derive the inspection multiplier, the inspection costs amount is divided by the product of all fee categories (inspection fee divided by inspection priority) then multiplied by the number of licensees. This calculation results in an inspection multiplier of 1.48 for FY 2020. The unique category costs are any special costs that the NRC has budgeted for a specific category of licenses. Please see the work papers for more detail about this classification.

The annual fee assessed to each licensee also takes into account a share of the approximately $0.065 million fee-relief credit assessment allocated to the materials users fee class (see Table IV, “Allocation of Fee-Relief Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2019,” in Section IV, “Discussion,” of this document), and for certain categories of these licensees, a share of the approximately $0.113 million LLW surcharge costs allocated to the fee class. The proposed annual fee for each fee category is shown in the proposed revision to § 171.16(d).

h. Transportation

The NRC proposes to collect $1.0 million in annual fees to recover generic transportation budgeted resources in FY 2020, as shown in Table XVII. The FY 2019 fees and percentage changes are shown for comparison purposes.

In comparison to FY 2019, the total budgeted resources for generic transportation activities decreased due to the utilization of prior year unobligated carryover funding, a reduction in FTE due to decreases in maintenance work associated with the Storage and Transportation Information Management System, and the decline in DOE's percentage of total CoCs as a result of three new CoCs benefitting other fee classes. The 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings decreased primarily due to the issuance of CoCs for NAC International, Inc. and Industrial Nuclear Company, LLC in FY 2019.

Consistent with the policy established in the NRC's FY 2006 final fee rule (71 FR 30721; May 30, 2006), the NRC recovers generic transportation costs unrelated to DOE by including those costs in the annual fees for licensee fee classes. The NRC continues to assess a separate annual fee under § 171.16, fee category 18.A., for DOE transportation activities. The amount of the allocated generic resources is calculated by multiplying the percentage of total CoCs used by each fee class (and DOE) by the total generic transportation resources to be recovered.

This resource distribution to the licensee fee classes and DOE is shown in Table XVIII. Note that for the research and test reactors fee class, the NRC allocates the distribution to only those licensees that are subject to annual fees. Although four CoCs benefit the entire research and test reactor class, only 4 out of 31 research and test reactors are subject to annual fees. Consequently, the number of CoCs used to determine the proportion of generic transportation resources allocated annual fees for the research and test reactors fee class has been adjusted to 0.7 so these licensees are charged a fair and equitable portion of the total fees. For more information, see the work papers.

The NRC assesses an annual fee to DOE based on the 10 CFR part 71 CoCs it holds. The NRC, therefore, does not allocate these DOE-related resources to other licensees' annual fees because these resources specifically support DOE.

FY 2020—Policy Changes

The NRC proposes two policy changes for FY 2020:

Remove the Fee Exceptions in § 170.21, Footnote 1 and § 170.31, Footnote 2

The NRC proposes to eliminate the fee exceptions set forth in footnote 1 to § 170.21 “Schedule of Fees for Production and Utilization Facilities, Review of Standard Referenced Design Approvals, Special Projects, Inspections, and Import and Export Licenses,” and footnote 2 to § 170.31, “Schedule of Fees for Materials Licenses and Other Regulatory Services, Including Inspections, and Import and Export Licenses.” These footnotes contain parallel language stating that the NRC “will not charge fees under 10 CFR part 170 for orders related to civil penalties or other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under § 2.202 or for amendments resulting specifically from the requirements of these orders.”

Currently, the language in footnote 1 to § 170.21 and footnote 2 to § 170.31 is an exception to the general rule that the NRC recovers review and inspection costs through fees assessed to individuals under 10 CFR part 170. The current language excludes the following activities from 10 CFR part 170 fees if an order relates to a civil penalty or other sanction: (1) Subsequent NRC inspection or review work to ensure compliance with the terms of the order, and (2) subsequent NRC review costs if the order requires the licensee to seek a license amendment. The current language also states, however, that where an order is “unrelated to civil penalties or other civil sanctions,” the NRC will follow its normal practice of assessing fees under 10 CFR part 170.

The language in these footnotes comes from the NRC's FY 2005 fee rule (70 FR 30526; May 26, 2005). Before 2005, the NRC excluded work in connection with all orders from 10 CFR part 170 fees. In the FY 2005 fee rule, the NRC amended the footnotes to narrow the exceptions to just those orders that “relate” to civil penalties or civil sanctions. The NRC made this change because, after September 11, 2001, it had imposed additional security requirements on multiple licensees through orders. As a result of these orders, the NRC performed extensive follow-up activities that, because of the pre-existing broad exceptions in footnotes 1 and 2, were exempt from 10 CFR part 170 fees. Because the NRC's activities were exempt from 10 CFR part 170 fees, the NRC recovered the associated costs through annual fees under 10 CFR part 171, even though the work benefited specific licensees (70 FR 30528-30535; May 26, 2005).

Through the FY 2005 fee rule, the NRC attempted to more fairly allocate costs by ensuring that the beneficiaries of its review and inspection services associated with orders of the type issued after September 11, 2001, paid for those services through 10 CFR part 170 fees. At the same time, the NRC retained an exception for orders that relate to a civil penalty or civil sanction. The NRC also explained in the FY 2005 fee rule that it was maintaining its longstanding policy of not charging 10 CFR part 170 fees for the preparation of any order. The costs associated with preparing an order would continue to be recovered through annual fees under 10 CFR part 171.

The authority for assessing the 10 CFR part 171 fees comes from the same statute that provides the authority for the NRC's 10 CFR part 170 fee schedule. That statute—the IOAA—requires that the NRC assess fees fairly and equitably, and it authorizes the NRC to collect fees whenever the agency provides “a service or thing of value” to a recipient. In addition, OBRA-90 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-25, “User Charges,” require that the NRC recover fees from persons who derive a special benefit from the agency's services.

Even if an order related to a civil penalty or civil sanction has some public benefit, the services the NRC provides in connection with the order, such as inspections and document-review activities, primarily benefit the licensee. These services primarily benefit the licensee because they enable the licensee to maintain its NRC license in good standing and continue operating its facility. Furthermore, regardless of whether the NRC issues an order in a safety, security, or enforcement context, the NRC's follow-up services related to the order—inspections, document review and analysis, and other services—benefit the licensee by contributing to public confidence in the safe operation of the licensee's facility. Charging 10 CFR part 170 fees for services related to all orders is therefore most consistent with the NRC's obligations under the IOAA, OBRA-90, and OMB Circular A-25. Transferring the cost of these services to other members of a licensee's fee class, on the other hand, could therefore be viewed as unfair and inconsistent with the IOAA, OBRA-90, and Circular A-25.

Accordingly, in this proposed rule, the NRC proposes removing the fee exceptions (i.e., the first two sentences) from § 170.21, footnote 1 and § 170.31, footnote 2. Removing the exceptions will promote fairness and equity in the NRC's fees rules, consistent with the IOAA; and it will help ensure that licensees who receive special benefits in the form of NRC services pay for those services, consistent with OMB Circular A-25. Removing the exceptions will also simplify the NRC's fee rules. If there are circumstances in which charging 10 CFR part 170 fees for follow-up activities related to an order would be unfair, the NRC retains the ability under 10 CFR 170.11 to grant a fee exemption for those services, either on its own initiative or upon request.

Removing the fee exceptions will not, however, change the NRC's longstanding policy regarding the recovery of costs associated with preparing an order. Consistent with this policy, such costs will continue to be recovered through annual fees under 10 CFR part 171.

Amending § 171.15 Regarding the Assessment of Annual Fees for 10 CFR Part 52 Combined License Holders and Future 10 CFR Part 50 Power Reactor Licensees

Based on its review of PRM-171-1 and the public comments, the NRC proposes to amend § 171.15(a) so that the assessment of annual fees for 10 CFR part 52 COL holders commences upon successful completion of power ascension testing, rather than after the Commission makes a finding under § 52.103(g) finding. The NRC is also proposing to apply this approach to future 10 CFR part 50 power reactor licensees.

Currently, § 171.15 requires a 10 CFR part 52 COL holder to begin paying the annual fee once the Commission finds under § 52.103(g) that all acceptance criteria in the COL are met. Similarly, 10 CFR part 50 licensees begin paying annual fees upon issuance of an operating license. The timing of annual fees reflects the NRC's historical position that a nuclear power reactor licensee receives the benefits of its license, and thus should begin paying annual fees, when the NRC authorizes the licensee to use nuclear materials (i.e., begin operating the reactor).

As stated in its fee rules, the NRC is firmly committed to the application of fairness and equity in the assessment of fees to licensees. The NRC recognizes that, subsequent to the § 52.103(g) finding for 10 CFR part 52 COL holders, and issuance of the operating license for 10 CFR part 50 power reactor licensees, fuel must be loaded, and power ascension testing must be completed to provide assurance that the facility is fully operational. As part of this process, 10 CFR part 52 COL holders must provide written notification to the NRC that successful power ascension testing is completed. This notification is the trigger that enables operation at a steady-state reactor core power level equal to 100 percent of reactor thermal power as defined in the facility's final safety analysis report.

As a result, the NRC recognizes that it would be fairer and more equitable to change the timing of when annual fees commence for 10 CFR part 52 licensees from when the Commission issues a § 52.103(g) finding to a time that aligns more closely with the licensee's facility becoming fully operational. For that reason, the NRC is proposing to defer charging annual fees until after the licensee's start-up and initial-testing phase. The NRC proposes to begin charging annual fees only after the licensee has notified the NRC in writing that it has successfully completed power ascension testing. For similar reasons, the NRC also proposes to apply this change to 10 CFR part 50 power reactor licensees.

Because only current 10 CFR part 52 COLs contain a standard license condition that requires written notification be submitted to the NRC upon successful completion of power ascension testing, the NRC will consider adding a similar license condition to future 10 CFR part 50 operating licenses and 10 CFR part 52 COLs to ensure that they promptly notify the NRC of successful completion of power ascension testing. Upon successful completion of testing and the required notification to the NRC, the power reactor would be fully operational. The annual fee assessment for 10 CFR part 50 power reactor licensees and 10 CFR part 52 COL holders would therefore begin on the date of the licensee's written notification of successful completion of power ascension testing.

Accordingly, the NRC proposes to amend § 171.15(a) so that annual fees commence not upon issuance of the operating license for 10 CFR part 50 power reactors and issuance of the § 52.103(g) finding for 10 CFR part 52 COL holders, but upon written notification to the NRC of successful completion of power ascension testing. The NRC finds that this proposal would be a reasonable, fair, and equitable revision of the NRC's fee rule. The public comments the NRC received on PRM-171-1 were supportive of this type of proposed change. Among the commenters were NEI, which represents numerous members of the class of licensees that would be directly impacted by this change. Because of this proposed policy change, the NRC also proposes to make conforming changes to revise § 171.3, “Scope,” and § 171.17, ”Proration.” Finally, the NRC will consider expanding the scope of this approach to apply to other 10 CFR part 50 licensees in a future rulemaking.

FY 2020—Administrative Change

The NRC also proposes to make one administrative change:

Add a footnote to the table in § 171.16(d) for additional clarity.

The NRC is proposing to add a footnote to the table in 10 CFR 171.16(d) to clarify that licensees that are subject to annual fees under fee categories 4.A., 4.B. or 4.C. are not subject to fees under 3.N. for waste disposal services authorized on the same license.

Update on the Fees Transformation Initiative

In the Staff Requirements Memorandum, dated October 19, 2016, (ADAMS Accession No. ML16293A902) for SECY-16-0097, “Fee Setting Improvements and Fiscal Year 2017 Proposed Fee Rule,” (ADAMS Accession No. ML16194A365), the Commission directed staff to explore, as a voluntary pilot, whether the NRC could establish a flat fee structure for routine licensing matters in the area of uranium recovery, and to accelerate the process improvements for setting fees, including the transition to an electronic billing system. In addition, the Commission also directed the staff to begin the fees transformation activities listed in SECY-16-0097 as “Process Changes Recommended for Future Consideration—FY 2018 and Beyond,” which includes one remaining item to complete regarding the rulemaking to update the NRC's small business size standards in 10 CFR 2.810, “NRC Size Standards.”

With respect to the uranium recovery flat fee pilot initiative, the NRC explored the feasibility of establishing a flat fee structure for routine licensing matters and inspection activities. The NRC provided a report to Congress on January 9, 2020, describing the results of the pilot initiative and the decision to maintain the current NRC fee billing structure for 10 CFR part 170 fees for service for uranium recovery licensing matters. For more information, the report to Congress can be found at ADAMS Accession No. ML20010D684.

With respect to the NRC's transition to an electronic billing system (eBilling), eBilling went live with a phased implementation on October 1, 2019, for 9 licensees with 65 dockets. Other licensees will be phased in throughout the year. The NRC is targeting October 2020 as the month when full implementation will take place.

Finally, in order to obtain sufficient information to update the NRC's small business size standard in 10 CFR 2.810, the NRC is conducting a financial survey of materials licensees to determine whether changes to the size standards are needed. The NRC published a notice in the Federal Register (85 FR 6225; February 4, 2020) announcing the survey, with a requested due date of April 30, 2020, to complete the survey in order to achieve a high response rate. Licensees may submit a response to the survey electronically through the internet. This survey can be accessed, and responses entered, on the NRC public website at www.NRC.gov. At the bottom of the first screen under the section titled, ABOUT US, click on LICENSE FEES. Next screen, click in the box titled RELATED INFORMATION, click on the item Small Entity Classification Survey. Proceed to complete the survey. In addition, licensees were mailed a paper survey with an NRC-addressed, business reply return envelop included in the mailing, which can be submitted through the U.S. mail in lieu of responding to the survey electronical. The survey results will be used to acquire the data needed to determine if changes are needed, and the impact of changing the current nuclear industry-specific standards.

For more information, please see our fees transformation accomplishments schedule, located on our license fees website at: https://www.nrc.gov/​about-nrc/​regulatory/​licensing/​fees-transformation-accomplishments.html.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Certification

As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (RFA),^[4] the NRC has prepared a regulatory flexibility analysis related to this proposed rule. The regulatory flexibility analysis is available as indicated in Section XIV, Availability of Documents, of this document.

VI. Regulatory Analysis

Under OBRA-90, the NRC is required to recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority in FY 2020. The NRC established fee methodology guidelines for 10 CFR part 170 in 1978, and established additional fee methodology guidelines for 10 CFR part 171 in 1986. In subsequent rulemakings, the NRC has adjusted its fees without changing the underlying principles of its fee policy to ensure that the NRC continues to comply with the statutory requirements for cost recovery in OBRA-90.

In this proposed rule, the NRC continues this longstanding approach. Therefore, the NRC did not identify any alternatives to the current fee structure guidelines and did not prepare a regulatory analysis for this proposed rule.

VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality

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. A backfit analysis is not required because these amendments do not require the modification of, or addition 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.

VIII. Plain Writing

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized manner. The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the Plain Writing Act, as well as the Presidential Memorandum, “Plain Language in Government Writing,” published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31885). The NRC requests comment on the proposed rule with respect to the clarity and effectiveness of the language used.

IX. National Environmental Policy Act

The rule is limited to amending the NRC's administrative requirements in 10 CFR parts 170 and 171. Therefore, this action is categorically excluded from needing environmental review, as described in § 51.22(c)(1). Consequently, neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental assessment has been prepared for this proposed rule.

X. Paperwork Reduction Act

This proposed rule does not contain a collection of information as defined in the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and, therefore, is not subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Public Protection Notification

The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the document requesting or requiring the collection displays a currently valid OMB control number.

XI. Voluntary Consensus Standards

The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Public Law 104-113, requires that Federal agencies use technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies unless the use of such a standard is inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. In this proposed rule, the NRC proposes to amend the licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its licensees and applicants, as necessary, to recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority in FY 2020, as required by OBRA-90. This action does not constitute the establishment of a standard that contains generally applicable requirements.

XII. Availability of Guidance

The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act requires all Federal agencies to prepare a written compliance guide for each rule for which the agency is required by 5 U.S.C. 604 to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis. The NRC, in compliance with the law, prepared the “Small Entity Compliance Guide” for the FY 2019 proposed fee rule. The NRC plans to continue to use this compliance guide for FY 2020 and has relabeled the compliance guide to reflect the current fiscal year. The FY 2020 version of the compliance guide is available as indicated in Section XIV, Availability of Documents, of this document. The next compliance guide will be developed when the NRC completes the next small entity biennial review in FY 2021.

XIII. Public Meeting

The NRC will conduct a public meeting for the purpose of describing this proposed rule and answering questions from the public on this proposed rule. The NRC will publish a notice of the location, time, and agenda of the meeting on the NRC's public meeting website within at least 10 calendar days before the meeting. In addition, the agenda for the meeting will be posted on www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2017-0228. For instructions to receive alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder, see Section XIV, Availability of Documents, of this document. Stakeholders should monitor the NRC's public meeting website for information about the public meeting at: https://www.nrc.gov/​public-involve/​public-meetings/​index.cfm.

XIV. Availability of Documents

The documents identified in the following table are available to interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as indicated.

Throughout the development of this rule, the NRC may post documents related to this rule, including public comments, on the Federal Rulemaking website at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2017-0228. The Federal Rulemaking website allows you to receive alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) Navigate to the docket folder NRC-2017-0228; (2) click the “Sign up for Email Alerts” link; and (3) enter your email address and select how frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or monthly).

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 170

• Byproduct material
• Import and export licenses
• Intergovernmental relations
• Non-payment penalties
• Nuclear energy
• Nuclear materials
• Nuclear power plants and reactors
• Source material
• Special nuclear material

10 CFR Part 171

• Annual charges
• Approvals
• Byproduct material
• Holders of certificates
• Intergovernmental relations
• Nonpayment penalties
• Nuclear materials
• Nuclear power plants and reactors
• Registrations
• 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; the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 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

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

Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 161(w) (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2201(w)); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); 42 U.S.C. 2214; 31 U.S.C. 901, 902, 9701; 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.

2. In § 170.20, remove the dollar amount “$275” and add in its place the dollar amount “$279”.

3. In § 170.21, revise the entry for “K. Import and export licenses” and footnotes 1 and 6 to read as follows:

4. In § 170.31, revise the table to read as follows:

PART 171—ANNUAL FEES FOR REACTOR LICENSES AND FUEL CYCLE LICENSES AND MATERIALS LICENSES, INCLUDING HOLDERS OF CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE, REGISTRATIONS, AND QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM APPROVALS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LICENSED BY THE NRC

5. The authority citation for part 171 continues to read as follows:

Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 161(w), 223, 234 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2201(w), 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); 42 U.S.C. 2214; 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.

6. Revise § 171.3 to read as follows:

7. In § 171.15, revise paragraphs (a), (b)(1) and (2) introductory text, (c)(1) and (2) introductory text, (d)(1) introductory text, (d)(2) and (3), and (f) to read as follows:

8. In § 171.16, revise paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) introductory text to read as follows:

9. In § 171.17, revise paragraphs (a) introductory text and (a)(1) and (2) to read as follows:

Footnotes