[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 7, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9722-S9724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NUCLEAR FEES REAUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, section 403 of the Congressional Budget 
and Impoundment Control Act requires that a statement of the cost of 
the reported bill, prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, be 
included in the report. At the time of filing of the report, the 
statement was unavailable. The statement has since been received by the 
committee. I ask unanimous consent that the statement be printed in the 
Record.

[[Page S9723]]

  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

     S. 858, Nuclear Fees Reauthorization Act of 2005, As ordered 
         reported by the Senate Committee on Environment and 
         Public Works on June 8, 2005
     Summary
       CBO estimates that the net cost of implementing S. 858 
     would be $2 million in fiscal year 2006 and about $10 million 
     over the 2006-2010 period, assuming appropriation of the 
     necessary amounts. Enacting the bill would not affect direct 
     spending or revenues.
       Under current law, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
     is authorized to collect annual fees to offset about 90 
     percent of its general fund appropriation. If that authority 
     is allowed to expire at the end of fiscal year 2005, the NRC 
     would be authorized to collect only 33 percent of its budget 
     through user fees. S. 858 would extend the NRC's current 
     authority to charge annual fees to offset 90 percent of most 
     of its general fund appropriation through 2011 and also would 
     prohibit amounts appropriated to the NRC for certain 
     specified homeland security activities to be offset with user 
     fees. The fees that NRC collects are classified as offsetting 
     collections (a credit against discretionary spending) because 
     they are explicitly tied to the level of annual discretionary 
     appropriations for the agency.
       S. 858 also would authorize the NRC to establish several 
     new initiatives with higher education institutions to enhance 
     employee recruitment. The programs would provide support, 
     such as grants, loans, and equipment to higher education 
     institutions for NRC-related curricula, and for scholarships 
     and fellowships to students potentially seeking careers at 
     NRC. S. 858 also would authorize funding for promotional 
     items used in recruitment, reimbursement of travel expenses 
     for students working with the NRC, medical costs of overseas 
     NRC employees, and mentoring, training, and research programs 
     at Hispanic-serving, historically black, and tribally 
     controlled colleges or universities.
       S. 858 contains both an intergovernmental and private-
     sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
     (UMRA). CBO estimates that the costs of the intergovernmental 
     mandate would not exceed the threshold ($62 million in 2005, 
     adjusted annually for inflation) established in that act. CBO 
     cannot determine whether the costs of the private-sector 
     mandate would exceed the annual threshold established in UMRA 
     ($123 million in 2005, adjusted annually for inflation) 
     because UMRA does not specify how CBO should measure the 
     costs of extending an existing mandate. Depending on how they 
     are measured, the costs to the private sector could exceed 
     the threshold.
     Estimated Cost to the Federal Government
       The estimated budgetary impact of S. 858 is shown in the 
     following table. The costs of this legislation fall within 
     budget function 270 (energy).

                [By fiscal year, in millions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   2006    2007    2008    2009    2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
 
Higher Education and Recruitment
 Programs.
    Estimated Authorization            1       6       6       6       6
     Level......................
    Estimated Outlays...........       1       4       5       6       6
NRC Fee Collection Offset \1\.
    Estimated Authorization
     Level......................
    Estimated Outlays...........      -1      -5      -5      -5      -5
NRC Cost Recovery from
 Government Agencies.
    Estimated Authorization            2       2       2       2       2
     Level......................
    Estimated Outlays...........       2       2       2       2       2
Total Net Change in
 Discretionary Spending Under S.
 858.
    Estimated Authorization            2       3       3       3       3
     Level......................
    Estimated Outlays...........       2       1       2       3      3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Under current law, collections are authorized at declining
  percentages of the NRC's budget (90 percent in 2005 and 33 percent
  after 2005). S. 858 would authorize a 90 percent collection for 2006
  to 2011. To estimate the net change in NRC costs under S. 858, 90
  percent was applied to the estimated cost of higher education and
  recruitment programs as authorized by S. 858.

     Basis of Estimate
       For this estimate, CBO assumes that the bill will be 
     enacted near the start of fiscal year 2006, that the 
     necessary amounts will be appropriated for each year, and 
     that outlays will occur at historical rates.
       S. 858 would establish new initiatives with higher 
     education institutions and recruitment efforts at the NRC. 
     The bill would make changes to the NRC's authority to collect 
     fees to offset its appropriations. Based on information from 
     the NRC, CBO estimates that the net cost of implementing S. 
     858 would be $2 million in 2006 and about $10 million over 
     the 2006-2010 period. All budget effects of the bill would be 
     subject to appropriation action.

               Higher Education and Recruitment Programs

       S. 858 would establish new NRC programs with colleges and 
     universities to enhance employee recruitment. The programs 
     would provide grants, loans, and equipment to higher 
     education institutions for NRC-related curriculum and 
     scholarships and fellowships to students with prospects of 
     future employment at NRC. S. 858 also would authorize funding 
     for promotional items used in recruitment, travel expenses 
     reimbursement for students working with the NRC, medical cost 
     coverage of overseas NRC employees, and various mentoring, 
     training, and research programs at Hispanic-serving, 
     historically black, and tribally controlled colleges or 
     universities. Based on information from the NRC, CBO 
     estimates that implementing higher education and recruitment 
     programs would have a gross cost of $1 million in 2006 and 
     $22 million over the 2006-2010 period. Under S. 858, the 
     NRC would recover 90 percent of these costs through fees 
     that are credited against its annual appropriations.

                                NRC Fees

       Under current law, the NRC is authorized to offset 90 
     percent of most of its budget authority in 2005 and 33 
     percent for each year after 2005. In 2005, the NRC received a 
     gross appropriation from the general fund of $601 million to 
     be offset by an estimated $541 million from the collection of 
     fees. Such fees are classified as offsetting collections a 
     form of discretionary spending. As is the case under current 
     law for 2005, S. 858 would set fee collection at 90 percent 
     of most of the agency's budget authority provided from the 
     general fund (a portion of funds are provided from the 
     Nuclear Waste Fund) for each year from 2006 through 2011. 
     Under S. 858, the NRC also would be prohibited from 
     recovering costs for certain homeland security activities. 
     For example, for 2006, the NRC requested $31 million for 
     homeland security activities that would no longer be offset 
     by user fees under this bill.
       By continuing to authorize fee collections at 90 percent of 
     NRC's annual general fund appropriation, S. 858 would lead to 
     the collection of approximately $550 million in fees in 2006. 
     In contrast, if that 90 percent fee-collection authority were 
     not extended, the portion of spending recoverable through 
     fees would drop to 33 percent, and the amount of fees 
     collected would fall to about $200 million in 2006. Those 
     estimates assume that NRC funding in 2006 is equal to the 
     amounts provided in 2005 with an adjustment for inflation.

                           NRC Cost Recovery

       Under current law, the NRC collects fees from its private 
     licensees that offset its annual appropriation. Such fee 
     collection includes the cost of issuing licenses to some 
     government agencies. S. 858 would require that government 
     agencies pay their licensing and regulatory activity fees, 
     rather than the private sector.
       Currently, the NRC charges private licensees about $2 
     million per year for licenses issued to government agencies. 
     Under S. 858, those license fees would come from appropriated 
     funds rather than the private sector; thus, the government 
     would incur a net cost relative to current law to pay them. 
     We estimate that such additional costs would be $2 million in 
     2006 and $10 million over the 2006-2010 period.
     Intergovernmental and Private-Sector Impact
       Under current law, the NRC is authorized to collect annual 
     fees from its licensees (public and private) to offset 90 
     percent of a major portion of its general fund appropriation. 
     CBO estimates that those collections will amount to an 
     estimated $541 million in fiscal year 2005. Those fee 
     collections include the cost of issuing licenses to some 
     Federal agencies. The NRC's authority to collect that level 
     of fees expires at the end of fiscal year 2005. When that 
     authority expires, the NRC will be authorized to collect 
     annual fees up to only 33 percent of its budget. S. 858 would 
     extend the NRC's current authority to charge annual fees to 
     offset 90 percent of its net appropriation through 2011. The 
     duty to pay such fees would be a mandate as defined in UMRA.
       The total amount of fees collected under this provision 
     would depend on the level of future appropriations. Assuming 
     appropriations in the amount authorized for 2005, CBO 
     estimates that extending the fees would result in additional 
     collections of more than $300 million in 2006 from industries 
     regulated by the NRC (primarily electric utilities) and 
     similar amounts for fiscal years 2007 through 2010. CBO 
     estimates that most of the annual fees would be paid by 
     private, investor-owned nuclear utilities (less than 5 
     percent would be paid by nonFederal, publicly owned 
     utilities).
       In the case of a mandate that has not yet expired, UMRA 
     does not specify whether CBO should measure the cost of the 
     extension relative to the mandate's current costs or assume 
     that the mandate will expire and that it must measure the 
     costs of the mandate's extension as if the requirement were 
     new. Measured against the costs that would

[[Page S9724]]

     be incurred if current law remains in place and the annual 
     fee declines, the total cost to the private sector of 
     extending this mandate would be close to $300 million 
     annually, beginning in fiscal year 2006. Measured that way, 
     the cost of the mandate would exceed the annual threshold for 
     the private sector as defined in UMRA. By contrast, measured 
     against the fees paid for fiscal year 2005, the mandate would 
     impose no additional costs on the private sector because the 
     fees under the bill would not differ much from those 
     currently in effect. In any case, CBO estimates that the 
     total costs to State, local, and tribal governments would be 
     small relative to the threshold for intergovernmental 
     mandates.
       Estimate Prepared By: Federal Costs: Lisa Cash Driskill and 
     Jimin Chung; Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: 
     Lisa Ramirez-Branun; Impact on the Private Sector: Selena 
     Calera.
       Estimate Approved By: Peter Fontaine, Deputy Assistant 
     Director for Budget Analysis.

                          ____________________