[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 20, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 32218-32250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14879]




[[Page 32217]]

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Part II





Nuclear Regulatory Commission





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10 CFR Parts 170 and 171



Revision of Fee Schedules; 100% Fee Recovery, FY 1995; Final Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 118 / Tuesday, June 20, 1995 / Rules 
and Regulations  
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[[Page 32218]] 


NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 170 and 171

RIN 3150-AF07


Revision of Fee Schedules; 100% Fee Recovery, FY 1995

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending the 
licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its applicants and 
licensees. The amendments are necessary to implement the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1990, which mandates that the NRC recover 
approximately 100 percent of its budget authority in Fiscal Year (FY) 
1995 less amounts appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF). The 
amount to be recovered for FY 1995 is approximately $503.6 million.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 20, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Copies of comments received and the agency workpapers that 
support these final 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.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background.
II. Responses to Comments.
III. Final Action.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis.
V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion.
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement.
VII. Regulatory Analysis.
VIII. 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 
approximately 100 percent of its budget authority, less the amount 
appropriated from the Department of Energy (DOE) administered NWF, for 
FYs 1991 through 1995 by assessing fees. OBRA-90 was amended in 1993 to 
extend the NRC's 100 percent fee recovery requirement through FY 1998.
    The NRC assesses two types of fees to recover its budget authority. 
First, license and inspection fees, established in 10 CFR part 170 
under the authority of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act 
(IOAA), 31 U.S.C. 9701, recover the NRC's costs of providing 
individually identifiable services to specific applicants and 
licensees. Examples of the services provided by the NRC for which these 
fees are assessed are the review of applications for the issuance of 
new licenses or approvals, and amendments to or renewal of licenses or 
approvals. Second, annual fees, established in 10 CFR part 171 under 
the authority of OBRA-90, recover generic and other regulatory costs 
not recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
    On March 20, 1995 (60 FR 14670), the NRC published its proposed 
rule establishing the licensing, inspection, and annual fees necessary 
for the NRC to recover approximately 100 percent of its budget 
authority for FY 1995, less the appropriation received from the Nuclear 
Waste Fund.
    Several changes were proposed by the NRC to the fees to be assessed 
for FY 1995. These changes were summarized in the proposed rule (60 FR 
14671; March 20, 1995) and are as follows:
    1. Change the method for allocating the budgeted costs that cause 
fairness and equity concerns. Approximately $56 million would be 
allocated to all NRC licensees based on the budgeted dollars for each 
class of licensees.
    2. Eliminate the materials ``flat'' inspection fees in 10 CFR 
170.31 and include the inspection costs with the annual materials fees 
in 10 CFR 171.16(d). These actions would streamline the license fee 
process and result in more predictable fees.
    3. Change the methodology for calculating the professional hourly 
rate to better align the budgeted costs with the major classes of 
licensees. Two professional staff-hour rates were proposed instead of a 
single rate.
    4. Change the methodology for calculating annual fees for power 
reactors, fuel facilities, and uranium recovery licensees to improve 
the relationship between annual fees and the cost of providing 
regulatory services to the classes and subclasses of licensees, and to 
improve NRC efficiency.
    5. Implement the newly promulgated NRC small entity size standards 
and establish a new lower-tier size standard for annual fee purposes.
    The Commission held a public meeting on March 15, 1995, at which 
the NRC staff briefed the Commission on the proposed changes for FY 
1995. A transcript of the Commission meeting is available and has been 
placed in the Public Document Room.
    The American Mining Congress 1 filed a Petition for Rulemaking 
which requested among other things that (1) annual fees not be assessed 
for mills in a standby status; and (2) a licensee review board to 
oversee NRC fees be established. The Commission denied the request on 
April 28, 1995 (60 FR 20918) noting that (1) the NRC will continue its 
current practice of providing available backup data to support 10 CFR 
Part 170 licensing and inspection billings upon request by the 
applicant or licensee and (2) petitioner's request that the Department 
of Energy be assessed fees for Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control 
Act (UMTRCA) actions was implemented in the final fee rule for FY 1994.

    \1\ The American Mining Congress merged with the National Coal 
Association on February 13, 1995, and is now the National Mining 
Association.
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II. Responses to Comments

    The NRC received twenty-two comments on the proposed rule. Although 
the comment period ended on April 19, 1995, the NRC has reviewed and 
evaluated all comments received, including those that were late.
    Many of the comments were similar in nature. For evaluation 
purposes, these comments have been grouped, as appropriate, and 
addressed as single issues in this final rule. The comments are as 
follows:

A. Comments regarding the major changes proposed in the FY 1995 fee 
rule.

1. Change the Method for Allocating Those Budgeted Costs (About $56 
Million) That Cause Fairness and Equity Concerns
    Comment. The commenters agreed that the proposed method for 
allocating approximately $56 million in budgeted costs for NRC 
activities which are not directly related to the cost of regulating 
licensees represented a more equitable method for distributing the 
costs. Many commenters indicated that, pending legislative relief by 
Congress to remedy this inequitable situation, they supported the 
proposal to treat these costs similar to overhead and distribute these 
costs based on the percentage of the budget directly attributable to a 
class of licensees. However, the commenters also believed that these 
costs should not be paid by any licensee and recommended that the NRC 
should continue to urge Congress to modify OBRA-90 to remove these 
costs from the fee base. For example, one commenter stated that the 
proposed 89% allocation of these costs to power reactors results in a 
charge of $511,000 [[Page 32219]] per operating power reactor. The 
commenter argued that ``power reactor licensees should not have to bear 
this ever increasing additional fee charge for NRC agency costs that 
are not related to the regulatory costs of these licensees. 
Accordingly, these costs should not be included in the user fee base to 
be recovered from power reactor licensees.''
    Response. The NRC is adopting in this final rule the allocation 
method in the proposed rule because it represents an equitable way to 
allocate the costs and most of the comments supported use of the 
revised methodology. As noted in the comments, on February 23, 1994, 
the NRC submitted its report to Congress on fees in compliance with the 
Energy Policy Act of 1992. This report concluded that modifications to 
existing statutes governing NRC fees are necessary to alleviate 
licensees' major concerns about fairness and equity and to reduce the 
NRC administrative burden resulting from assessing fees. The report 
recommended enactment of legislation that would reduce the amount to be 
recovered from fees from 100 percent of the NRC budget to approximately 
90 percent, and eliminate the requirement that NRC assess 10 CFR Part 
170 fees. Because the requested legislation has not been enacted, the 
NRC in this final rule will allocate the costs (approximately $56 
million) that have raised fairness and equity concerns among the 
broadest base of NRC licensees. The Commission will continue to discuss 
and work with the Congress to make fees more fair and equitable.
2. Streamline and Stabilize Fees
    Comment. Commenters, for the most part, supported the proposal to 
stabilize fees by adjusting the annual fees starting in FY 1996 by the 
percentage change (decrease or increase) in the NRC's total budget. 
Commenters also supported the NRC's plan to reexamine this approach 
should there be a substantial change in the total NRC budget or in the 
magnitude of a specific budget allocation to a specific class of 
licensees. Commenters also were in agreement that the ``flat'' 
materials inspection fees of 10 CFR part 170 should be eliminated and 
the costs included in the 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees. Most commenters 
agreed that the proposed changes represent a simplification and 
streamlining of the fee-setting procedures and are necessary in order 
to eliminate the large swings in annual fees that have occurred in past 
years and to allow for greater predictability of fees. Other commenters 
indicated, however, that they are concerned about the simple annual 
percentage change adjustment to future annual fees because there has 
been no resolution of certain long-standing concerns associated with 
the fairness and equity of NRC fees.
    Response. The NRC is adopting in this final rule the proposed 
methodology to streamline and stabilize fees based on the comments 
received supporting the methodology. Although not a specific change in 
this rule, the NRC plans to adjust the annual fees only by the 
percentage change in NRC's total budget beginning in FY 1996. The NRC 
believes that this action will help stabilize and improve the 
predictability of fees. The fees established in this final rule will be 
used as the base annual fee in subsequent years and the percentage 
change (plus or minus) in the NRC total budget, adjusted to reflect 
changes in the total number of licensees paying fees and estimated 
collections from 10 CFR part 170 licensing and inspection fees, will be 
used to establish annual fees. However, the NRC will make modifications 
should there be a substantial change in the NRC budget or in the 
magnitude of a specific budget allocation to a class of licensees. To 
streamline fees, the NRC is eliminating the materials ``flat'' 
inspection fees in 10 CFR part 170 by including the cost of inspections 
in certain materials licensees' 10 CFR part 171 annual fees.
3. Change the Methodology for Calculating the Professional Hourly Rate 
to Better Align the Budgeted Costs With the Major Classes of Licensees
    Comment. All commenters responding to this proposed change 
supported the revised method of calculating hourly rates to separately, 
and more equitably, allocate the costs associated with the reactor and 
materials programs. Commenters believe that the new dual rate 
structure, which establishes different rates for reactor and materials 
reviews, is inherently fairer and more equitable to licensees. Most 
commenters were pleased that the rates for both the reactor and 
materials classes of applicants have been reduced as compared to FY 
1994 and indicated that changing the method of calculating hourly rates 
is a step in the right direction towards providing a more reasonable 
relationship to the cost of providing regulatory services. Commenters 
supported the use of the ``cost center'' concept to identify and 
allocate the NRC budgeted resources to different types of major 
programs, namely reactor and material licensees, and indicated that 
this methodology is more consistent with Congressional intent that the 
NRC identify and properly assess fees to the entities that utilize NRC 
resources and regulatory services.
    Other commenters, however, indicated that while they appreciate the 
13 percent reduction in the professional hourly rate for the materials 
program (from $133 per hour to $116 per hour), applying such a 
uniformly high rate for NRC staff cannot be justified. These commenters 
point out that the $116 hourly rate equals or exceeds the hourly 
charges of senior consultants, principals, or project managers at major 
consulting firms and substantially exceeds the generally accepted rate 
for technical staff performing similar work in private industry. 
Commenters encouraged the NRC to continue examining its budget 
structure and cost allocation methods so that the hourly rate can be 
made consistent with and representative of comparable services 
performed by private industry. One commenter stated that the NRC has 
still not adequately explained the derivation of the hourly rate, aside 
from basing it on a presumed number of chargeable hours per full-time 
equivalent, or how it relates to the services provided. Another 
commenter stated that the hourly rates are arbitrary and do not reflect 
the costs of providing regulatory services to licensees.
    Response. In this final rule, the NRC has established two 
professional hourly rates for FY 1995 which will be used to determine 
the 10 CFR Part 170 fees. A rate of $123 per hour is established in 
Sec. 170.20 for the reactor program and a second rate of $116 per hour 
is established in Sec. 170.20 for the nuclear materials and nuclear 
waste programs. The two rates are based on the ``cost center'' concept 
that is now being used for budgeting purposes.
    The NRC professional hourly rates are established to recover 
approximately 100 percent of the agency's Congressionally-approved 
budget, less the appropriation from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF), as 
required by OBRA-90. The rates reflect the NRC cost per direct 
professional hour. This cost includes the salary and benefits for the 
direct hours, and a prorata share of the salary and benefits for the 
program and agency overhead and agency general and administrative 
expenses (e.g., rent, supplies, and information technology). Both the 
method and budgeted costs used by the NRC in the development of the 
hourly rates of $123 and $116 are discussed in detail in Part III, 
Section-by-Section Analysis, relating to Sec. 170.20 of the proposed 
rule (60 FR 14676; March 20, 1995) and the same section of this final 
rule. For example, Table III shows the budgeted costs and 
[[Page 32220]] the direct FTEs that must be recovered through fees 
assessed for the hours expended by the direct FTEs. Additional details 
on the hourly rate are provided in the NRC workpapers located in the 
Public Document Room.
4. Modify NRC Small Entity and Lower-Tier Size Standards for Annual Fee 
Purposes
    Comment. Two commenters addressed the changes proposed by the NRC 
for small entity fees. While generally supporting the changes, they 
believed additional changes should be made. One commenter stated that 
while he was relieved to see the dramatic reduction in materials annual 
fees, the company's well logging department of only six employees is 
still unable to qualify as a small entity even under the new standard 
because the overall gross annual receipts of the consulting company 
exceed $7 million. The second commenter stated that the proposed rule 
that would raise the dollar threshold for a medical program from $1 
million to $5 million will afford him great relief and ensures that 
service will continue to be provided to patients. The commenter, 
however, believes that a more equitable approach would be to base fees 
on the nuclear medicine activity levels or nuclear medicine billing-
receipts levels rather than the total dollar volume of the entire 
company.
    Response. The NRC uses the receipts-based size standards 
established by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish its 
own small entity size standards. The SBA recently adjusted its 
receipts-based size standard levels to account for the effects of 
inflation. The NRC adjusted its receipts-based size standards in turn 
from $3.5 million to $5 million, to conform to the SBA rule (60 FR 
18344; April 11, 1995). The NRC has also eliminated the separate $1 
million size standard for private practice physicians and will apply 
the receipts-based standard of $5 million to this class of licensees. 
This mirrors the revised SBA standard of $5 million for medical 
practitioners. The NRC believes that these actions will reduce the 
impact of annual fees on small businesses.
    With respect to basing fees on the gross receipts for a department 
within a company, or on activity levels or nuclear medicine billing-
receipts levels rather than the total dollar volume of the entire 
entity, the NRC's size standards are based on the SBA guidance which 
defines annual receipts as those which include ``revenues from sales of 
products or services, interest, rent, fees, commissions and/or whatever 
sources derived.'' Moreover, as NRC has stated previously, it is 
impractical to base fees on the criteria suggested by the commenter. 
See Regulatory Flexibility Analysis in Appendix A to the final rule 
published July 10, 1991 (56 FR 31511-31513).
5. Change the Methodology for Calculating Annual Fees for Power 
Reactors, Fuel Facilities, and Uranium Recovery Licensees
    Comment. All the commenters representing the power reactor, fuel 
facility, and uranium recovery industries supported the simplification 
of annual fees and are encouraged that the annual fees have been 
reduced compared to FY 1994 levels. Commenters from the reactor 
industry favored a uniform fee for each operating power reactor. 
Commenters from the uranium recovery industry supported attempts to 
make the annual fees more accurately reflect the cost of providing 
regulatory services and agreed that the proposed fees are far more 
reasonable than in past years. However, these commenters believe that 
NRC needs to address a fundamental industry concern that, as the 
industry continues to shrink in size thereby decreasing the number of 
licensees being charged annual fees, the costs associated with 
regulatory services will continue to increase significantly for each 
remaining licensee. This trend will force more hardships on an industry 
that is already severely depressed. Other uranium recovery licensees 
commented that they are concerned with the NRC's proposed fee 
calculation matrix, which uses a qualitative estimation ranking of 
``significant'', ``some'', ``minor'', or ``none'' to determine a factor 
used for establishing the annual fee amount for each license. 
Commenters suggest a more quantitative approach should be applied, 
using actual costs and resource time allocations, to determine a more 
accurate fee assessment schedule.
    Response. In this final rule, the NRC has established a single 
uniform annual fee for each operating power reactor and has refined its 
method of calculating annual fees for fuel facilities and uranium 
recovery facilities. The NRC indicated in the final FY 1994 fee rule 
that given the questions raised at that time by B&W Fuel Company, 
General Atomics, and other fuel facilities, it would reexamine the fuel 
facility subclass categorizations, and include any restructuring 
resulting from this reexamination in the FY 1995 proposed rule for 
notice and comment (59 FR 36901; July 20, 1994). The NRC's revised 
methodologies for determining annual fees for fuel facility and uranium 
recovery licensees, described in the proposed rule, are based on this 
reexamination. These revised methodologies have been used to determine 
the final FY 1995 annual fees. The use of the revised methodologies 
results in an annual fee that more accurately reflects the cost of 
providing regulatory services to the subclasses of fuel facility and 
uranium recovery licensees. The revised methodologies are explained in 
more detail in Section IV--Section-by-Section Analysis of this final 
rule.
    With respect to the suggestion that a more quantitative approach be 
used to develop the annual fees, the NRC has corroborated the 
qualitative estimates with resource and time allocation data where such 
data exist. However, such data in some cases are not available at the 
level necessary to corroborate the qualitative determinations. The NRC 
believes that in such cases the approach to be used still results in a 
more fair and accurate annual fee being charged to fuel facility and 
uranium recovery licensees.
    In response to the comment relative to annual fee increases as a 
result of the decrease in the number of licenses, the changes in this 
final rule to stabilize fees should minimize large fee changes as a 
result of decreases in licenses. See response to Comment A.1.
B. Other Comments

1. Amendments to Sec. 170.11
    Comment. One commenter supported the proposal to amend Sec. 170.11 
to conform to section 161w. of the Atomic Energy Act which would permit 
charging 10 CFR Part 170 fees to not only power reactors operated by 
the Tennessee Valley Authority and other Federal government entities, 
but also to uranium enrichment facilities operated by the United States 
Enrichment Corporation (USEC).
    Response. The NRC has been assessing the USEC 10 CFR Part 170 fees 
under the authority provided in 161w. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 
as amended (AEA). The NRC is amending Sec. 170.11 to conform its 
regulations to this statutory provision.
2. Low-Level Waste Costs
    Comment. One commenter was concerned that the proposed fee schedule 
does not adequately reflect the long-term regulatory costs which are 
associated with power reactors. The commenter believed that the NRC's 
$7 million in annual costs for generic low-level waste work is low in 
comparison to long-term costs associated with these activities. The 
commenter indicated that it might be prudent to assume that the long-
term costs associated with low- [[Page 32221]] level waste sites will 
eventually exceed the revenues immediately collected upon disposal.
    Response. The amount of $7 million for NRC's low-level waste 
activities is the amount identified in the FY 1995 budget to be 
recovered through fees for these activities. If the NRC costs of these 
activities increase over the long term and are included in the NRC 
budget, the NRC is required by OBRA-90 to identify and to recover the 
increased costs from its licensees in the year in which the costs are 
budgeted. OBRA-90 does not permit the NRC to recover potential future 
costs that are not included in the current FY 1995 budget.
3. Spent Fuel Storage
    Comment. One commenter encouraged the NRC to ensure that any costs 
associated with spent fuel storage and transportation, particularly the 
costs associated with the review of the Department of Energy's (DOE) 
multi-purpose canister program, are kept properly separated from the 
costs for specific utility licensing actions. Because these activities 
are funded from different sources, the commenter stated that NRC must 
ensure that the cost burden for the DOE reviews is not reflected in 
utility licensing fees. The commenter noted that in the FY 1995 
proposed rule there is no explanation for maintaining the fees for 
general licenses for storage of spent fuel at substantially higher 
levels than the fee in 1992 ($43,000) or 1993 ($136,000). The commenter 
questioned whether the fee charged to spent fuel storage licensees 
includes amounts allocated for other activities.
    Response. The costs associated with the review of the DOE's multi-
purpose canister program are costs related to the High-Level Waste 
program which are appropriated from the High Level Waste Fund and 
separated from specific utility licensing actions. Therefore, in 
accordance with OBRA-90, the DOE review costs are not included in 
utility licensing fees, but rather are recovered from the Nuclear Waste 
Fund. Although the FY 1995 annual fee for spent storage licenses 
($279,000) is higher than in FY 1992 ($43,000) or 1993 ($136,000), it 
is lower than the fee assessed in FY 1994 ($365,170). The reasons for 
the increases over FY 1992 and FY 1993 were explained in detail in the 
final FY 1994 rule (59 FR 36902; July 20, 1994). To recap, first, the 
budgeted amount necessary to regulate spent fuel facilities increased 
to provide regulatory oversight for the increased number of facilities. 
Additionally, as the licensing of these facilities was completed, the 
amount of fees from 10 CFR part 170 necessarily decreased. This 
resulted in an increased amount that must be recovered from annual fees 
in 10 CFR part 171.
4. Annual Fees Should Be Prorated When a License is Downgraded
    Comment. One commenter proposed that Sec. 171.17(b) be amended to 
allow proration of annual fees for licenses that are downgraded during 
the year.
    Response. The NRC agrees with the commenter that some provision 
should be made in the annual fee regulations for those instances where 
a license is downgraded to a license category with a lower annual fee 
during the fiscal year. Although the NRC currently has in place a 
system to track applications for new licenses and terminations which 
can be readily used for fee purposes, no similar system exists that 
could easily track upgrades or downgrades of licenses. As a result, 
Sec. 171.17 is amended to allow for proration of the annual fee for a 
downgraded license upon request of the licensee. Such a request must be 
filed with the NRC within 90 days from the effective date of the final 
rule establishing the annual fees for which a proration is sought. 
Absent extraordinary circumstances, any request for proration of the 
annual fee for a downgraded license filed beyond that date will not be 
considered.
    If a timely proration request is filed, annual fees for licenses 
downgraded after October 1 of a fiscal year will be prorated on the 
basis of when the applications for downgrade are received by the NRC, 
provided the licensee permanently ceased the stated activities during 
the specified period. Annual fees for licenses for which applications 
to downgrade are filed during the period October 1 through March 31 of 
the fiscal year will be prorated as follows: (1) Licenses for which 
applications have been filed to reduce the scope of the license from a 
higher fee category(ies) to a lower fee category(ies) will be assessed 
one-half the annual fee for the higher fee category(ies) and one-half 
the annual fee for the lower fee category(ies), and, if applicable, the 
full annual fee for fee categories not affected by the downgrade; and 
(2) licenses with multiple fee categories for which applications have 
been filed to downgrade by deleting a fee category will be assessed 
one-half the annual fee for the fee category being deleted and the full 
annual fee for the remaining categories. Licenses for which 
applications for downgrade are filed on or after April 1 of the fiscal 
year are assessed the full fee for that fiscal year.
5. Avoid Billing for Services Rendered One Year Prior to Billing Date
    Comment. One commenter proposed that the NRC void any bill for 
costs of regulatory services that were performed more than one year 
prior to the invoice date. The commenter stated that this would result 
in the NRC striving to issue invoices in a timely manner to assure 
recovery of its budget authority and would not place the licensee in a 
position of having to pay an unexpected and potentially large invoice.
    Response. The NRC has not included this proposal in the final rule. 
The NRC is required by the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 and 
the Debt Collection Act of 1982 to pursue debts and claims owed to the 
U.S. government. However, the NRC has made efforts to issue bills in a 
more timely manner. During the past year, the NRC has implemented 
procedures to bill for licensing reviews and inspections within 30 days 
of the close of the billing quarter during which the review or 
inspection occurred or was completed. Although there have been rare 
cases where bills were not issued in a timely manner for licensing and 
inspection activities, the NRC believes that the 30-day billing 
procedures will help to minimize the number of such occurrences in the 
future.
6. Reinstate Fee Ceiling for Topical Report Reviews
    Comment. One commenter requested that the NRC reinstate a fee 
ceiling in 10 CFR part 170 for topical report reviews because a fee 
ceiling would encourage the submittal of topical reports, thus 
contributing to the advance of the state-of-the-art in the nuclear 
industry and the resultant improvement in nuclear plant safety. The 
commenter stated that the current uncapped fee structure encourages 
prolonged and unreasonably detailed technical reviews by NRC 
contractors.
    Response. The NRC indicated in the FY 1991 final fee rule that it 
had decided to eliminate the ceiling for topical report reviews based 
on the 100 percent recovery requirement and Congressional guidance that 
each licensee or applicant pay the full costs of all identifiable 
regulatory services received from the NRC. Further, the NRC's costs for 
topical report reviews vary significantly depending on the particular 
topical report reviewed. This makes it impractical to establish an 
equitable fee ceiling or flat fee (56 FR 31478; July 10, 1991). 
Recently, the Commission revisited this issue as part of its review of 
fee policy required by EPA-92. The policy of assessing 10 CFR 
[[Page 32222]] part 170 fees, without a ceiling, for the review and 
approval of topical reports was reconfirmed. For these reasons, the NRC 
is not establishing a fee ceiling for topical reports in this final 
rule.
7. Comment
    Several comments were received from uranium recovery licensees. 
Commenters suggested (1) a tiered fee system that would result in full 
fees for operating facilities and reduced fees for facilities in 
shutdown or standby status; (2) a licensee review board be established 
to review NRC fees annually; (3) the NRC establish standards for its 
activities, such as a schedule for response intervals for processing 
licensing actions; and (4) 10 CFR part 170 bills be itemized to show 
hours spent, a description of the work performed, the names of 
individuals who completed the work and the dates the work was 
performed.
    Response. In response to a petition for rulemaking from the 
American Mining Congress (60 FR 20918), the NRC addressed each of these 
comments in the Federal Register on April 28, 1995. While denying the 
petition, the NRC noted that it would continue its current practice of 
providing available backup data to support Part 170 licensing and 
inspection billings upon request by the licensee or applicant.
8. Establish Reimbursable Agreements With Agreement States and Other 
Government Agencies
    Comment. Several commenters chose to comment on this change, even 
though the NRC indicated in the proposed rule that the issue of 
reimbursable agreements falls outside the scope of the proposed 
rulemaking. The commenters indicated that such action by NRC will 
affect the levels of fees to be paid by licensees. Those commenting on 
this change were encouraged by the NRC's initiative in seeking a better 
way to charge these expenses and supported the NRC's decision to 
increase the use of reimbursable agreements to eliminate certain costs 
that do not benefit NRC licensees. Most of the commenters on this 
issue, however, encouraged the NRC to proceed immediately to negotiate 
these reimbursable agreements and not wait until FY 1997 because NRC 
licensees are currently paying for these costs. One commenter suggested 
that, in the interest of properly and fairly allocating costs, this 
program be expanded to cover more, if not all, of the costs of the 
regulatory support to and oversight of Agreement States (about $20 
million) rather than limit recovery under reimbursable agreement to 
costs associated with training, travel and technical support provided 
to Agreement States.
    In addition, several commenters believe that the NRC should assess 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for NRC work such as review 
of regulations promulgated by EPA relating to radionuclide emission 
standards. One commenter stated that costs to support certain 
activities related to international treaties may best be covered by the 
Department of State, the Department of Energy or the Agency for 
International Development.
    On April 5 and 6, 1995, the NRC hosted an Agreement State Managers 
Workshop in Rockville, Maryland. At that meeting, the Agreement States 
expressed strong opposition to the reimbursable agreement concept, 
arguing that such agreements would have a negative impact on their 
programs. The NRC has also received letters from Agreement States 
expressing strong disagreement with the reimbursable program.
    Response. The NRC indicated in the proposed rule (60 FR 14672; 
March 20, 1995) that it planned to increase the use of reimbursable 
agreements with Agreement States and Federal agencies and because this 
change affected the budget and does not alter fee policies or methods, 
it falls outside the scope of this rulemaking for FY 1995. It is, 
however, a subject that has generated strong responses, both positive 
and negative, on the part of licensees and Agreement States. As 
indicated previously, this policy does not affect the issuance of this 
FY 1995 rule and the NRC is proceeding to issue the FY 1995 final rule. 
The reimbursable agreement issue will be addressed as a separate policy 
issue in the future.
    With respect to the interaction between the NRC and EPA on the 
promulgation of regulations, the Independent Offices Appropriation Act 
of 1952, as amended, precludes the NRC from charging fees to Federal 
agencies for specific services rendered. While the NRC can assess 
annual fees to Federal agencies holding NRC licenses, the EPA is not 
considered a licensee of the NRC with respect to regulations 
promulgated by EPA relating to radionuclide emission standards. 
Further, NRC interactions with EPA are an integral part of NRC's 
responsibilities under the Atomic Energy Act. Therefore, NRC must 
include the costs of this work in its budget and cannot perform such 
work under reimbursable agreements.
    With respect to the NRC's international activities, the NRC budget 
includes certain international activities that are not directly related 
to NRC applicants or licensees. These activities are performed because 
of their benefit to U.S. national interests. The NRC is required to 
perform some of these activities by the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) and, 
therefore, must budget for them. Over the past several years, the NRC 
has considered various means to recover the costs for international 
activities involving broad U.S. national interests, but has found no 
viable, fair way to do so. Further, it would not be practical to assess 
fees to foreign organizations, foreign governments, or to the State 
Department to whom some of the support is provided. For example, 
assessment of such fees might create foreign policy tensions that could 
complicate U.S. goals such as foreign reactor safety and nuclear non-
proliferation. Until such time as legislation is enacted allowing the 
NRC to exclude the cost of international activities from the fee base, 
the cost of these activities must continue to be recovered from NRC 
licensees. These costs will be recovered from the broadest base of NRC 
licensees as described in the response to Comment A.1.
9. Fee Deferral Policy for Standard Plant and Early Site Reviews
    Comment. One commenter urged the NRC to reestablish the NRC's 
previous fee deferral policy for standard plant and early site reviews 
in order to encourage the development of standardized designs and in 
light of the NRC decision to issue designs to be certified through 
rulemaking rather than by granting a license for the certified design.
    Response. The Commission decided in its FY 1991 final fee rule that 
the costs for standardized reactor design reviews, whether for domestic 
or foreign applicants, should be assessed under 10 CFR part 170 to 
those filing an application with the NRC for approval or certification 
of a standardized design (56 FR 31478; July 10, 1991). Recently, the 
Commission revisited this issue as part of its review of fee policy 
required by EPA-92 and reconfirmed its FY 1991 decision. The NRC 
continues to believe that the costs of these reviews should be assessed 
to advanced reactor applicants. The NRC finds no compelling 
justification for singling out these types of applications for special 
treatment and shifting additional costs to operating power reactors or 
other NRC licensees, and does not believe the points made by the 
commenter are sufficient to change current policy. [[Page 32223]] 
10. Assessing Fees to Design Certification Applicants for Costs 
Following the Final Design Approval
    Comment. Two commenters stated that the Commission should revisit 
its policy decision to charge fees to design certification applicants 
following the issuance by the NRC staff of a Final Design Approval 
(FDA).
    Response. The statement of considerations accompanying the proposed 
rule said that the NRC would charge a vendor 10 CFR Part 170 fees for a 
design certification to recover all the costs of certification except 
the costs of any hearing that might be held under 10 CFR 52.51(b) 
before an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (60 FR 14673; March 20, 
1995). These charges are required by existing rules. The only reason 
the NRC mentioned these fees in the statement of considerations was to 
reflect in a widely-read document a policy that NRC had articulated 
fully only in letters to the vendor applicants in December 1994. The 
letters were in response to inquiries from three vendors last summer. 
The vendors, particularly ABB-Combustion Engineering Nuclear Systems 
(ABB-CE), had argued that all the costs of certification should be 
recovered through annual fees charged to the NRC's current power 
reactor licensees. ABB-CE, which received an FDA last year for the 
System 80+ and has applied for certification of the same design, wrote 
extensive comments on what NRC said about certification fees in the 
statement of considerations.2

    \2\ Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation submitted brief 
comments on this issue. Those comments match some of ABB-CE's.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Having considered ABB-CE's arguments, which were largely those ABB-
CE had made last summer, the NRC has decided not to change the existing 
rules and policy on this issue. Although this whole topic is, strictly 
speaking, not part of this rulemaking, the NRC considers this 
rulemaking notice to be a useful vehicle for informing a larger public 
in some detail of ABB-CE's arguments and our responses. NRC's 
statements here are largely a repetition of arguments NRC made in the 
letters to the vendors and in a February 24, 1995, letter to the Senate 
Committee on Appropriations.
    Comment. ABB-CE charges that ``NRC is proposing to change its fee 
rules in the middle of the process to the detriment of certification 
applicants. * * * '' (Comments at 10)
    Response. Section 170.21 of the Commission's regulations has long 
explicitly listed standard design ``certifications'' among the 
regulatory actions for which ``full cost'' will be recovered through 
fees charged to applicants. See 10 CFR 170.21 (1994), Schedule of 
Facility Fees, heading B, ``Standard Reference Design Review''. This 
policy has been the law since Part 52 was first promulgated. (See 54 FR 
15372, 15399; April 18, 1989.) Even when, in the past, 10 CFR part 170 
called for deferring payment of fees until a utility referenced the 
certified design, 10 CFR part 170 clearly said that the vendor would 
have to pay the ``full cost of review for a standardized design 
approval or certification.'' 10 CFR 170.12(e)(2)(1) (emphasis added).
    Comment. ABB-CE's most important argument for changing long-
standing policy is that, according to ABB-CE, there is no benefit to 
ABB-CE in certification, except perhaps an ``indirect'' benefit of 
making the certified design attractive to U.S. utilities. (Comments at 
4) ABB-CE says, ``With the issuance of NRC's FDA in July 1994, * * * 
System 80+ constitutes a complete and approved standardized design 
which, without design certification rulemaking, has been accepted for 
bidding in the global marketplace.'' (Comments at 2) ABB-CE also argues 
that the nuclear utilities and their ratepayers and stockholders are 
the ``direct'' beneficiaries of certification, because it provides them 
with greatly reduced licensing risk, and because it contributes to the 
``continued viability * * * of an important energy option'' and to the 
maintenance of the nuclear servicing-supply sector infrastructure. 
(Comments at 4)
    Response. While the utilities may benefit from certifications, the 
vendor is more likely to benefit than is any given utility. The NRC 
knows neither whether, nor how many, applicants for combined 
construction permits and operating licenses (COLs) will benefit from a 
given certification. Certainly, not all current power reactor licensees 
will reference every certified design, and so current licensees will 
not benefit from every certification. If the design is referenced, the 
vendor will benefit directly, but most utilities will not. The NRC 
believes that had ABB-CE not had a reasonable expectation of deriving 
benefits from the certification, ABB-CE would not have applied for it.
    Comment. ABB-CE points out that the vendor applicant does not 
become a ``holder'' of the design certification. In fact, a vendor 
other than the one that applied for certification can, as a matter of 
law, supply the certified design to a COL applicant. ABB-CE believes 
that this situation is incompatible with the notion that the original 
vendor is the primary beneficiary of the certification.
    Response. The NRC agrees that the design certification applicant 
does not become a ``holder'' of the design certification. However, 
several things will make it difficult for a vendor other than the 
certification applicant to supply the design to a utility. First, 
proprietary information is protected during the certification 
proceeding (see 10 CFR 52.51(c)). Second, any vendor that supplies a 
design to an applicant for a COL must be prepared to provide the NRC 
with a large amount of design information not contained in the rule 
certifying the design. This information includes the detailed design of 
site-specific portions of the plant, and ``information normally 
contained in certain procurement specifications and construction and 
installation specifications'' (see 10 CFR 52.63(c)). Third, any vendor 
supplying a COL applicant a certified design which another vendor 
brought to certification must pay part of any deferred fees the 
original vendor owes (see 10 CFR 170.12(e)(2)(i)). Fourth and last, the 
original vendor's superior knowledge of the design will give that 
vendor a great advantage over competitors.
    Comment. ABB-CE also argues that 10 CFR Part 170 fees should not be 
charged for a certification rulemaking because such a rulemaking is 
``generic.'' ABB-CE points out that the Commission has said that it 
will not charge 10 CFR part 170 fees for ``generic rulemaking and 
guidance (e.g., 10 CFR part 52 and Regulatory Guides) for standard 
plants. * * *'' (56 FR 31478; July 10, 1991.) ``* * * NRC has used the 
certification,'' ABB-CE says, ``* * * to resolve broadbased policy 
issues that otherwise would have required independent public rulemaking 
proceedings.'' (Comments at 7) ABB-CE goes so far as to say that 
``nearly all of the procedural and substantive provisions in the 
proposed rule for System 80+ are similar or identical to those for the 
ABWR.'' (Comments at 6)
    Response. The proposed rules which would certify the System 80+ and 
the ABWR are no more generic than licenses certifying the same designs 
would have been.3 The resolutions of policy issues in the proposed 
rules are resolutions specific to those two designs. Moreover, the two 
proposed rules are quite different. It is important to understand that 
the few pages of the [[Page 32224]] proposed rules which appeared in 
the Federal Register are only small parts of the rules. Both will 
incorporate by reference ``Tiers'' 1 and 2 of the complete designs. 
Thus the proposed rules are substantively as different as the designs 
themselves. Even the portions published in the Federal Register have no 
legal force with respect to other designs.

    \3\ It might have been difficult, if not impossible, for the 
System 80+ to be certified by license. Section 103d of the Atomic 
Energy Act says in part, ``No license may be issued to an alien or 
any corporation or other entity if the Commission knows or has 
reason to believe it is owned, controlled, or dominated by an alien, 
a foreign corporation, or a foreign government.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC did state that 10 CFR part 170 fees would not be charged 
for ``generic rulemakings (e.g., 10 CFR part 52) on standard plants.'' 
However, as the parenthetical reference to 10 CFR part 52 shows, the 
NRC was using the phrase ``generic rulemaking'' to refer to rulemaking 
which, like 10 CFR part 52 itself, applies to all, or at least many, 
designs.
    Comment. ABB-CE asserts that the whole of a design certification 
rulemaking should be regarded as a ``contested hearing'' and thus have 
no 10 CFR part 170 fees charged in connection with it. ABB-CE's 
argument is, first, that under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 
notice and comment rulemaking constitutes a ``hearing'', and second, 
that the rulemaking surely will be ``contested'', because there will, 
in all likelihood, be filed ``material comments reasonably opposing 
aspects of the proposed rule.'' (Comments at 9)
    Response. It has long been the policy of the NRC not to charge 10 
CFR part 170 fees for ``contested'' hearings, namely those adjudicatory 
hearings which are not mandated by law. The costs of such hearings are 
recovered through annual fees imposed under 10 CFR part 171. The NRC 
agrees that applicants for design certification should not be charged 
10 CFR part 170 fees for any hearings held before an Atomic Safety and 
Licensing Board under 10 CFR 52.51(b), which offers an opportunity for 
a hearing on a proposed certification.
    However, ABB-CE's position that the whole rulemaking is a 
``contested hearing'' is neither required by law nor consistent with 
the meaning usually attributed to the phrase ``contested hearing'' in 
discussions of NRC matters. The phrase refers to those hearings, or 
parts of hearings, which are held under subpart G or subpart L of 10 
CFR part 2, but which would not take place unless some party outside 
the agency asked for them. The Supreme Court case cited by ABB-CE for 
the proposition that every rulemaking is a ``contested hearing'', US v. 
Florida East Coast Railway, 410 US 224 (1973), says only that notice 
and comment rulemaking will, in certain circumstances, satisfy a 
statute's requirement for a rulemaking hearing. The Court's decision 
does not say that every rulemaking is a hearing.
    Comment. ABB-CE argues that charging vendors for the costs of 
certification is inconsistent with the NRC's recent decision to recover 
the costs of confirmatory research ``related to the design'' from the 
utilities, under 10 CFR part 171. If NRC recovers those costs from the 
utilities, then, argues ABB-CE, NRC should recover all the costs of 
certification from the utilities, because those costs too are ``related 
to the design.''
    Response. ABB-CE misconstrues the policy. Its aim is to charge 
vendors applying for FDAs and certifications of standard designs for 
only the research which is necessary to support the issuance of the FDA 
or certification. Research initiated to address generic issues, such as 
human factors or code development, would be charged to the utilities 
under 10 CFR part 171, even if it had a bearing on the review of a 
standard design. (See 60 FR 14673; March 20, 1995.) There is in this 
nothing inconsistent with the existing regulations on certification 
fees. In both cases, the NRC is charging the vendors for what must be 
done before issuance of the FDA or certification.

III. Final Action

    The NRC is amending its licensing, inspection, and annual fees to 
recover approximately 100 percent of its FY 1995 budget authority, 
including the budget authority for its Office of the Inspector General, 
less the appropriations received from the NWF. For FY 1995, the NRC's 
budget authority is $525.6 million of which approximately $22.0 million 
has been appropriated from the NWF. Therefore, OBRA-90 requires that 
the NRC collect approximately $503.6 million in FY 1995 through 10 CFR 
part 170 licensing and inspection fees and 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. 
This amount to be recovered for FY 1995 is about $9.4 million less than 
the total amount to be recovered for FY 1994 and $15.3 million less 
when compared to the amount to be recovered for FY 1993. The NRC 
estimates that approximately $141.1 million will be recovered in FY 
1995 from the fees assessed under 10 CFR part 170. The remaining $362.5 
million will be recovered through the 10 CFR part 171 annual fees 
established for FY 1995.
    Recognizing that OBRA-90 may have resulted in certain fees that 
were unfair or inequitable, Congress in Section 2903(c), of the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992 (EPA-92), directed the NRC to review its annual fee 
policy, solicit public comment on the need for changes to this policy, 
and recommend to the Congress any changes to existing law needed to 
prevent placing unfair burdens on NRC licensees. The NRC reviewed more 
than 500 public comments submitted in response to the request for 
comment published in the Federal Register on April 19, 1993 (58 FR 
21116), and sent its report to Congress on February 23, 1994. A copy of 
this report has been placed in the Public Document Room. This report 
concluded that modifications to existing statutes governing NRC fees 
are necessary to alleviate licensees' major concerns about fairness and 
equity and to reduce the NRC administrative burden resulting from 
assessing fees. The report recommended enactment of legislation that 
would reduce the amount to be recovered from fees from 100 percent of 
the NRC budget to approximately 90 percent of the budget and eliminate 
the requirement that NRC assess 10 CFR part 170 fees.
    In view of the fact that legislation has not been enacted to 
address licensees' fairness and equity concerns and the concern about 
the additional workload generated by 100 percent fee recovery, the 
Commission has reexamined its existing fee policies to determine 
whether they can be made more equitable. This reexamination was 
undertaken with the goal of addressing, within the limitations of the 
existing laws governing NRC fees, the concerns identified in the report 
to Congress and improving other features of the NRC fee program. Based 
on this reexamination, the NRC is amending 10 CFR parts 170 and 171 to 
partially alleviate the identified concerns and improve the process of 
collecting NRC fees.
    These final changes are summarized as follows and detailed in the 
following sections.
    1. The method for allocating the budgeted costs that cause fairness 
and equity concerns is changed. Approximately $56 million of NRC costs 
either do not directly benefit NRC licensees or provide benefits to 
non-NRC licensees. These costs will be treated similar to overhead and 
distributed to the broadest base of NRC licensees based on the percent 
of the budget for each class. As a result, power reactors will pay a 
greater percentage of these costs.
    2. The selected materials inspection fees (i.e., flat fees and 
others with reasonable averages), hereinafter referred to as ``flat'' 
inspection fees in 10 CFR 170.31, are eliminated and the inspection 
costs are included with the annual materials fees in 10 CFR 171.16(d). 
These actions will streamline [[Page 32225]] the license fee process 
and provide more predictable fees.
    3. The methodology for calculating the professional hourly rate is 
changed to better align the budgeted costs with the major classes of 
licensees. Two professional staff-hour rates are established instead of 
a single rate.
    4. The methodology for calculating annual fees for power reactors, 
fuel facilities and uranium recovery licensees is changed to make 
annual fees more closely reflect the cost of providing regulatory 
services to the classes and subclasses of licensees and to improve 
efficiency.
    5. NRC small entity and lower-tier size standards are modified for 
annual fee purposes.
    6. The proration provision in 10 CFR 171 has been amended to allow 
proration of annual fees when materials licenses are downgraded during 
the year.
    As a result of the reduced budget amount to be recovered for FY 
1995, increased 10 CFR part 170 fee collections from power reactors, 
and these final changes, the annual fees for a large majority of the 
licensees have been reduced. The following provides illustrative 
examples of the changes in the annual fees.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Annual fee       
              Class of licensees               -------------------------
                                                  FY 1994      FY 1995  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
                                                                        
                                                                        
Power Reactors................................   $3,078,000   $2,936,000
Nonpower Reactors.............................       62,200       56,500
High Enriched Fuel Facility...................    3,231,770    2,569,000
Low Enriched Fuel Facility....................    1,484,770    1,261,000
UF6 Conversion................................    1,179,770      639,200
Uranium Mills.................................       74,670       60,900
                                                                        
          Typical materials licenses                                    
                                                                        
Radiographers.................................       19,170       13,900
Well Loggers..................................       12,870        8,100
Gauge Users...................................        2,470        1,700
Broad Scope Medical...........................       32,570       23,200
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To help stabilize fees, beginning in FY 1996, the NRC will adjust 
the annual fees only by the percent change in NRC's total budget. The 
annual fees in this final FY 1995 rule will be used as a base, and the 
percentage change (plus or minus) in the NRC total FY 1995 budget will 
be applied to all annual fees for the next four years (FY 1996-FY 1998 
and FY 1999 if OBRA-90 is extended) unless there is a substantial 
change in the total NRC budget or the magnitude of the budget allocated 
to a specific class of licensees, in which case the annual fee base 
would be reestablished. The decision on whether to establish a new 
baseline will be made each year during budget formulation. For example, 
if the total NRC budget is reduced by 3 percent and the number of 
licenses and the amount estimated to be recovered under 10 CFR part 170 
remains constant in a given fiscal year, then all annual fees would be 
reduced by approximately 3 percent.
    The NRC contemplates that any fees to be collected as a result of 
this final rule will be assessed on an expedited basis to ensure 
collection of the required fees by September 30, 1995, as stipulated in 
OBRA-90. Therefore, as in FYs 1991-1994 the fees will become effective 
30 days after publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. 
The NRC will send a bill for the amount of the annual fee to the 
licensee or certificate, registration, or approval holder upon 
publication of the final rule. Payment will be due on the effective 
date of the FY 1995 rule.
    The NRC will continue the proration of annual fees, established in 
FY 1994, in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 171.17 for new 
licensees and requests for termination. The annual fees for both 
reactor and material licensees are prorated based on (1) The date 
applications are filed during the FY to terminate a license or obtain a 
possession-only license (POL) and (2) the date new licenses are issued 
during the FY.
A. Amendments to 10 CFR part 170: Fees for Facilities, Materials, 
Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services

    Four amendments have been made to part 170. These amendments do not 
change the underlying basis for the regulation--that fees be assessed 
to applicants, persons, and licensees for specific identifiable 
services rendered. The amendments also comply with the guidance in the 
Conference Committee Report on OBRA-90 that fees assessed under the 
Independent Offices Appropriation Act (IOAA) recover the full cost to 
the NRC of identifiable regulatory services each applicant or licensee 
receives.
    First, Sec. 170.11 is amended to conform it to section 161w. of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA). That section of the AEA 
currently allows the Commission to charge part 170 fees to power 
reactors operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority or other Federal 
government entities and to uranium enrichment facilities operated by 
the United States Enrichment Corporation, as these reactors and 
facilities are licensed or certified by the NRC. In all other cases, 
the NRC is prevented from charging part 170 fees to Federal agencies 
for services rendered, due to a prohibition on such charges contained 
in the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 31 U.S.C. 9701.

    Second, the current method of calculating the 10 CFR part 170 
professional hourly rate is revised. Currently, there is one 
professional hourly rate established in Sec. 170.20, which is used to 
determine the fees assessed by the NRC. This professional hourly rate 
was $133 per hour for FY 1994. The NRC has established two professional 
hourly rates for FY 1995, which will be used to determine the part 170 
fees. The NRC has established a rate of $123 per hour ($214,765 per 
direct FTE) for the reactor program. This rate is applicable to those 
activities covered by 10 CFR 170.21 of the fee regulations. A second 
rate of $116 per hour ($203,096 per direct FTE) is established for the 
nuclear materials and nuclear waste program. This rate is applicable to 
those activities covered by 10 CFR 170.31 of the fee regulations. These 
rates are based on the FY 1995 direct FTEs and that portion of the FY 
1995 budget that does not constitute direct program support 
(contractual services costs) and is not recovered through the 
appropriation from the NWF.

    The two rates are based on cost center concepts that are now being 
used for NRC budgeting purposes. In implementing cost center concepts, 
all budgeted resources for each cost center are assigned to that center 
for analysis and license fee purposes to the extent they can be 
separately distinguished. These costs include all salaries and 
benefits, contract support, and travel that are required for each cost 
center activity. Additionally, all resources for the Advisory Committee 
on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste 
(ACNW), the Office of Investigation (OI), the Office of Enforcement 
(OE), and all program direct resources for the Office of the General 
Counsel (OGC) are assigned to cost centers. The NRC took a first step 
in this direction in FY 1994 when it directly assigned additional 
effort to the reactor and materials programs for OI, OE, ACRS and ACNW. 
Commenters supported this change in FY 1994 indicating that such 
assignment better defines the beneficiaries of certain regulatory 
activities and more equitably allocates the fees for services provided 
(59 FR 36897; July 20, 1994). The cost center concept is discussed more 
fully in [[Page 32226]] Section IV--Section-by-Section Analysis.
    Third, the current part 170 licensing and inspection fees in 
Secs. 170.21 and 170.31 for applicants and licensees are revised to 
reflect both 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, renewal, and amendment) for those materials licensees whose 
fees are based on the average cost method (flat fees).
    Based on evaluation of the historical data related to the average 
number of professional staff hours needed to complete materials 
licensing actions, the NRC has increased the fees in some categories 
and decreased the fees 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 1993. The revised licensing 
fees are based on the new average professional staff hours needed to 
process the licensing actions multiplied by the nuclear materials 
professional hourly rate for FY 1995 of $116 per hour. The data for the 
average number of professional staff hours needed to complete licensing 
actions were last updated in FY 1993 (58 FR 38666; July 20, 1993). For 
new licenses and amendments, the licensing fees for FY 1995 are reduced 
in approximately 50 percent of the cases, while the fees for renewals 
increase in over 70 percent of the cases.
    Fourth, the NRC is streamlining the fee program and improving the 
predictability of fees by eliminating the materials ``flat'' inspection 
fees in Sec. 170.31 and including the cost of the inspections in 10 CFR 
part 171. Eliminating the 10 CFR part 170 materials ``flat'' fees 
recognizes that the ``regulatory service'' to licensees, referred to in 
OBRA-90, comprises the total regulatory activities that NRC determines 
are needed to regulate a class of licensees. These regulatory services 
include not only inspections, but also research, rulemaking, orders, 
enforcement actions, responses to allegations, incident investigations, 
and other activities necessary to regulate classes of licensees. This 
action does not result in any net fee increases for affected licensees 
and will provide those licensees with greater fee predictability, a 
frequent request made in licensees' comments on past fee rules. The 
materials annual fees, which include the cost of inspections, become 
effective for FY 1995, and those materials licensees who paid a 
``flat'' 10 CFR part 170 fee for inspections conducted in FY 1995 will 
receive a credit for those payments towards the FY 1995 annual fee 
assessed under 10 CFR part 171. Because there is no annual fee for 
licensees operating under reciprocity in non-Agreement States, the 
reciprocity inspection fee has been combined with the application fee.
    In summary, the NRC is (1) establishing two 10 CFR part 170 hourly 
rates; (2) revising the licensing 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; and (3) 
eliminating the materials ``flat'' inspection fees in Sec. 170.31 and 
including the costs of inspections with the materials annual fees in 
Sec. 171.16(d), or with the reciprocity application fee in Sec. 170.31, 
fee Category 16.

B. Amendments to 10 CFR 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 NRC
    Ten amendments have been made to 10 CFR part 171. First, the NRC is 
modifying its method for recovering certain budgeted costs. The NRC's 
February 23, 1994, report to Congress in response to EPA-92 identified 
fairness and equity concerns regarding the fees charged to recover the 
cost of certain NRC activities. Many licensees believed it was unfair 
to charge them fees for activities and policies undertaken by the NRC 
that did not benefit them and were not requested by them. The NRC is 
modifying its current policies for allocating the budgeted costs for 
these and other activities that cause fairness and equity concerns, 
including international activities, the nonprofit educational 
exemption, the 10 CFR part 170 statutory exemption for Federal 
agencies, the small entity annual fee reduction resulting from 
implementing the Regulatory Flexibility Act, certain Site 
Decommissioning Management Program (SDMP), generic decommissioning and 
reclamation activities, and regulatory activities that support both NRC 
and Agreement State licensees. The budgeted costs of approximately $56 
million for these activities have been allocated to the broadest base 
of NRC licensees because the activities are necessary for the NRC to 
carry out its responsibilities but, in most instances, go beyond the 
regulation of those licensees or applicants that pay fees. Thus, the 
NRC is allocating the approximately $56 million in fees for activities 
that raise fairness and equity concerns to the broadest base of NRC 
licensees, based on the budgeted dollars for the class of licensees. By 
allocating the costs in this way, the entire population of NRC 
licensees pay the costs. The allocation is based on the amount of the 
budget directly attributable to a class of licensees. This results in 
operating power reactors paying approximately 89 percent of the costs 
of the activities in question with other classes of licensees paying 
their respective share of these costs as follows: 3 percent to fuel 
facilities, 5 percent to materials licensees, and 1 percent to each of 
the spent fuel, uranium recovery and transportation classes of 
licensees.
    Second, 10 CFR 171.13 is amended to provide that the NRC will 
publish the proposed rule in the Federal Register as early as is 
practicable but no later than the third quarter of the fiscal year. 
Currently, the regulations provide for issuance of the proposed rule 
during the first quarter of the fiscal year.
    Third, Secs. 171.15 and 171.16 are amended to revise the annual 
fees for FY 1995 to recover approximately 100 percent of the FY 1995 
budget authority, less fees collected under 10 CFR part 170 and funds 
appropriated from the NWF.
    Fourth, the annual fees for operating power reactors in 
Sec. 171.15(d) are revised to reflect a single uniform annual fee. The 
NRC is streamlining the fee program by assessing one uniform annual fee 
for all operating power reactors.
    Fifth, as discussed earlier, the annual fees for materials licenses 
in Sec. 171.16(d) include the budgeted costs for certain materials 
inspections which were previously recovered under 10 CFR 170.31.
    Sixth, the NRC is refining the method for calculating the annual 
fees for fuel facilities and uranium recovery facilities. The NRC 
indicated in its final FY 1994 fee rule that given the questions raised 
at that time by B&W Fuel Company, General Atomics, and other fuel 
facilities, it would reexamine the fuel facility subclass 
categorizations, and include any restructuring resulting from this 
reexamination in the FY 1995 proposed rule for notice and comment (59 
FR 36901; July 20, 1994). The NRC's revised methodologies for 
determining annual fees for fuel facility and uranium recovery 
licensees, described in the proposed rule, are based on this 
reexamination. These revised methodologies have been used to 
[[Page 32227]] determine the FY 1995 annual fees for both fuel facility 
and uranium recovery licensees. The use of the revised methodologies 
results in an annual fee that more accurately reflects the cost of 
providing regulatory services to each fuel facility and uranium 
recovery licensee. The revised methodologies are explained in more 
detail in Section IV--Section-by-Section Analysis.
    Seventh, the NRC is modifying the lower-tier size standard for 
those licensees that qualify as a small entity under the NRC's size 
standards. On April 7, 1994 (59 FR 16513), the Small Business 
Administration (SBA) issued a final rule changing its size standards. 
The SBA adjusted its receipts-based size standard levels to mitigate 
the effects of inflation from 1984 to 1994. On April 11, 1995 (60 FR 
18344), the NRC published a final rule amending the NRC's size 
standards. The NRC adjusted its 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 practice physicians and applied the receipts-based 
size standard of $5 million to this class of licensees. This mirrors 
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 applies to the types of 
manufacturing industries that hold an NRC license.
    The NRC has used the revised standards in the final FY 1995 fee 
rule. The small entity fee categories in Sec. 171.16(c) of this final 
fee rule have been modified to reflect the changes in the NRC's size 
standards. The existing maximum small entity annual fee of $1800 is 
continued for all small entities except those defined as lower-tier 
small entities in this rule. The existing lower-tier small entity fee 
of $400 will be assessed for those manufacturing industries and 
educational institutions not State or publicly supported with less than 
35 employees, small governmental jurisdictions with a population of 
less than 20,000, and non-manufacturing entities with gross receipts of 
less than $350,000, a higher threshold than the current lower-tier 
level of $250,000 in gross receipts.
    Eighth, Footnote 1 of 10 CFR 171.16(d) is amended to provide for a 
waiver of the FY 1995 annual fees 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 prior to October 1, 1994, and permanently ceased 
licensed activities entirely by September 30, 1994. All other licensees 
and approval holders who held a license or approval on October 1, 1994, 
are subject to FY 1995 annual fees. This change is in recognition of 
the fact that since the final FY 1994 rule was published in July 1994, 
licensees have continued to file requests for termination of their 
licenses or certificates with the NRC. Other licensees have either 
called or written to the NRC since the FY 1994 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 of the requests before the end of the fiscal year on 
September 30, 1994. Similar situations existed after the FY 1991, FY 
1992, and FY 1993 rules were published, and in those cases, NRC 
provided an exemption from the requirement that the annual fee is 
waived only when a license is terminated before October 1 of each 
fiscal year.
    Ninth, Sec. 171.17 is amended to add a proration provision for 
materials licenses that are downgraded during the year to a lower fee 
category. This provision would permit those materials licensees who 
filed applications to downgrade their licenses to a lower fee category 
during the period October 1 through March 31 of a fiscal year to pay 
reduced annual fees.
    Tenth, Sec. 171.19 is amended to credit the quarterly partial 
annual fee payments and ``flat'' inspection fee payments for FY 1995 
inspections already made by certain licensees in FY 1995 either toward 
their total annual fee to be assessed or to make refunds, if necessary.
    The amounts to be collected through annual fees in the amendments 
to 10 CFR part 171 are based on the two revised professional hourly 
rates discussed previously in the summary of the changes to 10 CFR part 
170. The amendments to 10 CFR part 171 do not change the underlying 
basis for 10 CFR part 171; that is, charging a class of licensees for 
NRC costs attributable to that class of licensees. The changes are 
consistent with the Congressional guidance in the Conference Committee 
Report on OBRA-90, which states that the ``conferees contemplate that 
the NRC will continue to allocate generic costs that are attributable 
to a given class of licensees to such class'' and the ``conferees 
intend that the NRC assess the annual charge under the principle that 
licensees who require the greatest expenditures of the agency's 
resources should pay the greatest annual fee'' (136 Cong. Rec. at 
H12692-93). For those NRC costs not attributable to a class of 
licensees, the amendments to 10 CFR part 171 follow the conferees' 
guidance which states that ``the Commission should assess the charges 
for these costs as broadly as practicable in order to minimize the 
burden for these costs on any licensee or class of licensees * * *'' 
(136 Cong. Rec. at H12692-3).

C. FY 1995 Budgeted Costs

    The FY 1995 budgeted costs, by major activity, that will be 
recovered through 10 CFR parts 170 and 171 fees are shown in Table I.

          Table I.--Recovery of NRC's FY 1995 Budget Authority          
                          [Dollars in millions]                         
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Estimated 
                      Recovery method                           amount  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nuclear waste fund.........................................        $22.0
Part 170 (license and inspection fees).....................        141.1
Other receipts.............................................           .1
Part 171 (annual fees):                                                 
  Power Reactors...........................................        262.2
  Nonpower Reactors........................................           .3
  Fuel Facilities..........................................         10.1
  Spent Fuel Storage.......................................          1.6
  Uranium Recovery.........................................          1.8
  Transportation...........................................          4.2
  Material Users...........................................     \1\ 24.7
  Rare Earth Facilities....................................           .1
                                                            ------------
    Subtotal Part 171......................................       $305.0
Costs remaining to be recovered not identified above.......         57.4
                                                            ------------
    Total..................................................       $525.6
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Includes $5.8 million that will not be recovered from small         
  materials licensees because of the reduced small entity fees.         

    In addition to the $57.4 million remaining to be recovered in Table 
I, approximately $5.8 million must be collected as a result of 
continuing the $1,800 maximum fee for small entities and the lower-tier 
small entity fee of $400 for certain licensees. The composition of the 
$63.2 million is as follows:

 Table II.--Activities To Be Recovered Through Assessment of a Surcharge
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Dollars in
                         Activities                            millions 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal Agency Exemption...................................         $1.6
Nonprofit Educational Exemption............................          6.1
International Activities...................................         10.5
Small Entity Subsidy.......................................          5.8
[[Page 32228]]
                                                                        
Agreement State Oversight..................................          6.2
Regulatory Support to Agreement States.....................         14.2
Site Decommissioning Management Plan.......................          6.2
Generic Decommissioning and Reclamation....................          5.6
Generic Low Level Waste (LLW)..............................          7.0
                                                            ------------
    Total..................................................        $63.2
------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The NRC is continuing the existing policy for recovering the $7 
million for generic LLW activities from licensees that generate 
significant LLW. The revised method of allocation, described in detail 
in the FY 1993 final rule (58 FR 38669; July 20, 1994) allocates the 
LLW costs between two groups: large generators (power reactors and 
large fuel facilities) and small generators (all other LLW-producing 
licensees). The remaining $56.2 million is distributed to virtually all 
classes of licensees based on the percentage of the total budget 
directly allocated to each class. The resulting allocations of the 
$63.2 million are as follows:

$55.2 million to operating power reactors;
$2.2 million to fuel facilities;
$.6 million to spent fuel storage licensees;
$.6 million to transportation licensees;
$.6 million to uranium recovery facilities; and
$4.0 million to other materials licensees.

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following analysis of those sections that are amended by this 
final rule provides additional explanatory information. All references 
are to Title 10, Chapter I, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.

Part 170

Section 170.11  Exemptions
    This section is amended to conform the fee regulations to section 
161 w. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA). That section 
of the AEA currently allows the Commission to charge part 170 fees to 
power reactors operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority or other 
Federal government entities and to uranium enrichment facilities 
operated by the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), as these 
reactors and facilities are licensed or certified by the NRC. The NRC 
has been assessing the USEC 10 CFR part 170 fees under the authority 
provided in section 161w. of the AEA. In this final rule, the NRC is 
now amending Sec. 170.11 to conform its regulations to this statutory 
provision. In all other cases, the NRC is prevented from charging 10 
CFR part 170 fees to Federal agencies for services rendered, due to a 
prohibition on such charges contained in the Independent Offices 
Appropriation Act, 31 U.S.C. 9701.
Section 170.20  Average Cost Per Professional Staff Hour
    This section is amended to establish two professional staff-hour 
rates based on FY 1995 budgeted costs--one for the reactor program and 
one for the nuclear material and nuclear waste program. Accordingly, 
the NRC reactor professional staff-hour rate for FY 1995 for all 
activities that are based on full cost under Sec. 170.21 is $123 per 
hour, or $214,765 per direct FTE. The NRC nuclear material and nuclear 
waste professional staff-hour rate for all materials activities that 
are based on full cost under Sec. 170.31 is $116 per hour, or $203,096 
per direct FTE. The rates are based on the FY 1995 direct FTEs and NRC 
budgeted costs that are not recovered through the appropriation from 
the NWF. The NRC has used cost center concepts in reallocating certain 
costs to the reactor and materials programs in order to more closely 
align the budgeted costs with specific classes of licensees. The method 
used to determine the two professional hourly rates is as follows:
    1. The 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 these support 
costs are charged directly through the various categories of fees.
    3. All other direct program costs (i.e., Salaries and Benefits, 
Travel) represent ``in-house'' costs and are to be collected by 
dividing them uniformly by the total number of direct FTEs for the 
program. In addition, Salary and Benefits plus contracts for General 
and Administrative Support are allocated to each program based on that 
program's salary and benefits. This method results in the following 
costs, to be included in the hourly rates.

   Table III.--FY 1995 Budget Authority To Be Included in Hourly Rates  
                          [Dollars in millions]                         
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Reactor   Materials
                Salary and benefits                  program    program 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program...........................................     $148.5      $43.5
Allocated Agency Management and Support...........       39.9       11.7
                                                   ---------------------
    Subtotal......................................      188.4       55.2
                                                   ---------------------
General and Administrative Support (G&A):                               
  Program Travel and Other Support................       13.3        2.7
  Allocated Agency Management and Support.........       73.6       21.6
                                                   ---------------------
    Subtotal......................................       86.9       24.3
                                                   ---------------------
  Less offsetting receipts........................         .1  .........
                                                   ---------------------
    Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate..........      275.2       79.5
                                                   =====================
Program Direct FTEs...............................    1,281.6      391.6
Rate per Direct FTE...............................    214,765    203,096
Professional Hourly Rate..........................        123        116
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Dividing the $275.2 million budget for the reactor program by the 
number of reactor program direct FTEs (1281.6) results in a rate for 
the reactor program of $214,765 per FTE for FY 1995. Dividing the $79.5 
million budget for the nuclear materials and nuclear waste program by 
the number of program direct FTEs (391.6) results in a rate of $203,096 
per FTE for FY 1995. The Direct FTE Hourly Rate for the reactor program 
is $123 per hour (rounded to the nearest whole dollar). This rate is 
calculated by dividing the cost per direct FTEs ($214,765) by the 
number of productive hours in one year (1744 hours) as indicated in OMB 
Circular A-76, ``Performance of Commercial Activities.'' The Direct FTE 
Hourly Rate for the materials program is $116 per hour (rounded to the 
nearest whole dollar). This rate is calculated by dividing the cost per 
direct FTEs ($203,096) by the number of productive hours in one year 
(1744 hours). The two professional rates of $123 per hour and $116 per 
hour are lower than the FY 1994 rate of $133 per hour because the 
budget has been reduced and cost center concepts have been implemented 
with the effect that more direct FTEs have been charged to the 
programs. [[Page 32229]] 
Section 170.21  Schedule of Fees for Production and Utilization 
Facilities, Review of Standard Reference Design Approvals, Special 
Projects, Inspections and Import and Export Licenses
    The licensing and inspection fees in this section, which are based 
on full-cost recovery, are revised to reflect the FY 1995 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 Sec. 170.20, 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 
this final rule will be assessed at the FY 1995 hourly rate for the 
reactor program as shown in Sec. 170.20. Although the average amounts 
of time to review import and export licensing applications have not 
changed, the fees in Sec. 170.21, facility Category K, have decreased 
from FY 1994 as a result of the decrease in the hourly rate.
    For those applications currently on file and pending completion, 
footnote 2 of Sec. 170.21 is revised to provide that the professional 
hours expended up to the effective date of the 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 which 
are still pending completion of the review and for which review costs 
have reached the 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 Sec. 170.20.
Section 170.31  Schedule of Fees for Materials Licenses and Other 
Regulatory Services, Including Inspections and Import and Export 
Licenses
    The licensing and inspection fees in this section, which are based 
on full-cost recovery, are modified to recover the FY 1995 costs 
incurred by the NRC in providing licensing and inspection services to 
identifiable recipients. The fees assessed for services provided under 
the schedule will be based on both the professional hourly rate as 
shown in Sec. 170.20 for the materials program and any direct program 
support (contractual services) costs expended by the NRC. Those 
licensing fees, which are based on the average time to review an 
application (``flat'' fees), are adjusted to reflect both the revised 
average professional staff hours needed to process a licensing action 
(new license, renewal, and amendment) and the decrease in the 
professional hourly rate from $133 per hour in FY 1994 to $116 per hour 
in FY 1995. The ``flat'' materials inspection fees in Sec. 170.31 are 
eliminated and combined with the materials annual fees in 
Sec. 171.16(d). Because there is no annual fee for licensees operating 
under reciprocity in non-Agreement States, the application fee includes 
the costs of inspections.
    As previously indicated, the CFO Act requires that the NRC conduct 
a review, on a biennial basis, of fees and other charges imposed by the 
agency for its services and revise those charges to reflect the costs 
incurred in providing the services. Consistent with the CFO Act 
requirement, the NRC has completed its most recent review of license 
and inspection fees assessed by the agency. The review focused on the 
flat fees that are charged to nuclear materials users for licensing 
actions (new licenses, renewals, and amendments). The full cost license 
and inspection fees (e.g., for fuel facilities) and annual fees were 
not included in this biennial review because the hourly rate for full 
cost fees and the annual fees are reviewed and updated annually in 
order to recover 100 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 required to perform a licensing action for 
each license category. These average hours are multiplied by the 
revised materials program professional hourly rate of $116 per hour for 
FY 1995. Because the professional hourly rate is updated annually and 
the NRC is eliminating materials ``flat'' inspection fees, the FY 1995 
biennial review examined only the average number of hours per licensing 
action with regard to the 10 CFR Part 170 fees. The review indicated 
that the NRC needed to modify the average number of hours on which the 
current licensing flat fees are based in order to recover the cost of 
providing licensing services. The average number of hours required for 
licensing actions was last reviewed and modified in 1993 (58 FR 38666; 
July 20, 1993). Thus the revised hours used to determine the fees for 
FY 1995 reflect the changes in the licensing program that have occurred 
since that time. For example, new initiatives underway for certain 
types of licenses and management guidance that reviewers conduct more 
detailed reviews of certain renewal applications based on historical 
enforcement actions in order to insure public health and safety have 
been incorporated into the revised fees. For new licenses and 
amendments, the licensing fees for FY 1995 are reduced in approximately 
50 percent of the cases, while the fees for renewals have increased in 
over 70 percent of the cases.
    The amounts of the licensing flat fees were rounded by applying 
standard rules of arithmetic so that the amounts rounded would be de 
minimis and convenient to the user. Fees that are greater than $1,000 
are rounded to the nearest $100. Fees under $1,000 are rounded to the 
nearest $10.
    The licensing flat fees are applicable to fee categories 1.C and 
1.D; 2.B and 2.C; 3.A through 3.P; 4.B through 9.D, 10.B, 15A through 
15E and 16. Applications filed on or after the effective date of the 
final rule are subject to the revised fees in this final rule. Although 
the average amounts of time to review import and export licensing 
applications have not changed, the fees in Category 15 have decreased 
from FY 1994 as a result of the decrease in the hourly rate.
    For those licensing, inspection, and review fees assessed that are 
based on full-cost recovery (cost for professional staff hours plus any 
contractual services), the materials program hourly rate of $116, as 
shown in Sec. 170.20, applies to those professional staff hours 
expended on or after the effective date of the final rule.

Part 171

Section 171.13  Notice
    The language in this section is revised to reflect more accurately 
when the NRC expects to publish its annual proposed fee rules. The 
NRC's experience indicates that the agency has been unable to publish 
the proposed rule during the first quarter of the fiscal year as 
indicated in the current FY 1994 rule. Therefore, this section is 
revised to indicate that the NRC will publish the proposed rule in the 
Federal Register as early as is practicable but no later than the third 
quarter of the fiscal year.
Section 171.15  Annual Fee: Reactor Operating Licenses
    The annual fees in this section are revised to reflect FY 1995 
budgeted costs. Paragraphs (a), (b)(3), (c)(1), (c)(2), (d), and (e) 
are revised to comply with the requirement of OBRA-90 to recover 
approximately 100 percent of the NRC budget for FY 1995. Table IV shows 
the [[Page 32230]] budgeted costs that are allocated directly to 
operating power reactors as part of the base annual fee. They have been 
expressed in terms of the NRC's FY 1995 programs and cost centers. The 
resulting total base annual fee amount for power reactors is shown, as 
well as the one uniform base annual fee that will be assessed to all 
operating reactors.
    The NRC is streamlining the fee program by assessing one uniform 
base annual fee for all operating power reactors. During the past four 
years, the NRC has followed a somewhat lengthy and time consuming 
process in calculating the amount of the power reactor annual fees. The 
annual fees were determined in three ways. First, within the operating 
power reactor class, a distinction was made between the four vendor 
groups, that is, Babcock & Wilcox, Combustion Engineering, General 
Electric and Westinghouse. Second, within each vendor group, a 
distinction was made using the type of containment, for example, 
General Electric Mark I, II or III. Third, a distinction was made based 
on the location of the reactor: whether or not it is located east or 
west of the Rocky Mountains. The NRC indicated in the FY 1991 rule (56 
FR 31479; July 10, 1991) and again in its request for public comment on 
NRC fee policy (58 FR 21119; April 19, 1993) that it would be 
reexamining this approach with a view toward simplifying the method for 
determining annual fees and streamlining the fee process without 
causing an unfair burden. The NRC Office of the Inspector General 
(OIG), in its report dated October 26, 1993, on license fees, described 
the fee process as very detailed and labor intensive and stated that 
substantial effort is expended in attempting to make the process 
equitable and the costs reasonable. The OIG stated that the 
determination of the Part 171 fees could be simplified by eliminating 
and streamlining much of the detailed analyses performed as part of the 
process. This detailed breakdown of the reactor annual fees was 
implemented when there were significant differences in the NRC research 
funding for the various types of reactors. This is no longer the case. 
For example, in FY 1991, the difference between the highest and lowest 
power reactor annual fee was $229,000 and in FY 1993 the difference was 
$96,000. The NRC, for FY 1995, calculated the reactor annual fees using 
both the current method (different fees for different types of 
reactors) and the uniform method. The uniform annual fee of $2,936,000 
is $23,000 higher than the lowest fee under the current method, which 
is less than 1 percent of the $2.9 million annual fee for an operating 
power reactor and $11,000 lower than the highest fee under the current 
method. Because of this extremely small difference, the NRC is 
establishing a single uniform annual fee for each operating power 
reactor. Not only will this not cause an unfair burden, but it will 
allow the NRC to streamline the fee program and simplify the fee 
process.

                   Table IV.--Allocation of NRC FY 1995 Budget to Power Reactors' Base Fees\1\                  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Program total                  Allocated to power reactors    
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Program                               Program                        
                                         support($,K)        Direct FTE        support($,K)        Direct FTE   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Reactor Program                                                                                      
                                                                                                                
Cost Center: Reactor Regulation:                                                                                
    Inspections.....................             $4,350              471.4             $4,350              471.4
    Reactor Oversight...............             11,615              357.0             11,615              357.0
    Reactor and Site Licensing......              1,660               26.3              1,660               26.3
    Reactor Aging and Renewal.......             19,973               54.7             19,973               54.7
    Safety Assessment and Regulatory                                                                            
     Development....................             33,687               69.5             33,687               69.5
    Independent Analysis of                                                                                     
     Operational Experience.........              7,939               47.0              7,939               47.0
    Technical Training and                                                                                      
     Qualification..................              4,728               19.0              4,728               19.0
    Investigations, Enforcement and                                                                             
     Legal Advice...................                 11               59.0                 11               59.0
    Independent Review..............                536               42.0                536               42.0
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Cost Center Total...........  .................  .................            $84,499            1,145.9
                                     ===========================================================================
Cost Center: Standard Reactor                                                                                   
 Designs:                                                                                                       
    Design Certification............             $6,873               91.6             $6,873               91.6
    Safety Assessment...............             14,885               19.7             14,885               19.7
    Legal Advice....................  .................                3.0  .................                3.0
    Independent Review..............                 86               10.0                 86               10.0
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Cost Center Total...........  .................  .................            $21,844              124.3
                                     ===========================================================================
                                                                                                                
 Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Waste                                                                            
               Program                                                                                          
                                                                                                                
Cost Center: Fuel Facilities:                                                                                   
    Licensing and Inspection........              1,304               28.5  .................                 .1
Cost Center: LLW and                                                                                            
 Decommissioning:                                                                                               
    Licensing and Inspection........                 50                2.6  .................                 .9
    Reactor Decommissioning.........                100                6.7                100                6.7
    Radiological Surveys............              1,653  .................                331  .................
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Cost Center Total...........  .................  .................               $431                7.6
                                     ===========================================================================
   Management and Support Programs                                                                              
                                                                                                                
Cost Center: Special Technical                                                                                  
 Programs:                                                                                                      
    Educational Grants..............             $1,050  .................             $1,050  .................
    Small Business Innovation                                                                                   
     Research.......................              1,844  .................              1,844  .................
[[Page 32231]]
                                                                                                                
    Nuclear Materials Mgt. and                                                                                  
     Safeguards System..............              1,165                1.0                850                 .7
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Cost Center Total.............  .................  .................             $3,744                 .7
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Reactor Program Total.........  .................  .................           $110,518            1,278.6
                                     ===========================================================================
      Total base fee amount                                                                                     
       allocated to power reactors..  .................  .................  .................         \2\ $385.0
                                                                                                         million
      Less estimated part 170 power                                                                             
       reactor fees.................  .................  .................  .................     $122.9 million
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Part 171 amount for operating                                                                             
       power reactors...............  .................  .................  .................     $262.1 million
      Part 171 base fee for each                                                                                
       operating reactor............  .................  .................  .................     $262.1 million
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                          (\3\) 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Base annual fees include all costs attributable to the operating power reactor class of licensees. The base 
  fees do not include costs allocated to power reactors for policy reasons.                                     
\2\ Amount is obtained by multiplying the direct FTE times the rate per FTE ($214,765) and adding the program   
  support funds.                                                                                                
\3\ 108 reactors=$2,427,000 per reactor.                                                                        

  Paragraph (b)(3) is revised to establish the base uniform annual 
fee for each operating power reactor and to change the fiscal year 
references from FY 1994 to FY 1995.
    Paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) are amended to show the amount of the 
budget allocated for policy reasons (surcharge) to operating reactors 
for FY 1995. This surcharge is added to the base annual fee for each 
operating power reactor. The purpose of this surcharge is to recover 
those NRC budgeted costs that are not directly or solely attributable 
to operating power reactors but nevertheless must be recovered to 
comply with the requirements of OBRA-90.
    The FY 1995 budgeted costs that are to be recovered in the 
surcharge from all licensees are as follows:

                                 Table V                                
                        [In millions of dollars]                        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        FY 1995 budgeted
                  Category of costs                       costs ($ in   
                                                           millions)    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC                       
 licensee or class of licensee:                                         
    a. International cooperative safety program and                     
     international safeguards activities.............               10.5
    b. Agreement State oversight.....................                6.2
    c. Low-level waste disposal generic activities;                     
     and.............................................                7.0
    d. Site decommissioning management plan                             
     activities not recoverable under 10 CFR Part 170                5.6
2. Activities not assessed Part 170 licensing and                       
 inspection fees or Part 171 annual fees based on                       
 existing law or Commission policy:                                     
    a. Fee Exemption of nonprofit educational                           
     institutions;...................................                6.1
    b. Licensing and inspection activities associated                   
     with other Federal agencies;....................                1.6
    c. Costs not recovered from Part 171 for small                      
     entities........................................                5.8
    3. Activities supporting NRC operating licensees                    
     and Others......................................                   
    a. Regulatory support to Agreement States........               14.2
    b. Decommissioning-Reclamation...................                6.2
                                                      ------------------
      Total budgeted costs...........................               63.2
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Excluding low-level waste costs totalling $7 million, the current 
policy allocates the remaining $56.2 million based on three different 
methods. First, 100 percent of costs for certain activities (e.g., 
international activities and the nonprofit educational institution 
exemption) are allocated to operating power reactors, based on the 
guidance in the Conference Committee report accompanying OBRA-90 which 
stated that these types of costs may be recovered from such licensees 
as the Commission determines can fairly, equitably and practicably 
contribute to their payment. The second method prorates the costs of 
some activities (e.g., small entity subsidy and Agreement State 
oversight) to all licensees under the implicit assumption that no one 
class of licensees should have to bear the full cost. Under the third 
method, 100 percent of the costs of some activities (e.g., SDMP and 
regulatory support to Agreement States) are allocated to the class of 
licensees to which the activities relate, independent of whether the 
activities are needed for current licensees/applicants or support non-
NRC licensees. In addition to being based on three different 
principles, the current policy creates significant annual fee problems 
for classes of licensees with a small or declining number of licensees. 
For example, as more states become Agreement States, the relatively 
fixed costs for generic regulatory activities (e.g., rulemaking, 
research, evaluation of operational data and policy development) that 
support both NRC and Agreement State licensees will be allocated to a 
smaller number of [[Page 32232]] materials licensees, causing the NRC 
materials licensees' annual fees to increase substantially. For 
example, if the four States who have expressed interest in becoming 
Agreement States do so within the next few years, then the remaining 
NRC materials licensees' annual fees would increase by about 30 percent 
from current levels.
    Therefore, the NRC is changing the current policy for allocating 
the costs for activities which have raised fairness and equity concerns 
among many NRC licensees. The changes are based on the premise that 
these costs should be borne by all NRC licensees, because while the 
activities are necessary for the NRC to carry out its responsibilities, 
in most instances, they go beyond the regulation of those licensees or 
applicants that pay fees. Thus, the NRC has allocated the costs in 
question to the broadest base of NRC licensees that pay annual fees. 
The allocation is based on the amount of the budget directly 
attributable to a class of licensees and results in, for instance, 
operating power reactors paying 89 percent of the cost of these 
activities, compared to approximately 50 percent of these costs in the 
FY 1994 rule.
    This change is consistent with the guidance in the Conference 
Committee Report that accompanied OBRA-90. First, by allocating these 
costs to the broadest base of NRC licensees, this change is consistent 
with the Conference Report guidance that: ``The Commission should 
assess the charge for these activities as broadly as practicable in 
order to minimize the burden for these costs on any licensee or class 
of licensees so as to establish as fair and equitable a system as is 
feasible.'' Second, allocating a higher percentage of these costs to 
operating power reactors as opposed to other classes of licensees is 
also consistent with the Conference Report guidance that: ``These 
expenses may be recovered from such licensees as the Commission, in its 
discretion, determines can fairly, equitable and practicably contribute 
to their payment.'' Allocating these costs to the universe of NRC 
licenses will minimize the impact of the declining numbers of licenses 
in any specific class, because the costs will be allocated over the 
maximum number of licensees. It will also put in place both a policy 
that will help mitigate future fee concerns associated with declining 
number of licenses, and a single methodology for allocating these types 
of costs, something that has been requested in comments submitted on 
previous proposed fee rules.
    The annual additional charge for each operating power reactor is 
determined as follows:
[GRAPHIC][TIFF OMITTED]TR20JN95.000


    With respect to Big Rock Point, a smaller older reactor, the NRC 
hereby grants a partial exemption from the FY 1995 annual fees similar 
to FY 1994 based on a request filed with the NRC in accordance with 
Sec. 171.11. The total amount of $0.2 million to be paid by Big Rock 
Point has been subtracted from the total amount assessed operating 
reactors as a surcharge.
    Based on the information in Tables IV and V, each operating power 
reactor, except Big Rock Point, will pay a base annual fee of 
$2,427,000 and an additional charge of $509,000 for a total FY 1995 
annual fee of $2,936,000. The annual fee in this final rule is less 
than the annual fee shown in the proposed rule because of higher 
estimated collections anticipated in FY 1995 from 10 CFR Part 170 fees.
    Paragraph (d) is revised to show the amount of the total FY 1995 
uniform annual fee, including the surcharge, to be assessed to each 
operating power reactor.
    Paragraph (e) is revised to show the amount of the FY 1995 annual 
fee for nonpower (test and research) reactors. In FY 1995, $339,000 in 
costs are attributable to those commercial and non-exempt Federal 
government organizations that are licensed to operate test and research 
reactors. Applying these costs uniformly to those nonpower reactors 
subject to fees results in an annual fee of $56,500 per operating 
license. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 established an exemption for 
certain Federally-owned research reactors that are used primarily for 
educational training and academic research purposes, where the design 
of the reactor satisfies certain technical specifications set forth in 
the legislation. Consistent with this legislative requirement, the NRC 
granted an exemption from annual fees for FY 1992 and FY 1993 to the 
Veterans Administration Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S. 
Geological Survey for its reactor in Denver, Colorado, and the Armed 
Forces Radiobiological Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, for its 
research reactor. This exemption was initially codified in the July 20, 
1993 (58 FR 38695) final fee rule at Sec. 171.11(a) and more recently 
in the March 17, 1994 (59 FR 12543) final rule at Sec. 171.11(a)(2). 
The NRC amended Sec. 171.11(a)(2) on July 20, 1994 (59 FR 36895) to 
exempt from annual fees the research reactor owned by the Rhode Island 
Atomic Energy Commission. The NRC will continue to grant exemptions 
from the annual fee to those Federally-owned and State owned research 
and test reactors who meet the exemption criteria specified in 
Sec. 171.11.
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. On April 7, 
1994 (59 FR 16513), the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a 
final rule [[Page 32233]] changing its size standards. The SBA adjusted 
its receipts-based size standard levels to mitigate the effects of 
inflation from 1984 to 1994. On April 11, 1995 (60 FR 18344), the NRC 
published a final rule amending its size standards. The size standards 
are as follows:
    (a) A small business is a for-profit concern and is a--
    (1) Concern that provides a service or a concern not engaged in 
manufacturing with average gross receipts of $5 million or less over 
its last three completed fiscal years; or
    (2) Manufacturing concern with an average number of 500 or fewer 
employees based upon employment during each pay period for the 
preceding 12 calendar months.
    (b) A small organization is a not-for-profit organization which is 
independently owned and operated and has annual gross receipts of $5 
million or less.
    (c) A small governmental jurisdiction is a government of a city, 
county, town, township, village, school district, or special district 
with a population of less than 50,000.
    (d) A small educational institution is one that is--
     (1) Supported by a qualifying small governmental jurisdiction; or
    (2) Not state or publicly supported and has 500 or fewer employees.
    (e) For purposes of this section, the NRC shall use the Small 
Business Administration definition of receipts. (13 CFR 402(b)(2)). A 
licensee who is a subsidiary of a large entity does not qualify as a 
small entity for purposes of this section.
    Therefore, the small entity categories in Sec. 171.16(c) of this 
final fee rule have been modified to reflect the changes in the NRC's 
size standards. Consistent with the establishment of an employee size 
standard for manufacturers, the NRC is establishing a new maximum small 
entity fee for manufacturing industries with 35 to 500 employees at 
$1,800 and a lower-tier small entity fee of $400 is established for 
those manufacturing industries and educational institutions not State 
or publicly supported with less than 35 employees. The lower-tier 
receipts-based threshold of $250,000 is raised to $350,000 to reflect 
approximately the same percentage adjustment as that made by the SBA 
when they adjusted the receipts-based standard from $3.5 million to $5 
million.
    Section 171.16(d) is revised to reflect the FY 1995 budgeted costs 
for materials licensees, including Government agencies, licensed by the 
NRC. These fees are necessary to recover the FY 1995 generic and other 
regulatory costs totalling $42.5 million that apply to fuel facilities, 
uranium recovery facilities, rare earth facilities, spent fuel 
facilities, holders of transportation certificates and QA program 
approvals, and other materials licensees, including holders of sealed 
source and device registrations.
    Tables VI and VII show the NRC programs, cost centers, and 
resources that are attributable to fuel facilities and materials users, 
respectively. The costs attributable to the uranium recovery and rare 
earth classes of licensees are those associated with uranium recovery 
and rare earth licensing, inspection, and generic activities. For 
transportation, the costs are those budgeted for transportation 
licensing, inspection, and generic activities. Similarly, the budgeted 
costs for spent fuel storage are those for spent fuel storage 
licensing, inspection and generic activities.

                    Table VI.--Allocation of NRC FY 1995 Budget to Fuel Facility Base Fees\1\                   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Total program element               Allocated to fuel facility    
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Program support                       Program support                    
                                             $,K                FTE                $,K                FTE       
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cost Center: Fuel Facilities:                                                                                   
     Fuel Fabricators Oversight and                                                                             
     Inspections....................             $1,698               59.0             $1,486               56.1
Cost Center: LLW and                                                                                            
 Decommissioning:                                                                                               
    Decommissioning.................              4,447               50.0                325                1.7
Cost Center: Other Nuclear Materials                                                                            
 and Waste:                                                                                                     
    Independent Analysis of                                                                                     
     Operating Experience...........                346                8.0                 69                1.6
    Technical Training and                                                                                      
     Qualification..................                692                2.0                138                 .4
    Adjudicatory Reviews............                  -                1.0                  -                 .5
     Investigations, Enforcement,                                                                               
     Legal Advice...................                 11               39.0                  1                1.6
Cost Center: Special Technical                                                                                  
 Program:                                                                                                       
    Nuclear Materials Mgt. and                                                                                  
     Safeguards System..............              1,165                1.0                 47                  -
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Total.........................  .................  .................             $2,066               61.9
                                     ===========================================================================
      Total Base Fee Amount                                                                                     
       Allocated to Fuel Facilities.  .................  .................  .................  \2\ $14.6 million
      Less Part 170 Fuel Facility                                                                               
       Fees.........................  .................  .................  .................        4.5 million
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Part 171 Base Fees for Fuel                                                                               
       Facilities...................  .................  .................  .................     $10.1 million 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Base annual fee includes all costs attributable to the fuel facility class of licensees. The base fee does  
  not include costs allocated to fuel facilities for policy reasons.                                            
\2\ Amount is obtained by multiplying the direct FTE times the rate per FTE ($203,096) and adding the program   
  support funds.                                                                                                


                                                                                                                
[[Page 32234]]
                    Table VII.--Allocation of FY 1995 Budget to Material Users' Base Fees \1\                   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Total program element             Allocated to materials users    
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Program support                       Program support                    
                                             $,K                FTE                $,K                FTE       
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Nuclear Materials & Nuclear Waste                                                                             
               Program                                                                                          
                                                                                                                
Cost Center: Materials Users:                                                                                   
    Licensing/Inspection of                                                                                     
     Materials Users................              2,436              113.0                721               82.3
    Materials Licensee Performance..                700                1.8                189                 .5
    Materials Regulatory Standards..              1,494               12.8                403                3.5
    Radiation Protection Health                                                                                 
     Effects........................              1,621                5.3                438                1.4
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Cost Center Total.............  .................  .................              1,751               87.7
                                     ===========================================================================
Cost Center: LLW & Decommissioning:                                                                             
    Licensing & Inspections.........                 50                2.6  .................                 .2
    Decommissioning.................                214               32.8                 69                3.5
    Radiological Surveys............              1,653  .................                372  .................
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Cost Center Total.............  .................  .................                441                3.7
                                     ===========================================================================
Cost Center: Other Nuclear                                                                                      
 Materials:                                                                                                     
    Analysis of Operational                                                                                     
     Experience.....................                346                8.0                184                1.7
    Technical Training..............                692                2.0                498                1.4
    Adjudicatory Reviews............  .................                1.0  .................                 .5
    Investigations/Enforcement......                 11               39.0                  9               24.4
     Event Evaluation...............  .................               16.0  .................                4.4
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Cost Center Total.............  .................  .................                691               32.4
                                     ===========================================================================
      Total Program.................  .................  .................              2,883              123.8
                                                                                                                
    Management & Support Program                                                                                
                                                                                                                
Cost Center: Special Technical                                                                                  
 Programs:                                                                                                      
    Nuclear Material Management &                                                                               
     Safeguard Systems..............              1,165                1.0                 74                 .1
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Total All Programs...........  .................  .................              2,957              123.9
                                     ===========================================================================
      Base Amount Allocated to                                                                                  
       Materials Users..............  .................  .................  .................   \2\ 28.1 million
      Less Part 170 Materials Users                                                                             
       Fees.........................  .................  .................  .................        3.4 million
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Part 171 Base Fees For                                                                                    
       Materials Users..............  .................  .................  .................      24.7 million 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Base annual fee includes all costs attributable to the materials class of licensees. The base fee does not  
  include costs allocated to materials licensees for policy reasons.                                            
\2\ Amount is obtained by multiplying the direct FTE times the rate per FTE ($203,096) and adding the program   
  support funds.                                                                                                

Major Fuel Facilities

    The allocation of the NRC's $10.1 million in budgeted costs to the 
individual fuel facilities is based on the revised methodologies 
indicated earlier. The NRC indicated in its final FY 1994 fee rule that 
given the questions raised at that time by B&W Fuel Company, General 
Atomics, and other fuel facilities it would reexamine the fuel facility 
subclass categorizations and that any restructuring resulting from this 
reexamination would be included in the FY 1995 proposed rule for notice 
and comment (59 FR 36901; July 20, 1994). The NRC is therefore 
establishing a revised methodology for determining annual fees for fuel 
facilities. The revised methodology has been used to determine the FY 
1995 annual fees. The objective of revising the methodology is to 
reflect more precisely agency generic costs attributable to fuel 
facility licensees. This new methodology results in the creation of 
five fuel facility license fee categories. Licenses are grouped into 
these categories according to their license (nuclear material type, 
enrichment, form, quantity, and use/associated activity) and according 
to the scope, depth of coverage and rigor of generic regulatory 
programmatic effort applicable to each category. This methodology can 
be applied to determine fees for new licenses, current licenses and for 
licensees in unique license situations. In each case, the existing 
license was used to determine values for licensed nuclear material and 
its use without regard for current or planned licensee activities, 
which are at the discretion of the licensee.
    The methodology is amenable to changes in the number of licenses, 
licensed material/activities, and total programmatic resources to be 
recovered through annual fees. When a license is modified, given that 
NRC recovers approximately 100 percent of its generic regulatory 
program costs through fee recovery, this revised fuel facility fee 
methodology may result in a change in fee category and may have an 
effect on the fees assessed to other licensees. For example, if a fuel 
facility licensee amended its license so as to avoid part 171 fees for 
fuel facilities, the budget for the safety component would be spread 
only among those remaining licensees, resulting in a higher annual fee 
for those licensees.
    Therefore, the methodology is applied as follows. First, a fee 
category is assigned based on certain criteria and the licensed nuclear 
material and use/associated activity. Although a licensee may choose 
not to fully utilize a license, the license is still used as the source 
for determining authorized nuclear material and use/associated 
activity. Next, the category/license information is used to 
[[Page 32235]] determine where the license will fit into the matrix. 
The matrix depicts the categorization of licenses by authorized 
material and use/activity and the relative programmatic effort 
associated with each category. The programmatic effort (expressed as a 
value in the matrix) reflects the safety or safeguards significance 
associated with the authorized nuclear material and use/activity, and 
the commensurate generic regulatory program (i.e., scope, depth and 
rigor). The relative weighted factors per facility for the various 
subclasses are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Relative weight per  
                                     Number of          facility        
                                    facilities -------------------------
                                                   Safety     Safeguards
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Fuel...............            2         1.00         1.00
Low Enriched Fuel................            4          .52          .34
Limited Operations Facility......            1          .20          .11
UF6 Conversion...................            1          .30  ...........
Others...........................            3          .12          .09
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The above weighted factors for the safety and safeguards portion 
are applied to the $10.1 million base fee. To this base fee, the LLW 
and other surcharges are added. The resulting annual fee for each fuel 
facility, including the additional charge (surcharge) is shown below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Type of facility                        Annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Fuel:                                                     
  Babcock & Wilcox.........................................   $2,569,000
  Nuclear Fuel Services....................................    2,569,000
Low Enriched Fuel:                                                      
  Combustion Engineering (Hematite)........................    1,261,000
  General Electric.........................................    1,261,000
  Siemens Nuclear Power....................................    1,261,000
  Westinghouse.............................................    1,261,000
Limited Operation Facilities:                                           
  B&W Fuel Company.........................................      501,700
UF6 Conversion:                                                         
  AlliedSignal Corp........................................      639,200
Other Fuel Facilities:                                                  
  Babcock & Wilcox.........................................      340,700
  General Atomics..........................................      340,700
  General Electric.........................................      340,700
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Uranium Recovery

    Of the $2.3 million ($1.8 million in base budget plus $0.5 million 
in surcharge) attributable to the uranium recovery class of licensees, 
approximately $1.9 million will be assessed to the Department of Energy 
(DOE) to recover the costs associated with DOE facilities under the 
Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (UMTRCA). In 
September 1993, DOE became a general licensee of the NRC because post-
reclamation closure of the Spook, Wyoming site had been achieved. There 
are two additional UMTRCA sites now under the general license: Burrell, 
Pennsylvania and Loman, Idaho.
    As indicated earlier, the NRC has refined its methodology for 
establishing part 171 annual fees for non-DOE uranium recovery 
licenses. The methodology identifies three categories of licenses: (1) 
Conventional uranium mills; (2) solution mining uranium mills; and (3) 
mill tailings disposal facilities, each of which benefits from the 
generic uranium recovery program. In order to determine the benefits to 
each uranium recovery category, a matrix was established to relate the 
category and the level of benefit, by program element and subelement. 
The two major program elements of the generic uranium recovery program 
are activities related to facility operations and those related to 
facility closure. Each of these elements was further divided into three 
subelements. The three major subelements of generic activities related 
to uranium facility operations are activities related to: (1) The 
operation of the mill; (2) the handling and disposal of waste; and (3) 
prevention of groundwater contamination. The three major subelements of 
generic activities related to uranium facility closure are activities 
related to: (1) decommissioning of facilities and cleanup of land; (2) 
reclamation and closure of the tailings impoundment; and (3) cleanup of 
contaminated groundwater. Weighted factors were assigned to each 
program element and subelement.
    The two existing categories of mills, those that perform 
conventional milling and those that perform solution mining and 
milling, are continued. The existing category for licenses whose 
purpose is to dispose of Section 11e.(2) byproduct material is also 
continued. The matrix also contains a category for conventional mills 
with Possession Only Licenses that are also authorized to dispose of 
more than 5,000 cubic yards of byproduct material, as defined in 
section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, from 
other facilities. Currently, there are three mills authorized for such 
waste disposal. The applicability of the generic program in each 
subelement to each uranium recovery category was qualitatively 
estimated as either significant, some, minor, or none.
    The resulting relative weighted factor per facility for the various 
subclasses is as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Relative 
                                                   Number of  weight per
                                                  facilities   facility 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class I facilities..............................           3        1.00
Class II facilities.............................           6         .57
11e.(2) disposal................................           1         .73
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings                        
 sites..........................................           3         .13
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Using this refined approach, the remaining $0.4 million not 
recovered from DOE results in annual fees for each class of licensees 
as follows:

2.A.(2)--Class I facilities: $60,900
2.A.(2)--Class II facilities: $34,400
2.A.(2)--Other facilities: $22,000
2.A.(3)--11e(2) disposal: $44,700
2.A.(4)--11e(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings site: $7,900

Rare Earth Facilities

    Because rare earth facilities are now budgeted for separately, a 
separate class has been established for these licensees in this final 
rule. For rare earth facilities, the generic and other regulatory costs 
of $66,000 have been spread uniformly among licensees who have a 
specific license for receipt and processing of source material. This 
results in an annual fee of $22,000 for each facility.

Spent Fuel Storage Facilities

    For spent fuel storage licenses, the costs of $2.2 million ($1.6 
million in base budget plus $0.6 million in surcharge) have been spread 
uniformly among those licensees who hold specific or general licenses 
for receipt and storage of spent fuel at an ISFSI. This results in an 
annual fee of $279,000 for each facility. This represents a fee 
decrease compared to FY 1994 because there are now more licensees in 
this [[Page 32236]] class. It also represents a fee decrease compared 
to the proposed rule because of higher estimated collections 
anticipated in FY 1995 from 10 CFR part 170 fees.

Materials Licenses

    To equitably and fairly allocate the $24.7 million directly 
attributable to the approximately 6,200 diverse material users and 
registrants plus the materials share ($2.8 million) of the surcharge, 
the NRC has continued to base the annual fee on the 10 CFR Part 170 
application fees and an estimated cost for inspections. Because the 
application fees and inspection costs are indicative of the complexity 
of the license, this approach continues to provide a proxy for 
allocating the generic and other regulatory costs to the diverse 
categories of licensees based on how much it costs NRC to regulate each 
category. The fee calculation also continues to consider the inspection 
frequency, which is indicative of the safety risk and resulting 
regulatory costs associated with the categories of licensees. In 
summary, the annual fee for these categories of licenses is developed 
as follows:
Annual Fee=(Application Fee+Average Inspection Cost/Inspection 
Priority) x Constant+(Unique Category Costs).
    The constant is the multiple necessary to recover $24.7 million and 
is 1.7 for FY 1995. The unique costs are any special costs that the NRC 
has budgeted for a specific category of licensees. For FY 1995, unique 
costs of approximately $1.0 million were identified for the medical 
improvement program which is attributable to medical licensees.
    For the first time, the NRC is combining the ``flat'' material 
inspection fees in 10 CFR part 170 with the annual fees in 10 CFR part 
171. This is being done to recognize that the ``regulatory service'' to 
licensees referred to in OBRA-90, comprises the total regulatory 
activities that NRC determines are needed to regulate a class of 
licensees. These regulatory services include not only ``flat'' fee 
inspections but also research, rulemaking, orders, enforcement actions, 
responses to allegations, incident investigations and other activities 
necessary to regulate classes of licensees. In addition to being 
consistent with the regulatory service concept in OBRA-90, the NRC 
believes that materials licensees' ``flat'' inspection fees can be 
combined with their annual fees without creating any significant 
questions of fairness. This is because the concept of the annual fee, 
including the inspection fee, has, in effect, already been implemented 
for most materials licensees. First, materials licensees currently pay 
a ``flat fee'' per inspection based on the average cost of an 
inspection for their fee category, and second, the routine inspection 
frequency is identical for most licensees in the same fee category. 
Furthermore, past experience suggests that less than 10 percent of the 
materials inspections for these licensees are nonroutine. Thus, 
licensees in the same materials license fee category currently pay 
essentially the same average annual cost for inspections. Therefore, 
combining inspection and annual fees results in essentially the same 
average cost per license over time. Additionally, this approach will 
provide materials licensees with simpler and more predictable NRC fee 
charges as there will be no additional fees paid for periodic 
inspections. Because certain materials FY 1995 annual fees include 
inspection costs, those materials licensees who paid a ``flat'' 10 CFR 
part 170 inspection fee for inspections conducted in FY 1995 will 
receive a credit for those payments towards their FY 1995 annual fee 
assessed under 10 CFR part 171. Those Agreement state licensees who 
paid an inspection fee for inspections conducted in FY 1995 will not 
receive a credit-refund because they pay no annual fee.
    Materials annual fees for FY 1995 have decreased compared to the FY 
1994 annual fees. There are two basic reasons for this. First, the FY 
1995 budgeted amount attributable to materials licensees is about 35 
percent lower than the comparable FY 1994 amount, based on the 
reallocation of certain materials budgeted costs to the broadest base 
of NRC licensees rather than to materials licensees as discussed 
earlier. Second, the professional hourly rate for the materials program 
has decreased from $133 per hour to $116 per hour, due to the use of 
cost center concepts in allocating NRC budgeted costs. These decreases 
are partially offset by a decrease in the number of licensees to be 
assessed annual fees in FY 1995 (from about 6,500 to about 6,200) and 
the inclusion of the average annual inspection costs with the annual 
fee. The annual fees for some categories in this final rule have 
decreased compared to the proposed rule because of higher estimated 
collections anticipated in FY 1995 from 10 CFR part 170 fees.
    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.

Transportation

    To recover the $4.7 million attributable to the transportation 
class of licensees, $1.2 will be assessed to the Department of Energy 
(DOE) to cover all of its transportation casks under Category 18. The 
remaining transportation costs for generic activities ($3.5 million) 
are allocated to holders of approved QA plans. The annual fee for 
approved QA plans is $77,800 for users and fabricators and $1,000 for 
users only.
    The amount or range of the FY 1995 annual fees for all materials 
licensees is summarized as follows:

                  Materials Licenses--Annual Fee Ranges                 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Category of license                      Annual fees      
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part 70--High enriched fuel...................  $2,569,000.             
Part 70--Low enriched fuel....................  1,261,000.              
Part 40--UF6 conversion.......................  639,200.                
Part 40--Uranium recovery.....................  22,000 to 60,900.       
Part 30--Byproduct Material...................  480 to 23,200.\1\       
Part 71--Transportation of Radioactive          1,000 to 77,800.        
 Material.                                                              
Part 72--Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear   279,000.                
 Fuel.                                                                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Excludes the annual fee for a few military ``master'' materials     
  licenses of broad-scope issued to Government agencies, which is       
  $415,300.                                                             

Surcharge

    Section 171.16(e) is amended to establish the additional charge 
which is included in the annual fees shown in Sec. 171.16(d) of this 
final rule. The Commission is continuing the approach established in FY 
1993 to assess the budgeted low-level waste (LLW) costs to two broad 
categories of licensees (large LLW generators and small LLW generators) 
based on historical disposal data. This surcharge is included in the 
annual fees for the applicable categories in Sec. 171.16(d). Although 
these NRC LLW disposal regulatory activities are not directly 
attributable to regulation of NRC materials licensees, the costs 
nevertheless must be recovered in order to comply with the requirements 
of OBRA-90. For FY 1995, the additional charge recovers approximately 
18 percent of the NRC budgeted costs of $7.0 million relating to LLW 
disposal generic activities from small generators, which are comprised 
of materials licensees that dispose of LLW. The percentage distribution 
reflects the [[Page 32237]] deletion of costs for LLW disposed of by 
Agreement State licensees. Of the $7.0 million in budgeted costs shown 
above for LLW activities, 82 percent of the amount ($5.7 million) is 
allocated to the 119 large waste generators (reactors and fuel 
facilities) included in 10 CFR part 171. This results in an additional 
charge of $48,000 per facility. Thus, the LLW charge will be $48,000 
per HEU, LEU, UF6 facility, and each of the other three fuel 
facilities. The remaining $1.3 million is allocated to the materials 
licensees in categories that generate low-level waste (895 licensees) 
as follows: $1,400 per materials license except for those in Category 
17. Those licensees that generate a significant amount of low-level 
waste for purposes of the calculation of the $1,400 surcharge are in 
fee Categories 1.B, 1.D, 2.C, 3.A, 3.B, 3.C, 3.L, 3.M, 3.N, 4.A, 4.B, 
4.C, 4.D, 5.B, 6.A, and 7.B. The surcharge for licenses in fee Category 
17, which also generate and/or dispose of low-level waste, is $21,000.
    Certain costs that caused fairness and equity concerns are 
allocated to materials licensees based on the percent of the budget 
that each class comprises. This allocation approach was explained in 
the previous explanation of changes to Sec. 171.15 of this section.
    Footnote 1 of 10 CFR 171.16(d) is amended to provide for a waiver 
of the annual fees 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 only licenses before October 1, 1994, and permanently 
ceased licensed activities entirely by September 30, 1994. All other 
licensees and approval holders who held a license or approval on 
October 1, 1994 are subject to the FY 1995 annual fees.

Section 171.17  Proration

    10 CFR 171.17 is amended to add a proration provision to allow for 
proration of the annual fee for a downgraded materials license upon 
request of the licensee. A proration request must be filed with the NRC 
within 90 days from the effective date of the final rule establishing 
the annual fees for which a proration is sought. Absent extraordinary 
circumstances, any request for proration of the annual fee for a 
downgraded materials license filed beyond that date will not be 
considered.
    Annual fees for materials licenses downgraded after October 1 of a 
fiscal year will be prorated on the basis of when the applications for 
downgrade are received by the NRC, provided the licensee permanently 
ceased the stated activities during the specified period. Annual fees 
for materials licenses for which applications to downgrade are filed 
during the period October 1 through March 31 of the fiscal year will be 
prorated as follows: (1) Licenses for which applications have been 
filed to reduce the scope of the license from a higher fee 
category(ies) to a lower fee category(ies) will be assessed one-half 
the annual fee for the higher fee category(ies) and one-half the annual 
fee for the lower fee category(ies), and, if applicable, the full 
annual fee for fee categories not affected by the downgrade; and (2) 
licenses with multiple fee categories for which applications have been 
filed to downgrade by deleting a fee category will be assessed one-half 
the annual fee for the fee category being deleted and the full annual 
fee for the remaining categories. Materials licenses for which 
applications for downgrade are filed on or after April 1 of the FY are 
assessed the full fee for that fiscal year.

Section 171.19  Payment
    This section is revised to give credit for partial payments made by 
certain licensees in FY 1995 toward their FY 1995 annual fees. The NRC 
anticipates that the first, second, and third quarterly payments for FY 
1995 will have been made by operating power reactor licensees and some 
materials licensees before the final rule is effective. Therefore, the 
NRC will credit payments received for those quarterly annual fee 
assessments toward the total annual fee to be assessed. The NRC will 
adjust the fourth quarterly bill in order to recover the full amount of 
the revised annual fee, or to make refunds, as necessary. The NRC also 
expects that certain materials licensees will have paid inspection fees 
for inspections that were performed in FY 1995, whereas this final rule 
includes such costs in the annual fee. The FY 1995 annual fee bills 
will reflect a credit for these inspection fee payments. As in FY 1994, 
payment of the annual fee is due on the effective date of the rule and 
interest accrues from the effective date of the rule. However, interest 
will be waived if payment is received within 30 days from the effective 
date of the rule.
    During the past four 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 in 
fact either not using the material to conduct operations or had 
disposed of the material and no longer needed the license. In 
responding to licensees about this matter, the NRC has 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 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 
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).

V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion

    The NRC has determined that this final 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 final regulation.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    This final rule contains no information collection requirements 
and, therefore, is not subject to the requirements of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

VII. Regulatory Analysis

    With respect to 10 CFR part 170, this final 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 England 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 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 
[[Page 32238]] Industries Association v. Federal Communications 
Commission, 554 F.2d 1109 (D.C. Cir. 1976) and Capital 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 Mississippi Power 
and Light Co. v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 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 Pub. L. 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 1998. To accomplish 
this statutory requirement, the NRC, in accordance with Sec. 171.13, is 
publishing the final amount of the FY 1995 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--
    (1) The annual fees be based on the Commission's FY 1995 budget of 
$525.6 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;
    (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.
    The NRC is establishing a uniform annual fee rather than an annual 
fee that considers the various vendors, the types of containment, and 
the location of the operating power reactors. The NRC believes the 
difference in annual fees of about $20,000 between the highest and 
lowest annual fee assessed under the current method is small enough 
relative to the size of the $2.9 million annual fees, to justify moving 
to a uniform annual fee particularly in light of the administrative 
savings that will follow. The annual fees for fuel cycle licensees, 
materials licensees, and holders of certificates, registrations and 
approvals and for licenses issued to Government agencies take into 
account the type of facility or approval and the classes of the 
licensees.
    10 CFR Part 171, which established annual fees for operating power 
reactors effective October 20, 1986 (51 FR 33224; September 18, 1986), 
was challenged and upheld in its entirety in Florida Power and Light 
Company v. United States, 846 F.2d 765 (D.C. Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 
490 U.S. 1045 (1989).
    10 CFR parts 170 and 171, which established fees based on the FY 
1989 budget, were also legally challenged. As a result of the Supreme 
Court decision in Skinner v. Mid-American Pipeline Co., 109 S. Ct. 1726 
(1989), and the denial of certiorari in Florida Power and Light, all of 
the lawsuits were withdrawn.
    The NRC's FY 1991 annual fee rule was largely upheld by the D.C. 
Circuit Court of Appeals in Allied Signal v. NRC, 988 F.2d 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 its budget authority 
through the assessment of user fees. OBRA-90 further requires that the 
NRC establish a schedule of charges that fairly and equitably allocates 
the aggregate amount of these charges among licensees.
    This final rule establishes the schedules of fees that are 
necessary to implement the Congressional mandate for FY 1995. The final 
rule results in a decrease in the annual fees charged to most 
licensees, and holders of certificates, registrations, and approvals, 
including those licensees who are classified as small entities under 
the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, 
prepared in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604, is included as Appendix A to 
this final rule.

IX. Backfit Analysis

    The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does 
not apply to this final rule and that a backfit analysis is not 
required for this final rule. The backfit analysis is not required 
because these final amendments do not require the modification of or 
additions to systems, structures, components, or 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.

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 170

    Byproduct material, Import and export licenses, 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 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. 552 and 553, 
the NRC is adopting 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: 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 Sec. 170.11, paragraph (a)(5) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 170.11  Exemptions.

    (a) * * *
    (5) A construction permit, license, certificate of compliance, or 
other [[Page 32239]] approval applied for by, or issued to, a 
Government agency, except where the Commission is authorized by statute 
to charge such fees.
* * * * *
    3. Section 170.20 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 170.20  Average cost per professional staff-hour.
    Fees for permits, licenses, amendments, renewals, special projects, 
part 55 requalification and replacement examinations and tests, other 
required reviews, approvals, and inspections under Secs. 170.21 and 
170.31 that are based upon the full costs for the review or inspection 
will be calculated using the following applicable professional staff-
hour rates:

Reactor Program (Sec.  170.21 Activities).........  $123 per hour.      
Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Waste Program (Sec.   $116 per hour.      
 170.31 Activities).                                                    
                                                                        

    4. In Sec. 170.21, the introductory text, Category K, and footnotes 
1 and 2 to the table are revised to read as follows:


Sec. 170.21  Schedule of fees for production and utilization 
facilities, review of standard referenced design approvals, special 
projects, inspections and import and export licenses.

    Applicants for construction permits, manufacturing licenses, 
operating licenses, import and export licenses, approvals of facility 
standard reference designs, requalification and replacement 
examinations for reactor operators, and special projects and holders of 
construction permits, licenses, and other approvals shall pay fees for 
the following categories of services.

                        Schedule of Facility Fees                       
                     [See footnotes at end of table]                    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Facility categories and type of fees             Fees \1\ \2\    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
*                  *                  *                  *              
                  *                  *                  *               
K. Import and export licenses:                                          
  Licenses for the import and export only of                            
   production and utilization facilities or the                         
   import and export only of components for                             
   production and utilization facilities issued                         
   pursuant to 10 CFR part 110:                                         
    1. Application for import or export of                              
     reactors and other facilities and components                       
     which must be reviewed by the Commission and                       
     the Executive Branch, for example, actions                         
     under 10 CFR 110.40(b):                                            
      Application--New license...................  $7,500               
      Amendment..................................  $7,500               
    2. Application for import or export of                              
     reactor components and initial exports of                          
     other equipment requiring Executive Branch                         
     review only, for example, those actions                            
     under 10 CFR 110.41(a)(1)-(8):                                     
      Application--New license...................  $4,600               
      Amendment..................................  $4,600               
    3. Application for export of components                             
     requiring foreign government assurances                            
     only:                                                              
      Application--New license...................  $2,900               
      Amendment..................................  $2,900               
    4. Application for export or import of other                        
     facility components and equipment not                              
     requiring Commission review, Executive                             
     Branch review, or foreign government                               
     assurances:                                                        
      Application--New license...................  $1,200               
      Amendment..................................  $1,200               
    5. Minor amendment of any export or import                          
     license to extend the expiration date,                             
     change domestic information, or make other                         
     revisions which do not require analysis or                         
     review:                                                            
      Amendment..................................  $120                 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Fees will not be charged for orders issued by the Commission        
  pursuant to Sec.  2.202 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. Secs.  50.12, 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. 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 considered 100 percent of the facility's full rated power).  
  Thus, if a licensee received a low power license or a temporary       
  license for less than full power and subsequently receives full power 
  authority (by way of license amendment or otherwise), 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 operating 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.                      
\2\ 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 Sec.  170.20, 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 Sec.  170.20. In no    
  event will the total review costs be less than twice the hourly rate  
  shown in Sec.  170.20.                                                

* * * * *
    5. Section 170.31 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 170.31  Schedule of fees for materials licenses and other 
regulatory services, including inspections, and import and export 
licenses.

    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.

                                                                        
[[Page 32240]]
                       Schedule of Materials Fees                       
                     [See footnotes at end of table]                    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Category of materials licenses and type of fees \1\      Fee \2\ \3\  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 sources contained in                    
     devices used in industrial measuring systems,                      
     including x-ray fluorescence analyzers: \4\                        
        Application--New license......................  $530.           
        Renewal.......................................  $720.           
        Amendment.....................................  $290.           
    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 Sec.  150.11 of this chapter, for which the                     
     licensee shall pay the same fees as those for                      
     Category 1A: \4\                                                   
        Application--New license......................  $580.           
        Renewal.......................................  $650.           
        Amendment.....................................  $280.           
    E. Licenses for construction and operation of a                     
     uranium enrichment facility:                                       
        Application...................................  $125,000.       
        License, Renewal, Amendment...................  Full Cost.      
        Inspections...................................  Full Cost.      
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.      
        Inspections...................................  Full Cost.      
    (2) Licenses that authorize the receipt, from                       
     other persons, of byproduct material as defined                    
     in Section 11e(2) of the Atomic Energy Act 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, from                       
     other persons, of byproduct material as defined                    
     in Section 11e(2) of the Atomic Energy Act for                     
     possession and disposal incidental to the                          
     disposal of the uranium waste tailings generated                   
     by the licensee's milling 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......................  $150.           
        Renewal.......................................  $170.           
        Amendment.....................................  $230.           
    C. All other source material licenses:                              
        Application--New license......................  $2,700.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,500.         
        Amendment.....................................  $400.           
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:                              
        Application--New license......................  $2,900.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,900.         
        Amendment.....................................  $530.           
    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......................  $1,200.         
        Renewal.......................................  $2,400.         
        Amendment.....................................  $560.           
    C. Licenses issued pursuant to Secs.  32.72,                        
     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:                             
        Application--New license......................  $3,900.         
        Renewal.......................................  $3,100.         
        Amendment.....................................  $500.           
    D. Licenses and approvals issued pursuant to Secs.                  
     32.72, 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:                                  
        Application--New license......................  $1,500.         
        Renewal.......................................  $480.           
[[Page 32241]]
                                                                        
        Amendment.....................................  $420.           
    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......................  $1,200.         
        Renewal.......................................  $820.           
        Amendment.....................................  $350.           
    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 where the source is not                   
     exposed for irradiation purposes:                                  
        Application--New license......................  $1,500.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,100.         
        Amendment.....................................  $360.           
    G. Licenses for possession and use of 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 underwater irradiators for                  
     irradiation of materials where the source is not                   
     exposed for irradiation purposes:                                  
        Application--New license......................  $5,800.         
        Renewal.......................................  $5,200.         
        Amendment.....................................  $750.           
    H. Licenses issued pursuant to subpart A of part                    
     32 of this chapter to distribute items containing                  
     byproduct material that require device review to                   
     persons exempt from the licensing requirements of                  
     part 30 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:                                                   
        Application--New license......................  $2,300.         
        Renewal.......................................  $2,700.         
        Amendment.....................................  $990.           
    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:                                                   
        Application--New license......................  $4,300.         
        Renewal.......................................  $2,600.         
        Amendment.....................................  $840.           
    J. Licenses issued pursuant to subpart B of part                    
     32 of this chapter to distribute items containing                  
     byproduct material that 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:                  
        Application--New license......................  $1,500.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,500.         
        Amendment.....................................  $280.           
    K. Licenses issued pursuant to subpart B of part                    
     32 of this chapter to 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:                  
        Application--New license......................  $1,300.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,300.         
        Amendment.....................................  $300.           
    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:                                                      
        Application--New license......................  $4,100.         
        Renewal.......................................  $3,300.         
        Amendment.....................................  $640.           
    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:                             
        Application--New license......................  $1,500.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,700.         
        Amendment.....................................  $590.           
    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 disposal                          
     services are subject to the fees specified in fee                  
     Categories 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D:                                     
        Application--New license......................  $1,800.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,900.         
        Amendment.....................................  $570.           
    O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                     
     material issued pursuant to part 34 of this                        
     chapter for industrial radiography operations:                     
        Application--New license......................  $3,700.         
        Renewal.......................................  $3,000.         
        Amendment.....................................  $700.           
    P. All other specific byproduct material licenses,                  
     except those in Categories 4A through 9D:                          
        Application--New license......................  $530.           
        Renewal.......................................  $720.           
[[Page 32242]]
                                                                        
        Amendment.....................................  $290.           
4. Waste disposal and processing:                                       
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing 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                     
     reactors; or licenses for receipt of waste from                    
     other persons for incineration or other                            
     treatment, packaging of resulting waste and                        
     residues, and transfer of packages to another                      
     person authorized to receive or dispose of waste                   
     material:                                                          
        License, renewal, amendment...................  Full Cost.      
        Inspections...................................  Full Cost.      
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt                    
     of waste byproduct material, source material, or                   
     special nuclear material from other persons for                    
     the purpose of packaging or repackaging the                        
     material. The licensee will dispose of the                         
     material by transfer to another person authorized                  
     to receive or dispose of the material:                             
        Application--New license......................  $3,200.         
        Renewal.......................................  $2,300.         
        Amendment.....................................  $390.           
    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                          
     material by transfer to another person authorized                  
     to receive or dispose of the material:                             
        Application--New license......................  $1,700.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,200.         
        Amendment.....................................  $280.           
5. Well logging:                                                        
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                     
     material, source material, and/or special nuclear                  
     material for well logging, well surveys, and                       
     tracer studies other than field flooding tracer                    
     studies:                                                           
        Application--New license......................  $3,100.         
        Renewal.......................................  $4,000.         
        Amendment.....................................  $610.           
    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......................  $4,900.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,900.         
        Amendment.....................................  $770.           
7. Human use of byproduct, source, or special nuclear                   
 material:                                                              
    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......................  $2,700.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,400.         
        Amendment.....................................  $450.           
    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......................  $2,900.         
        Renewal.......................................  $5,700.         
        Amendment.....................................  $560.           
    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                        
     special nuclear material, except licenses for                      
     byproduct material, source material, or special                    
     nuclear material in sealed sources contained in                    
     teletherapy devices:                                               
        Application--New license......................  $1,300.         
        Renewal.......................................  $1,400.         
        Amendment.....................................  $430.           
8. Civil defense:                                                       
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                     
     material, source material, or special nuclear                      
     material for civil defense activities:                             
        Application--New license......................  $730.           
        Renewal.......................................  $630.           
        Amendment.....................................  $340.           
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......................  $3,200.         
        Amendment--each device........................  $1,200.         
    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......................  $1,600.         
        Amendment--each device........................  $580.           
    C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources containing                   
     byproduct material, source material, or special                    
     nuclear material, except reactor fuel, for                         
     commercial distribution:                                           
        Application--each source......................  $700.           
[[Page 32243]]
                                                                        
        Amendment--each source........................  $230.           
    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......................  $350.           
        Amendment--each source........................  $120.           
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:                                                          
        Application--Approval.........................  $320.           
        Renewal.......................................  $340.           
        Amendment.....................................  $240.           
        Inspections...................................  Full Cost.      
11. Review of standardized spent fuel facilities:                       
        Approval, Renewal, Amendment..................  Full Cost.      
        Inspections...................................  Full Cost.      
12. Special projects: \5\                                               
        Approvals and preapplication/licensing          Full Cost.      
         activities.                                                    
        Inspections...................................  Full Cost.      
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of                           
 Compliance:                                                            
        Approvals.....................................  Full Cost.      
        Amendments, revisions, and supplements........  Full Cost.      
        Reapproval....................................  Full Cost.      
    B. Inspections related to spent fuel storage cask:                  
        Certificate of Compliance.....................  Full Cost.      
    C. Inspections related to storage of spent fuel     Full Cost.      
     under Sec.  72.210 of this chapter.                                
14. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material                      
 licenses and other approvals authorizing                               
 decommissioning, decontamination, reclamation, or                      
 site restoration activities pursuant to 10 CFR parts                   
 30, 40, 70, and 72 of this chapter:                                    
        Approval, Renewal, Amendment..................  Full Cost.      
        Inspections...................................  Full Cost.      
15. Import 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,                         
     byproduct material, heavy water, tritium, or                       
     nuclear grade graphite:                                            
    A. Application for import or export of HEU and                      
     other materials which must be reviewed by the                      
     Commission and the Executive Branch, for example,                  
     those actions under 10 CFR 110.40(b):                              
        Application--new license......................  $7,500.         
        Amendment.....................................  $7,500.         
    B. Application for import or export of special                      
     nuclear material, heavy water, nuclear grade                       
     graphite, tritium, and source material, and                        
     initial exports of materials requiring Executive                   
     Branch review only, for example, those actions                     
     under 10 CFR 110.41(a)(2)-(8):                                     
        Application--new license......................  $4,600.         
        Amendment.....................................  $4,600.         
    C. Application for export of routine reloads of                     
     LEU reactor fuel and exports of source material                    
     requiring foreign government assurances only:                      
        Application--new license......................  $2,900.         
        Amendment.....................................  $2,900.         
    D. Application for export or import of other                        
     materials not requiring Commission review,                         
     Executive Branch review or foreign government                      
     assurances:                                                        
        Application--new license......................  $1,200.         
        Amendment.....................................  $1,200.         
    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 analysis or review:                                        
        Amendment.....................................  $120.           
16. Reciprocity:                                                        
    Agreement State licensees who conduct activities                    
     in a non-Agreement State under the reciprocity                     
     provisions of 10 CFR 150.20:                                       
        Application (initial filing of Form 241)......  $1,100.         
        Renewal.......................................  N/A.            
        Revisions.....................................  $200.           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Types 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 renewals to existing licenses and approvals,
  safety evaluations of sealed sources and devices, and certain         
  inspections. The following guidelines apply to these charges:         
  (a) Application 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  
  cost; 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 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
  an application fee of $125,000.                                       
[[Page 32244]]
                                                                        
  (b) License-approval-review fees--Fees for applications for new       
  licenses and approvals and for preapplication consultations and       
  reviews subject to full cost fees (fee Categories 1A, 1B, 1E, 2A, 4A, 
  4D, 5B, 10A, 11, 12, 13A, and 14) are due upon notification by the    
  Commission in accordance with Sec.  170.12(b), (e), and (f).          
  (c) Renewal-reapproval fees--Applications for renewal of licenses and 
  approvals must be accompanied by the prescribed renewal fee for each  
  category, except that fees for applications for renewal of licenses   
  and approvals subject to full cost fees (fee Categories 1A, 1B, 1E,   
  2A, 4A, 4D, 5B, 10A, 11, 12, 13A, and 14) are due upon notification by
  the Commission in accordance with Sec.  170.12(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 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, 4D, 5B, 10A, 11, 12, 13A, and 14), amendment fees are due 
  upon notification by the Commission in accordance with Sec.           
  170.12(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) Inspection fees--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 Sec.  170.20 plus any applicable        
  contractual support services costs incurred. Inspection fees are due  
  upon notification by the Commission in accordance with Sec.           
  170.12(g).                                                            
\2\ 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.   
\3\ 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 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 Sec.  170.20, 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 Sec.  170.20. The      
  minimum total review cost is twice the hourly rate shown in Sec.      
  170.20.                                                               
\4\ 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 sources authorized by the      
  license. Applicants for new licenses or renewal of existing licenses  
  that cover both byproduct material and special nuclear material in    
  sealed sources for use in gauging devices will pay the appropriate    
  application or renewal fee for fee Category 1C only.                  
\5\ 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 information between industry             
  organizations and the NRC for the purpose of supporting 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:

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


Sec. 171.13  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 Secs. 171.15 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 1996 
through 1998. The annual fees will become due and payable to the NRC in 
accordance with Sec. 171.19 except as provided in Sec. 171.17. 
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 Secs. 171.15 and 171.16 of the regulations until a notice 
concerning the revised amount of the fees for the fiscal year is 
published by Commission.
    8. In Sec. 171.15, paragraphs (a), (b)(3), (c)(1), (c)(2), (d), and 
(e) are revised to read as follows:


Sec. 171.15  Annual Fees: Reactor operating licenses.

    (a) Each person licensed to 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 
Sec. 171.11(a)(1) and (a)(2).
    (b) * * *
    (3) Generic activities required largely for NRC to regulate power 
reactors, e.g., updating part 50 of this chapter, or operating the 
Incident Response Center. The base FY 1995 annual fee for each 
operating power reactor subject to fees under this section and which 
must be collected before September 30, 1995, is $2,427,000. The total 
annual fee to be assessed to each operating power reactor which would 
include the surcharge for each reactor is shown in paragraph (d) of 
this section.
    (c)(1) An additional charge will be established and added to the 
base [[Page 32245]] annual fee for each operating power reactor to 
recover the budgeted costs for the following:
    (i) Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or 
classes of licensees; e.g., international cooperative safety program 
and international safeguards activities; support for the Agreement 
State program; site decommissioning management plan (SDMP) activities 
and low-level waste disposal generic activities, and
    (ii) 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.
    (2) The FY 1995 surcharge for each operating power reactor is 
$509,000. This amount is calculated by dividing the total cost for 
these activities ($55.0 million) by the number of operating power 
reactors (108).
* * * * *
    (d) The FY 1995 part 171 annual fee for each operating power 
reactor, which includes the surcharge in paragraph (c)(2) of this 
section, is $2,936,000. Thereafter, annual fees will be assessed in 
accordance with Sec. 171.13.
    (e) The annual fees for licensees authorized to operate a nonpower 
(test and research) reactor licensed under part 50 of this chapter, 
except for those reactors exempted from fees under Sec. 171.11(a), are 
as follows:

Research reactor............................................     $56,500
Test reactor................................................     $56,500
                                                                        

* * * * *
    9. In Sec. 171.16, the introductory text of paragraph (c) and 
paragraphs (c)(1), (c)(4), (d), and (e) are revised to read as follows:


Sec. 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.

* * * * *
    (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 proper certification, 
the licensee may pay reduced annual fees for FY 1995 as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Maximum Annual 
                                                         fee perlicensed
                                                            category    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small businesses not engaged maximum annual fee in                      
 manufacturing and small per licensed category not-for-                 
 profit organizations (gross annual receipts):                          
  $350,000 to $5 million..............................            $1,800
  Less than $350,000..................................               400
Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500                      
 employees or less:                                                     
  35 to 500 employees.................................             1,800
  Less than 35 employees..............................               400
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly                    
 supported educational institutions) (population)                       
  20,000 to 50,000....................................             1,800
  Less than 20,000....................................               400
Educational institutions that are not State or                          
 publicly supported, and have 500 employees or less:                    
  35 to 500 employees.................................             1,800
  Less than 35 employees..............................               400
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (1) A licensee qualifies as a small entity if it meets the size 
standards established by the NRC (See 10 CFR 2.810).
* * * * *
    (4) For FY 1995, the maximum annual fee (base annual fee plus 
surcharge) a small entity is required to pay is $1,800 for each 
category applicable to the license(s).
    (d) The FY 1995 annual fees, including the surcharges shown in 
paragraph (e) of this section, for materials licensees and holders of 
certificates, registrations or approvals subject to fees under this 
section are as follows:

   Schedule of Materials Annual Fees and Fees For Government Agencies   
                             Licensed by NRC                            
                     [See footnotes at end of table]                    
                                                                        
                                                              Annualfees
      Category of materials licenses                            1 2 3   
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             $2,569,000
            Nuclear Fuel Services........  SNM-124             2,569,000
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in                                     
         Dispersable Form Used for                                      
         Fabrication of Power Reactor                                   
         Fuel:                                                          
            Combustion Engineering         SNM-33              1,261,000
             (Hematite).                                                
            General Electric Company.....  SNM-1097            1,261,000
            Siemens Nuclear Power........  SNM-1227            1,261,000
            Westinghouse Electric Company  SNM-1107            1,261,000
    (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:                                                    
            B&W Fuel Company.............  SNM-1168              501,700
        (b) All Others:                                                 
            Babcock & Wilcox.............  SNM-414               340,700
            General Atomics..............  SNM-696               340,700
            General Electric.............  SNM-960               340,700


    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel at                
     an independent spent fuel storage installation                     
     (ISFSI)..............................................       279,000
    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 
[[Page 32246]]
                                                                        
    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 Sec.  150.11 of this              
     chapter, for which the licensee shall pay the same                 
     fees as those for Category 1.A.(2)...................         3,000
    E. Licenses for the operation of a uranium enrichment               
     facility.............................................      \11\ N/A
2. Source material:                                                     
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source                    
     material for refining uranium mill concentrates to                 
     uranium hexafluoride.................................       639,200
    (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 \4\............................        60,900
        Class II facilities \4\...........................        34,400
        Other facilities \4\..............................        22,000
    (3) Licenses that authorize the receipt, from other                 
     persons, of byproduct material as defined in Section               
     11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act for possession and                
     disposal, except those licenses subject to the fees                
     in Category 2.A.(2) or Category 2.A.(4)..............        44,700
    (4) Licenses that authorize the receipt, from other                 
     persons, of byproduct material as defined in Section               
     11e(2) of the Atomic Energy Act for possession and                 
     disposal incidental to the disposal of the uranium                 
     waste tailings generated by the licensee's milling                 
     operations, except those licenses subject to the fees              
     in Category 2.A.(2)..................................         7,900
    B. Licenses which authorize only the possession, use                
     and/or installation of source material for shielding.           480
    C. All other source material licenses.................         8,600
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.........................................        16,400
    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.......         5,500
    C. Licenses issued pursuant to Secs.  32.72, 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 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.........................        11,100
    D. Licenses and approvals issued pursuant to Secs.                  
     32.72, 32.73, and/or 32.74 of this chapter                         
     authorizing distribu tion or redistribution of                     
     radiopharmaceuticals, generators, reagent kits and/or              
     sources or devices not involving processing of                     
     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.........................         4,400
    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).........................         3,100
    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                   
     irradiation purposes.................................         3,800
    G. Licenses for possession and use of 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 underwater irradiators for irradiation of                 
     materials in which the source is not exposed for                   
     irradiation purposes.................................        19,400
    H. Licenses issued pursuant to subpart A of part 32 of              
     this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct              
     material that require device review to persons exempt              
     from the licensing requirements of part 30 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..............         8,800
    J. Licenses issued pursuant to subpart B of part 32 of              
     this chapter to distribute items containing byproduct              
     material that 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...................................         3,700
    K. Licenses issued pursuant to subpart B of part 31 of              
     this chapter to 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 chapter for research and development that do               
     not authorize commercial distribution................        12,100
    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..............................         5,400
    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 disposal                      
         services are subject to the fees specified in fee              
         Categories 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D....................         6,000
     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..        13,900
    P. All other specific byproduct material licenses,                  
     except those in Categories 4A through 9D.............        1,700 
[[Page 32247]]
                                                                        
4. Waste disposal and processing:                                       
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing 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 reactors; or licenses for receipt of                 
     waste from other persons for incineration or other                 
     treatment, packaging of resulting waste and residues,              
     and transfer of packages to another person authorized              
     to receive or dispose of waste material..............   \5\ 100,900
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of                 
     waste byproduct material, source material, or special              
     nuclear material from other persons for the purpose                
     of packaging or repackaging the material. The                      
     licensee will dispose of the material by transfer to               
     another person authorized to receive or dispose of                 
     the material.........................................        14,300
    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 material by              
     transfer to another person authorized to receive or                
     dispose of the material..............................         7,600
5. Well logging:                                                        
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                     
     material, source material, and/or special nuclear                  
     material for well logging, well surveys, and tracer                
     studies other than field flooding tracer studies.....         8,100
     B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                    
     material for field flooding tracer studies...........        13,000
6. Nuclear laundries:                                                   
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of                
     items contaminated with byproduct material, source                 
     material, or special nuclear material................        14,500
7. Human use of byproduct, source, or special nuclear                   
 material.                                                              
    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. This category also includes the possession                
     and use of source material for shielding when                      
     authorized on the same license.......................        10,200
    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 \9\..............        23,200
    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 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 \9\.....................................         4,600
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....         7,100
    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
    C. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of                
     sealed sources containing byproduct material, source               
     material, or special nuclear material, except reactor              
     fuel, for commercial distribution....................         1,500
    D. Registrations issued for the 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..           770
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 plutonium air                 
         packages.........................................       \6\ N/A
         Other Casks......................................       \6\ N/A
    B. Approvals issued of 10 CFR part 71 quality                       
     assurance programs.                                                
        Users and Fabricators.............................        77,800
        Users.............................................         1,000
11. Standardized spent fuel facilities....................       \6\ N/A
12. Special Projects......................................       \6\ N/A
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Compliance..       \6\ N/A
    B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel under 10              
     CFR 72.210...........................................       279,000
14. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material                      
 licenses and other approvals authorizing decommissioning,              
 decontamination, reclamation, or site restoration                      
 activities pursuant to 10 CFR parts 30, 40, 70, and 72...       \7\ N/A
15. Import and Export licenses............................       \8\ N/A
16. Reciprocity...........................................       \8\ N/A
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to                  
 Government agencies......................................       415,300
18. Department of Energy:                                               
    A. Certificates of Compliance.........................  \10\ 1,200,0
                                                                      00
    B. Uranium Mill Tailing Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA)              
     activities...........................................    1,937,000 
\1\ Annual fees will be assessed based on whether a licensee held,      
  during the fiscal year, a valid license with the NRC authorizing      
  possession and use of radioactive material. 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, 1994 and permanently ceased licensed activities   
  entirely by September 30, 1994. 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 Sec.       
  171.17. 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 fees 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. 
\2\ 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.          
\3\ For FYs 1996 through 1998, fees for these materials licenses will be
  calculated and assessed in accordance with Sec.  171.13 and will be   
  published in the Federal Register for notice and comment.             
[[Page 32248]]
                                                                        
\4\ 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.                                              
\5\ Two licenses have been issued by NRC for land disposal of 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.                                  
\6\ Standardized spent fuel facilities, part 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.                                    
\7\ 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.                                                  
\8\ No annual fee is charged because it is not practical to administer  
  due to the relatively short life or temporary nature of the license.  
\9\ 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.                                            
\10\ This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to DOE that are not
  under the Nuclear Waste Fund.                                         
\11\ No annual fee has been established because there are currently no  
  licensees in this particular fee category.                            

  (e) A surcharge is added for each category for which a base annual 
fee is required. The surcharge consists of the following:
    (1) To recover costs relating to LLW disposal generic activities, 
an additional charge of $48,000 has been added to fee Categories 
1.A.(1), 1.A.(2) and 2.A.(1); an additional charge of $1,400 has been 
added to fee Categories 1.B., 1.D., 2.C., 3.A., 3.B., 3.C., 3.L., 3.M., 
3.N., 4.A., 4.B., 4.C., 4.D., 5.B., 6.A., and 7.B.; and an additional 
charge of $21,000 has been added to fee Category 17.
    (2) To recover those budgeted costs that are not directly or solely 
attributable to materials licensees and holders of certificates, 
registrations or approvals, a surcharge has been added for the 
following:
    (i) Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or 
classes of licensees; e.g., international cooperative safety program 
and international safeguards activities; support for the Agreement 
State program; site decommissioning management plan (SDMP) activities 
and
    (ii) 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 Sec. 171.17, paragraph (b) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 171.17  Proration.

* * * * *
    (b) Materials licenses (including fuel cycle licenses).  (1) New 
licenses and terminations. The annual fee for a materials license that 
is subject to fees under this part and 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 during the period October 1 through March 31 of the 
FY will be assessed one-half the annual fee for that FY. New licenses 
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 payable each 
subsequent FY. The annual fee will be prorated for licenses for which a 
termination request or a request for a POL 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 March 31 of the FY are assessed one-half 
the annual fee for the applicable category(ies) for that FY. Licenses 
for which applications for termination or POL are filed on or after 
April 1 of the FY are assessed the full annual fee for that FY.
    (2) Downgraded licenses.  (i) The annual fee for a materials 
license that is subject to fees under this part and downgraded on or 
after October 1 of a FY is prorated upon request by the licensee on the 
basis of when the application for downgrade is received by the NRC 
provided the licensee permanently ceased the stated activities during 
the specified period. Requests for proration must be filed with the NRC 
within 90 days from the effective date of the final rule establishing 
the annual fees for which a proration is sought. Absent extraordinary 
circumstances, any request for proration of the annual fee for a 
downgraded license filed beyond that date will not be considered.
    (ii) Annual fees for licenses for which applications to downgrade 
are filed during the period October 1 through March 31 of the FY will 
be prorated as follows:
    (A) Licenses for which applications have been filed to reduce the 
scope of the license from a higher fee category(ies) to a lower fee 
category(ies) will be assessed one-half the annual fee for the higher 
fee category(ies) and one-half the annual fee for the lower fee 
category(ies), and, if applicable, the full annual fee for fee 
categories not affected by the downgrade; and
    (B) Licenses with multiple fee categories for which applications 
have been filed to downgrade by deleting a fee category will be 
assessed one-half the annual fee for the fee category being deleted and 
the full annual fee for the remaining categories.
    (iii) Licenses for which applications for downgrade are filed on or 
after April 1 of the FY are assessed the full fee for that FY.
    11. In Sec. 171.19, paragraphs (b) and (c) are revised to read as 
follows:


Sec. 171.19  Payment.

* * * * *
    (b) For FY 1995 through FY 1998, the Commission will adjust the 
fourth quarterly bill for operating power reactors and certain 
materials licensees to recover the full amount of the revised annual 
fee. If the amounts collected in the first three quarters exceed the 
amount of the revised annual fee, the overpayment will be refunded. The 
NRC will also adjust the FY 1995 annual fee bills to reflect a credit 
for any payments received for those FY 1995 inspection costs that are 
included in the FY 1995 annual fee. All other licensees, or holders of 
a certificate, registration, or approval of a QA program will be sent a 
bill for the full amount of the annual fee upon publication of the 
final rule. Payment is due on the effective date of the final rule and 
interest accrues from the effective date of the final rule. However, 
interest will be waived if payment is received within 30 days from the 
effective date of the final rule.
    (c) For FYs 1995 through 1998, annual fees in the amount of 
$100,000 or more and described in the Federal Register notice pursuant 
to Sec. 171.13 must be paid in quarterly installments of 25 percent as 
billed by the NRC. The quarters begin on October 1, January 1, April 1, 
and July 1 of each fiscal year. Annual fees of less than $100,000 must 
be paid once a year as billed by the NRC.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of June, 1995.

    [[Page 32249]] For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James M. Taylor,
Executive Director for Operations.
Appendix A to this Final Rule Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for the 
Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170 (License Fees) and 10 CFR Part 171 
(Annual Fees)

I. Background

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (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 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 required to examine the impacts on small 
entities and the alternatives to minimize these impacts.
    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), the 
Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule changing its 
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. The NRC proposed to adjust its 
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 proposed to eliminate the separate $1 million size standard for 
private practice physicians and to apply a receipts-based size 
standard of $5 million to this class of licensees. This mirrors the 
revised SBA standard of $5 million for medical practitioners. The 
NRC also proposed to establish 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 
would be the standard applicable to the types of manufacturing 
industries that hold an NRC license. After 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 final rule revising its size 
standards on April 11, 1995 (60 FR 18344). The revised standards 
became effective May 11, 1995. The NRC has used the revised 
standards in the final FY 1995 fee rule. The small entity fee 
categories in Sec. 171.16(c) of the final rule reflect the changes 
in the NRC's size standards. A new maximum small entity fee for 
manufacturing industries with 35 to 500 employees has been 
established at $1,800 and a lower-tier small entity fee of $400 
established for those manufacturing industries with less than 35 
employees. The lower-tier receipts-based threshold of $250,000 has 
been raised to $350,000 to reflect approximately the same percentage 
adjustment as that made by the SBA when they adjusted the receipts-
based standard from $3.5 million to $5 million. The NRC believes 
that these actions will reduce the impact of annual fees on small 
businesses. The NRC 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 
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 $445.3 
million; for FY 1992, approximately $492.5 million; for FY 1993 
about $518.9 million; for FY 1994 about $513 million and the amount 
to be collected in FY 1995 is approximately $503.6 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) and in FY 1994 (59 FR 36895; July 20, 
1994) 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 FY 1991, FY 1992, 
FY 1993 and FY 1994. The NRC has used the same methodology 
established in the FY 1991, FY 1992, FY 1993, and FY 1994 
rulemakings to establish the fees to be assessed for FY 1995 with 
the following exceptions: (1) The Commission has reinstated the 
annual fee exemption for nonprofit educational institutions; (2) in 
the FY 1994 final rule, the NRC directly assigned additional effort 
to the reactor and materials programs for the Office of 
Investigations, the Office of Enforcement, the Advisory Committee on 
Reactor Safeguards, and the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; and 
(3) for FY 1995, the NRC is using cost center concepts, now being 
used for budgeting purposes, to develop the fees. The NRC is also 
(1) changing the method for allocating the budgeted costs (about $56 
million) that cause fairness and equity concerns; (2) eliminating 
the materials ``flat'' inspection fees in 10 CFR 170.31 and 
including the inspections with the annual fees in 10 CFR 171.16(d); 
and (3) establishing two professional hourly rates to better align 
the budgeted costs with the major classes of licensees. The 
methodology for assessing low-level waste (LLW) costs was changed in 
FY 1993 based on the U.S. Court of Appeals decision dated March 16, 
1993 (988 F.2d 146 (D.C. Cir. 1993)). The FY 1993 LLW allocation 
method has been continued in the FY 1995 final rule.

II. Impact on Small Entities.
    The comments received on the proposed FY 1991, FY 1992, FY 1993, 
and FY 1994 fee rule revisions and the small entity certifications 
received in response to the final FY 1991, FY 1992, FY 1993, and FY 
1994 fee rules indicate that NRC 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 18 percent (approximately 1,300 
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, FY 1992, FY 1993, and FY 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 company (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 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.
--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 effect, 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 small 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.
--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 
noted that, in view of the cuts by Medicare and other third party 
carriers, the fees would produce a hardship and some facilities 
would experience a great deal of difficulty in meeting this 
additional burden.

    Over the past four years, approximately 2,900 license, approval, 
and registration terminations have been requested. Although 
[[Page 32250]] 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.
    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 
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) and in the FY 1994 rule (59 FR 36895; July 20, 
1994). 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, FY 1992, FY 1993, and FY 
1994 evaluation 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 continuing for FY 1995, 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 
1995, the NRC will rely on the analysis previously completed that 
established a maximum annual fee for a small entity and the amount 
of cost that must be recovered from other NRC licensees as a result 
of establishing the maximum annual fees. The NRC continues to 
believe that license fees, or any adjustments to these fees during 
the past year, do not have a significant impact on small entities. 
In issuing this final rule for FY 1995, the NRC concludes that the 
materials license fees do not have a significant impact on a 
substantial number of small entities and that the 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, pay for 
most of the FY 1995 costs ($27 million of the total $33 million) 
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. Therefore, the NRC is continuing, for FY 1995, 
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 to have a 
significant impact on materials licensees with annual gross receipts 
in the thousands of dollars. Therefore, as in FY 1992, FY 1993, and 
FY 1994, the NRC is continuing 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 would 
now include manufacturing companies with a relatively small number 
of employees.
    In establishing the annual fee for lower-tier small entities, 
the NRC continues to retain a balance between the objectives of the 
RFA and OBRA-90. This balance can be measured by: (1) The amount of 
costs attributable to small entities that is transferred to larger 
entities (the small entity subsidy); (2) the total annual fee small 
entities pay, relative to this subsidy; and (3) how much the annual 
fee is for a lower-tier small entity. Based on this final rule, the 
amount of the FY 1995 small entity subsidy is lower than that for FY 
1994. Thus, no change is being made.

III. Summary

    The NRC has determined the annual fee 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 less than 35 employees reduces the 
impact on small entities. At the same time, these reduced annual 
fees are consistent with the objectives of OBRA-90. Thus, the 
revised fees for small entities maintain a balance between the 
objectives of OBRA-90 and the RFA. The NRC has used the methodology 
and procedures developed for the FY 1991, FY 1992, FY 1993, and FY 
1994 fee rules in this final rule except those noted in Section III, 
in establishing the FY 1995 fees. Therefore, the analysis and 
conclusions established in the FY 1991, FY 1992, FY 1993, and FY 
1994 rules remain valid for this final rule for FY 1995.

[FR Doc. 95-14879 Filed 6-19-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P