[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 28, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16982-17006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-7356]



[[Page 16981]]

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Part II





Nuclear Regulatory Commission





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10 CFR Parts 150, 170 and 171



Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2001; Proposed Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 60 / Wednesday, March 28, 2001 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 16982]]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 150, 170 and 171

RIN 3150-AG73


Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for FY 2001

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend 
the licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its applicants 
and licensees. The proposed amendments are necessary to implement the 
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, which 
requires that the NRC recover approximately 98 percent of its budget 
authority in fiscal year (FY) 2001, less the amounts appropriated from 
the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) and the General Fund. The amount to be 
recovered for FY 2001 is approximately $453.3 million.

DATES: The comment period expires April 27, 2001. Comments received 
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
NRC is able to ensure only that comments received on or before this 
date will be considered. Because OBRA-90 requires that NRC collect the 
FY 2001 fees by September 30, 2001, requests for extensions of the 
comment period will not be granted.

ADDRESSES: Mail written comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff. Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal 
workdays. (Telephone 301-415-1678).
    Comments may also be submitted via the NRC's interactive rulemaking 
Website (http://ruleforum.llnl.gov). This site provides the ability to 
upload comments as files (any format), if your Web browser supports 
that function. For information about the interactive rulemaking site, 
contact Ms. Carol Gallagher, 301-415-5905; e-mail [email protected]. Comments 
received may also be viewed and downloaded electronically via this 
interactive rulemaking Website.
    With the exception of restricted information, documents created or 
received at the NRC after November 1, 1999, are also available 
electronically at the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the 
Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html. From this site, 
the public can gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access 
and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of 
NRC's public documents. For more information, contact the NRC Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected].
    In addition to being available in ADAMS, the agency workpapers that 
support these proposed changes to 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171 may also be 
examined during the 30-day comment period at the NRC Public Document 
Room, Room O-1F22, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, MD 20852-2738.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenda Jackson, Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; Telephone 301-415-6057.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
II. Proposed Action
III. Plain Language
IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards
V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
VII. Regulatory Analysis
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
IX. Backfit Analysis

I. Background

    For FYs 1991 through 2000, OBRA-90, as amended, required that the 
NRC recover approximately 100 percent of its budget authority, less the 
amount appropriated from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 
administered Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF), by assessing fees. To address 
fairness and equity concerns raised by the NRC related to charging NRC 
license holders for agency expenses that do not provide a direct 
benefit to the licensee, the FY 2001 Energy and Water Development 
Appropriations Act amended OBRA-90 to decrease the NRC's fee recovery 
amount from 100 percent to 98 percent of the NRC's budget authority in 
FY 2001. The OBRA-90 amendment further decreases the fee recovery 
amount by an additional two percent per year beginning in FY 2002 until 
the fee recovery amount is 90 percent by FY 2005. In addition to the 2 
percent reduction to the fee recovery amount, $3.2 million has been 
appropriated from the General Fund for activities related to regulatory 
reviews and assistance provided to other Federal agencies and States. 
The FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act states that 
this $3.2 million shall be excluded from license fee revenues. The 
total amount to be recovered for FY 2001 is approximately $453.3 
million.
    The NRC assesses two types of fees to meet the requirements of 
OBRA-90, as amended. First, license and inspection fees, established at 
10 CFR Part 170 under the authority of the Independent Offices 
Appropriation Act of 1952 (IOAA), 31 U.S.C. 9701, recover the NRC's 
costs of providing special benefits to identifiable applicants and 
licensees. Examples of the services provided by the NRC for which these 
fees are assessed are the review of applications for new licenses, the 
review of applications for renewal of existing licenses, and the review 
of requests for license amendments. Second, annual fees, established in 
10 CFR Part 171 under the authority of OBRA-90, recover generic and 
other regulatory costs not otherwise recovered through 10 CFR Part 170 
fees.

II. Proposed Action

    The NRC is proposing to amend its licensing, inspection, and annual 
fees to recover approximately 98 percent of its FY 2001 budget 
authority, including the budget authority for its Office of the 
Inspector General, less the appropriations received from the NWF and 
the General Fund. The NRC's total budget authority for FY 2001 is 
$487.4 million, of which $21.6 million has been appropriated from the 
NWF. In addition, $3.2 million has been appropriated from the General 
Fund for activities related to regulatory reviews and assistance 
provided to other Federal agencies and States. Based on the 98 percent 
fee recovery requirement, the NRC must collect approximately $453.3 
million in FY 2001 through Part 170 licensing and inspection fees, Part 
171 annual fees, and other offsetting receipts. The total amount to be 
recovered through fees and other offsetting receipts for FY 2001 is 
$6.3 million more than the amount estimated for recovery in FY 2000; 
however, the FY 2001 fee recovery amount is further reduced by a $3.1 
million carryover from additional collections in FY 2000 that were 
unanticipated at the time the final FY 2000 fee rule was published. 
This leaves approximately $450.2 million to be recovered in FY 2001 
through Part 170 licensing and inspection fees, Part 171 annual fees, 
and other offsetting receipts.
    The NRC estimates that approximately $112.1 million will be 
recovered in FY 2001 from Part 170 fees and other offsetting receipts. 
The NRC also estimates a net adjustment for FY 2001 of approximately 
$0.4 million for payments received in FY 2001 for FY

[[Page 16983]]

2000 invoices. The remaining $337.7 million would be recovered through 
the Part 171 annual fees, compared to $341.0 million for FY 2000.
    Table I summarizes the budget and fee recovery amounts for FY 2001.

          Table I.--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts for FY 2001
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority.......................................     $487.4
    Less NWF.................................................      -21.6
    Less General Fund........................................       -3.2
        Balance..............................................      462.6
    Fee Recovery Rate (percent) for FY 2001..................    x  98.0
                                                              ----------
Total Amount to be Recovered for FY 2001.....................      453.3
    Less Carryover from FY 2000..............................       -3.1
                                                              ----------
Amount to be Recovered Through Fees and Other Receipts.......      450.2
    Less Estimated Part 170 Fees and Other Receipts..........     -112.1
                                                              ----------
Part 171 Fee Collections Required............................     -338.1
                                                              ==========
Part 171 Billing Adjustments:
    Unpaid FY 2001 Invoices (estimated)......................        3.2
    Less Payments Received in FY 2001 for Prior Year Invoices       -3.6
     (estimated).............................................
                                                              ----------
        Subtotal.............................................       -0.4
                                                              ==========
Adjusted Part 171 Collections Required.......................      337.7
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The final FY 2001 fee rule will be a ``major'' final action as 
defined by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 
1996. Therefore, the NRC's fees for FY 2001 would become effective 60 
days after publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. The 
NRC will send an invoice for the amount of the annual fee to reactors 
and major fuel cycle facilities upon publication of the FY 2001 final 
rule. For these licensees, payment would be due on the effective date 
of the FY 2001 rule. Those materials licensees whose license 
anniversary date during FY 2001 falls before the effective date of the 
final FY 2001 rule would be billed for the annual fee during the 
anniversary month of the license at the FY 2000 annual fee rate. Those 
materials licensees whose license anniversary date falls on or after 
the effective date of the final FY 2001 rule would be billed for the 
annual fee at the FY 2001 annual fee rate during the anniversary month 
of the license, and payment would be due on the date of the invoice.
    As a matter of courtesy, the NRC plans to continue mailing the 
proposed fee rules to all licensees, although, in accordance with its 
FY 1998 announcement, the NRC has discontinued mailing the final rule 
to all licensees as a cost-saving measure. Accordingly, the NRC does 
not plan to routinely mail the FY 2001 final rule or future final rules 
to licensees. However, the NRC will send the final rule to any licensee 
or other person upon request. To request a copy, contact the License 
Fee and Accounts Receivable Branch, Division of Accounting and Finance, 
Office of the Chief Financial Officer, at 301-415-7554, or e-mail us at 
[email protected]. It is our intent to publish the final rule in late May or 
early June of 2001. In addition to publication in the Federal Register, 
the final rule will be available on the Internet at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.
    The NRC is proposing to make changes to 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171 as 
discussed in Sections A and B below.

A. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170: Fees for Facilities, Materials, 
Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services Under the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, As Amended

    The NRC is proposing to revise the hourly rates used to calculate 
fees and to adjust the 10 CFR Part 170 fees based on the revised hourly 
rates and the results of the NRC's biennial review of fees required by 
the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-578, Nov. 
15, 1990, 104 Stat 2838) (CFO Act). Additionally, the NRC is proposing 
to eliminate the fees currently assessed to Agreement State licensees 
who file revisions to the information submitted on their initial filing 
of NRC Form 241, ``Report of Proposed Activities in Non-Agreement 
States,'' and include the costs for these revisions in the application 
fees assessed for the initial Form 241. The NRC is also proposing to 
establish an annual registration fee of $450 to be assessed for Part 31 
general licensees required to register certain types of generally 
licensed devices. These proposed revisions are further discussed below.
    The proposed amendments are as follows:
1. Hourly Rates
    The NRC is proposing to revise the two professional hourly rates 
for NRC staff time established in Sec. 170.20. These proposed rates 
would be based on the number of FY 2001 direct program full time 
equivalents (FTEs) and the FY 2001 NRC budget, excluding direct program 
support costs and NRC's appropriations from the NWF and the General 
Fund. These rates are used to determine the Part 170 fees. The proposed 
hourly rate for the reactor program is $150 per hour ($266,997 per 
direct FTE). This rate would be applicable to all activities for which 
fees are assessed under Sec. 170.21 of the fee regulations. The 
proposed hourly rate for the nuclear materials and nuclear waste 
program is $144 per hour ($255,563 per direct FTE). This rate would be 
applicable to all activities for which fees are assessed under 
Sec. 170.31 of the fee regulations. In the FY 2000 final fee rule, the 
reactor and materials program rates were $144 and $143, respectively. 
The proposed increases are primarily due to the Government-wide pay 
increase in FY 2001.
    The method used to determine the two professional hourly rates is 
as follows:
    a. Direct program FTE levels are identified for the reactor program 
and the nuclear material and waste program.
    b. Direct contract support, which is the use of contract or other 
services in

[[Page 16984]]

support of the line organization's direct program, is excluded from the 
calculation of the hourly rates because the costs for direct contract 
support are charged directly through the various categories of fees.
    c. All other 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, salaries and benefits plus contracts for non-program direct 
management and support, and for the Office of the Inspector General, 
are allocated to each program based on that program's direct costs. 
This method results in the following costs which are included in the 
hourly rates.

   Table II.--FY 2001 Budget Authority to be Included in Hourly Rates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Reactor     Materials
                                                 materials     program
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct Program Salaries & Benefits............      $107.8M       $31.3M
Overhead Salaries & Benefits, Program Travel          56.1M        15.0M
 and Other Support............................
Allocated Agency Management and Support.......       100.8M        28.5M
                                               -------------------------
    Subtotal..................................       264.7M        74.8M
Less offsetting receipts......................        -0.1M  ...........
                                               -------------------------
    Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate......       264.6M        74.8M
Program Direct FTEs...........................        991.0        292.7
Rate per Direct FTE...........................      266,997      255,563
Professional Hourly Rate (Rate per direct FTE           150          144
 divided by 1,776 hours)......................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As shown in Table II, dividing the $264.6 million (rounded) 
budgeted amount included in the hourly rate for the reactor program by 
the reactor program direct FTEs (991.0) results in a rate for the 
reactor program of $266,997 per FTE for FY 2001. The Direct FTE Hourly 
Rate for the reactor program would be $150 per hour (rounded to the 
nearest whole dollar). This rate is calculated by dividing the cost per 
direct FTE ($266,997) by the number of productive hours in one year 
(1,776 hours) as set forth in the revised OMB Circular A-76, 
``Performance of Commercial Activities.'' Similarly, dividing the $74.8 
million (rounded) budgeted amount included in the hourly rate for the 
nuclear materials and nuclear waste program by the program direct FTEs 
(292.7) results in a rate of $255,563 per FTE for FY 2001. The Direct 
FTE Hourly Rate for the materials program would be $144 per hour 
(rounded to the nearest whole dollar). This rate is calculated by 
dividing the cost per direct FTE ($255,563) by the number of productive 
hours in one year (1,776 hours).
2. Fee Adjustments
    The NRC is proposing to adjust the current part 170 fees in 
Secs. 170.21 and 170.31 to reflect both the changes in the revised 
hourly rates and the results of the biennial review of part 170 fees 
required by the CFO Act. To comply with the requirements of the CFO 
Act, the NRC has evaluated historical professional staff hours used to 
process a new license application for those materials licensees whose 
fees are based on the average cost method, or ``flat'' fees. This 
review also included new license and amendment applications for import 
and export licenses.
    Evaluation of the historical data shows that fees based on the 
average number of professional staff hours required to complete 
materials licensing actions should be increased in some categories and 
decreased in others, as described below, to more accurately reflect 
current costs incurred in completing these licensing actions. The data 
for the average number of professional staff hours needed to complete 
new licensing actions was last updated in FY 1999 (64 FR 31448; June 
10, 1999). Thus, the revised average professional staff hours reflect 
the changes in the NRC licensing review program that have occurred 
since FY 1999.
    In summary, the proposed licensing fees reflect an increase in 
average time for new license applications for seven of 33 materials fee 
categories included in the biennial review, a decrease in average time 
for five fee categories, and the same average time for the remaining 21 
fee categories. Similarly, the average time for applications for new 
export and import licenses and for amendments to export and import 
licenses remained the same for eight fee categories in Secs. 170.21 and 
170.31, and decreased for two other fee categories.
    The proposed licensing fees are based on the revised average 
professional staff hours needed to process the licensing actions 
multiplied by the proposed professional hourly rate for FY 2001. The 
amounts of the materials licensing ``flat'' fees are rounded as 
follows: fees under $1,000 are rounded to the nearest $10, fees that 
are greater than $1,000 but less than $100,000 are rounded to the 
nearest $100, and fees that are greater than $100,000 are rounded to 
the nearest $1,000.
    The proposed licensing ``flat'' fees are applicable to fee 
categories K.1 through K.5 of Sec. 170.21, and fee categories 1C, 1D, 
2B, 2C, 3A through 3P, 4B through 9D, 10B, 15A through 15E, and 16 of 
Sec. 170.31. An additional proposed change to Category 16 is discussed 
in item 3. below. Applications filed on or after the effective date of 
the final rule would be subject to the revised fees in this proposed 
rule.
3. Fees for Revisions to Initial Reciprocity Applications
    The NRC has taken several actions in the past few years to 
streamline and stabilize fees assessed to materials user licensees 
subject to ``flat'' fees. These actions included elimination of the 
inspection, renewal, and amendment fees from Part 170, and inclusion of 
the costs for these activities in the Part 171 annual fees. Materials 
user licensees affected by these changes have responded favorably to 
the elimination of multiple types of individual fees.
    The NRC is proposing a similar streamlining action for certain 
submittals from Agreement State licensees operating in areas under NRC 
jurisdiction under the Part 150 reciprocity provisions. Currently, a 
Part 170 fee of $1,200 is charged for each initial filing of NRC Form 
241, ``Report of Proposed Activities in Non-Agreement States,'' and an 
additional fee of $200 is charged for each revision to the information 
submitted on the initial NRC Form 241. Revisions are filed to request 
approval for work locations, radioactive materials, or work

[[Page 16985]]

activities different from those submitted on the initial NRC Form 241. 
In FY 2000, only $23,000 was collected for 115 revisions.
    The NRC is proposing to eliminate the revision fees and include the 
costs for processing them in the fee assessed for each initial 
reciprocity application. Under this proposal, the reciprocity 
applicants would no longer be required to submit payments with their 
revision requests, and the NRC's administrative burden of processing 
the revisions for fee collection purposes would be eliminated. This 
proposed change plus the increase in the hourly rate would result in an 
increase in the application fee, from $1,200 to $1,400. The costs of 
the reciprocity program would still be recovered from those receiving 
the benefit of the NRC's reciprocity activities. It is the NRC's belief 
that the nominal increase to the application fee and any potential 
inequities that might result because not all reciprocity licensees file 
revisions during the year are outweighed by the efficiencies to be 
gained by both the reciprocity applicants and the NRC in streamlining 
the process.
    A conforming revision to 10 CFR 150.20(b)(2) would also be made to 
reflect this proposed change.
4. Fees for General License Registrations
    The NRC published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on July 
26, 1999 (64 FR 40295), stating its intent to amend current regulations 
governing the use of byproduct material in certain measuring, gauging, 
or controlling devices. The proposed amendments included adding 
explicit requirements for a registration process under 10 CFR 31.5 for 
certain generally licensed devices; establishing a registration fee; 
modifying reporting, record-keeping, and labeling requirements; and 
clarifying which provisions of the regulations apply to all general 
licenses for byproduct material. The NRC stated in the proposed rule 
that the registration fee would recover the costs for obtaining and 
maintaining information associated with the devices subject to the 
registration requirement, processing and reviewing the registrations, 
and for inspections and follow-up efforts expected to be made as a 
result of the registration process identifying noncompliance with 
existing regulations. The fee would be based on the average cost of the 
program for each of the licensees registering devices. Some of the 
general licensees, such as non-profit educational institutions, would 
be exempt from the fee under Sec. 170.11. Costs not recovered from this 
small segment of the general licensees registering devices would 
continue to be recovered from annual fees paid by current holders of 
specific licenses. The NRC also stated in the proposed rule that the 
requirement for the registration fee would be effective after the 
initial registration requests are sent for response under Sec. 31.5(c). 
In this manner, the first round of registrations will be complete 
before the requirement for the registration fee goes into effect.
    The NRC published a final rule on December 18, 2000 (65 FR 79162), 
amending 10 CFR Parts 30, 31, and 32 to explicitly require that certain 
general licensees register their generally licensed devices with the 
NRC each year and pay the appropriate registration fee. Therein the NRC 
stated that the final fee, estimated at approximately $440 to $450, 
would be established in the FY 2001 fee rulemaking based on that year's 
budgeted costs for the program, the new FTE rate, and the estimated 
number of general licensees required to register.
    The NRC currently estimates that approximately 4300 general 
licensees will be required to register their generally licensed 
devices. Based on the estimated number of registrants, current resource 
estimates, and the FY 2001 FTE rate, the proposed registration fee is 
$450. The registration fee would be imposed beginning with the first 
re-registration of devices currently in use. The registration fee would 
be required for each annual re-registration of the devices, and for all 
new registrations of devices acquired after the registration program is 
fully implemented.
    Because this is a ``flat'' fee based on average cost, it will be 
reviewed biennially as required by the CFO Act. The registration fee 
established in the FY 2001 final fee rule will not change until the 
next biennial review of fees in FY 2003.
5. Fee Waivers
    In the recent past, several requests for Part 170 fee exemptions 
have been filed by licensees and various organizations who submit 
topical reports or other documents to the NRC for review. Part 170 
currently provides that fees will not be assessed for requests or 
reports submitted to the NRC in response to an NRC inquiry to resolve 
an identified safety, safeguards, or environmental issue; or to assist 
the NRC in developing a rule, regulatory guide, policy statement, 
generic letter or bulletin; or as a means of exchanging information 
between industry organizations and the NRC for the purpose of 
supporting generic regulatory improvements or efforts. Many of the fee 
exemption requests have been denied because the submittals have not met 
the intent of the waiver provision. For example, several fee waiver 
requests were based on the industry's future use of the reports, rather 
than these reports being submitted, reviewed, and approved for the 
purpose of NRC's generic regulatory improvements.
    In the statement of considerations for the FY 1994 fee rule (59 FR 
36895; July 20, 1994) which incorporated this fee waiver provision, the 
NRC stated that it believed the costs for some requests or reports 
filed with the NRC are more appropriately captured in the Part 171 
annual fees rather than assessing specific fees under Part 170. The 
statement of considerations continued that these reports, although 
submitted by a specific organization, support NRC's development of 
generic guidance and regulations and resolution of safety issues 
applicable to a class of licensee. To clarify the intent of the fee 
waiver provision, the NRC is modifying the current criterion 3. of 
Footnote 4 to Sec. 170.21 and criterion (c) of Footnote 5 to 
Sec. 170.31 to specifically state that the review and approval of the 
reports must support NRC's generic regulatory improvements or efforts. 
In addition, criteria 1., 2., and 3. of Footnote 4 to Sec. 170.21 would 
be redesignated as criteria (a), (b), and (c).
    In summary, the NRC is proposing to amend 10 CFR Part 170 to--
    1. Revise the material and reactor program FTE hourly rates;
    2. Revise the licensing fees to be assessed to reflect the revised 
hourly rates and to comply with the CFO Act requirement that fees be 
reviewed biennially and revised as necessary to reflect the cost to the 
agency;
    3. Eliminate fees for Agreement State licensees who submit 
revisions to their initial requests for reciprocity in States under NRC 
jurisdiction, and incorporate these costs into the initial reciprocity 
application fee;
    4. Establish registration fees to be assessed for each registration 
or re-registration of generally licensed devices under 10 CFR 31.5, 
beginning with the first re-registration of those generally licensed 
devices currently in use; and
    5. Clarify that the fee waiver provisions of the current criterion 
3. of Footnote 4 to Sec. 170.21 and criterion (c) of Footnote 5 to 
Sec. 170.31 apply only to requests/reports submitted to the NRC for the 
purpose of supporting NRC's generic regulatory improvements or efforts, 
and redesignate criteria 1., 2., and 3., of Footnote 4 to Sec. 170.21 
as criteria (a), (b), and (c).

[[Page 16986]]

B. Amendments to 10 CFR Part 171: Annual Fees for Reactor Licenses, and 
Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials Licenses, Including Holders of 
Certificates of Compliance, Registrations, and Quality Assurance 
Program Approvals, and Government Agencies Licensed by the NRC

    The NRC proposes to revise the annual fees for FY 2001 and revise 
the current process for providing NRC Form 526 to licensees for 
purposes of certifying that they qualify as a small entity. The 
proposed amendments are as follows.
1. Annual Fees
    The NRC is proposing to establish rebaselined annual fees for FY 
2001. The Commission's policy commitment, made in the statement of 
considerations accompanying the FY 1995 fee rule (60 FR 32225; June 20, 
1995) and further explained in the statement of considerations 
accompanying the FY 1999 fee rule (64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999), 
establishes that base annual fees will be re-established (rebaselined) 
at least every third year, and more frequently if there is a 
substantial change in the total NRC budget or in the magnitude of the 
budget allocated to a specific class of licensees. The fees were last 
rebaselined in FY 1999. After carefully considering all factors, 
including the changes to the amount of the budget allocated to classes 
of licensees, and weighing the complex issues related to both fairness 
and stability of fees, the Commission has determined that it is 
appropriate to rebaseline the annual fees this year. Rebaselining fees 
would result in reduced annual fees for a majority of the categories of 
licenses and increased annual fees for other categories.
    Although the NRC is sensitive to the effects the rebaselined fees 
will have on those licensees with fee increases, establishing new 
baseline annual fees this year would result in a more precise 
relationship between annual fees and NRC costs of providing services. 
It thus would constitute one means to fairly and equitably allocate 
costs among the NRC's licensees.
    The annual fees in Secs. 171.15 and 171.16 would be revised for FY 
2001 to recover approximately 98 percent of the NRC's FY 2001 budget 
authority, less fees collected under 10 CFR Part 170 and funds 
appropriated from the NWF and the General Fund. The total amount to be 
recovered through annual fees for FY 2001 is $337.7 million, compared 
to $341.0 million for FY 2000.
    The proposed FY 2001 annual fees would increase for some categories 
of licensees and decrease for others from the previous year. The 
decreases in annual fees range from approximately 0.2 percent for 
operating power reactor licensees (including the spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning annual fee), to approximately 29.0 percent for 
uranium recovery licensees. The increases in annual fees range from 
approximately 2.6 percent for materials licenses authorizing 
distribution of radiopharmaceuticals, to approximately 165.2 percent 
for transportation quality assurance program approvals authorizing use 
only.
    Factors affecting the changes to the annual fee amounts include 
changes in budgeted costs affecting the classes of licensees, the 
reduction in the fee recovery rate from 100 percent for FY 2000 to 98 
percent for FY 2001, the estimated Part 170 collections for the various 
classes of licensees, a $3.1 million carryover from additional 
collections in FY 2000 that were unanticipated at the time the final FY 
2000 fee rule was published, the increased hourly rates, decreases in 
the numbers of licensees for certain categories of licenses, and, for 
the materials user class, the results of the biennial review of Part 
170 fees required by the CFO Act. The biennial review shows that the 
average number of professional hours to conduct inspections and to 
review new license applications for materials licenses increased for 
some fee categories, decreased for others, or remained the same. The 
average time to conduct inspections and to review new license 
applications for the materials user license fee categories serve as 
accurate measures of the complexity of the licenses and, therefore, are 
used to allocate the materials budget for rebaselining the annual fees. 
Increases in the average professional time for inspections and reviews 
of new license applications result in higher annual fees for the 
affected fee categories, assuming all else remains the same (e.g., no 
loss of licensees).
    The increase in annual fees (from $2,300 to $6,100) for 
transportation quality assurance approvals authorizing use only, which 
would have the largest percentage increase, is due in part to the 
allocation of budgeted costs for the enhanced participatory Part 71 
rulemaking, headquarters and regional allegation and enforcement 
follow-up activities, and the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards' risk study activities. In addition, there has been a 
decrease in the amount of budgeted costs allocated for Part 71 vendor 
inspections while the allocation of budgeted costs for quality 
assurance reviews remained about the same. The ratio of the budgeted 
costs for these activities is currently used to allocate the total 
annual fee amount for the transportation class, less the amount 
allocated to DOE for its certificates of compliance, between the 
quality assurance approvals authorizing use only and those that 
authorize use and fabrication/design. As a result of the decrease in 
budgeted costs for Part 71 vendor inspections, a larger percentage of 
the total annual fee amount for the transportation class would be 
allocated to quality assurance approvals authorizing use only than in 
the past.
    Table III below shows the proposed rebaselined annual fees for FY 
2001 for representative categories of licensees.

             Table III.--Rebaselined Annual Fees for FY 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Proposed FY 2001
                  Class of licensees                       annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power Reactors (including Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor          $2,809,000
 Decommissioning annual fee).........................
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning...........            275,000
Nonpower Reactors....................................             74,000
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility..................          3,551,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility...................          1,191,000
UF6 Conversion Facility..............................            510,000
Uranium Mills........................................             94,300
Transportation:
    Users/Fabricators................................             62,500
    Users Only.......................................              6,100
Typical Materials Users:
    Radiographers....................................             12,500

[[Page 16987]]

 
    Well Loggers.....................................              8,800
    Gauge Users......................................              2,400
    Broad Scope Medical..............................             24,200
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The annual fees assessed to each class of licensees include a 
surcharge to recover those NRC budgeted costs that are not directly or 
solely attributable to the classes of licensees, but must be recovered 
from licensees to comply with the requirements of OBRA-90, as amended. 
Based on the amendment to OBRA-90 that reduced the NRC's fee recovery 
requirement by 2 percent for FY 2001, from 100 percent to 98 percent of 
the NRC's budget authority, the total surcharge costs will be reduced 
by about $9.3 million. The total FY 2001 budgeted costs for these 
activities and the reduction to these amounts for fee recovery purposes 
are shown in Table IV. All dollar amounts in the Table are rounded.

                       Table IV.--Surcharge Costs
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               FY 2001
                     Category of costs                         budgeted
                                                                costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee
 or class of licensee:
    a. International activities............................         $6.0
    b. Agreement State oversight...........................          7.1
    c. Low-level waste disposal generic activities.........          1.7
    d. Site decommissioning management plan activities not           7.3
     recovered under Part 170..............................
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 for nonprofit educational institutions          8.1
    b. Licensing and inspection activities associated with           3.9
     other Federal agencies................................
    c. Costs not recovered from small entities under 10 CFR          5.6
     171.16(c).............................................
3. Activities supporting NRC operating licensees and
 others:
    a. Regulatory support to Agreement States..............         14.4
    b. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (except those             3.4
     related to power reactors)............................
                                                            ------------
        Total surcharge costs..............................         57.6
Less 2 percent of NRC's FY 2001 total budget (minus NWF and         -9.3
 General Fund amounts).....................................
                                                            ------------
    Total Surcharge Costs to be Recovered..................         48.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As shown in Table IV, $48.3 million would be the total surcharge 
cost allocated to the various classes of licensees for FY 2001. The NRC 
would continue to allocate the surcharge costs, except Low-Level Waste 
(LLW) surcharge costs, to each class of licensees based on the percent 
of budget for that class. The NRC would continue to allocate the LLW 
surcharge costs based on the volume of LLW disposed of by certain 
classes of licensees. The proposed surcharge costs allocated to each 
class would be included in the annual fee assessed to each licensee. 
The FY 2001 proposed surcharge costs that would be allocated to each 
class of licensees are shown in Table V.

                                        Table V.--Allocation of Surcharge
                                          [Dollar amounts in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       LLW surcharge           Non-LLW surcharge        Total
                                                ----------------------------------------------------  surcharge
                                                   Percent       Amount      Percent       Amount       amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors.......................           74         $1.3         79.1        $36.9        $38.2
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decomm..............  ...........  ...........          9.2          4.3          4.3
Nonpower Reactors..............................  ...........  ...........          0.1          0.0          0.0
Fuel Facilities................................            8          0.1          5.3          2.5          2.6
Materials Users................................           18          0.3          3.9          1.8          2.1
Transportation.................................  ...........  ...........          1.2          0.5          0.5
Rare Earth Facilities..........................  ...........  ...........          0.2          0.1          0.1
Uranium Recovery...............................  ...........  ...........          1.0          0.4          0.4
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
      Total surcharge..........................  ...........          1.7  ...........         46.6         48.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The budgeted costs allocated to each class of licensees and the 
calculations of the rebaselined fees are described in A through H 
below. The workpapers which support this proposed rule show in detail 
the allocation of NRC's

[[Page 16988]]

budgeted resources for each class of licensee and how the fees are 
calculated. The workpapers are available electronically at the NRC's 
Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at Website address 
http://www.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html. During the 30-day public comment 
period, the workpapers may also be examined at the NRC Public Document 
Room located at One White Flint North, Room O-1F22, 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738.
    Because the FY 2001 fee rule will be a ``major'' final action as 
defined by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 
1996, the NRC's fees for FY 2001 would become effective 60 days after 
publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. The NRC will 
send an invoice for the amount of the annual fee upon publication of 
the FY 2001 final rule to reactors and major fuel cycle facilities. For 
these licensees, payment would be due on the effective date of the FY 
2001 rule. Those materials licensees whose license anniversary date 
during FY 2001 falls before the effective date of the FY 2001 final 
rule would be billed for the annual fee during the anniversary month of 
the license, and continue to pay annual fees at the FY 2000 rate in FY 
2001. However, those materials licensees whose license anniversary date 
falls on or after the effective date of the FY 2001 final rule would be 
billed for the annual fee at the FY 2001 rate during the anniversary 
month of the license, and payment would be due on the date of the 
invoice.
    a. Fuel Facilities. The FY 2001 budgeted costs to be recovered in 
annual fees assessed to the fuel facility class of licensees is 
approximately $17.6 million. This amount includes the LLW and other 
surcharges allocated to the fuel facility class. The costs are 
allocated to the individual fuel facility licensees based on the fuel 
facility matrix established in the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR 31448; 
June 10, 1999). In this matrix, licensees are grouped into five 
categories according to their licensed activities (i.e., nuclear 
material enrichment, processing operations, and material form) and 
according to the level, scope, depth of coverage, and rigor of generic 
regulatory programmatic effort applicable to each category from a 
safety and safeguards perspective. This methodology can be applied to 
determine fees for new and current licensees, licensees in unique 
license situations, and certificate holders.
    The methodology allows for changes in the number of licensees or 
certificate holders, licensed-certified material/activities, and total 
programmatic resources to be recovered through annual fees. When a 
license or certificate is modified, this fuel facility fee methodology 
may result in a change in fee category and may have an effect on the 
fees assessed to other licensees and certificate holders. For example, 
if a fuel facility licensee amended its license/ certificate in such a 
way that it resulted in the licensee not being subject to Part 171 fees 
applicable to fuel facilities, the budget for the safety and/or 
safeguards component would be spread among the remaining licensees/
certificate holders, and result in a higher fee for those remaining in 
that fee category.
    The methodology is applied as follows. First, a fee category is 
assigned based on the nuclear material and activity authorized by the 
license or certificate. Although a licensee/ certificate holder may 
elect not to fully utilize a license/certificate, it is still used as 
the source for determining authorized nuclear material possession and 
use/activity. Next, the category and license/certificate information 
are used to determine where the licensee/certificate holder fits into 
the matrix. The matrix depicts the categorization of licensee/
certificate holders by authorized material types and use/activities and 
the relative programmatic effort associated with each category. The 
programmatic effort (expressed as a value in the matrix) reflects the 
safety and safeguards risk significance associated with the nuclear 
material and use/activity and the commensurate generic regulatory 
program (i.e., scope, depth, and rigor).
    The effort factors for the various subclasses of fuel facility 
licensees are summarized in the table below.

                                  Table VI.--Effort Factors for Fuel Facilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                          Effort factors
                          Facility type                              Number of   -------------------------------
                                                                    facilities        Safety        Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel......................................               2      91 (33.1%)      76 (54.7%)
Enrichment......................................................               2      70 (25.5%)      34 (24.5%)
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel.......................................               4      88 (32.0%)      24 (17.3%)
UF6 Conversion..................................................               1        8 (2.9%)        3 (2.2%)
Limited Operations Facility.....................................               1       12 (4.4%)          0 (0%)
Others..........................................................               1        6 (2.2%)        2 (1.4%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applying these factors to the safety, safeguards, and surcharge 
components of the $17.6 million total annual fee amount for the fuel 
facility class results in the proposed annual fees for each licensee 
within the subcategories of this class summarized in the table below.

          Table VII.--Proposed Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Proposed FY 2001
                    Facility type                          Annual Fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel...........................         $3,551,000
Uranium Enrichment...................................          2,211,000
Low Enriched Uranium.................................          1,191,000
UF6 Conversion.......................................            510,000
Limited Operations Facility..........................            468,000
Others...............................................            340,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    b. Uranium Recovery Facilities. The FY 2001 budgeted cost, 
including surcharge costs, to be recovered through annual fees assessed 
to the uranium recovery class is approximately $1.5 million. Of this 
amount, $654,000 would be assessed to DOE to recover the costs 
associated with DOE sites under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation 
Control Act of 1978 (UMTRCA). The remaining $864,000 would be recovered 
through annual fees assessed to conventional mills, solution mining 
uranium mills, and mill tailings disposal facilities. The costs are 
allocated to the individual uranium recovery licensees in these 
categories based on the uranium recovery matrix established in the FY 
1999 final fee rule (64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999).

[[Page 16989]]

    The methodology for establishing Part 171 annual fees for uranium 
recovery licensees has not changed and is as follows.
    (1) The methodology identifies three categories of licensees: 
conventional uranium mills (Class I facilities), solution mining 
uranium mills (Class II facilities), and mill tailings disposal 
facilities (11e(2) disposal facilities). Each of these categories 
benefits from the generic uranium recovery program efforts (e.g., 
rulemakings, staff guidance documents, etc.);
    (2) The matrix relates the category and the level of benefit by 
program element and subelement;
    (3) The two major program elements of the generic uranium recovery 
program are activities related to facility operations and those related 
to facility closure;
    (4) Each of the major program elements was further divided into 
three subelements;
    (5) The three major subelements of generic activities associated 
with uranium facility operations are regulatory efforts related to the 
operation of mills, handling and disposal of waste, and prevention of 
groundwater contamination. The three major subelements of generic 
activities associated with uranium facility closure are regulatory 
efforts related to decommissioning of facilities and land clean-up, 
reclamation and closure of tailings impoundments, and groundwater 
clean-up. Weighted values were assigned to each program element and 
subelement considering health and safety implications and the 
associated effort to regulate these activities. 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 relative weighted factors per facility type for the various 
subclasses of uranium recovery licensees are as follows:

                           Table VIII.--Weighted Factors for Uranium Recovery Licenses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               Level of benefit
                                                            ----------------------------------------------------
                       Facility type                                                          Total weight
                                                               Number of     Category  -------------------------
                                                              facilities      weight       Value       Percent
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class I (conventional mills)...............................           3            770         2310           33
Class II (in-situ mills)...................................        \1\6.5          645         4193           59
11e(2) disposal............................................           1            475          475            7
11e(2) disposal incident to existing tailings sites........           1             75           75           1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The FY 2001 annual fee would be prorated 50 percent for Cogema Mining's License SUA-1341 based on its
  November 10, 2000, request that the license be amended for possession only.

    Applying these factors to the $864,000 in budgeted costs to be 
recovered results in the following proposed annual fees.

          Table IX.--Annual Fees for Uranium Recovery Licenses
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Proposed
                       Facility type                           FY 2001
                                                              annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class I (conventional mills).                                    $94,300
Class II (in-situ mills)...................................       79,000
  11e(2) disposal..........................................       58,200
11e(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites.             9,200
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The proposed FY 2001 annual fees for Class I and Class II 
facilities (conventional mills and in-situ mills), would drop below the 
$100,000 threshold currently established in Sec. 171.19 for quarterly 
billing, and therefore, under the current requirements these licensees 
would be subject to annual fee billing based on the anniversary date of 
their license for FY 2001. In FY 1999 the reverse situation occurred 
for these licensees; i.e., in FY 1998 the annual fees were below the 
$100,000 quarterly billing threshold and the licensees were billed on 
the license anniversary date, but beginning in FY 1999 the licensees 
became subject to quarterly billing for the annual fees because the 
fees were over the $100,000 threshold. Because the annual fees for 
these licensees have been close to the $100,000 threshold, small 
changes to the annual fee amounts have resulted in frequent changes to 
their annual fee billing schedule. To provide stability in the billing 
schedule, the NRC is proposing to revise Sec. 171.19 to establish a 
quarterly billing schedule for the Class I and Class II licensees, 
regardless of the annual fee amount. This would provide these licensees 
with a consistent, predictable schedule for paying their annual fees. 
As provided in Sec. 171.19(b), if the amounts collected in the first 
three quarters of FY 2001 exceed the amount of the revised annual fee, 
the overpayment will be refunded.
    c. Power Reactors. The approximately $263.5 million in budgeted 
costs to be recovered through FY 2001 annual fees assessed to operating 
power reactors would be divided equally among the 104 operating power 
reactors. This results in a proposed FY 2001 annual fee of $2,534,000 
per reactor. Additionally, each operating reactor would be assessed the 
proposed spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning annual fee, which 
for FY 2001 is $275,000. This would result in a total FY 2001 annual 
fee of $2,809,000 for each operating power reactor.
    d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning. For FY 2001, 
budgeted costs of approximately $33.3 million for spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning are to be recovered through annual fees 
assessed to Part 50 power reactors, except those reactors in 
decommissioning who do not have spent fuel on site, and to Part 72 
licensees who do not hold a Part 50 license. The costs would be divided 
equally among the 121 licensees, resulting in a proposed FY 2001 annual 
fee of $275,000 per licensee.
    e. Non-power Reactors. Approximately $296,000 in budgeted costs is 
to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the non-power reactor 
class of licensees for FY 2001. This amount would be divided equally 
among the four non-power reactors subject to annual fees. This results 
in a proposed FY 2001 annual fee of $74,000 for each licensee.
    f. Rare Earth Facilities. The FY 2001 budgeted costs of 
approximately $89,600 for rare earth facilities to be recovered through 
annual fees would be divided equally among the three licensees who have 
a specific license for receipt and processing of source material. The 
result is a proposed FY 2001 annual fee of $29,900 for each rare earth 
facility.
    g. Materials Users. To equitably and fairly allocate the $23.1 
million in FY 2001 budgeted costs to be recovered in

[[Page 16990]]

annual fees assessed to the approximately 5000 diverse materials users 
and registrants, the NRC has continued to use the FY 1999 methodology 
to establish baseline annual fees for this class. The annual fees are 
based on the 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 the 
NRC to regulate each category. The fee calculation also continues to 
consider the inspection frequency (priority), which is indicative of 
the safety risk and resulting regulatory costs associated with the 
categories of licensees. The annual fee for these categories of 
licensees is developed as follows.
    Annual fee = Constant  x  [Application Fee + (Average Inspection 
Cost divided by Inspection Priority)]+ Inspection Multiplier  x  
(Average Inspection Cost divided by Inspection Priority) + Unique 
Category Costs.
    The constant is the multiple necessary to recover approximately 
$15.1 million in general costs and is 0.96 for FY 2001. The inspection 
multiplier is the multiple necessary to recover approximately $5.7 
million in inspection costs for FY 2001, and is 1.2 for FY 2001. The 
unique category costs are any special costs that the NRC has budgeted 
for a specific category of licensees. For FY 2001, unique costs of 
approximately $143,000 were identified for the medical development 
program, an amount attributable to medical licensees.
    The annual fee assessed to each licensee also includes a share of 
the $1.8 million in surcharge costs allocated to the materials user 
class of licensees and, for certain categories of these licenses, a 
share of the approximately $300,000 in LLW surcharge costs allocated to 
the class. The proposed annual fee for each fee category is shown in 
Sec. 171.16(d).
    h. Transportation. Of the approximately $3.9 million in FY 2001 
budgeted costs to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the 
transportation class of licensees, approximately $1.1 million would be 
recovered from annual fees assessed to DOE based on the number of Part 
71 Certificates of Compliance that it holds. Of the remaining $2.8 
million, approximately 26 percent would be allocated to the 83 quality 
assurance plans authorizing use only and the 36 quality assurance plans 
authorizing use and design/fabrication. The remaining 74 percent would 
be allocated only to the 36 quality assurance plans authorizing use and 
design/fabrication. This results in a proposed annual fee of $6,100 for 
each of the holders of quality assurance plans that authorize use only, 
and a proposed annual fee of $62,500 for each of the holders of quality 
assurance plans that authorize use and design/fabrication.
3. Small Entity Annual Fees
    In the FY 2000 fee rule (65 FR 36946; June 12, 2000), the NRC 
stated that it would re-examine small entity fees each year that annual 
fees are rebaselined. Accordingly, the NRC has re-examined the small 
entity fees and does not believe that a change to the small entity fees 
is warranted for FY 2001. The NRC revised the small entity fees in FY 
2000, for the first time since they were introduced in FY 1991 and FY 
1992, based on the 25 percent increase in average total fees assessed 
to other materials licensees since the small entity fees were first 
established and on changes that had occurred in the fee structure for 
materials licensees over time (65 FR 36956, 36957). The NRC does not 
consider the approximately 13 percent decrease in the average FY 2001 
fees for other materials licensees to be significant enough to warrant 
another change to the small entity fees this year.
    Unlike the annual fees assessed to other licensees, the small 
entity fees are not designed to recover the agency costs associated 
with particular licensees. Rather, they are designed to provide some 
fee relief for qualifying small entity licensees while at the same time 
recovering from those licensees some of the NRC's costs for activities 
that benefit them. The costs not recovered from small entities must be 
recovered from other licensees. The current small entity fees of $500 
and $2,300 provide considerable relief to many small entities.
    In the future the NRC plans to re-examine small entity fees every 
two years, in the same years in which it conducts the biennial review 
of fees as required by the CFO Act, instead of each year that annual 
fees are rebaselined as indicated in the FY 2000 fee rule. The annual 
fees for materials users now include the cost of amendments, renewals, 
and inspections. However, at a maximum, annual fees are rebaselined 
every three years, but may be rebaselined earlier if warranted. 
Therefore, reviewing the small entity fees only when the annual fees 
are rebaselined results in a variable schedule for the re-examinations 
and any potential changes to the fees. Re-examining the small entity 
annual fees every two years, on the same schedule as the biennial 
review under the CFO Act, provides a routine, predictable schedule and 
allows licensees to anticipate when potential changes to these fees 
might occur.
4. Other Amendments
    The NRC currently sends an NRC Form 526, ``Certification of Small 
Entity Status for the Purposes of Annual Fees Imposed Under 10 CFR Part 
171,'' with each annual fee invoice issued to materials licensees. 
Although the instructions on the form state that it is to be filed only 
by those licensees who qualify as a small entity under NRC's size 
standards, the NRC has received many improperly filed forms. When 
contacted, many of these licensees have indicated they completed the 
form because it was enclosed with the annual fee invoice. In an effort 
to minimize the number of improperly filed forms, the NRC is proposing 
to discontinue mailing the form with each annual fee invoice. Instead, 
licensees would be able to access NRC Form 526 on the NRC's external 
web site at http://www.nrc.gov. Those licensees that qualify as a 
``small entity'' under the NRC size standards at 10 CFR Part 2.810 
would be able to complete the form in accordance with the instructions 
provided, and submit the completed form and the appropriate payment to 
the address provided on the invoice. For licensees who cannot access 
the NRC's external web site, NRC Form 526 could be obtained either 
through the local point of contact listed in the NRC's ``Materials 
Annual Fee Billing Handbook,'' NUREG/BR-0238, which is enclosed with 
each annual fee invoice, by calling the NRC's fee staff at 301-415-
7554, or by e-mailing the fee staff at [email protected].
    In summary, the NRC is proposing to--
    1. Establish new rebaselined annual fees for FY 2001;
    2. Revise Sec. 171.16(c)(2) to eliminate the mailing of NRC Form 
526 with the annual fee invoice to individual materials licensees;
    3. Revise Sec. 171.19 to establish a quarterly annual fee billing 
schedule for Class I and Class II uranium recovery licensees; and
    4. Re-examine the small entity fees every two years, on the same 
schedule as the biennial review of fees required by the CFO's Act.

III. Plain Language

    The Presidential Memorandum dated June 1, 1998, entitled, ``Plain 
Language in Government Writing,'' directed that the Federal 
government's writing be in

[[Page 16991]]

plain language (63 FR 31883; June 10, 1998). The NRC requests comments 
on this proposed rule specifically with respect to the clarity and 
effectiveness of the language used. Comments on the language used 
should be sent to the NRC as indicated under the ADDRESSES heading.

IV. Voluntary Consensus Standards

    The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Pub. 
L. 104-113, requires that Federal agencies use technical standards that 
are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies unless 
using such a standard is inconsistent with applicable law or is 
otherwise impractical. In this proposed rule, the NRC is amending the 
licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its licensees and 
applicants as necessary to recover approximately 98 percent of its 
budget authority in FY 2001 as is required by the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1990, as amended. This action does not constitute 
the establishment of a standard that contains generally applicable 
requirements.

V. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion

    The NRC has determined that this proposed rule is the type of 
action described in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). 
Therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental 
impact statement has been prepared for the proposed regulation. By its 
very nature, this regulatory action does not affect the environment 
and, therefore, no environmental justice issues are raised.

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

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

VII. Regulatory Analysis

    With respect to 10 CFR Part 170, this proposed rule was developed 
pursuant to Title V of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 
1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 9701) and the Commission's fee guidelines. When 
developing these guidelines the Commission took into account guidance 
provided by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 4, 1974, in 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 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). The Commission's fee 
guidelines were developed based on these legal decisions.
    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). This 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 subsequently amended to 
extend the 100 percent fee recovery requirement through FY 2000. The FY 
2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act amended OBRA-90 to 
decrease the NRC's fee recovery amount from 100 percent to 98 percent 
of the NRC's budget authority for FY 2001. To comply with this 
statutory requirement, and in accordance with Sec. 171.13, the NRC is 
publishing the proposed amount of the FY 2001 annual fees for 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, consistent 
with the accompanying Conference Committee Report, and the amendments 
to OBRA-90, provides that--
    (1) The annual fees be based on approximately 98 percent of the 
Commission's FY 2001 budget of $481.9 million less the amounts 
collected from Part 170 fees and 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.
    In addition, the NRC's FY 2001 appropriations language provides 
that $3.2 million appropriated from the General Fund for activities 
related to regulatory reviews and other assistance provided to the 
other Federal agencies and States be excluded from fee recovery.
    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). Further, the NRC's FY 1991 annual fee rule 
methodology was 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, as amended, to recover approximately 98 percent of its FY 2001 
budget authority through the assessment of user fees. This act further 
requires that the NRC establish a schedule of charges that fairly and 
equitably allocates the aggregate amount of these charges among 
licensees.
    This proposed rule establishes the schedules of fees that are 
necessary to implement the Congressional mandate for FY 2001. The 
proposed rule would result in increases in the annual fees charged to 
certain licensees and holders

[[Page 16992]]

of certificates, registrations, and approvals, and decreases in annual 
fees for others, including those that qualify as a small entity under 
NRC's size standards in 10 CFR 2.810. The Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis, prepared in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604, is included as 
Appendix A to this proposed rule.
    The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 
(SBREFA) was signed into law on March 29, 1996. The SBREFA requires all 
Federal agencies to prepare a written compliance guide for each rule 
for which the agency is required by 5 U.S.C. 604 to prepare a 
regulatory flexibility analysis. Therefore, in compliance with the law, 
Attachment 1 to the Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is the small entity 
compliance guide for FY 2001.

IX. Backfit Analysis

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

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 150

    Criminal penalties, Hazardous materials transportation, 
Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear materials, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Security measures, Source material, Special 
nuclear material.

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. 553, the NRC is 
proposing to adopt the following amendments to 10 CFR Parts 150, 170 
and 171.

PART 150--EXEMPTIONS AND CONTINUED REGULATORY AUTHORITY IN 
AGREEMENT STATES AND IN OFFSHORE WATERS UNDER SECTION 274

    1. The authority citation for Part 150 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: Sec. 161, 68 Stat. 948, as amended, sec. 274, 73 
Stat. 688 (42 U.S.C. 2201, 2021); sec. 201, 88 Stat. 1242, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 5841).
    Sections 150.3, 150.15, 150.15a, 150.31, 150.32 also issued 
under secs. 11e(2), 81, 68, Stat. 923, 935, as amended, secs. 83, 
84, 92 Stat. 3033, 3039 (42 U.S.C. 2014e(2), 2111, 2113, 2114). 
Section 150.14 also issued under sec. 53, 68 Stat. 930, as amended 
(42 U.S.C. 2073). Section 150.15 also issued under secs. 135, 141, 
Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2232, 2241 (42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161). 
Section 150.17a also issued under sec. 122, 68 Stat. 939 (42 U.S.C. 
2152). Section 150.30 also issued under sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444 (42 
U.S.C. 2282).

    2. In Sec. 150.20, paragraph (b)(2) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 150.20  Recognition of Agreement State licenses.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (2) Shall file an amended NRC Form 241 or letter with the Regional 
Administrator to request approval for changes in work locations, 
radioactive material, or work activities different from the information 
contained on the initial NRC Form 241.
* * * * *

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

    3. The authority citation for Part 170 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: sec. 9701, Pub. L. 97-258, 96 Stat. 1051 (31 U.S.C. 
9701); sec. 301, Pub. L. 92-314, 86 Stat. 227 (42 U.S.C. 2201w); 
sec. 201, Pub. L. 93-438, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
5841); sec. 205a, Pub. L. 101-576, 104 Stat. 2842, as amended (31 
U.S.C. 901, 902).

    4. Section 170.2 is amended by adding a new paragraph (s) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 170.2  Scope.

* * * * *
    (s) A holder of a general license granted by 10 CFR part 31 who is 
required to register a device(s).
    5. Section 170.3 is amended by revising the definitions of 
Materials License and Special Projects:


Sec. 170.3  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Materials license means a license, certificate, approval, 
registration, or other form of permission issued or granted by the NRC 
under the regulations in 10 CFR parts 30, 31 through 36, 39, 40, 61, 
70, 72, and 76.
* * * * *
    Special projects means those requests submitted to the Commission 
for review for which fees are not otherwise specified in this chapter. 
Examples of special projects include, but are not limited to, topical 
report reviews, early site reviews, waste solidification facilities, 
route approvals for shipment of radioactive materials, services 
provided to certify licensee, vendor, or other private industry 
personnel as instructors for 10 CFR part 55 reactor operators, reviews 
of financial assurance submittals that do not require a license 
amendment, reviews of responses to Confirmatory Action Letters, reviews 
of uranium recovery licensees' land-use survey reports, and reviews of 
10 CFR 50.71 final safety analysis reports. As used in this part, 
special projects does not include requests/reports submitted to the 
NRC--
    (1) 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;
    (2) In response to an NRC request (at the Associate Office Director 
level or above) to resolve an identified safety, safeguards, or 
environmental issue, or to assist the NRC in developing a rule, 
regulatory guide, policy statement, generic letter, or bulletin; or (3) 
As a means of exchanging information between industry organizations and 
the NRC for the purpose of supporting the NRC's generic regulatory 
improvements or efforts.
* * * * *
    6. In Section 170.12, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 170.12  Payment of fees

    (a) Application and registration fees. Each application or 
registration for which a fee is prescribed must be accompanied by a 
remittance for the full amount of the fee. The NRC will not issue a new 
license or an amendment increasing the scope of an existing license to 
a higher fee category before receiving the prescribed application fee. 
The application or registration fee(s) is charged whether the 
Commission approves the application or not. The application or 
registration fee(s) is also

[[Page 16993]]

charged if the applicant withdraws the application or registration.
* * * * *
    7. 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, 
10 CFR part 55 re-qualification and replacement examinations and tests, 
other required reviews, approvals, and inspections under Secs. 170.21 
and 170.31 will be calculated using the following applicable 
professional staff-hour rates:

Reactor Program (Sec. 170.21 Activities)--$150 per hour
Nuclear Materials and Nuclear Waste Program Sec. 170.31 Activities)--
$144 per hour

    8. In Sec. 170.21, the introductory text, Category K, and footnotes 
1, 2, 3, and 4 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, re-qualification 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              Fees1, 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
*                  *                  *                  *
                  *                  *                  *
K. Import and export licenses:
    Licenses for the import and export only of
     production and utilization facilities or the export
     only of components for production and utilization
     facilities issued under 10 CFR part 110.
        1. Application for import or export of reactors
         and other facilities and exports of components
         which must be reviewed by the Commissioners and
         the Executive Branch, for example, actions
         under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
            Application-new license.....................        $9,400
            Amendment...................................         9,400
        2. Application for export of reactor and other
         components requiring Executive Branch review
         only, for example, those actions under 10 CFR
         110.41(a)(1)-(8).
            Application-new license.....................         5,500
            Amendment...................................         5,500
        3. Application for export of components
         requiring foreign government assurances only.
            Application-new license.....................         1,700
            Amendment...................................         1,700
        4. Application for export of facility components
         and equipment not requiring Commissioner
         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 in-depth analysis or
         review.
            Amendment...................................          220
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Fees will not be charged for orders issued by the Commission under
  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,
  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 updating the fee schedule 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 final rule
  effective June 20, 1984 (and contained in the 10 CFR, parts 0 to 199,
  edition revised as of January 1, 1985) and the final rule effective
  July 2, 1990 (and contained in the 10 CFR, parts 51 to 199, edition
  revised as of January 1, 1991), 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.
\3\ Inspections covered by this schedule are both routine and non-
  routine safety and safeguards inspections performed by NRC for the
  purpose of review or follow-up of a licensed program. Inspections are
  performed through the full term of the license to ensure that the
  authorized activities are being conducted in accordance with the
  Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, other legislation, Commission
  regulations or orders, and the terms and conditions of the license.
  Non-routine inspections that result from third-party allegations will
  not be subject to fees.
\4\ 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, safeguards, 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 NRC's generic regulatory
  improvements or efforts.


[[Page 16994]]

    9. 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.

                       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:
        Licensing and Inspection.......................        Full Cost
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel
     at an independent spent fuel storage installation
     (ISFSI):
        Licensing and inspection.......................        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....................................             $660
    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....................................            1,300
    E. Licenses or certificates for construction and
     operation of a uranium enrichment facility:
        Licensing and inspection.......................        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, and 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:
        Licensing and inspection.......................        Full Cost
    (2) Licenses that authorize the receipt of
     byproduct material, as defined in section 11e(2)
     of the Atomic Energy Act, from other persons for
     possession and disposal except those licenses
     subject to fees in Category 2A(1):
        Licensing and inspection.......................        Full Cost
            (3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of
             byproduct material, as defined in section
             11e(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from
             other persons for possession and disposal
             incidental to the disposal of the uranium
             waste tailings generated by the licensee's
             milling operations, except those licenses
             subject to the fees in Category 2A(1):....
        Licensing and inspection.......................        Full Cost
    B. Licenses which authorize the possession, use,
     and/or installation of source material for
     shielding:
        Application....................................              160
    C. All other source material licenses:
        Application....................................            5,700
3. Byproduct material:
    A. Licenses of broad scope for the possession and
     use of byproduct material issued under parts 30
     and 33 of this chapter for processing or
     manufacturing of items containing byproduct
     material for commercial distribution:
        Application....................................            6,700
    B. Other licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for processing or manufacturing of items
     containing byproduct material for commercial
     distribution:
        Application....................................            2,200
    C. Licenses issued under Secs.  32.72, 32.73, and/
     or 32.74 of this chapter that authorize the
     processing or manufacturing and distribution or
     redistribution of radiopharmaceuticals,
     generators, reagent kits, and/or sources and
     devices containing byproduct material. This
     category does not apply to licenses issued to
     nonprofit educational institutions whose
     processing or manufacturing is exempt under 10 CFR
     170.11(a)(4). These licenses are covered by fee
     Category 3D.
        Application....................................            8,700
    D. Licenses and approvals issued under 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. This category includes
     licenses issued under Secs.  32.72, 32.73, and/or
     32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit educational
     institutions whose processing or manufacturing is
     exempt under 10 CFR 170.11(a)(4).
        Application....................................            2,400
    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):
        Application....................................            1,700
    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....................................            3,400
    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....................................            8,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 16995]]


                  Schedule of Materials Fees--Continued
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1         Fee 2, 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H. Licenses issued under 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. The category does not
     include 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....................................            2,300
    I. Licenses issued under 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.This category does not
     include 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....................................            3,400
    J. Licenses issued under 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. This category does
     not include specific licenses authorizing
     redistribution of items that have been authorized
     for distribution to persons generally licensed
     under part 31 of this chapter:
        Application....................................            1,000
    K. Licenses issued under 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. This category does not
     include specific licenses authorizing
     redistribution of items that have been authorized
     for distribution to persons generally licensed
     under part 31 of this chapter:
        Application....................................              590
    L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use
     of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33
     of this chapter for research and development that
     do not authorize commercial distribution:
        Application....................................            5,700
    M. Other licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for research and development that do not
     authorize commercial distribution:
        Application....................................            2,500
    N. Licenses that authorize services for other
     licensees, except:
        (1) Licenses that authorize only calibration
         and/or leak testing services are subject to
         the fees specified in fee Category 3P; and
        (2) Licenses that authorize waste disposal
         services are subject to the fees specified in
         fee Categories 4A, 4B, and 4C:
            Application................................            2,600
    O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct
     material issued under part 34 of this chapter for
     industrial radiography operations:
        Registration...................................            4,200
    P. All other specific byproduct material licenses,
     except those in Categories 4A through 9D:
        Application....................................            1,300
    Q. Registration of a device(s) generally licensed
     under part 31:
        Application....................................              450
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:
        Licensing and inspection.......................        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....................................            1,700
    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....................................            2,600
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:
        Application....................................            5,600
    B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct
     material for field flooding tracer studies:
        Licensing......................................        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....................................           11,500
7. Medical licenses:
    A. Licenses issued under 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....................................            6,300
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 16996]]


                  Schedule of Materials Fees--Continued
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1         Fee 2, 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical
     institutions or two or more physicians under 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....................................            4,500
    C. Other licenses issued under 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....................................            2,200
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material for civil defense activities:
        Application....................................              330
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.......................            5,400
    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.......................            5,400
    C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources containing
     byproduct material, source material, or special
     nuclear material, except reactor fuel, for
     commercial distribution:
        Application--each source.......................            1,600
    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.......................              550
10. Transportation of radioactive material:
    A. Evaluation of casks, packages, and shipping
     containers:
        Licensing and inspections......................        Full Cost
    B. Evaluation of 10 CFR part 71 quality assurance
     programs:
        Application....................................              650
        Inspections....................................        Full Cost
11. Review of standardized spent fuel facilities:
    Licensing and inspection...........................        Full Cost
12. Special projects: 5
    Approvals and preapplication/Licensing activities..        Full Cost
    Inspections........................................        Full Cost
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of
 Compliance:
        Licensing......................................        Full Cost
    B. Inspections related to spent fuel storage cask          Full Cost
     Certificate of Compliance.........................
    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 under parts 30, 40, 70, 72, and
 76 of this chapter:
    Licensing and inspection...........................        Full Cost
15. Import and Export licenses:
    Licenses issued under 10 CFR part 110 for the
     import and export only of special nuclear
     material, source material, tritium and other
     byproduct material, heavy water, or nuclear grade
     graphite.
    A. Application for export or import of high
     enriched uranium and other materials, including
     radioactive waste, which must be reviewed by the
     Commissioners and the Executive Branch, for
     example, those actions under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
     This category includes application for export or
     import of radioactive wastes in multiple forms
     from multiple generators or brokers in the
     exporting country and/or going to multiple
     treatment, storage or disposal facilities in one
     or more receiving countries.
        Application--new license.......................            9,400
        Amendment......................................            9,400
    B. Application for export or import of special
     nuclear material, source material, tritium and
     other byproduct material, heavy water, or nuclear
     grade graphite, including radioactive waste,
     requiring Executive Branch review but not
     Commissioner review. This category includes
     application for the export or import of
     radioactive waste involving a single form of waste
     from a single class of generator in the exporting
     country to a single treatment, storage and/or
     disposal facility in the receiving country.
        Application--new license.......................            5,500
        Amendment......................................            5,500
    C. Application for export of routine reloads of low
     enriched uranium reactor fuel and exports of
     source material requiring only foreign government
     assurances under the Atomic Energy Act.
        Application--new license.......................            1,700
        Amendment......................................            1,700
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 16997]]


                  Schedule of Materials Fees--Continued
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Category of materials licenses and type of fees 1         Fee 2, 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    D. Application for export or import of other
     materials, including radioactive waste, not
     requiring Commissioner review, Executive Branch
     review, or foreign government assurances under the
     Atomic Energy Act. This category includes
     application for export or import of radioactive
     waste where the NRC has previously authorized the
     export or import of the same form of waste to or
     from the same or similar parties, requiring only
     confirmation from the receiving facility and
     licensing authorities that the shipments may
     proceed according to previously agreed
     understandings and procedures.
        Application--new license.......................            1,200
        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 in-depth analysis, review, or
     consultations with other agencies or foreign
     governments.
        Amendment......................................              220
16. Reciprocity:
    Agreement State licensees who conduct activities
     under the reciprocity provisions of 10 CFR 150.20.
        Application....................................           1,400
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Types of fees--Separate charges, as shown in the schedule, will be
  assessed for pre-application consultations and reviews and
  applications for new licenses and approvals, issuance of new licenses
  and approvals, certain 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 and registration fees. Applications for new materials
  licenses and export and import licenses; applications to reinstate
  expired, terminated, or inactive licenses except those subject to fees
  assessed at full costs; applications filed by Agreement State
  licensees to register under the general license provisions of 10 CFR
  150.20; and applications for amendments to materials licenses that
  would place the license in a higher fee category or add a new fee
  category must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee for
  each category.
 (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.
 (2) Applications for new licenses that cover both byproduct material
  and special nuclear material in sealed sources for use in gauging
  devices will pay the appropriate application fee for fee Category 1C
  only.
 (b) Licensing fees. Fees for reviews of applications for new licenses
  and for renewals and amendments to existing licenses, for pre-
  application consultations and for reviews of other documents submitted
  to NRC for review, and for project manager time for fee categories
  subject to full cost fees (fee Categories 1A, 1B, 1E, 2A, 4A, 5B, 10A,
  11, 12, 13A, and 14) are due upon notification by the Commission in
  accordance with Sec.  170.12(b).
 (c) Amendment fees. Applications for amendments to export and import
  licenses must be accompanied by the prescribed amendment fee for each
  license 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.
 (d) Inspection fees. Inspections resulting from investigations
  conducted by the Office of Investigations and non-routine inspections
  that result from third-party allegations are not subject to fees.
  Inspection fees are due upon notification by the Commission in
  accordance with Sec.  170.12(c).
 (e) Generally licensed device registrations under 10 CFR 31.5.
  Submittals of registration information must be accompanied by the
  prescribed fee.
2 Fees will not be charged for orders issued by the Commission under 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), 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
  multiplied by the appropriate professional hourly rate established in
  Sec.  170.20 in effect at the time the service is provided, and the
  appropriate contractual support services expended. For applications
  currently on file for which review costs have reached an applicable
  fee ceiling established by the final rule effective June 20, 1984 (and
  contained in the 10 CFR, parts 0 to 199, edition revised as of January
  1, 1985) and the final rule effective July 2, 1990 (and contained in
  the 10 CFR, parts 51 to 199, edition revised as of January 1, 1991),
  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.
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 for an application that deals only with the
  sealed sources authorized by the license.
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 re-analysis 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, safeguards, or
  environmental issue, or to assist the 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 the NRC's generic regulatory
  improvements or efforts.


[[Page 16998]]

    10. Section 170.41 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 170.41.  Failure by applicant or licensee to pay prescribed fees.

    If the Commission determines that an applicant or a licensee has 
failed to pay a prescribed fee required in this part, the Commission 
will not process any application and may suspend or revoke any license 
or approval issued to the applicant or licensee. The Commission may 
issue an order with respect to licensed activities that the Commission 
determines to be appropriate or necessary to carry out the provisions 
of this part, parts 30, 31, 32 through 35, 40, 50, 61, 70, 71, 72, 73, 
and 76 of this chapter, and of the Act.

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

    11. The authority citation for Part 171 is revised 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. 2132, as amended by sec. 6101, Pub. 
L. 101-508, 104 Stat. 1388, as amended by sec. 2903a, Pub. L. 102-
486, 106 Stat. 3125 (42 U.S.C. 2213, 2214); sec. 301, Pub. L. 92-
314, 86 Stat. 227 (42 U.S.C. 2201w); sec. 201, Pub. L. 93-438, 88 
Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5841).

    12. In Section Sec. 171.5, the definition of Materials License is 
revised to read as follows:


Sec. 171.5  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Materials license means a license, certificate, approval, 
registration or other form of permission issued or granted by the NRC 
under the regulations in 10 CFR parts 30, 31 through 36, 39, 40, 61, 
70, 71, 72, and 76.
* * * * *
    13. In Sec. 171.15, paragraphs (b), (c), (d), and (e) are revised 
to read as follows:


Sec. 171.15  Annual Fees: Reactor licenses and independent spent fuel 
storage licenses.

* * * * *
    (b)(1) The FY 2001 annual fee for each operating power reactor 
which must be collected by September 30, 2001, is $2,809,000.
    (2) The FY 2001 annual fee is comprised of a base operating power 
reactor annual fee, a base spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning 
annual fee, and associated additional charges (surcharges). The 
activities comprising the FY 2001 spent storage/reactor decommissioning 
base annual fee are shown in paragraph (c)(2)(i) and (ii) of this 
section. The activities comprising the FY 2001 surcharge are shown in 
paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 2001 
base annual fee for operating power reactors are as follows:
    (i) Power reactor safety and safeguards regulation except licensing 
and inspection activities recovered under part 170 of this chapter and 
generic reactor decommissioning activities.
    (ii) Research activities directly related to the regulation of 
power reactors, except those activities specifically related to reactor 
decommissioning.
    (iii) 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 annual fee for operating power 
reactors does not include generic activities specifically related to 
reactor decommissioning.
    (c)(1) The FY 2001 annual fee for each power reactor holding a part 
50 license that is in a decommissioning or possession only status and 
has spent fuel on-site and each independent spent fuel storage part 72 
licensee who does not hold a part 50 license is $275,000.
    (2) The FY 2001 annual fee is comprised of a base spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning annual fee (which is also included in 
the operating power reactor annual fee shown in paragraph (b) of this 
section), and an additional charge (surcharge). The activities 
comprising the FY 2001 surcharge are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this 
section. The activities comprising the FY 2001 spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning rebaselined annual fee are:
    (i) Generic and other research activities directly related to 
reactor decommissioning and spent fuel storage; and
    (ii) Other safety, environmental, and safeguards activities related 
to reactor decommissioning and spent fuel storage, except costs for 
licensing and inspection activities that are recovered under part 170 
of this chapter.
    (d)(1) The activities comprising the FY 2001 surcharge are as 
follows:
    (i) Low level waste disposal generic activities;
    (ii) Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or 
class of licensees (e.g., international cooperative safety program and 
international safeguards activities, support for the Agreement State 
program, and site decommissioning management plan (SDMP) activities); 
and
    (iii) Activities not currently subject to 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, licensing actions for Federal agencies, and costs that 
would not be collected from small entities based on Commission policy 
in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
    (2) The total FY 2001 surcharge allocated to the operating power 
reactor class of licensees is $38.2 million, not including the amount 
allocated to the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning class. The 
FY 2001 operating power reactor surcharge to be assessed to each 
operating power reactor is approximately $367,000. This amount is 
calculated by dividing the total operating power reactor surcharge 
($38.2 million) by the number of operating power reactors (104).
    (3) The FY 2001 surcharge allocated to the spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning class of licensees is $4.3 million. The FY 2001 
spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning surcharge to be assessed to 
each operating power reactor, each power reactor in decommissioning or 
possession only status that has spent fuel onsite, and to each 
independent spent fuel storage part 72 licensee who does not hold a 
part 50 license is approximately $35,600. This amount is calculated by 
dividing the total surcharge costs allocated to this class by the total 
number of power reactor licenses, except those that permanently ceased 
operations and have no fuel on site, and part 72 licensees who do not 
hold a part 50 license.
    (e) The FY 2001 annual fees for licensees authorized to operate a 
non-power (test and research) reactor licensed under part 50 of this 
chapter, unless the reactor is exempted from fees under Sec. 171.11(a), 
are as follows:

Research reactor--$74,000
Test reactor--$74,000

    14. In Sec. 171.16, paragraphs (c), (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

[[Page 16999]]

the Commission with the proper certification along with its annual fee 
payment, the licensee may pay reduced annual fees as shown in the 
following table. Failure to file a small entity certification in a 
timely manner could result in the denial of any refund that might 
otherwise be due.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Maximum annual
                                                        fee per licensed
                                                            category
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Businesses Not Endangered in Manufacturing and
 Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Gross Annual
 Receipts):
    $350,000 to $5 million...........................             $2,300
    Less than $350,000...............................                500
Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500
 employees or less:
    35 to 500 employees..............................              2,300
    Less than 35 employees...........................                500
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly
 supported educational institutions) (Population):
    20,000 to 50,000.................................              2,300
    Less than 20,000.................................                500
Educational Institutions that are not State or
 Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Less:
    35 to 500 employees..............................              2,300
    Less than 35 employees...........................                500
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (1) A licensee qualifies as a small entity if it meets the size 
standards established by the NRC (See 10 CFR 2.810).
    (2) A licensee who seeks to establish status as a small entity for 
the purpose of paying the annual fees required under this section must 
file a certification statement with the NRC. The licensee must file the 
required certification on NRC Form 526 for each license under which it 
is billed. NRC Form 526 can be accessed through the NRC's external web 
site at http://www.nrc.gov. For licensees who cannot access the NRC's 
external web site, NRC Form 526 may be obtained through the local point 
of contact listed in the NRC's ``Materials Annual Fee Billing 
Handbook,'' NUREG/BR-0238, which is enclosed with each annual fee 
billing. The Form can also be obtained by calling the fee staff at 301-
415-7554, or by e-mailing the fee staff at [email protected]>.
    (3) For purposes of this section, the licensee must submit a new 
certification with its annual fee payment each year.
    (4) The maximum annual fee a small entity is required to pay is 
$2,300 for each category applicable to the license(s).
    (d) The FY 2001 annual fees for materials licensees and holders of 
certificates, registrations or approvals subject to fees under this 
section are shown in the following table. The FY 2001 annual fees are 
comprised of a base annual fee and an additional charge (surcharge). 
The activities comprising the FY 2001 surcharge are shown for 
convenience in paragraph (e) of this section.

   Schedule of Materials Annual Fees and Fees for Government Agencies
                             Licensed by NRC
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Annual  fees 1,
             Category of materials licenses                    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...................       $3,551,000
            Nuclear Fuel Services: SNM-124.............        3,551,000
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form
         Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel:
            Combustion Engineering (Hematite) SNM-33...        1,191,000
            General Electric Company: SNM-1097.........        1,191,000
            Siemens Nuclear Power: SNM-1227............        1,191,000
            Westinghouse Electric Company: SNM-1107....        1,191,000
    (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:
            Framatome Cogema SNM-1168..................          468,000
        (b) All Others:
            General Electric SNM-960...................          340,000
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel              11N/A
     at an independent spent fuel storage installation
     (ISFSI)...........................................
    C. Licenses for possession and use of special                  1,400
     nuclear material in sealed sources contained in
     devices used in industrial measuring systems,
     including x-ray fluorescence analyzers............
    D. All other special nuclear material licenses,                3,300
     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)..................................
    E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of a         2,211,000
     uranium enrichment facility.......................
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source             510,000
     material for refining uranium mill concentrates to
     uranium hexafluoride..............................
    (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.

[[Page 17000]]

 
        Class I facilities 4...........................           94,300
        Class II facilities 4..........................           79,000
        Other facilities 4.............................           29,900
    (3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of                    58,200
     byproduct material, as defined in section 11e.(2)
     of the Atomic Energy Act, from other persons for
     possession and disposal, except those licenses
     subject to the fees in Category 2A(2) or Category
     2A(4).............................................
    (4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of                     9,200
     byproduct material, as defined in Section 11e.(2)
     of the Atomic Energy Act, from other persons 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 2A(2)....
    B. Licenses that authorize only the possession, use              690
     and/or installation of source material for
     shielding.........................................
    C. All other source material licenses..............           11,000
3. Byproduct material:
    A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use             20,500
     of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33
     of this chapter for processing or manufacturing of
     items containing byproduct material for commercial
     distribution......................................
    B. Other licenses for possession and use of                    5,300
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for processing or manufacturing of items
     containing byproduct material for commercial
     distribution......................................
    C. Licenses issued under Secs.  32.72, 32.73, and/            12,300
     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 under
     part 40 of this chapter when included on the same
     license. This category does not apply to licenses
     issued to nonprofit educational institutions whose
     processing or manufacturing is exempt under 10 CFR
     171.11(a)(1). These licenses are covered by fee
     Category 3D.......................................
    D. Licenses and approvals issued under Secs.                   3,900
     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. This category includes
     licenses issued under Secs.  32.72, 32.73 and
     32.74 of this chapter to nonprofit educational
     institutions whose processing or manufacturing is
     exempt under 10 CFR 171.11(a)(1). This category
     also includes the possession and use of source
     material for shielding authorized under part 40 of
     this chapter when included on the same license....
    E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                3,200
     material in sealed sources for irradiation of
     materials in which the source is not removed from
     its shield (self-shielded units)..................
    F. Licenses for possession and use of less than                5,800
     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..............
    G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000 curies           20,900
     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..............
    H. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of               3,200
     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...........................................
    I. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of               4,600
     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...................................
    J. Licenses issued under subpart B of part 32 of               2,100
     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..
    K. Licenses issued under subpart B of part 31 of               1,400
     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............
    L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use             10,000
     of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33
     of this chapter for research and development that
     do not authorize commercial distribution..........
    M. Other licenses for possession and use of                    4,400
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for research and development that do not
     authorize commercial distribution.................
    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                 4,800
         services are subject to the fees specified in
         fee Categories 4A, 4B, and 4C.................
    O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct               12,500
     material issued under part 34 of this chapter for
     industrial radiography operations. This category
     also includes the possession and use of source
     material for shielding authorized under part 40 of
     this chapter when authorized on the same license..
    P. All other specific byproduct material licenses,             2,400
     except those in Categories 4A through 9D..........
    Q. Registration of devices generally licensed                 13 N/A
     pursuant to 10 CFR part 31........................

[[Page 17001]]

 
4. Waste disposal and processing:
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of            5 N/A
     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...........
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of            9,800
     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.............
    C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of            7,400
     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................
5. Well logging:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                8,800
     material, source material, and/or special nuclear
     material for well logging, well surveys, and
     tracer studies other than field flooding tracer
     studies...........................................
    B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                5 N/A
     material for field flooding tracer studies........
6. Nuclear laundries:
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry             16,900
     of items contaminated with byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear material......
7. Medical licenses:
    A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 70             13,900
     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.....
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical                  24,200
     institutions or two or more physicians under 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 license9....
    C. Other licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,               4,600
     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 license9..............................
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                1,100
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material for civil defense activities.............
9. Device, product, or sealed source safety evaluation:
    A. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation              5,800
     of devices or products containing byproduct
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material, except reactor fuel devices, for
     commercial distribution...........................
    B. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation              5,800
     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............
    C. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation              1,700
     of sealed sources containing byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear material,
     except reactor fuel, for commercial distribution..
    D. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation                590
     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....................
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             6N/A
         packages......................................
        Other Casks....................................             6N/A
    B. Quality assurance program approvals issued under
     10 CFR part 71.
        Users and Fabricators..........................           62,500
        Users..........................................            6,100
11. Standardized spent fuel facilities.................            6 N/A
12. Special Projects...................................            6 N/A
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of                      6 N/A
 Compliance............................................
    B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel under           12 N/A
     10 CFR 72.210.....................................
14. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material                 7 N/A
 licenses and other approvals authorizing
 decommissioning, decontamination, reclamation, or site
 restoration activities under 10 CFR parts 30, 40, 70,
 72, and 76 of this chapter............................
15. Import and Export licenses.........................            8 N/A
16. Reciprocity........................................            8 N/A
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued to           306,000
 Government agencies...................................
18. Department of Energy:
    A. Certificates of Compliance......................     10 1,107,000

[[Page 17002]]

 
    B. Uranium Mill Tailing Radiation Control Act               654,000
     (UMTRCA) activities...............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Annual fees will be assessed based on whether a licensee held a valid
  license with the NRC authorizing possession and use of radioactive
  material during the current fiscal year. However, the annual fee is
  waived for those materials licenses and holders of certificates,
  registrations, and approvals who either filed for termination of their
  licenses or approvals or filed for possession only/storage licenses
  prior to October 1, 2000, and permanently ceased licensed activities
  entirely by September 30, 2000. Annual fees for licensees who filed
  for termination of a license, downgrade of a license, or for a
  possession only license 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 1A(1) are not subject to
  the annual fees for Category 1C and 1D 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, 72, or 76 of this chapter.
3 Each fiscal year, 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.
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 There are no existing NRC licenses in these fee categories. If NRC
  issues a license for these categories, the Commission will consider
  establishing an annual fee for this type of license.
6 Standardized spent fuel facilities, 10 CFR parts 71 and 72
  Certificates of Compliance, and special reviews, such as topical
  reports, are not assessed an annual fee because the generic costs of
  regulating these activities are primarily attributable to 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 See 10 CFR 171.15(c).
12 See 10 CFR 171.15(c).
13 No annual fee is charged for this category because the cost of the
  general license registration program will be recovered through 10 CFR
  part 170 fees.

    (e) The activities comprising the surcharge are as follows:
    (1) LLW disposal generic activities;
    (2) Activities not directly attributable to an existing NRC 
licensee or class(es) 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
    (3) Activities not currently assessed licensing and inspection fees 
under 10 CFR part 170 based on existing law or Commission policy (e.g., 
reviews and inspections of nonprofit educational institutions and 
reviews for 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).
    15. In Sec. 171.19, paragraphs (b) and (d) are revised to read as 
follows:


Sec. 171.19  Payment.

* * * * *
    (b) Annual fees in the amount of $100,000 or more and described in 
the Federal Register document issued under Sec. 171.13, and annual fees 
for Class I and Class II uranium recovery licensees 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. 
The NRC will adjust the fourth quarterly invoice 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. Licensees whose annual fee for the 
previous fiscal year was less than $100,000 (billed on the anniversary 
date of the license), and whose revised annual fee for the current 
fiscal year is $100,000 or greater (subject to quarterly billing), will 
be issued a bill upon publication of the final rule for the full amount 
of the revised annual fee for the current fiscal year, less any 
payments received for the current fiscal year based on the anniversary 
date billing process.
* * * * *
    (d) Annual fees of less than $100,000 must be paid as billed by the 
NRC. Materials license annual fees that are less than $100,000, except 
those for Class I and Class II uranium recovery licensees, are billed 
on the anniversary date of the license. The materials licensees that 
are billed on the anniversary date of the license are those covered by 
fee categories 1C, 1D, 2A(2) Other Facilities, 2A(3), 2A(4), 2B, 2C, 3A 
through 3P, 4B through 9D, 10A, and 10B.
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of March, 2001.
Jesse L. Funches,
Chief Financial Officer.

    Note: This appendix will not appear in the Code of Federal 
Regulations.

Appendix A to This Proposed Rule-- Draft 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 (RFA), as amended, (5 U.S.C. 601 
et seq.) requires that agencies consider the impact of their 
rulemakings on small entities and, consistent with applicable 
statutes, consider alternatives to minimize these impacts on the 
businesses, organizations, and government jurisdictions to which 
they apply.
    The NRC has established standards for determining which NRC 
licensees qualify as small entities (10 CFR 2.801). These size 
standards reflect the Small Business Administration's most common 
receipts-based size standards and include a size standard for 
business concerns that are manufacturing entities. The NRC uses the 
size standards to reduce the impact of annual fees on small entities 
by establishing a licensee's eligibility to qualify for a

[[Page 17003]]

maximum small entity fee. The small entity fee categories in 
Sec. 171.16(c) of this proposed rule are based on the NRC's size 
standards.
    From FY 1991 through FY 2000, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 
Act (OBRA-90), as amended, required that the NRC recover 
approximately 100 percent of its budget authority, less 
appropriations from the Nuclear Waste Fund, by assessing license and 
annual fees. The FY 2001 Energy and Water Development Appropriations 
Act amended OBRA-90 to decrease the NRC's fee recovery amount for FY 
2001 to 98 percent of the NRC's budget. Certain NRC costs related to 
reviews and assistance provided to other Federal agencies and States 
were excluded from the fee recovery requirement for FY 2001 by the 
Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act. The amount to be 
recovered for FY 2001 is approximately $453.3 million.
    OBRA-90 requires that the schedule of charges established by 
rule should fairly and equitably allocate the total amount to be 
recovered from NRC's licensees and be assessed under the principle 
that licensees who require the greatest expenditure of agency 
resources pay the greatest annual charges. Since 1991, the NRC has 
complied with OBRA-90 by issuing a final rule that amends its fee 
regulations. These final rules have established the methodology used 
by NRC in identifying and determining the fees to be assessed and 
collected in any given fiscal year.
    In FY 1995, the NRC announced that, in order to stabilize fees, 
annual fees would be adjusted only by the percentage change (plus or 
minus) in NRC's total budget authority, adjusted for changes in 
estimated collections for 10 CFR Part 170 fees, the number of 
licensees paying annual fees, and as otherwise needed to assure the 
billed amounts resulted in the required collections. The NRC 
indicated that if there were a substantial change in the total NRC 
budget authority or the magnitude of the budget allocated to a 
specific class of licensees, the annual fee base would be 
recalculated.
    In FY 1999, the NRC concluded that there had been significant 
changes in the allocation of agency resources among the various 
classes of licensees and established rebaselined annual fees for FY 
1999. The NRC stated in the final FY 1999 rule that to stabilize 
fees it would continue to adjust the annual fees by the percent 
change method established in FY 1995, unless there were 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.
    After carefully considering all factors, including the changes 
to the amount of the budget allocated to classes of licensees, and 
weighing the complex issues related to both fairness and stability 
of fees, the Commission has determined that it is appropriate to 
rebaseline its Part 171 annual fees in FY 2001. Rebaselining fees 
would result in reduced annual fees for a majority of the categories 
of licenses, and increased annual fees for other categories.
    The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 
(SBREFA) is intended to reduce regulatory burdens imposed by Federal 
agencies on small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and 
governmental jurisdictions. SBREFA also provides Congress with the 
opportunity to review agency rules before they go into effect. Under 
this legislation, the NRC annual fee rule is considered a ``major'' 
rule and must be reviewed by Congress and the Comptroller General 
before the rule becomes effective. SBREFA also requires that an 
agency prepare a guide to assist small entities in complying with 
each rule for which a final regulatory flexibility analysis is 
prepared. This Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RFA) and the small 
entity compliance guide (Attachment 1) have been prepared for the FY 
2001 fee rule as required by law.

II. Impact on Small Entities

    The fee rule results in substantial fees being charged to those 
individuals, organizations, and companies that are licensed by the 
NRC, including those licensed under the NRC materials program. The 
comments received on previous proposed fee rules and the small 
entity certifications received in response to previous final fee 
rules indicate that NRC licensees qualifying as small entities under 
the NRC's size standards are primarily materials licensees. 
Therefore, this analysis will focus on the economic impact of the 
annual fees on materials licensees. About 20 percent of these 
licensees (approximately 1,400 licensees for FY 2000) have requested 
small entity certification in the past. A 1993 NRC survey of its 
materials licensees indicated that about 25 percent of these 
licensees could qualify as small entities under the NRC's size 
standards.
    The commenters on previous fee rulemakings consistently 
indicated that the following results would occur if the proposed 
annual fees were not modified.
    1. Large firms would gain an unfair competitive advantage over 
small entities. Commenters noted that small and very small companies 
(``Mom and Pop'' operations) would find it more difficult to absorb 
the annual fee than a large corporation or a high-volume type of 
operation. In competitive markets, such as soils testing, annual 
fees would put small licensees at an extreme competitive 
disadvantage with their 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.
    2. Some firms would be forced to cancel their licenses. A 
licensee 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. Other licensees, especially well-loggers, noted 
that the increased fees would force 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.
    3. Some companies would go out of business.
    4. Some companies would have budget problems. Many medical 
licensees noted that, along with reduced reimbursements, the 
proposed increase of the existing fees and the introduction of 
additional fees would significantly affect their budgets. Others 
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.
    Since annual fees for materials licenses were first established, 
approximately 3,000 license, approval, and registration terminations 
have been requested. Although some of these terminations were 
requested because the license was no longer needed or licenses or 
registrations could be combined, indications are that other 
termination requests were due to the economic impact of the fees.
    To alleviate the significant impact of the annual fees on a 
substantial number of small entities, the NRC considered the 
following alternatives in accordance with the RFA, in developing 
each of its fee rules since 1991.
    1. Base fees on some measure of the amount of radioactivity 
possessed by the licensee (e.g., number of sources).
    2. Base fees on the frequency of use of the licensed radioactive 
material (e.g., volume of patients).
    3. Base fees on the NRC size standards for small entities.
    The NRC has reexamined its previous evaluations of these 
alternatives and continues to believe that establishment of a 
maximum fee for small entities is the most appropriate and effective 
option for reducing the impact of its fees on small entities.

III. Maximum Fee

    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. In developing the maximum small entity 
annual fee in FY 1991, the NRC examined its 10 CFR Part 170 
licensing and inspection fees and Agreement State fees for those fee 
categories which were expected to have a substantial number of small 
entities. Six Agreement States; Washington, Texas, Illinois, 
Nebraska, New York, and Utah were used as benchmarks in the 
establishment of the maximum small entity annual fee in 1991. 
Because small entities in those Agreement States were paying the 
fees, the NRC concluded that these fees did not have a significant 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. Therefore, those 
fees were considered a useful benchmark in establishing the NRC 
maximum small entity annual fee.
    The NRC maximum small entity fee was established as an annual 
fee only. In addition to the annual fee, NRC small entity licensees 
were required to pay amendment, renewal and inspection fees. In 
setting the small entity annual fee, NRC ensured that the total 
amount small entities paid annually would not exceed the maximum 
paid in the six benchmark Agreement States.
    Of the six benchmark states, the maximum Agreement State fee of 
$3,800 in Washington

[[Page 17004]]

was used as the ceiling for the total fees. Thus the NRC's small 
entity fee was developed to ensure that the total fees paid by NRC 
small entities would not exceed $3,800. Given the NRC's 1991 fee 
structure for inspections, amendments, and renewals, a small entity 
annual fee established at $1,800 allowed the total fee (small entity 
annual fee plus yearly average for inspections, amendments and 
renewal fees) for all categories to fall under the $3,800 ceiling.
    In 1992, the NRC introduced a second, lower tier to the small 
entity fee in response to concerns that the $1,800 fee, when added 
to the license and inspection fees, still imposed a significant 
impact on small entities with relatively low gross annual receipts. 
For purposes of the annual fee, each small entity size standard was 
divided into an upper and lower tier. Small entity licensees in the 
upper tier continued to pay an annual fee of $1,800 while those in 
the lower tier paid an annual fee of $400.
    Based on the changes that had occurred since FY 1991, the NRC 
re-analyzed its maximum small entity annual fees in FY 2000, and 
determined that the small entity fees should be increased by 25 
percent to reflect the increase in the average fees paid by other 
materials licensees since FY 1991 as well as changes in the fee 
structure for materials licensees. The structure of the fees that 
NRC charged to its materials licensees changed during the period 
between 1991 and 1999. Costs for materials license inspections, 
renewals, and amendments, which were previously recovered through 
Part 170 fees for services, are now included in the Part 171 annual 
fees assessed to materials licensees. As a result, the maximum small 
entity annual fee increased from $1,800 to $2,300 in FY 2000. By 
increasing the maximum annual fee for small entities from $1,800 to 
$2,300, the annual fee for many small entities was reduced while at 
the same time materials licensees, including small entities, would 
pay for most of the costs attributable to them. The costs not 
recovered from small entities are allocated to other materials 
licensees and to power reactors.
    While reducing the impact on many small entities, the NRC 
determined that the maximum annual fee of $2,300 for small entities 
may continue to have a significant impact on materials licensees 
with annual gross receipts in the thousands of dollars range. 
Therefore, the NRC continued to provide a lower-tier small entity 
annual fee for small entities with relatively low gross annual 
receipts, and for manufacturing concerns and educational 
institutions not State or publicly supported, with less than 35 
employees. The NRC also increased the lower tier small entity fee by 
the same percentage increase to the maximum small entity annual fee. 
This 25 percent increase resulted in the lower tier small entity fee 
increasing from $400 to $500 in FY 2000.
    In the FY 2000 fee rule (65 FR 36946; June 12, 2000), the NRC 
stated that it would re-examine small entity fees each year that 
annual fees are rebaselined. Accordingly, the NRC has re-examined 
the small entity fees, and does not believe that a change to the 
small entity fees is warranted for FY 2001. The revision to the 
small entity fees in FY 2000 was the first change to the fees since 
they were introduced in FY 1991 and FY 1992. The revised fees were 
based on on the 25 percent increase in average total fees assessed 
to other materials licensees since the small entity fees were first 
established and changes that had occurred in the fee structure for 
materials licensees over time. The NRC does not consider the 
approximately 13 percent decrease in the average FY 2001 fees for 
other licensees to be significant enough to warrant another change 
to the small entity fees this year.
    Unlike the annual fees assessed to other licensees, the small 
entity fees are not designed to recover the agency costs associated 
with particular licensees. Rather, they are designed to provide some 
fee relief for qualifying small entity licensees while at the same 
time recovering from those licensees some of the agency's costs for 
activities that benefit them. The costs not recovered from small 
entities must be recovered from other licensees. The current small 
entity fees of $500 and $2,300 provide considerable relief to many 
small entities.
    In the future the NRC plans to re-examine the small entity fees 
every two years, in the same years in which it conducts the biennial 
review of fees as required by the CFO Act, instead of each year that 
annual fees are rebaselined as indicated in the FY 2000 fee rule. 
The annual fees for materials users now include the cost of 
amendments, renewals, and inspections. However, at a maximum, annual 
fees are rebaselined every three years, but may be rebaselined 
earlier if warranted. Therefore, reviewing the small entity fees 
only when the annual fees are rebaselined results in a variable 
schedule for the re-examinations and any potential changes to the 
fees. Re-examining the small entity annual fees every two years, on 
the same schedule as the biennial review under the CFO Act, provides 
a routine, predictable schedule and allows licensees to anticipate 
when potential changes to these fees might occur. Therefore, the NRC 
plans to re-examine the small entity fees in FY 2003.

IV. 40 Summary

    The NRC has determined that the 10 CFR Part 171 annual fees 
significantly impact a substantial number of small entities. A 
maximum fee for small entities strikes a balance between the 
requirement to recover 98 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 analysis, 
the NRC concludes that a maximum annual fee of $2,300 for small 
entities and a lower-tier small entity annual fee of $500 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 fees for small entities maintain a balance between the 
objectives of OBRA-90 and the RFA. Therefore, the analysis and 
conclusions established in the FY 2000 fee rule remain valid for FY 
2001.

Attachment 1 to Appendix A.--U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Small 
Entity Compliance Guide, Fiscal Year 2001

Contents

Introduction
NRC Definition of Small Entity
NRC Small Entity Fees
Instructions for Completing NRC Form 526

Introduction

    The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 
(SBREFA) requires all Federal agencies to prepare a written guide 
for each ``major'' final rule as defined by the Act. The NRC's fee 
rule, published annually to comply with the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, is considered a 
``major'' rule under SBREFA. Therefore, in compliance with the law, 
this compliance guide has been prepared to assist NRC material 
licensees comply with the FY 2001 fee rule.
    Licensees may use this guide to determine whether they qualify 
as a small entity under NRC regulations and are eligible to pay 
reduced FY 2001 annual fees assessed under 10 CFR Part 171. The NRC 
has established two tiers of separate annual fees for those 
materials licensees who qualify as small entities under NRC's size 
standards.
    Licensees who meet NRC's size standards for a small entity must 
submit a completed NRC Form 526 ``Certification of Small Entity 
Status for the Purposes of Annual Fees Imposed Under 10 CFR Part 
171'' to qualify for the reduced annual fee. This form can be 
accessed on the NRC's external web site at http://www.nrc.gov. The 
form can then be accessed by selecting ``Planning & Financial 
Management'' and then selecting ``NRC License Fee Program'' and 
under ``Forms'' selecting NRC Form 526. For licensees who cannot 
access the NRC's external web site, NRC Form 526 may be obtained 
through the local point of contact listed in the NRC's ``Materials 
Annual Fee Billing Handbook,'' NUREG/BR-0238, which is enclosed with 
each annual fee billing. Alternatively, the form may be obtained by 
calling the fee staff at 301-415-7554, or by e-mailing the fee staff 
at [email protected]. The completed form, the appropriate small entity 
fee, and the payment copy of the invoice should be mailed to the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, License Fee and Accounts 
Receivable Branch, to the address indicated on the invoice. Failure 
to file the NRC small entity certification Form 526 in a timely 
manner may result in the denial of any refund that might otherwise 
be due.

NRC Definition of Small Entity

    The NRC has defined a small entity for purposes of compliance 
with its regulations (10 CFR 2.810) as follows:
    1. Small business--a for-profit concern that provides a service 
or a concern not engaged in manufacturing with average gross 
receipts of $5 million or less over its last 3 completed fiscal 
years;

[[Page 17005]]

    2. Manufacturing industry--a manufacturing concern with an 
average number of 500 or fewer employees based upon employment 
during each pay period for the preceding 12 calendar months;
    3. Small organizations--a--not-for-profit organization which is 
independently owned and operated and has annual gross receipts of $5 
million or less;
    4. Small governmental jurisdiction--a government of a city, 
county, town, township, village, school district or special district 
with a population of less than 50,000;
    5. Small educational institutional institution--an educational 
institution supported by a qualifying small governmental 
jurisdiction, or one that is not state or publicly supported and has 
500 or fewer employees.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ An educational institution referred to in the size standards 
is an entity whose primary function is education, whose programs are 
accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or 
association, who is legally authorized to provide a program of 
organized instruction or study, who provides and educational program 
for which it awards academic degrees, and whose educational programs 
are available the public.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To further assist licensees in determining if they qualify as a 
small entity, we are providing the following guidelines, which are 
based on the Small Business Administration regulations.
    1. A small business concern is an independently owned and 
operated entity which is not considered dominant in its field of 
operations.
    2. The number of employees means the total number of employees 
in the parent company, any subsidiaries and/or affiliates, including 
both foreign and domestic locations (i.e., not solely the number of 
employees working for the licensee or conducting NRC licensed 
activities for the company).
    3. Gross annual receipts includes all revenue received or 
accrued from any source, including receipts of the parent company, 
any subsidiaries and/or affiliates, and account for both foreign and 
domestic locations. Receipts include all revenues from sales of 
products and services, interest, rent, fees, and commissions, from 
whatever sources derived (i.e., not solely receipts from NRC 
licensed activities).
    4. A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large entity does not 
qualify as a small entity.

NRC Small Entity Fees

    In 10 CFR 171.16 (c), the NRC has established two tiers of small 
entity fees for licensees that qualify under the NRC's size 
standards. The fees are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Maximum annual
                                                        fee per licensed
                                                            category
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Business Not Engaged in Manufacturing and Small
 Not-For Profit Organizations (Gross Annual
 Receipts):
    $350,000 to $5 million...........................             $2,300
    Less than $350,000...............................                500
Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500
 employees or less:
    35 to 500 employees..............................              2,300
    Less than 35 employees...........................                500
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly
 supported educational institutions) (Population):
    20,000 to 50,000.................................              2,300
    Less than 20,000.................................                500
Educational Institutions that are not State or
 Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Less:
    35 to 500 employees..............................              2,300
    Less than 35 employees...........................                500
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To pay a reduced annual fee, a licensee must use NRC Form 526. 
The NRC is proposing to eliminate mailing NRC Form 526 with the 
annual fee invoice. Instead, licensees can access this form on the 
NRC's external web site at http://www.nrc.gov. The form can then be 
accessed by selecting ``Planning & Financial Management'' and then 
selecting ``NRC License Fee Program'' and under ``Forms'' selecting 
NRC Form 526. Those licensees that qualify as a ``small entity'' 
under the NRC size standards at 10 CFR Part 2.810 would be able to 
complete the form in accordance with the instructions provided, and 
submit the completed form and the appropriate payment to the address 
provided on the invoice. For licensees who cannot access the NRC's 
external web site, NRC Form 526 may be obtained through the local 
point of contact listed in the NRC's ``Materials Annual Fee Billing 
Handbook,'' NUREG/BR-0238, which is enclosed with each annual fee 
invoice. Alternatively, licensees may obtain the form by calling the 
fee staff at 301-415-7544, or by e-mailing us at [email protected].

Instructions for Completing NRC Small Entity Form 526

    1. File a separate NRC Form 526 for each annual fee invoice 
received.
    2. Complete all items on NRC Form 526 as follows:
    a. The license number and invoice number must be entered exactly 
as they appear on the annual fee invoice.
    b. The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code must be 
entered if known.
    c. The licensee's name and address must be entered as they 
appear on the invoice. Name and/or address changes for billing 
purposes must be annotated on the invoice. Correcting the name and/
or address on NRC Form 526, or on the invoice does not constitute a 
request to amend the license. Any request to amend a license is to 
be submitted to the respective licensing staffs in the NRC Regional 
or Headquarters Offices.
    d. Check the appropriate size standard for which the licensee 
qualifies as a small entity. Check only one box. Note the following:
    (1) A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large entity does not 
qualify as a small entity.
    (2) The size standards apply to the licensee, including all 
parent companies and affiliates--not the individual authorized users 
listed in the license or the particular segment of the organization 
that uses licensed material.
    (3) Gross annual receipts means all revenue in whatever form 
received or accrued from whatever sources--not solely receipts from 
licensed activities. There are limited exceptions as set forth at 13 
CFR 121.104. These are: The term receipts excludes net capital gains 
or losses; taxes collected for and remitted to a taxing authority if 
included in gross or total income; proceeds from the transactions 
between a concern and its domestic or foreign affiliates (if also 
excluded from gross or total income on a consolidated return filed 
with the IRS); and amounts collected for another entity by a travel 
agent, real estate agent, advertising agent, or conference 
management service provider.
    (4) The owner of the entity, or an official empowered to act on 
behalf of the entity, must sign and date the small entity 
certification.
    The NRC sends invoices to its licensees for the full annual fee, 
even though some entities qualify for reduced fees as a small 
entity. Licensees who qualify as a small entity and file NRC Form 
526, which certifies eligibility for small entity fees, may pay the 
reduced fee, which for a full year is either $2,300 or $500 
depending on the size of the entity, for each fee category shown on 
the invoice. Licensees granted a license during the first six months 
of the fiscal year, and licensees who file for termination or for a 
possession only license and permanently cease licensed activities 
during the first six months of the fiscal year, pay only 50 percent 
of the annual fee for that year. Such an invoice states the ``Amount 
Billed Represents 50% Proration.'' This means the amount due from a 
small entity is not the prorated amount shown on the invoice, but 
rather one-half of the maximum annual fee shown on NRC Form 526 for 
the size standard under which the

[[Page 17006]]

licensee qualifies, resulting in a fee of either $1,150 or $250 for 
each fee category billed, instead of the full small entity annual 
fee of $2,300 or $500.
    A new small entity form (NRC Form 526) must be filed with the 
NRC each fiscal year to qualify for reduced fees in that year. 
Because a licensee's ``size,'' or the size standards, may change 
from year to year, the invoice reflects the full fee and a new Form 
526 must be completed and returned in order for the fee to be 
reduced to the small entity fee amount. licensees will not be issued 
a new invoice for the reduced amount. The completed NRC Form 526, 
the payment of the appropriate small entity fee, and the ``Payment 
Copy'' of the invoice should be mailed to the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, License Fee and Accounts Receivable Branch at 
the address indicated on the invoice.
    If you have questions regarding the NRC's annual fees, please 
call the license fee staff at 301-415-7554, e-mail the fee staff at 
[email protected], or write to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Office of the Chief Financial 
Officer.
    False certification of small entity status could result in civil 
sanctions being imposed by the NRC under the Program Fraud Civil 
Remedies Act, 31 U.S.C. 3801 et seq. NRC's implementing regulations 
are found at 10 CFR Part 13.

[FR Doc. 01-7356 Filed 3-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P