[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 190 (Friday, October 1, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 58820-58822]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21766]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 73
RIN 3150-AH53
Criminal History Check: Assessment of Application Fee
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its
regulations to reflect an administrative change in the method of
calculating the agency's application fee for criminal history checks
requested by licensees. The amendment establishes the application fee
amount as the sum of the user fee charged by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) for performing
[[Page 58821]]
criminal history checks on fingerprint records and an NRC handling
charge assessed to ensure full recovery of NRC's administrative costs
related to fingerprint record processing. The resulting increase in the
fee is quite small ($3.00). The amendment also provides for the NRC to
publish its current criminal history check fee on the NRC public Web
site. The NRC will continue to notify licensees directly (by e-mail)
whenever the application fee is adjusted.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may
be viewed on public computers in the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR),
located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland, Room O-1 F21. The PDR reproduction contractor will make
copies of documents for a fee. Selected documents can be viewed and
downloaded electronically via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, the public can
gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management
System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public
documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the PDR Reference
staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Smith, Security Branch,
Division of Facilities and Security, Office of Administration, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone
(301) 415-7739, e-mail [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NRC licensees authorized to operate nuclear
power reactors under 10 CFR part 50 must ensure that any individual
granted access to Safeguards Information or unescorted access to the
nuclear power facility has passed a criminal history check performed by
the FBI. 10 CFR part 73, which implements Section 149 of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, requires licensees to submit a
fingerprint record for any such individual to the NRC, which forwards
that record to the FBI for analysis. Based on criminal history
information received from the FBI, the licensee must determine whether
to grant or to deny the individual unescorted access to the facility or
access to Safeguards Information.
10 CFR 73.57(d) details how licensees are to submit fingerprint
records and requires that each application for a criminal history check
be accompanied by payment of the application fee. Section 149 of the
Atomic Energy Act requires that the costs of these NRC record checks
shall be paid by the licensee or licensee applicant. In the past, the
application fee was equal to the amount charged NRC by the FBI for
checking fingerprint records submitted on behalf of licensees. This FBI
user fee, currently $24.00, includes a $2.00 handling fee retained by
the NRC to offset administrative costs associated with the processing
of licensee submissions. However, a recent audit of the NRC's criminal
history check program found that the actual cost to the NRC of
processing each fingerprint check application is more than twice the
$2.00 agency handling charge included in the FBI user fee. As a result,
the NRC has not been recovering the full cost of the criminal history
program from those licensees using the service.
In order to recover full program costs from licensee users, the NRC
is increasing the amount of the criminal history check application fee
by $3.00, to $27.00 per fingerprint record submitted. The higher amount
will close the gap between the current handling charge and the NRC's
actual administrative costs related to processing of licensee
applications. This final rule amends Sec. 73.57(d)(3) to specify that
the application fee for criminal history checks is the sum of the FBI
user fee and the supplemental NRC processing charge required to fully
cover internal administrative costs connected with the program.
The dollar amount of the application fee was removed from Sec.
73.57(d)(3) by a final rule published on January 6, 1994 (59 FR 661).
This was done to allow the NRC to adjust the application fee as
necessary to ensure cost recovery without undertaking a burdensome
rulemaking to effect a minor fee change. The 1994 final rule also
provided that the NRC would publish notice of any future cost
adjustments in the Federal Register. This final rule changes the
procedure for notifying NRC licensees of fee adjustments. The amendment
requires the NRC to post the amount of the current application fee on
the Criminal History Program web page, accessible from the NRC's
Electronic Submittals page at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/eie.html.
The NRC will continue its current practice of directly informing
affected licensees of any fee changes. Licensees will be notified of
future fee adjustments via e-mail.
Administrative Procedure Act
The NRC finds for good cause that the notice and comment provisions
of the Administrative Procedure Act do not apply under 5 U.S.C.
553(b)(A). Congress has mandated that the NRC recover its full
administrative costs in implementing Section 149 of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, as amended, and the fee increase established here is quite
small. Therefore, notice and public comment would be unnecessary and
contrary to the public interest. The final rule is effective upon
publication in the Federal Register. Good cause exists to dispense with
the usual 30-day delay in the effective date because the amendment is
of a minor and administrative nature.
Voluntary Consensus Standards
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Pub.
L. 104-113, requires agencies to use technical standards developed or
adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies unless the use of such
a standard is inconsistent with applicable law or is otherwise
impractical. This final rule changes the way in which the NRC's
fingerprint check application fee is assessed, enabling the agency to
recover the full administrative cost of the criminal history program
from licensee users. The rule also establishes a new mechanism for
informing licensees of any future fee adjustments. This action is
administrative in nature and does not involve the establishment or
application of a technical standard containing generally applicable
requirements.
Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion
The NRC has determined that this final rule is the type of action
described in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22(c) because the rule is
of a minor or non-policy nature. Therefore, neither an environmental
impact statement nor an environmental assessment has been prepared for
this final rule. Because of the nature of the rule, this action does
not raise environmental justice concerns.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
This final rule does not contain new or amended information
collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing requirements were approved by the
Office of Management and Budget under approval number 3150-0002.
[[Page 58822]]
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a request for information or an information collection
requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
Regulatory Analysis
A regulatory analysis has not been prepared for this rulemaking.
This final rule makes an administrative change in the method of
calculating the NRC's application fee for criminal history checks
requested by licensees. The amendment is required to ensure that the
NRC recovers the full cost of the criminal history program from
licensees using the service. Because this rule implements the Section
149 requirement that the cost of the criminal history check be paid by
the licensee or applicant, a regulatory analysis is unnecessary.
Backfit Analysis
The NRC has determined that the backfit rule does not apply to this
final rule and a backfit analysis is not required because this
amendment does not involve any provisions that would impose backfits as
defined in 10 CFR Chapter I.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
In accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has determined that this action is not a
major rule and has verified this determination with the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 73
Criminal penalties, Export, Hazardous materials transportation,
Import, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements, Security measures.
0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble and under the authority of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization
Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is adopting
the following amendments to 10 CFR part 73.
PART 73--PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF PLANTS AND MATERIALS
0
1. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Secs. 53, 161, 68 Stat. 930, 948, as amended, sec.
147, 94 Stat. 780 (42 U.S.C. 2073, 2167, 2201); sec. 201, as
amended, 204, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1245, sec. 1701, 106 Stat.
2951, 2952, 2953 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5844, 2297f); sec. 1704, 112 Stat.
2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note).
Section 73.1 also issued under secs. 135, 141, Pub. L. 97-425,
96 Stat. 2232, 2241 (42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161). Section 73.37(f) also
issued under sec. 301, Pub. L. 96-295, 94 Stat. 789 (42 U.S.C. 5841
note). Section 73.57 is issued under sec. 606, Pub. L. 99-399, 100
Stat. 876 (42 U.S.C. 2169).
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2. In Sec. 73.57, paragraph (d)(3) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 73.57 Requirements for criminal history checks of individuals
granted unescorted access to a nuclear power facility or access to
Safeguards Information by power reactor licensees.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(3) (i) Fees for the processing of fingerprint checks are due upon
application. Licensees shall submit payment with the application for
the processing of fingerprints through corporate check, certified
check, cashier's check, money order, or electronic payment, made
payable to ``U.S. NRC.'' (For guidance on making electronic payments,
contact the Security Branch, Division of Facilities and Security, at
(301) 415-7404). Combined payment for multiple applications is
acceptable.
(ii) The application fee is the sum of the user fee charged by the
FBI for each fingerprint card or other fingerprint record submitted by
the NRC on behalf of a nuclear power plant licensee, and an
administrative processing fee assessed by the NRC. The NRC processing
fee covers administrative costs associated with NRC handling of
licensee fingerprint submissions. The Commission publishes the amount
of the fingerprint check application fee on the NRC public Web site.
(To find the current fee amount, go to the Electronic Submittals page
at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/eie.html and select the link for the
Criminal History Program.) The Commission will directly notify
licensees who are subject to this regulation of any fee changes.
* * * * *
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of September, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Martin J. Virgilio,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 04-21766 Filed 9-30-04; 8:45 am]
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