[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 52 (Thursday, March 17, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14748-14775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5968]



[[Page 14747]]

Vol. 76

Thursday,

No. 52

March 17, 2011

Part II





Nuclear Regulatory Commission





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10 CFR Parts 170 and 171



Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2011; Proposed 
Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 76 , No. 52 / Thursday, March 17, 2011 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 14748]]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 170 and 171

RIN 3150-AI93
[NRC-2011-0016]


Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2011

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
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 the NRC to recover through fees 
approximately 90 percent of its budget authority in Fiscal Year (FY) 
2011, not including amounts appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund 
(NWF), amounts appropriated for Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR), 
and amounts appropriated for generic homeland security activities. The 
NRC is currently operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) set to 
expire on March 4, 2011. Based on the FY 2011 budget submitted to the 
Congress, the NRC's required fee recovery amount for the FY 2011 budget 
is approximately $915.3 million. After accounting for billing 
adjustments, the total amount to be billed as fees is approximately 
$915.7 million.

DATES: Submit comments on the proposed rule by April 18, 2011. Comments 
received after the above date will be considered if it is practical to 
do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments 
received on or before this date. Because OBRA-90 requires that the NRC 
collect the FY 2011 fees by September 30, 2011, requests for extensions 
of the comment period will not be granted.

ADDRESSES: Please include Docket ID NRC-2011-0016 in the subject line 
of your comments. For instructions on submitting comments and accessing 
documents related to this action, see Section I, ``Submitting Comments 
and Accessing Information'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 
the document. You may submit comments by any one of the following 
methods.
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-
2011-0016. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, 
telephone: 301-492-3668; e-mail: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     E-mail comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your 
comments, contact us directly at 301-415-1677.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays. 
(telephone: 301-415-1677).
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
    To obtain additional information on the NRC's FY 2011 budget 
request, commenters and others may review NUREG-1100, Volume 26, 
``Performance Budget: Fiscal Year 2011'' (SEP 2010), which describes 
the NRC's budget for FY 2011, including the activities to be performed 
in each program. This document is available on the NRC's public Web 
site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1100/v26. The allocation of the budget to each fee class and fee-
relief category is included in the publicly available work papers 
supporting this rulemaking.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Renu Suri, Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0161, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Submitting Comments and Accessing Information

    Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be posted 
on the NRC Web site http://www.regulations.gov. Because your comments 
will not be edited, the NRC cautions you against including any 
information in your submission that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed. The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating 
comments received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform 
those persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any 
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not 
include any information in their comments that they do not want 
publicly disclosed.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this 
document using the following methods:
     NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine 
and have copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's 
PDR, Room O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland 20852.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC 
are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public 
can gain entry into 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 NRC's 
PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Public comments and 
supporting materials related to this proposed rule can be found at 
http://www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID NRC-2011-0016.

II. Background

    The NRC is required each year, under OBRA-90 (42 U.S.C. 2214), as 
amended, to recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority, 
not including amounts appropriated from the NWF, amounts appropriated 
for WIR, and amounts appropriated for generic homeland security 
activities (non-fee items), through fees to NRC licensees and 
applicants. The NRC receives 10 percent of its budget authority (not 
including non-fee items) from the general fund each year to pay for the

[[Page 14749]]

cost of agency activities that do not provide a direct benefit to NRC 
licensees, such as international assistance and Agreement State 
activities (as defined under Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended).
    The NRC assesses two types of fees to meet the requirements of 
OBRA-90. First, user fees, presented in Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (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 cost of providing special benefits to identifiable applicants and 
licensees. For example, the NRC assesses these fees to cover the cost 
of inspections, applications for new licenses and license renewals, and 
requests for license amendments. Second, annual fees, presented in 10 
CFR Part 171 under the authority of OBRA-90, recover generic regulatory 
costs not otherwise recovered through 10 CFR Part 170 fees.
    The NRC is currently operating under an CR for FY 2011 (Pub. L. 
111-322) that is effective through March 4, 2011. This means that the 
FY 2011 funds currently available are similar to the NRC's funding in 
FY 2010. Although the NRC has not received a new appropriation for FY 
2011 at the time this proposed fee rule was submitted for publication 
in the Federal Register, the NRC must proceed with this rulemaking to 
collect the required fee amounts by September 30, 2011. Therefore, the 
NRC is establishing fees in this rulemaking based on the FY 2011 NRC 
budget sent to the Congress in February 2010.
    If the Congress enacts a different version of the NRC budget than 
that included in the NRC submission, the fees in the NRC's FY 2011 
final fee rule will be adjusted to reflect the enacted budget. 
Therefore, fees in the FY 2011 final fee rule may differ from the fees 
in this proposed rule. The NRC will adjust the FY 2011 final fees based 
on the enacted version of the budget without seeking further public 
comment.
    Under a full-year CR with funding similar to FY 2010, the NRC's 
total required fee recovery amount could decrease by approximately $3.1 
million, as compared to the FY 2011 NRC budget submitted to Congress. 
Nevertheless, the NRC's exact fee recovery amount would depend on the 
specific provisions in such legislation. A given licensee's Part 171 
annual fees under a full-year CR could be similar to or higher than the 
fees included in this proposed fee rule. Although, some licensees may 
be affected more than others based on which NRC activities are subject 
to budget changes. It is possible that some annual fees may increase 
from this proposed rule under a full-year CR, because the NRC's fee-
relief surplus adjustment in this proposed rule (discussed more in 
Section III.B.1, Application of ``Fee Relief/Surcharge'' of this 
document), could be reduced or revert to becoming a surcharge similar 
to the previous year. Fees in the FY 2011 final fee rule may also 
change from this proposed fee rule for other reasons, such as changes 
in the amount expected to be received from Part 170 fees in FY 2011.
    Based on the FY 2011 budget submitted to the Congress, the NRC's 
required fee recovery amount for the FY 2011 budget is approximately 
$915.3 million, which is increased by approximately $0.4 million to 
account for billing adjustments (i.e., expected unpaid invoices, 
payments for prior year invoices), resulting in a total of 
approximately $915.7 million to be billed as fees in FY 2011.
    In accordance with OBRA-90, $26.1 million of the agency's budgeted 
resources for generic homeland security activities are excluded from 
the NRC's fee base in FY 2011. These funds cover generic activities 
such as rulemakings, development of guidance documents that support 
entire license fee classes or classes of licensees, and major 
information technology systems that support tracking of source 
materials. Under its IOAA authority, the NRC will continue to charge 
Part 170 fees for all licensee-specific homeland security-related 
services provided, including security inspections and security plan 
reviews.
    The amount of the NRC's required fee collections is set by law, and 
is, therefore, outside the scope of this rulemaking. In FY 2011, the 
NRC's total fee recovery amount has increased by $3.1 million from FY 
2010. The FY 2011 budget supports activities associated with the safe 
and secure operations of civilian nuclear power reactors, research and 
test reactors, various fuel facilities, use of nuclear materials, and 
storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel. The FY 2011 budget 
was allocated to the fee classes that the budget activities support. 
The annual fees for power reactors and uranium recovery facilities 
decrease while fees for spent fuel storage facilities, nonpower 
reactors, fuel facilities, most materials users, and Department of 
Energy's (DOE) uranium recovery and transportation increases. Another 
factor affecting the amount of annual fees for each fee class is the 
estimated collection under Part 170, discussed in Section III, 
``Proposed Action,'' of this document.

III. Proposed Action

    The NRC is proposing to amend its licensing, inspection, and annual 
fees to recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2011 budget 
authority less the appropriations for non-fee items. The NRC's total 
budget authority for FY 2011 is $1,053.6 million. The non-fee items 
include $10 million appropriated from the NWF, $0.5 million for WIR 
activities, and $26.1 million for generic homeland security activities. 
Based on the 90 percent fee-recovery requirement, the NRC will have to 
recover approximately $915.3 million in FY 2011 through Part 170 
licensing and inspection fees and Part 171 annual fees. The amount 
required by law to be recovered through fees for FY 2011 would be $3.1 
million more than the amount estimated for recovery in FY 2010, an 
increase of less than 1 percent.
    The FY 2011 fee recovery amount is increased by $0.4 million to 
account for billing adjustments (i.e., for FY 2011 invoices that the 
NRC estimates will not be paid during the fiscal year, less payments 
received in FY 2011 for prior year invoices). This leaves approximately 
$915.7 million to be billed as fees in FY 2011 through Part 170 
licensing and inspection fees and Part 171 annual fees.
    Table I summarizes the budget and fee recovery amounts for FY 2011. 
FY 2010 amounts are provided for comparison purposes. (Individual 
values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

[[Page 14750]]



                                    Table I--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   FY 2010 final rule     FY 2011 proposed rule
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority........................................                 $1,066.9                 $1,053.6
Less Non-Fee Items............................................                    -53.3                    -36.6
                                                               -------------------------------------------------
    Balance...................................................                 $1,013.6                 $1,017.0
Fee Recovery Rate for FY 2011.................................                      90%                      90%
Total Amount to be Recovered for FY 2011......................                   $912.2                   $915.3
Less Part 171 Billing Adjustments:
    Unpaid Current Year Invoices (estimated)..................                      2.1                      3.0
    Less Payments Received in Current Year for Previous Year                       -3.2                     -2.6
     Invoices (estimated).....................................
                                                               -------------------------------------------------
    Subtotal..................................................                     -1.1                      0.4
Amount to be Recovered Through Parts 170 and 171 Fees.........                   $911.1                   $915.7
Less Estimated Part 170 Fees..................................                   -357.3                   -369.3
                                                               -------------------------------------------------
    Part 171 Fee Collections Required.........................                   $553.8                   $546.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC estimates that $369.3 million would be recovered from Part 
170 fees in FY 2011. This represents an increase of approximately 1.5 
percent as compared to the actual Part 170 collections of $364 million 
for FY 2010. The NRC derived the FY 2011 estimate of Part 170 fee 
collections based on the previous four quarters of billing data for 
each license fee class, with adjustments to account for changes in the 
NRC's FY 2011 budget, as appropriate. The remaining $546.4 million 
would be recovered through the Part 171 annual fees in FY 2011, which 
is an increase of less than 1 percent compared to actual Part 171 
collections of $545.6 million for FY 2010.
    The NRC plans to publish the final fee rule no later than June 
2011. The FY 2011 final fee rule will be a ``major rule'' as defined by 
the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 801-808). Therefore, the 
NRC's fee schedules for FY 2011 will 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 reactor licensees, 
10 CFR Part 72 licensees, major fuel cycle facilities, and other 
licensees with annual fees of $100,000 or more, upon publication of the 
FY 2011 final rule. For these licensees, payment is due on the 
effective date of the FY 2011 final rule. Because these licensees are 
billed quarterly, the payment due is the amount of the total FY 2011 
annual fee, less payments made in the first three quarters of the 
fiscal year.
    Materials licensees with annual fees of less than $100,000 are 
billed annually. Those materials licensees whose license anniversary 
date during FY 2011 falls before the effective date of the FY 2011 
final rule will be billed for the annual fee during the anniversary 
month of the license at the FY 2010 annual fee rate. Those materials 
licensees whose license anniversary date falls on or after the 
effective date of the FY 2011 final rule will be billed for the annual 
fee at the FY 2011 annual fee rate during the anniversary month of the 
license, and payment will be due on the date of the invoice.
    The NRC will send licensees a short summary of the proposed rule 
and information on how to access the complete proposed rule on the 
internet. The NRC currently does not mail the final fee rule to all 
licensees, but will send the final rule or the proposed rule to any 
licensee or other person upon specific request. To request a copy, 
contact the Accounts Receivable/Payable Branch, Division of the 
Controller, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, at 301-415-7554, or 
e-mail [email protected]. In addition to publication in the Federal 
Register, both the proposed and final rules will be available on the 
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.
    The NRC, in conjunction with internal and external stakeholders, 
reviewed its fee policies for power reactors in anticipation of the 
receipt of new applications for licensing small and medium sized 
commercial nuclear reactors. The NRC has prepared a paper for the 
Commission's information in support of the Nuclear Energy Institute's 
position to calculate annual fees for each new licensed power reactor 
as a function of its licensed thermal power rating (MWt).
    The NRC changed its current policy with regard to billing 
inspection costs. Instead of billing a licensee when the inspection is 
completed, the NRC will now bill the licensee for any inspection cost 
incurred during the quarter even if the inspection is still ongoing. 
Billing for incurred inspections costs began in the first quarter of FY 
2011, when the NRC's new accounting system was implemented. This policy 
change does not require a revision to Part 170.
    The NRC is proposing to amend 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171 as discussed 
in Sections III.A. and III.B. of this document.

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

    In FY 2011, the NRC is proposing to increase the hourly rate to 
recover the full cost of activities under Part 170, and using this rate 
to calculate ``flat'' application fees.
    The NRC is proposing the following changes:
1. Hourly Rate
    The NRC's hourly rate is used in assessing full cost fees for 
specific services provided, as well as flat fees for certain 
application reviews. The NRC is proposing to change the FY 2011 hourly 
rate to $273. This rate would be applicable to all activities for which 
fees are assessed under Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31.
    The FY 2011 proposed hourly rate is higher than the hourly rate of 
$259 in the FY 2010 final fee rule. The increase in hourly rate is due 
to higher FY 2011 agency overhead budgeted resources, and a small 
reduction in the number of direct full-time equivalents (FTEs). In FY 
2011 the NRC revised its budget structure. This new structure allows 
the agency to accurately identify all its direct and overhead costs. 
Under this new FY 2011 structure, more of the budgeted resources have 
been identified as overhead costs. The agency is using this information 
to further streamline its costs and make efficient use of all its 
resources. The FTEs for direct program

[[Page 14751]]

activities in the Reactor program decrease in FY 2011. The hourly rate 
calculation is described in further detail in the following paragraphs.
    The NRC's hourly rate is derived by dividing the sum of recoverable 
budgeted resources for (1) mission direct program salaries and 
benefits; (2) mission indirect program support; and (3) agency 
corporate support and the Inspector General (IG), by mission direct FTE 
hours. The mission direct FTE hours are the product of the mission 
direct FTE times the hours per direct FTE. The only budgeted resources 
excluded from the hourly rate are those for contract activities related 
to mission direct and fee-relief activities.
    In FY 2011, the NRC is proposing to use 1,371 hours per direct FTE, 
the same amount as FY 2010, to calculate the hourly fees. The NRC has 
reviewed data from its time and labor system to determine if the annual 
direct hours worked per direct FTE estimate requires updating for the 
FY 2011 fee rule. Based on this review of the most recent data 
available, the NRC determined that 1,371 hours is the best estimate of 
direct hours worked annually per direct FTE. This estimate excludes all 
indirect activities such as training, general administration, and 
leave.
    Table II shows the results of the hourly rate calculation 
methodology. FY 2010 amounts are provided for comparison purposes. 
(Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

                    Table II--Hourly Rate Calculation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          FY 2010  final      FY 2011
                                               rule        proposed rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission Direct Program Salaries &                 $343.8          $337.6
 Benefits...............................
Mission Indirect Program Support........          $135.6           $25.9
Agency Corporate Support, and the IG....          $330.4          $473.4
                                         -------------------------------
    Subtotal............................          $809.8          $836.9
Less Offsetting Receipts................            -0.0            -0.0
                                         -------------------------------
    Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate          $809.8          $836.9
Mission Direct FTEs.....................           2,276           2,236
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budget              $259            $273
 Included in Hourly Rate divided by
 Mission Direct FTE Hours)..............
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As shown in Table II, dividing the FY 2011 $836.9 million budget 
amount included in the hourly rate by total mission direct FTE hours 
(2,236 FTE times 1,371 hours) results in an hourly rate of $273. The 
hourly rate is rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
2. ``Flat'' Application Fee Changes
    The NRC is proposing to adjust the current flat application fees in 
Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the revised hourly rate of 
$273. These flat fees are calculated by multiplying the average 
professional staff hours needed to process the licensing actions by the 
proposed professional hourly rate for FY 2011.
    Biennially, the NRC evaluates historical professional staff hours 
used to process a new license application for materials users fee 
categories subject to flat application fees. This is in accordance with 
the requirements of the Chief Financial Officer's Act. The NRC 
conducted this biennial review for the FY 2011 fee rule which also 
included license and amendment applications for import and export 
licenses.
    Evaluation of the historical data in FY 2011 shows that the average 
number of professional staff hours required to complete licensing 
actions in the materials program should be increased in some fee 
categories and decreased in others to more accurately reflect current 
data for completing these licensing actions. The average number of 
professional staff hours needed to complete new licensing actions was 
last updated for the FY 2009 final fee rule. Thus, the revised proposed 
average professional staff hours in this fee rule reflect the changes 
in the NRC licensing review program that have occurred since that time.
    The higher hourly rate of $273 is the main reason for the increases 
in the application fees. Application fees for 11 fee categories (3.G., 
3.I., 3.P., 3.R.1., 3.R.2., 4.B., 7.C., 8.A., 9.C., 9.D., and 17., 
under Sec.  170.31) also increase because of the results of the 
biennial review, which showed an increase in average time to process 
these types of license applications. The decrease in fees for 9 fee 
categories (2.C., 3.B., 3.H., 3.L., 3.M., 3.O., 5.A., 7.A., and 9.A., 
under Sec.  170.31) is due to a decrease in average time to process 
these types of applications.
    The flat application fee for fee Category 17., master materials 
licenses of broad scope issue to Government agencies, is being 
eliminated. Instead, any application received for fee Category 17. will 
be reviewed on a full-cost basis; i.e., staff hours required to review 
application times the NRC hourly rate. The regulatory effort to review 
a new master materials license application varies with each license 
application. Therefore, a full cost application fee would be equitable 
since the actual cost of review will be charged to the applicant.
    Based on the biennial review, the following changes have been made 
to the fee categories for import and export licenses. The current 
export fee Category 15.H. is deleted because the description for the 
fee was incorrect and not used in export licensing. The current fee 
Category 15.I. is renumbered as 15.H. A new export fee Category 15.H. 
is established to reflect a new fee category for government-to-
government consents for exports of Category 1 quantities for 
radioactive material listed in Appendix P to 10 CFR Part 110. The new 
15.H. fee category reflects the NRC's activity related to obtaining 
government-to-government consents as specified in Sec.  110.42(e)(3). 
In addition, fee categories 15.M. through and including 15.Q. are being 
eliminated since the requirement to obtain a specific license for 
imports of radioactive materials listed in Appendix P to 10 CFR Part 
110 was eliminated as part of a 2010 rule change to 10 CFR Part 110 
(July 28, 2010; 75 FR 44072).
    The amounts of the materials licensing flat fees are rounded so 
that the fees would be convenient to the user and the effects of 
rounding would be minimal. 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 for fee categories 
K.1. through K.5. of Sec.  170.21, and fee categories 1.C., 1.D., 2.B., 
2.C., 3.A. through 3.S., 4.B. through 9.D., 10.B.,

[[Page 14752]]

15.A. through 15.L., 15.R., 16, and 17 of Sec.  170.31. Applications 
filed on or after the effective date of the FY 2011 final fee rule 
would be subject to the revised fees in the final rule.
    In FY 2011, NRC will be eliminating fee Category 3.D. under 
byproduct materials since the agency does not expect to receive any 
license under the current definition of this fee category. The fee 
category will be reserved for future use.
3. Administrative Amendments
    In Sec.  170.11, the NRC is inserting a semicolon at the end of 
paragraph (a)(1)(iii)(A), inserting a semicolon and the word ``and'' at 
the end of paragraph (a)(1)(iii)(B), and removing and reserving 
paragraph (a)(1)(iii)(D) for ease of reading. There is no change to the 
NRC's fee exemption policy.
    In Sec.  170.31, the NRC is eliminating footnote 5 and renumbering 
footnote 6 to 5.
    In summary, the NRC is proposing to make the following changes to 
10 CFR Part 170:
    1. Establish a revised professional hourly rate to use in assessing 
fees for specific services;
    2. Revise the fee categories for import and export licenses. Also 
revise the license application fees to reflect the proposed FY 2011 
hourly rate; and
    3. Make certain administrative changes for purposes of improving 
the clarity of the rule.

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 use its fee-relief surplus by decreasing all 
licensees' annual fees. This rulemaking also proposed to make changes 
to the number of NRC licensees and to establish rebaselined annual fees 
based on the FY 2011 budget submitted to the Congress. The proposed 
amendments are described as follows:
1. Application of Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste (LLW) Surcharge
    The NRC is proposing to use its fee-relief surplus by decreasing 
all licensees' annual fees, based on their percentage share of the 
budget. The NRC applies the 10 percent of its budget that is excluded 
from fee recovery under OBRA-90, as amended (fee-relief), to offset the 
total budget allocated for activities which do not directly benefit 
current NRC licensees. The budget for these fee-relief activities is 
totaled and then reduced by the amount of the NRC's fee-relief. Any 
difference between the fee-relief and the budgeted amount of these 
activities results in a fee-relief adjustment (increase or decrease) to 
all licensees' annual fees, based on their percentage share of the 
budget (i.e., over 80 percent is allocated to power reactors each 
year).
    In FY 2011, the 10 percent fee-relief exceeded the total budget by 
$6.4 million. The FY 2011 budget for fee-relief activities is lower 
than FY 2010, primarily due to a decrease in budgeted resources for 
nonprofit educational exemptions, international activities, small 
entity subsidies, and grants for fellowships and scholarships. The NRC 
is decreasing all licensees' annual fees to use the surplus amount of 
$6.4 million, based on their percentage share of the fee recoverable 
budget authority.
    This is consistent with the existing fee methodology. Any fee-
relief surplus is allocated as a reduction of license fees when the NRC 
fee-relief amount is more than the budget for fee-relief activities. A 
fee-relief shortfall amount is allocated as an increase in license fee 
to licensees when the NRC fee-relief amount is less than the budgeted 
resources for fee-relief activities. In FY 2011, the power reactors 
class of licensees will be allocated approximately 86 percent of the 
fee-relief surplus based on their share of the NRC fee recoverable 
budget authority.
    The FY 2011 budgeted resources for NRC's fee-relief activities are 
$95.3 million. The NRC's total fee-relief in FY 2011 is $101.7 million, 
leaving a $6.4 million fee-relief surplus that will reduce licensees' 
annual fees. These values are shown in Table III. The FY 2010 amounts 
are provided for comparison purposes. (Individual values may not sum to 
totals due to rounding.)

                    Table III--Fee-Relief Activities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              FY 2010         FY 2011
          Fee-relief activities           budgeted costs  budgeted costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an
 existing NRC licensee or class of
 licensee:
    a. International activities.........           $18.2           $15.0
    b. Agreement State oversight........            11.2            14.1
    c. Scholarships and Fellowships.....            15.0            11.5
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                  17.4            13.3
     educational institutions...........
    b. Costs not recovered from small                6.1             5.6
     entities under 10 CFR 171.16(c)....
    c. Regulatory support to Agreement              23.1            18.0
     States.............................
    d. Generic decommissioning/                     15.1            16.6
     reclamation (not related to the
     power reactor and spent fuel
     storage fee classes)...............
    e. In situ leach rulemaking and                  2.4             1.2
     unregistered general licensees.....
                                         -------------------------------
        Total fee-relief activities.....           108.5            95.3
Less 10 percent of NRC's FY 2011 total            -101.4          -101.7
 budget (less non-fee items)............
                                         -------------------------------
    Fee-Relief Adjustment to be                      7.1            -6.4
     Allocated to All Licensees' Annual
     Fees...............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table IV shows how the NRC is allocating the $6.4 million fee-
relief surplus adjustment to each license fee class. As explained 
previously, the NRC is allocating this fee-relief adjustment to each 
license fee class based on the percent of the budget for that fee class 
compared to the NRC's total budget. The fee-relief surplus adjustment 
is

[[Page 14753]]

subtracted from the required annual fee recovery from each fee class.
    Separately, the NRC has continued to allocate the LLW surcharge 
based on the volume of LLW disposal of three classes of licenses: 
Operating reactors, fuel facilities, and materials users. Because LLW 
activities support NRC licensees, the costs of these activities are 
recovered through annual fees. In FY 2011, this allocation percentage 
was updated based on review of recent data which reflects the change in 
the support to the various fee classes. The allocation percentage of 
LLW surcharge increased for operating reactors and fuel facilities, and 
decreased for materials users compared to FY 2010.
    Table IV also shows the allocation of the LLW surcharge activity. 
For FY 2011, the total budget allocated for LLW activity is $3.0 
million. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

                    Table IV--Allocation of Fee-Relief Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2011
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           LLW surcharge               Fee-relief adjustment           Total
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Percent            $            Percent            $               $
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors........            70.0             2.1            85.9            -5.5            -3.4
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor        ..............  ..............             3.7            -0.2            -0.2
 Decommissioning................
Research and Test Reactors......  ..............  ..............             0.2             0.0             0.0
Fuel Facilities.................            24.0             0.7             6.2            -0.4             0.3
Materials Users.................             6.0             0.2             2.8            -0.2             0.0
Transportation..................  ..............  ..............             0.5             0.0             0.0
Uranium Recovery................  ..............  ..............             0.8             0.0             0.0
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................           100.0             3.0           100.0            -6.4            -3.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Revised Annual Fees
    The NRC is proposing to revise its annual fees in Sec. Sec.  171.15 
and 171.16 for FY 2011 to recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's 
FY 2011 budget authority, after subtracting the non-fee amounts and the 
estimated amount to be recovered through Part 170 fees.
    The Commission has determined (71 FR 30721; May 30, 2006) that the 
agency should proceed with a presumption in favor of rebaselining when 
calculating annual fees each year. Under this method, the NRC's budget 
is analyzed in detail, and budgeted resources are allocated to fee 
classes and categories of licensees. The Commission expects that most 
years there will be budgetary and other changes that warrant the use of 
the rebaselining method.
    As compared with FY 2010 annual fees, the FY 2011 proposed 
rebaselined fees are higher for four classes of licensees (spent fuel 
storage and reactors in decommissioning facilities, research and test 
reactors, fuel facilities and transportation), and lower for one class 
of licensees (power reactors). Within the uranium recovery fee class, 
the proposed annual fees for most licensees decrease, while the 
proposed annual fee for one fee category increases. The annual fee 
increases for most fee categories in the materials users' fee class.
    The NRC's total fee recoverable budget, as mandated by law, is 
approximately $3.1 million higher in FY 2011 as compared with FY 2010. 
The FY 2011 budget was allocated to the fee classes that the budgeted 
activities support. The increase is primarily due to the higher FY 2011 
budget supporting the spent fuel storage and transportation activities, 
fuel facility reviews, materials user's activities, uranium recovery 
facilities, and research and test reactor reviews.
    The factors affecting all annual fees include the distribution of 
budgeted costs to the different classes of licenses (based on the 
specific activities the NRC will perform in FY 2011), the estimated 
Part 170 collections for the various classes of licenses, and 
allocation of the fee-relief surplus adjustment to all fee classes. The 
percentage of the NRC's budget not subject to fee recovery remained at 
10 percent from FY 2010 to FY 2011.
    Table V shows the rebaselined fees for FY 2011 for a representative 
list of categories of licensees. The FY 2010 amounts are provided for 
comparison purposes. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to 
rounding.)

                    Table V--Rebaselined Annual Fees
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              FY 2010         FY 2011
       Class/category of licenses           annual fee      annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors (Including           $4,784,000      $4,669,000
 Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor
 Decommissioning Annual Fee)............
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor                       148,000         241,000
 Decommissioning........................
Research and Test Reactors (Nonpower              81,700          86,100
 Reactors)..............................
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility.....       5,439,000       6,078,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility......       2,047,000       2,287,000
UF6 Conversion Facility.................       1,111,000      1,242 ,000
Conventional Mills......................          38,300          31,900
Typical Materials Users:
    Radiographers (Category 3O).........          28,200          25,700
    Well Loggers (Category 5A)..........          11,900           9,900
    Gauge Users (Category 3P)...........           4,500           4,800
    Broad Scope Medical (Category 7B)...          45,100          45,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 14754]]

    The work papers that support this proposed rule show in detail the 
allocation of NRC's budgeted resources for each class of licenses and 
how the fees are calculated. Beginning in FY 2011, the NRC is 
transitioning to a new budget structure. Therefore, the reports 
included in these work papers summarize the FY 2011 budgeted FTE and 
contract dollars allocated to each fee class and fee-relief category at 
the product line level. Since the FY 2010 and FY 2011 budget structures 
are appreciably different, the reports comparing the FY 2011 
allocations to FY 2010 are at a higher summary level. The work papers 
are available electronically at http://www.regulations.gov by searching 
on Docket ID NRC-2011-0016 and at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room on 
the Internet at Web site address http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The work papers may also be examined at the NRC PDR located 
at One White Flint North, Room O-1F22, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852.
    The budgeted costs allocated to each class of licenses and the 
calculations of the rebaselined fees are described in paragraphs a. 
through h. of this section. Individual values in the Tables presented 
in this section may not sum to totals due to rounding.
a. Fuel Facilities
    The FY 2011 budgeted cost to be recovered in the annual fees 
assessment to the fuel facility class of licenses [which includes 
licensees in fee categories 1.A.(1)(a), 1.A.(1)(b), 1.A.(2)(a), 
1.A.(2)(b), 1.A.(2)(c), 1.E., and 2.A.(1), under Sec.  171.16] is 
approximately $30 million. This value is based on the full cost of 
budgeted resources associated with all activities that support this fee 
class, which is reduced by estimated Part 170 collections and adjusted 
for allocated generic transportation resources and fee-relief 
adjustment. In FY 2011, the LLW surcharge for fuel facilities is added 
to the allocated fee-relief adjustment (see Table IV in Section 
III.B.1., ``Application of Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste Surcharge'' 
of this document). The summary calculations used to derive this value 
are presented in Table VI for FY 2011, with FY 2010 values shown for 
comparison. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

      Table VI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Fuel Facilities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              FY 2011
        Summary fee calculations          FY 2010  final     proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $48.8           $55.7
Less estimated Part 170 receipts........           -21.2           -26.6
                                         -------------------------------
    Net Part 171 resources..............            27.6            29.1
Allocated generic transportation........            +0.5            +0.6
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.....            +0.7            +0.3
Billing adjustments.....................            -0.1            -0.0
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            28.8            30.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The increase in total budgeted resources allocated to this fee 
class from FY 2010 to FY 2011 is primarily due to increased support for 
licensing amendments, and rulemaking for regulatory framework for 
reprocessing.
    The total required annual fee recovery amount is allocated to the 
individual fuel facility licensees, based on the effort/fee 
determination matrix developed for the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR 
31447; June 10, 1999). In the matrix included in the publicly available 
NRC work papers, licensees are grouped into categories according to 
their licensed activities (i.e., nuclear material enrichment, 
processing operations, and material form) and 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 licensees, 
current licensees, licensees in unique license situations, and 
certificate holders.
    This methodology is adaptable to changes in the number of licensees 
or certificate holders, licensed or certified material and/or 
activities, and total programmatic resources to be recovered through 
annual fees. When a license or certificate is modified, it may result 
in a change of category for a particular fuel facility licensee, as a 
result of the methodology used in the fuel facility effort/fee matrix. 
Consequently, this change may also have an effect on the fees assessed 
to other fuel facility licensees and certificate holders. For example, 
if a fuel facility licensee amends its license/certificate (e.g., 
decommissioning or license termination) that results in it not being 
subject to Part 171 costs applicable to the fee class, then the 
budgeted costs for the safety and/or safeguards components will be 
spread among the remaining fuel facility licensees/certificate holders.
    The methodology is applied as follows. First, a fee category is 
assigned, based on the nuclear material and activity authorized by 
license or certificate. Although a licensee/certificate holder may 
elect not to fully use a license/certificate, the license/certificate 
is still used as the source for determining authorized nuclear material 
possession and use/activity. Second, 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 licensees/certificate holders by authorized material 
types and use/activities.
    Each year, the NRC's fuel facility project managers and regulatory 
analysts determine the level of effort associated with regulating each 
of these facilities. This is done by assigning, for each fuel facility, 
separate effort factors for the safety and safeguards activities 
associated with each type of regulatory activity. The matrix includes 
ten types of regulatory activities, including enrichment and scrap/
waste-related activities (see the work papers for the complete list). 
Effort factors are assigned as follows: one (low regulatory effort), 
five (moderate regulatory effort), and ten (high regulatory effort). 
These effort factors are then totaled for each fee category, so that 
each fee category has a total effort factor for safety activities and a 
total effort factor for safeguards activities.
    The effort factors for the various fuel facility fee categories are 
summarized in Table VII. The value of the effort factors

[[Page 14755]]

shown, as well as the percent of the total effort factor for all fuel 
facilities, reflects the total regulatory effort for each fee category 
(not per facility). The following factors have changed compared to FY 
2010. The total effort factors for the Limited Operations fee category 
has increased from FY 2010, while the Uranium Enrichment fee category 
factors decreased from FY 2010 primarily due to a shift of one licensee 
from the Uranium Enrichment fee category to Limited Operations fee 
category.

                             Table VII--Effort Factors for Fuel Facilities, FY 2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Effort factors  (percent of
                                                                     Number of                total)
                  Facility type (fee category)                      facilities   -------------------------------
                                                                                      Safety        Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).........................               2       89 (35.5)       97 (46.4)
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..........................               3       70 (27.9)       35 (16.7)
Limited Operations (1.A.(2)(a)).................................               2        15 (6.0)         8 (3.8)
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))............               1         3 (1.2)        15 (7.2)
Hot Cell (1.A.(2)(c))...........................................               1         6 (2.4)         3 (1.4)
Uranium Enrichment (1.E)........................................               2       56 (22.3)       44 (21.1)
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1))........................................               1        12 (4.8)         7 (3.3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For FY 2011, the total budgeted resources for safety activities, 
before the fee-relief adjustment is made, are $16,216,139. This amount 
is allocated to each fee category based on its percent of the total 
regulatory effort for safety activities. For example, if the total 
effort factor for safety activities for all fuel facilities is 100, and 
the total effort factor for safety activities for a given fee category 
is 10, that fee category will be allocated 10 percent of the total 
budgeted resources for safety activities. Similarly, the budgeted 
resources amount of $13,502,682 for safeguards activities is allocated 
to each fee category based on its percent of the total regulatory 
effort for safeguards activities. The fuel facility fee class' portion 
of the fee-relief adjustment ($343,353) is allocated to each fee 
category based on its percent of the total regulatory effort for both 
safety and safeguards activities. The annual fee per licensee is then 
calculated by dividing the total allocated budgeted resources for the 
fee category by the number of licensees in that fee category. The fee 
(rounded) for each facility is summarized in Table VIII.

               Table VIII--Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             FY 2011
             Facility type (fee category)                proposed annual
                                                               fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a))...............        $6,078,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))................         2,287,000
Limited Operations Facility (1.A.(2)(a))..............           752,000
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))..         1,176,000
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))....................           588,000
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).............................         3,268,000
UF6 Conversion (2.A.(1))..............................         1,242,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If the NRC authorizes operation of a new uranium enrichment 
facility in FY 2011, the applicable fee to any type of new uranium 
enrichment facility is the annual fee in Sec.  171.16, fee Category 
1.E., Uranium Enrichment, unless the NRC establishes a new fee category 
for the facility in a subsequent rulemaking. The applicable annual fee 
for a facility that is authorized to operate during the FY will be 
prorated in accordance with the provisions of Sec.  171.17.
b. Uranium Recovery Facilities
    The total FY 2011 budgeted cost to be recovered through annual fees 
assessed to the uranium recovery class [which includes licensees in fee 
categories 2.A.(2)(a), 2.A.(2)(b), 2.A.(2)(c), 2.A.(2)(d), 2.A.(2)(e), 
2.A.(3), 2.A.(4), 2.A.(5) and 18.B., under Sec.  171.16], is 
approximately $1.0 million. The derivation of this value is shown in 
Table IX, with FY 2010 values shown for comparison purposes.

     Table IX--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Uranium Recovery
                               Facilities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              FY 2011
        Summary fee calculations          FY 2010  final     proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $6.69           $7.14
Less estimated Part 170 receipts........           -5.83           -6.09
                                         -------------------------------
    Net Part 171 resources..............            0.86            1.05
Allocated generic transportation........             N/A             N/A
Fee-relief adjustment...................           +0.05           -0.05
Billing adjustments.....................           -0.01            0.00
                                         -------------------------------

[[Page 14756]]

 
    Total required annual fee recovery..            0.91            1.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The increase in total budgeted resources allocated to this fee 
class from FY 2010 to FY 2011 is primarily due to increase in DOE Title 
I licensing activities partially offset by increase in Part 170 
estimates. Since FY 2002, the NRC has computed the annual fee for the 
uranium recovery fee class by allocating the total annual fee amount 
for this fee class between the DOE and the other licensees in this fee 
class. The NRC regulates DOE's Title I and Title II activities under 
the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA). The Congress 
established the two programs, Title I and Title II under UMTRCA, to 
protect the public and the environment from uranium milling. The UMTRCA 
Title I program is for remedial action at abandoned mill tailings sites 
where tailings resulted largely from production of uranium for the 
weapons program. The NRC also regulates DOE's UMTRCA Title II program 
which is directed toward uranium mill sites licensed by the NRC or 
Agreement States in or after 1978.
    The annual fee assessed to DOE includes recovery of the costs 
specifically budgeted for NRC's Title I activities, plus 10 percent of 
the remaining annual fee amount, including the fee-relief and generic/
other costs, for the uranium recovery class. The remaining 90 percent 
of the fee-relief and generic/other costs are assessed to the other NRC 
licensees in this fee class that are subject to annual fees. The 
distribution of 10 percent of the generic budgeted costs to DOE and 90 
percent to other facilities is a change from the previous year that is 
based on current NRC activities. Last year, the distribution was 35 
percent and 65 percent to DOE and other facilities, respectively.
    The costs to be recovered through annual fees assessed to the 
uranium recovery class are shown in Table X.

              Table X--Costs Recovered Through Annual Fees
------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Uranium recovery fee class
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE Annual Fee Amount (UMTRCA Title I and Title II)
 general licenses:
    UMTRCA Title I budgeted costs less Part 170 receipts        $745,331
    10 percent of generic/other uranium recovery                  30,984
     budgeted costs.....................................
    10 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment          -4,984
                                                         ---------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded).......         771,000
Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery Licenses:
    90 percent of generic/other uranium recovery                 278,854
     budgeted costs less the amounts specifically
     budgeted for Title I activities....................
        90 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief                -44,857
         adjustment.....................................
                                                         ---------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium                233,996
         Recovery Licenses..............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The DOE fee increases in FY 2011 compared to FY 2010 due to higher 
budgeted resources for UMTRCA Title I activities. The annual fee for 
other uranium recovery licensees decreases in FY 2011.
    Although the distribution of the generic budgeted costs to other 
uranium facilities increased from FY 2010, the total annual fee amount 
to be recovered decreases in FY 2011 compared to FY 2010, primarily due 
to increased activities for DOE Title I facilities.
    The NRC will continue to use a matrix (which is included in the 
supporting work papers) to determine the level of effort associated 
with conducting the generic regulatory actions for the different (non-
DOE) licensees in this fee class. The weights derived in this matrix 
are used to allocate the approximately $234,000 annual fee amount to 
these licensees. The use of this uranium recovery annual fee matrix was 
established in the FY 1995 final fee rule (60 FR 32217; June 20, 1995). 
The FY 2011 matrix is described as follows.
    First, the methodology identifies the categories of licenses 
included in this fee class (besides DOE). In FY 2011, these categories 
are conventional uranium mills and heap leach facilities, uranium 
solution mining and resin In Situ Recovery (ISR) facilities, mill 
tailings disposal facilities (11e.(2) disposal facilities), and uranium 
water treatment facilities.
    Second, the matrix identifies the types of operating activities 
that support and benefit these licensees. The activities related to 
generic decommissioning/reclamation are not included in the matrix, 
because they are included in the fee-relief activities. Therefore, they 
are not a factor in determining annual fees. The activities included in 
the FY 2011 matrix are operations, waste operations, and groundwater 
protection. The relative weight of each type of activity is then 
determined, based on the regulatory resources associated with each 
activity. The operations, waste operations, and groundwater protection 
activities have weights of 0, 5, and 10, respectively, in the FY 2011 
matrix.
    Each year, the NRC determines the level of benefit to each licensee 
for generic uranium recovery program activities for each type of 
generic activity in the matrix. This is done by assigning, for each fee 
category, separate benefit factors for each type of regulatory activity 
in the matrix. Benefit factors are assigned on a scale of 0 to 10 as 
follows: Zero (no regulatory benefit), five (moderate regulatory 
benefit), and ten (high regulatory benefit). These benefit factors are 
first multiplied by the relative weight assigned to each activity 
(described previously). Total benefit factors by fee category, and per 
licensee in each fee category, are then calculated. These benefit 
factors thus reflect the relative regulatory benefit associated with 
each licensee and fee category. The NRC expects to license an ISR Resin

[[Page 14757]]

Facility in FY 2011. Therefore, the benefit factors for fee Category 
2.A.(2)(d) have been included in the FY 2011 matrix, and an annual fee 
has been established.
    The benefit factors per licensee and per fee category, for each of 
the non-DOE fee categories included in the uranium recovery fee class, 
are as follows:

                             Table XI--Benefit Factors for Uranium Recovery Licenses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Number of    Benefit factor                  Benefit factor
                  Fee category                       licensees      per licensee    Total value    percent total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills (2.(A).2.a.)..               1             200             200              14
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.(A).2.b.)..               4             190             760              52
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities                           1             215             215              15
 (2.(A).2.c.)...................................
In Situ Recovery Resin Facilities (2.(A).2.d.)..               1             180             180              12
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings               1              65              65               4
 sites (2.(A).4.)...............................
Uranium water treatment (2.(A).5.)..............               1              45              45               3
                                                                                 ----------------
                                                  ..............  ..............           1,465  ..............
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applying these factors to the approximately $234,000 in budgeted 
costs to be recovered from non-DOE uranium recovery licensees results 
in the total annual fees for each fee category. The annual fee per 
licensee is calculated by dividing the total allocated budgeted 
resources for the fee category by the number of licensees in that fee 
category, as summarized in Table XII:

 Table XII--Annual Fees for Uranium Recovery Licensees (Other Than DOE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              FY 2011
              Facility type (fee category)                   proposed
                                                            annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills (2.A.(2)(a))..........          31,900
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b))..........          30,300
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(c)).......          34,300
In Situ Recovery Resin facilities (2.A.(2)(d))..........          28,800
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites            10,400
 (2.A.(4))..............................................
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5)).......................           7,200
------------------------------------------------------------------------

c. Operating Power Reactors
    The $460.5 million in budgeted costs to be recovered through FY 
2011 annual fees assessed to the power reactor class was calculated as 
shown in Table XIII. The FY 2010 values are shown for comparison. 
(Individual values may not sum to totals due to rounding.)

Table XIII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Operating Power Reactors
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  FY 2010      FY 2011
           Summary fee calculations                final       proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources......................       $787.3       $783.1
Less estimated Part 170 receipts..............       -312.5       -320.5
Net Part 171 resources........................        474.8        462.6
Allocated generic transportation..............         +0.8         +0.9
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge...........         +7.5         -3.4
Billing adjustments...........................         -1.0          0.4
                                               -------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery........        482.1        460.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The annual fee for power reactors decreases in FY 2011 compared to 
FY 2010 due to a decrease in budgeted resources, increase in the Part 
170 collections estimate, and the fee-relief surplus adjustment. The 
budgeted costs to be recovered through annual fees to power reactors 
are divided equally among the 104 power reactors licensed to operate. 
This results in an FY 2011 annual fee of $4,428,000 per reactor. 
Additionally, each power reactor licensed to operate would be assessed 
the FY 2011 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning annual fee of 
$241,000. This results in a total FY 2011 annual fee of $4,669,000 for 
each power reactor licensed to operate.
    The annual fees for power reactors are presented in Sec.  171.15.
d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactors in Decommissioning
    For FY 2011, budgeted costs of approximately $29.7 million for 
spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning are to be recovered through 
annual fees assessed to 10 CFR Part 50 power reactors, and to Part 72 
licensees who do not hold a Part 50 license. Those reactor licensees 
that have ceased operations and have no fuel onsite are not subject to 
these annual fees. Table

[[Page 14758]]

XIV shows the calculation of this annual fee amount. The FY 2010 values 
are shown for comparison. (Individual values may not sum to totals due 
to rounding.)

   Table XIV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for the Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor in Decommissioning Fee Class
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                        FY 2011
                     Summary Fee Calculations                       FY 2010  final     proposed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources..........................................           $24.1           $33.4
Less estimated Part 170 receipts..................................            -6.4            -4.0
                                                                   ---------------------------------------------
    Net Part 171 resources........................................            17.7            29.4
Allocated generic transportation..................................            +0.4            +0.5
Fee-relief adjustment.............................................            +0.2            -0.2
Billing adjustments...............................................             0.0             0.0
                                                                   ---------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery............................            18.2            29.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The value of total budgeted resources for this fee class is higher 
in FY 2011 than in FY 2010, due to increased budgeted resources for 
spent fuel storage licensing and certification activities and lower 
Part 170 collections estimate, partially offset by the fee-relief 
surplus adjustment. The required annual fee recovery amount is divided 
equally among 123 licensees, resulting in an FY 2011 annual fee of 
$241,000 per licensee.
e. Research and Test Reactors (Nonpower Reactors)
    Approximately $340,000 in budgeted costs is to be recovered through 
annual fees assessed to the research and test reactor class of licenses 
for FY 2011. Table XV summarizes the annual fee calculation for 
research and test reactors for FY 2011. The FY 2010 values are shown 
for comparison. (Individual values may not sum to totals due to 
rounding.)

Table XV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Research and Test Reactors
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              FY 2011
        Summary fee calculations          FY 2010  final     proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $1.31           $1.87
Less estimated Part 170 receipts........           -1.01           -1.54
                                         -------------------------------
    Net Part 171 resources..............            0.30            0.33
Allocated generic transportation........           +0.01           +0.02
Fee-relief adjustment...................           +0.01           -0.01
Billing adjustments.....................            0.00            0.00
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            0.33            0.34
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The increase in annual fees from FY 2010 to FY 2011 is primarily 
due to increase in budgeted costs for review of licensing amendments 
partially offset by the fee-relief surplus adjustment. The required 
annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among the four research 
and test reactors subject to annual fees and results in an FY 2011 
annual fee of $86,100 for each licensee.
f. Rare Earth Facilities
    The agency does not anticipate receiving an application for a rare 
earth facility this fiscal year, so no budgeted resources are allocated 
to this fee class, and no annual fee will be published in FY 2011.
g. Materials Users
    Table XVI shows the calculation of the FY 2011 annual fee amount 
for materials users licensees. The FY 2010 values are shown for 
comparison. Note the following fee categories under Sec.  171.16 are 
included in this fee class: 1.C., 1.D., 2.B., 2.C., 3.A. through 3.S., 
4.A. through 4.C., 5.A., 5.B., 6.A., 7.A. through 7.C., 8.A., 9.A. 
through 9.D., 16, and 17. (Individual values may not sum to totals due 
to rounding.)

     Table XVI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Materials Users
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              FY 2011
        Summary fee calculations          FY 2010  final     proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $28.8           $30.0
Less estimated Part 170 receipts........            -1.8            -1.6
                                         -------------------------------
    Net Part 171 resources..............            27.0            28.4

[[Page 14759]]

 
Allocated generic transportation........            +0.8            +1.0
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.....            +0.9            -0.0
Billing adjustments.....................            -0.0            -0.0
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            28.7            29.4
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The total required annual fees to be recovered from materials 
licensees increase in FY 2011, mainly because of increases in the 
budgeted resources allocated to this fee class for licensing and 
oversight activities, and lower estimated Part 170 fee revenue compared 
to FY 2010. Annual fees for most fee categories within the materials 
users' fee class increase while some decrease due to decrease in 
inspection costs in certain fee categories.
    To equitably and fairly allocate the $29.4 million in FY 2011 
budgeted costs to be recovered in annual fees assessed to the 
approximately 3,000 diverse materials users licensees, the NRC will 
continue to base the annual fees for each fee category within this 
class on the Part 170 application fees and estimated inspection costs 
for each fee category. Because the application fees and inspection 
costs are indicative of the complexity of the license, this approach 
continues to provide a proxy for allocating the generic and other 
regulatory costs to the diverse categories of licenses based on the 
NRC's cost to regulate each category. This 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 licenses.
    The annual fee for these categories of materials users licenses 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 $21 
million in general costs (including allocated generic transportation 
costs) and is 1.53 for FY 2011. The average inspection cost is the 
average inspection hours for each fee category multiplied by the hourly 
rate of $273. The inspection priority is the interval between routine 
inspections, expressed in years. The inspection multiplier is the 
multiple necessary to recover approximately $8.2 million in inspection 
costs, and is 2.3 for FY 2011. The unique category costs are any 
special costs that the NRC has budgeted for a specific category of 
licenses. For FY 2011, approximately $113,500 in budgeted costs for the 
implementation of revised 10 CFR Part 35, Medical Use of Byproduct 
Material (unique costs), has been allocated to holders of NRC human-use 
licenses.
    The annual fee to be assessed to each licensee also includes a 
share of the fee-relief surplus adjustment of approximately $177,000 
allocated to the materials users fee class (see Section III.B.1., 
``Application of Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste Surcharge,'' of this 
document), and for certain categories of these licensees, a share of 
the approximately $189,000 in LLW surcharge costs allocated to the fee 
class. The annual fee for each fee category is shown in Sec.  
171.16(d).
    In FY 2011, the NRC will be eliminating fee Category 3.D. under 
byproduct materials since the agency does not expect to receive any 
license under the current definition of this fee category. The fee 
category will be reserved for future use.
h. Transportation
    Table XVII shows the calculation of the FY 2011 generic 
transportation budgeted resources to be recovered through annual fees. 
The FY 2010 values are shown for comparison. (Individual values may not 
sum to totals due to rounding.)

     Table XVII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Transportation
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              FY 2011
        Summary fee calculations           FY 2010 final     proposed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................            $6.6            $7.5
Less estimated Part 170 receipts........            -3.3            -3.4
                                         -------------------------------
    Net Part 171 resources..............             3.3             4.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The increase in Part 171 resources in FY 2011 compared to last year 
is primarily due to an increase in budgeted resources for 
transportation regulatory programs.
    The NRC must approve any package used for shipping nuclear material 
before shipment. If the package meets NRC requirements, the NRC issues 
a Radioactive Material Package Certificate of Compliance (CoC) to the 
organization requesting approval of a package. Organizations are 
authorized to ship radioactive material in a package approved for use 
under the general licensing provisions of 10 CFR Part 71. The resources 
associated with generic transportation activities are distributed to 
the license fee classes based on the number of CoCs benefitting (used 
by) that fee class, as a proxy for the generic transportation resources 
expended for each fee class.
    Generic transportation resources associated with fee-exempt 
entities are not included in this total. These costs are included in 
the appropriate fee-relief category (e.g., the fee-relief category for 
nonprofit educational institutions).
    Consistent with the policy established in the NRC's FY 2006 final 
fee rule (71 FR 30721; May 30, 2006), the NRC will

[[Page 14760]]

recover generic transportation costs unrelated to DOE as part of 
existing annual fees for license fee classes. The NRC will continue to 
assess a separate annual fee under Sec.  171.16, fee Category 18.A., 
for DOE transportation activities. The amount of the allocated generic 
resources is calculated by multiplying the percentage of total CoCs 
used by each fee class (and DOE) by the total generic transportation 
resources to be recovered.
    The distribution of these resources to the license fee classes and 
DOE is shown in Table XVIII. The distribution is adjusted to account 
for the licensees in each fee class that are fee-exempt. For example, 
if 3 CoCs benefit the entire research and test reactor class, but only 
4 of 32 research and test reactors are subject to annual fees, the 
number of CoCs used to determine the proportion of generic 
transportation resources allocated to research and test reactor annual 
fees equals ((4/32)*3), or 0.4 CoCs.

                     Table XVIII--Distribution of Generic Transportation Resources, FY 2011
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                     Allocated
                                                                    Number CoCs   Percentage  of      generic
                      License fee class/DOE                       benefiting fee    total  CoCs   transportation
                                                                    class or DOE                     resources
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total...........................................................            85.5           100.0    $4.11
DOE.............................................................            22.0            25.7     1.06
Operating Power Reactors........................................            19.0            22.2     0.91
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning......................            10.0            11.7     0.48
Research and Test Reactors......................................             0.5             0.6     0.02
Fuel Facilities.................................................            13.0            15.2     0.62
Materials Users.................................................            21.0            24.6     1.01
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC is proposing to continue to assess an annual fee to DOE 
based on the Part 71 CoCs it holds and not allocate these DOE-related 
resources to other licensees' annual fees, because these resources 
specifically support DOE. Note that DOE's annual fee includes a 
reduction for the fee-relief surplus adjustment (see Section III.B.1, 
``Application of Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste Surcharge,'' of this 
document), resulting in a total annual fee of $1,028,000 for FY 2011. 
The increase in the DOE fee is primarily related to higher budgeted 
resources for the NRC's transportation activities.
3. Administrative Amendments
    Eliminate fee Category 3.D. in Sec.  171.16 since the agency 
currently does not have any licensee under this category. Based on the 
definition of this fee category no future licensees are expected since 
there are no nonprofit educational institutions that are distributors 
of radiopharmaceuticals.
    Revise Sec.  171.16 to reflect changes made to fee categories for 
import and export licenses in Sec.  170.31. The current export fee 
Category 15.H. is deleted because the description for the fee was 
incorrect and not used in export licensing. A new export fee Category 
15.H. is established to reflect a new fee category for government-to-
government consents for exports of Category 1 quantities for 
radioactive material listed in Appendix P to 10 CFR Part 110. In 
addition, fee categories 15.M. through and including 15.Q. are being 
eliminated. The requirement to obtain a specific license for imports of 
radioactive materials listed in Appendix P to 10 CFR Part 110 was 
eliminated as part of a 2010 rule change to 10 CFR Part 110 (July 28, 
2010; 75 FR 44072).
    In summary, the NRC is proposing to--
    1. Use the NRC's fee-relief surplus by reducing all licensees' 
annual fees, based on their percentage share of the NRC budget; and
    2. Establish rebaselined annual fees for FY 2011.
    3. Update some fee categories for materials users and import and 
export licenses.

IV. Plain Language

    The Presidential Memorandum dated June 1, 1998, entitled ``Plain 
Language in Government Writing,'' directed that the Government's 
writing be in plain language. This memorandum was published on June 10, 
1998 (63 FR 31883). The NRC requests specific comments on the clarity 
and effectiveness of the language in the proposed rule. Comments should 
be sent to the address listed under the ADDRESSES section of this 
document.

V. Voluntary Consensus Standards

    The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 
U.S.C. 3701) requires that Federal agencies use technical standards 
that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies, 
unless using these standards is inconsistent with applicable law or is 
otherwise impractical. The NRC is proposing to amend the licensing, 
inspection, and annual fees charged to its licensees and applicants as 
necessary to recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority 
in FY 2011, as required by the OBRA-90, as amended. This action does 
not constitute the establishment of a standard that contains generally 
applicable requirements.

VI. 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 rule. By its very 
nature, this regulatory action does not affect the environment and, 
therefore, no environmental justice issues are raised.

VII. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    This proposed rule does not contain 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.).

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

[[Page 14761]]

information collection requirement, unless the requesting document 
displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget control 
number.

VIII. Regulatory Analysis

    With respect to 10 CFR Part 170, this proposed rule was developed 
under Title V of the 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 (DC 
Cir. 1976); National Association of Broadcasters v. Federal 
Communications Commission, 554 F.2d 1118 (DC 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 (DC 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 of 1954, as amended, and with applicable 
regulations;
    (3) The NRC could charge for costs incurred in conducting 
environmental reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act 
(42 U.S.C. 4321);
    (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 OBRA-90, which required that, for FYs 1991 through 1995, 
approximately 100 percent of the NRC budget authority, less 
appropriations from the NWF, be recovered through the assessment of 
fees. The OBRA-90 was subsequently amended to extend the 100 percent 
fee recovery requirement through FY 2000. The FY 2001 Energy and Water 
Development Appropriation Act (EWDAA) amended OBRA-90 to decrease the 
NRC's fee recovery amount by 2 percent per year beginning in FY 2001, 
until the fee recovery amount was 90 percent in FY 2005. The FY 2006 
EWDAA extended this 90 percent fee recovery requirement for FY 2006. 
Section 637 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 made the 90 percent fee 
recovery requirement permanent in FY 2007. As a result, the NRC is 
required to recover approximately 90 percent of its FY 2011 budget 
authority, less the amounts appropriated from the NWF, WIR, and generic 
homeland security activities through fees. To comply with this 
statutory requirement and in accordance with Sec.  171.13, the NRC is 
publishing the amount of the FY 2011 annual fees for reactor licensees, 
fuel cycle licensees, materials licensees, and holders of CoCs, 
registrations of sealed source and devices, and Government agencies. 
The OBRA-90, consistent with the accompanying Conference Committee 
Report, and the amendments to OBRA-90, provides that--
    (1) The annual fees will be based on approximately 90 percent of 
the Commission's FY 2011 budget of $1,053.6 million not including the 
following items: Funds appropriated from the NWF to cover the NRC's 
high-level waste program, amounts appropriated for WIR and generic 
homeland security activities, and the amount of funds collected from 
Part 170 fees;
    (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.
    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 (DC Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 
490 U.S. 1045 (1989). Further, the NRC's FY 1991 annual fee rule 
methodology was upheld by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in Allied 
Signal v. NRC, 988 F.2d 146 (DC Cir. 1993).

IX. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    The NRC is required by the OBRA-90, as amended, to recover 
approximately 90 percent of its FY 2011 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 would establish the schedules of fees that are 
necessary to implement the Congressional mandate for FY 2011. This 
proposed rule would result in increases in the annual fees charged to 
certain licensees and holders of certificates, registrations, and 
approvals, and in decreases in annual fees charged to others. Licensees 
affected by the annual fee increases and decreases include 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 (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 of Appendix A to the Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is 
the small entity compliance guide for FY 2011.

X. 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 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 170

    Byproduct material, Import and export licenses, Intergovernmental

[[Page 14762]]

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; the Energy Reorganization 
Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552, the NRC is proposing to 
adopt the following amendments to 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171.

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

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

    Authority:  Section 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); sec. 1704, 112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 
note), sec. 623, Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat. 783 (42 U.S.C. 2201(w)); 
sec. 651(e), Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat. 806-810 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 
2021, 2021b, 2111).

    2. In Sec.  170.11, paragraphs (a)(1)(iii)(A) and (a)(1)(iii)(B) 
are revised and paragraph (a)(1)(iii)(D) is removed and reserved.
    The revisions read as follows:


Sec.  170.11  Exemptions.

    (a) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (iii) * * *
    (A) The report should be submitted for the specific purpose of 
supporting ongoing NRC generic regulatory improvements or efforts 
(e.g., rules, regulations, regulatory guides, and policy statements), 
and the agency, at the time the document is submitted, plans to use it 
for that purpose. The exemption applies even if ultimately the NRC does 
not use the document as planned;
    (B) The NRC must be the primary beneficiary of the NRC's review and 
approval of these documents. This exemption does not apply to a topical 
report submitted for the purpose of obtaining NRC approval for future 
use of the report by the industry to address licensing or safety 
issues, even though the NRC may realize some benefits from its review 
and approval of the document; and
* * * * *
    3. Section 170.20 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  170.20  Average cost per professional staff-hour.

    Fees for permits, licenses, amendments, renewals, special projects, 
10 CFR part 55 re-qualification and replacement examinations and tests, 
other required reviews, approvals, and inspections under Sec. Sec.  
170.21 and 170.31 will be calculated using the professional staff-hour 
rate of $273 per hour.
    4. In Sec.  170.21, in the table, fee Category K is 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.

* * * * *

                        Schedule of Facility Fees
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Facility categories and type of fees               Fees 1 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                              * * * * * * *
K. Import and export licenses:
Licenses for the import and export only of production
 and utilization facilities or the export only of
 components for production and utilization facilities
 issued under 10 CFR Part 110.
    1. Application for import or export of production
     and utilization facilities \4\ (including
     reactors and other facilities) and exports of
     components requiring Commission and Executive
     Branch review, for example, actions under 10 CFR
     110.40(b).......................................
        Application--new license, or amendment; or               $17,700
         license exemption request...................
    2. Application for export of reactor and other
     components requiring Executive Branch review
     only, for example, those actions under 10 CFR
     110.41(a).......................................
        Application--new license, or amendment; or                 9,600
         license exemption request...................
    3. Application for export of components requiring
     the assistance of the Executive Branch to obtain
     foreign government assurances...................
        Application--new license, or amendment; or                 4,400
         license exemption request...................
    4. Application for export of facility components
     and equipment not requiring Commission or
     Executive Branch review, or obtaining foreign
     government assurances...........................
        Application--new license, or amendment; or                 2,700
         license exemption request...................
    5. Minor amendment of any active export or import
     license, for example, to extend the expiration
     date, change domestic information, or make other
     revisions which do not involve any substantive
     changes to license terms or conditions or to the
     type of facility or component authorized for
     export and therefore, do not require in-depth
     analysis or review or consultation with the
     Executive Branch, U.S. host state, or foreign
     government authorities..........................
        Minor amendment to license...................              1,400
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Fees will not be charged for orders related to civil penalties or
  other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under Sec.   2.202 of
  this chapter or for amendments resulting specifically from the
  requirements of these orders. For orders unrelated to civil penalties
  or other civil sanctions, fees will be charged for any resulting
  licensee-specific activities not otherwise exempted from fees under
  this chapter. 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 50.12, 10
  CFR 73.5) and any other sections in effect now or in the future,
  regardless of whether the approval is in the form of a license
  amendment, letter of approval, safety evaluation report, or other
  form.

[[Page 14763]]

 
\2\ Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff
  time and appropriate contractual support services expended. For
  applications currently on file and for which fees are determined based
  on the full cost expended for the review, the professional staff hours
  expended for the review of the application up to the effective date of
  the final rule will be determined at the professional rates in effect
  when the service was provided. For those applications currently on
  file for which review costs have reached an applicable fee ceiling
  established by the June 20, 1984, and July 2, 1990, rules, but are
  still pending completion of the review, the cost incurred after any
  applicable ceiling was reached through January 29, 1989, will not be
  billed to the applicant. Any professional staff-hours expended above
  those ceilings on or after January 30, 1989, will be assessed at the
  applicable rates established by Sec.   170.20, as appropriate, except
  for topical reports whose costs exceed $50,000. Costs which exceed
  $50,000 for any topical report, amendment, revision, or supplement to
  a topical report completed or under review from January 30, 1989,
  through August 8, 1991, will not be billed to the applicant. Any
  professional hours expended on or after August 9, 1991, will be
  assessed at the applicable rate established in Sec.   170.20.
* * * * * * * * *
\4\ Imports only of major components for end-use at NRC-licensed
  reactors are now authorized under NRC general import license.
\5\ In Sec.   170.31, the table 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.

* * * * *

                       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. (1) Licenses for possession and
     use of U-235 or plutonium for fuel
     fabrication activities.
            (a) Strategic Special         Full Cost.
             Nuclear Material (High
             Enriched Uranium) [Program
             Code(s): 21130].
            (b) Low Enriched Uranium in   Full Cost.
             Dispersible Form Used for
             Fabrication of Power
             Reactor Fuel [Program
             Code(s): 21210].
        (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   Full Cost.
             operations [Program
             Code(s): 21310, 21320].
            (b) Gas centrifuge            Full Cost.
             enrichment demonstration
             facilities.
            (c) Others, including hot     Full Cost.
             cell facilities.
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage   Full Cost.
     of spent fuel and reactor-related
     Greater than Class C (GTCC) waste
     at an independent spent fuel
     storage installation (ISFSI)
     [Program Code(s): 23200].
    C. Licenses for possession and use    $1,300.
     of special nuclear material in
     sealed sources contained in devices
     used in industrial measuring
     systems, including x-ray
     fluorescence analyzers \4\.
        Application [Program Code(s):     ..............................
         22140].
    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 under Category
     1.A.\4\.
        Application [Program Code(s):     $2,500.
         22110, 22111, 22120, 22131,
         22136, 22150, 22151, 22161,
         22163, 22170, 23100, 23300,
         23310].
    E. Licenses or certificates for       Full Cost.
     construction and operation of a
     uranium enrichment facility
     [Program Code(s): 21200].
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and    Full Cost.
     use of source material for refining
     uranium mill concentrates to
     uranium hexafluoride [Program
     Code(s): 11400].
        (2) Licenses for possession and
         use of source material in
         recovery operations such as
         milling, in-situ recovery, 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.
            (a) Conventional and Heap     Full Cost.
             Leach facilities [Program
             Code(s): 11100].
            (b) Basic In Situ Recovery    Full Cost.
             facilities [Program
             Code(s): 11500].
            (c) Expanded In Situ          Full Cost.
             Recovery facilities
             [Program Code(s): 11510].
            (d) In Situ Recovery Resin    Full Cost.
             facilities [Program
             Code(s): 11550].
            (e) Resin Toll Milling        Full Cost.
             facilities [Program
             Code(s): 11555].
            (f) Other facilities          Full Cost.
             [Program Code(s): 11700].
        (3) Licenses that authorize the   Full Cost.
         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 the fees in
         Category 2.A.(2) or Category
         2.A.(4) [Program Code(s):
         11600, 12000].
        (4) Licenses that authorize the   Full Cost.
         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 2.A.(2)
         [Program Code(s): 12010].
        (5) Licenses that authorize the   Full Cost.
         possession of source material
         related to removal of
         contaminants (source material)
         from drinking water [Program
         Code(s): 11820].
    B. Licenses which authorize the
     possession, use, and/or
     installation of source material for
     shielding.
        Application [Program Code(s):     $600.
         11210].
    C. All other source material          $5,400.
     licenses.
        Application [Program Code(s):
         11200, 11220, 11221, 11230,
         11300, 11800, 11810].
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.

[[Page 14764]]

 
        Application [Program Code(s):     $12,800.
         03211, 03212, 03213].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $4,400.
         03214, 03215, 22135, 22162].
    C. Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.
      32.72 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 Sec.   170.11(a)(4).
        Application [Program Code(s):     $6,500.
         02500, 02511, 02513].
    D. [Reserved].......................  N/A \6\.
    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 [Program Code(s):     $3,100.
         03510, 03520].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $6,400.
         03511].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $60,900.
         03521].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $4,300.
         03254, 03255].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $11,400.
         03250, 03251, 03252, 03253,
         03256].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $2,000.
         03240, 03241, 03243].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $1,100.
         03242, 03244].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $5,400.
         01100, 01110, 01120, 03610,
         03611, 03612, 03613].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $3,500.
         03620].
    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
         3.P.; and
        (2) Licenses that authorize
         waste disposal services are
         subject to the fees specified
         in fee Categories 4.A., 4.B.,
         and 4.C.
            Application [Program          $6,400.
             Code(s): 03219, 03225,
             03226].
    O. Licenses for possession and use
     of byproduct material issued under
     part 34 of this chapter for
     industrial radiography operations.
        Application [Program Code(s):     $4,000.
         03310, 03320].
    P. All other specific byproduct
     material licenses, except those in
     Categories 4.A. through 9.D.
        Application [Program Code(s):     $1,500.
         02400, 02410, 03120, 03121,
         03122, 03123, 03124, 03220,
         03221, 03222, 03800, 03810,
         22130].
    Q. Registration of a device(s)
     generally licensed under part 31 of
     this chapter.
        Registration....................  $400.
    R. Possession of items or products
     containing radium-226 identified in
     10 CFR 31.12 which exceed the
     number of items or limits specified
     in that section.\5\
        1. Possession of quantities
         exceeding the number of items
         or limits in 10 CFR
         31.12(a)(4), or (5) but less
         than or equal to 10 times the
         number of items or limits
         specified.
            Application [Program          $2,500.
             Code(s): 02700].
        2. Possession of quantities
         exceeding 10 times the number
         of items or limits specified in
         10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), or (5).
            Application [Program          $1,500.
             Code(s): 02710].
    S. Licenses for production of
     accelerator-produced radionuclides.
        Application [Program Code(s):     $6,500.
         03210].
4. Waste disposal and processing:

[[Page 14765]]

 
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing  Full Cost.
     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
        Application [Program Code(s):
         03231, 03233, 03235, 03236,
         06100, 06101].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $8,400.
         03234].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $4,900.
         03232].
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 [Program Code(s):     $3,300.
         03110, 03111, 03112].
    B. Licenses for possession and use
     of byproduct material for field
     flooding tracer studies.
        Licensing [Program Code(s):       Full Cost.
         03113].
6. Nuclear laundries:
    A. Licenses for commercial
     collection and laundry of items
     contaminated with byproduct
     material, source material, or
     special nuclear material.
        Application [Program Code(s):     $21,800.
         03218].
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 gamma stereotactic
     radiosurgery units, teletherapy
     devices, or similar beam therapy
     devices.
        Application [Program Code(s):     $8,800.
         02300, 02310].
    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.
     This category also includes the
     possession and use of source
     material for shielding when
     authorized on the same license.
        Application [Program Code(s):     $8,500.
         02110].
    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 [Program Code(s):     $2,700.
         02120, 02121, 02200, 02201,
         02210, 02220, 02230, 02231,
         02240, 22160].
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use
     of byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear
     material for civil defense
     activities.
        Application [Program Code(s):     $2,500.
         03710].
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........  $7,600.
    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........  $8,800.
    C. Safety evaluation of sealed
     sources containing byproduct
     material, source material, or
     special nuclear material, except
     reactor fuel, for commercial
     distribution.
        Application--each source........  $10,300.
    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........  $1,040.
10. Transportation of radioactive
 material:
    A. Evaluation of casks, packages,
     and shipping containers.
        1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste,  Full Cost.
         and plutonium air packages.
        2. Other Casks..................  Full Cost.
    B. Quality assurance program
     approvals issued under part 71 of
     this chapter.
        1. Users and Fabricators........
            Application.................  $3,900.
            Inspections.................  Full Cost.
        2. Users........................
            Application.................  $3,900.
            Inspections.................  Full Cost.
    C. Evaluation of security plans,      Full Cost.
     route approvals, route surveys, and
     transportation security devices
     (including immobilization devices).
11. Review of standardized spent fuel     Full Cost.
 facilities.
12. Special projects:                     Full Cost.

[[Page 14766]]

 
    Including approvals, preapplication/
     licensing activities, and
     inspections.
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask            Full Cost.
 Certificate of Compliance.
    B. Inspections related to storage of  Full Cost.
     spent fuel under Sec.   72.210 of
     this chapter.
14. A. Byproduct, source, or special      Full Cost.
 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.
    B. Site-specific decommissioning      Full Cost.
     activities associated with
     unlicensed sites, regardless of
     whether or not the sites have been
     previously licensed.
15. Import and Export licenses:
Licenses issued under part 110 of this
 chapter for the import and export only
 of special nuclear material, source
 material, tritium and other byproduct
 material, and the export only of heavy
 water, or nuclear grade graphite (fee
 categories 15.A. through 15.E.)
    A. Application for export or import
     of nuclear materials, including
     radioactive waste requiring
     Commission and Executive Branch
     review, for example, those actions
     under 10 CFR 110.40(b).
        Application--new license, or      $17,700.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    B. Application for export or import
     of nuclear material, including
     radioactive waste, requiring
     Executive Branch review, but not
     Commission review. This category
     includes applications for the
     export and import of radioactive
     waste and requires NRC to consult
     with domestic host state
     authorities (i.e., Low-Level
     Radioactive Waste Compact
     Commission, the U.S. Environmental
     Protection Agency, etc.).
        Application B--new license, or    $9,600.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    C. Application for export of nuclear
     material, for example, routine
     reloads of low enriched uranium
     reactor fuel and/or natural uranium
     source material requiring the
     assistance of the Executive Branch
     to obtain foreign government
     assurances.
        Application--new license, or      $4,400.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    D. Application for export or import
     of nuclear material, including
     radioactive waste, not requiring
     Commission or Executive Branch
     review, or obtaining foreign
     government assurances. This
     category includes applications 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 located
     in the same country, 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, or      $2,700.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    E. Minor amendment of any active
     export or import license, for
     example, to extend the expiration
     date, change domestic information,
     or make other revisions which do
     not involve any substantive changes
     to license terms and conditions or
     to the type/quantity/chemical
     composition of the material
     authorized for export and,
     therefore, do not require in-depth
     analysis, review, or consultations
     with other Executive Branch, U.S.
     host state, or foreign government
     authorities.
        Minor amendment.................  $1,400.
    Licenses issued under part 110 of
     this chapter for the import and
     export only of Category 1 and
     Category 2 quantities of
     radioactive material listed in
     Appendix P to part 110 of this
     chapter (fee categories 15.F.
     through 15.R.).
Category 1 (Appendix P, 10 CFR Part 110)
 Exports:
    F. Application for export of
     Category 1 materials involving an
     exceptional circumstances review
     under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4).
        Application--new license, or      $15,000.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    G. Application for export of
     Category 1 materials requiring
     Executive Branch review, Commission
     review, and/or government-to-
     government consent.
        Application--new license, or      $8,700.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    H. Application for export of
     Category 1 materials requiring
     government-to-government consent.
        Application--new license, or      $5,500.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    I. Requests for additional
     government-to-government consent
     requests in support of an export
     license application or active
     export license.
        Application--new license, or      $270.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
Category 2 (Appendix P, 10 CFR part 110)
 Exports:
    J. Application for export of
     Category 2 materials involving an
     exceptional circumstances review
     under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4).
        Application--new license, or      $15,000.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    K. Applications for export of
     Category 2 materials requiring
     Executive Branch review and/or
     Commission review.
        Application--new license, or      $8,700.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    L. Application for the export of
     Category 2 materials.
        Application--new license, or      $5,500.
         amendment; or license exemption
         request.
    M. [Reserved].......................  N/A \6\.
    N. [Reserved].......................  N/A \6\.
    O. [Reserved].......................  N/A \6\.
    P. [Reserved].......................  N/A \6\.
    Q. [Reserved].......................  N/A \6\.
Minor Amendments (Category 1 and 2,
 Appendix P, 10 CFR part 110, Export and
 Imports):
    R. Minor amendment of any active
     export or import license, for
     example, to extend the expiration
     date, change domestic information,
     or make other revisions which do
     not involve any substantive changes
     to license terms and conditions or
     to the type/quantity/chemical
     composition of the material
     authorized for export and,
     therefore, do not require in-depth
     analysis, review, or consultations
     with other Executive Branch, U.S.
     host state, or foreign authorities.
        Minor amendment.................  $1,400.
16. Reciprocity:
Agreement State licensees who conduct
 activities under the reciprocity
 provisions of 10 CFR 150.20.
    Application.........................  $2,300.
17. Master materials licenses of broad
 scope issued to Government agencies.
    Application [Program Code(s): 03614]  Full Cost.

[[Page 14767]]

 
18. Department of Energy.
    A. Certificates of Compliance.        Full Cost.
     Evaluation of casks, packages, and
     shipping containers (including
     spent fuel, high-level waste, and
     other casks, and plutonium air
     packages).
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation    Full Cost.
     Control Act (UMTRCA) activities..
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Types of fees--Separate charges, as shown in the schedule, will be
  assessed for preapplication consultations and reviews; applications
  for new licenses, approvals, or license terminations; possession-only
  licenses; issuances of new licenses and approvals; certain amendments
  and renewals to existing licenses and approvals; safety evaluations of
  sealed sources and devices; generally licensed device registrations;
  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 1.C. only.
(b) Licensing fees. Fees for reviews of applications for new licenses,
  renewals, and amendments to existing licenses, preapplication
  consultations and other documents submitted to the NRC for review, and
  project manager time for fee categories subject to full cost fees 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 an export or
  import 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 nonroutine inspections that result
  from third-party allegations are not subject to fees. Inspection fees
  are due upon notification by the Commission in accordance with
  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 related to civil penalties or
  other civil sanctions issued by the Commission under 10 CFR 2.202 or
  for amendments resulting specifically from the requirements of these
  orders. For orders unrelated to civil penalties or other civil
  sanctions, fees will be charged for any resulting licensee-specific
  activities not otherwise exempted from fees under this chapter. 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 in effect now or in the future), 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 9.A. through 9.D.
\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 when 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 June 20, 1984, and July 2,
  1990, rules, but are still pending completion of the review, the cost
  incurred after any applicable ceiling was reached through January 29,
  1989, will not be billed to the applicant. Any professional staff-
  hours expended above those ceilings on or after January 30, 1989, will
  be assessed at the applicable rates established by Sec.   170.20, as
  appropriate, except for topical reports for which 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 1.A., 1.B., and 1.E. are not
  subject to fees under Categories 1.C. and 1.D. for sealed sources
  authorized in the same license, except for an application that deals
  only with the sealed sources authorized by the license.
\5\ Persons who possess radium sources that are used for operational
  purposes in another fee category are not also subject to the fees in
  this category. (This exception does not apply if the radium sources
  are possessed for storage only.)
\6\ There are no existing NRC licenses in the fee category.

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

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

    Authority:  Section 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), and as amended by 
Title IV, Pub. L. 109-103, 119 Stat. 2283 (42 U.S.C. 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); sec. 1704, 
112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note), sec. 651(e), Pub. L.109-58, 
119 Stat. 806-810 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2021, 2021b, 2111).

    7. In Sec.  171.15, paragraph (b)(1), paragraph (b)(2) introductory 
text, paragraph (c)(1), paragraph (c)(2) introductory text, paragraph 
(d)(1) introductory text, and paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3), 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 2011 annual fee for each operating power reactor 
which must be collected by September 30, 2011, is $4,669,000.
    (2) The FY 2011 annual fee is comprised of a base annual fee for 
power reactors licensed to operate, a base spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning annual fee, and associated additional charges (fee-
relief adjustment). The activities comprising the spent storage/reactor 
decommissioning base annual fee are shown in paragraphs (c)(2)(i) and 
(ii) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 2011 fee-relief 
adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The 
activities comprising the FY 2011 base annual fee for operating power 
reactors are as follows:
* * * * *
    (c)(1) The FY 2011 annual fee for each power reactor holding a 10 
CFR part 50 license that is in a decommissioning or possession-only 
status and has spent fuel onsite, and for each independent spent fuel 
storage 10 CFR part 72 licensee who does not hold a 10 CFR part 50 
license, is $234,000.

[[Page 14768]]

    (2) The FY 2011 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 (fee-relief adjustment). The 
activities comprising the FY 2011 fee-relief adjustment are shown in 
paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 2011 
spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning rebaselined annual fee are:
* * * * *
    (d)(1) The fee-relief adjustment allocated to annual fees includes 
a surcharge for the activities listed in paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this 
section, plus the amount remaining after total budgeted resources for 
the activities included in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and (iii) of this 
section are reduced by the appropriations the NRC receives for these 
types of activities. If the NRC's appropriations for these types of 
activities are greater than the budgeted resources for the activities 
included in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and (iii) of this section for a given 
FY, annual fees will be reduced. The activities comprising the FY 2011 
fee-relief adjustment are as follows:
* * * * *
    (2) The total FY 2011 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the 
operating power reactor class of licenses is -$3.4 million, not 
including the amount allocated to the spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning class. The FY 2011 operating power reactor fee-relief 
adjustment to be assessed to each operating power reactor is 
approximately -$32,248. This amount is calculated by dividing the total 
operating power reactor fee-relief adjustment (-$3.4 million) by the 
number of operating power reactors (104).
    (3) The FY 2011 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning class of licenses is -$236,572. The FY 
2011 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee-relief adjustment 
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 10 CFR part 72 licensee who 
does not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license, is approximately -$1,923. This 
amount is calculated by dividing the total fee-relief adjustment costs 
allocated to this class by the total number of power reactor licenses, 
except those that permanently ceased operations and have no fuel 
onsite, and 10 CFR part 72 licensees who do not hold a 10 CFR part 50 
license.
    (e) The FY 2011 annual fees for licensees authorized to operate a 
research and test (nonpower) 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--$86,100.
Test reactor--$86,100.

    8. In Sec.  171.16, paragraph (b) introductory text, paragraphs (c) 
and (d), and paragraph (e) introductory text are revised to read as 
follows:


Sec.  171.16  Annual fees: Materials licensees, holders of certificates 
of compliance, holders of sealed source and device registrations, 
holders of quality assurance program approvals, and government agencies 
licensed by the NRC.

* * * * *
    (c) A licensee who is required to pay an annual fee under this 
section may qualify as a small entity. If a licensee qualifies as a 
small entity and provides the Commission with the proper certification 
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 receipt of a 
delinquent invoice requesting the outstanding balance due and/or denial 
of any refund that might otherwise be due. The small entity fees are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Maximum annual fee per
                                                  licensed category
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Businesses Not Engaged in
 Manufacturing (Average gross receipts
 over last 3 completed fiscal years):
    $450,000 to $6.5 million..............                        $2,300
    Less than $450,000....................                           500
Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Annual
 Gross Receipts):
    $450,000 to $6.5 million..............                         2,300
    Less than $450,000....................                           500
Manufacturing entities that have an
 average of 500 employees or fewer:
    35 to 500 employees...................                         2,300
    Fewer than 35 employees...............                           500
Small Governmental Jurisdictions
 (Including publicly supported educational
 institutions) (Population):
    20,000 to 50,000......................                         2,300
    Fewer than 20,000.....................                           500
Educational Institutions that are not
 State or Publicly Supported, and have 500
 Employees or Fewer:
    35 to 500 employees...................                         2,300
    Fewer than 35 employees...............                           500
------------------------------------------------------------------------

     (d) The FY 2011 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee and 
an allocation for fee-relief adjustment. The activities comprising the 
FY 2011 fee-relief adjustment are shown for convenience in paragraph 
(e) of this section. The FY 2011 annual fees for materials licensees 
and holders of certificates, registrations, or approvals subject to 
fees under this section are shown in the following table:

   Schedule of Materials Annual Fees and Fees for Government Agencies
                             Licensed by NRC
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Annual fees 1, 2,
            Category of materials licenses                     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 (High          $6,078,000
         Enriched Uranium) [Program Code(s): 21130]..

[[Page 14769]]

 
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form           2,287,000
         Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel
         [Program Code(s): 21210]....................
    (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                   752,000
         [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320].............
        (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration            1,176,000
         facilities..................................
        (c) Others, including hot cell facilities....            588,000
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel           N/A \11\
     and reactor-related Greater than Class C (GTCC)
     waste at an independent spent fuel storage
     installation (ISFSI) [Program Code(s): 23200]...
    C. Licenses for possession and use of special                  3,600
     nuclear material in sealed sources contained in
     devices used in industrial measuring systems,
     including x-ray fluorescence analyzers [Program
     Code(s): 22140].................................
    D. All other special nuclear material licenses,                6,900
     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) [Program Code(s): 22110, 22111,
     22120, 22131, 22136, 22150, 22151, 22161, 22163,
     22170, 23100, 23300, 23310].....................
    E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of           3,268,000
     a uranium enrichment facility [Program Code(s):
     21200]..........................................
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source           1,242,000
     material for refining uranium mill concentrates
     to uranium hexafluoride [Program Code(s): 11400]
    (2) Licenses for possession and use of source
     material in recovery operations such as milling,
     in-situ recovery, 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.
        (a) Conventional and Heap Leach facilities                31,900
         [Program Code(s): 11100]....................
        (b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities                     30,300
         [Program Code(s): 11500]....................
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities                  34,300
         [Program Code(s): 11510]....................
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities                     28,800
         [Program Code(s): 11550]....................
        (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities [Program               N/A \5\
         Code(s): 11555].............................
        (f) Other facilities \4\ [Program Code(s):               N/A \5\
         11700]......................................
    (3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of                   N/A \5\
     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
     2.A.(2) or Category 2.A.(4) [Program Code(s):
     11600, 12000]...................................
    (4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of                    10,400
     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 2.A.(2) [Program Code(s): 12010].......
    (5) Licenses that authorize the possession of                  7,200
     source material related to removal of
     contaminants (source material) from drinking
     water [Program Code(s): 11820]..................
    B. Licenses that authorize only the possession,                1,700
     use, and/or installation of source material for
     shielding [Program Code(s): 11210]..............
    C. All other source material licenses [Program                11,900
     Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11230, 11300,
     11800, 11810]...................................
3. Byproduct material:
    A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use             42,600
     of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and
     33 of this chapter for processing or
     manufacturing of items containing byproduct
     material for commercial distribution [Program
     Code(s): 03211, 03212, 03213]...................
    B. Other licenses for possession and use of                   11,900
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for processing or manufacturing of items
     containing byproduct material for commercial
     distribution [Program Code(s): 03214, 03215,
     22135, 22162]...................................
    C. Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   32.72 and/              16,200
     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 Sec.   171.11(a)(1). [Program
     Code(s): 02500, 02511, 02513]...................
    D. [Reserved]....................................            N/A \5\
    E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                8,700
     material in sealed sources for irradiation of
     materials in which the source is not removed
     from its shield (self-shielded units) [Program
     Code(s): 03510, 03520]..........................
    F. Licenses for possession and use of less than               15,200
     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 [Program Code(s): 03511]...............
    G. Licenses for possession and use of 10,000                 137,500
     curies or more of byproduct material in sealed
     sources for irradiation of materials in which
     the source is exposed for irradiation purposes.
     This category also includes underwater
     irradiators for irradiation of materials in
     which the source is not exposed for irradiation
     purposes [Program Code(s): 03521]...............
    H. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32 of               8,100
     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 [Program Code(s):
     03254, 03255]...................................

[[Page 14770]]

 
    I. Licenses issued under Subpart A of part 32 of              19,600
     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 [Program Code(s): 03250, 03251, 03252,
     03253, 03256]...................................
    J. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 32 of               4,700
     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 [Program Code(s): 03240, 03241,
     03243]..........................................
    K. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part 32 of               3,100
     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 [Program Code(s): 03242, 03244].........
    L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use             14,100
     of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and
     33 of this chapter for research and development
     that do not authorize commercial distribution
     [Program Code(s): 01100, 01110, 01120, 03610,
     03611, 03612, 03613]............................
    M. Other licenses for possession and use of                    8,100
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for research and development that do not
     authorize commercial distribution [Program
     Code(s): 03620].................................
    N. Licenses that authorize services for other                 14,300
     licensees, except: (1) Licenses that authorize
     only calibration and/or leak testing services
     are subject to the fees specified in fee
     Category 3.P.; and (2) Licenses that authorize
     waste disposal services are subject to the fees
     specified in fee categories 4.A., 4.B., and 4.C.
     [Program Code(s): 03219, 03225, 03226]..........
    O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct               25,700
     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 [Program Code(s): 03310, 03320]....
    P. All other specific byproduct material                       4,800
     licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
     through 9.D. [Program Code(s): 02400, 02410,
     03120, 03121, 03122, 03123, 03124, 03220, 03221,
     03222, 03800, 03810, 22130].....................
    Q. Registration of devices generally licensed               N/A \13\
     under part 31 of this chapter...................
    R. Possession of items or products containing
     radium-226 identified in 10 CFR 31.12 which
     exceed the number of items or limits specified
     in that section: \14\
        1. Possession of quantities exceeding the                  8,900
         number of items or limits in 10 CFR
         31.12(a)(4), or (5) but less than or equal
         to 10 times the number of items or limits
         specified [Program Code(s): 02700]..........
        2. Possession of quantities exceeding 10                   4,800
         times the number of items or limits
         specified in 10 CFR 31.12(a)(4), or (5)
         [Program Code(s): 02710]....................
    S. Licenses for production of accelerator-                    15,300
     produced radionuclides [Program Code(s): 03210].
4. Waste disposal and processing:
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt             N/A \5\
     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 [Program Code(s): 03231, 03233, 03235,
     03236, 06100, 06101]............................
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt              31,300
     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
     [Program Code(s): 03234]........................
    C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt              14,400
     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
     [Program Code(s): 03232]........................
5. Well logging:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                9,900
     material, source material, and/or special
     nuclear material for well logging, well surveys,
     and tracer studies other than field flooding
     tracer studies [Program Code(s): 03110, 03111,
     03112]..........................................
    B. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct              N/A \5\
     material for field flooding tracer studies
     [Program Code(s): 03113]........................
6. Nuclear laundries:
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry             44,900
     of items contaminated with byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear material
     [Program Code(s): 03218]........................
7. Medical licenses:
    A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 70             17,600
     of this chapter for human use of byproduct
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material in sealed sources contained in gamma
     stereotactic radiosurgery units, teletherapy
     devices, or similar beam therapy devices. This
     category also includes the possession and use of
     source material for shielding when authorized on
     the same license [Program Code(s): 02300, 02310]
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical                  45,000
     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 license.\9\ [Program Code(s): 02110].......
    C. Other licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,               8,400
     and 70 of this chapter for human use of
     byproduct material, source material, and/or
     special nuclear material, except licenses for
     byproduct material, source material, or special
     nuclear material in sealed sources contained in
     teletherapy devices. This category also includes
     the possession and use of source material for
     shielding when authorized on the same
     license.\9\ [Program Code(s): 02120, 02121,
     02200, 02201, 02210, 02220, 02230, 02231, 02240,
     22160]..........................................

[[Page 14771]]

 
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                8,900
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material for civil defense activities [Program
     Code(s): 03710].................................
9. Device, product, or sealed source safety
 evaluation:
    A. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation             11,500
     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             13,300
     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             15,600
     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              1,600
     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.........................
        1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and                     N/A \6\
         plutonium air packages......................
        2. Other Casks...............................            N/A \6\
    B. Quality assurance program approvals issued
     under part 71 of this chapter...................
        1. Users and Fabricators.....................            N/A \6\
        2. Users.....................................            N/A \6\
    C. Evaluation of security plans, route approvals,            N/A \6\
     route surveys, and transportation security
     devices (including immobilization devices)......
11. Standardized spent fuel facilities...............            N/A \6\
12. Special Projects.................................            N/A \6\
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of                    N/A \6\
 Compliance..........................................
    B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel               N/A \12\
     under 10 CFR 72.210.............................
14. Decommissioning/Reclamation:
    A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material            N/A \7\
     licenses and other approvals authorizing
     decommissioning, decontamination, reclamation,
     or site restoration activities under parts 30,
     40, 70, 72, and 76 of this chapter..............
    B. Site-specific decommissioning activities                  N/A \7\
     associated with unlicensed sites, whether or not
     the sites have been previously licensed.........
15. Import and Export licenses.......................            N/A \8\
16. Reciprocity......................................            N/A \8\
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued              476,000
 to Government agencies [Program Code(s): 03710].....
18. Department of Energy:
    A. Certificates of Compliance....................     1,028,000 \10\
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act               771,000
     (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 FY. 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
  before October 1, 2010, and permanently ceased licensed activities
  entirely before this date. Annual fees for licensees who filed for
  termination of a license, downgrade of a license, or for a possession-
  only license during the FY and for new licenses issued during the FY
  will be prorated in accordance with the provisions of Sec.   171.17.
  If a person holds more than one license, certificate, registration, or
  approval, the annual fee(s) will be assessed for each license,
  certificate, registration, or approval held by that person. For
  licenses that authorize more than one activity on a single license
  (e.g., human use and irradiator activities), annual fees will be
  assessed for each category applicable to the license. Licensees paying
  annual fees under Category 1.A.(1) are not subject to the annual fees
  for Categories 1.C. and 1.D. for sealed sources authorized in the
  license.
\2\ Payment of the prescribed annual fee does not automatically renew
  the license, certificate, registration, or approval for which the fee
  is paid. Renewal applications must be filed in accordance with the
  requirements of parts 30, 40, 70, 71, 72, or 76 of this chapter.
\3\ Each FY, 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\ Other facilities include 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 related Quality Assurance program
  approvals, 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 that also hold nuclear medicine
  licenses under Categories 7.B. or 7.C.
\10\ This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to the Department
  of Energy that are not funded from the Nuclear Waste Fund.
\11\ See Sec.   171.15(c).
\12\ See Sec.   171.15(c).
\13\ No annual fee is charged for this category because the cost of the
  general license registration program applicable to licenses in this
  category will be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
\14\ Persons who possess radium sources that are used for operational
  purposes in another fee category are not also subject to the fees in
  this category. (This exception does not apply if the radium sources
  are possessed for storage only.)


[[Page 14772]]

    (e) The fee-relief adjustment allocated to annual fees includes the 
budgeted resources for the activities listed in paragraph (e)(1) of 
this section, plus the total budgeted resources for the activities 
included in paragraphs (e)(2) and (e)(3) of this section, as reduced by 
the appropriations NRC receives for these types of activities. If the 
NRC's appropriations for these types of activities are greater than the 
budgeted resources for the activities included in paragraphs (e)(2) and 
(e)(3) of this section for a given FY, a negative fee-relief adjustment 
(or annual fee reduction) will be allocated to annual fees. The 
activities comprising the FY 2011 fee-relief adjustment are as follows:
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of March 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J.E. Dyer,
Chief Financial Officer.

    Note:  This Appendix Will Not Appear in the Code of Federal 
Regulations.

Appendix A to Proposed Rule, Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery 
for Fiscal Year 2011--Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for the Final 
Amendments to 10 CFR Part 170 (License Fees) and 10 CFR Part 171 
(Annual Fees)

I. Background

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as amended at 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 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) has 
established standards for determining which NRC licensees qualify as 
small entities (Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 
2.810). These standards were based on the Small Business 
Administration's most common receipts-based size standards and 
provides 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 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.
    The NRC is required each year, under the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, to recover 
approximately 90 percent of its budget authority (less amounts 
appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) and for other 
activities specifically removed from the fee base), through fees to 
NRC licensees and applicants. The OBRA-90 requires that the schedule 
of charges established by rulemaking should fairly and equitably 
allocate the total amount to be recovered from the 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 FY 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 the NRC in identifying and 
determining the fees to be assessed and collected in any given FY.
    The Commission is proposing to rebaseline its 10 CFR Part 171 
annual fees in FY 2011. As compared with FY 2010 annual fees, the FY 
2011 proposed rebaselined fees are higher for four classes of 
licensees (spent fuel storage and reactors in decommissioning 
facilities, research and test reactors, fuel facilities, and 
transportation), and lower for one class of licensees (power 
reactors). Within the uranium recovery fee class, the proposed 
annual fees for most licensees decrease, while the proposed annual 
fee for one fee category increases. The annual fee increases for 
most fee categories in the materials users' fee class.
    The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) 
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.
    The SBREFA also requires that an agency prepare a written 
compliance guide to assist small entities in complying with each 
rule for which a Regulatory Flexibilty Analysis (RFA) is prepared. 
As required by law, this analysis and the small entity compliance 
guide (Attachment 1) have been prepared for the FY 2011 fee rule.

II. Impact on Small Entities

    The fee rule results in substantial fees charged to those 
individuals, organizations, and companies licensed by the NRC, 
including those licensed under the NRC materials program. Comments 
received on previous proposed fee rules and the small entity 
certifications in response to previous final fee rules indicate that 
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 fees on materials 
licensees. In FY 2010, about 29 percent of these licensees 
(approximately 921 licensees) qualified as small entities.
    Commenters on previous fee rulemakings consistently indicated 
that the following 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 soil testing, annual fees 
would put small licensees at an extreme competitive disadvantage 
with their much larger competitors because the proposed fees would 
be identical for both small and large firms.
    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 abandon the 
materials license altogether. Commenters estimated that the proposed 
rule would cause roughly 10 percent of the well-logging licensees to 
terminate their licenses immediately and approximately 25 percent to 
terminate 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 difficult for some 
facilities to meet.
    Over 3,000 licenses, approvals, and registration terminations 
have been requested since the NRC first established annual fees for 
materials licenses. Although some terminations were requested 
because the license was no longer needed or could be combined with 
registrations, indications are that the economic impact of the fees 
caused other terminations.
    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 FY 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 frequency of use of 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 a maximum fee for small 
entities is the most appropriate and effective option for reducing 
the impact of fees on small entities.

III. Maximum Fee

    The SBREFA and its implementing guidance do not provide specific 
guidelines on what constitutes a significant economic impact on a 
small entity. In developing the maximum small entity annual fee in 
FY 1991, the NRC examined 10 CFR Part 170 licensing and inspection 
fees and Agreement State fees for 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 FY 1991.
    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

[[Page 14773]]

and inspection fees. In setting the small entity annual fee, NRC 
ensured that the total amount small entities paid would not exceed 
the maximum paid in the six benchmark Agreement States.
    Of the six benchmark States, the NRC used Washington's maximum 
Agreement State fee of $3,800 as the ceiling for 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 FY 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 FY 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 
reanalyzed 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 fees NRC charged 
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. Because of the 25 percent increase, in FY 
2000 the maximum small entity annual fee increased from $1,800 to 
$2,300. However, despite the increase, total fees for many small 
entities were reduced because they no longer paid Part 170 fees. 
Costs not recovered from small entities were 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 
could continue to have a significant impact on materials licensees 
with relatively low annual gross receipts. Therefore, the NRC 
continued to provide the lower-tier small entity annual fee for 
small entities with relatively low gross annual receipts, 
manufacturing concerns, and for educational institutions not State 
or publicly supported with fewer than 35 employees. The NRC also 
increased the lower-tier small entity fee by 25 percent, the same 
percentage increase to the maximum small entity annual fee, 
resulting in the lower-tier small entity fee increasing from $400 to 
$500 in FY 2000.
    The NRC stated in the RFA for the FY 2001 final fee rule that it 
would reexamine the small entity fees every 2 years, in the same 
years in which it conducts the biennial review of fees as required 
by the Chief Financial Officers Act. Accordingly, the NRC examined 
the small entity fees again in FY 2003 and FY 2005, determining that 
a change was not warranted to those fees established in FY 2001.
    As part of the small entity review in FY 2007, the NRC also 
considered whether it should establish reduced fees for small 
entities under Part 170. The NRC received one comment requesting 
that small entity fees be considered for certain export licenses, 
particularly in light of the recent increases to Part 170 fees for 
these licenses. Because the NRC's Part 170 fees are not assessed to 
a licensee or applicant on a regular basis (i.e., they are only 
assessed when a licensee or applicant requests a specific service 
from the NRC), the NRC does not believe that the impact of its Part 
170 fees warrants a fee reduction for small entities, in addition to 
the Part 171 small entity fee reduction. Regarding export licenses, 
the NRC notes that interested parties can submit a single 
application for a broad scope, multi-year license that permits 
exports to multiple countries. Because the NRC charges fees per 
application, this process minimizes the fees for export applicants. 
Because a single NRC fee can cover numerous exports, and because 
there are a limited number of entities who apply for these licenses, 
the NRC does not anticipate that the Part 170 export fees will have 
a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Therefore, the NRC retained the $2,300 small entity annual fee and 
the $500 lower-tier small entity annual fee for FY 2007 and FY 2008.
    The NRC conducted an in-depth biennial review of the FY 2009 
small entity fees. The review noted significant changes between FY 
2000 and FY 2008 in both the external and internal environment which 
impacted fees for NRC's materials users licensees. Since FY 2000, 
small entity licensees in the upper tier had increased approximately 
53 percent. In addition, due to changes in the law, NRC is now 
required to recover only 90 percent of its budget authority compared 
to 100 percent recovery required in FY 2000. This 10 percent fee-
relief has influenced the materials users' annual fees. A decrease 
in the NRC's budget allocation to the materials users also 
influenced annual fees in FY 2007 and FY 2008.
    Based on the review, the NRC changed the methodology for 
reviewing small entity fees. The NRC determined the maximum small 
entity fee should be adjusted each biennial year using a fixed 
percentage of 39 percent applied to the prior 2-year weighted 
average of materials users fees for all fee categories which have 
small entity licensees. The 39 percent was based on the small entity 
annual fee for FY 2005, which was the first year the NRC was 
required to recover only 90 percent of its budget authority. The FY 
2005 small entity annual fee of $2,300 was 39 percent of the 2-year 
weighted average for all fee categories in FY 2005 and FY 2006 that 
had an upper-tier small entity licensee. The new methodology allows 
small entity licensees to be able to predict changes in their fee in 
the biennial year based on the materials users' fees for the 
previous 2 years. Using a 2-year weighted average smoothes the 
fluctuations caused by programmatic and budget variables and 
reflects the importance of the fee categories with the majority of 
small entities. The agency also determined the lower-tier annual fee 
should remain at 22 percent of the maximum small entity annual fee. 
In FY 2009, the NRC decreased the maximum small entity fee from 
$2,300 to $1,900 and decreased the lower-tier annual fee from $500 
to $400.
    In FY 2011, the NRC reexamined the small entity fee, including 
the new methodology developed in FY 2009. Per the methodology used 
in FY 2009, the agency computed the small entity fee by using a 
fixed percentage of 39 percent applied to the prior 2-year weighted 
average of materials users' fees. This resulted in an upper-tier 
small entity fee amount that was 7 percent higher than the current 
fee of $1,900, a reflection of the increase in annual fees for the 
materials users licensees for the past 2 years. Implementing this 
increase would have a disproportionate impact upon small NRC 
licensees. Therefore in FY 2011, NRC has decided to limit the 
increase for upper tier fees to $2,300, a 21 percent increase, and 
the lower tier fee to $500, a 25 percent increase. This increase in 
the small entity fee partially reflects the changes to the annual 
fee for the materials users for the previous 2 years.

IV. 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 90 percent of the NRC budget and the 
requirement to consider means of reducing the impact of the fee on 
small entities. Based on its RFA, 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 $450,000, 
small governmental jurisdictions with a population of fewer than 
20,000, small manufacturing entities that have fewer than 35 
employees, and educational institutions that are not State or 
publicly supported and have fewer 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.

Attachment 1 to Appendix A--U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Small 
Entity Compliance Guide; Fiscal Year 2011

Contents

I. Introduction
II. NRC Definition of Small Entity
III. NRC Small Entity Fees
IV. Instructions for Completing NRC Form 526

I. Introduction

    The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) 
requires all Federal agencies to prepare a written compliance guide 
for each rule for which the agency is required by U.S.C. 604 to 
prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis. Therefore, in

[[Page 14774]]

compliance with the law, Attachment 1 to the Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis is the small entity compliance guide for FY 2011.
    Licensees may use this guide to determine whether they qualify 
as a small entity under NRC regulations and are eligible to pay 
reduced FY 2011 annual fees assessed under Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 171. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) has established two tiers of annual fees for those 
materials licensees who qualify as small entities under the NRC's 
size standards.
    Licensees who meet the NRC's size standards for a small entity 
(listed in 10 CFR 2.810) 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 Web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov. The form can then be accessed by selecting 
``Business with NRC,'' then ``NRC Forms,'' selecting NRC Form 526. 
For licensees who cannot access the NRC's 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, Accounts Receivable/Payable Branch, at 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.

II. NRC Definition of Small Entity

    For purposes of compliance with its regulations (10 CFR 2.810), 
the NRC has defined a small entity as follows:
    (1) Small business--a for-profit concern that (a) provides a 
service, or a concern that is not engaged in manufacturing, with 
average gross receipts of $6.5 million or less over its last 3 
completed fiscal years; or (b) a manufacturing concern with an 
average number of 500 or fewer employees based on employment during 
each pay period for the preceding 12 calendar months;
    (2) Small organizations--a not-for-profit organization which is 
independently owned and operated and has annual gross receipts of 
$6.5 million or less;
    (3) 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; and
    (4) Small educational institution--an educational institution 
that is (a) supported by a qualifying small governmental 
jurisdiction, or (b) 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 an educational program 
for which it awards academic degrees, and whose educational programs 
are available to the public.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To further assist licensees in determining if they qualify as a 
small entity, the following guidelines are provided, which are based 
on the Small Business Administration's regulations (13 CFR Part 
121).
    (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 include 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, including 
a foreign entity, does not qualify as a small entity.

III. NRC Small Entity Fees

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Maximum annual
                                                       fee per  licensed
                                                            category
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Businesses Not Engaged in Manufacturing
 (Average gross receipts over last 3 completed fiscal
 years):
    $450,000 to $6.5 million.........................             $2,300
    Less than $450,000...............................                500
Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Annual Gross
 Receipts):
    $450,000 to $6.5 million.........................              2,300
    Less than $450,000...............................                500
Manufacturing entities that have an average of 500
 employees or fewer:
    35 to 500 employees..............................              2,300
    Fewer than 35 employees..........................                500
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly
 supported educational institutions) (Population):
    20,000 to 50,000.................................              2,300
    Fewer than 20,000................................                500
Educational Institutions that are not State or
 Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Fewer
  35 to 500 employees................................              2,300
    Fewer than 35 employees..........................                500
    Fewer than 20,000................................                500
------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Instructions for Completing NRC Small Entity Form 526

    1. Complete all items on NRC Form 526 as follows: (Note: 
Incomplete or improperly completed forms will be returned as 
unacceptable.)
    (a) Enter the license number and invoice number exactly as they 
appear on the annual fee invoice.
    (b) Enter the North American Industry Classification System.
    (c) Enter the licensee's name and address exactly as they appear 
on the invoice. Annotate name and/or address changes for billing 
purposes on the payment copy of the invoice--include contact's name, 
telephone number, e-mail address, and company Web site address. 
Correcting the name and/or address on NRC Form 526 or on the invoice 
does not constitute a request to amend the license.
    (d) Check the appropriate size standard under which the licensee 
qualifies as a small entity. Check one box only. Note the following:
    (i) A licensee who is a subsidiary of a large entity, including 
foreign entities, does not qualify as a small entity. The 
calculation of a firm's size includes the employees or receipts of 
all affiliates. Affiliation with another concern is based on the 
power to control, whether exercised or not. Such factors as common 
ownership, common management, and identity of interest (often found 
in members of the same family),

[[Page 14775]]

among others, are indications of affiliation. The affiliated 
business concerns need not be in the same line of business.
    (ii) Gross annual receipts, as used in the size standards, 
include all revenue received or accrued by your company from all 
sources, regardless of the form of the revenue and not solely 
receipts from licensed activities.
    (iii) NRC's size standards on a small entity are based on the 
Small Business Administration's regulations (13 CFR Part 121).
    (iv) The size standards apply to the licensee, not to the 
individual authorized users who may be listed in the license.
    2. If the invoice states the ``Amount Billed Represents 50% 
Proration,'' the amount due is not the prorated amount shown on the 
invoice but rather one-half of the maximum small entity annual fee 
shown on NRC Form 526 for the size standard under which the licensee 
qualifies (either $1,150 or $250) for each category billed.
    3. If the invoice amount is less than the reduced small entity 
annual fee shown on this form, pay the amount on the invoice; there 
is no further reduction. In this case, do not file NRC Form 526. 
However, if the invoice amount is greater than the reduced small 
entity annual fee, file NRC Form 526 and pay the amount applicable 
to the size standard you checked on the form.
    4. The completed NRC Form 526 must be submitted with the 
required annual fee payment and the ``Payment Copy'' of the invoice 
to the address shown on the invoice.
    5. Section 171.16(c) states licensees shall submit a proper 
certification with its annual fee payment each year. Failure to 
submit NRC Form 526 at the time the annual fee is paid will require 
the licensee to pay the full amount of the invoice.
    The NRC sends invoices to its licensees for the full annual fee, 
even though some licensees qualify for reduced fees as small 
entities. Licensees who qualify as small entities and file NRC Form 
526, which certifies eligibility for small entity fees, may pay the 
reduced fee, which is either $2,300 or $500 for a full year, 
depending on the size of the entity, for each fee category shown on 
the invoice. Licensees granted a license during the first 6 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 6 months of the fiscal year, pay only 50 
percent of the annual fee for that year. Such invoices state that 
the ``amount billed represents 50% proration.''
    Licensees must file a new small entity form (NRC Form 526) 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 licensees 
must complete and return NRC Form 526 for the fee to be reduced to 
the small entity fee amount. Licensees will not receive 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, Accounts Receivable/Payable Branch, at the 
address indicated on the invoice.
    If you have questions regarding the NRC's annual fees, please 
contact 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 20555-0001, 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 of 1986, 31 U.S.C. 3801 et seq. NRC's implementing 
regulations are found at 10 CFR Part 13.

[FR Doc. 2011-5968 Filed 3-16-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P