[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 23, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15457-15481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06284]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 9, 170, and 171

[NRC-2015-0223]
RIN 3150-AJ66


Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2016

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to 
amend the licensing, inspection, special project, and annual fees 
charged to its applicants and licensees and, for the first time, the 
NRC is proposing to recover its costs when it responds to third-party 
demands for information in litigation where the United States is not a 
party (``Touhy requests''). These proposed amendments are necessary to 
implement the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 as amended 
(OBRA-90), which requires the NRC to recover approximately 90 percent 
of its annual budget through fees.

DATES: Submit comments by April 22, 2016. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this 
date. Because OBRA-90 requires the NRC to collect the fiscal year (FY) 
2016 fees by September 30, 2016, the NRC will not grant any requests 
for an extension of the comment period.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0223. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this proposed rule.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Kaplan, Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,

[[Page 15458]]

DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-5256, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
II. Background; Statutory Authority
III. Discussion
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
V. Regulatory Analysis
VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality
VII. Plain Writing
VIII. National Environmental Policy Act
IX. Paperwork Reduction Act
    Public Protection Notification
X. Voluntary Consensus Standards
XI. Availability of Guidance
XII. Public Meeting and Request for Information
XIII. Availability of Documents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0223 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0223.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced. For the convenience of the reader, the 
ADAMS accession numbers are provided in a table in the ``Availability 
of Documents'' section of this document.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2015-0223 in the subject line of your 
comment submission in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your 
comment submission publicly available in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Background; Statutory Authority

    The NRC's fee regulations are primarily governed by two laws: (1) 
The Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 
9701), and (2) OBRA-90. The OBRA-90 statute requires the NRC to recover 
approximately 90 percent of its budget authority through fees; this 
fee-recovery requirement excludes amounts appropriated for Waste 
Incidental to Reprocessing, generic homeland security activities, and 
Inspector General (IG) services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities 
Safety Board, as well as any amounts appropriated from the Nuclear 
Waste Fund. The OBRA-90 statute first requires the NRC to use its IOAA 
authority to collect user fees for NRC work that provides specific 
benefits to identifiable applicants and licensees (such as licensing 
work, inspections, special projects). The regulations at part 170 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) authorize these 
fees. But, because the NRC's fee recovery under the IOAA (10 CFR part 
170) does not equal 90 percent of the NRC's budget authority, the NRC 
also assesses generic ``annual fees'' under 10 CFR part 171 to recover 
the remaining fees necessary to achieve OBRA-90's 90 percent fee 
recovery. These annual fees recover generic regulatory costs that are 
not otherwise collected through 10 CFR part 170.

III. Discussion

FY 2016 Fee Collection--Overview

    The NRC is issuing the FY 2016 proposed fee rule based on the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Pub. L. 114-113), amount of 
$1,002.1 million, a decrease of $13.2 million from FY 2015. As 
explained previously, certain portions of the NRC's total budget are 
excluded from the NRC's fee-recovery amount--specifically, these 
exclusions include: $1.3 million for waste-incident-to-reprocessing 
activities, $1.0 million for IG services for the Defense Nuclear 
Facilities Safety Board, and $18.8 million for generic homeland 
security activities. Additionally, 10 percent of the NRC's budget is 
recovered through this congressional appropriation. After accounting 
for the OBRA-90 exclusions, this 10-percent appropriation and net 
billing adjustments--i.e., the sum of unpaid current year invoices 
(estimated) minus payments for prior year invoices and the prior year 
billing credit issued to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the 
transportation fee class--approximately $883.9 million in FY 2016 must 
be billed as fees to licensees. Of this amount, the NRC estimates that 
$325.8 million will be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 user fees; 
that leaves approximately $558.1 million to be recovered through 10 CFR 
part 171 annual fees. Table I summarizes the fee-recovery amounts for 
the FY 2016 proposed fee rule using the enacted budget, and taking into 
account excluded activities, the 10-percent appropriation, and net 
billing adjustments (individual values may not sum to totals due to 
rounding).

                                    Table I--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  FY 2015  Final      FY 2016       Percentage
                                                                       rule        Proposed rule      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority..........................................        $1,015.3        $1,002.1            -1.3
Less Excluded Fee Items.........................................           -20.3           -21.1             3.8
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Balance.....................................................          $995.0          $981.0            -1.4

[[Page 15459]]

 
Fee Recovery Percent............................................              90              90             0.0
Total Amount to be Recovered:...................................          $895.5          $882.9            -1.4
    10 CFR Part 171 Billing Adjustments:........................             0.0             0.0             0.0
    Unpaid Current Year Invoices (estimated)....................             2.8             9.0           221.4
    Less Prior Year Billing Credit for Transportation Fee Class.             0.0            -0.2             100
    Less Payments Received in Current Year for Previous Year                -9.6            -7.8           -18.7
     Invoices (estimated).......................................
    Subtotal....................................................            -6.8             1.0          -117.7
Amount to be Recovered through 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171 Fees....          $888.7          $883.9            -0.5
    Less Estimated 10 CFR Part 170 Fees.........................          -321.7          -325.8             1.3
    Less Prior Year Unbilled 10 CFR Part 170 Fees...............            -0.0            -0.0
10 CFR Part 171 Fee Collections Required........................          $567.0          $558.1            -1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2016 Fee Collection--Hourly Rate

    The NRC uses an hourly rate to assess fees for specific services 
provided by the NRC under 10 CFR part 170. The hourly rate also helps 
determine flat fees (which are used for the review of certain types of 
license applications). 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 support--which includes corporate support, office support (FY 
2015 only), and the IG. In FY 2016, the agency eliminated the office 
support category for budgetary resources. Created in FY 2011, office 
support included indirect resources that sustained an individual 
office--such as supervisory, administrative assistant, and other 
support staff full-time equivalent (FTE) hours. In FY 2015, the agency 
contracted with consultants EY to provide a study of NRC support costs 
and budget structure in comparison to other Federal peer agencies. 
Based on recommendations in this study, starting in FY 2016, resources 
formerly budgeted in office support have been reclassified into either 
mission-indirect program support or corporate support, depending upon 
whether the resources were budgeted in support of a program office or a 
corporate support office.
    The mission-direct FTE hours are the product of the mission-direct 
FTE multiplied by the estimated annual 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. 
Billable contract activities are included as a separate line item on 
the 10 CFR part 170 invoice.
    For FY 2016, the NRC is proposing to decrease the hourly rate from 
$268 to $266. The hourly rate decrease is due to a reduced budget and 
an increase in the estimated direct hours worked per mission-direct FTE 
during the year. The FY 2016 estimated annual direct hours per staff is 
1,440 hours, up from 1,420 hours in FY 2015. Assuming a constant 
budget, as the FTE hours per staff increases, the hourly rate 
decreases. Table II shows the hourly rate calculation methodology. The 
FY 2015 amounts are provided for comparison purposes.

                                        Table II--Hourly Rate Calculation
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  FY 2015  Final      FY 2016       Percentage
                                                                       rule        Proposed rule      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission-Direct Program Salaries & Benefits......................          $365.6          $362.9            -0.8
Mission-Indirect Program Support................................           $67.7          $138.7           104.8
Agency Support (Corporate Support, Office Support* and the IG)..          $422.7          $324.6           -23.2
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Subtotal....................................................          $856.0          $826.2            -3.5
Less Offsetting Receipts........................................           -$0.0           -$0.1            41.5
Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate............................          $856.0          $826.1            -3.5
Mission-Direct FTE (Whole numbers)..............................           2,250           2,157            -4.1
Mission-Direct FTE hours........................................           1,420           1,440             1.4
FTE Converted to Hours (Mission-Direct FTE multiplied by Mission-            3.2             3.1            -2.8
 Direct FTE hours worked annually) (In Millions)................
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate              $268            $266            -0.8
 Divided by FTE Converted to Hours) (Whole Numbers).............
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*FY 2015 only

FY 2016 Fee Collection--Flat Application Fee Changes

    The NRC proposes to amend the flat application fees that it charges 
to applicants for import and export licenses, applicants for materials 
licenses and other regulatory services, and holders of materials, 
import, and export licenses in its schedule of fees in Sec. Sec.  
170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the revised hourly rate of $266. The NRC 
calculates these flat fees by multiplying the average professional 
staff hours needed to process the licensing actions by the proposed 
professional hourly rate for FY 2016. The NRC analyzes the actual hours 
spent performing licensing actions and then estimates the average 
professional staff hours that are needed to process licensing actions 
as part of its biennial review of fees, which is required by Section 
902 of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (31 U.S.C. 902(8)). The 
NRC performed this review

[[Page 15460]]

in FY 2015 and will perform this review again in FY 2017. The lower 
hourly rate of $266 is the primary reason for the decrease in 
application fees.
    The NRC rounds these flat fees in such a way that ensures both 
convenience for its stakeholders and that any rounding effects are 
minimal. Accordingly, fees under $1,000 are rounded to the nearest $10, 
fees between $1,000 and $100,000 are rounded to the nearest $100, and 
fees greater than $100,000 are rounded to the nearest $1,000.
    The proposed licensing flat fees are applicable for import and 
export licensing actions (see fee categories K.1. through K.5. of Sec.  
170.21), as well as certain materials licensing actions (see fee 
categories 1.C. through 1.D., 2.B. through 2.F., 3.A. through 3.S., 
4.B. through 5.A., 6.A. through 9.D., 10.B., 15.A. through 15.L., 
15.R., and 16 of Sec.  170.31). Applications filed on or after the 
effective date of the FY 2016 final fee rule will be subject to the 
revised fees in the final rule.

FY 2016 Fee Collection--Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste (LLW) Surcharge

    As previously noted, Congress provides 10 percent of the NRC's 
recoverable budget authority through an appropriation. The NRC applies 
this 10-percent Congressional appropriation to offset certain budgeted 
activities--please see Table III for a full listing. These activities 
are referred to as ``fee-relief'' activities. Any difference between 
the 10-percent appropriation and the budgeted amount of these fee-
relief activities results in a fee adjustment (either an increase or 
decrease) to all licensees' annual fees, based on their percentage 
share of the NRC's budget.
    In FY 2016, the NRC's budgeted fee-relief activities fall below the 
10-percent appropriation threshold--therefore, the NRC proposes to 
assess a fee-relief adjustment (i.e., credit) to decrease all 
licensees' annual fees based on their percentage share of the budget. 
Table III summarizes the fee-relief activities for FY 2016. The FY 2015 
amounts are provided for comparison purposes.

                                        Table III--Fee-Relief Activities
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      FY 2015         FY 2016       Percentage
                      Fee-Relief Activities                       Budgeted costs  Budgeted costs      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or
 class of licensee:
    a. International Assistance activities......................            $9.3           $12.6            35.8
    b. Agreement State oversight................................           $12.0           $12.6             5.1
    c. Scholarships and Fellowships.............................           $18.9           $18.3            -3.2
    d. Medical Isotope Production Infrastructure................            $4.9            $0.8           -83.7
2. Activities not assessed under 10 CFR part 170 licensing and
 inspection fees or 10 CFR part 171 annual fees based on
 existing law or Commission policy:
    a. Fee exemption for nonprofit educational institutions.....           $10.3           $10.0            -2.3
    b. Costs not recovered from small entities under 10 CFR                 $8.8            $8.6            -2.9
     71.16(c)...................................................
    c. Regulatory support to Agreement States...................           $18.5           $16.6           -10.7
    d. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (not related to the             $16.4           $14.5           -11.7
     power reactor and spent fuel storage fee classes)..........
    e. In Situ leach rulemaking and unregistered general                    $1.4            $1.5            14.3
     licensees..................................................
    f. Potential Department of Defense remediation program MOU               0.0            $1.1             100
     activities.................................................
Total fee-relief activities.....................................          $100.5           $96.6            -3.9
    Less 10 percent of the NRC's total FY budget (less non-fee            -$99.5          -$98.1            -1.4
     items).....................................................
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
        Fee-Relief Adjustment to be Allocated to All Licensees'             $1.0           -$1.5          -252.5
         Annual Fees............................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table IV shows how the NRC allocates the -$1.5 million fee-relief 
adjustment (credit) to each license fee class.
    In addition to the fee-relief adjustment, the NRC also assesses a 
generic LLW surcharge of $3.3 million. The LLW disposal occurs at 
commercially-operated LLW disposal facilities licensed by either the 
NRC or the Agreement States. There are three existing low-level waste 
disposal facilities in the United States that accept various types of 
low-level waste. All are in Agreement States and, therefore, regulated 
by the State authority. The NRC allocates this surcharge to its 
licensees based on data available in DOE's Manifest Information 
Management System. This database contains information on total LLW 
volumes and NRC usage information from four generator classes: 
academic, industry, medical, and utility. The ratio of utility waste 
volumes to total LLW volumes over a period of time is used to estimate 
the portion of this surcharge that should be allocated to the power 
reactors, fuel facilities, and materials fee classes. The materials 
portion is adjusted to account for the fact that a large percentage of 
materials licensees are licensed by the Agreement States rather than 
the NRC.
    Table IV shows the surcharge, and its allocation across the various 
fee classes.

                    Table IV--Allocation of Fee-Relief Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2016
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           LLW Surcharge               Fee-Relief Adjustment           Total
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Percent            $            Percent            $               $
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors........            31.0             1.0            86.1            -1.3            -0.3
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor                   0.0             0.0             3.6            -0.1            -0.1
 Decommissioning................
Research and Test Reactors......             0.0             0.0             0.5             0.0             0.0
Fuel Facilities.................            53.0             1.7             4.8            -0.1             1.7
Materials Users.................            16.0             0.5             3.1             0.0             0.5

[[Page 15461]]

 
Transportation..................             0.0             0.0             0.5             0.0             0.0
Rare Earth Facilities...........             0.0             0.0             0.0             0.0             0.0
Uranium Recovery................             0.0             0.0             1.4             0.0             0.0
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Total.......................           100.0             3.3           100.0            -1.5             1.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2016 Fee Collection--Revised Annual Fees

    In accordance with SECY-05-0164, ``Annual Fee Calculation Method,'' 
dated September 15, 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. ML052580332), the NRC 
rebaselines its annual fees every year. Rebaselining entails analyzing 
the budget in detail and then allocating the budgeted costs to various 
classes or subclasses of licensees. It also includes updating the 
number of NRC licensees in its fee calculation methodology.
    The NRC proposes to revise its annual fees in Sec. Sec.  171.15 and 
171.16 to recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's FY 2016 budget 
authority (less non-fee amounts and the estimated amount to be 
recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees). The total estimated 10 CFR 
part 170 collections for this proposed rule total are $325.8 million, 
an increase of $4.1 million from the FY 2015 fee rule. The NRC, 
therefore, must recover $558.1 million through annual fees from its 
licensees, which is a decrease of $8.9 million from the FY 2015 final 
rule.
    Table V shows the rebaselined fees for FY 2016 for a representative 
list of categories of licensees. The FY 2015 amounts are provided for 
comparison purposes.

                                        Table V--Rebaselined Annual Fees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016
                   Class/Category of licenses                      FY 2015 Final     Proposed       Percentage
                                                                    annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors........................................      $4,807,000      $4,712,000            -2.0
    + Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning................         223,000         211,000            -5.4
        Total, Combined Fee.....................................       5,030,000       4,923,000            -2.1
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning......................         223,000         211,000            -5.4
Research and Test Reactors (Nonpower Reactors)..................          83,500          82,500            -1.2
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility.............................       8,473,000       7,955,000            -6.1
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility..............................       2,915,000       2,737,000            -6.1
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion Facility........................       1,731,000       1,625,000            -6.1
Conventional Mills..............................................          36,100          40,200            11.4
Typical Materials Users:
    Radiographers (Category 3O).................................          25,800          25,900             0.4
Well Loggers (Category 5A)......................................          14,400          14,400             0.0
Gauge Users (Category 3P).......................................           8,000           8,000             0.0
Broad Scope Medical (Category 7B)...............................          37,500          37,300            -0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The work papers (ADAMS Accession No. ML16056A437) that support this 
proposed rule show in detail how the NRC allocated the budgeted 
resources for each class of licenses and how the fees are calculated. 
The work papers are available as indicated in Section XIII, 
``Availability of Documents.''
    Paragraphs a. through h. of this section describe budgetary 
resources allocated to each class of licensees and the calculations of 
the rebaselined fees. For more information about detailed fee 
calculations for each class, please consult the accompanying work 
papers.
a. Fuel Facilities
    The NRC proposes to collect $31.8 million in annual fees from the 
fuel facility class.

                          Table VI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Fuel Facilities
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016       Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2015 Final     Proposed         change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................           $42.8           $40.6            -5.2
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................          -$11.5          -$11.6             0.9
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................           $31.3           $29.0            -7.5
Allocated generic transportation................................            $0.8            $1.1            41.8
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................            $2.1            $1.7           -20.4
Billing adjustments.............................................           -$0.3            $0.1          -119.1
Reclassification of licensee current year fee billing received:.            $0.0            $0.0             0.0
    Total remaining required annual fee recovery................           $33.9           $31.8            -6.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 15462]]

    In FY 2016, the fuel facilities budgetary resources decreased due 
to continued construction delays at multiple sites, which caused delays 
in NRC operational readiness reviews and NRC inspections. These delays 
further caused the estimated 10 CFR part 170 billings for FY 2016 to 
remain stable compared to FY 2015. Specifically, significant 
construction delays are noted for the Shaw Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication 
Facility, the International Isotopes facility, and the AREVA NC 
facility.
    As for the annual fees, the NRC allocates annual fees to individual 
fuel facility licensees based on the effort/fee determination matrix 
developed in the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR 31447; June 10, 1999). 
To briefly recap, that matrix groups licensees into various categories. 
The NRC's fuel facility project managers determine the effort levels 
associated with regulating each category. This is done by assigning 
separate effort factors for the safety and safeguards activities 
associated with each category (for more information about this matrix, 
see the work papers). These effort levels are reflected in Table VII.

                             Table VII--Effort Factors For Fuel Facilities, FY 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Effort Factors (percent of
                                                                     Number of                total)
                  Facility type (fee category)                      facilities   -------------------------------
                                                                                      Safety        Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).........................               2       89 (44.3)       97 (56.7)
Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..........................               3       70 (34.8)       26 (15.2)
Limited Operations (1.A.(2)(a)).................................               0         0 (0.0)         0 (0.0)
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))............               1         3 (1.5)        15 (8.8)
Hot Cell (1.A.(2)(c))...........................................               1         6 (3.0)         3 (1.8)
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).......................................               1       21 (10.4)       23 (13.5)
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion (2.A.(1)).......................               1        12 (6.0)         7 (4.1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For FY 2016, the total budgeted resources for safety activities are 
$16.3 million. To calculate the annual fee, the NRC allocates this 
amount to each fee category based on its percent of the total 
regulatory effort for safety activities. Similarly, the NRC allocates 
the budgeted resources for safeguards activities ($13.9 million) to 
each fee category based on its percent of the total regulatory effort 
for safeguards activities. Finally, the fuel facility fee class' 
portion of the fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge--$1.7 million--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 for each facility is summarized in Table 
VIII.

                                   Table VIII--Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016
                  Facility Type (fee category)                     FY 2015 Final     Proposed       Percentage
                                                                    annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).........................      $8,473,000      $7,955,000            -6.1
Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..........................      $2,915,000      $2,737,000            -6.1
Limited Operations (1.A(2)(a))..................................            $0.0            $0.0             0.0
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))............      $1,640,000      $1,540,000            -6.1
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))..............................        $820,000        $770,000            -6.1
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).......................................      $4,009,000      $3,764,000            -6.1
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion (2.A.(1)).......................      $1,731,000      $1,625,000            -6.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

b. Uranium Recovery Facilities
    The NRC proposes to collect $0.9 million in annual fees from the 
uranium recovery facilities fee class, a small decrease from FY 2015.


                    Table IX--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Uranium Recovery Facilities
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016       Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2015 Final     Proposed         change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................           $11.3           $12.6            12.1
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................          -$10.1          -$11.7           -15.3
Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...................................            $1.2            $0.9           -16.6
Allocated generic transportation................................             N/A             N/A             N/A
Fee-relief adjustment...........................................            $0.0            $0.0             0.0
Billing adjustments.............................................           -$0.1            $0.0          -120.1
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................            $1.1            $0.9           -11.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 15463]]

    In comparison to FY 2015, the FY 2016 budgetary resources for 
uranium recovery licensees increased due to additional work expected 
for the Uranerz Energy-Jane Doe and Strata Energy-Kenderick expansions, 
increased inspection activities for Strata Energy-Ross (a new licensee 
to fleet), increased hearing activities, and the Uranium Mill Tailings 
Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) bio-sequestration review for DOE-
Monument Valley.
    The NRC computes the annual fee for the uranium recovery fee class 
by dividing the total annual fee recovery amount among DOE and the 
other licensees in this fee class. The annual fee increase for fee 
categories 2.A.(2)(a-c), 2.A.(4), and 2.A.(5) is mainly due to the 
increase in budgetary resources for increased hearing activities and a 
reduction in the number of licensees over which to spread the budget. 
The NRC regulates DOE's Title I and Title II activities under 
UMTRCA.\1\ The proposed annual fee assesses to DOE the costs 
specifically budgeted for the NRC's UMTRCA Title I and II activities, 
as well as 10 percent of the remaining budgeted costs for this fee 
class. The DOE's UMTRCA annual fee decreased because of an increase in 
estimated 10 CFR part 170 billings for DOE's UMTRCA site at Monument 
Valley. This decrease caused the total overall fee recovery amount to 
decrease for this fee class. The NRC assesses the remaining 90 percent 
of its budgeted costs to the rest of the licensees in this fee class, 
as described in the work papers. This is reflected in Table X as 
follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 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.

                    Table X--Costs Recovered Through Annual Fees; Uranium Recovery Fee Class
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016
                        Summary of costs                           FY 2015 Final     Proposed       Percentage
                                                                    annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE Annual Fee Amount (UMTRCA Title I and Title II) General
 Licenses:
    UMTRCA Title I and Title II budgeted costs less 10 CFR part         $622,898        $512,782           -17.7
     170 receipts...............................................
    10 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted costs.         $41,986         $44,600             6.2
10 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment............          $1,251         -$2,156          -272.3
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
        Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded)...............        $666,000        $555,000           -16.7
Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery Licenses:
    90 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted costs         $377,874        $401,401             6.2
     less the amounts specifically budgeted for Title I and
     Title II activities........................................
    90 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment........         $11,255        -$19,408          -272.4
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
        Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery              $389,129        $381,993           -18.3
         Licenses...............................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Further, for the non-DOE licensees, the NRC continues to use a 
matrix (which is included in the work papers) to determine the effort 
levels associated with conducting the generic regulatory actions for 
the different (non-DOE) licensees in this fee class; this is similar to 
NRC's approach for fuel facilities, described previously.
    The matrix methodology for uranium recovery licensees first 
identifies the licensee categories included within this fee class 
(excluding DOE). These categories are: Conventional uranium mills and 
heap leach facilities; uranium in situ Recovery (ISR) and resin ISR 
facilities; mill tailings disposal facilities; and uranium water 
treatment facilities. The matrix identifies the types of operating 
activities that support and benefit these licensees, along with each 
activity's relative weight (for more information, see the work papers). 
Table XI displays the benefit factors per licensee and per fee 
category, for each of the non-DOE fee categories included in the 
uranium recovery fee class 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             150             150              11
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b))..               5             190             950              67
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities                           1             215             215              15
 (2.A.(2)(c))...................................
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings               1              85              85               6
 sites (2.A.(4))................................
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5))...............               1              25              25               2
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................               9             665           1,425             100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applying these factors to the approximately $381,993 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.

[[Page 15464]]



                              Table XII--Annual Fees for Uranium Recovery Licensees
                                                [Other than DOE]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016
                  Facility type (fee category)                     FY 2015 Final     Proposed       Percentage
                                                                    annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills (2.A.(2)(a))..................         $36,100         $40,200            11.4
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b))..................         $45,800         $50,900            11.1
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(c))...............         $51,800         $57,600            11.2
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites (2.A.(4))         $20,500         $22,800            11.2
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5))...............................          $6,000          $6,700            11.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

c. Operating Power Reactors
    The NRC proposes to collect $471.2 million in annual fees from the 
power reactor fee class in FY 2016, as shown in Table XIII. The FY 2015 
values and percentage change are shown for comparison.

                    Table XIII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Operating Power Reactors
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016       Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2015 Final     Proposed         change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................          $762.1          $750.6            -1.5
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................         -$284.1         -$282.1            -0.1
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................          $478.0          $468.6            -2.0
Allocated generic transportation................................            $1.7            $1.9            11.2
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................            $2.1           -$0.3          -112.7
Billing adjustment..............................................           -$5.9            $1.0           117.5
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................          $475.9          $471.2            -1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2015, the operating power reactors budgetary 
resources decreased in FY 2016 due to a decrease in the budgeted 
activities for new-reactor activities. This decrease is attributable to 
delays in application submittals and a slowdown in requests for design 
certification renewal and construction permits. Accordingly, the FY 
2016 operating power reactor annual fee decreased. In addition to 
decreased budgetary resources, an additional licensee (Watts Bar) was 
added to the operating fleet, which increases the number of licensees 
paying this annual fee--this also, therefore, lowers annual fees 
compared to FY 2015.
    Compared with FY 2015, 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings decreased 
due to both the issuance of the Fermi Unit 3 combined operating license 
and the hourly rate decrease.
    The recoverable budgeted costs are divided equally among the 100 
licensed power reactors resulting in a proposed annual fee of 
$4,712,000 per reactor. Additionally, each licensed power reactor is 
assessed the FY 2016 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning annual 
fee of $211,000 (see the discussion that follows). The combined FY 2016 
annual fee for power reactors is, therefore, $4,923,000.
d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactors in Decommissioning
    The NRC proposes to collect $25.7 million in annual fees from 10 
CFR part 50 power reactors and 10 CFR part 72 licensees who do not hold 
a 10 CFR part 50 license to collect the budgeted costs for spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning.

   Table XIV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for the Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor in Decommissioning Fee Class
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016       Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2015 Final     Proposed         change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................           $32.4           $30.5            -5.7
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................           -$5.9           -$5.9            -2.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................           $26.5           $24.6             6.9
Allocated generic transportation costs..........................            $1.0            $1.0             4.0
Fee-relief adjustment...........................................            $0.0            $0.0          -245.8
Billing adjustments.............................................           -$0.3            $0.1           116.7
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................           $27.2           $25.7            -5.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 15465]]

    In comparison to FY 2015, the annual fee decreased due to a decline 
in budgetary resources for rulemaking security guidance and waste 
research. This decrease is partially offset by the slight decline in 10 
CFR part 170 billings, which resulted from completing the license 
renewal for Prairie Island in late FY 2015 and the lower hourly rate.
    The required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among 
122 licensees, resulting in an FY 2016 annual fee of $211,000 per 
licensee.
e. Research and Test Reactors (Nonpower Reactors)
    The NRC proposes to collect $0.33 million in annual fees from the 
research and test reactor licensee class.

                    Table XV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Research and Test Reactors
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016       Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2015 Final     Proposed         change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................          $2.509          $4.025            60.4
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................         -$2.190         -$3.730            70.3
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................          $0.319          $0.295            -7.5
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
Allocated generic transportation................................          $0.032          $0.037            15.6
Fee-relief adjustment...........................................          $0.002         -$0.007          -450.0
Billing adjustments.............................................         -$0.019          $0.005           126.3
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................          $0.334          $0.330            -1.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In FY 2016, the annual fees decreased due to a decline in contract 
support for the non-power reactors and an increase in estimated 10 CFR 
part 170 billings for non-power production and utilization facility 
applications to produce molybdenum-99. 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 2016 annual fee of $82,500 
for each licensee.
f. Rare Earth
    The agency anticipates receiving an application for a rare-earth 
facility this fiscal year. The NRC has allocated approximately $460,000 
in budgeted resources to this fee class. But, because all of these 
budgetary resources will be recovered through 10 CFR part 170, the NRC 
will not propose an annual fee in FY 2016 for this fee class.
g. Materials Users
    The NRC proposes to collect $35.2 million in annual fees from 
materials users licensed under 10 CFR parts 30, 40, and 70.

                         Table XVI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Materials Users
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016       Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2015 Final     Proposed         change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources for licensees not regulated by                    $34.1           $33.3            -2.4
 Agreement States...............................................
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................           -$1.0           -$1.2            19.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................           $33.1           $32.1            -3.0
Allocated generic transportation................................            $2.2            $2.6            16.0
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................            $0.6            $0.5           -20.0
Billing adjustments.............................................           -$0.2            $0.0          -117.8
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................           $35.7           $35.2            -1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To equitably and fairly allocate the $35.2 million in FY 2016 
budgeted costs among approximately 2,900 diverse materials users 
licensees, the NRC continues to calculate the annual fees for each fee 
category within this class based on the 10 CFR 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 provides 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 method also considers 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/Inspection Priority)] + Inspection Multiplier x (Average 
Inspection Cost/Inspection Priority) + Unique Category Costs.
    For FY 2016, the constant multiplier necessary to recover 
approximately $25.5 million in general costs (including allocated 
generic transportation costs) is 1.51. The average inspection cost is 
the average inspection hours for each fee category multiplied by the 
hourly rate of $266. The inspection priority is the interval between 
routine inspections, expressed in years. The inspection multiplier is 
the multiple necessary to recover approximately $8.9 million in 
inspection costs, and is 1.77 for FY 2016. The unique category costs 
are any special costs that the NRC has budgeted for a specific category 
of licenses. For FY 2016, approximately $249,000 in budgeted costs for 
the implementation of revised 10 CFR part 35, ``Medical Use of 
Byproduct Material (unique costs),''

[[Page 15466]]

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 assessment of approximately -$47,000 allocated 
to the materials users fee class (see Table IV, ``Allocation of Fee-
Relief Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2016,'' in Section III, 
``Discussion,'' of this document), and for certain categories of these 
licensees, a share of the approximately $526,400 surcharge costs 
allocated to the fee class. The annual fee for each fee category is 
shown in Sec.  171.16(d).
h. Transportation
    The NRC proposes to collect $8.4 million in annual fees to recover 
generic transportation budgeted resources. The FY 2015 values are shown 
for comparison.

                         Table XVII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Transportation
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      FY 2016       Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2015 Final     Proposed         change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budgeted Resources........................................           $10.0           $11.3            13.0
Less Estimated 10 CFR part 170 Receipts.........................           -$2.6           -$2.9            11.5
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 Resources...............................            $7.4            $8.4            13.5
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................            $0.0            $0.0             0.0
Billing adjustments.............................................            $0.0            $0.0             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................            $7.4            $8.4            13.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2015, the total budgetary resources for generic 
transportation activities increased due to the rulemaking activities 
involving 10 CFR part 71 Compatibility with IAEA (International Atomic 
Energy Agency) Transportation Standards and Improvements, and 
continuous licensing reviews for Holtec International, EnergySolutions 
and Areva Federal Services.
    Consistent with the policy established in the NRC's FY 2006 final 
fee rule (71 FR 30721; May 30, 2006), the NRC recovers generic 
transportation costs unrelated to DOE as part of existing annual fees 
for license fee classes. The NRC continues 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 Certificates of Compliance 
(CoCs) used by each fee class (and DOE) by the total generic 
transportation resources to be recovered. The DOE annual fee decrease 
is mainly due to 10 CFR part 171 billing adjustments.
    This resource distribution to the licensee fee classes and DOE is 
shown in Table XVIII. Specifically for the research and test reactors 
fee class, the NRC allocates the distribution to only the licensees 
that are subject to annual fees. Three CoCs benefit the entire research 
and test reactor class, but only 4 out of 31 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 reactors annual fees is adjusted to 0.4 so that the licensees 
subject to annual fees are charged a fair and equitable portion of the 
total. For more information see the work papers.

                     Table XVIII--Distribution of Generic Transportation Resources, FY 2016
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Number of CoCs                     Allocated
                                                                     benefiting    Percentage of      generic
                      License fee class/DOE                        fee class or     total CoCs    transportation
                                                                        DOE                          resources
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE.............................................................            18.0            20.4             1.7
Operating Power Reactors........................................            20.0            22.6             1.9
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning......................            11.0            12.5             1.1
Research and Test Reactors......................................             0.4             0.4             0.0
Fuel Facilities.................................................            12.0            13.6             1.1
Materials Users.................................................            27.0            30.5             2.6
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................            88.4           100.0             8.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC assesses an annual fee to DOE based on the 10 CFR part 71 
CoCs it holds. The NRC therefore does not allocate these DOE-related 
resources to other licensees' annual fees because these resources 
specifically support DOE.

FY 2016--Fee Policy Change

    The NRC also proposes a policy change:
Charging User Fees for NRC Work Spent on Responding to Touhy Requests 
\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ The name ``Touhy'' is derived from the leading Supreme Court 
case in this area, United States ex rel Touhy v. Ragen, 340 U.S. 462 
(1951).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC proposes to assess 10 CFR part 170 user fees to recover the 
NRC staff's costs when responding to significant Touhy requests. The 
NRC's Touhy regulations--found at 10 CFR 9.200 through 9.204--govern 
the manner in which the NRC responds to third-party subpoenas or 
demands for official information served on agency employees. Those 
third-party subpoenas seek NRC employees to produce documents, to 
testify, or to do both, in outside litigation in which neither the NRC 
nor the United States is a named party.

[[Page 15467]]

    Currently, NRC regulations do not authorize the NRC to collect user 
fees for the work it performs either collecting and providing documents 
or providing oral testimony in depositions or before an administrative 
or judicial tribunal. Yet, NRC work on some Touhy requests can be quite 
substantial. Without an existing regulation authorizing the NRC to 
collect user fees, the costs of this work must be recovered through 
annual fees under 10 CFR part 171. Therefore, the NRC proposes to amend 
its regulations to begin assessing Touhy fees in certain circumstances. 
The authority for assessing these fees comes from the same statute that 
provides the authority for the NRC's 10 CFR part 170 fee schedule. That 
statute--the IOAA--sets forth Congressional policy that ``each service 
or thing of value provided by an agency . . . to a person . . . is to 
be self-sustaining to the extent possible.'' \3\ Here, when the NRC 
complies with a third-party demand for information, the NRC is 
bestowing a benefit on a private litigant because the NRC is aiding 
that private litigant in its litigation by providing the information. 
That benefit is not shared by other members of society. The NRC's work 
on substantial Touhy requests should, therefore, be recovered under 10 
CFR part 170 rather than the current process, which bins those costs to 
10 CFR part 171.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ 31 U.S.C. 9701.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To achieve this goal, the NRC proposes to amend 10 CFR part 170.12 
to authorize full-cost recovery for all NRC work spent processing Touhy 
requests above a certain threshold. This work would be recovered under 
10 CFR 170.12 as a ``special project'' fee because it constitutes 
specific services provided by the NRC to an individual. The NRC also 
proposes a conforming change to the NRC's existing Touhy regulations in 
10 CFR 9.201 to clarify that any production or disclosure of records 
under that subpart triggers fee payment in accordance with 10 CFR part 
170. Further, the NRC proposes amending the ``Scope'' section in 10 CFR 
170.2 to clarify that 10 CFR part 170 applies to Touhy requesters. 
Finally, the NRC proposes amending the ``Definitions'' section in 10 
CFR 170.3 to define ``Touhy request'' to identify the requests under 10 
CFR 9.201 that are subject to ``special project fees'' under 10 CFR 
part 170. This full-cost recovery under 10 CFR part 170 would apply to 
both requests for documents and requests for oral testimony.\4\ 
Additionally, the NRC proposes creating a 50-hour de minimis fee 
exception to ensure that 10 CFR part 170 fees are assessed for only 
significant Touhy requests.\5\ This is because the NRC believes that 
non-corporate Touhy requests for a limited set of documents should not 
be subject to fees. Once NRC work on a Touhy exceeds 50 hours, however, 
the Touhy requester will be billed for the full amount of work--this 
provides an incentive for Touhy requesters to keep their requests from 
becoming overly burdensome.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ ``Oral testimony'' in the Touhy context includes requests 
for both testimony during administrative and judicial proceedings, 
as well as depositions.
    \5\ The NRC chose 50 hours because past experience shows that 50 
hours provides a demarcation point between significant and 
insignificant Touhy requests. As an illustrative example, a common 
type of Touhy request involves a request for documents in a divorce 
proceeding, where one of the ex-spouses works at the NRC, and the 
other ex-spouse needs access to certain personnel files (such as 
that NRC employee's work schedule) for purposes of addressing 
custody, etc. These cases involve simple requests for discrete and 
non-deliberative documents, require limited processing time and, 
therefore, should not be subject to user fees.
    \6\ Even if the Touhy request exceeds 50 hours, that Touhy 
requester would still be able to seek a fee exemption under Sec.  
170.11(b) if the facts are such that granting a fee exemption would 
be ``in the public interest.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    An alternative to the NRC's proposed fee collection for Touhy 
requests exists. That alternative entails amending 10 CFR part 9 to 
authorize the collection of Touhy fees through the NRC's existing 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) fee schedule instead of 10 CFR part 
170. With respect to Touhy requests for documents, this option would 
impose the following search/review fees (in lieu of the hourly fee in 
10 CFR part 170):
    (1) Clerical search and review at a salary rate that is equivalent 
to a GG-7/step 6, plus 16-percent fringe benefits;
    (2) Professional/managerial search and review at a salary rate that 
is equivalent to a GG-13/step 6, plus 16-percent fringe benefits; and
    (3) Senior executive or Commissioner search and review at a salary 
rate that is equivalent to an ES-Maximum, plus 16-percent fringe 
benefits.
    But, because the FOIA fee schedule is designed for document 
requests only, even under this option, the NRC would still need to 
recover fees for oral testimony through 10 CFR part 170.
    In this fee rule, the NRC proposes to use 10 CFR part 170 for all 
components of Touhy requests, rather than just requests for oral 
testimony. This is because 10 CFR part 170 fees are designed to recover 
the ``full cost'' of the service provided, while FOIA fees are not. As 
explained by the Seventh Circuit in Mississippi Power & Light Co. v. 
NRC,\7\ the IOAA authorizes agencies to collect administrative and 
agency support costs (such as rent and electricity) because those are 
part of the full cost of the provided service. These support charges 
ultimately become bundled into the NRC's calculation of its hourly 
rate, which represents the full cost of the NRC's professional 
services. Although FOIA fees collected include 16 percent for fringe 
benefits, they do not include the support charges that are included 
within the 10 CFR part 170 hourly rate. So, if the NRC used the FOIA 
fee schedule, then the NRC would not be recovering the full cost of its 
work spent on processing Touhy requests. Second, applying 10 CFR part 
170 fees for document production simplifies the fee structure by 
charging Touhy requesters the same fee whether the requester is seeking 
documents or oral testimony. Further, even under the NRC's proposed 10 
CFR part 170 fee recovery for Touhy requests, a prospective Touhy 
requester could still elect to forego the Touhy process altogether for 
document requests and instead just submit a FOIA request for the 
documents that it wants. Imposing 10 CFR part 170 fees, therefore, 
provides a choice for Touhy requesters whether to use the FOIA process 
or Touhy process when seeking documents from the NRC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ 601 F.2d223 (7th Cir. 1979).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC welcomes public feedback on the desirability and 
practicability of both the NRC's proposed fee-recovery option and the 
alternate option.

FY 2016--Administrative Changes

    The NRC also proposes three administrative changes:
1. Increase Direct Hours per Full-Time Equivalent in the Hourly Rate 
Calculation
    The hourly rate in 10 CFR part 170 is calculated by dividing the 
cost per direct FTE by the number of direct hours per direct FTE in a 
year. ``Direct hours'' are hours charged to mission-direct activities 
in the Nuclear Reactor Safety Program and Nuclear Materials and Waste 
Safety Program. The FY 2015 final fee rule used 1,420 hours per direct 
FTE in the hourly rate calculations. During the FY 2016 budget 
formulation process, the NRC staff reviewed and analyzed time and labor 
data from FY 2014 through FY 2015 to determine whether it should revise 
the direct hours per FTE. Between FY 2014 and FY 2015, the total direct 
hours charged by direct employees increased. The increase in direct 
hours was apparent in all mission business lines. To reflect this 
increase in productivity as demonstrated by the time and labor data, 
the NRC staff determined that the

[[Page 15468]]

number of direct hours per FTE should increase to 1,440 hours for FY 
2016.
2. Amend Language Under 10 CFR 170.11 To Clarify Exemption Requirements
    The NRC proposes to amend the language under 10 CFR 170.11(a)(1) to 
clarify when stakeholders can receive a fee exemption after submitting 
a report to the NRC for review. Paragraph (a)(1) currently contains 
three distinct criteria that stakeholders can use to receive a fee 
exemption after NRC review of a ``special project that is a request/
report submitted to the NRC.'' These three fee exemptions--in 
paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (a)(1)(ii), and (a)(1)(iii)--are all largely 
similar and are intended to provide exemptions to stakeholders when the 
NRC's review of their report does not provide unique benefits to the 
report's submitter. Yet the existing language in paragraph (a)(1)(iii) 
is ambiguous because it requires that the NRC be the ``primary 
beneficiary'' of its review of the submitted documents; in practice, it 
can be difficult to precisely determine whether the NRC or the document 
submitter is actually the ``primary beneficiary'' of the NRC's review. 
This language, therefore, has been a source of confusion between the 
NRC and its stakeholders. The NRC proposes to remove paragraph 
(a)(1)(iii) and instead rely on the related criteria in exemptions in 
paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) for this kind of work. The NRC also 
proposes to move the requirements in current paragraph (a)(1)(iii)(C) 
that require stakeholders to submit their fee exemption requests in 
writing to the Chief Financial Officer to a new paragraph (a)(13). 
These requirements would now apply to all fee exemption criteria, not 
just special projects.
3. Change Small Entity Fees
    In accordance with NRC policy, the NRC staff conducted a biennial 
review in 2015 of small entity fees to determine whether the NRC should 
change those fees. The NRC staff used the fee methodology developed in 
FY 2009 that applies a fixed percentage of 39 percent to the prior 2-
year weighted average of materials users' fees when performing its 
biennial review. As a result of the NRC staff's review, the upper tier 
small entity fee increased from $2,800 to $4,000 and the lower-tier fee 
increased from $600 to $900. This constituted a 43-percent and 50-
percent increase, respectively. Implementing this increase would have 
had a disproportionate impact upon the NRC's small licensees compared 
to other licensees, and so the NRC staff revised the increase to 21 
percent for the upper-tier fee. The NRC staff chose 21 percent based on 
the average percentage increase for the prior two biennial reviews of 
small entity fees. Because of a technical oversight, the change was not 
included in the FY 2015 final fee rule. Due to last year's oversight, 
the NRC staff is now proposing to amend the upper-tier small entity fee 
to $3,400 and amend the lower-tier small entity fee to $700 for FY 
2016. The NRC staff believes these fees are reasonable and provide 
relief to small entities while at the same time recovering from those 
licensees some of the NRC's costs for activities that benefit them.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended 
(RFA),\8\ the NRC has prepared a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RFA) 
relating to this proposed rule. The RFA is available as indicated in 
Section XIII, Availability of Documents, of this document.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ 5 U.S.C. 603. The RFA, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, has been amended by 
the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 
(SBREFA), Public Law 104-121, Title II, 110 Stat. 847 (1996).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

V. Regulatory Analysis

    Under OBRA-90, and the AEA, the NRC is required to recover 90 
percent of its budget authority, or total appropriations of $1002.1 
million, in FY 2016. The NRC established fee methodology guidelines for 
10 CFR part 170 in 1978, and established additional fee methodology 
guidelines for 10 CFR part 171 in 1986. In subsequent rulemakings, the 
NRC has adjusted its fees without changing the underlying principles of 
its fee policy to ensure that the NRC continues to comply with the 
statutory requirements for cost recovery in OBRA-90 and the AEA.
    In this rulemaking, the NRC continues this long-standing approach. 
Therefore, the NRC did not identify any alternatives to the current fee 
structure guidelines and did not prepare a regulatory analysis for this 
rulemaking.

VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    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. A backfit analysis is not required because these amendments 
do not require the modification of, or addition 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.

VII. Plain Writing

    The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal 
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized 
manner. The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the 
Plain Writing Act as well as the Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain 
Language in Government Writing,'' published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 
31883). The NRC requests comment on the proposed rule with respect to 
the clarity and effectiveness of the language used.

VIII. National Environmental Policy Act

    The NRC has determined that this rule is the type of action 
described in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Therefore, neither an environmental 
impact statement nor an environmental assessment has been prepared for 
this proposed rule.

IX. Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule does not contain any new or amended collections 
of subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq.). Existing collections of information were approved by the Office 
of Management and Budget, approval number 3150-0043.

Public Protection Notification

    The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless the document requesting 
or requiring the collection displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.

X. Voluntary Consensus Standards

    The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, 
Public Law 104-113, requires that Federal agencies use technical 
standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus 
standards bodies unless the use of such a standard is inconsistent with 
applicable law or otherwise impractical. In this proposed rule, the NRC 
proposes 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 2016, as required by OBRA-90, as 
amended. This action does not constitute the establishment of a 
standard that contains generally applicable requirements.

XI. Availability of Guidance

    The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 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

[[Page 15469]]

analysis. The NRC, in compliance with the law, prepared the ``Small 
Entity Compliance Guide'' for the FY 2015 final fee rule. This 
document, which has been relabeled for FY 2016, is available as 
indicated in Section XIII, Availability of Documents, of this document. 
The next compliance guide will be developed when the NRC completes the 
next small entity biennial review in FY 2017.

XII. Public Meeting and Request for Information

    The NRC will conduct a public meeting on the proposed rule for the 
purpose of describing the proposed rule and answering questions from 
the public on the proposed rule.
    The NRC will publish a notice of the location, time, and agenda of 
the meeting on the NRC's public meeting Web site within at least 10 
calendar days before the meeting. In addition, the agenda for the 
meeting will be posted on www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2015-
0223. Stakeholders should monitor the NRC's public meeting Web site for 
information about the public meeting at: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm.
    The NRC is also conducting a separate effort to obtain public 
comment on a number of broader issues related to NRC fees. For 
information on the issues and providing comments, please see http://regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2016-0056.

XIII. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Document                   ADAMS Accession No./Web link
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2016 Proposed Rule Work Papers.......  ML16056A437.
FY 2016 Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.  ML16043A092.
FY 2016 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory           ML16043A334.
 Commission Small Entity Compliance
 Guide.
NUREG-1100, Volume 31, ``Congressional    NRC: Congressional Budget
 Budget Justification: Fiscal Year         Justification: Fiscal Year
 2016'' (February 2, 2015).                2016 (NUREG-1100, Volume 31).
NRC Form 526, Certification of Small      http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
 Entity Status for the Purposes of         doc-collections/forms/
 Annual Fees Imposed under 10 CFR Part     nrc526.pdf.
 171.
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016...  https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2029 2029.
SECY-05-0164, ``Annual Fee Calculation    ML052580332.
 Method,'' dated September 15, 2005.
Staff Requirements Memorandum for SECY-   ML14356A070.
 14-0082, ``Jurisdiction for Military
 Radium and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
 Commission Oversight of U.S. Department
 of Defense Remediation of Radioactive
 Material,'' dated December 22, 2014.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Throughout the development of this rule, the NRC may post documents 
related to this rule, including public comments, on the Federal 
rulemaking Web site at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-
2015-0223. The Federal rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts 
when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) 
Navigate to the docket folder NRC-2015-0223; (2) click the ``Sign up 
for Email Alerts'' link; and (3) enter your email address and select 
how frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or 
monthly).

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 9

    Administrative practice and procedure, Courts, Criminal penalties, 
Freedom of information, Government employees, Privacy, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Sunshine Act.

10 CFR Part 170

    Byproduct material, Import and export licenses, Intergovernmental 
relations, Non-payment penalties, Nuclear energy, 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, Nonpayment 
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 and 553, the NRC is proposing 
to adopt the following amendments to 10 CFR parts 9, 170, and 171.

PART 9--PUBLIC RECORDS

0
1. The authority citation for part 9 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Atomic Energy Act of 1954, sec. 161 (42 U.S.C. 
2201); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); 
44 U.S.C. 3504 note.
    Subpart A also issued under 31 U.S.C. 9701.
    Subpart B also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552a.
    Subpart C also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552b.

0
2. Revise Sec.  9.201 to read as follows:


Sec.  9.201  Production or disclosure prohibited unless approved by 
appropriate NRC official.

    (a) No employee of the NRC shall, in response to a demand of a 
court or other judicial or quasi-judicial authority, produce any 
material contained in the files of the NRC or disclose, through 
testimony or other means, any information relating to material 
contained in the files of the NRC, or disclose any information or 
produce any material acquired as part of the performance of that 
employee's official duties or official status without prior approval of 
the appropriate NRC official. When the demand is for material contained 
in the files of the Office of the Inspector General or for information 
acquired by an employee of that Office, the Inspector General is the 
appropriate NRC official. In all other cases, the General Counsel is 
the appropriate NRC official.
    (b) Any NRC response to a demand of a court or other judicial or 
quasi-judicial authority that requires an employee of the NRC to expend 
more than 50 hours of official time shall be subject to hourly fees in 
accordance with 10 CFR 170.12(d).

[[Page 15470]]

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

0
3. The authority citation for part 170 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 161(w) (42 
U.S.C. 2014, 2201(w)); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, sec. 201 
(42 U.S.C. 5841); 42 U.S.C. 2214; 31 U.S.C. 901, 902, 9701; 44 
U.S.C. 3504 note.

0
4. Revise Sec.  170.1 to read as follows:


Sec.  170.1  Purpose.

    The regulations in this part set out fees charged for licensing 
services, inspection services, and special projects rendered by the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission as authorized under title V of the 
Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 1952 (31 U.S.C. 9701(a)).
0
5. In Sec.  170.2, add paragraph (u) to read as follows:


Sec.  170.2  Scope.

* * * * *
    (u) Submitting a Touhy request, pursuant to 10 CFR 9.200 through 
9.204, as defined in Sec.  170.3.
0
6. In Sec.  170.3, add, in alphabetical order, the definition for Touhy 
request, to read as follows:


Sec.  170.3  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Touhy request means a request for NRC records or NRC testimony that 
is made pursuant to the NRC's regulations at 10 CFR 9.200 through 
9.204.
* * * * *
0
7. In Sec.  170.11, revise paragraph (a)(1)(ii), remove paragraph 
(a)(1)(iii), and add paragraph (a)(13) to read as follows:


Sec.  170.11  Exemptions.

    (a) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (ii) When the NRC, at the time the request/report is submitted, 
plans to use the information in response to an NRC request from the 
Director level or above to resolve an identified safety, safeguards, or 
environmental issue, or to assist the NRC in generic regulatory 
improvements or efforts (e.g., rules, regulatory guides, regulations, 
policy statements, generic letters, or bulletins).
* * * * *
    (13) All fee exemption requests must be submitted in writing to the 
Chief Financial Officer in accordance with 10 CFR 170.5, and the Chief 
Financial Officer will grant or deny such requests in writing.
* * * * *
0
8. In Sec.  170.12, revise paragraphs (d)(1)(v) and (vi) and add 
paragraph (d)(1)(vii) to read as follows:


Sec.  170.12  Payment of fees.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (v) 10 CFR 50.71 final safety analysis reports;
    (vi) Contested hearings on licensing actions directly involving U.S 
Government national security initiatives, as determined by the NRC; and
    (vii) Responses to Touhy requests that require the NRC staff to 
expend more than 50 hours of official time. Fees for Touhy requests 
will be billed at the appropriate hourly rate established in 10 CFR 
170.20.
0
9. Revise Sec.  170.20 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 $266 per hour.
0
10. In Sec.  170.21, in the table, revise fee categories J. and K. to 
read as follows:


Sec.  170.21  Schedule of fees for production or 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\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                              * * * * * * *
J. Special Projects:
    Approvals and preapplication/licensing  Full Cost.
     activities.
    Inspections \3\.......................  Full Cost.
    Contested hearings on licensing         Full Cost.
     actions directly related to U.S.
     Government national security
     initiatives.
    Touhy requests \5\....................  Full Cost.
K. Import and export licenses:              $17,300.
    Licenses for the import and export
     only of production or utilization
     facilities or the export only of
     components for production or
     utilization facilities issued under
     10 CFR part 110.
        1. Application for import or
         export of production or
         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 license
             exemption request.
        2. Application for export of
         reactor and other components
         requiring Executive Branch
         review, for example, those
         actions under 10 CFR 110.41(a).
            Application--new license, or    $9,300.
             amendment; or 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    $4,300.
             amendment; or 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    $4,800.
             amendment; or license
             exemption request.

[[Page 15471]]

 
        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....  $2,700.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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.
\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.
\3\ Inspections covered by this schedule are both routine and non-
  routine safety and safeguards inspections performed by the NRC for the
  purpose of review or follow-up of a licensed program. Inspections are
  performed through the full term of the license to ensure that the
  authorized activities are being conducted in accordance with the
  Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, other legislation, Commission
  regulations or orders, and the terms or conditions of the license. Non-
  routine inspections that result from third-party allegations will not
  be subject to fees.
\4\ Imports only of major components for end-use at NRC-licensed
  reactors are authorized under NRC general import license in 10 CFR
  110.27.
\5\ Full cost fees will be assessed once NRC work on a Touhy request
  exceeds 50 hours, in accordance with Sec.   170.12(d).

0
11. In Sec.  170.31, revise the table 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 Nuclear       Full Cost.
         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 enrichment       Full Cost.
         demonstration facilities.
        (c) Others, including hot cell      Full Cost.
         facilities.
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of  Full Cost.
     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 of
     special nuclear material of less than
     a critical mass as defined in Sec.
     70.4 in sealed sources contained in
     devices used in industrial measuring
     systems, including x-ray fluorescence
     analyzers \4\
        Application [Program Code(s):       $1,200.
         22140].
    D. All other special nuclear material
     licenses, except licenses authorizing
     special nuclear material in sealed or
     unsealed form in combination that
     would constitute a critical mass, as
     defined in Sec.   70.4 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,
         22170, 23100, 23300, 23310].
3E. Licenses or certificates for            Full Cost.
 construction and operation of a uranium
 enrichment facility [Program Code(s):
 21200].
    F. For special nuclear materials        Full Cost.
     licenses in sealed or unsealed form
     of greater than a critical mass as
     defined in Sec.   70.4 of this
     chapter.\4\ [Program Code(s): 22155].
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use  Full Cost.
     of source material for refining
     uranium mill concentrates to uranium
     hexafluoride or for deconverting
     uranium hexafluoride in the
     production of uranium oxides for
     disposal. [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     Full Cost.
         facilities [Program Code(s):
         11100].
        (b) Basic In Situ Recovery          Full Cost.
         facilities [Program Code(s):
         11500].
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery       Full Cost.
         facilities [Program Code(s):
         11510].
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin          Full Cost.
         facilities [Program Code(s):
         11550].
        (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities   Full Cost.
         [Program Code(s): 11555].
        (f) Other facilities [Program       Full Cost.
         Code(s): 11700].

[[Page 15472]]

 
    (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 \6\
     \7\ \8\
        Application [Program Code(s):       $1,170.
         11210].
    C. Licenses to distribute items
     containing source material to persons
     exempt from the licensing
     requirements of part 40 of this
     chapter
        Application [Program Code(s):       $2,700.
         11240].
    D. Licenses to distribute source
     material to persons generally
     licensed under part 40 of this
     chapter
        Application [Program Code(s):       $2,600.
         11230, 11231].
    E. Licenses for possession and use of
     source material for processing or
     manufacturing of products or
     materials containing source material
     for commercial distribution
        Application [Program Code(s):       $2,500.
         11710].
    F. All other source material licenses.
        Application [Program Code(s):       $2,500.
         11200, 11220, 11221, 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
        Application [Program Code(s):       $12,400.
         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):       $3,400.
         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):       $5,000.
         02500, 02511, 02513].
    D. [Reserved].........................  N/A.
    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):       $6,200.
         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):       $59,400.
         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):       $6,400.
         03254, 03255, 03257].
    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):       $10,600.
         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):       $1,900.
         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].

[[Page 15473]]

 
    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. Number of
     locations of use: 1-5
        (1) 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. Number of locations
         of use: 6-20
        (2) 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. Number of locations
         of use: 20 or more
            Application [Program Code(s):   $5,200.
             01100, 01110, 01120, 03610,
             03611, 03612, 03613, 04610,
             04611, 04612, 04613, 04614,
             04615, 04616, 04617, 04618,
             04619, 04620, 04621, 04622,
             04623].
    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):       $4,800.
         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 Code(s):   $6,100.
             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):       $3,000.
         03310, 03320].
    P. All other specific byproduct
     material licenses, except those in
     Categories 4.A. through 9.D \9\
        Application [Program Code(s):       $2,600.
         02400, 02410, 03120, 03121,
         03122, 03123, 03124, 03130,
         03140, 03220, 03221, 03222,
         03800, 03810, 22130].
    Q. Registration of a device(s)
     generally licensed under part 31 of
     this chapter
        Registration......................  $600.
    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 Code(s):   $2,400.
             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 Code(s):   $2,400.
             02710].
    S. Licenses for production of
     accelerator-produced radionuclides
        Application [Program Code(s):       $13,600.
         03210].
4. Waste disposal and processing:
    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 waste material. [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):       $6,600.
         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):       $4,800.
         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):       $4,400.
         03110, 03111, 03112].
    B. Licenses for possession and use of
     byproduct material for field flooding
     tracer studies
        Licensing [Program Code(s): 03113]  Full Cost.
6. Nuclear laundries:
    A. Licenses for commercial collection
     and laundry of items contaminated
     with byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material
        Application [Program Code(s):       $21,200.
         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):       $10,600.
         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 \10\
        Application [Program Code(s):       $8,300.
         02110].

[[Page 15474]]

 
    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):       $4,300.
         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):       $2,400.
         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..........  $5,200.
    B. Safety evaluation of devices or
     products containing byproduct
     material, source material, or special
     nuclear material manufactured in
     accordance with the unique
     specifications of, and for use by, a
     single applicant, except reactor fuel
     devices
        Application--each device..........  $8,600.
    C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources
     containing byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear
     material, except reactor fuel, for
     commercial distribution
        Application--each source..........  $5,100.
    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..........  $1,010.
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...................  $4,000.
            Inspections...................  Full Cost.
        2. Users
            Application...................  $4,000.
            Inspections...................  Full Cost.
    C. Evaluation of security plans, route  Full Cost.
     approvals, route surveys, and
     transportation security devices
     (including immobilization devices).
11. Review of standardized spent fuel       Full Cost.
 facilities.
12. Special projects:
    Including approvals, pre-application/
     licensing activities, and inspections
        Application [Program Code: 25110].  Full Cost.
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate  Full Cost.
 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,
 including MMLs. Application [Program
 Code(s): 3900, 11900, 21135, 21215,
 21240, 21325, 22200].
    B. Site-specific decommissioning        Full Cost.
     activities associated with unlicensed
     sites, including MMLs, 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    $17,300.
             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--new license, or    $9,300.
             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    $4,300.
             amendment; or license
             exemption request.
        D. Application for export or
         import of nuclear material not
         requiring Commission or Executive
         Branch review, or obtaining
         foreign government assurances
            Application--new license, or    $4,800.
             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...............  $1,300.

[[Page 15475]]

 
    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
         Appendix P Category 1 materials
         requiring Commission review (e.g.
         exceptional circumstance review
         under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4)) and to
         obtain government-to-government
         consent for this process. For
         additional consent see 15.I.)
            Application--new license, or    $14,600.
             amendment; or license
             exemption request.
        G. Application for export of
         Appendix P Category 1 materials
         requiring Executive Branch review
         and to obtain government-to-
         government consent for this
         process. For additional consents
         see 15.I.
            Application--new license, or    $8,000.
             amendment; or license
             exemption request.
        H. Application for export of
         Appendix P Category 1 materials
         and to obtain one government-to-
         government consent for this
         process. For additional consents
         see 15.I
            Application--new license, or    $5,300.
             amendment; or license
             exemption request.
        I. Requests for each additional
         government-to-government consent
         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
         Appendix P Category 2 materials
         requiring Commission review (e.g.
         exceptional circumstance review
         under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4))
            Application--new license, or    $14,600.
             amendment; or license
             exemption request.
        K. Applications for export of
         Appendix P Category 2 materials
         requiring Executive Branch review
            Application--new license, or    $8,000.
             amendment; or license
             exemption request.
        L. Application for the export of
         Category 2 materials
            Application--new license, or    $4,000.
             amendment; or license
             exemption request.
        M. [Reserved].....................  N/A.
        N. [Reserved].....................  N/A.
        O. [Reserved].....................  N/A.
        P. [Reserved].....................  N/A.
        Q. [Reserved].....................  N/A.
    Minor Amendments (Category 1 and 2,
     Appendix P, 10 CFR Part 110, Export):
    R. Minor amendment of any active
     export 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...............  $1,300.
16. Reciprocity:
    Agreement State licensees who conduct
     activities under the reciprocity
     provisions of 10 CFR 150.20
        Application.......................  $1,900.
17. Master materials licenses of broad
 scope issued to Government agencies
    Application [Program Code(s): 03614]..  Full Cost.
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 pre-application 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, pre-application
  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 Sec.
  170.12(c).
(e) Generally licensed device registrations under 10 CFR 31.5.
  Submittals of registration information must be accompanied by the
  prescribed fee.

[[Page 15476]]

 
\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 fee 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.
\4\ Licensees paying fees under categories 1.A., 1.B., and 1.E. are not
  subject to fees under categories 1.C., 1.D. and 1.F. 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\ Licensees subject to fees under fee categories 1.A., 1.B., 1.E., or
  2.A. must pay the largest applicable fee and are not subject to
  additional fees listed in this table.
\7\ Licensees paying fees under 3.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
  for possession and shielding authorized on the same license.
\8\ Licensees paying fees under 7.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
  for possession and shielding authorized on the same license.
\9\ Licensees paying fees under 3.N. are not subject to paying fees
  under 3.P. for calibration or leak testing services authorized on the
  same license.
\10\ Licensees paying fees under 7.B. are not subject to paying fees
  under 7.C. for broad scope license 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 authorized on the same
  license.


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

0
12. The authority citation for part 171 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 161(w), 223, 
234 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2201(w), 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act 
of 1974, sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); 42 U.S.C. 2214; 44 U.S.C. 3504 
note.

0
13. In Sec.  171.15, revise paragraph (b)(1), the introductory text of 
paragraph (b)(2), paragraph (c)(1), the introductory text of paragraphs 
(c)(2) and (d)(1), and paragraphs (d)(2) and (d)(3), and revise 
paragraph (f), as proposed to be redesignated from paragraph (e) at 80 
FR 68268 on November 4, 2015, to read as follows:


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

* * * * *
    (b)(1) The FY 2016 annual fee for each operating power reactor 
which must be collected by September 30, 2016, is $4,923,000.
    (2) The FY 2016 annual fees are 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 2016 fee-relief 
adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The 
activities comprising the FY 2016 base annual fee for operating power 
reactors are as follows:
* * * * *
    (c)(1) The FY 2016 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 $211,000.
    (2) The FY 2016 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 a fee-relief adjustment. The activities comprising the FY 
2016 fee-relief adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this 
section. The activities comprising the FY 2016 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 (d)(1)(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 (d)(1)(iii) of this 
section for a given fiscal year, annual fees will be reduced. The 
activities comprising the FY 2016 fee-relief adjustment are as follows:
* * * * *
    (2) The total FY 2016 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the 
operating power reactor class of licenses is a -$265,900 fee-relief 
surplus, not including the amount allocated to the spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning class. The FY 2016 operating power reactor fee-
relief adjustment to be assessed to each operating power reactor is 
approximately a -$2,659 fee-relief surplus. This amount is calculated 
by dividing the total operating power reactor fee-relief surplus 
adjustment, -$265,900, by the number of operating power reactors (100).
    (3) The FY 2016 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning class of licenses is a -$54,000 fee-
relief assessment. The FY 2016 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 a -$442 fee-relief assessment. 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.
* * * * *
    (f) The FY 2016 annual fees for licensees authorized to operate a 
research or test (nonpower) reactor licensed under 10 CFR part 50, 
unless the reactor is exempted from fees under Sec.  171.11(a), are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research reactor.............................................    $82,500
Test reactor.................................................     82,500
------------------------------------------------------------------------

0
14. In Sec.  171.16, revise paragraphs (c) and (d) and the introductory 
text of paragraph (e) to read as follows:

[[Page 15477]]

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, in addition to 10 CFR part 72 licenses, 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):
    $485,000 to $7 million...........................             $3,400
    Less than $485,000...............................                700
Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Annual Gross
 Receipts):
    $485,000 to $7 million...........................              3,400
    Less than $485,000...............................                700
    Manufacturing Entities that Have An Average of
     500 Employees or Fewer:
        35 to 500 employees..........................              3,400
        Fewer than 35 employees......................                700
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly
 supported educational institutions) (Population):
    20,000 to 49,999.................................              3,400
    Fewer than 20,000................................                700
Educational Institutions that are not State or
 Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Fewer
    35 to 500 employees..............................              3,400
    Fewer than 35 employees..........................                700
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (d) The FY 2016 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee and 
an allocation for fee-relief adjustment. The activities comprising the 
FY 2016 fee-relief adjustment are shown for convenience in paragraph 
(e) of this section. The FY 2016 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\
            Category of materials licenses                \2\ \3\ ($)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Special nuclear material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of U-235
     or plutonium for fuel fabrication activities
        (a) Strategic Special Nuclear Material (High           7,955,000
         Enriched Uranium) [Program Code(s): 21130]..
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form           2,737,000
         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                         0
         [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320].............
        (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration            1,540,000
         facilities..................................
        (c) Others, including hot cell facilities....            770,000
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel           \11\ N/A
     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                  3,100
     nuclear material of less than a critical mass,
     as defined in Sec.   70.4 of this chapter, in
     sealed sources contained in devices used in
     industrial measuring systems, including x-ray
     fluorescence analyzers.\15\ [Program Code(s):
     22140]..........................................
    D. All other special nuclear material licenses,                8,100
     except licenses authorizing special nuclear
     material in sealed or unsealed form in
     combination that would constitute a critical
     mass, as defined in Sec.   70.4 of this chapter,
     for which the licensee shall pay the same fees
     as those under Category 1.A.\15\ [Program
     Code(s): 22110, 22111, 22120, 22131, 22136,
     22150, 22151, 22161, 22170, 23100, 23300, 23310]
    E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of           3,764,000
     a uranium enrichment facility [Program Code(s):
     21200]..........................................
    F. For special nuclear materials licenses in                   6,800
     sealed or unsealed form of greater than a
     critical mass as defined in Sec.   70.4 of this
     chapter.\15\ [Program Code: 22155]..............
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source           1,625,000
     material for refining uranium mill concentrates
     to uranium hexafluoride or for deconverting
     uranium hexafluoride in the production of
     uranium oxides for disposal. [Program Code:
     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                40,200
         [Program Code(s): 11100]....................
        (b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities                     50,900
         [Program Code(s): 11500]....................
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities                  57,600
         [Program Code(s): 11510]....................
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities                          0
         [Program Code(s): 11550]....................

[[Page 15478]]

 
(e) Resin Toll Milling facilities [Program Code(s):              \5\ N/A
 11555]..............................................
(3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of byproduct             \5\ N/A
 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                    22,800
     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                  6,700
     source material related to removal of
     contaminants (source material) from drinking
     water [Program Code(s): 11820]..................
    B. Licenses that authorize possession, use, and/               3,500
     or installation of source material for
     shielding.16 17 18 [Program Code: 11210]........
    C. Licenses to distribute items containing source              6,800
     material to persons exempt from the licensing
     requirements of part 40 of this chapter.
     [Program Code: 11240]...........................
    D. Licenses to distribute source material to                   6,600
     persons generally licensed under part 40 of this
     chapter [Program Code(s): 11230 and 11231]......
E. Licenses for possession and use of source material              8,300
 for processing or manufacturing of products or
 materials containing source material for commercial
 distribution. [Program Code: 11710].................
F. All other source material licenses. [Program                    7,700
 Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11300, 11800, 11810]..
3. Byproduct material:
    A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use             30,400
     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                   12,700
     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/              13,500
     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]....................................            \5\ N/A
    E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                9,900
     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               12,100
     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                 107,900
     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              12,400
     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]...................................
    I. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of              18,300
     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               3,500
     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             17,600
     of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and
     33 of this chapter for research and development
     that do not authorize commercial distribution.
     Number of locations of use: 1-5. [Program
     Code(s): 01100, 01110, 01120, 03610, 03611,
     03612, 03613]...................................
        (1) Licenses of broad scope for possession                23,700
         and use of product material issued under
         parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for research
         and development that do not authorize
         commercial distribution. Number of locations
         of use: 6-20. [Program Code(s): 04610,
         04612, 04614, 04616, 04618, 04620, 04622]...
        (2) Licenses of broad scope for possession                29,600
         and use of byproduct material issued under
         parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for research
         and development that do not authorize
         commercial distribution. Number of locations
         of use: 20 or more. [Program Code(s): 04611,
         04613, 04615, 04617, 04619, 04621, 04623]...
    M. Other licenses for possession and use of                   12,300
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for research and development that do not
     authorize commercial distribution [Program
     Code(s): 03620].................................

[[Page 15479]]

 
    N. Licenses that authorize services for other                 21,100
     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               25,900
     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                       8,000
     licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
     through 9.D.\19\ [Program Code(s): 02400, 02410,
     03120, 03121, 03122, 03123, 03124, 03140, 03130,
     03220, 03221, 03222, 03800, 03810, 22130].......
    Q. Registration of devices generally licensed               \13\ N/A
     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                  7,800
         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                   8,300
         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-                    30,700
     produced radionuclides [Program Code(s): 03210].
4. Waste disposal and processing:
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt             \5\ N/A
     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              21,900
     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              14,700
     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               14,400
     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              \5\ N/A
     material for field flooding tracer studies.
     [Program Code(s): 03113]........................
6. Nuclear laundries:
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry                  0
     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             24,600
     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                      37,300
 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, and              13,300
 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\ \20\ [Program Code(s): 02120,
 02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220, 02230, 02231,
 02240, 22160].......................................
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                7,800
     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              7,900
     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 of              13,000
 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 of               7,700
 sealed sources containing byproduct material, source
 material, or special nuclear material, except
 reactor fuel, for commercial distribution...........
D. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation of               1,500
 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:

[[Page 15480]]

 
    A. Certificates of Compliance or other package
     approvals issued for design of casks, packages,
     and shipping containers.
        1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and                     \6\ N/A
         plutonium air packages......................
        2. Other Casks...............................            \6\ N/A
    B. Quality assurance program approvals issued
     under part 71 of this chapter.
        1. Users and Fabricators.....................            \6\ N/A
        2. Users.....................................            \6\ N/A
    C. Evaluation of security plans, route approvals,            \6\ N/A
     route surveys, and transportation security
     devices (including immobilization devices)......
11. Standardized spent fuel facilities...............             \6\N/A
12. Special Projects [Program Code(s): 25110]........            \6\ N/A
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of                    \6\ N/A
 Compliance..........................................
    B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel               \12\ N/A
     under 10 CFR 72.210.............................
14. Decommissioning/Reclamation:
    A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material            \7\ N/A
     licenses and other approvals authorizing
     decommissioning, decontamination, reclamation,
     or site restoration activities under parts 30,
     40, 70, 72, and 76 of this chapter, including
     master materials licenses (MMLs) [Program
     Code(s): 3900, 11900, 21135, 21215, 21240,
     21325, 22200]...................................
    B. Site-specific decommissioning activities                  \7\ N/A
     associated with unlicensed sites, including
     MMLs, whether or not the sites have been
     previously licensed.............................
15. Import and Export licenses.......................            \8\ N/A
16. Reciprocity......................................            \8\ N/A
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope issued              343,000
 to Government agencies [Program Code(s): 03614].....
18. Department of Energy:
    A. Certificates of Compliance....................     \10\ 1,480,000
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act               555,000
     (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, 2015, 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.
\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 fee categories 7.B. or 7.C.
\10\ This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to the U.S.
  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.)
\15\ Licensees paying annual fees under category 1.A., 1.B., and 1.E.
  are not subject to the annual fees for categories 1.C., 1.D., and 1.F.
  for sealed sources authorized in the license.
\16\ Licensees subject to fees under categories 1.A., 1.B., 1.E., or
  2.A. must pay the largest applicable fee and are not subject to
  additional fees listed in this table.
\17\ Licensees paying fees under 3.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
  for possession and shielding authorized on the same license.
\18\ Licensees paying fees under 7.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
  for possession and shielding authorized on the same license.
\19\ Licensees paying fees under 3.N. are not subject to paying fees
  under 3.P. for calibration or leak testing services authorized on the
  same license.
\20\ Licensees paying fees under 7.B. are not subject to paying fees
  under 7.C. for broad scope license 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 authorized on the same
  license.

    (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 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

[[Page 15481]]

paragraphs (e)(2) and (e)(3) of this section for a given fiscal year, a 
negative fee-relief adjustment (or annual fee reduction) will be 
allocated to annual fees. The activities comprising the FY 2016 fee-
relief adjustment are as follows:
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of March 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Maureen E. Wylie,
Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-06284 Filed 3-22-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P