[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 172 (Tuesday, September 6, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61100-61102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-21270]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 171

[NRC-2015-0223]
RIN 3150-AJ66


Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2016; 
Correction

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a final 
rule amending regulations that became effective August 23, 2016. The 
fiscal year (FY) 2016 final fee rule, published June 24, 2016, amended 
the licensing, inspection, special project, and annual fees charged to 
NRC applicants and licensees. This document corrects the annual fee for 
materials licensees in the category ``Nuclear laundries'' from the FY 
2016 rate of $0 to the FY 2015 rate of $40,100. This correction allows 
Agreement States to continue to collect fees in this fee category.

DATES: Effective Date: September 6, 2016.

ADDRESSES: 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. 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 document.
     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].
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One

[[Page 61101]]

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Kaplan, Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-5256, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC published a final rule amending 
regulations that became effective August 23, 2016. The FY 2016 final 
fee rule, published June 24, 2016 (81 FR 41171), amended the licensing, 
inspection, special project, and annual fees charged to NRC applicants 
and licensees.
    Fee category 6.A. under Sec.  171.16(d) includes fees for licenses 
for the commercial collection and laundry of items contaminated with 
byproduct material, source material, or special nuclear material 
[Program Code(s): 03218]. Because the NRC has no licensees in this 
category, the final rule inadvertently set the fee amount at $0. 
However, there are several Agreement States with licensees in this 
category. Agreement States that regulate nuclear laundries incorporate 
by reference the NRC fee schedule into their own regulations to 
establish their fees. To establish a fee for nuclear laundries in the 
absence of an NRC fee amount, the Agreement States would need to 
initiate a rulemaking, a timely and costly solution to fix the NRC's 
administrative oversight. Therefore, the NRC is correcting this 
oversight and changing the annual fee for fee category 6.A. for 
materials licensees from the FY 2016 rate of $0 to the FY 2015 rate of 
$40,100. This correction will have no material impact on the fees paid 
by NRC licensees for services; it will, however, allow Agreement States 
to continue to set and collect fees for regulated services in the 
equivalent fee category.

Rulemaking Procedure

    Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b)), an agency 
may waive the normal notice and comment requirements if it finds, for 
good cause, that they are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to 
the public interest. As authorized by 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), the NRC 
finds good cause to waive notice and opportunity for comment on this 
amendment. This amendment is needed to correct an inadvertent error by 
the NRC, which removed the fee amount for nuclear laundries. The NRC 
incorrectly believed that there would be no consequences to removing 
the fee amount because there are no NRC-regulated nuclear laundries for 
which the NRC must collect fees. However, the NRC did not realize that 
many Agreement States regulating nuclear laundries base their fees upon 
the NRC-prescribed amount. Removal of the NRC fee would have the 
unforeseen and unintended adverse consequence of preventing those 
Agreement States from collecting fees from nuclear laundries regulated 
by those Agreement States. This rulemaking merely restores the 
previously prescribed fee for NRC-regulated nuclear laundries. The sole 
purpose of this rulemaking is to allow those Agreement States that base 
their fees on the NRC-prescribed amount to collect fees from nuclear 
laundries regulated by those Agreement States. As set forth earlier, 
this action has no effect on NRC-regulated entities because there are 
no NRC-regulated nuclear laundries. For these reasons, the NRC finds, 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), that good cause exists to make this 
rule effective upon publication of this notice.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 171

    Annual charges, Approvals, Byproduct material, Holders of 
certificates, Intergovernmental relations, Nonpayment penalties, 
Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Registrations, 
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 adopting 
the following amendments to 10 CFR part 171:

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
1. 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
2. In Sec.  171.16, paragraph (d), revise fee category 6.A. of the 
table to read as follows:


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

* * * * *
    (d) * * *

   Schedule of Materials Annual Fees and Fees for Government Agencies
                             Licensed by NRC
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Annual fees
             Category of materials licenses                 \1\ \2\ \3\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                              * * * * * * *
6. Nuclear laundries:...................................
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and laundry of         $40,100
     items contaminated with byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material [Program
     Code(s): 03218]....................................
 
                              * * * * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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.

[[Page 61102]]

 
\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.

* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of August, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cindy Bladey,
Chief, Rules, Announcements and Directives Branch, Division of 
Administrative Services, Office of Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-21270 Filed 9-2-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P