[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 125 (Friday, June 30, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30682-30708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13520]



[[Page 30681]]

Vol. 82

Friday,

No. 125

June 30, 2017

Part V





Nuclear Regulatory Commission





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10 CFR Parts 170 and 171





Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2017; Final 
Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 125 / Friday, June 30, 2017 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 30682]]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 170 and 171

[NRC-2016-0081]
RIN 3150-AJ73


Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2017

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending the 
licensing, inspection, special project, and annual fees charged to its 
applicants and licensees. These 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: This final rule is effective on August 29, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0081 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-2016-0081. 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]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document. For the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession 
numbers and instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this 
document are provided 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.

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:

Table of Contents

I. Background; Statutory Authority
II. Discussion
III. Opportunities for Public Participation
IV. Public Comment Analysis
V. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
VI. Regulatory Analysis
VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality
VIII. Plain Writing
IX. National Environmental Policy Act
X. Paperwork Reduction Act
XI. Congressional Review Act
XII. Voluntary Consensus Standards
XIII. Availability of Guidance
XIV. Availability of Documents

I. Background; Statutory Authority

    The NRC's fee regulations are governed primarily 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 may exclude amounts appropriated for Waste 
Incidental to Reprocessing, generic homeland security activities, $5 
million for advanced reactor regulatory infrastructure, and Inspector 
General (IG) services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. 
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.

II. Discussion

FY 2017 Fee Collection--Overview

    The NRC is issuing the FY 2017 final fee rule based on the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Pub. L. 115-31), in the amount 
of $917.1 million, a decrease of $85.0 million from FY 2016. 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-incidental-to-reprocessing 
activities, $1.0 million for IG services for the Defense Nuclear 
Facilities Safety Board, and $15.8 million and for generic homeland 
security activities. Also, for the first time, the enacted budget 
includes $5 million for advanced reactor infrastructure, which is 
required to be excluded from the fee base. Additionally, OBRA-90 
requires the NRC to recover only approximately 90 percent of the 
remaining budget authority, leaving the remaining 10 percent to be 
funded by a congressional appropriation.
    After accounting for the OBRA-90 exclusions, this 10-percent 
appropriation, and net billing adjustments (the sum of unpaid current 
year invoices (estimated) minus payments for prior year invoices) the 
NRC must bill approximately $805.9 million in FY 2017 to licensees. Of 
this amount, the NRC estimates that $297.3 million will be recovered 
through 10 CFR part 170 user fees, which leaves approximately $508.6 
million to be recovered through 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. Table I 
summarizes the fee-recovery amounts for the FY 2017 final 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). The FY 2017 
appropriation includes access to $23.0 million in carryover funds. The 
use of carry over funds allows the NRC to accomplish the work needed 
without additional costs to licensees because fees are calculated based 
on the new appropriation and not carryover funds.

[[Page 30683]]



                                    Table I--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final    Percentage
                                                                       rule            rule           change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority..........................................        $1,002.1          $917.1            -8.5
Less Excluded Fee Items.........................................           -21.1           -23.1             9.5
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Balance.....................................................          $981.0          $894.0            -8.9
Fee Recovery Percent............................................              90              90             0.0
Total Amount to be Recovered:...................................          $882.9          $804.6            -8.9
    10 CFR part 171 Billing Adjustments:
    Unpaid Current Year Invoices (estimated)                                 6.3             6.2            -1.6
    Less Prior Year Billing Credit for Transportation Fee Class             -0.2             0.0           100.0
    Less Payments Received in Current Year for Previous Year                -5.6            -4.9           -12.5
     Invoices (estimated)
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        Subtotal................................................             0.5             1.3           160.0
Amount to be Recovered through 10 CFR parts 170 and 171 Fees....          $883.4          $805.9            -8.8
    Less Estimated 10 CFR part 170 Fees.........................          -332.7          -297.3           -10.7
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        10 CFR Part 171 Fee Collections Required................          $550.7          $508.6            -7.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2017 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). This rate would be applicable to all activities 
for which fees are assessed under Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31.
    The NRC's hourly rate is derived by adding the budgeted resources 
for: (1) Mission-direct program salaries and benefits; \1\ (2) mission-
indirect program support; \2\ and (3) agency support,\3\ which includes 
corporate support and the IG, and then dividing this sum by total 
mission-direct full-time equivalent (FTE) converted to hours. The 
mission-direct FTE converted to hours is the product of the mission-
direct FTE multiplied by the estimated annual mission-direct FTE 
productive hours. The following shows the hourly rate calculation:
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    \1\ Mission-direct program salaries and benefits resources are 
allocated to perform core work activities committed to fulfilling 
the agency's mission of protecting the public health and safety, 
promoting the common defense and security, and protecting the 
environment. The majority of the resources assigned under the direct 
business lines (Operating Reactors, New Reactors, Fuel Facilities, 
Nuclear Materials Users, Decommissioning and Low-Level Waste, and 
Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation) are core work activities 
considered mission-direct.
    \2\ Mission-indirect program support resources are those that 
support the core mission-direct activities. They include, for 
example, supervisory and nonsupervisory support and mission travel 
and training. Supervisory and nonsupervisory support and mission 
travel and training resources assigned under direct business line 
structure are considered mission-indirect due to their supporting 
role of the core mission activities.
    \3\ Agency support (corporate support and the IG) resources are 
located in executive, administrative, and other support offices such 
as the Office of the Commission, the Office of the Secretary, the 
Office of the Executive Director for Operations, the Offices of 
Congressional and Public Affairs, the Office of the Inspector 
General, the Office of Administration, the Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the 
Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer and the Office of Small 
Business and Civil Rights. These budgeted costs administer the 
corporate or shared efforts that more broadly support the activities 
of the agency. These activities also include information technology 
services, human capital services, financial management, and 
administrative support.
    \4\ Does not include contract dollars billed to licensees 
separately.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR30JN17.292

    For FY 2017, the NRC is decreasing the hourly rate from $265 to 
$263. The 0.8 percent decrease in the FY 2017 hourly rate is due 
primarily to the decline in total budgetary resources and an increase 
in productive hours worked, offset by a decline in mission-direct FTE 
from FY 2016 to FY 2017. The FY 2017 estimated annual direct hours per 
staff is 1,500 hours, up from 1,440 hours in FY 2016. The productive-
hours assumption reflects the average number of hours that a mission-
direct employee spends on mission-direct work in a given year. This 
excludes hours charged to annual leave, sick leave, holidays, training 
and general administration tasks. Table II shows the hourly rate 
calculation methodology. The FY 2016 amounts are provided for 
comparison.

                                        Table II--Hourly Rate Calculation
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  FY 2016  final  FY 2017  final    Percentage
                                                                       rule            rule           change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission-Direct Program Salaries & Benefits......................          $369.6          $340.6            -7.9
Mission-Indirect Program Support................................           140.6           137.3            -2.3
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------

[[Page 30684]]

 
Agency Support (Corporate Support and the IG)...................           314.0           309.6            -1.4
    Subtotal....................................................           824.2           787.5            -4.5
Less Offsetting Receipts \5\....................................            -0.1            -0.1           -31.2
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total Budgeted Resources Included in Hourly Rate............           824.1           787.4            -4.5
Mission-Direct FTE (Whole numbers)..............................           2,157           1,996            -7.5
Mission-Direct FTE productive hours.............................           1,440           1,500             4.2
Mission-Direct FTE Converted to Hours (Mission-Direct FTE                    3.1             3.0            -3.6
 multiplied by Mission-Direct FTE productive hours worked
 annually) (In Millions)........................................
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budget Included in Hourly Rate               265             263            -0.8
 Divided by FTE Converted to Hours) (Whole Numbers).............
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2017 Fee Collection--Flat Application Fee Changes

    The NRC is amending 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 in its 
schedule of fees in Sec. Sec.  170.21 and 170.31, to reflect the 
revised hourly rate of $263. 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 2017. 
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 in FY 2017 and 
will perform this review again in FY 2019. For the most part, 
application fees decreased due to a lower hourly rate along with 
efficiencies achieved in the licensing and inspection programs. Please 
see the final fee rule work papers (ADAMS Accession No. ML17164A283) 
for more detail.
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    \5\ The fees collected by the NRC for Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) services and indemnity (financial protection required of 
licensees for public liability claims at 10 CFR part 140) are 
subtracted from the budgeted resources amount when calculating the 
10 CFR part 170 hourly rates, per the guidance in Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-25, User Charges. The 
budgeted resources for FOIA activities are allocated under the 
product for Information Services within the Corporate Support 
business line. The indemnity activities are allocated under the 
Licensing Actions and the Research & Test Reactors products within 
the Operating Reactors business line.
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    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 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 shown in the DATES section of this document will be 
subject to the revised fees in this final rule.

FY 2017 Fee Collection--Fee-Relief and Low-Level Waste (LLW) Surcharge

    As previously noted, OBRA-90 requires the NRC to recover only 
approximately 90-percent of its budget authority. The remaining 10 
percent that is not recovered through fees is applied by the NRC to 
offset certain budgeted activities--see Table III for a full listing. 
These activities are referred to as ``fee-relief'' activities. Any 
difference between the 10-percent non-fee-recoverable amount 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 2017, the NRC's budgeted fee-relief activities exceeded the 
10-percent threshold--therefore, the NRC assessed a fee-relief 
adjustment (i.e., surcharge) to increase all licensees' annual fees 
based on their percentage share of the budget. The surcharge is due 
primarily to a decrease in the 10-percent fee relief threshold, along 
with increases in infrastructure for medical isotope production and 
regulatory support to agreement state activities. Table III summarizes 
the fee-relief activities for FY 2017. The FY 2016 amounts are provided 
for comparison.
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    \6\ This amount includes international assistance activities, 
conventions and treaties, and specific cooperation activities.

                                        Table III--Fee-Relief Activities
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      FY 2016         FY 2017       Percentage
                      Fee-relief activities                       budgeted costs  budgeted costs      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Activities not attributable to an existing NRC licensee or
 class of licensee:
    a. International activities \6\.............................           $12.6           $13.8             9.7
    b. Agreement State oversight................................            12.6            12.9             2.1
    c. Scholarships and Fellowships.............................            18.2            17.9            -1.6
    d. Medical Isotope Production Infrastructure................             1.0             4.2           320.0
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:

[[Page 30685]]

 
    a. Fee exemption for nonprofit educational institutions.....            10.1             9.7            -3.9
    b. Costs not recovered from small entities under 10 CFR                  8.5             7.4           -12.9
     71.16(c)...................................................
    c. Regulatory support to Agreement States...................            16.5            18.5            11.8
    d. Generic decommissioning/reclamation (not related to the              15.2            14.6            -3.9
     power reactor and spent fuel storage fee classes)..........
    e. In Situ leach rulemaking and unregistered general                     1.6             1.4           -12.5
     licensees..................................................
    f. Potential Department of Defense remediation program MOU               1.7             1.1           -34.0
     activities.................................................
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
Total fee-relief activities.....................................            98.0           101.5             3.5
    Less 10 percent of the NRC's total FY budget (less non-fee             -98.1           -89.4            -8.9
     items).....................................................
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        Fee-Relief Adjustment to be Allocated to All Licensees'             -0.1            12.1        17,357.7
         Annual Fees............................................
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    Table IV shows how the NRC allocates the $12.1 million fee-relief 
adjustment (surcharge) to each license fee class.
    In addition to the fee-relief adjustment, the NRC also assesses a 
generic LLW surcharge of $3.2 million. Disposal of LLW occurs at 
commercially operated LLW disposal facilities that are licensed by 
either the NRC or an Agreement State. There are four existing LLW 
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 the DOE 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 2017
                                              [Dollars in millions]
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                                           LLW surcharge               Fee-relief adjustment           Total
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Percent            $            Percent            $               $
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors........            24.0             0.8            85.4            10.3            11.1
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor                   0.0             0.0             3.9             0.5             0.5
 Decommissioning................
Research and Test Reactors......             0.0             0.0             0.2             0.0             0.0
Fuel Facilities.................            62.0             2.0             4.5             0.6             2.5
Materials Users.................            14.0             0.4             3.6             0.4             0.8
Transportation..................             0.0             0.0             0.6             0.1             0.1
Rare Earth Facilities...........             0.0             0.0             0.0             0.0             0.0
Uranium Recovery................             0.0             0.0             1.8             0.2             0.2
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................           100.0             3.2           100.0            12.1            15.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2017 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 re-
baselines its annual fees every year. Re-baselining 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 revised its annual fees in Sec. Sec.  171.15 and 171.16 to 
recover approximately 90 percent of the NRC's FY 2017 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 final rule are $297.3 million, a decrease of $35.4 million 
from the FY 2016 final rule. The NRC, therefore, must recover $508.6 
million through annual fees from its licensees, which is a decrease of 
$42.1 million from the FY 2016 final rule.
    Table V shows the re-baselined fees for FY 2017 for a 
representative list of categories of licensees. The FY 2016 amounts are 
provided for comparison.

                                        Table V--Re-Baselined Annual Fees
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                                                                   FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final    Percentage
                   Class/category of licenses                       annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors........................................      $4,659,000      $4,308,000            -7.5

[[Page 30686]]

 
+ Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning....................         197,000         188,000            -4.6
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total, Combined Fee.........................................       4,856,000       4,496,000            -7.4
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning......................         197,000         188,000            -4.6
Research and Test Reactors/Non-power Reactors...................          81,500          81,400            -0.1
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility.............................       7,867,000       7,700,000            -2.1
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility..............................       2,736,000       2,790,000             2.0
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion Facility........................       1,625,000       1,590,000            -2.2
Conventional Mills..............................................          38,900          38,900             0.0
Typical Materials Users:
    Radiographers (Category 3O).................................          26,000          27,000             3.8
    Well Loggers (Category 5A)..................................          14,500          16,000            10.3
    All Other Specific Byproduct Material Licenses (Category 3P)           7,900           9,300            17.7
    Broad Scope Medical (Category 7B)...........................          37,400          33,800            -9.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The work papers that support this final rule show in detail how the NRC 
allocated the budgeted resources for each class of licenses and how the 
fees are calculated.
    Paragraphs a. through h. of this section describe budgetary 
resources allocated to each class of licensees and the calculations of 
the re-baselined fees. For more information about detailed fee 
calculations for each class, please consult the accompanying work 
papers.
a. Fuel Facilities
    The NRC will collect $33.9 million in annual fees from the fuel 
facility class.

                          Table VI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Fuel Facilities
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................           $40.5           $33.9           -16.3
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................           -11.7            -9.6           -17.9
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................            28.8            24.3           -15.6
Allocated generic transportation................................             1.1             1.6            45.5
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................             1.7             2.5            47.1
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.0             0.0             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total remaining required annual fee recovery................            31.6            28.4           -10.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In FY 2017, the fuel facilities budgetary resources decreased due 
to continued construction delays at multiple sites (including the Shaw 
Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication and the International Isotope facilities) 
and efficiencies achieved within the licensing and inspection programs, 
offset by declining estimated 10 CFR part 170 billings for license 
renewals and amendments, and a reduction of one licensee in the fee 
class--Centrus Energy Corporation Lead Cascade Gas Centrifuge 
Enrichment Demonstration facility. Due to the proration rules in our 
regulation, this licensee will remain for the FY 2017 final fee rule 
calculation, and be removed from the fee rule for FY 2018.
    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 2017
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Effort factors (percent of
                                                                     Number of                total)
                  Facility type (fee category)                      facilities   -------------------------------
                                                                                      Safety        Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).........................               2       88 (44.0)       96 (55.2)
Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..........................               3       70 (35.0)       30 (17.2)
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 (8.6)
Hot Cell (1.A.(2)(c))...........................................               1         6 (3.0)         3 (1.7)
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).......................................               1       21 (10.5)       23 (13.2)

[[Page 30687]]

 
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion (2.A.(1)).......................               1        12 (6.0)         7 (4.0)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For FY 2017, the total budgeted resources for safety activities are 
$13.8 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, $12.1 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--$2.5 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 final   FY 2017 final    Percentage
                  Facility type (fee category)                      annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).........................      $7,867,000      $7,700,000            -2.1
Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..........................       2,736,000       2,790,000             2.0
Limited Operations (1.A(2)(a))..................................             0.0             0.0             0.0
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))............       1,539,000       1,507,000            -2.1
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))..............................         770,000         753,000            -2.2
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).......................................       3,762,000       3,340,000           -11.2
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion (2.A.(1)).......................       1,625,000       1,590,000            -2.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

b. Uranium Recovery Facilities

                    Table IX--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Uranium Recovery Facilities
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................           $12.3           $14.3            16.3
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................           -11.4           -13.5            18.4
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................             0.9             0.8           -11.1
Allocated generic transportation................................             N/A             N/A             N/A
Fee-relief adjustment...........................................             0.0             0.2           100.0
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.0             0.0             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................             0.9             1.0             7.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2016, the FY 2017 budgetary resources for 
uranium recovery licensees increased due to increased work expected for 
additional safety and environmental reviews associated with new 
licensing actions and increased hearing activities. In addition, the 
NRC regulates DOE's Title I and Title II activities under the Uranium 
Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA).\7\ For the UMTRCA 
program, budgetary resources increased for the expected review of five 
groundwater correction plans and two long term surveillance plans.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated 10 CFR part 170 fees increased due to the Ludeman 
expansion, Kennecott safety evaluation report, and the Marsland 
environmental assessment. For the UMTRCA program, 10 CFR part 170 fees 
decreased due to delays in the submission of the Monument Valley 
groundwater correction action plan, the Lakeview long-term surveillance 
plan, and the completion of the review of the Durango site evaporation 
pond decommissioning plan.
    The NRC will collect approximately $1.0 million in annual fees from 
the uranium recovery facilities fee class for both DOE and non-DOE 
licensees, an increase of about eight percent from FY 2016. In 
comparison with FY 2016, non-DOE licensees annual fees will remain flat 
for most licensees and decrease for some. The NRC computes the 10 CFR 
part 171 annual fee for the uranium recovery fee class by dividing the 
total annual fee recovery amount between DOE and the other licensees in 
this fee class. The final annual fee assessed to DOE includes the costs 
specifically budgeted for the NRC's UMTRCA Title

[[Page 30688]]

I and II activities, as well as 10 percent of the remaining budgeted 
cost for this fee class. The DOE's UMTRCA annual fee increased because 
of an increase in budgetary resources combined with a decrease in 10 
CFR part 170 billings. 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.

                    Table X--Costs Recovered Through Annual Fees; Uranium Recovery Fee Class
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final    Percentage
                        Summary of costs                            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         $503,708        $574,595            14.1
     170 receipts...............................................
    10 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted costs.          41,157          19,079           -53.6
    10 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment........             -94          21,940        23,440.4
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded)...............         545,000         616,000            13.0
Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery Licenses:
    90 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted costs          370,415         171,714           -53.6
     less the amounts specifically budgeted for Title I and
     Title II activities........................................
    90 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment........            -844         197,464        23,496.2
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery               369,571         369,178             0.0
         Licenses...............................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Further, for the non-DOE licensees, the NRC uses a matrix 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 the 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.

                             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                        1               150               150              10.5
 (2.A.(2)(a))...........................
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities                        5               190               950              66.7
 (2.A.(2)(b))...........................
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities                     1               215               215              15.1
 (2.A.(2)(c))...........................
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing                  1                85                85               6.0
 tailings sites (2.A.(4))...............
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5)).......                 1                25                25               1.7
                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................                 9               665             1,425               100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applying these factors to the approximate $369,178 in budgeted 
costs to be recovered from non-DOE uranium recovery licensees results 
in the total annual fees for each fee category. The annual fee per 
licensee is calculated by dividing the total allocated budgeted 
resources for the fee category by the number of licensees in that fee 
category, as summarized in Table XII.

                              Table XII--Annual Fees for Uranium Recovery Licensees
                                                [Other than DOE]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final    Percentage
                  Facility type (fee category)                      annual fee      annual fee        change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills (2.A.(2)(a))..................         $38,900         $38,900             0.0
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b))..................          49,300          49,200            -0.2
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(c))...............          55,800          55,700            -0.2
11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing tailings sites (2.A.(4))          22,000          22,000             0.0
Uranium water treatment (2.A.(5))...............................           6,500           6,500             0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

c. Operating Power Reactors
    The NRC will collect $426.5 million in annual fees from the power 
reactor fee class in FY 2017, as shown in Table XIII. The FY 2016 
values and percentage change are shown for comparison.

[[Page 30689]]



                         Table XIII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Power Reactors
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................          $750.4          $670.3           -10.7
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................          -287.8          -256.3           -10.9
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................           462.6           414.0           -10.5
Allocated generic transportation................................             1.8             0.3           -83.3
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................             1.0            11.1         1,110.0
Billing adjustment..............................................             0.6             1.1            83.3
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................           465.9           426.5            -8.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In comparison to FY 2016, the operating power reactors budgetary 
resources decreased in FY 2017 primarily due to fewer resources needed 
to reduce the licensing actions backlog and a reduction for generic 
work such as the Fukushima-related rulemaking, ``Station Blackout 
Mitigation Strategies.'' In addition, budgetary resources for new 
reactors decreased because of the completed combined operating licenses 
for Duke Lee, South Texas Project, and Levy and an application 
withdrawal from Bell Bend.
    Compared with FY 2016, 10 CFR part 170 fees decreased due to 
completion of actions to address the licensing actions backlog, and the 
transition of Fort Calhoun to decommissioning status in November 2016.
    The budgeted costs are divided equally among the 99 currently 
operating power reactors, resulting in a final 10 CFR part 171 annual 
fee of $4,308,000 per reactor. Additionally, each licensed power 
reactor is assessed the FY 2017 spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning 10 CFR part 171 annual fee of $188,000 (see the 
discussion that follows). The combined FY 2017 annual fee for power 
reactors is, therefore, $4,496,000 which is a decrease from the 
combined FY 2016 10 CFR part 171 annual fee of $4,856,000.
    On May 24, 2016 (81 FR 32617), the NRC published a final rule that 
amended its licensing, inspection, and annual fee regulations to 
establish a variable annual fee structure for light-water small modular 
reactors (SMRs). Under the variable annual fee structure, effective 
June 23, 2016, an SMR's annual fee would be calculated as a function of 
its licensed thermal power rating. Currently, there are no operating 
SMRs; therefore, the NRC will not assess an annual fee in FY 2017 for 
this type of licensee.
d. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactors in Decommissioning
    To collect the budgeted resources for spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning, the NRC will collect $23.0 million in annual fees from 
10 CFR part 50 power reactors and from 10 CFR part 72 licensees who do 
not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license.

   Table XIV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for the Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor in Decommissioning Fee Class
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................           $30.5           $29.5            -3.3
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................            -7.5            -7.9             5.3
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................            23.0            21.6            -6.1
Allocated generic transportation costs..........................             1.0             0.8           -20.0
Fee-relief adjustment...........................................             0.0             0.5           100.0
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.0             0.1           100.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................            24.0            23.0            -4.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2016, the decrease in annual fee is mainly the 
result of a decrease in budgetary resources for storage licensing and 
rulemaking activities and an increase in 10 CFR part 170 estimated 
billings due to the application for a consolidated interim storage 
facility for Holtec/Eddy Lea Energy and the technical review of an 
application submitted by Waste Control Specialists.
    The required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among 
122 licensees, resulting in an FY 2017 annual fee of $188,000 per 
licensee.
e. Research and Test Reactors/Non-Power Reactors
    The NRC will collect $0.326 million in annual fees from the 
research and test reactor licensee class.

[[Page 30690]]



           Table XV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Research and Test Reactors/Non-Power Reactors
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources........................................          $3.799          $1.982           -47.8
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................          -3.510          -1.724           -50.9
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................           0.289           0.258           -10.7
Allocated generic transportation................................           0.034           0.034             0.0
Fee-relief adjustment...........................................           0.000           0.031           100.0
Billing adjustments.............................................           0.003           0.003             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................           0.326           0.326            -0.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In FY 2017, the research and test/non-power reactors budgetary 
resources decreased due to a decrease in the NRC's workload for 
licensing medical isotope utilization and production facilities. 
Accordingly, the estimated 10 CFR part 170 billings decreased for the 
medical isotope production review. For research and test reactors, in 
comparison to FY 2016, the 10 CFR part 171 annual fee remained flat. 
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 2017 annual fee of $81,400 for each licensee.
f. Rare Earth
    The application for a rare-earth facility has been placed on hold 
until late FY 2017. Therefore, the NRC has not allocated any budgetary 
resources to this fee class and will not assess an annual fee in FY 
2017 for this fee class.
g. Materials Users
    The NRC will collect $35.4 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]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources for licensees not regulated by                    $33.2           $33.7             1.5
 Agreement States...............................................
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.........................            -1.1            -0.9           -18.2
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources...............................            32.1            32.8             2.2
Allocated generic transportation................................             2.4             1.6           -33.3
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................             0.5             0.9              80
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.0             0.1           100.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................            35.0            35.4             1.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To equitably and fairly allocate the $35.4 million in FY 2017 
budgeted costs among approximately 2,700 diverse materials users 
licensees, the NRC calculates 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 cost 
associated with each category of license.
    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 2017, the constant multiplier necessary to recover 
approximately $25.9 million in general costs (including allocated 
generic transportation costs) is 1.46 (see work papers for more 
detail). The average inspection cost is the average inspection hours 
for each fee category multiplied by the hourly rate of $263. The 
inspection priority is the interval between routine inspections, 
expressed in years. The inspection multiplier is the multiple necessary 
to recover approximately $8.4 million in inspection costs, and is 1.65 
for FY 2017. The unique category costs are any special costs that the 
NRC has budgeted for a specific category of licenses. For FY 2017, 
approximately $275,000 in budgeted costs for the implementation of 
revised 10 CFR part 35, ``Medical Use of Byproduct Material'' (unique 
costs), has been allocated to holders of NRC human-use licenses.
    The annual fee assessed to each licensee also includes a share of 
the fee-relief surcharge assessment of approximately $430,421 allocated 
to the materials users fee class (see Table IV, ``Allocation of Fee-
Relief Adjustment and LLW Surcharge, FY 2017,'' in Section III, 
``Discussion,'' of this document), and for certain categories of these 
licensees, a share of the approximately $442,000 LLW 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 will collect $5.8 million in annual fees to recover generic 
transportation budgeted resources. The FY 2016 values are shown for 
comparison.

[[Page 30691]]



                         Table XVII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Transportation
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Percentage
                    Summary fee calculations                       FY 2016 final   FY 2017 final      change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budgeted Resources........................................           $11.3            $8.9           -21.2
Less Estimated 10 CFR part 170 Receipts.........................            -3.5            -3.1           -11.4
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 Resources...............................             7.8             5.8           -25.6
Fee-relief adjustment/LLW surcharge.............................             0.0             0.0             0.0
Billing adjustments.............................................             0.0             0.0             0.0
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..........................             7.8             5.8           -25.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2016, the total budgetary resources for generic 
transportation activities decreased due to a reduction in rulemaking 
activities involving revisions to transportation safety requirements 
and compatibility with International Atomic Energy Agency 
Transportation Standards, hence reducing all fee class generic 
transportation annual fees. The 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings are 
expected to decrease due in part to a reduction in activities for Areva 
Federal Services and NAC International.
    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 assesses 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 increase is mainly due to the elimination 
of a prior year credit totaling approximately $220,000 from FY 2016, as 
well as a rise in CoCs by 4, or 22 percent.
    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. Four 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 0.6 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 2017
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Number of CoCs                      Allocated generic
                 License fee class/DOE                     benefiting fee     Percentage of      transportation
                                                            class or DOE        total CoCs         resources
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE....................................................               22.0               24.6                1.4
Operating Power Reactors...............................                5.0                5.6                0.3
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning.............               13.0               14.5                0.9
Research and Test Reactors.............................                0.5                0.6                0.0
Fuel Facilities........................................               24.0               26.8                1.6
Materials Users........................................               25.0               27.9                1.6
                                                        --------------------------------------------------------
    Total..............................................               89.5              100.0                5.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 2017--Administrative Changes

    The NRC makes three administrative changes:
1. Increase Mission-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 mission-direct hours per direct 
FTE in a year. ``Mission-direct hours'' are hours charged to mission-
direct activities in the Nuclear Reactor Safety Program and Nuclear 
Materials and Waste Safety Program. The FY 2016 final fee rule used 
1,440 hours per direct FTE in the hourly rate calculations. During the 
FY 2017 budget formulation process, the NRC staff reviewed and analyzed 
time and labor data from FY 2016 to determine whether it should revise 
the direct hours per FTE. In FY 2016, the total mission-direct hours 
charged by direct employees increased due to increased accuracy in 
coding time to direct work in the time and labor system, as well as 
decreased time coded for training. The increase in mission-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 number of mission-direct hours per FTE should 
increase to 1,500 hours for FY 2017.
2. Change Small Entity Fees
    In accordance with NRC policy, in 2017 the NRC staff conducted a 
biennial review of small entity fees to determine whether the NRC 
should change those fees. The NRC staff used the fee methodology, 
developed in FY 2009, which applies a fixed percentage of 39 percent to 
the prior 2-year weighted

[[Page 30692]]

average of materials users' fees when performing its biennial review. 
As a result of this review, the upper tier small entity fee would 
increase from $3,400 to $4,500 and the lower-tier fee would increase 
from $700 to $900. This would constitute a 43-percent and 50-percent 
increase, respectively. The NRC staff determined that implementing this 
increase would have a disproportionate impact upon the NRC's small 
licensees compared to other licensees, so the NRC staff lowered the 
increase to 21 percent for the upper-tier and lower-tier fees. The NRC 
staff chose 21 percent based on the average percentage increase for the 
prior three biennial reviews of small entity fees. As a result of 
applying the 21-percent increase to the FY 2015 small entity fees, the 
NRC staff is now amending the upper-tier small entity fee to $4,100 and 
amending the lower-tier small entity fee to $850 for FY 2017. 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.
3. Amends 10 CFR 171.19(d), To Include Fee Category 3G
    The NRC modifies the description under 10 CFR 171.19, ``Payment,'' 
to include fee category 3G in the description as the annual fee is 
below $100,000. These licensees in fee category 3G should now be billed 
annual fees on their anniversary month due to the annual fee being less 
than $100,000. This change resulted from a decrease in budgeted 
resources allocated to this fee class for the final rule caused by a 
decrease in the final appropriation.

Fees Transformation

    In a January 30, 2015, paper to the Commission (SECY-15-0015, 
``Project Aim 2020 Report and Recommendations'' (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML15012A594)), the NRC staff recommended that the Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer (OCFO) undertake an effort to: (1) Simplify how the 
NRC calculates its fees, (2) improve transparency, and (3) improve the 
timeliness of the NRC's communications about fee changes. These 
recommendations were similar to stakeholder comments the staff received 
during outreach on the NRC's fees and fee development process. In 
addition, an interoffice steering committee of NRC staff evaluated the 
current fee process to identify potential; solutions for concerns 
raised by NRC stakeholders. Based on comments received from the public 
and input from steering committee members, the staff developed over 40 
process and policy improvements to be implemented over the next 4 years 
that addressed concerns with the current fee process. On August 15, 
2016, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) submitted a paper for Notation 
Vote (SECY-16-0097 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16194A365)) to the 
Commission. This memorandum identified 14 process improvements in six 
categories that the staff would implement in FY 2017 and requested 
Commission approval to further analyze four improvements as policy 
issues. The Commission disapproved the policy issues with the exception 
of a voluntary pilot initiative to explore whether a flat fee structure 
could be established for routine licensing matters in the area of 
uranium recovery policy issues. The Commission also directed staff to 
accelerate the process improvements for future consideration including 
transition to an electronic billing system.
    Currently, 10 of the 14 process improvements for FY 2017 have been 
completed and the NRC is well-positioned to complete the remaining 4 
process improvements by the end of the fiscal year. In addition, 3 of 
the 9 improvements for FY 2018 have been accelerated and completed. The 
voluntary pilot project for uranium recovery flat fees and activities 
to support electronic invoicing are underway. For more information on 
our fees transformation initiative, please see our License Fees Web 
site at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing/fees.html.

III. Opportunities for Public Participation

    The NRC published the FY 2017 proposed fee rule in the Federal 
Register on January 3, 2017 (82 FR 8696), for a 30-day public comment 
period. The rule proposed to amend the licensing, inspection, special 
project, and annual fees charged to the NRC's applicants and licensees. 
The public comment period for the proposed rule closed on March 1, 
2017.
    The NRC also held a public meeting on February 16, 2017, to provide 
more transparency regarding fees in relation to the budget process and 
fulfill its commitment to external stakeholders to address NRC program 
processes and inefficiencies mentioned in the comments submitted for 
the FY 2016 proposed fee rule. During the public meeting, the NRC 
received no comments on the FY 2017 proposed fee rule. The public 
meeting transcript is available as indicated in Section XIV, 
Availability of Documents, of this document.

IV. Public Comment Analysis

Overview of Public Comments

    The NRC received four written comment submissions for the proposed 
rule. A comment submission for the purpose of this rule is defined as a 
communication or document submitted to the NRC by an individual or 
entity with one or more distinct comments addressing a subject or an 
issue. A comment, on the other hand, refers to a statement made in the 
submission addressing a subject or issue. In general, the commenters 
were supportive of the specific proposed regulatory changes, although 
most commenters expressed concerns about broader fee-policy issues 
related to transparency and fairness.
    The commenters are listed in Table XIX, and are classified as 
follows: One member of the uranium industry (Wyoming Mining Association 
(WMA)); one nuclear power plant operator (Exelon); one private citizen; 
and one industry trade group (Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)).

                           Table XIX--FY 2017 Proposed Fee Rule Commenter Submissions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Commenter                   Affiliation            ADAMS accession No.            Abbreviation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Travis Deti.......................  Wyoming Mining         ML17108A265                   WMA.
                                     Association.
J. Bradley Fewell.................  Exelon Generation      ML17108A267                   Exelon.
                                     Company, LLC.
Joseph E. Pollock.................  Nuclear Energy         ML17108A266                   NEI.
                                     Institute.
Kevin Ramsey......................  Private Citizen......  ML17108A264                   KR.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 30693]]

    Information about obtaining the complete text of the comment 
submissions is available in Section XIV, ``Availability of Documents,'' 
of this document.

Public Comments and NRC Responses

    The NRC has carefully considered the public comments received. The 
comments have been organized by topic followed by the NRC response.

A. Uranium Recovery

    Comment: The increases for each category of uranium recovery 
license over the 2016 annual fees exceed 8 percent. This increase 
exceeds the current rate of inflation and increases in costs from 
vendors, suppliers, and contractors with which the uranium recovery 
industry does business. It exceeds annual salary increases for uranium 
recovery workers as well. Uranium prices have been in overall decline 
for the past five (5) years. The uranium recovery industry fails to see 
how increases of this magnitude can be justified. (WMA)
    Response: As discussed in the proposed FY 2017 fee rule, the 
proposed amendments to the annual fees are necessary to comply with 
OBRA-90, which requires the NRC to recover approximately 90 percent of 
its annual budget through fees. Because the NRC (by law) must recover 
approximately 90 percent of its annual budget authority, the NRC cannot 
take the rate of inflation or other economic indicators into account 
when deriving the annual fees.
    Further, for the FY 2017 final fee rule, the annual fee for non-DOE 
uranium recovery licensees will remain flat for most licensees. This 
change from the projected 8 percent increase in the proposed rule is 
due to a decrease in budgetary resources and an increase in non-DOE 10 
CFR part 170 estimated billings. For additional information, refer to 
the uranium recovery section of this final rule.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
    Comment: It is not clear how the NRC will address the change in 
workload for this license class when the NRC will lose nearly all of 
the uranium recovery licenses with the entry of Wyoming as an Agreement 
State. Per the Fee Work Papers, there are approximately 29 FTE for 9 
uranium recovery licensees. Basic In-Situ recovery facilities have seen 
annual fees increase 80% since FY 2012, and this small licensee class 
cannot continue to absorb additional losses to the fee base without 
corresponding NRC resource reductions. (NEI, Exelon)
    Response: Specific to Wyoming's request to become an Agreement 
State, the NRC staff has established a transition team to evaluate the 
potential impacts and appropriately transition work in the event the 
NRC approves Wyoming's application. As part of our Wyoming transition 
initiative, the NRC will review its resource requirements for future 
budgets and explore alternative methods of developing the fee schedule 
to support a continued fair and equitable assessment of fees from a 
smaller set of licensees after Wyoming becomes an Agreement State.
    In addition, as part of the fees transformation initiative, the NRC 
is beginning a voluntary pilot to explore whether a flat fee structure 
could be established for routine licensing matters in the area of 
uranium recovery. As part of this pilot the NRC will engage with 
stakeholders to solicit feedback on the proposed strategy before a 
final decision is made.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
    Comment: The WMA questions why work on specific projects should 
increase fees for all licensees. Costs related to specific projects 
should be recovered through hourly charges. (WMA)
    Response: Costs related to specific projects are recovered through 
hourly charges and do not increase fees for all licensees. The part of 
the FY 2017 fee rule discussion being questioned by the commenter is 
only a general description of the business environment affecting the 10 
CFR part 170 user fees (i.e., hourly charges). As described in the FY 
2017 fee rule, the annual fees are determined after deducting the 
amount to be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 user fees.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
    Comment: The proposed fee rule contains a 9% annual fee increase 
for uranium recovery facilities due to, in part, an increase in the 
budgeted resources to ``support contested hearing activities.'' The NRC 
should consider modifying the existing policy for treatment of 
contested hearings, particularly for fee categories comprised of a 
small number of licensees where imposition of these additional costs 
are punitive and disadvantage licensees' ability to compete in global 
markets. The industry supports treating costs associated with contested 
hearings, for all licensee classes, as non-fee activities. (NEI, 
Exelon)
    Response: Hearing costs are not recovered through 10 CFR part 170 
user fees due to longstanding fairness and equity concerns with billing 
the applicant for the costs of a public hearing. Therefore, the work on 
these contested hearings must be recouped through annual fees. Hearings 
are budgeted as our best estimate based on historical expenditures; 
however, the actual resources expended will vary depending on the 
number of contentions and the complexity of each contention. Each 
hearing is different.
    Further, for the FY 2017 final fee rule, the annual fee for non-DOE 
uranium recovery licensees will remain flat for most licensees. This 
change from the projected 8 percent increase in the proposed rule is 
due to a decrease in budgetary resources and an increase in non-DOE 10 
CFR part 170 estimated billings. For additional information, refer to 
the uranium recovery section of this final rule.
    As part of our Wyoming transition initiative, the NRC will explore 
alternative methods of developing the fee schedule to support a 
continued fair and equitable assessment of fees to recover the 
budgetary resources associated with contested hearings. The alternative 
methods may include seeking an appropriation off the fee base, 
developing an alternate fee class structure, or classifying the 
resources as fee relief. The NRC will evaluate these changes and the 
associated impacts across the various fee classes and categories in a 
future fee rule.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
    Comment: Page 8702 of the Federal Register document states that 
uranium recovery licensee fees increased, in part, due to the increased 
workload for congressional hearings and inquiries. It is inappropriate 
to seek compensation from any licensee for this activity. The level of 
NRC resources to support this activity is not transparent. We expect to 
see the recovery amount for this business line to go down as a result 
of the removal of this activity. (NEI, Exelon)
    Response: OBRA-90 requires the NRC to collect fees for a broad 
amount of activities necessary to operate the agency including guidance 
and regulatory infrastructure as well as government compliance 
activities. Because congressional hearings and inquiries are not a 
major factor when setting annual fees for the uranium recovery fee 
class, this language will be deleted from the final rule. This change 
will not impact the recovery amount or fees assessed.

B. Transparency

    Comment: Although the NRC has added some additional information to 
the work papers supporting the

[[Page 30694]]

proposed fee rule, the papers still lack enough detail to precisely 
determine the specific costs that are being recovered through annual 
fees. For example, the work papers indicate that several items dominate 
the contracting portion encompassed by the operating reactor annual 
fee. However, the work papers provide no information regarding the 
specific projects driving these contracting numbers, such as the issues 
being researched, the type of information technology support needed, 
and the licensing actions anticipated. We encourage the NRC to continue 
adding detail to the work papers to allow licensees to discern exactly 
what work their annual fees are funding. (Exelon)
    Response: Consistent with prior years, license fees are based on 
the NRC's budget formulation structure hierarchy of business lines, 
product lines, and products. The commenter is correct that the work 
papers do not distinguish these activities on the basis of whether 
these line items will be recovered through user or annual fees. 
However, distinguishing these activities would prove unduly burdensome 
for the NRC to perform this type of analysis for every business line, 
product line, and product in its budget.
    The NRC would not be able to provide specific information on 
contracts since it is proprietary in nature. However, as part of the 
fees transformation initiative, project managers are providing enhanced 
licensee outreach to increase awareness of general contract activities 
and costs.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
    Comment: While the NRC provided a clear explanation of the 
difference between international cooperation and assistance activities 
and how fees are accounted for each, there continues to be a lack of 
transparency with the benefit provided to the regulated community. The 
proposed fee rule Table III, ``Fee-Relief Activities'', clearly 
identifies $13.9 million for international assistance activities. 
However, to ascertain the international cooperation budgeted activities 
requires going through each product line to add the budgeted costs. 
Clear transparency of the cooperation activities budget and a better 
description of the specific activities and how they benefit the 
regulated community is needed. This request does not question the 
overall value of the benefits of assistance and cooperation activities 
to the safety and security of the world and United States. The split 
between assistance and cooperation is difficult to ascertain without 
laborious work. (NEI, Exelon)
    Response: The NRC agrees with the comment. In the final rule, the 
NRC has improved transparency for international cooperation by 
compiling all such costs in a table in the work papers, which should 
allow the split between assistance and cooperation activities to be 
more easily determined by the reader. As stated in the proposed rule, 
the amount of international activities that the NRC allocated to 
international fee relief is $13.9 million, which includes international 
nuclear safety and radioactive source security assistance activities, 
as well as support for international conventions and treaties, and 
technical cooperation activities whose benefits range across several 
classes of licensees and therefore cannot be identified by fee class.
    The amount not included under international fee relief activities 
represents international resources that the NRC assigned to each 
mission-direct fee class in the work papers. Specifically, these 
resources represent international cooperation activities that benefit a 
specific fee class (rather than international assistance activities or 
technical cooperation activities whose benefits range across several 
classes of licensees). These fee-recoverable cooperation activities 
provide direct input to the NRC's regulations and the NRC's oversight 
of its licensees and, therefore, benefit a group of NRC licensees. For 
example, international cooperative activities involve sharing 
information, knowledge, and technical expertise with the NRC's 
international regulatory counterparts. These international cooperative 
activities enhance the NRC's regulatory programs by providing direct 
input into the NRC's regulation and oversight of its licensees. 
International cooperation activities also provide other benefits to NRC 
licensees, such as collaborative research that is relevant to the NRC's 
regulatory programs. The NRC continuously assesses and, where relevant, 
incorporates international operating experience and research insights 
into the NRC's domestic regulatory program. As an example of the 
relevance of international cooperation work to the NRC's nuclear safety 
mission, power reactor licensees benefit from international efforts to 
exchange information on operational events, regulatory experience, and 
expertise on construction, startup, and the operation of nuclear power 
plants.
    Changes were made to the final rule work papers in response to this 
comment.
    Comment: While detailed calculations of the annual fee are 
provided, there is a lack of detail related to the basis behind 10 CFR 
part 170 fees. In the interest of transparency, NRC should provide the 
data or assumptions used to make these estimates. For example, 
historical information could be provided for average inspection hours 
for a licensee class, estimated number of staff hours for license 
reviews, and hours spent on pre-application activities for small 
modular and advanced reactors. This information would provide 
stakeholders with the ability to analyze the efficiency and 
effectiveness of NRC's review. (NEI, Exelon)
    Response: The NRC estimates the amount of 10 CFR part 170 fees 
based on established fee methodology guidelines (42 FR 22149; May 2, 
1977), which specified that the NRC has the authority to recover the 
full cost of providing services to identifiable beneficiaries. As in 
previous years, the NRC applied longstanding principles to calculate 
the 10 CFR part 170 estimates based on the analysis of financial data. 
The data analyzed to devise the 10 CFR part 170 estimate included: (1) 
Four quarters of the most recent billing data (hourly rate invoice 
data); (2) actual contractual work charged (prior period data) to 
develop contract work estimates; and (3) the number of FTE hours 
charged multiplied by the NRC professional hourly rate. These factors, 
along with workload projections, are used by the NRC to determine the 
10 CFR part 170 estimated charges. Because the fee calculation 
worksheets used to develop the 10 CFR part 170 estimates involve 
thousands of calculations, it would be impractical for the NRC to 
provide details on every calculation.
    Unrelated to the calculation of 10 CFR part 170 estimates, the NRC 
is currently developing estimates for services to be posted on our Web 
site as part of our Fee Transformation initiative.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.

C. Workload/Non-Mission-Direct Resources

    Comment: The hourly rate remains very high especially in comparison 
to the hourly rates of consultants working for the uranium recovery 
industry. (WMA)
    Response: To the extent the commenter believes that the NRC's 
hourly rate should be comparable to the hourly rate for uranium-
recovery consultants, the NRC disagrees with this comment. All fees 
assessed to licensees and applicants by the NRC must conform to OBRA-90 
and IOAA requirements, in contrast to industry consultants working for 
the uranium recovery industry. Under the IOAA, the

[[Page 30695]]

NRC must recover its full costs of providing specific regulatory 
benefits to identifiable applicants and licensees. In so doing, the NRC 
establishes an hourly rate for its work. Consistent with the IOAA, the 
NRC determines its hourly rate 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 and the IG. The mission-
direct FTE hours are the product of the mission-direct FTE multiplied 
by the hours per direct FTE. The only budgeted resources excluded from 
the hourly rate are those for contract activities related to mission-
direct and fee-relief activities.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
    Comment: Of a 2080 hour working year, for 2017 only 1,500 of those 
hours are deemed to be spent on mission-direct work which is considered 
to be an improvement over Fiscal Year 2016 when only 1,440 hours were 
deemed spent on mission-direct work. The remaining hours (the 580 hours 
in Fiscal Year 2016 spent on non-mission-direct work) are . . . charged 
to annual leave, sick leave, holidays, training and general 
administration tasks.
    The WMA considers the proportion of hours (28%) spent on non-
mission-direct work to be excessive and that a much smaller portion of 
time should be devoted to non-mission-direct work. (WMA)
    Response: The NRC uses an estimate of the number of direct hours 
per FTE to calculate the hourly rate used in 10 CFR part 170 billing. 
The OMB's Circular A-25, ``User Charges,'' does not specifically 
address the number of hours to assume per FTE in calculating fees, but 
does emphasize that agency fees should reflect the full cost of 
providing services to identifiable beneficiaries. In addition, Title V 
of the United States Code establishes holidays, annual leave and sick 
leave amounts government wide for all employees.
    In the final fee rule for FY 2005 (70 FR 30526, May 26, 2005), the 
NRC revised its estimate of the number of mission-direct hours per FTE 
to use a realistic estimate based on time and labor data for program 
employees who perform activities directly associated with the 
programmatic mission of the NRC. The NRC periodically reviews time and 
labor data to assess changes in the average number of productive hours 
from year to year and determines a realistic estimate of direct hours 
per FTE based on the most recent data. The estimate does not include 
time for administration, training, and other activities a mission-
direct program FTE may perform that, while relevant to consider for 
certain costing purposes, would more accurately be considered overhead 
rather than mission-direct time for purposes of calculating a rate per 
hour of direct activities. When the NRC calculates the fees required to 
recover the budget enacted by Congress, this estimate of mission-direct 
hours per FTE is used to calculate the hourly rate.
    The estimate of 1,500 hours per FTE used in the fee rule 
calculation for FY 2017 was based on an analysis of actual time and 
labor data from FY 2016. Use of an updated, realistic estimate of 
mission-direct hours per FTE helps ensure that the hourly rate 
accurately reflects the current cost of providing 10 CFR part 170 
services, allowing the NRC to more fully recover the costs of these 
services through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
    No change was made to the final rule in response this comment.

D. Decreasing Number of Licensees in Fee Class

    Comment: The FY 2017 proposed fee rule continues to provide fee 
relief for fuel cycle facilities. However, Page 8701 states that the 
fuel facilities fee class [annual fee] will be adjusted in the final 
rule with the expected departure of a current licensee. The loss of 
this licensee has been known for over one year and represents 
approximately 5% of the total annual fees collected from fuel 
facilities. It is our expectation that NRC has appropriately planned 
for this license termination and will decrease the licensing and 
oversight resources needed and the overall budget in the fuel 
facilities business line, rather than force operating facilities to 
absorb these annual fees. Therefore, this closure should not result in 
an increased fee burden to the remaining licensees. (NEI, Exelon)
    Response: The NRC removes licensees from the fuel facilities fee 
class after the licensee permanently ceases principal activities. The 
commenter is correct that the NRC was aware that the referenced 
licensee had informed the NRC that they were planning to cease 
principal activities. However, the licensee did not cease principal 
activities until late in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017, after 
the proposed fee rule had been issued. At that point, the licensee was 
officially placed in decommissioning status and will be assessed a 
prorated annual fee according to our regulations. Notwithstanding, the 
policy of the agency remains that the portion of the annual fee not 
assessed to the licensee leaving the fee class will be distributed to 
the remaining fuel facilities licensees. However, the NRC will continue 
to analyze changes to workload, budget resources and the composition of 
fee classes to support a fair and equitable fee setting process.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.

E. FY 2017 Congressional Appropriation

    Comment: The proposed FY 2017 fee rule, based on right sizing 
agency activities and additional re-baselining reductions, represents a 
move in the right direction by lowering excessive annual fees, some 
significantly, for a majority of licensees. Adopting a fee structure 
based on FY 2016 spending levels would be a move backwards and would 
ignore the progress the agency has made to appropriately prioritize its 
work and staff size. Therefore, if the NRC receives a continuing 
resolution for the remainder of the year, the FY 2017 proposed rule 
should be considered a ceiling for NRC spending. (NEI, Exelon)
    Response: OBRA-90 requires that the NRC collect approximately 90 
percent of its budget authority through fees by the end of the fiscal 
year, and the NRC must set its fees in accordance with its budgetary 
resources as this practice ensures that NRC fees assessed bear a 
reasonable relationship to the cost of NRC services. This rule is based 
upon the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Pub. L. 115-31), dated 
May 5, 2017.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.

F. Invoicing

    Comment: There have been some recent improvements regarding 
invoicing; however, problems remain. In addition, there is no 
predictability for budgeting purposes regarding the magnitude of these 
invoices in regards to the review of a given submittal. The uranium 
recovery industry needs, for budgeting purposes, to be able to estimate 
the total value of future review invoices for a given submittal. 
Members of the uranium recovery industry have no idea of the magnitude 
of the quarterly review invoices until they arrive and must be paid. 
This creates a difficult situation in the form of large, unanticipated 
expenses for uranium recovery operators. If the agency as part of its 
completeness review were to provide an approximate and non-binding 
estimate of cost to compete the review of a given submittal it would be 
very helpful to uranium recovery operators. (WMA)
    Response: The NRC currently provides, by request, preliminary 
estimates of costs incurred on a biweekly basis to licensees. The 
estimates include all (10 CFR part 170)

[[Page 30696]]

costs that accumulated for license fee billing during the previous NRC 
pay period. The estimates include NRC staff names with associated 
number of hours worked as well as contractor names associated with 
contract costs, which offer licensees additional detail. These 
estimates may assist licensees in budget planning and their preparation 
to receive their next quarterly invoice. Licensees may request to 
receive biweekly estimates by sending an email to [email protected] 
with docket number(s) and licensee email address(es) to which the 
estimates should be sent. In addition, the uranium recovery staff have 
offered to meet with licensees and applicants on a quarterly basis to 
forecast upcoming workload so that licensees and applicants have an 
idea of the work that will be included on future invoices. Lastly, the 
NRC staff has posted on its public Web site estimates of the cost of 
major uranium recovery licensing actions. For more information, please 
see our Licenses Fees Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing/fees.html.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
    Comment: Exelon applauds the fee development process improvements 
that the NRC has thus far implemented. To that end, we encourage the 
NRC to continue striving for additional efficiency gains, such as 
electronic invoicing. The NRC should explore immediate, incremental 
steps towards electronic invoicing short of an entire system upgrade 
(which the NRC is not planning to implement until FY 2020). This could 
include, for example, automatically emailing copies of the paper 
invoices as soon as those invoices are mailed to the licensee. Even 
that small step would benefit licensees by providing more timely 
invoices. (Exelon)
    Response: The NRC focused on the improvement initiatives currently 
underway that include improving billing data, accuracy, and electronic 
invoicing. The NRC issues more than 5,000 invoices per year. Emailing 
invoices to licensees with the current information technology systems 
and configuration would be an intensive manual process requiring 
substantial resources.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
    Comment: WMA continues to be concerned about the agency's invoicing 
process.
    In its comments dated May 4, 2016 on the Request for Information--
Fees Development and Communications--(Federal Register Volume 81, 
Number. 55/Tuesday, March 22, 2016/Notices) the WMA commented 
extensively on invoicing and concluded:
    The WMA believes that a substantial problem with the agency's 
invoicing is the lack of predictability in the invoice amounts. This 
could be mitigated to some extent by flat fee invoicing for some items 
however for others, it would require that the agency prepare a 
nonbinding estimate of cost to complete the review. (WMA)
    Response: As previously noted, licensees may request to receive 
biweekly estimates by sending an email to [email protected] with 
docket number(s) and licensee email address(es) to which the estimates 
should be sent. Also, the NRC will explore how to display more detailed 
invoice information. It should be noted that contractor information in 
most cases is considered proprietary but we will work with our 
contractors to determine what information can be released.
    Additionally, as directed in SRM-SECY-16-0097, ``Fee Setting 
Improvements and Fiscal Year 2017 Proposed Fee Rule,'' dated October 
19, 2016, (ADAMS Accession No. ML16293A902) the NRC staff is exploring 
whether a flat fee structure could be established for routine licensing 
matters in the area of uranium recovery. In addition, staff is also 
evaluating the level of detail to be provided in invoices.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.
    Comment: The administrative change from the FY 2015 final fee rule 
to revise the assessment of administrative time for project managers by 
adding a 6% Project Manager/Resident Inspector allocation continues to 
be an excessive burden on licensees that double, and in some instances 
triple charge, for project manager work. This change intended to 
allocate overhead costs to each licensee based on direct time to each 
docket to ensure that a licensee's overhead costs are proportional to 
the regulatory services rendered by the NRC. While we understand that 
this is a temporary charge, it continues to be a hidden extra fee for 
the licensee for non-direct work activities when these activities are 
already being fully billed as cost recovery items that project managers 
charge for work on a specific task. For example, some licensees have 
received invoices for project manager time on the same activity being 
triple charged under (1) Project management general work cost activity 
codes (CACs); (2) technical CAC; and (3) the 6% Project Manager/
Resident Inspector allocation. The 6% allocation on all NRC staff hours 
effectively increases the proposed hourly rate from $267 to $283. We 
advise consistency with regards to project manager 10 CFR part 170 
invoicing and awareness training for project managers of the 6% 
allocation to avoid multiple billings for the same work. (NEI, Exelon)
    Response: To the extent the commenter believes that the NRC is 
double- and triple- billing licensees, the NRC disagrees with this 
comment. The NRC staff charges to direct billable CACs only when that 
work benefits a single, identifiable licensee. The project manager 
(PM)/resident inspector allocation recovers the costs for all PMs and 
senior resident inspectors (SRIs) that are not directly attributable to 
a single licensee, but rather benefit the entire class of licensees 
(e.g., indirect activities such as PM technical support to the regional 
offices, PM training and attendance at conferences, PM participation in 
working groups). When a PM or SRI supports work under this allocation, 
the PM is not directly billing a licensee. This activity is pooled and 
distributed to all licensees as 6 percent of the direct labor charges 
provided by agency staff. Because these activities ultimately benefit 
all licensees, the agency has instituted average cost recovery to 
recover from all licensees for these activities.
    As part of the fees transformation direction from the Commission, 
SRM-SECY-16-0097: Fee Setting Improvements and Fiscal Year 2017 
Proposed Fee Rule (ML16293A902) the Commission directed staff to review 
the 2015 fee rule revised methodology of charging overhead time for 
project managers and resident inspectors and modify it for more 
clarity. As part of this initiative, the NRC will consider alternate 
strategies for recovery of the resources allocated to administrative 
time for project managers and resident inspectors and develop a new 
approach to be implemented by October 2018.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.

G. Predictability

    Comment: Industry appreciates the move in the right direction to 
publish the proposed FY 2017 fee rule earlier in the year. However, 
greater transparency and predictability in fee policy could be realized 
if the NRC published the proposed rule in the first quarter of the 
fiscal year and the final fee rule in the second quarter or early in 
the third quarter of the fiscal year. Accelerating the rulemaking 
schedule would not appear to be problematic for the NRC because the 
Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ) is publicly-released

[[Page 30697]]

coinciding with transmittal of the President's Budget Request to 
Congress (i.e., in February before the fiscal year begins), and the CBJ 
currently provides a fee recovery estimate. Early publication would 
allow licensees to plan, adjust budgets and manage cash flow. (NEI, 
Exelon)
    Response: OBRA-90 requires that the NRC collect approximately 90 
percent of its budget authority through fees by the end of the fiscal 
year. The NRC must set its fees in accordance with its final budget 
authority. Further, the annual appropriation cycle places additional 
constraints upon the NRC. Even though the NRC does not know the amount 
of fees it will need to collect until after it receives its annual 
appropriation from Congress, the NRC starts the rulemaking process in 
the preceding summer. The NRC believes that reliance on the most up-to-
date financial data available in determining fees, using the CBJ 
(adjusted for fact-of-life-changes) supports compliance with the 
requirements of OBRA-90. This practice ensures that NRC fees assessed 
bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of NRC services. The NRC 
recognizes that the issuance of the rule may not coincide with budget 
cycles of industry; however, the NRC must promulgate a notice-and-
comment rule based on the most accurate data available regarding the 
cost of NRC services in the context of the NRC's budget for a given 
fiscal year. For FY 2017, the NRC published the proposed fee rule in 
January; two months earlier than in FY 2016.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.

H. Miscellaneous

    Comment: The Schedule of Materials Fees has several errors and 
omissions in the Program Codes listed for Special Nuclear Material.

--Category 1A(1)(a) should reference Program Code 21213, not 21130.
--Category 1A(2)(a) should include Program Code 21240.
--Category 1A(2)(b) should reference Program Code 21205.
--Category 1A(2)(c) should reference Program Codes 21130 and 31133. 
(KR)

    Response: The NRC agrees with this comment. The Schedule of 
Materials Fees is corrected in this final rule to reflect the correct 
program codes with the following exception:
    For Category 1A(2)(c), program code 31133 is not in our system. We 
assume the commenter meant program code 21133. The NRC added program 
code 21133 to Category 1A(2)(c).
    Comment: We continue to be concerned that an excessive portion of 
the budget is funding corporate support and non-mission-direct 
activities. NRC has cumulatively reduced budgeted amounts for mission 
direct and mission indirect expenditures by 6.5%. That represents a 
move in the right direction from re-baselining agency activities. 
However, the budget for agency support increased by 3%. The proposed 
fee rule Table II, ``Hourly Rate Calculation,'' identifies $340.5 
million for mission direct program activities and $136.7 million for 
mission indirect program support, which represents 60% of the total 
adjusted amount to be recovered through fees ($801.4 million). Yet, the 
portion of the budget allocated to corporate support is $324.2 million 
and represents 40% of budgeted resources. Agency support, which is a 
key factor in both the hourly rate and annual fee calculations, appears 
to be disproportionately large with respect to the resources allocated 
for mission direct and mission indirect activities. These overhead 
costs not only remain excessive compared to its peer agencies, but have 
also increased from FY 2016. In order to maintain credibility, NRC must 
focus their resources on mission critical activities that have a direct 
correlation with maintaining public health and safety and must reduce 
overhead costs. (NEI, Exelon)
    Response: The NRC agrees that the proportion of corporate support 
and mission support resources, compared to program resources, is one 
factor to consider in assembling a budget that accomplishes NRC's 
mission in an effective and efficient manner.
    The NRC notes that, in calculating the percentage of mission-direct 
program activities, the commenter does not take into account all 
mission-direct resources contained in the total budget authority 
presented in the FY 2017 proposed fee rule. The $340.5 million 
referenced by the commenter includes only mission-direct salaries and 
benefits--it does not include the mission-direct amount for contract 
support, which is an additional $125.3 million. Although not included 
within the hourly rate, mission-direct contract support is a 
significant component of the direct costs within the agency's total 
budget authority. Total mission-direct program activities in the 
proposed rule--including salaries, benefits, and contract support--
equaled $465.8 million. Further, the $136.7 million that the NRC 
budgeted for mission-indirect program support in the proposed rule 
brings the NRC's total budgeted mission costs to $602.5 million, or 65 
percent of the total budget authority less excluded fee items. The 
remaining 35 percent for Agency Support in the proposed rule included 
resources for the NRC's Office of the Inspector General, which is not 
included when calculating corporate support.
    No change was made to the final rule in response to this comment.

I. Comments on Matters Not Related to This Rulemaking

    Some comments suggested that the NRC implement a number of 
recommendations to streamline the regulatory process, review the 
changing technical guidance to licensees, and consider risk when 
executing regulatory oversight activities.
    All of these matters are outside the scope of this rulemaking. The 
primary purpose of the NRC's annual fee recovery rulemaking is to 
update the NRC's fee schedules to recover approximately 90 percent of 
the appropriations that the NRC received for the current fiscal year, 
and to make other necessary corrections or appropriate changes to 
specific aspects of the NRC's fee regulations in order to ensure 
compliance with OBRA-90, as amended.
    The NRC takes very seriously the importance of examining and 
improving the efficiency of its operations and the prioritization of 
its regulatory activities. Recognizing the importance of continuous 
reexamination and improvement of the way the agency does business, the 
NRC has undertaken, and continues to undertake, a number of significant 
initiatives aimed at improving the efficiency of NRC operations and 
enhancing the agency's approach to regulating.

V. 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 final rule. The RFA is available as indicated in 
Section XIV, 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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Regulatory Analysis

    Under OBRA-90, the NRC is required to recover approximately 90 
percent of its budget authority in FY 2017. 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

[[Page 30698]]

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.

VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does 
not apply to this final 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.

VIII. 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 this final rule with respect to the 
clarity and effectiveness of the language used.

IX. National Environmental Policy Act

    The NRC has determined that this rule will amend NRC's 
administrative requirements in 10 CFR part 170 and 10 CFR part 171. 
Therefore, this action is categorically excluded from needing 
environmental review as described in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Consequently, 
neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental 
assessment has been prepared for this final rule.

X. Paperwork Reduction Act

    This final rule does not contain new or amended information 
collection requirements that are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Public Protection Notification

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

XI. Congressional Review Act

    This final rule is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review 
Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 801-808). The Office of Management and Budget has 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

XII. 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 final 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 2017, as required by OBRA-90, as 
amended. This action does not constitute the establishment of a 
standard that contains generally applicable requirements.

XIII. 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 analysis. The NRC, in compliance with the law, 
prepared the ``Small Entity Compliance Guide'' for the FY 2017 final 
fee rule. The compliance guide was developed when the NRC completed the 
small entity biennial review for FY 2017. This document is available as 
indicated in Section XIV, Availability of Documents, of this document.

XIV. 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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECY-16-0009, ``Recommendations           ML16104A158.
 Resulting from the Integrated
 Prioritization and Re-baselining of
 Agency Activities,'' dated February 9,
 2016.
SECY-16-0097, ``Fee Setting Improvements  ML16194A365.
 and Fiscal Year 2017 Proposed Fee
 Rule,'' dated August 15, 2016.
SRM-SECY-16-0097: Fee Setting             ML16293A902.
 Improvements and Fiscal Year 2017
 Proposed Fee Rule.
FY 2017 Final Rule Work Papers..........  ML17164A283.
FY 2017 Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.  ML16340A151.
FY 2017 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory           ML16340A149.
 Commission Small Entity Compliance
 Guide.
NUREG-1100, Volume 32, ``Congressional    https://www.nrc.gov/docs/
 Budget Justification: Fiscal Year         ML1603/ML16036A086.pdf.
 2017'' (February 2016).
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.
FY 2017 Proposed Fee Rule Comment         ML17108A263.
 Submissions.
FY 2017 Proposed Fee Rule...............  ML16337A270.
FY 2017 Proposed Rule Work Papers.......  ML16358A648.
Meeting Summary Notes for the Public      ML17062A797.
 Meeting on the FY 2017 Proposed Fee
 Rule held on February 16, 2017.
SECY-05-0164, ``Annual Fee Calculation    ML052580332.
 Method,'' dated September 15, 2005.
OMB's Circular A-25, ``User Charges''...  https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a025/.
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017     https://www.congress.gov/bill/
 (Pub. L. 115-31).                         115th-congress/house-bill/
                                           244.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 30699]]

List of Subjects

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, 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 parts 170 and 171.

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

0
1. 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
2. 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 $263 per hour.

0
3. In Sec.  170.21, in the table, revise fee category 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]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Fees \1\
            Facility categories and type of fees                 \2\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                              * * * * * * *
K. Import and export licenses:
    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           $18,400
             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 amendment; or             9,200
             license exemption request.....................
        3. Application for export of components requiring
         the assistance of the Executive Branch to obtain
         foreign government assurances.
            Application--new license, or amendment; or             4,500
             license exemption request.....................
        4. Application for export of facility components
         and equipment not requiring Commission or
         Executive Branch review, or obtaining foreign
         government assurances.
            Application--new license, or amendment; or             4,500
             license exemption request.....................
        5. Minor amendment of any active export or import
         license, for example, to extend the expiration
         date, change domestic information, or make other
         revisions which do not involve any substantive
         changes to license terms or conditions or to the
         type of facility or component authorized for
         export and, therefore, do not require in-depth
         analysis or review or consultation with the
         Executive Branch, U.S. host state, or foreign
         government authorities.
            Minor amendment to license.....................        2,600
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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.
 * * * * * * *
\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.
 * * * * * * *


0
4. 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.

* * * * *

[[Page 30700]]



                       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 Material  Full Cost.
         (High Enriched Uranium) [Program
         Code(s): 21213].
        (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 operations  Full Cost.
         [Program Code(s): 21240, 21310,
         21320].
        (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment           Full Cost.
         demonstration facilities [Program
         Code(s): 21205].
        (c) Others, including hot cell          Full Cost.
         facilities [Program Code(s): 21130,
         21133].
    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       $1,200.
     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): 22140].
    D. All other special nuclear material       $2,400.
     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): 22110, 22111, 22120,
     22131, 22136, 22150, 22151, 22161, 22170,
     23100, 23300, 23310].
    E. Licenses or certificates for             Full Cost.
     construction and operation of a uranium
     enrichment facility [Program Code(s):
     21200].
    F. Licenses for possession and use of       Full Cost.
     special nuclear material greater than
     critical mass, as defined in Sec.   70.4
     of this chapter, for development and
     testing of commercial products, and other
     non-fuel-cycle activities.\4\ [Program
     Code(s): 22155].
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of   Full Cost.
     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 facilities   Full Cost.
         [Program Code(s): 11500].
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery           Full Cost.
         facilities [Program Code(s): 11510].
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities   Full Cost.
         [Program Code(s): 11550].
        (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities       Full Cost.
         [Program Code(s): 11555].
        (f) Other facilities [Program Code(s):  Full Cost.
         11700].
    (3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of  Full Cost.
     byproduct material, as defined in Section
     11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act, from
     other persons for possession and
     disposal, except those licenses subject
     to the fees in Category 2.A.(2) or
     Category 2.A.(4) [Program Code(s): 11600,
     12000].
    (4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of  Full Cost.
     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  Full Cost.
     of source material related to removal of
     contaminants (source material) from
     drinking water [Program Code(s): 11820].
    B. Licenses which authorize the             $1,200.
     possession, use, and/or installation of
     source material for shielding.6 7 8
     Application [Program Code(s): 11210].
    C. Licenses to distribute items containing  $2,100.
     source material to persons exempt from
     the licensing requirements of part 40 of
     this chapter. Application [Program
     Code(s): 11240].
    D. Licenses to distribute source material   $2,600.
     to persons generally licensed under part
     40 of this chapter. Application [Program
     Codes(s): 11230, 11231].
    E. Licenses for possession and use of       $2,500.
     source material for processing or
     manufacturing of products or materials
     containing source material for commercial
     distribution. Application [Program
     Code(s): 11710].
    F. All other source material licenses.      $2,500.
     Application [Program Code(s): 11200,
     11220, 11221, 11300, 11800, 11810].
3. Byproduct material:
    A. Licenses of broad scope for the          $12,300.
     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): 03211, 03212, 03213].
    B. Other licenses for possession and use    $3,400.
     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): 03214, 03215, 22135, 22162].
    C. Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.         $4,900.
     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): 02500, 02511, 02513].
    D. [Reserved].............................  N/A.
    E. Licenses for possession and use of       $3,000.
     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): 03510, 03520].
    F. Licenses for possession and use of less  $6,200.
     than or equal to 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): 03511].

[[Page 30701]]

 
    G. Licenses for possession and use of       $58,700.
     greater 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): 03521].
    H. Licenses issued under subpart A of part  $6,300.
     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): 03254, 03255, 03257].
    I. Licenses issued under subpart A of part  $9,400.
     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): 03250,
     03251, 03252, 03253, 03256].
    J. Licenses issued under subpart B of part  $1,900.
     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): 03240,
     03241, 03243].
    K. Licenses issued under Subpart B of part  $1,100.
     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): 03242,
     03244].
    L. Licenses of broad scope for possession
     and use of byproduct material issued
     under parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for
     research and development that do not
     authorize commercial distribution. 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: 6-19.
        (2) Licenses of broad scope for         $5,200.
         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): 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    $6,700.
     of byproduct material issued under part
     30 of this chapter for research and
     development that do not authorize
     commercial distribution. Application
     [Program Code(s): 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       $6,900.
         disposal services are subject to the
         fees specified in fee Categories
         4.A., 4.B., and 4.C. Application
         [Program Code(s): 03219, 03225,
         03226].
    O. Licenses for possession and use of       $3,000.
     byproduct material issued under part 34
     of this chapter for industrial
     radiography operations. Application
     [Program Code(s): 03310, 03320].
    P. All other specific byproduct material    $3,300.
     licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
     through 9.D.\9\ Application [Program
     Code(s): 02400, 02410, 03120, 03121,
     03122, 03123, 03124, 03130, 03140, 03220,
     03221, 03222, 03800, 03810, 22130].
    Q. Registration of a device(s) generally    $500.
     licensed under part 31 of this chapter.
     Registration.
    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   $2,400.
         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): 02700].
        2. Possession of quantities exceeding   $2,400.
         10 times the number of items or
         limits specified in 10 CFR
         31.12(a)(4) or (5). Application
         [Program Code(s): 02710].
    S. Licenses for production of accelerator-  $13,400.
     produced radionuclides. Application
     [Program Code(s): 03210].
4. Waste disposal and processing:
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing the    Full Cost.
     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. Application
     [Program Code(s): 03231, 03233, 03236,
     06100, 06101].
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the    $6,500.
     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): 03234].
    C. Licenses specifically authorizing the    $4,700.
     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): 03232].
5. Well logging:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of       $4,300.
     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): 03110,
     03111, 03112].
    B. Licenses for possession and use of       Full Cost.
     byproduct material for field flooding
     tracer studies. Licensing [Program
     Code(s): 03113].
6. Nuclear laundries:

[[Page 30702]]

 
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and   $21,000.
     laundry of items contaminated with
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material. Application
     [Program Code(s): 03218].
7. Medical licenses:
    A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,  $10,500.
     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): 02300,
     02310].
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to        $8,200.
     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): 02110].
    C. Other licenses issued under parts 30,    $5,200.
     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): 02120,
     02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220, 02230,
     02231, 02240, 22160].
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of       $2,400.
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material for civil
     defense activities. Application [Program
     Code(s): 03710].
9. Device, product, or sealed source safety
 evaluation:
    A. Safety evaluation of devices or          $5,100.
     products containing byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear
     material, except reactor fuel devices,
     for commercial distribution. Application--
     each device.
    B. Safety evaluation of devices or          $8,500.
     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.
    C. Safety evaluation of sealed sources      $5,000.
     containing byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material,
     except reactor fuel, for commercial
     distribution. Application--each source.
    D. Safety evaluation of sealed sources      $1,000.
     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.
10. Transportation of radioactive material:
    A. Evaluation of casks, packages, and
     shipping containers.
        1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and    Full Cost.
         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- Full Cost.
 application/licensing activities, and
 inspections. Application [Program Code:
 25110]
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of   Full Cost.
 Compliance..
B. Inspections related to storage of spent      Full Cost.
 fuel under Sec.   72.210 of this chapter.
14. A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear    Full Cost.
 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): 03900, 11900, 21135, 21215, 21325,
 22200].
B. Site-specific decommissioning activities     Full Cost.
 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      $18,400.
     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 amendment; or license
     exemption request.
    B. Application for export or import of      $9,200.
     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 amendment;
     or license exemption request.
    C. Application for export of nuclear        $4,500.
     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 amendment;
     or license exemption request.
    D. Application for export or import of      $4,500.
     nuclear material not requiring Commission
     or Executive Branch review, or obtaining
     foreign government assurances.
     Application--new license, or amendment;
     or license exemption request.

[[Page 30703]]

 
    E. Minor amendment of any active export or  $2,600.
     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.
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     $14,500.
     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
     amendment; or license exemption request.
    G. Application for export of appendix P     $7,900.
     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 amendment;
     or license exemption request.
    H. Application for export of appendix P     $3,900.
     Category 1 materials and to obtain one
     government-to-government consent for this
     process. For additional consents see
     15.I. Application--new license, or
     amendment; or license exemption request.
    I. Requests for each additional government- $300.
     to-government consent in support of an
     export license application or active
     export license. Application--new license,
     or amendment; or license exemption
     request.
Category 2 (Appendix P, 10 CFR Part 110)
 Exports:
    J. Application for export of appendix P     $14,500.
     Category 2 materials requiring Commission
     review (e.g. exceptional circumstance
     review under 10 CFR 110.42(e)(4)).
     Application--new license, or amendment;
     or license exemption request.
    K. Applications for export of appendix P    $7,900.
     Category 2 materials requiring Executive
     Branch review. Application--new license,
     or amendment; or license exemption
     request.
    L. Application for the export of Category   $3,200.
     2 materials. Application--new license, or
     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     $1,300.
     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.
16. Reciprocity: Agreement State licensees who  $1,800.
 conduct activities under the reciprocity
 provisions of 10 CFR 150.20. Application.
17. Master materials licenses of broad scope    Full Cost.
 issued to Government agencies: Application
 [Program Code(s): 03614].
18. Department of Energy.
    A. Certificates of Compliance. Evaluation   Full Cost.
     of casks, packages, and shipping
     containers (including spent fuel, high-
     level waste, and other casks, and
     plutonium air packages).
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control  Full Cost.
     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.
\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.

[[Page 30704]]

 
\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
5. 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
6. In Sec.  171.15, revise paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2) introductory text, 
(c)(1), (c)(2) introductory text, (d)(1) introductory text, (d)(2) and 
(3), and (f) to read as follows:


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

* * * * *
    (b)(1) The FY 2017 annual fee for each operating power reactor 
which must be collected by September 30, 2017, is $4,496,000.
    (2) The FY 2017 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 2017 fee-relief 
adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The 
activities comprising the FY 2017 base annual fee for operating power 
reactors are as follows:
* * * * *
    (c)(1) The FY 2017 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 $188,000.
    (2) The FY 2017 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 
2017 fee-relief adjustment are shown in paragraph (d)(1) of this 
section. The activities comprising the FY 2017 spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning re-baselined annual fee are:
* * * * *
    (d)(1) The fee-relief adjustment allocated to annual fees includes 
a surcharge for the activities listed in paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this 
section, plus the amount remaining after total budgeted resources for 
the activities included in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and (iii) of this 
section are reduced by the appropriations the NRC receives for these 
types of activities. If the NRC's appropriations for these types of 
activities are greater than the budgeted resources for the activities 
included in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) and (iii) of this section for a given 
fiscal year, annual fees will be reduced. The activities comprising the 
FY 2017 fee-relief adjustment are as follows:
* * * * *
    (2) The total FY 2017 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the 
operating power reactor class of licenses is an $11,074,000 fee-relief 
surcharge, not including the amount allocated to the spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning class. The FY 2017 operating power 
reactor fee-relief adjustment to be assessed to each operating power 
reactor is approximately a $111,863 fee-relief surcharge. This amount 
is calculated by dividing the total operating power reactor fee-relief 
surplus adjustment, $11,074,000, by the number of operating power 
reactors (99).
    (3) The FY 2017 fee-relief adjustment allocated to the spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning class of licenses is a $467,500 fee-
relief assessment. The FY 2017 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 $3,832 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 2017 annual fees for licensees authorized to operate a 
research or test (non-power) reactor licensed under 10 CFR part 50, 
unless the reactor is exempted from fees under Sec.  171.11(a), are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research reactor........................................         $81,400
Test reactor............................................          81,400
------------------------------------------------------------------------


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


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

* * * * *
    (c) A licensee who is required to pay an annual fee under this 
section, 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

[[Page 30705]]

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..............................          $4,100
    Less than $485,000..................................             850
Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Annual Gross
 Receipts):
    $485,000 to $7 million..............................           4,100
    Less than $485,000..................................             850
Manufacturing Entities that Have An Average of 500
 Employees or Fewer:
    35 to 500 employees.................................           4,100
Fewer than 35 employees.................................             850
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly
 supported educational institutions) (Population):
    20,000 to 49,999....................................           4,100
    Fewer than 20,000...................................             850
Educational Institutions that are not State or Publicly
 Supported, and have 500 Employees or Fewer
    35 to 500 employees.................................           4,100
    Fewer than 35 employees.............................             850
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (d) The FY 2017 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee and 
an allocation for fee-relief adjustment. The activities comprising the 
FY 2017 fee-relief adjustment are shown for convenience in paragraph 
(e) of this section. The FY 2017 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          $7,700,000
         Enriched Uranium) [Program Code(s): 21213].....
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form           2,790,000
         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 [Program               $0
         Code(s): 21240, 21310, 21320]..................
        (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration            1,507,000
         facilities [Program Code(s): 21205]............
        (c) Others, including hot cell facilities                753,000
         [Program Code(s): 21130, 21133]................
    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                  3,000
     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,                8,600
     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 a         3,340,000
     uranium enrichment facility [Program Code(s):
     21200].............................................
    F. Licenses for possession and use of special                  6,400
     nuclear material greater than critical mass, as
     defined in Sec.   70.4 of this chapter, for
     development and testing of commercial products, and
     other non-fuel-cycle activities.\15\ [Program Code:
     22155].............................................
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source           1,590,000
     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                38,900
         [Program Code(s): 11100].......................
        (b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities [Program            49,200
         Code(s): 11500]................................
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities                  55,700
         [Program Code(s): 11510].......................
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities [Program           \5\ N/A
         Code(s): 11550]................................
        (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities [Program               \5\ N/A
         Code(s): 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 byproduct          22,000
     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]...........................

[[Page 30706]]

 
    (5) Licenses that authorize the possession of source           6,500
     material related to removal of contaminants (source
     material) from drinking water [Program Code(s):
     11820].............................................
    B. Licenses that authorize possession, use, and/or             3,300
     installation of source material for shielding.16 17
     18 [Program Code: 11210]...........................
    C. Licenses to distribute items containing source              5,500
     material to persons exempt from the licensing
     requirements of part 40 of this chapter. [Program
     Code: 11240].......................................
    D. Licenses to distribute source material to persons           6,400
     generally licensed under part 40 of this chapter
     [Program Code(s): 11230 and 11231].................
    E. Licenses for possession and use of source                   8,000
     material for processing or manufacturing of
     products or materials containing source material
     for commercial distribution. [Program Code: 11710].
    F. All other source material licenses. [Program                9,400
     Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11300, 11800, 11810].
3. Byproduct material:
    A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use of          30,500
     byproduct material issued under parts 30 and 33 of
     this chapter for processing or manufacturing of
     items containing byproduct material for commercial
     distribution [Program Code(s): 03211, 03212, 03213]
    B. Other licenses for possession and use of                   11,600
     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/or            12,900
     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               10,800
     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 or            11,800
     equal to 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 greater than            95,700
     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):
     03521].............................................
    H. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of              11,800
     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, 03257].....
    I. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of              16,300
     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               4,600
     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               3,300
     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 of          16,300
     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 and use            25,900
     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: 6-19. [Program Code(s): 04610,
     04612, 04614, 04616, 04618, 04620, 04622]..........
    (2) Licenses of broad scope for possession and use            32,700
     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                   14,800
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for research and development that do not
     authorize commercial distribution [Program Code(s):
     03620].............................................
    N. Licenses that authorize services for other                 22,100
     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               27,000
     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 licenses,             9,300
     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]........................

[[Page 30707]]

 
    Q. Registration of devices generally licensed under         \13\ N/A
     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 number of            7,600
     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 times the             8,000
     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-produced            32,100
     radionuclides [Program Code(s): 03210].............
4. Waste disposal and processing:
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of          \5\ N/A
     waste byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material from other persons for the
     purpose of contingency storage or commercial land
     disposal by the licensee; or licenses authorizing
     contingency storage of low-level radioactive waste
     at the site of nuclear power reactors; or licenses
     for receipt of waste from other persons for
     incineration or other treatment, packaging of
     resulting waste and residues, and transfer of
     packages to another person authorized to receive or
     dispose of waste material [Program Code(s): 03231,
     03233, 03236, 06100, 06101]........................
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of           20,800
     waste byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material from other persons for the
     purpose of packaging or repackaging the material.
     The licensee will dispose of the material by
     transfer to another person authorized to receive or
     dispose of the material [Program Code(s): 03234]...
    C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt of           13,900
     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               16,000
     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 of          38,500
     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 of          23,800
     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                  33,800
     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          14,700
     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                7,600
     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 of           7,600
     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          12,600
     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           7,400
     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:
    A. Certificates of Compliance or other package
     approvals issued for design of casks, packages, and
     shipping containers
    1. Spent Fuel, High-Level Waste, and plutonium air           \6\ N/A
     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 Compliance         \6\ N/A
    B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel under         \12\ N/A
     10 CFR 72.210......................................

[[Page 30708]]

 
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): 03900,
     11900, 21135, 21215, 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 to           340,000
 Government agencies [Program Code(s): 03614]...........
18. Department of Energy:
    A. Certificates of Compliance.......................  \10\ 1,514,000
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act               616,000
     (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 (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 paragraphs (e)(2) 
and (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 2017 fee-relief adjustment are as 
follows:
* * * * *

0
8. In Sec.  171.19, revise paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  171.19   Payment.

* * * * *
    (d) Annual fees of less than $100,000 must be paid as billed by the 
NRC. Materials license annual fees that are less than $100,000 are 
billed on the anniversary date of the license. The materials licensees 
that are billed on the anniversary date of the license are those 
covered by fee categories 1.C., 1.D., 1.F., and 2.A.(2) through 9.D.
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of June 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Maureen E. Wylie,
Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-13520 Filed 6-29-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P