[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 185 (Monday, September 24, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48202-48203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20650]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 140

[NRC-2017-0030]
RIN 3150-AK01


Inflation Adjustments to the Price-Anderson Act Financial 
Protection Regulations

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its 
regulations to adjust for inflation the maximum total and annual 
standard deferred premiums specified in the Price-Anderson Act. The NRC 
must perform this adjustment at least once during each 5-year period 
following August 20, 2003, as mandated by the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended (AEA).

DATES: This rule is effective on November 1, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0030 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 Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0030. 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 the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
     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: Yanely Malave-Velez, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1519, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The NRC's regulations in part 140 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Financial Protection Requirements and 
Indemnity Agreements,'' implement the financial protection requirements 
of certain licensees and other persons under section 170 of the AEA, 
also known as the Price-Anderson Act (Pub. L. 85-256, 71 Stat. 576), as 
amended and codified at 42 U.S.C. 2210. In 2005, Congress amended 
section 170 of the AEA (Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat. 780) to require the 
NRC to adjust for inflation the maximum total and annual standard 
deferred premiums that may be charged to a licensee following a nuclear 
incident. These adjustments must be performed not less than once during 
each 5-year period following August 20, 2003, in accordance with the 
aggregate percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) (https://www.bls.gov/cpi) for all urban consumers published by the Secretary of 
Labor. The NRC made the first periodic inflation adjustment required by 
this section on September 29, 2008 (73 FR 56451). The NRC last adjusted 
this amount in 2013, establishing the current maximum total deferred 
premium at $121,255,000, and the maximum annual deferred premium at 
$18,963,000 (78 FR 41835; July 12, 2013). This final rule makes the 
third required periodic inflation adjustment and results in a maximum 
total premium of $131,056,000 and an annual standard deferred premium 
of $20,496,000.

II. Discussion

    Section 170(t) of the AEA (42 U.S.C. 2210(t)) requires the NRC to 
``adjust the amount of the maximum total and annual standard deferred 
premium not less than once during each 5-year period following August 
20, 2003, in accordance with the aggregate percentage change in the 
Consumer Price Index,'' since the previous adjustment. These amounts 
are codified in Sec.  140.11, ``Amounts of financial protection for 
certain reactors.'' Accordingly, the NRC is amending Sec.  140.11(a)(4) 
to adjust for the increase in inflation, since the last adjustment to 
these amounts was made in 2013.
    The inflation adjustment that the NRC made on July 12, 2013 (78 FR 
41835) and which took effect on September 10, 2013, raised the maximum 
total deferred premium in Sec.  140.11(a)(4) to $121,255,000 and the 
maximum annual deferred premium to $18,963,000. The CPI figure used in 
calculating this adjustment was 232.773 (March 2013). The inflation 
adjustment in this final rule are based on a CPI figure of 251.588 (May 
2018). This represents an increase of approximately 8.08 percent. The 
adjustment methodology used to calculate these values is described on 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics' website (https://www.bls.gov). When 
this increase is applied to the maximum total and annual standard 
deferred premiums and rounded to the nearest thousand, the new maximum 
total

[[Page 48203]]

deferred premium is $131,056,000, and the maximum annual deferred 
premium is $20,496,000. Section 140.11(a)(4) is amended accordingly.

III. Rulemaking Procedure

    This final rule is being issued without prior public notice or 
opportunity for public comment. The Administrative Procedure Act (5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B)) does not require an agency to use the public notice 
and comment process ``when the agency for good cause finds (and 
incorporates the finding and a brief statement of reasons therefore in 
the rules issued) that notice and public procedure thereon are 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' In 
this instance, the NRC finds, for good cause, that solicitation of 
public comment on this final rule is unnecessary because the Price-
Anderson Act requires these non-discretionary adjustments in the 
maximum total and annual standard deferred premiums. Requesting public 
comment on these adjustments, which are made pursuant to a formula 
required by statute, would not result in a change to the adjusted 
amount. Consistent with this finding of good cause, and as permitted by 
5 U.S.C. 808(2), the NRC has determined that the effective date of this 
rule will be November 1, 2018.

IV. Regulatory Analysis

    A regulatory analysis has not been prepared for this final rule. As 
discussed in this document under Section III, ``Rulemaking Procedure,'' 
the Price-Anderson Act requires that the NRC perform this rulemaking 
according to a formula required by statute. This final rule does not 
involve an exercise of Commission discretion.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act does not apply to regulations for 
which a Federal agency is not required by law, including the rulemaking 
provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C 553(b), to 
publish a general notice of proposed rulemaking (5 U.S.C. 604). As 
discussed in this document under Section III, ``Rulemaking Procedure,'' 
the NRC is not publishing this final rule for notice and comment. 
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that the requirements of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act do not apply to this final rule.

VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The NRC has not prepared a backfit analysis for this final rule. 
This final rule does not involve any provision that would impose a 
backfit, nor is it inconsistent with any issue finality provision, as 
those terms are defined in 10 CFR chapter I. These mandatory 
adjustments are non-discretionary, required by statute, and do not 
represent any change in position by the NRC with respect to the design, 
construction, or operation of a licensed facility.

VII. Plain Writing

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

VIII. National Environmental Policy Act

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

IX. Paperwork Reduction Act

    This final rule does not contain any new or amended collections of 
information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.). Existing collections of information were approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), approval number 3150-0039.

X. Public Protection Notification

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

XI. Congressional Review Act

    This final rule is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review 
Act (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. As 
explained in Section III, the NRC has found good cause that 
solicitation of public comment on this final rule is unnecessary. 
Therefore, consistent with 5 U.S.C. 808(2), the NRC has determined that 
the effective date of this rule will be November 1, 2018, in lieu of 
the customary 60-day delay in effectiveness for ``major rules'' under 
the Congressional Review Act.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 140

    Criminal penalties, Extraordinary nuclear occurrence, Insurance, 
Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants 
and reactors, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    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 amendment to 10 CFR part 140:

PART 140--FINANCIAL PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS AND INDEMNITY 
AGREEMENTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 140 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 161, 170, 223, 234 
(42 U.S.C. 2201, 2210, 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act of 
1974, secs. 201, 202 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.


Sec.  140.11   [Amended]

0
2. In Sec.  140.11(a)(4), remove the number ``$121,255,000'' and add in 
its place the number ``$131,056,000'', and remove the number 
``$18,963,000'' and add in its place the number ``$20,496,000''.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of September 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret M. Doane,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2018-20650 Filed 9-21-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P