[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 5, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60565-60566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19009]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2023 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 60565]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 140

[NRC-2023-0110]
RIN 3150-AL01


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 final rule is effective on October 5, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0110 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0110. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder; telephone: 301-415-3407; 
email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact the 
individuals 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 https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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, at 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: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an 
appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stewart Schneider, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-4123, email: 
[email protected] and Mable Henderson, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-3760, email: 
[email protected]. Both are employees of the NRC.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Discussion
III. Rulemaking Procedure
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
V. Regulatory Analysis
VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality
VII. Plain Writing
VIII. National Environmental Policy Act
IX. Paperwork Reduction Act
X. Congressional Review Act

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 2018, establishing the current maximum total deferred 
premium at $131,056,000, and the maximum annual deferred premium at 
$20,496,000 (83 FR 48202; September 24, 2018.) This final rule makes 
the fourth required periodic inflation adjustment and results in a 
maximum total premium of $158,026,000 and an annual standard deferred 
premium of $24,714,000.

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 2018.
    The inflation adjustment that the NRC made on September 24, 2018 
(83 FR 48202), which took effect on November 1, 2018, raised the 
maximum total deferred premium in Sec.  140.11(a)(4) to $131,056,000 
and the maximum annual deferred premium to $20,496,000. The CPI figure 
used in calculating this adjustment was 251.588 (May 2018). The 
inflation adjustment issued in this final rule is based on the change 
in the CPI between March 2019 and April 2023. During this period the 
CPI changed from 243.801 to 303.363. This represents an increase of 
approximately 24.44 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

[[Page 60566]]

new maximum total deferred premium is $158,026,000, and the maximum 
annual deferred premium is $24,714,000. 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 October 5, 2023.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    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.

V. 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.

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 
31885).

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.

Public Protection Notification

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

X. 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 under Section III, ``Rulemaking Procedure,'' 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 October 5, 
2023, 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 ``$131,056,000'' and add in 
its place the number ``$158,026,000'' and remove the number 
``$20,496,000'' and add in its place the number ``$24,714,000''.

    Dated: August 29, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Catherine Haney,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2023-19009 Filed 9-1-23; 8:45 am]
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