[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 119 (Thursday, June 20, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51789-51822]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13230]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 119 / Thursday, June 20, 2024 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 51789]]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 2, 15, 37, 73, 110, 140, 170 and 171

[NRC-2022-0046]
RIN 3150-AK74


Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2024

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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

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 comply with 
the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, which requires the 
NRC to recover, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 
percent of its annual budget less certain amounts excluded from this 
fee-recovery requirement.

DATES: This final rule is effective on August 19, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0046 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-2022-0046. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder; telephone: 301-415-3407; 
email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact the 
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this final rule.
     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 or 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader, 
the ADAMS accession numbers are provided in the ``Availability of 
Documents'' section of this document.
     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 additional direction on obtaining information, see ``Obtaining 
Information and Submitting Comments'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony Rossi, Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-7341; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents:

I. Background; Statutory Authority
II. Discussion
III. Public Comment Analysis
IV. Public Comments and NRC Responses
V. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
VI. Regulatory Analysis
VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality
VIII. Plain Writing
IX. National Environmental Policy Act
X. Paperwork Reduction Act Public Protection Notification
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 primarily governed by two laws: (1) 
the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 
9701); and (2) the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act 
(NEIMA) (42 U.S.C. 2215). The IOAA authorizes and encourages Federal 
agencies to recover, to the fullest extent possible, costs attributable 
to services provided to identifiable recipients. Under NEIMA, the NRC 
must recover, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 
percent of its annual budget, less the budget authority for excluded 
activities. Under section 102(b)(1)(B) of NEIMA, ``excluded 
activities'' include any fee-relief activity as identified by the 
Commission, generic homeland security activities, waste incidental to 
reprocessing activities, Nuclear Waste Fund activities, advanced 
reactor regulatory infrastructure activities, Inspector General (IG) 
services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, research and 
development at universities in areas relevant to the NRC's mission, and 
a nuclear science and engineering grant program. In fiscal year (FY) 
2024, in addition to the fee-relief activities identified by the 
Commission in prior fee rules, the resources for the Minority Serving 
Institutions Grant Program are also identified as a fee-relief activity 
to be excluded from the fee recovery requirement (see Table 1, 
``Excluded Activities,'' of this document for the list of all excluded 
activities).
    Under NEIMA, the NRC must use its IOAA authority first to collect 
service fees for NRC work that provides specific benefits to 
identifiable recipients (such as licensing work, inspections, and 
special projects). The NRC's regulations in part 170 of title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Fees for Facilities, Materials, 
Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services Under the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended,'' explain how the agency 
collects service fees from specific beneficiaries. Because the NRC's 
fee recovery under the IOAA (10 CFR part 170) will not equal 100 
percent of the agency's total budget authority for the FY (less the 
budget authority for excluded activities), the NRC also assesses 
``annual fees'' under 10 CFR 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,'' to recover the remaining amount necessary to comply with NEIMA.

II. Discussion

FY 2024 Fee Collection--Overview

    The NRC is issuing this FY 2024 final fee rule based on the 
Consolidated

[[Page 51790]]

Appropriations Act, 2024 (the enacted budget). The final fee rule 
reflects a total budget authority in the amount of $944.1 million, an 
increase of $16.9 million from FY 2023.
    As explained previously, certain portions of the NRC's total budget 
authority are excluded from NEIMA's fee recovery requirement under 
section 102(b)(1)(B) of NEIMA. Based on the enacted budget, these 
exclusions total $137.1 million, which is a decrease of $18.9 million 
from the FY 2024 budget request, and an increase of $0.1 million from 
FY 2023. These excluded activities consist of $96.8 million for fee-
relief activities, $23.8 million for advanced reactor regulatory 
infrastructure activities, $14.0 million for generic homeland security 
activities, $1.0 million for waste incidental to reprocessing 
activities, and $1.5 million for IG services for the Defense Nuclear 
Facilities Safety Board. Table I summarizes the excluded activities for 
the FY 2024 final fee rule. The FY 2023 amounts are provided for 
comparison purposes.

                      Table I--Excluded Activities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
                                               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fee-Relief Activities:
    International activities............            28.8            31.1
    Agreement State oversight...........            11.9            12.5
    Medical isotope production                       3.5             1.5
     infrastructure.....................
    Fee exemption for nonprofit                     13.5            17.7
     educational institutions...........
    Costs not recovered from small                   8.9            10.5
     entities under 10 CFR 171.16(c)....
    Regulatory support to Agreement                 14.2            12.0
     States.............................
    Generic decommissioning/reclamation             12.5             2.7
     activities (not related to the
     operating power reactors and spent
     fuel storage fee classes)..........
    Uranium recovery program and                     2.7             5.3
     unregistered general licensees.....
    Potential Department of Defense                  0.9             0.8
     remediation program Memorandum of
     Understanding activities...........
    Non-military radium sites...........             0.2             0.2
    Minority Serving Institutions Grant              N/A             2.5
     Program............................
                                         -------------------------------
        Subtotal Fee-Relief Activities..            97.1            96.8
Activities under section                            16.1            16.5
 102(b)(1)(B)(ii) of NEIMA (Generic
 Homeland Security activities, Waste
 Incidental to Reprocessing activities,
 and the Defense Nuclear Facilities
 Safety Board)..........................
Advanced reactor regulatory                         23.8            23.8
 infrastructure activities..............
                                         -------------------------------
        Total Excluded Activities.......           137.0           137.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After accounting for the exclusions from the fee recovery 
requirement and net billing adjustments (i.e., for FY 2024 invoices 
that the NRC estimates will not be paid during the FY, less payments 
received in FY 2024 for prior-year invoices), the NRC must recover 
approximately $808.3 million in fees in FY 2024. Of this amount, the 
NRC estimates that $202.2 million will be recovered through 10 CFR part 
170 service fees and approximately $606.1 million will be recovered 
through 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. Table II summarizes the fee 
recovery amounts for the FY 2024 final fee rule using the FY 2024 
enacted budget and takes into account the budget authority for excluded 
activities and net billing adjustments. For all information presented 
in this final rule, individual values may not sum to totals due to 
rounding. Please see the work papers, available as indicated in the 
``Availability of Documents'' section of this document, for more 
precise amounts.
    In FY 2024, the explanatory statement associated with the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 included direction for the NRC to 
use $62.0 million of prior-year unobligated balances (carryover). The 
explanatory statement allocates $16.0 million for the University 
Nuclear Leadership Program (UNLP), and consistent with language in the 
Senate Report, the UNLP is funded in FY 2024 using carryover. The 
direction to use the $62.0 million in carryover also reflects the $27.1 
million proposed in the FY 2024 budget request to offset the Nuclear 
Reactor Safety budget and an additional $18.9 million in carryover, 
which offsets the $18.9 million reduction in the estimated net budget 
authority specified in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, for 
the NRC's ``Salaries and Expenses'' account. Consistent with the 
requirements of NEIMA, the NRC does not assess fees in the current 
fiscal year for any carryover because fees are calculated based on the 
budget authority enacted for the current fiscal year. Fees were already 
assessed in the fiscal year in which the carryover was appropriated. 
The FY 2023 amounts are provided for comparison purposes.

                Table II--Budget and Fee Recovery Amounts
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
                                               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Budget Authority..................          $927.2          $944.1
Less Budget Authority for Excluded                -137.0          -137.1
 Activities:............................
    Balance.............................           790.2           807.0
Fee Recovery Percent....................           100.0           100.0
Total Amount to be Recovered:...........           790.2           807.0
    Less Estimated Amount to be                   -195.0          -202.2
     Recovered through 10 CFR part 170
     Fees...............................

[[Page 51791]]

 
    Estimated Amount to be Recovered               595.2           604.8
     through 10 CFR part 171 Fees.......
10 CFR part 171 Billing Adjustments:
    Unpaid Current Year Invoices                     3.7             4.3
     (estimated)........................
    Less Payments Received in Current               -3.3            -3.0
     Year for Previous Year Invoices
     (estimated)........................
    Adjusted 10 CFR part 171 Annual Fee            595.6           606.1
     Collections Required...............
Adjusted Amount to be Recovered through            790.6           808.3
 10 CFR parts 170 and 171 Fees..........
------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2024 Fee Collection--Professional Hourly Rate

    The NRC uses a professional hourly rate to assess fees under 10 CFR 
part 170 for specific services it provides. The professional hourly 
rate also helps determine flat fees (which are used for the review of 
certain types of license applications). This rate is applicable to all 
activities for which fees are assessed under Sec. Sec.  170.21, 
``Schedule of fees for production and utilization facilities, review of 
standard referenced design approvals, special projects, inspections and 
import and export licenses,'' and 170.31, ``Schedule of fees for 
materials licenses and other regulatory services, including 
inspections, and import and export licenses.'' The NRC's professional 
hourly rate is derived by adding budgeted resources for: (1) mission-
direct program salaries and benefits; (2) mission-indirect program 
support; and (3) agency support (corporate support and the IG). The NRC 
then subtracts certain offsetting receipts and divides this total by 
the 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 only budgeted resources excluded from the 
professional hourly rate are those for mission-direct contract 
resources, which are billed to licensees separately. The following 
shows the professional hourly rate calculation:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR20JN24.003

    For FY 2024, the NRC is increasing the professional hourly rate 
from $300 to $317. The approximately 5.7 percent increase in the 
professional hourly rate is primarily due to an increase in the total 
budgeted resources of approximately $39.4 million. The increase in 
budgeted resources is primarily due to the following: (1) an increase 
in mission-direct FTE; and (2) an increase in the fully-costed FTE rate 
compared to FY 2023 due to an increase in salaries and benefits to 
support Federal pay raises for NRC employees.
    In addition, the NRC anticipates an increase in mission-direct FTE 
to support the increase in licensing and decommissioning activities. 
This anticipated increase in the number of mission-direct FTE compared 
to FY 2023 partially offsets the increase in the professional hourly 
rate caused by the overall increase in budgeted resources. The 
professional hourly rate is inversely related to the mission-direct FTE 
amount; therefore, as the number of mission-direct FTE increase, the 
professional hourly rate may decrease. Based on the FY 2024 enacted 
budget, the number of mission-direct FTE is expected to increase by 
approximately 48, primarily to support the following: (1) the review of 
new reactor licensing activities, including the review of standard 
design approvals, pre-application activities, and construction permits; 
(2) licensing and oversight activities for the reactor decommissioning 
program, which includes both power and non-power reactors in various 
stages of decommissioning; (3) the review of licensing actions related 
to enrichment and manufacturing of high assay low-enrichment uranium 
(HALEU) fuel and accident tolerant fuel (ATF); and (4) the review of 
one new fuel facility license application.
    The FY 2024 estimate for annual mission-direct FTE productive hours 
is 1,500 hours, which is a decrease from 1,551 hours in FY 2023. This 
estimate reflects the average number of hours that a mission-direct 
employee spends on mission-direct work annually. This estimate, 
therefore, excludes hours charged to annual leave, sick leave, 
holidays, training, and general administrative tasks. Table III shows 
the professional hourly rate calculation methodology. The FY 2023 
amounts are provided for comparison purposes.

             Table III--Professional Hourly Rate Calculation
                 [Dollars in millions, except as noted]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
                                               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission-Direct Program Salaries &                 $359.2          $384.4
 Benefits...............................
Mission-Indirect Program Support........           118.8           118.9
Agency Support (Corporate Support and              299.5           313.6
 the IG)................................
                                         -------------------------------
    Subtotal............................           777.5           816.9
Less Offsetting Receipts \1\............             0.0             0.0
                                         -------------------------------

[[Page 51792]]

 
    Total Budgeted Resources Included in           777.5           816.9
     Professional Hourly Rate...........
Mission-Direct FTE......................         1,672.2         1,720.3
Annual Mission-Direct FTE Productive               1,551           1,500
 Hours (Whole numbers)..................
Mission-Direct FTE Converted to Hours          2,593,582       2,580,450
 (Mission-Direct FTE multiplied by
 Annual Mission-Direct FTE Productive
 Hours).................................
Professional Hourly Rate (Total Budgeted             300             317
 Resources Included in Professional
 Hourly Rate Divided by Mission-Direct
 FTE Converted to Hours) (Whole Numbers)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2024 Fee Collection--Flat Application Fee Changes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The fees collected by the NRC for Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) services and indemnity fees (financial protection required of 
all licensees for public liability claims at 10 CFR part 140) are 
subtracted from the budgeted resources amount when calculating the 
10 CFR part 170 professional hourly rate, per the guidance in 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 budgeted resources 
for indemnity activities are allocated under the Licensing Actions 
and Research and Test Reactors products within the Operating 
Reactors business line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NRC is amending the flat application fees it charges in its 
schedule of fees in Sec.  170.31 to reflect the revised professional 
hourly rate of $317. The NRC charges these fees to applicants for 
materials licenses and other regulatory services, as well as to holders 
of materials licenses. The NRC calculates these flat fees by 
multiplying the average professional staff hours needed to process the 
licensing actions by the professional hourly rate for FY 2024. As part 
of its calculations, the NRC analyzes the actual hours spent performing 
licensing actions and estimates the five-year average of professional 
staff hours that are needed to process licensing actions as part of its 
biennial review of fees. These actions are required by section 205(a) 
of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (31 U.S.C. 902(a)(8)). The 
NRC performed this review for the FY 2023 proposed fee rule and will 
perform this review again for the FY 2025 proposed fee rule. The higher 
professional hourly rate of $317 is the primary reason for the increase 
in flat application fees (see the work papers).
    To simplify billing, the NRC rounds these flat fees to a minimal 
degree. Specifically, the NRC rounds these flat fees (up or down) in 
such a way that ensures both convenience for its stakeholders and 
minimal effects due to rounding. 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 flat fees are applicable for certain materials licensing 
actions (see fee categories 1.C. through 1.D., 2.B. through 2.F., 3.A. 
through 3.S., 4.B. through 5.A., 6.A. through 9.D., 10.B., 15.A. 
through 15.L., 15.R., and 16 of Sec.  170.31). Applications filed on or 
after the effective date of the FY 2024 final fee rule will be subject 
to the revised fees in the final rule. Since international activities 
are excluded from the fee recovery requirement, fees are not assessed 
for import and export licensing actions under 10 CFR parts 170 and 171.

FY 2024 Fee Collection--Low-Level Waste Surcharge

    The NRC is assessing a generic low-level waste (LLW) surcharge of 
$3.769 million. Disposal of LLW occurs at commercially-operated LLW 
disposal facilities that are licensed by either the NRC or an Agreement 
State. Four existing LLW disposal facilities in the United States 
accept various types of LLW. All are located in Agreement States and, 
therefore, are regulated by an Agreement State, rather than the NRC. 
The NRC allocates this surcharge to its licensees based on data 
available in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Manifest Information 
Management System (MIMS). This database contains information on total 
LLW volumes disposed of by four generator classes: academic, 
industrial, medical, and utility. The ratio of waste volumes disposed 
of by these generator classes to total LLW volumes disposed over a 
period of time is used to estimate the portion of this surcharge that 
will be allocated to the power reactors, fuel facilities, and the 
materials users fee classes. The materials users fee class portion is 
adjusted to account for the large percentage of materials licensees 
that are licensed by the Agreement States rather than the NRC.
    The LLW surcharge amounts have changed since publication of the 
proposed fee rule. The DOE updated MIMS with 2024 data; because of the 
update, the LLW surcharge for the operating power reactors fee class 
decreased from 3.496 million to 3.204 million; the LLW surcharged 
increased from 0.418 million to 0.449 million for the fuel facilities 
fee class; and the LLW surcharge increased from $0.109 million to 
$0.117 million for the materials users fee class compared to the FY 
2023 final fee rule.
    Table IV shows the allocation of the LLW surcharge and its 
allocation across the various fee classes.

             Table IV--Allocation of LLW Surcharge, FY 2024
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   LLW surcharge
               Fee classes               -------------------------------
                                              Percent            $
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors................            85.0           3.204
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor                           0.0           0.000
 Decommissioning........................
Non-Power Production or Utilization                  0.0           0.000
 Facilities.............................
Fuel Facilities.........................            11.9           0.449
Materials Users.........................             3.1           0.117

[[Page 51793]]

 
Transportation..........................             0.0           0.000
Rare Earth Facilities...................             0.0           0.000
Uranium Recovery........................             0.0           0.000
                                         -------------------------------
    Total...............................           100.0           3.769
------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2024 Fee Collection--Revised Annual Fees

    In accordance with SECY-05-0164, ``Annual Fee Calculation Method,'' 
the NRC rebaselines its annual fees every year. ``Rebaselining'' 
entails analyzing the budget in detail and then allocating the FY 2024 
budgeted resources to various classes or subclasses of licensees. It 
also includes updating the number of NRC licensees in its fee 
calculation methodology.
    The NRC is revising its annual fees in Sec. Sec.  171.15 and 171.16 
to recover approximately 100 percent of the FY 2024 enacted budget less 
the budget authority for excluded activities, the estimated amount to 
be recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees. The FY 2024 final fee rule 
reflects the utilization of $27.1 million in carryover to offset the 
Nuclear Reactor Safety budget.
    Table V shows the rebaselined fees for FY 2024 for a sample of 
licensee categories. The FY 2023 amounts are provided for comparison 
purposes.

                                        Table V--Rebaselined Annual Fees
                                                [Actual dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                             FY 2023 final       FY 2024 final
                       Class/category of licenses                             annual fee          annual fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Power Reactors................................................          $5,492,000          $5,336,000
+ Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning............................             261,000             326,000
                                                                         ---------------------------------------
    Total, Combined Fee.................................................           5,753,000           5,662,000
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning..............................             261,000             326,000
Non-Power Production or Utilization Facilities..........................              96,300              97,200
High Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility (Category 1.A.(1)(a))...............           5,156,000           6,412,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility (Category 1.A.(1)(b))................           1,747,000           2,173,000
Uranium Enrichment (Category 1.E).......................................           2,247,000           2,794,000
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion Facility (Category 2.A.(1)).............           1,095,000           1,361,000
Basic In Situ Recovery Facilities (Category 2.A.(2)(b)).................              52,200              53,200
Typical Users:
    Radiographers (Category 3O).........................................              37,900              43,700
    All Other Specific Byproduct Material Licensees (Category 3P).......              12,300              14,600
    Medical Other (Category 7C).........................................              18,000              21,400
    Device/Product Safety Evaluation--Broad (Category 9A)...............              24,100              29,800
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The work papers that support this final rule show in detail how the 
NRC allocates the budgeted resources for each class of licensees and 
calculates the fees.
    Paragraphs a. through h. of this section describe the budgeted 
resources allocated to each class of licensees and the calculations of 
the rebaselined fees. For more information about detailed fee 
calculations for each class, please consult the accompanying work 
papers for this final rule.
a. Operating Power Reactors
    The NRC will collect $501.6 million in annual fees from the 
operating power reactors fee class in FY 2024, as shown in Table VI. 
The FY 2023 operating power reactors fees are shown for comparison 
purposes.

 Table VI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Operating Power Reactors
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
        Summary fee calculations               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................          $665.3          $665.0
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.          -158.9          -168.3
                                         -------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources.......           506.4           496.7
Allocated generic transportation........             0.5             0.7
Allocated LLW surcharge.................             3.5             3.2
Billing adjustment......................             0.3             1.1
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..           510.7           501.6

[[Page 51794]]

 
    Total operating reactors............              93              94
Annual fee per operating reactor........          $5.492          $5.336
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2023, the FY 2024 annual fee for the operating 
power reactors fee class is decreasing primarily due to the following: 
(1) an anticipated increase in 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings; (2) 
an increase in the total number of operating power reactors from 93 to 
94; and (3) a reduction in the budgeted resources primarily due to the 
utilization of $27.1 million in carryover to offset the Nuclear Reactor 
Safety budget. As discussed further below, the utilization of carryover 
mitigates the increase in the budgeted resources for the operating 
power reactors fee class. The decrease in the annual fee for the 
operating power reactors fee class is partially offset due to the 
following: (1) an increase in the 10 CFR part 171 billing adjustment; 
and (2) an increase in the generic transportation surcharge.
    The 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings increased primarily due to 
the following: (1) an anticipated increase in hours associated with the 
review of an increasing number of license renewal applications; and (2) 
an anticipated increase in new reactor licensing activities, including 
the review of standard design approvals, pre-application activities, 
and construction permits. This increase is partially offset by an 
expected decline in the submission of topical reports. As explained 
above, because the NRC's fee recovery under 10 CFR part 170 will not 
equal approximately 100 percent of the agency's budget authority for 
the fiscal year, the NRC also assesses 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. 
Estimated 10 CFR part 170 billings, therefore, are inversely related to 
the projected annual fee for a fee class. The more the NRC estimates to 
collect in 10 CFR part 170 billings, the less it assesses to collect in 
annual fees.
    The decrease in the budgeted resources for the operating power 
reactors fee class is primarily due to the following: (1) the 
utilization of $27.1 million in carryover to offset the Nuclear Reactor 
Safety budget; (2) an expected decline in topical report submissions, 
guidance development, and process improvement activities; (3) a 
reduction in construction inspection activities due to the transition 
of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (Vogtle Unit 3) and the 
transition of Vogtle Unit 4 from construction into operation; and (4) a 
reduction in rulemaking activities. The decrease in the budgeted 
resources is offset by an increase primarily due to the following: (1) 
an increase to support new reactor licensing activities, including the 
review of standard design approvals, pre-application activities, and 
construction permits; (2) an increase to support the review of license 
renewal applications; and (3) an increase in the fully-costed FTE rate 
compared to FY 2023 due to an increase in salaries and benefits.
    The annual fee is also affected by: (1) an increase in the 10 CFR 
part 171 billing adjustment due to the timing of invoices issued in FY 
2023; and (2) an increase in the generic transportation surcharge due 
to an increase in the overall budgeted resources for certificates of 
compliance (CoCs) for the operating power reactors fee class.
    The fee-recoverable budgeted resources are divided equally among 
the 94 licensed operating power reactors, an increase of one operating 
power reactor compared to FY 2023 due the assessment of annual fees for 
Vogtle Unit 4, resulting in an annual fee of $5,336,000 per operating 
power reactor. Additionally, each licensed operating power reactor will 
be assessed the FY 2024 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning 
annual fee of $326,000 (see Table VII and the discussion that follows). 
The combined FY 2024 annual fee for each operating power reactor will 
be $5,662,000.
    Section 102(b)(3)(B)(i) of NEIMA established a cap for the annual 
fees charged to operating reactor licensees; under this provision, the 
annual fee for an operating reactor licensee, to the maximum extent 
practicable, shall not exceed the annual fee amount per operating 
reactor licensee established in the FY 2015 final fee rule (80 FR 
37432; June 30, 2015), adjusted for inflation. The NRC included an 
estimate of the operating power reactors fee class annual fee in 
Appendix C, ``Estimated Operating Power Reactors Annual Fee,'' of the 
FY 2024 Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ) to increase 
transparency for stakeholders. The NRC developed this estimate based on 
the allocation of the FY 2024 CBJ to fee classes under 10 CFR part 170, 
and allocations within the operating power reactors fee class under 10 
CFR part 171. The fee estimate included in the FY 2024 CBJ assumed 94 
operating power reactors in FY 2024 and applied various data 
assumptions from the FY 2022 final fee rule. Based on these allocations 
and assumptions, the operating power reactors fee class annual fee 
included in the FY 2024 CBJ was estimated to be $5.3 million, 
approximately $0.6 million below the FY 2015 operating power reactors 
annual fee amount adjusted for inflation of $5.9 million. The 
assumptions made between budget formulation and the development of this 
final rule have changed. The FY 2024 annual fee of $5,336,000 
nonetheless remains below the FY 2015 operating power reactors fee 
class annual fee amount, as adjusted for inflation.
    In FY 2016, the NRC amended Sec.  171.15 to establish a variable 
annual fee structure for light-water reactor (LWR) small modular 
reactors (SMRs) (81 FR 32617; May 24, 2016). In FY 2023, the NRC 
further amended Sec.  171.5 to: (1) expand the applicability of the SMR 
variable fee structure to include non-LWR SMRs; and (2) establish an 
additional minimum fee and variable rate applicable to SMRs with a 
licensed thermal power rating of less than or equal to 250 megawatts-
thermal (MWt) (88 FR 39120; June 15, 2023). This revision to the SMR 
variable annual fee structure retained the bundled unit concept for 
SMRs and the approach for calculating fees for reactors, or bundled 
units, with licensed thermal power ratings greater than 250 MWt.
    Currently, there are no operating SMRs; therefore, the NRC will not 
assess an annual fee in FY 2024 for this type of licensee.
b. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning
    The NRC will collect $40.4 million in annual fees from 10 CFR part 
50 and 10 CFR part 52 power reactor licensees, and from 10 CFR part 72 
licensees that do not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license or a 10 CFR part 52 
combined license, to recover the budgeted resources for the spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning fee class in FY 2024, as shown in table 
VII. The FY 2023 spent fuel storage/reactor

[[Page 51795]]

decommissioning fees are shown for comparison purposes.

   Table VII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Spent Fuel Storage/
                         Reactor Decommissioning
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
        Summary fee calculations               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $42.9           $50.4
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.           -12.4           -12.3
                                         -------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources.......            30.5            38.0
Allocated generic transportation costs..             1.6             2.3
Billing adjustments.....................             0.0             0.1
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            32.1            40.4
    Total spent fuel storage facilities.             123             124
Annual fee per facility.................          $0.261          $0.326
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2023, the FY 2024 annual fee for the spent fuel 
storage/reactor decommissioning fee class is increasing primarily due 
to the following: a (1) rise in the budgeted resources; (2) an increase 
in generic transportation costs; and (3) an expected decrease in 10 CFR 
part 170 estimated billings. The annual fee is partially offset by an 
increase in the number of licensees increasing from 123 to 124.
    The budgeted resources increased primarily to support the 
following: (1) an increase in FTEs to support licensing and oversight 
activities for the reactor decommissioning program, which includes both 
power and non-power reactors in various stages of decommissioning; and 
(2) an increase in the fully-costed FTE rate compared to FY 2023 due to 
an increase in salaries and benefits.
    The increase in the annual fee is also affected by these 
contributing factors: (1) an increase in the generic transportation 
surcharge due to an increase in the generic transportation budgeted 
resources for the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee class; 
and (2) an increase in the 10 CFR part 171 billing adjustment due to 
the timing of invoices in FY 2023.
    The annual fee is also increasing due to a decrease in the 10 CFR 
part 170 estimated billings, which in turn is primarily due to the 
following: (1) the completion of the safety and environmental review of 
the Holtec HI-STORE consolidated interim storage facility application; 
(2) the termination of the license for the La Crosse Boiling Water 
Reactor; and (3) a decrease in decommissioning licensing and inspection 
activities at multiple sites. This decrease is expected to be partially 
offset by the following: (1) an increase in hours to support the review 
of a new fuel storage system; and (2) an increase to support the review 
of applications for renewals, amendments, exemptions, and inspections 
for independent spent fuel storage installation and dry cask storage 
CoCs at multiple sites.
    The required annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among 
124 licensees, an increase of one licensee compared to FY 2023 due to 
the assessment of annual fees for Vogtle Unit 4, resulting in a FY 2024 
annual fee of $326,000 per licensee.
c. Fuel Facilities
    The NRC will collect $25.3 million in annual fees from the fuel 
facilities fee class in FY 2024, as shown in table VIII. The FY 2023 
fuel facilities fees are shown for comparison purposes.

     Table VIII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Fuel Facilities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 Fina
        Summary fee calculations               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $26.6           $30.9
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.            -9.2            -8.7
                                         -------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources.......            17.4            22.2
Allocated generic transportation........             1.9             2.5
Allocated LLW surcharge.................             0.4             0.4
Billing adjustments.....................             0.0             0.1
                                         -------------------------------
    Total remaining required annual fee            $19.7           $25.3
     recovery...........................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2023, the FY 2024 annual fee for the fuel 
facilities fee class is increasing primarily due to the following: (1) 
a rise in budgeted resources; (2) an increase in the 10 CFR part 171 
billing adjustment; and (3) a decrease in 10 CFR part 170 estimated 
billings.
    The budgeted resources increased primarily to support the 
following: (1) the review of licensing actions related to enrichment 
and manufacturing of HALEU fuel and ATF; (2) the continued review of 
the TRISO-X, LLC fuel facility license application, though as discussed 
below, the review has been slowed; (3) the development and maintenance 
of licensing guidance; (4) emergency preparedness and physical security 
reviews for license amendments and renewals; (5) programmatic oversight 
activities for Category II fuel facilities and an anticipated new fuel 
facility; (6) associated fuel facilities rulemaking activities; and (7) 
an increase in the fully-costed FTE rate compared to FY

[[Page 51796]]

2023 due to an increase in salaries and benefits. The increase in 
budgetary resources is partially offset due to a decline in information 
technology (IT) services and a reduction in resources due to the delay 
of a new fuel facility application.
    Finally, the annual fee is also increasing due to the decrease in 
the 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings. The 10 CFR part 170 estimated 
billings are decreasing in comparison to FY 2023 primarily due to the 
following: (1) the slowing of the TRISO-X, LLC, fuel fabrication 
facility application review activities, including the development of 
environmental impact statement and the safety review while the NRC 
awaits the applicant's submittal of a major design change in December 
of 2024; (2) the completion of the review of Westinghouse Electric 
Company, LLC's license transfer application; (3) the completion of the 
review of the Global Nuclear Fuel Americas, LLC, amendment for an 
increase in enrichment activities up to 8 weight percent uranium-235; 
(4) the delay of the submittal of Global Nuclear Fuel Americas, LLC, 
amendment for an increase in enrichment activities up to 20 weight 
percent uranium-235; (5) a reduction in hours needed to support license 
amendment requests; and (6) the delay of the Niowave new medical 
isotope production facility application. This decrease in 10 CFR part 
170 estimated billings is partially offset by increased hours to 
support the review of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology's license renewal application for possession and use of its 
special nuclear material.
    Finally, the increase in the annual fee is also affected by these 
contributing factors: (1) a rise in the generic transportation 
surcharge due to a new CoC within the fuel facilities fee class; and 
(2) a surcharge in the 10 CFR part 171 billing adjustment due to the 
timing of invoices in FY 2023.
    The NRC will continue allocating annual fees to individual fuel 
facility licensees based on the effort/fee determination matrix 
developed in the FY 1999 final fee rule (64 FR 31448; June 10, 1999). 
To briefly recap, the matrix groups licensees within this fee class 
into various fee categories. The matrix lists processes that are 
conducted at licensed sites and assigns effort factors for the safety 
and safeguards activities associated with each process (these effort 
levels are reflected in table IX). The annual fees are then distributed 
across the fee class based on the regulatory effort assigned by the 
matrix. The effort factors in the matrix represent regulatory effort 
that is not recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees (e.g., rulemaking, 
guidance). Regulatory effort for activities that are subject to 10 CFR 
part 170 fees, such as the number of inspections, is not applicable to 
the effort factor.
    NRC authorized the Centrus American Centrifuge Plant to begin its 
HALEU demonstration program operations at the Category II level on 
September 21, 2023. As discussed in the FY 2024 proposed fee rule, this 
change in operations caused the safeguard effort factors for ``scrap/
waste'' to increase from 0 (no effort) to 1 (low effort), 
``enrichment'' to increase from 5 (moderate effort) to 10 (high effort) 
and ``sensitive information'' to increase from 5 (moderate effort) to 
10 (high effort), resulting in an increase of the safeguards efforts 
factors from 11 to 22 compared to the FY 2023 final fee rule.

                              Table IX--Effort Factors for Fuel Facilities, FY 2024
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                          Effort factors
                  Facility type (fee category)                       Number of   -------------------------------
                                                                    facilities        Safety        Safeguards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).........................               2              88              91
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..........................               3              70              21
Limited Operations (1.A.(2)(a)).................................               1               3              22
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration (1.A.(2)(b))............               0               0               0
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))..............................               0               0               0
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.).......................................               1              16              23
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion (2.A.(1)).......................               1              12               7
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................               8             189             164
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In FY 2024, the total remaining amount of the annual fees that the 
NRC estimates to be recovered, $25.3 million, is attributable to safety 
activities, safeguards activities, and the LLW surcharge. For FY 2024, 
the total budgeted resources to be recovered as annual fees for safety 
activities are approximately $13.3 million. To calculate the annual 
fee, the NRC allocates this amount to each fee category based on its 
percentage of the total regulatory effort for safety activities. 
Similarly, the NRC allocates the budgeted resources that the NRC 
estimates to be recovered as annual fees for safeguards activities, 
$11.6 million, to each fee category based on its percentage of the 
total regulatory effort for safeguards activities. Finally, the fuel 
facilities fee class portion of the LLW surcharge--$0.4 million--is 
allocated to each fee category based on its percentage of the total 
regulatory effort for both safety and safeguards activities. The annual 
fee per licensee is then calculated by dividing the estimated total 
allocated budgeted resources for the fee category by the number of 
licensees in that fee category. The annual fee for each facility is 
summarized in table X.

                Table X--Annual Fees for Fuel Facilities
                            [Actual dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
      Facility type (fee category)          annual fee      annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(a)).      $5,156,000      $6,412,000
Low Enriched Uranium Fuel (1.A.(1)(b))..       1,747,000       2,173,000
Facilities with limited operations               807,000       1,791,000
 (1.A.(2)(a))...........................
Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Demonstration              N/A             N/A
 (1.A.(2)(b))...........................
Hot Cell (and others) (1.A.(2)(c))......             N/A             N/A
Uranium Enrichment (1.E.)...............       2,247,000       2,794,000
UF6 Conversion and Deconversion                1,095,000       1,361,000
 (2.A.(1))..............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 51797]]

d. Uranium Recovery Facilities

    The NRC will collect $0.3 million in annual fees from the uranium 
recovery facilities fee class in FY 2024, as shown in table XI. The FY 
2023 uranium recovery facilities fees are shown for comparison 
purposes.


     Table XI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Uranium Recovery
                               Facilities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
        Summary fee calculations               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................            $0.5            $0.7
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.            -0.3            -0.4
                                         -------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources.......             0.2             0.3
Allocated generic transportation........             N/A             N/A
Billing adjustments.....................             0.0             0.0
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            $0.2            $0.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2023, the FY 2024 annual fee for the non-DOE 
licensee in the uranium recovery facilities fee class is increasing 
primarily due to a rise in budgeted resources attributed to licensing 
reviews associated with one licensed uranium recovery facility and two 
licensed, but not yet constructed, uranium recovery facilities.
    The NRC regulates DOE's Title I and Title II activities under the 
Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA).\2\ The annual fee 
assessed to DOE includes the resources specifically budgeted for the 
NRC's UMTRCA Title I and Title II activities, as well as 10 percent of 
the remaining budgeted resources for this fee class. The NRC described 
the overall methodology for determining fees for UMTRCA in the FY 2002 
fee rule (67 FR 42612; June 24, 2002), and the NRC continues to use 
this methodology. The DOE's UMTRCA annual fee is increasing compared to 
FY 2023 primarily due to a rise in budgeted resources needed to conduct 
generic work that the NRC will be performing to resolve the following: 
(1) issues associated with abandoned uranium mine waste cleanups and 
the potential waste disposal on or near uranium mill tailings sites 
including existing DOE sites under NRC oversight; (2) coordination on 
license termination strategies for sites; and (3) performance issues 
relating to existing cover systems at mill tailings sites. The annual 
fee is partially offset by a rise in the 10 CFR part 170 estimated 
billings for the anticipated workload increases at various DOE UMTRCA 
sites. The NRC assesses the remaining 90 percent of its budgeted 
resources to the remaining licensee in this fee class, as described in 
the work papers, which is reflected in table XII.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Congress established the two programs, Title I and Title II, 
under UMTRCA to protect the public and the environment from hazards 
associated with 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 weapons programs. 
The NRC also regulates DOE's UMTRCA Title II program, which is 
directed toward uranium mill sites licensed by the NRC or Agreement 
States in or after 1978.

              Table XII--Costs Recovered Through Annual Fees; Uranium Recovery Facilities Fee Class
                                                [Actual dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                             FY 2023 final       FY 2024 final
                            Summary of costs                                  annual fee          annual fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE Annual Fee Amount (UMTRCA Title I and Title II) General Licenses:
    UMTRCA Title I and Title II budgeted resources less 10 CFR part 170             $142,181            $254,846
     receipts...........................................................
    10 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted resources.....               5,798               5,908
    10 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment................                 N/A                 N/A
                                                                         ---------------------------------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for DOE (rounded).......................             148,000             261,000
Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery Licenses:
    90 percent of generic/other uranium recovery budgeted resources less              52,185              53,169
     the amounts specifically budgeted for UMTRCA Title I and Title II
     activities.........................................................
    90 percent of uranium recovery fee-relief adjustment................                 N/A                 N/A
                                                                         ---------------------------------------
        Total Annual Fee Amount for Other Uranium Recovery Licensees....              52,185              53,169
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Further, for any non-DOE licensees, the NRC will continue using a 
matrix to determine the effort levels associated with conducting 
generic regulatory actions for the different licensees in the uranium 
recovery facilities 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, and mill tailings disposal 
facilities. The matrix identifies the types of operating activities 
that support and benefit these licensees, along with each activity's 
relative weight (see the work papers). Currently, there is only one 
remaining non-DOE licensee, which is a basic ISR facility. Table XIII 
displays the benefit factors for the non-DOE licensee in that fee 
category.

[[Page 51798]]



                         Table XIII--Benefit Factors for Uranium Recovery Licenses, 2024
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Number of    Benefit factor                  Benefit factor
                  Fee category                       licensees     per licensee     Total value    percent total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach mills (2.A.(2)(a))..               0  ..............  ..............               0
Basic In Situ Recovery facilities (2.A.(2)(b))..               1             190             190             100
Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities                           0  ..............  ..............               0
 (2.A.(2)(c))...................................
Section 11e.(2) disposal incidental to existing                0  ..............  ..............               0
 tailings sites (2.A.(4)).......................
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................               1             190             190             100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FY 2024 annual fee for the remaining non-DOE licensee is 
calculated by allocating 100 percent of the budgeted resources, as 
summarized in table XIV.

          Table XIV--Annual Fees for Uranium Recovery Licensees
                            (Other than DOE)
                            [Actual dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     FY 2023 final       FY 2024 final
  Facility type (fee category)        annual fee          annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional and Heap Leach                      N/A                 N/A
 mills (2.A.(2)(a)).............
Basic In Situ Recovery                       $52,200             $53,200
 facilities (2.A.(2)(b))........
Expanded In Situ Recovery                        N/A                 N/A
 facilities (2.A.(2)(c))........
Section 11e.(2) disposal                         N/A                 N/A
 incidental to existing tailings
 sites (2.A.(4))................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

e. Non-Power Production or Utilization Facilities
    The NRC will collect $0.292 million in annual fees from the non-
power production or utilization facilities fee class in FY 2024, as 
shown in table XV. The FY 2023 non-power production or utilization 
facilities fees are shown for comparison purposes.

  Table XV--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Non-Power Production or
                         Utilization Facilities
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
        Summary fee calculations               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................          $5.115          $3.195
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.          -4.869          -2.963
                                         -------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources.......           0.246           0.233
Allocated generic transportation........           0.040           0.054
Billing adjustments.....................           0.003           0.005
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..           0.289           0.292
    Total non-power production or                      3               3
     utilization facilities licenses....
                                         -------------------------------
        Total annual fee per license             $0.0963         $0.0972
         (rounded)......................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2023, the FY 2024 annual fee for the non-power 
production or utilization facilities fee class is increasing, as 
discussed in the following paragraphs.
    In FY 2024, the budgeted resources decreased primarily due to a 
reduction in medical radioisotope production facilities workload 
primarily due to a delay with the SHINE Technologies LLC's (SHINE) 
operating license application for a medical radioisotope production 
facility and a delay in the construction schedule. The offset to the 
decline in budgetary resources is the rise in the fully-costed FTE rate 
compared to FY 2023 due to an increase in salaries and benefits.
    The 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings associated with the current 
fleet of operating non-power production or utilization facilities 
licensees subject to annual fees have declined compared to FY 2023 due 
to a reduction in workload for license amendment activities associated 
with the shutdown of the General Electric Hitachi Vallecitos Nuclear 
Center in FY 2024. The 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings with respect 
to medical radioisotope production facilities and advanced research and 
test reactors have declined when compared with FY 2023 primarily due to 
the following: (1) a reduction in staff hours due to the delay with 
SHINE's operating license application and a delay in the construction 
schedule; and (2) the completion of the safety review of the Kairos 
Power, LLC's (Kairos) application for a permit to construct the Hermes 
1 test reactor. This decline in 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings is 
offset due to the following: (1) the review of the Kairos Hermes 2 
application for a permit to construct two test reactors; and (2) 
conducting pre-application meetings due to the anticipated

[[Page 51799]]

submission of several license applications.
    Furthermore, the increase in the annual fee is also affected by 
these contributing factors: (1) an increase in the 10 CFR part 171 
billing adjustment due to the timing of invoices in FY 2023; and (2) an 
increase in the generic transportation surcharge due to an increase in 
the generic transportation budgeted resources for the non-power 
production or utilization facilities fee class.
    The annual fee recovery amount is divided equally among the three 
non-power production or utilization facilities licensees subject to 
annual fees and results in an FY 2024 annual fee of $97,200 for each 
licensee.
f. Rare Earth
    In FY 2024, the NRC has allocated approximately $0.2 million in 
budgeted resources to this fee class; however, because all the budgeted 
resources will be recovered through service fees assessed under 10 CFR 
part 170, the NRC will not assess or collect annual fees in FY 2024 for 
this fee class.
g. Materials Users
    The NRC will collect $46.3 million in annual fees from materials 
users licensed under 10 CFR parts 30, 40, and 70 in FY 2023, as shown 
in Table XVI. The FY 2024 materials users fees are shown for comparison 
purposes.

     Table XVI--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Materials Users
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
        Summary fee calculations               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources for licensees             $38.7           $44.3
 not regulated by Agreement States......
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.            -1.2            -0.8
                                         -------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources.......            37.5            43.5
Allocated generic transportation........             2.0             2.6
LLW surcharge...........................             0.1             0.1
Billing adjustments.....................             0.0             0.1
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..           $39.7           $46.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The formula for calculating 10 CFR part 171 annual fees for the 
various categories of materials users is described in detail in the 
work papers. Generally, the calculation results in a single annual fee 
that includes 10 CFR part 170 costs, such as amendments, renewals, 
inspections, and other licensing actions specific to individual fee 
categories.
    The total annual fee recovery of $46.3 million for FY 2024 shown in 
table XVI consists of $36.6 million for general costs, $9.5 million for 
inspection costs, and $0.1 million for LLW costs. To equitably and 
fairly allocate the $46.3 million required to be collected among 
approximately 2,400 diverse materials users licensees, the NRC 
continues to calculate the annual fees for each fee category within 
this class based on the 10 CFR part 170 application fees and estimated 
inspection costs for each fee category. Because the application fees 
and inspection costs are indicative of the complexity of the materials 
license, this approach is the methodology for allocating the generic 
and other regulatory costs to the diverse fee categories. This fee 
calculation method also considers the inspection frequency (priority), 
which is indicative of the safety risk and resulting regulatory costs 
associated with the categories of licenses.
    In comparison to FY 2023, the FY 2024 annual fees are increasing 
for all fee categories within the materials users fee class, ranging 
from 14 percent to 25 percent primarily due to an increase in the 
budgeted resources. The budgeted resources increased due to the 
following: (1) an increase in licensing and oversight workload, 
including the expected reviews of exempt distribution and sealed source 
device applications, updating licensing guidance, and the development 
of a regulatory guide on veterinary issues; (2) hiring actions to 
double encumber and train health physics staff to ensure an appropriate 
pipeline and knowledge management for future agency mission related 
activities; (3) support for rulemaking activities; (4) support for 
materials research activities; and (5) an increase in the fully-costed 
FTE rate compared to FY 2023 due to an increase in salaries and 
benefits.
    In addition, the FY 2024 annual fees are increasing due to the 
following: (1) an increase in generic transportation costs for 
materials users; (2) a decrease in the 10 CFR part 170 estimated 
billings for new licensing applications; (3) a decrease of 53 materials 
users licensees from FY 2023; and (4) an increase in the 10 CFR part 
171 billing adjustment due to the timing of invoices issued in FY 2023.
    A constant multiplier is established to recover the total general 
costs (including allocated generic transportation costs) of $36.6 
million. To derive the constant multiplier, the general cost amount is 
divided by the sum of all fee categories (application fee plus the 
inspection fee divided by inspection priority) then multiplied by the 
number of licensees. This calculation results in a constant multiplier 
of 1.29 for FY 2024. The average inspection cost is the average 
inspection hours for each fee category multiplied by the professional 
hourly rate of $317. The inspection priority is the interval between 
routine inspections, expressed in years. The inspection multiplier is 
established to recover the $9.5 million in inspection costs. To derive 
the inspection multiplier, the inspection costs amount is divided by 
the sum of all fee categories (inspection fee divided by inspection 
priority) then multiplied by the number of licensees. This calculation 
results in an inspection multiplier of 1.72 for FY 2024. The unique 
category costs are any special costs that the NRC has budgeted for a 
specific category of licenses. Please see the work papers for more 
detail about this classification.
    The annual fee being assessed to each licensee also takes into 
account a share of approximately $0.1 million in LLW surcharge costs 
allocated to the materials users fee class (see Table IV, ``Allocation 
of LLW Surcharge, FY 2024,'' of this document). The annual fee for each 
fee category is shown in the revision to Sec.  171.16(d).
h. Transportation
    The NRC will collect $2.3 million in annual fees to recover generic 
transportation budgeted resources in FY 2024, as shown in table XVII. 
The FY

[[Page 51800]]

2023 fees are shown for comparison purposes.

     Table XVII--Annual Fee Summary Calculations for Transportation
                          [Dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           FY 2023 final   FY 2024 final
        Summary fee calculations               rule            rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total budgeted resources................           $11.1           $13.0
Less estimated 10 CFR part 170 receipts.            -3.4            -2.4
                                         -------------------------------
    Net 10 CFR part 171 resources.......             7.7            10.6
Less generic transportation resources...            -6.0            -8.2
Billing adjustments.....................             0.0             0.0
                                         -------------------------------
    Total required annual fee recovery..            $1.7            $2.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In comparison to FY 2023, the FY 2024 annual fee for the 
transportation fee class is increasing primarily due to an increase in 
the budgeted resources; (2) a rise in the distribution of the generic 
transportation resources allocated to other fee classes; and (3) a 
decrease in the 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings.
    In FY 2024, the budgeted resources increased primarily to support 
the following: (1) rulemaking activities; (2) environmental reviews and 
licensing of transportation packages for ATF, the anticipated licensing 
review of one transportable microreactor application, other advanced 
reactors fuels, and microreactors; and (3) a rise in the fully-costed 
FTE rate compared to FY 2023 due to an increase in salaries and 
benefits.
    The increase in the annual fee is partially offset by a rise in the 
distribution of generic transportation resources allocated to 
respective other fee classes resulting from additional number of CoCs 
for 2024.
    Furthermore, the annual fee is also increasing due to a decrease in 
the 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings as a result of: (1) delays in 
submittals of major amendments of transportation packages and 
submittals requiring revisions to the applications; and (2) a delay in 
inspection activities.
    Consistent with the policy established in the NRC's FY 2006 final 
fee rule (71 FR 30722; May 30, 2006), the NRC recovers generic 
transportation costs unrelated to DOE by including those costs in the 
annual fees for licensee fee classes. The NRC continues to assess a 
separate annual fee under Sec.  171.16, fee category 18.A., for DOE 
transportation activities. The amount of the allocated generic 
resources is calculated by multiplying the percentage of total CoCs 
used by each fee class (and DOE) by the total generic transportation 
resources to be recovered.
    This resource distribution to the licensee fee classes and DOE is 
shown in table XVIII. Note that for the non-power production or 
utilization facilities fee class, the NRC allocates the distribution to 
only those licensees that are subject to annual fees. Although five 
CoCs benefit the entire non-power production or utilization facilities 
fee class, only three out of 30 operating non-power production or 
utilization facilities licensees are subject to annual fees. 
Consequently, the number of CoCs used to determine the proportion of 
generic transportation resources allocated to annual fees for the non-
power production or utilization facilities fee class has been adjusted 
to 0.5 so these licensees are charged a fair and equitable portion of 
the total fees (see the work papers).

                         Table XVIII--Distribution of Transportation Resources, FY 2024
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Allocated
                                                             Number of CoCs     Percentage of        generic
                  Licensee fee class/DOE                     benefiting fee      total CoCs      transportation
                                                              class or DOE                          resources
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Materials Users...........................................              24.0              25.1              $2.7
Operating Power Reactors..................................               6.0               6.3               0.7
Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning................              21.0              22.0               2.3
Non-Power Production or Utilization Facilities............               0.5               0.5               0.0
Fuel Facilities...........................................              23.0              24.1               2.5
Subtotal of Generic Transportation Resources..............              74.5              78.0               8.2
DOE.......................................................              21.0              22.0               2.2
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
    Total.................................................              95.5             100.0              10.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

FY 2024--Policy Changes

    The NRC is not making any policy changes in FY 2024.

FY 2024--Administrative Changes

    The NRC is making 11 administrative changes in FY 2024:
    1. Amend Sec. Sec.  2.205(i), 15.35(c), 37.27(c)(2), 73.17(m)(1), 
73.57(d)(3)(i), 110.64(e), 140.7(d), 170.12(f), and 171.19(a) by 
clarifying payment methods.
    The NRC is amending Sec. Sec.  2.205(i), 15.35(c), 37.27(c)(2), 
73.17(m)(1), 73.57(d)(3)(i), 110.64(e), 140.7(d),

[[Page 51801]]

170.12(f), and 171.19(a) to align with the U.S. Department of the 
Treasury's (Treasury) ``No-Cash No-Check'' policy. The Treasury 
encourages Federal agencies to use the most efficient, cost-effective, 
and best-suited collection and payment solutions. The Treasury's Bureau 
of the Fiscal Service provides central collection and payment services 
to agencies to maintain the financial integrity and operational 
efficiency of the Federal Government. The Treasury's Bureau of the 
Fiscal Service notified the NRC that the agency is expected to 
transition from paper-based collections to one or more offered 
electronic methods by September 30, 2024.
    The ``No-Cash No-Check'' policy will improve timeliness of 
collections, thereby reducing interest/penalty/administrative fees 
associated with late payments, and reduce resources associated with 
processing paper checks. The available electronic payment options will 
enhance processing speed and accuracy, and adopting this policy will 
make consumer and business payments and remittances to agencies easier 
and more efficient. Accordingly, the NRC is amending Sec. Sec.  
2.205(i), 15.35(c), 37.27(c)(2), 73.17(m)(1), 73.57(d)(3)(i), 
110.64(e), 140.7(d), 170.12(f), and 171.19(a) to revise available 
payment methods to remove paper forms of payment and provide that 
payments are to be made electronically using the methods accepted at 
www.Pay.gov.
    2. Amend table 1 in Sec.  170.31 to add language to 7.A, 7.A.1, 
7.A.2, 7.C, 7.C.1, and 7.C.2 for clarity.
    The NRC is amending table 1 in Sec.  170.31 to add language to 
7.A., 7.A.1, 7.A.2, 7.C, 7.C.1, and 7.C.2, to clarify with respect to 
10 CFR part 170 fees that these categories also include the possession 
and use of source material for shielding when authorized on the same 
license.
    3. Revise footnote 17 to table 2 in Sec.  171.16(d) for clarity.
    The NRC is revising footnote 17 in table 2 paragraph (d) in Sec.  
171.16 to clarify that with respect to annual fees, medical licensees 
paying fees under 7.A, 7.A.1, 7.A.2, 7.B, 7.B.1, 7.B.2, 7.C, 7.C(1), or 
7.C(2) are not subject to fees under 2.B. for possession and shielding 
authorized on the same license.

III. Public Comment Analysis

Overview of Public Comments

    The NRC published a proposed rule on February 20, 2024 (89 FR 
12759) and requested public comment on its proposed revisions to 10 CFR 
parts 170 and 171. By the close of the comment period, the NRC received 
nine written comment submissions on the FY 2024 proposed rule. In 
general, commenters were supportive of the specific proposed regulatory 
changes, although most commenters expressed concerns about broader fee 
policy issues related to the overall size of the NRC's budget, fairness 
of fees, transparency, and budget formulation. Some commenters' 
concerns were outside the scope of the fee rule.
    The commenters are listed in Table XIX.

       Table XIX--FY 2024 Proposed Fee Rule Commenter Submissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Commenter               Affiliation      ADAMS Accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Susan Shultz.................  Self............  ML24059A041
Congressman Byron Donalds,     United States     ML24078A249
 et. al.                        Congress.
Wayne Norton.................  Decommissioning   ML24080A062
                                Plant Coalition
                                (DPC).
Gary D. Camper...............  BWXT Nuclear      ML24080A063
                                Operations
                                Group, Inc.
                                (BWXT).
Dr. Jennifer L. Uhle.........  Nuclear Energy    ML24082A097
                                Institute (NEI).
Justin Both..................  NextEra Energy    ML24082A191
                                Duane Arnold,
                                LLC (DAEC).
Kevin Lueshen................  Constellation     ML24082A228
                                Energy
                                Generation, LLC
                                (CEG).
Nader Mamish.................  Westinghouse      ML24082A229
                                Electric
                                Company, LLC
                                (Westinghouse).
Sara L. Scott................  Xcel Energy.....  ML24082A230
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Information about obtaining the complete text of the comment 
submissions is provided in the ``Availability of Documents,'' section 
of this document.

IV. Public Comments and NRC Responses

    The NRC has carefully considered the public comments received on 
the proposed rule. The comments have been organized by topic. Comments 
from multiple commenters raising similar specific concerns were 
combined to capture the common issues raised by the commenters. 
Comments from a single commenter have been quoted to ensure accuracy; 
brackets within those comments are used to show changes that have been 
made to the quoted comments.

A. Use of Fee-Based Carryover To Reduce Fees

    Comment: Several commenters suggested that the NRC should use the 
additional carryover to further offset FY 2024 budgets for Operating 
Power Reactors, Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning, Non-Power 
Production or Utilization Facilities, and Fuel Cycle Facilities to help 
reduce fees. (NEI, Westinghouse, and CEG)
    Response: Each fiscal year, the NRC follows the direction of 
Congress that accompanies the annual appropriations act. The FY 2024 
final fee rule reflects a total budget authority in the amount of 
$944.1 million, which is an increase of $16.9 million from FY 2023, but 
a decrease of $35.1 million from the FY 2024 proposed fee rule. The 
estimated net budget authority (i.e., excluded activities) specified in 
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, for the NRC's ``Salaries and 
Expenses'' account reflects a decrease of $18.9 million from the FY 
2024 budget request. The explanatory statement associated with the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, directed the NRC to use $62.0 
million of carryover. The explanatory statement allocates $16.0 million 
for the UNLP and language in the Senate Report demonstrates an intent 
for the NRC to fund the UNLP in FY 2024 using fee-based carryover. The 
direction to use the $62.0 million carryover also reflects the $27.1 
million proposed in the FY 2024 budget request to offset the Nuclear 
Reactor Safety budget and an additional $18.9 million in prior-year 
unobligated balances, which offsets the $18.9 million reduction in the 
estimated net budget authority specified in the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2024, for the NRC's ``Salaries and Expenses'' 
account. With these allocations of the $62.0 million in prior-year 
unobligated carryover funds, no additional carryover

[[Page 51802]]

remains that could be applied to offset fees for other fee classes.
    No changes were made to this final rule as a result of these 
comments.

B. Transparency

    Comment: ``Most licensees must estimate and budget their NRC fees 
well in advance of the proposed fee rule and upon issuance must adjust 
their operating budget to accommodate the changes. Given the 
significant changes that are likely to result from the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act of 2024, we strongly encourage the NRC to use any 
means available to notify licensees of any substantial changes made 
during the crafting of the final rule. This would provide licensees the 
additional time needed to realign their budgets.'' (NEI)
    Response: The NRC strives to ensure that the proposed fee rule is 
as accurate as possible and explains its assumptions about the 
budgetary resources and other factors associated with annual fees to 
provide the best information available regarding the fiscal year's 
proposed fees. The NRC discussed these assumptions during the March 7, 
2024, public meeting on the FY 2024 proposed fee rule.
    The NRC must comply with statutory requirements, including NEIMA 
and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). NEIMA requires the NRC to 
recover, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 percent 
of its total budget authority for the fiscal year less the budget 
authority for excluded activities, through fees assessed by the end of 
the fiscal year. Section 553 of the APA requires the NRC to give the 
public an opportunity to comment on a published proposed rule. Because 
the Office of Management and Budget has found the fee rule to be a 
major rule under the Congressional Review Act, the effective date of 
the final rule cannot be less than 60 days from the date of publication 
and must allow for timely final billing prior to the end of the fiscal 
year (i.e., September 30, 2024 for FY 2024). Depending on the timing of 
the enacted budget, the NRC may not have sufficient time to provide 
advance notification of all changes within the final rule prior to 
publication and meet its statutory requirements.
    No changes were made to this final rule in response to these 
comments.

C. Fuel Facilities Fee Class Budget and Increase in the Annual Fees

    Comment: Several commenters expressed concerns about the average 22 
percent annual fee increase for all operating fuel cycle facilities, 
which is a significant escalation in comparison to the agency's 
budgeted increase of 5.62% and multiples higher than the other business 
lines. The commenters stated that the fuel facilities business line 
budget and annual fees decreased for each of the fiscal years (FY 2019-
FY 2022) to more accurately reflect the reduced number of operating 
facilities and the corresponding reduction in workload. The commenters 
expressed concern that increase in the annual fees in FY 2023 and FY 
2024 is not efficient and limits the potential of nuclear energy 
advancement, and that despite the number of operating facilities 
remaining steady, the proposed annual fee increase is not based on 
quantitative workload or effort factors and does not reflect the 
relatively low risk profile of the existing and predicted fuel cycle 
facility fleet. The commenters expressed concern that the basis for the 
increase in the annual fee is not adequate and clear. In addition, the 
commenters expressed concern regarding the increase in the budget for 
licensing and oversight activities and the disparity between lower 10 
CFR part 170 (service fees) relative to 10 CFR part 171 (annual fees). 
The commenters also expressed that available carryover funds should be 
applied to eliminate the proposed 22 percent increase above the FY 2023 
levels. One commenter suggested that the NRC should apply an annual fee 
cap to fuel facilities, similar to the annual fee cap for operating 
power reactors in NEIMA. (NEI, BWXT, and Westinghouse)
    Response: The NRC remains mindful of the impact of its budget on 
the fees for the fuel facilities fee class. The NRC notes that efforts 
to deploy ATF and advanced reactors, along with a focus on domestic 
fuel supplies, have resulted in an environment with a fluctuating 
workload. When formulating the budget, the NRC takes into consideration 
various factors, including workload forecasting, historical data and 
trends in the business line, information from licensees and potential 
applicants, and uncertainty of projections. The NRC assesses the 
current environment and looks for significant drivers that could impact 
future workload. These include, but are not limited to, technical and 
regulatory developments that have the potential to generate additional 
work or reduce work (i.e., pre-application activities and applications 
for new fuel facilities, potential major amendments and license 
termination requests, rulemaking activities, guidance development, and 
oversight of the fuel facilities program), related reactor licensing 
work, federal funding opportunities, and geopolitical changes that 
could influence the availability of uranium.
    In addition, the NRC evaluates historical data and trends to 
measure how execution in previous years lines up with the budget 
assumptions at the time. The NRC uses that data to inform the budget 
and identify areas where the assumptions previously used have changed. 
Historical data allows the NRC to identify trending in quantity and/or 
complexity of the planned submittals, and to incorporate efficiencies 
gained and lessons learned from previous data.
    The NRC also relies on communication from stakeholders to identify 
accurate dates for planned submittals (i.e., major amendment requests, 
renewals, and new fuel facility applications), including letters of 
intent provided by licensees and applicants, and collecting information 
from Federal partners. For large licensing projects, the NRC tries to 
balance the appropriate resource needs against the relative certainty 
that an application will be submitted on schedule.
    While the NRC understands the commenters' concerns regarding the 
impact of budget on the existing operating fuel facilities licensees, 
NEIMA requires the NRC to recover, to the maximum extent practicable, 
approximately 100 percent of its annual budget authority, less the 
budget authority for excluded activities, and to do so through a 
combination of both user fees and annual fees. When budgeted 10 CFR 
part 170 work does not materialize (due to circumstances like delayed 
or cancelled licensing submittals or construction inspections) changes 
to the annual fee for the fee class can result. This change in 10 CFR 
part 170 billings due to fact-of-life changes was a significant 
contributor to the annual fee increases in FY 2023 and FY 2024 for the 
fuel facilities fee class.
    As expressed by the commenters, from FY 2019 through FY 2022, the 
annual fee for fuel facilities fee class decreased each year and, after 
a significant decrease in the budgeted resources for the fee class from 
FY 2019 to FY 2020, budgeted resources remained relatively flat from FY 
2020 to FY 2022. The decrease in the fuel facilities budgeted resources 
over this period appropriately aligned resources with the projected 
workload for the fuel facilities fee class at the time. For example, 
during this time, there were fewer license renewals, limited guidance 
development, and only routine licensing actions.
    In FY 2023, the fuel facilities fee class experienced an increase 
in the budget by $4.2 million compared to FY 2022, which included an 
increase of 5.3 FTE

[[Page 51803]]

and approximately $0.5 million in contract support, for licensing, 
oversight, and rulemaking activities. The FY 2024 fuel facilities fee 
class budget is $30.9 million, which includes 58.9 FTE and 
approximately $2.9 million in contract support resources. This is $0.9 
million or 3 percent higher than the FY 2019 fuel facilities budgeted 
resources of $30.0 million, which included 66.7 FTE and approximately 
$2.0 million in contract support.
    The FY 2024 CBJ, published in March 2023, explains that the 
increase in budgeted resources for the fuel facilities business line 
supports activities such as: (1) licensing actions related to 
enrichment and manufacturing of HALEU fuel and ATF; (2) the review of 
one new fuel facility license applications; (3) programmatic oversight 
activities in support of Category II fuel facilities and an anticipated 
new fuel facility; (4) potential rulemaking for enhanced security of 
special nuclear material and guidance development for fuel cycle 
facility security; and (5) an increase in the fully-costed FTE rate 
compared to FY 2023 due to an increase in salaries and benefits to 
support Federal pay raises for NRC employees. The increase in budgetary 
resources is partially offset due to a decline in IT services. 
Additionally, changing workload drivers, including delays in the 
submittal of licensing activities, have impacted the FY 2024 budget for 
the fuel facilities business line.
    Consistent with NEIMA, when developing the annual fee rule, the NRC 
accounted for changes that occurred in the two-year interval between 
the development of the FY 2024 budget request, which began in FY 2022, 
and the enactment of the FY 2024 appropriation in March 2024.
    As part of developing the annual fee rule, the NRC estimates the 
amount of 10 CFR part 170 service fees by each fee class by analyzing 
billing data and the actual cost of work under NRC contracts charged to 
licensees and applicants for the previous four quarters. The estimate, 
therefore, reflects recent changes in the NRC's regulatory activities. 
The NRC used four quarters of the prior year invoice data to calculate 
fees in its FY 2024 proposed rule, and is using a combination of two 
quarters of the prior year and two quarters of the current year billing 
data (which is also updated to reflect workload changes) for this final 
fee rule.
    In the FY 2024 proposed fee rule, the 10 CFR part 170 estimated 
service fees for the fuel facilities fee class increased from $9.2 
million in FY 2023 to $10.5 million as shown in the FY 2024 proposed 
fee rule, which is an increase of $1.3 million or approximately 14.1 
percent compared to FY 2023.
    During the March 7, 2024, public meeting to discuss the FY 2024 
proposed fee rule, the NRC explained that the increase in proposed 
annual fees for the fuel facilities fee class was primarily due to 
budget increases and lower than anticipated 10 CFR part 170 billings. 
At the public meeting, the NRC explained that the increase in proposed 
annual fees described in the FY 2024 proposed fee rule was primarily 
due to budget increases and lower than anticipated 10 CFR part 170 
billings. The lower than anticipated 10 CFR part 170 billings was 
because of delays in the submittals of Niowave's new medical isotope 
production facility application and Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas 
amendment supporting Natrium fuel fabrication. The FY 2024 final fee 
rule reflects a further decrease in 10 CFR part 170 billings that was 
caused by the completion of more licensing actions than estimated, the 
further delay in commencing inspection activities for the TRISO-X, LLC 
new fabrication facility, the slowdown of the TRISO-X, LLC new fuel 
facility license application review while the NRC awaits the 
applicant's submittal of a major design change, and other delays in 
routine licensing actions.
    During the public meeting, the NRC identified that, during the 
budget formulation and execution process, it can account for fact-of-
life changes and implemented these changes, where possible, in FY 2024. 
These changes are reflected in the FY 2024 final fee rule, where the 
NRC reallocated resources from the fuel facility fee class to other fee 
classes within the nuclear materials and waste safety control point. 
While these changes did not lower the final FY 2024 annual fees for the 
fuel facilities fee class in comparison to the annual fees in FY 2024 
proposed fee rule, they did mitigate what would have been an even more 
significant increase.
    Although the NRC is aware of the impact its budgeted resources has 
on the fees for fuel facilities licensees subject to 10 CFR part 171 
annual fees, the fee class budget is not linearly proportional to the 
number of licensees in the fuel facilities fee class. Resources are 
required to develop and maintain the infrastructure independent of the 
number of operational fuel facilities. The fuel facilities business 
line must maintain certain minimum requirements to meet the NRC's 
regulatory and statutory oversight role. This includes maintaining 
expertise in several technical areas, including integrated safety 
analysis, radiation protection, criticality safety, chemical safety, 
fire safety, emergency management, environmental protection, 
decommissioning, management measures, material control and accounting, 
physical protection, and information security. Budgeted resources in 
technical areas are recovered through 10 CFR part 170 user fees as well 
as 10 CFR part 171 annual fees. Additionally, the infrastructure costs 
include indirect services and the business line portion of corporate 
support. Indirect services include rulemaking, maintaining guidance for 
licensees, maintaining procedures for NRC staff, training, and travel. 
Corporate support includes, but is not limited to, the cost for 
information management and technology, security, facilities management, 
rent, utilities, human resources, financial management, and 
acquisitions.
    As explained above, because the NRC's fee recovery under 10 CFR 
part 170 will not equal approximately 100 percent of the agency's 
budget authority for the fiscal year (less the budget authority for 
excluded activities), the NRC also assesses 10 CFR part 171 annual 
fees. Estimated 10 CFR part 170 billings, therefore, are inversely 
related to the proposed annual fee for a fee class. The more the NRC 
estimates to collect in 10 CFR part 170 billings, the less it assesses 
in annual fees. While the NRC anticipated an increase in 10 CFR part 
170 estimated billings in the FY 2024 proposed fee rule, this 
anticipated increase was not enough to offset the overall increase in 
budgetary resources in FY 2024. Moreover, additional decreases in 10 
CFR part 170 billings occurred since the issuance of the FY 2024 
proposed fee rule that contributed to the additional increase in the 
annual fees for the fuel facilities fee class in the FY 2024 final fee 
rule. The additional decreases in 10 CFR part 170 billings were caused 
by the completion of more licensing actions than estimated, the further 
delay in commencing inspection activities for the TRISO-X, LLC new 
fabrication facility, the slowdown of the TRISO-X, LLC new fuel 
facility license application review while the NRC awaits the 
applicant's submittal of a major design change, and other delays in 
routine licensing actions.
    One commenter also recommended that the NRC apply an annual cap to 
fuel facilities, similar to the annual fee cap for operating power 
reactors in NEIMA. Section 102(b)(3)(B)(i) of NEIMA established a cap 
for the annual fees charged to operating reactor licensees. Under this 
provision, the annual fee for an operating reactor licensee, to the 
maximum extent practicable, shall not exceed the annual

[[Page 51804]]

fee amount per operating reactor licensee established in the FY 2015 
final fee rule, adjusted for inflation. NEIMA did not establish such a 
cap on the annual fees charged to fuel facility licensees.
    This final fee rule does not include an annual cap to fuel 
facilities. The NRC will continue to assess resource requirements, 
evaluate programmatic efficiencies, and make changes as appropriate. In 
addition, the NRC staff is exploring options to address the volatility 
in the fuel facilities fee class annual fees and will engage with the 
Commission as appropriate.
    No changes were made to this final rule as a result of these 
comments.
    Comment: Several commenters expressed concerns that they have 
finalized their calendar year 2024 budgets and funding a 22 percent 
increase in the FY 2024 annual fees is not currently budgeted and can 
only be fulfilled by making difficult resource decisions while 
maintaining the safety and security of plant operations. (NEI and 
Westinghouse)
    Response: The NRC recognizes that the issuance of the fee rule may 
not coincide with budget cycles of industry. NEIMA requires the NRC to 
recover, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 percent 
of its annual budget authority, less the budget authority for excluded 
activities, through fees by the end of the fiscal year. The NRC must 
set its fees in accordance with the enacted budget. Even though the NRC 
does not know the amount of fees it will need to collect until after it 
receives an annual appropriation from Congress, the NRC starts the 
process of developing the fee rule in the preceding summer to allow for 
timely final billing prior to the end of the fiscal year, consistent 
with the requirements of NEIMA.
    Furthermore, the NRC must comply with additional statutory 
requirements, including the APA. Section 553 of the APA requires the 
NRC to give the public an opportunity to comment on a published 
proposed rule. Moreover, because OMB has found the fee rule to be a 
major rule under the Congressional Review Act, the effective date of 
this final rule cannot be less than 60 days from the date of 
publication and must allow for timely final billing prior to the end of 
the fiscal year. NEIMA requires the NRC to collect fees for FY 2024 by 
September 30, 2024. These scheduling constraints required the NRC to 
propose revisions to its fee schedules before receiving its annual 
appropriation.
    The NRC strives to ensure that the proposed fee rule is as accurate 
as possible and explains its assumptions about the budgetary resources 
and other factors associated with annual fees to provide the best 
information available regarding the fiscal year's proposed fees. The 
NRC discussed these assumptions during the March 7, 2024, public 
meeting on the FY 2024 proposed fee rule. The NRC recognizes that the 
issuance of the fee 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. 
Nonetheless, the NRC can and will continue to inform licensees of 
anticipated major changes in 10 CFR part 170 billings based on changes 
in the timing of licensing action submittals or inspection activities 
that could ultimately impact annual fees.
    No changes were made to this final rule as a result of these 
comments.

D. Operating Power Reactors Fee Class Budget and Declining 10 CFR Part 
170 Estimated Billings

    Comment: ``Approximately 83% of the fee class budget for FY2024 is 
from the power reactor fee class. Over the past five years the Part 170 
fee-for-service collections have decreased by 24%, meaning that the 
NRC's fee-for-service workload has decreased by roughly 34%. Yet, over 
this same period, the budget for operating reactors has increased. 
Consequently, a greater percentage of the operating budget is required 
to be recovered through annual fees. . . . [T]he percentage of the 
operating plant budget that is derived from annual fees (currently at 
76.4%) continues to increase; up from 68% in FY2019. This growing 
disparity between `fee-for-service' collections and `overhead,' 
combined with the increasing levels of carryover, point to a need for 
the NRC to reevaluate its budget and fee collection model.'' (NEI)
    Response: The NRC disagrees with the commenter's suggestion that 
the allocation of service fees versus annual fees for the operating 
power reactor fee class in the FY 2024 proposed fee rule necessities a 
revaluation of the NRC's fee-recovery framework. The operating power 
reactors fee class supports the activities of the operating reactors 
and new reactors business lines, including both direct-billable 
licensing actions and those general activities that indirectly support 
the agency's mission in these areas. The NRC's FY 2024 CBJ provided the 
agency's explanation and justification for the resources requested to 
allow the agency to complete its mission, and the reason for the 
changes in the budget for the NRC compared to the prior year.
    The NRC continues to actively evaluate resource requirements to 
address changes that occur between budget formulation and execution, 
and to pursue improvements that enhance the accuracy of projections 
used in budget formulation. For example, the NRC considers projected 
operating power plant closures and other external factors when 
estimating workload changes in a manner that allows the agency to meet 
its fee collection statutory responsibilities as the industry changes. 
The NRC also seeks information from licensees and other entities 
relevant to projected workload through public meetings and other forms 
of public outreach, to better inform the NRC's budget formulation 
workload assumptions.
    Ultimately, however, the NRC budget is not linearly proportional to 
the size of the operating fleet, as there is a cost for the agency 
infrastructure that must be maintained independent of the number of 
operating power reactors in the fleet.
    Consistent with NEIMA, when developing the annual fee rule, the NRC 
considered changes that occurred in the two-year interval between the 
development of the FY 2024 budget request, which began in FY 2022, and 
the enactment of the FY 2024 appropriation in March 2024. The NRC 
strives to ensure that the proposed fee rule is as accurate as possible 
and explains its assumptions about the budgetary resources and other 
factors associated with annual fees to provide the best information 
available regarding the fiscal year's proposed fees. As part of the 
development of the annual fee rule, the NRC estimates the amount of 10 
CFR part 170 service fees by each fee class by analyzing billing data 
and the actual cost of work under NRC contracts charged to licensees 
and applicants for the previous four quarters. The estimate, therefore, 
reflects any recent changes in the NRC's regulatory activities.
    The FY 2024 proposed rule utilized four quarters of the prior year 
invoice data, while the NRC is using a combination of two quarters of 
the prior year and two quarters of the current year billing data (which 
is also updated to reflect workload changes) for the FY 2024 final 
rule. In the FY 2024 proposed fee rule, the 10 CFR part 170 estimated 
service fees for the operating power fee class increased from $158.9 
million in FY 2023 to $165.3 million as shown in the FY 2024 proposed 
fee rule, which is an increase of $6.4 million or approximately 4.0 
percent compared to FY 2023. As described in the FY 2024

[[Page 51805]]

proposed fee rule, the 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings increased 
primarily due to the following: (1) an anticipated increase in hours 
associated with the review of an increasing number of license renewal 
applications; and (2) an anticipated increase in new reactor licensing 
activities, including the review of standard design approvals, pre-
application activities, and construction permits. This estimated 
increase is partially offset by an expected decline in the submission 
of topical reports. The NRC discussed these assumptions for the 
operating power reactors fee class during the March 7, 2024, public 
meeting on the FY 2024 proposed fee rule.
    The NRC will continue to assess resource requirements, evaluate 
programmatic efficiencies, and make changes as appropriate.
    No changes were made to this final rule as a result of these 
comments.

E. General Comments on the Increase in the Budget and the Hourly Rate

    Comment: Some commenters expressed concern about the overall 
increase in the budget, which has resulted in increases in annual fees 
and the hourly rate in FY 2024 and the potential for increases in the 
future. The commenters requested that the NRC re-evaluate fees 
associated with the FY 2024 proposed fee rule. (Congressman Byron 
Donalds, et. al, DPC, DAEC, BWXT, NEI, Westinghouse)
    Response: The NRC is committed to the application of fairness and 
equity in the assessment of fees. Fees are reassessed annually with 
stakeholder engagement and published in the Federal Register for public 
comment. The NRC held a public meeting on March 7, 2024, to discuss the 
key aspects of the FY 2024 proposed fee rule, including the impact of 
the budget upon fees. In developing the budget, the NRC seeks 
information on projected workload through public meetings, letters of 
intent from industry, and other forms of public outreach with licensees 
to better inform budget formulation workload assumptions. NEIMA 
requires the NRC to recover, to the maximum extent practicable, 
approximately 100 percent of its annual budget less certain amounts 
excluded from this fee recovery requirement. The FY 2024 proposed fee 
rule was based on the FY 2024 budget request because a full-year 
appropriation had not yet been enacted for FY 2024. A full-year 
appropriation was enacted on March 9, 2024, with the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2024, which included less total budget authority 
than the budget request and direction to use $62.0 million in carryover 
funding. As a result, the FY 2024 final fee rule reflects the NRC's re-
evaluation of fees based on the FY 2024 enacted budget. In addition, 
the final fee rule reflects updates to estimated billings based on 
workload changes for each fee class.
    The NRC will continue to assess resource requirements, evaluate 
programmatic efficiencies, and make changes as appropriate. For 
example, the NRC recently modified its fee regulations to address the 
economic differences between the current fleet of large operating 
reactors and much smaller small modular reactors (SMRs) to make them 
technology-inclusive and establish a fair and equitable approach for 
assessing annual fees to all SMRs, in light of increased interest in 
licensing non-light water reactors.
    No changes were made to this final rule as a result of these 
comments.

F. Non-Power Production or Utilization Facilities

    Comment: ``The FY2024 proposed fee rule represents a 1.5% increase 
in the annual fee for the three paying licensees in the fleet. Notably, 
we understand that in FY2025, the number of fee-paying facilities will 
drop from three to two. Because of this significant change 
(representing a 33% reduction of the fee-paying licensee base), we are 
concerned about the downstream effects this could place on the two 
remaining licensees, resulting in a disproportionate financial impact 
and burden. This undesirable outcome has been observed with prior year 
fee rules in several other business lines, including NPUFs, when the 
size of the fleet is significantly downsized, yet the overall business 
line is not commensurately reduced. The staff highlighted this fact in 
the February 22, 2024, Commission briefing on the research and test 
reactor regulatory program. The staff stated that they are currently 
pursuing mitigating solutions for FY2025. We look forward to hearing 
more from the staff on any solutions, and we are open to supporting 
further dialogue on this topic. As this FY2025 decrease in the number 
of facilities is known, we expect the NRC to reduce its resources 
commensurately. This is especially important considering their primary 
national mission of education, research, training, and outreach, as 
highlighted in the Atomic Energy Act, Section 104(c).'' (NEI)
    Response: The NRC recognizes the impact of its budgeted resources 
on the fees for facilities involved in education, research, training, 
and outreach. As mentioned during the February 22, 2024, Commission 
meeting, and the March 7,2024, public meeting to discuss the FY 2024 
proposed fee rule, the NRC is actively exploring options to address the 
non-power production or utilization facilities (NPUF) fee class due to 
the decline in number of operating NPUFs and will engage with the 
Commission as appropriate.
    For this fee rule, in FY 2024, the NRC budgeted activities for 
NPUFs to address emerging work needs and maintaining adequate oversight 
of the existing fleet of facilities. As discussed in the FY 2024 
proposed fee rule, the NPUF budgetary resources, which are included 
under the operating reactors business line, decreased because of a 
reduction in medical radioisotope production facilities workload 
primarily due to a delay with the SHINE operating license application 
for a medical radioisotope production facility and a delay in the 
construction schedule. The decrease in the budgeted resources was 
partially offset by an increase in the fully-costed FTE rate compared 
to FY 2023 due to an increase in salaries and benefits. In addition, 
the 10 CFR part 170 estimated billings associated with the current 
fleet of operating NPUF licensees subject to annual fees have declined 
compared to FY 2023 due to a reduction in workload for license 
amendment activities associated with the anticipated shutdown of the 
General Electric Hitachi Vallecitos Nuclear Center in FY 2024. The 10 
CFR part 170 estimated billings with respect to medical radioisotope 
production facilities and advanced research and test reactors have 
declined when compared with FY 2023 primarily due to the following: (1) 
a reduction in staff hours due to the delay with SHINE's operating 
license application and a delay in the construction schedule; and (2) 
the completion of the safety review of the Kairos application for a 
permit to construct the Hermes 1 test reactor. This decline in 10 CFR 
part 170 estimated billings is offset due to the following: (1) the 
review of the Kairos Hermes 2 application for a permit to construct two 
test reactors; and (2) conducting pre-application meetings due to the 
anticipated submission of several license applications.
    While the NRC agrees that it should reduce its budget commensurate 
with the reduction in the number of NPUFs that pay fees, that reduction 
is not linearly proportional as there is a cost for the infrastructure 
that must be maintained independent of the number of operational NPUFs. 
These infrastructure costs include indirect services and the business 
line portion of corporate support. Indirect services include 
rulemaking, maintaining

[[Page 51806]]

guidance for licensees, maintaining procedures for NRC staff, training, 
and travel. Corporate support includes, for example, the cost for 
information management, IT, security, facilities management, rent, 
utilities, financial management, acquisitions, human resources, and 
policy support.
    No changes were made to this final rule as a result of these 
comments.

G. Corporate Support Cap

    Comment: ``We appreciate the NRC efforts to manage and reduce 
Corporate Support costs. However, these efforts do not appear to be 
effective. The Corporate Support budget for FY2024 is 30.2% of total 
budget authority compared to the FY2024 NEIMA limit of 29%. In FY2025 
the NEIMA limit on Corporate Support budget decreases to 28%. However, 
the NRC's proposed budget for FY2025 has a Corporate Support budget 
that increases to 31.9% of total budget authority. We encourage NRC to 
double its efforts to reduce Corporate Support costs.'' (NEI)
    Response: Section 102(a)(3) of NEIMA provides that corporate 
support costs include annual budget justification submitted to 
Congress, to the maximum extent practicable, shall not exceed 29%. This 
requirement pertains to the annual budget justification and does not 
apply to the annual fee rule.
    As stated in the Executive Summary to the FY 2024 CBJ, the NRC's 
corporate support request was approximately 30.2 percent of the 
agency's total requested budget authority and reflects the agency's 
efforts to comply with section 102(a)(3)(A) of NEIMA to the maximum 
extent practicable.
    The agency will continue efforts to implement efficiencies and 
invest resources in initiatives that will result in future savings in 
corporate support activities.
    No changes were made to this final rule as a result of these 
comments.

H. Excluded Activities

    Comment: Several commenters expressed concern about using fee-based 
carryover funding for the UNLP and not complying with NEIMA. One 
commenter stated that ``[t]he FY2024 proposed budget does not include 
funding for the University Nuclear Leadership Program (UNLP). However, 
the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 included $16 million for UNLP 
and directed the use of fee-based carryover funds for this purpose. 
This is contrary to the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act 
(NEIMA) of 2018, where UNLP is one of the activities excluded from 
recovery using fee-based funding. The FY2024 payment, combined with 
similar payments in FY2023, FY2022 and FY2021, totals $64 million in 
payments by licensees that should have been excluded from the fee 
base.''
    One commenter also expressed concern that licensee fees should not 
subsidize other Federal agencies. They stated, ``[t]he FY2024 budget 
includes approximately $6 million to subsidize rent for the Food and 
Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 
In its October 12, 2021, letter to Congress on NEIMA, NRC identified 
that over the course of this lease the nuclear industry will pay 
approximately $48 million to subsidize rent for the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the 
3WFN building. These payments do nothing to support the agency's 
mission and should not be funded through fees collected from NRC 
licensees and, ultimately, electricity rate payers. We encourage the 
NRC to continue its discussions with Congress to remove these payments 
from the fee base.'' (NEI and CEG)
    Response: Each fiscal year, the NRC follows the direction of 
Congress that accompanies the annual appropriations act. In FY 2024, 
the explanatory statement associated with the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2024 included direction for the NRC to use $62.0 
million of carryover. The explanatory statement allocates $16.0 million 
for the UNLP, and consistent with language in the Senate Report, the 
UNLP is funded in FY 2024 using carryover. As part of the NRC's ongoing 
communications with Congress, the NRC provides information to and has 
discussions with Congress regarding various budgetary matters.
    The Three White Flint subsidy is not currently an excluded activity 
under NEIMA.
    No change was made to this final rule as a result of these 
comments.

I. Future Policy Adjustments for Micro-Reactors

    Comment: ``We recognize that there are no further policy changes 
proposed this year following last year's addition of another minimum 
fee and variable rate for non-light water reactors under 10 CFR 171.15. 
NEI encourages the NRC to consider other changes to the fee structure 
for micro-reactors. Specifically, the overall licensing and ongoing 
oversight costs for micro-reactors need to be less than 1% of the total 
cost of manufacture and operations. If the policy in the current fee 
rule places undue economic burden on micro-reactors through annual fees 
that do not reflect lower oversight costs, due to their simplicity and 
very small radionuclide inventories, then the annual fees will 
challenge their economic viability. The current minimum fee, set equal 
to that of the NPUF fee class, is expected to be a significant 
percentage of annual operating costs for micro-reactors. Further, the 
distribution of NPUF fees for dozens of reactors among a fraction of 
payers (only three NPUF licensees are subject to annual fees) is not 
representative of commercial micro-reactor expectations to each pay 
their share of annual fees. The scaling of many tens or hundreds of 
micro-reactors up to 4500 MWth will continue to propagate the 
disproportionate impact and there may be a need for the policy to be 
revisited as early as next year.'' (NEI)
    Response: In FY 2016, the NRC amended Sec.  171.15 to establish a 
variable annual fee structure for LWR SMRs (81 FR 32617; May 24, 2016). 
Thereafter, in FY 2023, the NRC further amended Sec.  171.15 to: (1) 
expand the applicability of the SMR variable fee structure to include 
non-LWR SMRs; and (2) establish an additional minimum fee and variable 
rate applicable to SMRs with a licensed thermal power rating of less 
than or equal to 250 MWt (88 FR 39120; June 15, 2023).
    In developing this fee framework for SMRs, the NRC engaged with 
industry and other interested stakeholders to develop a knowledge base 
and understanding of the characteristics and proposed designs of non-
LWR SMRs. The NRC also conducted public meetings with stakeholders to 
share information and discuss topics related to the development and 
licensing of non-LWRs and participated in preapplication activities 
with several applicants. During these public meetings, the NRC staff 
discussed possible approaches to assessing annual fees for non-LWR 
SMRs. Stakeholders recommended that the NRC consider lower fees for 
non-LWR SMRs and requested the NRC proceed with rulemaking 
expeditiously. In developing an approach to assess annual fees to 
future non-LWR SMRs, the NRC considered stakeholder input from these 
public meetings and analyzed a position paper from NEI, ``NEI Input on 
NRC Annual Fee Assessment for Non-Light Water Reactors.''
    Ultimately, the NRC modified its fee regulations to address the 
economic differences between the current fleet of large operating 
reactors and much smaller SMRS to make them technology-inclusive and 
establish a fair and equitable approach for assessing annual

[[Page 51807]]

fees to all SMRs, including micro-reactors. That said, the NRC 
recognizes that the annual regulatory cost associated with LWR and non-
LWR SMRs is inherently uncertain before such a licensed facility is 
operational.
    As stated in the FY 2023 final fee rule, the NRC intends to re-
evaluate the variable annual fee structure at the appropriate time to 
ensure consistency with NEIMA. This re-evaluation will occur once SMR 
facilities become operational and sufficient regulatory cost data 
becomes available. Operational experience data should provide insights 
that will identify the correlation between design features and the 
level of NRC oversight typically needed for these new types of power 
plants as well as inform whether further annual fee adjustments for 
SMRs may be needed. As cost data and operating experience for LWR and 
non-LWR SMRs are accumulated, the NRC will propose adjustments to fees 
as needed to make sure that the fees assessed to LWR and non-LWR SMRs 
(and to all operating power reactors) are commensurate with the 
regulatory support services provided by the NRC, consistent with NEIMA.
    No changes were made to this final rule in response to these 
comments.

J. Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning Fee Class

    Comment: Several commenters expressed concerns about the annual fee 
increase for the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee class. 
One commenter stated that an increase in annual and professional 
charges proposed for the fee class of 26.4 percent, and an increase of 
117 percent since 2019, is systemically unsustainable. The commenter 
stated that their sites no longer produce electricity and the 
assumption that they will recover costs from the DOE via litigation or 
settlement(s) is one that ignores that the costs are not allowed for 
recovery. That cost is the erosion of the recovery due to the time 
value of money and that others do not receive full recovery of costs. 
Costs associated with the recovery process are not included. Another 
commenter stated that the FY 2024 proposed fee rule assigns the same 
fee for all decommissioning plants and does not distinguish between 
reactor sites that are actively decommissioning or moving spent fuel, 
which require significant active NRC oversight, and those in a SAFSTOR 
setting with no active fuel movement, which require much less NRC 
oversight. The commenters suggested that the NRC adjust the proposed 
rule to more accurately and equitably allocate its costs to plants in a 
decommissioning status based on the necessary level of NRC involvement. 
The commenters asked that the NRC undertake serious discussions 
internally, and then with the Congress and OMB, to seek long-term 
solutions to the dramatic and unsustainable increases in members' fees. 
(DPC and DAEC)
    Response: The NRC is aware of the impact of the budget on the fees 
for the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee class that is 
assessed to 10 CFR part 50 and 10 CFR part 52 power reactor licensees, 
and on 10 CFR part 72 licensees that do not hold a 10 CFR part 50 
license or a 10 CFR part 52 combined license. The spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning fee class supports the activities of the spent 
fuel storage and transportation and the decommissioning and LLW 
business lines, including both direct-billable licensing actions and 
those general activities that indirectly support the agency's mission 
in these areas.
    When formulating the budget, the NRC takes into consideration 
various factors, including workload forecasting, historical data and 
trends, information from licensees and potential applicants, and 
uncertainty of projections. The NRC assesses the current environment 
and performs workload forecasting, which includes looking for 
significant drivers that could impact the future workload. These 
include, but are not limited to, technical and regulatory developments 
that have the potential to generate additional work or reduce work. In 
addition, the NRC reviews historical data and trends to measure how 
execution in previous years lines up with the budget assumptions at the 
time. The NRC uses that data to inform the future budget and identify 
areas where the assumptions previously used may have changed. The NRC 
also relies on communications from stakeholders to identify planned 
submittals, including letters of intent. In budgeting for large 
licensing projects, the NRC tries to balance the anticipated resource 
needs against the relative certainty that an application will be 
submitted on schedule and the level of complexity.
    The NRC's FY 2024 CBJ, published in March 2023, provided the 
agency's explanation and justification for the resources being 
requested to allow the agency to complete its mission under the spent 
fuel storage and transportation and the decommissioning and LLW 
business lines as pertaining to the spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning fee class. As explained in the FY 2024 proposed fee 
rule, the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee class budgeted 
resources increased primarily to support the following: (1) an increase 
in FTEs to support licensing and oversight activities for the reactor 
decommissioning program, which includes both power and non-power 
reactors in various stages of decommissioning; and (2) an increase in 
the fully-costed FTE rate compared to FY 2023 due to an increase in 
salaries and benefits to support Federal pay raises for NRC employees.
    While NRC recognizes the impact of its budgeted resources on the 
fees for the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning facilities 
subject to 10 CFR part 171 annual fees, the fee class budget is not 
linearly proportional to the number of facilities in the fee class. 
Resources are required to develop and maintain the infrastructure 
independent of the number of facilities in the spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning fee class. The spent fuel storage and 
transportation and the decommissioning and LLW business lines must 
maintain certain minimum requirements to meet the NRC's regulatory and 
statutory oversight role.
    Consistent with NEIMA, when developing the annual fee rule, the NRC 
considered changes that occurred in the two-year interval between the 
development of the FY 2024 budget request, which began in FY 2022, and 
the enactment of the FY 2024 appropriation in March 2024. As part of 
the development of the annual fee rule, the NRC estimates the amount of 
10 CFR part 170 service fees by each fee class by analyzing billing 
data and the actual cost of work under NRC contracts charged to 
licensees and applicants for the previous four quarters. The estimate, 
therefore, reflects any recent changes in the NRC's regulatory 
activities. The FY 2024 proposed rule utilized four quarters of the 
prior year invoice data, while the NRC is using a combination of two 
quarters of the prior year and two quarters of the current year billing 
data (which is also updated to reflect workload changes) for the FY 
2024 final rule.
    The commenters also raised concerns regarding the professional 
charges and that the FY 2024 proposed fee rule does not distinguish 
between sites that are in active decommissioning or where licensees are 
moving spent fuel, and those in a SAFSTOR setting that require less 
oversight. Under NEIMA, the NRC must use its IOAA authority first to 
collect 10 CFR part 170 service fees for NRC work that provides 
specific benefits to identifiable recipients, such as licensing 
activities, inspections, and special projects. In so doing, the NRC 
establishes a professional hourly rate for its work. To the extent that 
the NRC's

[[Page 51808]]

work directly benefits a licensee or applicant, the NRC then collects 
10 CFR part 170 user fees from that licensee or applicant. As a result, 
the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee class facilities are 
only paying 10 CFR part 170 fees for work that directly benefits an 
entity engaged in their specific activities (i.e., decommissioning 
licensing and oversight activities, moving spent fuel, and the review 
of certificate of compliance applications for amendments). With respect 
to 10 CFR part 170 service fees, the NRC staff time spent on licensing 
and inspection activities is subject to change, depending on the 
novelty and complexity of the application under review or the facility 
being inspected. Because the NRC's fee recovery under the IOAA (10 CFR 
part 170) will not equal 100 percent of the agency's total budget 
authority for the fiscal year (less the budget authority for excluded 
activities), the NRC also assesses annual fees under 10 CFR part 171 to 
recover the remaining amount necessary to comply with NEIMA.
    The NRC believes that the assessment of annual fees from 10 CFR 
part 50 and 10 CFR part 52 power reactor licensees, and from 10 CFR 
part 72 licensees that do not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license or a 10 CFR 
part 52 combined license under spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning, is fair and equitable to recover NRC costs for generic 
spent fuel storage and reactor decommissioning activities. This annual 
fee includes the costs of the NRC's generic and other research 
activities directly related to reactor decommissioning and spent fuel 
storage, and other safety, environmental, and safeguards activities 
related to reactor decommissioning and spent fuel storage, except those 
activities which are subject 10 CFR part 170 fees. The NRC recognizes 
that sites will be required to continue to store spent fuel onsite 
until another solution becomes available. Nonetheless, NEIMA requires 
the NRC to recover, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 
100 percent of its annual budget less certain amounts excluded from the 
fee-recovery requirement.
    The NRC continues to actively evaluate resource requirements to 
address changes that occur between budget formulation and execution. 
The NRC will continue to evaluate programmatic efficiencies and make 
changes as appropriate.
    No changes were made to this final rule in response to these 
comments.

K. Comments on Matters Not Related to This Rulemaking

    Several commenters raised issues outside the scope of the FY 2024 
fee rule. Commenters raised concerns with the agency's budgeting 
process and making changes to future budgets, and on the NRC's overall 
licensing processes. These matters are outside the scope of this final 
rule. The primary purpose of the rule is to update the NRC's fee 
schedules to recover approximately 100 percent of the NRC's total 
budget authority for the current fiscal year, less the budget authority 
for excluded activities, and to make other necessary corrections or 
appropriate changes to specific aspects of the NRC's fee regulations to 
ensure compliance with NEIMA.
    The NRC understands the importance of examining and improving the 
efficiency of its operations and the prioritization of its regulatory 
activities. Accordingly, the NRC continues to seek improvements and 
efficiencies in NRC operations and enhancing the agency's approach to 
regulating while maintaining safety and security.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended 
(RFA),\3\ the NRC has prepared a regulatory flexibility analysis 
related to this final rule. The regulatory flexibility analysis is 
available as indicated in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of 
this document.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ 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, 
Public Law 104-121, Title II, 110 Stat. 847 (1996).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Regulatory Analysis

    Under NEIMA, the NRC is required to recover, to the maximum extent 
practicable, approximately 100 percent of its annual budget for FY 2024 
less the budget authority for excluded activities. The NRC established 
fee methodology guidelines for 10 CFR part 170 in 1978 and established 
additional fee methodology guidelines for 10 CFR part 171 in 1986. In 
subsequent rulemakings, the NRC has adjusted its fees without changing 
the underlying principles of its fee policy to ensure that the NRC 
continues to comply with the statutory requirements for cost recovery.
    In this final rule, the NRC continues this longstanding approach. 
Therefore, the NRC did not identify any alternatives to the current fee 
structure guidelines and did not prepare a regulatory analysis for this 
final rule.

VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The NRC has determined that the backfit and issue finality 
provisions, Sec. Sec.  50.109, ``Backfitting''; 52.39, ``Finality of 
early site permit determinations''; 52.63, ``Finality of standard 
design certifications''; 52.83, ``Finality of referenced NRC approvals; 
partial initial decision on site suitability''; 52.98, ``Finality of 
combined licenses; information requests''; 52.145, ``Finality of 
standard design approvals; information requests''; 52.171, ``Finality 
of manufacturing licenses; information requests''; and 70.76, 
``Backfitting,'' do not apply to this final rule and that a backfit 
analysis is not required because these amendments do not require the 
modification of, or addition to, (1) systems, structures, components, 
or the design of a facility; (2) the design approval or manufacturing 
license for a facility; or (3) 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 wrote 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).

IX. 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.

X. 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 
OMB, approval number 3150-0190.

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 of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 801-808). OMB has found it to be a major rule as 
defined in the Congressional Review Act.

[[Page 51809]]

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 is 
amending the licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its 
licensees and applicants, as necessary, to recover, to the maximum 
extent practicable, approximately 100 percent of its annual budget for 
FY 2024 less the budget authority for excluded activities, as required 
by NEIMA. 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 2023 fee 
rule. The compliance guide was developed when the NRC completed the 
small entity biennial review for FY 2023. The NRC plans to continue to 
use this compliance guide for FY 2024 and has relabeled the compliance 
guide to reflect the current FY. This compliance guide is available as 
indicated in the ``Availability of Documents'' section 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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                ADAMS Accession No./FR
                 Documents                        citation/web link
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NUREG-1100, Volume 39, ``Congressional       ML23069A000.
 Budget Justification: Fiscal Year 2024''
 (March 2023).
FY 2024 Final Rule Work Papers.............  ML24155A214.
OMB Circular A-25, ``User Charges''........  https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Circular-025.pdf.
SECY-05-0164, ``Annual Fee Calculation       ML052580332.
 Method,'' dated September 15, 2005.
``Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery    80 FR 37432.
 for Fiscal Year 2015,'' dated June 30,
 2015.
``Variable Annual Fee Structure for Small    81 FR 32617.
 Modular Reactors,'' dated May 24, 2016.
``Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery    88 FR 39120.
 for FY 2023,'' dated June 15, 2023.
``Revision of Fee Schedules; 100% Fee        64 FR 31448.
 Recovery for FY 1999,'' dated June 10,
 1999.
Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for  67 FR 42612.
 FY 2002,'' dated June 24, 2002.
``Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery    71 FR 30722.
 for FY 2006,'' dated May 30, 2006.
FY 2024 Regulatory Flexibility Analysis....  ML24123A027.
FY 2024 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission   ML23342A134.
 Small Entity Compliance Guide.
``Plain Language in Government Writing,''    63 FR 31885.
 dated June 10, 1998.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 2

    Administrative practice and procedure, Antitrust, Byproduct 
material, Classified information, Confidential business information, 
Freedom of information, Environmental protection, Hazardous waste, 
Nuclear energy, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sex 
discrimination, Source material, Special nuclear material, Waste 
treatment and disposal.

10 CFR Part 15

    Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Debt collection.

10 CFR Part 37

    Byproduct material, Criminal penalties, Exports, Hazardous 
materials transportation, Imports, Licensed material, Nuclear 
materials, Penalties, Radioactive materials, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Security measures.

10 CFR Part 73

    Criminal penalties, Exports, Hazardous materials transportation, 
Imports, Nuclear energy, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and 
reactors, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security 
measures.

10 CFR Part 110

    Administrative practice and procedure, Classified information, 
Criminal penalties, Exports, Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear 
energy, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Scientific 
equipment.

10 CFR Part 140

    Insurance, Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear materials, Nuclear 
power plants and reactors, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

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 making 
the following amendments to 10 CFR parts 2, 15, 37, 73, 110, 140, 170 
and 171:

PART 2--AGENCY RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

0
1. The authority citation for part 2 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 29, 53, 62, 63, 81, 
102, 103, 104, 105, 161, 181, 182, 183, 184, 186, 189, 191, 234 (42 
U.S.C. 2039, 2073, 2092, 2093, 2111, 2132, 2133, 2134, 2135, 2201, 
2231, 2232, 2233, 2234, 2236, 2239, 2241, 2282); Energy 
Reorganization Act of 1974, secs. 201, 206 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5846); 
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, secs. 114(f), 134, 135, 141 (42 
U.S.C. 10134(f), 10154, 10155, 10161); Administrative Procedure Act 
(5 U.S.C. 552, 553, 554, 557, 558); National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note. Section 2.205(j) 
also issued under 28 U.S.C. 2461 note.


0
2. In Sec.  2.205, revise paragraph (i) to read as follows.

[[Page 51810]]

Sec.  2.205  Civil Penalties.

* * * * *
    (i) Except when payment is made after compromise or mitigation by 
the Department of Justice or as ordered by a court of the United 
States, following reference of the matter to the Attorney General for 
collection, payment of civil penalties imposed under section 234 of the 
Act are to be made payable to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
in U.S. funds. The payments are to be made by electronic fund transfer 
using the electronic payment methods accepted at www.Pay.gov. Federal 
agencies may also make payments by Intra-Governmental Payment and 
Collection (IPAC). All payments are to be made in accordance with the 
specific payment instructions provided with Notices of Violation that 
propose civil penalties and Orders Imposing Civil Monetary Penalties.
* * * * *

PART 15--DEBT COLLECTION PROCEDURES

0
3. The authority citation for part 15 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 161, 186 (42 U.S.C. 
2201, 2236); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 
5841); 5 U.S.C. 5514; 26 U.S.C. 6402; 31 U.S.C. 3701, 3713, 3716, 
3719, 3720A; 42 U.S.C. 664; 44 U.S.C. 3504 note; 31 CFR parts 900 
through 904; 31 CFR part 285; E.O. 12146, 44 FR 42657, 3 CFR, 1979 
Comp., p. 409; E.O. 12988, 61 FR 4729, 3 CFR, 1996 Comp., p. 157.


0
4. In Sec.  15.35, revise paragraph (c) introductory text to read as 
follows:


Sec.  15.35  Payments.

* * * * *
    (c) To whom payment is made. Payment of a debt is to be made 
payable to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The payments are to 
be made in U.S. funds using the electronic payment methods accepted at 
www.Pay.gov. Federal agencies may also make payment by Intra 
Governmental Payment and Collection (IPAC). Payments should be made to 
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission unless payment is--
* * * * *

PART 37--PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF CATEGORY 1 AND CATEGORY 2 
QUANTITIES OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

0
5. The authority citation for part 37 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 53, 81, 103, 
104, 147, 148, 149, 161, 182, 183, 223, 234, 274 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 
2073, 2111, 2133, 2134, 2167, 2168, 2169, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2273, 
2282, 2021); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, secs. 201, 202 (42 
U.S.C. 5841, 5842); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.



0
6. In Sec.  37.27, revise paragraph (c)(2) to read as follows:


Sec.  37.27  Requirements for criminal history records checks of 
individuals granted unescorted access to category 1 or category 2 
quantities of radioactive material.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (2) Fees for the processing of fingerprint checks are due upon 
application. Licensees shall submit payment made payable to the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The payments are to be made in U.S. 
funds using the electronic payment methods accepted at www.Pay.gov. For 
guidance on making electronic payments, contact the Division of 
Physical and Cyber Security Policy by emailing 
[email protected]. Combined payment for multiple applications 
is acceptable. The Commission publishes the amount of the fingerprint 
check application fee on the NRC's public website. (To find the current 
fee amount, go to the Licensee Criminal History Records Checks & 
Firearms Background Check information page at https://www.nrc.gov/security/chp.html and see the link for How do I determine how much to 
pay for the request?)
* * * * *

PART 73--PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF PLANTS AND MATERIALS

0
7. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 53, 147, 149, 161, 
161A, 170D, 170E, 170H, 170I, 223, 229, 234, 1701 (42 U.S.C. 2073, 
2167, 2169, 2201, 2201a, 2210d, 2210e, 2210h, 2210i, 2273, 2278a, 
2282, 2297f); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, secs. 201, 202 (42 
U.S.C. 5841, 5842); Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, secs. 135, 141 
(42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.

    Section 73.37(b)(2) also issued under Sec. 301, Public Law 96-
295, 94 Stat. 789 (42 U.S.C. 5841 note).


0
8. In Sec.  73.17, revise paragraph (m)(1) to read as follows:


Sec.  73.17  Firearms background checks for armed security personnel.

* * * * *
    (m) * * *
    (1) Fees for the processing of firearms background checks are due 
upon application. The fee for the processing of a firearms background 
check consists of a fingerprint fee and a NICS check fee. Licensees 
must submit payment with the application for the processing of 
fingerprints, and payment must be made payable to the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission. The payments are to be made in U.S. funds using 
the electronic payment methods accepted at www.Pay.gov. Licensees can 
find fee information for firearms background checks on the NRC's public 
website at https://www.nrc.gov/security/chp.html.
* * * * *

0
9. In Sec.  73.57, revise paragraph (d)(3)(i) to read as follows:


Sec.  73.57  Requirements for criminal history records checks of 
individuals granted unescorted access to a nuclear power facility, a 
non-power reactor, or access to Safeguards Information.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (3) * * *
    (i) Fees for the processing of fingerprint checks are due upon 
application. Licensees shall submit payment with the application for 
the processing of fingerprints, and payment must be made payable to the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The payments are to be made in U.S. 
funds using the electronic payment methods accepted at www.Pay.gov. 
(For guidance on making payments, contact the Criminal history Program, 
Division of Physical and Cyber Security Policy at 301-415-7513). 
Combined payment for multiple applications is acceptable.
* * * * *

PART 110--EXPORT AND IMPORT OF NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL

0
10. The authority citation for part 110 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 51, 53, 54, 57, 
62, 63, 64, 65, 81, 82, 103, 104, 109, 111, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 
127, 128, 129, 133, 134, 161, 170H, 181, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 
189, 223, 234 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2071, 2073, 2074, 2077, 2092, 2093, 
2094, 2095, 2111, 2112, 2133, 2134, 2139, 2141, 2151, 2152, 2153, 
2154, 2155, 2156, 2157, 2158, 2160c, 2160d, 2201, 2210h, 2231, 2232, 
2233, 2234, 2236, 2237, 2239, 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act 
of 1974, sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); Administrative Procedure Act (5 
U.S.C. 552, 553); 42 U.S.C. 2139a, 2155a; 44 U.S.C. 3504 note. 
Section 110.1(b) also issued under 22 U.S.C. 2403; 22 U.S.C. 2778a; 
50 App. U.S.C. 2401 et seq.


0
11. In Sec.  110.64, revise paragraph (e) to read as follows:


Sec.  110.64  Civil penalty.

* * * * *
    (e) Except when the matter has been referred to the Attorney 
General for collection, payment of penalties shall be made in U.S. 
funds using the electronic

[[Page 51811]]

payment methods accepted at www.Pay.gov.
* * * * *

PART 140--FINANCIAL PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS AND INDEMNITY 
AGREEMENTS

0
12. 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.


0
13. In Sec.  140.7, revise paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  140.7  Fees.

* * * * *
    (d) Indemnity fee payments are to made payable to the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission. The payments are to be made in U.S. funds using 
the electronic payment methods accepted at www.Pay.gov. Federal 
agencies may also make payments by Intra-Governmental Payment and 
Collection (IPAC). Specific instructions for making payments may be 
obtained by contacting the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at 
301-415-7554.

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

0
14. 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. 2215; 31 U.S.C. 901, 902, 9701; 44 
U.S.C. 3504 note.

0
15. In Sec.  170.12, revise paragraph (f) to read as follows:


Sec.  170.12  Payment of Fees.

* * * * *
    (f) Method of payment. All fee payments under this part are to be 
made payable to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The payments 
are to be made in U.S. funds using the electronic payment methods 
accepted at www.Pay.gov. Specific instructions for making payments may 
be obtained by contacting the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at 
301-415-7554. In accordance with Department of the Treasury 
requirements, refunds will only be made upon receipt of information on 
the payee's financial institution and bank accounts.
* * * * *


Sec.  170.20  [Amended]

0
16. In Sec.  170.20, remove the dollar amount ``$300'' and add in its 
place the dollar amount ``$317''.

0
17. In Sec.  170.31, revise table 1 to read as follows:


Sec.  170.31  Schedule of fees for materials licenses and other 
regulatory services, including inspections, and import and export 
licenses.

* * * * *

          Table 1 to Sec.   170.31--Schedule of Materials Fees
                     [See footnotes at end of table]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Category of materials licenses and type of
                   fees \1\                           Fees \2\ \3\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Special nuclear material: \11\
    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) \6\ [Program
         Code(s): 21213].
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in             Full Cost.
         Dispersible Form Used for Fabrication
         of Power Reactor Fuel \6\ [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.\6\
        (a) Facilities with limited operations  Full Cost.
         \6\ [Program Code(s): 21240, 21310,
         21320].
        (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment           Full Cost.
         demonstration facilities.\6\ [Program
         Code(s): 21205].
        (c) Others, including hot cell          Full Cost.
         facilities.\6\ [Program Code(s):
         21130, 21131, 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).\6\ [Program
     Code(s): 23200].
    C. Licenses for possession and use of       $1,500.
     special 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.\4\ Application
     [Program Code(s): 22140].
    D. All other special nuclear material       $2,900.
     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 \6\ [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\ \6\
     [Program Code(s): 22155].
2. Source material: \11\
    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.\6\ [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.\6\
        (a) Conventional and Heap Leach         Full Cost.
         facilities \6\ [Program Code(s):
         11100].
        (b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities   Full Cost.
         \6\ [Program Code(s): 11500].
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery           Full Cost.
         facilities \6\ [Program Code(s):
         11510].
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities   Full Cost.
         \6\ [Program Code(s): 11550].
        (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities \6\   Full Cost.
         [Program Code(s): 11555].
        (f) Other facilities \6\ [Program       Full Cost.
         Code(s): 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) \6\ [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) \6\ [Program Code(s):
     12010].

[[Page 51812]]

 
    B. Licenses which authorize the             $1,400.
     possession, use, and/or installation of
     source material for shielding.\7\ \8\
     Application [Program Code(s): 11210].
    C. Licenses to distribute items containing  $6,800.
     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   $3,100.
     to persons generally licensed under part
     40 of this chapter. Application [Program
     Code(s): 11230, 11231].
    E. Licenses for possession and use of       $3,000.
     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.      $3,000.
     Application [Program Code(s): 11200,
     11220, 11221, 11300, 11800, 11810, 11820].
3. Byproduct material: \11\
    A. Licenses of broad scope for the          $14,800.
     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. Number of
     locations of use: 1-5. Application
     [Program Code(s): 03211, 03212, 03213].
        (1). Licenses of broad scope for the    $19,700.
         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. Number of locations of
         use: 6-20. Application [Program
         Code(s): 04010, 04012, 04014].
        (2). Licenses of broad scope for the    $24,600.
         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. Number of locations of
         use: more than 20. Application
         [Program Code(s): 04011, 04013,
         04015].
    B. Other licenses for possession and use    $4,100.
     of byproduct material issued under part
     30 of this chapter for processing or
     manufacturing of items containing
     byproduct material for commercial
     distribution. Number of locations of use:
     1-5. Application [Program Code(s): 03214,
     03215, 22135, 22162].
        (1). Other licenses for possession and  $5,400.
         use of byproduct material issued
         under part 30 of this chapter for
         processing or manufacturing of items
         containing byproduct material for
         commercial distribution. Number of
         locations of use: 6-20. Application
         [Program Code(s): 04110, 04112,
         04114, 04116].
        (2). Other licenses for possession and  $6,800.
         use of byproduct material issued
         under part 30 of this chapter for
         processing or manufacturing of items
         containing byproduct material for
         commercial distribution. Number of
         locations of use: more than 20.
         Application [Program Code(s): 04111,
         04113, 04115, 04117].
    C. Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.         $5,900.
     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). Number of locations of use:
     1-5. Application [Program Code(s): 02500,
     02511, 02513].
        (1). Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   $7,900.
          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). Number of
         locations of use: 6-20. Application
         [Program Code(s): 04210, 04212,
         04214].
        (2). Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   $9,800.
          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). Number of
         locations of use: more than 20.
         Application [Program Code(s): 04211,
         04213, 04215].
    D. [Reserved].............................  N/A.
    E. Licenses for possession and use of       $3,600.
     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  $7,400.
     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].
    G. Licenses for possession and use of       $70,700.
     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  $7,600.
     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  $11,700.
     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, 03253, 03256].
    J. Licenses issued under subpart B of part  $2,300.
     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].

[[Page 51813]]

 
    K. Licenses issued under subpart B of part  $1,300.
     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   $6,200.
     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. Application
     [Program Code(s): 01100, 01110, 01120,
     03610, 03611, 03612, 03613].
        (1) Licenses of broad scope for         $8,300.
         possession and use of byproduct
         material issued under parts 30 and 33
         of this chapter for research and
         development that do not authorize
         commercial distribution. Number of
         locations of use: 6-20. Application
         [Program Code(s): 04610, 04612,
         04614, 04616, 04618, 04620, 04622].
        (2) Licenses of broad scope for         $10,400.
         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: more than 20.
         Application [Program Code(s): 04611,
         04613, 04615, 04617, 04619, 04621,
         04623].
    M. Other licenses for possession and use    $9,400.
     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     $10,100.
     other licensees, except: (1) Licenses
     that authorize only calibration and/or
     leak testing services are subject to the
     fees specified in fee Category 3.P.; and
     (2) Licenses that authorize waste
     disposal services are subject to the fees
     specified in fee Categories 4.A., 4.B.,
     and 4.C.\13\ Application [Program
     Code(s): 03219, 03225, 03226].
    O. Licenses for possession and use of       $11,500.
     byproduct material issued under part 34
     of this chapter for industrial
     radiography operations. Number of
     locations of use: 1-5. Application
     [Program Code(s): 03310, 03320].
        (1). Licenses for possession and use    $15,300.
         of byproduct material issued under
         part 34 of this chapter for
         industrial radiography operations.
         Number of locations of use: 6-20.
         Application [Program Code(s): 04310,
         04312].
        (2). Licenses for possession and use    $19,200.
         of byproduct material issued under
         part 34 of this chapter for
         industrial radiography operations.
         Number of locations of use: more than
         20. Application [Program Code(s):
         04311, 04313].
    P. All other specific byproduct material    $7,800.
     licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
     through 9.D.\9\ Number of locations of
     use: 1-5. Application [Program Code(s):
     02400, 02410, 03120, 03121, 03122, 03123,
     03124, 03130, 03140, 03220, 03221, 03222,
     03800, 03810, 22130].
        (1). All other specific byproduct       $10,400.
         material licenses, except those in
         Categories 4.A. through 9.D.\9\
         Number of locations of use: 6-20.
         Application [Program Code(s): 04410,
         04412, 04414, 04416, 04418, 04420,
         04422, 04424, 04426, 04428, 04430,
         04432, 04434, 04436, 04438].
        (2). All other specific byproduct       $13,000.
         material licenses, except those in
         Categories 4.A. through 9.D.\9\
         Number of locations of use: more than
         20. Application [Program Code(s):
         04411, 04413, 04415, 04417, 04419,
         04421, 04423, 04425, 04427, 04429,
         04431, 04433, 04435, 04437, 04439].
    Q. Registration of a device(s) generally    $2,200.
     licensed under part 31 of this chapter.
     Registration.
    R. Possession of items or products
     containing radium-226 identified in Sec.
      31.12 of this chapter which exceed the
     number of items or limits specified in
     that section.\5\
        1. Possession of quantities exceeding   $2,900.
         the number of items or limits in Sec.
           31.12(a)(4) or (5) of this chapter
         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   $2,800.
         10 times the number of items or
         limits specified in Sec.
         31.12(a)(4) or (5) of this chapter.
         Application [Program Code(s): 02710].
    S. Licenses for production of accelerator-  $16,200.
     produced radionuclides. Application
     [Program Code(s): 03210].
4. Waste disposal and processing: \11\
    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    $7,900.
     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    $5,700.
     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: \11\
    A. Licenses for possession and use of       $5,200.
     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:\11\
    A. Licenses for commercial collection and   $25,200.
     laundry of items contaminated with
     byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material. Application
     [Program Code(s): 03218].
7. Medical licenses: \11\
    A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,  $12,700.
     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. This
     category also includes the possession and
     use of source material for shielding when
     authorized on the same license. Number of
     locations of use: 1-5. Application
     [Program Code(s): 02300, 02310].

[[Page 51814]]

 
        (1). Licenses issued under parts 30,    $16,800.
         35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for
         human use of byproduct material,
         source material, or special nuclear
         material in sealed sources contained
         in gamma stereotactic radiosurgery
         units, teletherapy devices, or
         similar beam therapy devices. This
         category also includes the possession
         and use of source material for
         shielding when authorized on the same
         license. Number of locations of use:
         6-20. Application [Program Code(s):
         04510, 04512].
        (2). Licenses issued under parts 30,    $21,000.
         35, 40, and 70 of this chapter for
         human use of byproduct material,
         source material, or special nuclear
         material in sealed sources contained
         in gamma stereotactic radiosurgery
         units, teletherapy devices, or
         similar beam therapy devices. This
         category also includes the possession
         and use of source material for
         shielding when authorized on the same
         license. Number of locations of use:
         more than 20. Application [Program
         Code(s): 04511, 04513].
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to        $9,900.
     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. Number of locations of use: 1-5.
     Application [Program Code(s): 02110].
        (1). Licenses of broad scope issued to  $13,100.
         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.
         Number of locations of use: 6-20.
         Application [Program Code(s): 04710].
        (2). Licenses of broad scope issued to  $16,400.
         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.
         Number of locations of use: more than
         20. Application [Program Code(s):
         04711].
    C. Other licenses issued under parts 30,    $10,800.
     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. This
     category also includes the possession and
     use of source material for shielding when
     authorized on the same license.\10\
     Number of locations of use: 1-5.
     Application [Program Code(s): 02120,
     02121, 02200, 02201, 02210, 02220, 02230,
     02231, 02240, 22160].
        (1). Other licenses issued under parts  $14,400.
         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. This category also includes
         the possession and use of source
         material for shielding when
         authorized on the same license.\10\
         Number of locations of use: 6-20.
         Application [Program Code(s): 04810,
         04812, 04814, 04816, 04818, 04820,
         04822, 04824, 04826, 04828].
        (2). Other licenses issued under parts  $18,000.
         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. This category also includes
         the possession and use of source
         material for shielding when
         authorized on the same license.\10\
         Number of locations of use: more than
         20. Application [Program Code(s):
         04811,04813, 04815, 04817, 04819,
         04821,04823, 04825, 04827, 04829].
8. Civil defense: \11\
    A. Licenses for possession and use of       $2,900.
     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          $23,200.
     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          $10,300.
     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      $6,000.
     containing byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material,
     except reactor fuel, for commercial
     distribution. Application--each source.
    D. Safety evaluation of sealed sources      $1,200.
     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.
            Inspections.......................  Full Cost.
        2. Users..............................
            Application.......................
            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].

[[Page 51815]]

 
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. Decommissioning/Reclamation \11\
    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 master materials licenses
     (MMLs). The transition to this fee
     category occurs when a licensee has
     permanently ceased principal activities.
     [Program Code(s): 03900, 11900, 21135,
     21215, 21325, 22200].
    B. Site-specific decommissioning            Full Cost.
     activities associated with unlicensed
     sites, including MMLs, regardless of
     whether or not the sites have been
     previously licensed.
15. Import and Export licenses: \12\
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      N/A.
     nuclear materials, including radioactive
     waste requiring Commission and Executive
     Branch review, for example, those actions
     under Sec.   110.40(b) of this chapter.
     Application--new license, or amendment;
     or license exemption request.
    B. Application for export or import of      N/A.
     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
     the 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        N/A.
     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      N/A.
     nuclear material not requiring Commission
     or Executive Branch review, or obtaining
     foreign government assurances.
     Application--new license, or amendment;
     or license exemption request.
    E. Minor amendment of any active export or  N/A.
     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     N/A.
     Category 1 materials requiring Commission
     review (e.g., exceptional circumstance
     review under Sec.   110.42(e)(4) of this
     chapter) and to obtain one government-to-
     government consent for this process. For
     additional consent see fee category 15.I.
     Application--new license, or amendment;
     or license exemption request.
    G. Application for export of appendix P     N/A.
     Category 1 materials requiring Executive
     Branch review and to obtain one
     government-to-government consent for this
     process. For additional consents see fee
     category 15.I. Application--new license,
     or amendment; or license exemption
     request.
    H. Application for export of appendix P     N/A.
     Category 1 materials and to obtain one
     government-to-government consent for this
     process. For additional consents see fee
     category 15.I. Application--new license,
     or amendment; or license exemption
     request.
    I. Requests for each additional government- N/A.
     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     N/A.
     Category 2 materials requiring Commission
     review (e.g., exceptional circumstance
     review under Sec.   110.42(e)(4) of this
     chapter). Application--new license, or
     amendment; or license exemption request.
    K. Applications for export of appendix P    N/A.
     Category 2 materials requiring Executive
     Branch review. Application--new license,
     or amendment; or license exemption
     request.
    L. Application for the export of Category   N/A.
     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     N/A.
     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 conduct       $3,800.
     activities under the reciprocity
     provisions of Sec.   150.20 of this
     chapter. Application.
    17. Master materials licenses of broad      Full Cost.
     scope 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).

[[Page 51816]]

 
    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:
(1) 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.
(i) 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.
(ii) 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.
(2) 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).
(3) 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.
(4) 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).
(5) Generally licensed device registrations under 10 CFR 31.5.
  Submittals of registration information must be accompanied by the
  prescribed fee.
\2\ Fees will be charged for approvals issued under a specific exemption
  provision of the Commission's regulations under title 10 of the Code
  of Federal Regulations (e.g., 10 CFR 30.11, 40.14, 70.14, 73.5, and
  any other sections in effect now or in the future), regardless of
  whether the approval is in the form of a license amendment, letter of
  approval, safety evaluation report, or other form. In addition to the
  fee shown, an applicant may be assessed an additional fee for sealed
  source and device evaluations as shown in fee categories 9.A. through
  9.D.
\3\ Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff
  time multiplied by the appropriate professional hourly rate
  established in Sec.   170.20 in effect when the service is provided,
  and the appropriate contractual support services expended.
\4\ Licensees paying fees under categories 1.A., 1.B., and 1.E. are not
  subject to fees under categories 1.C., 1.D. and 1.F. for sealed
  sources authorized in the same license, except for an application that
  deals only with the sealed sources authorized by the license.
\5\ Persons who possess radium sources that are used for operational
  purposes in another fee category are not also subject to the fees in
  this category. (This exception does not apply if the radium sources
  are possessed for storage only.)
\6\ Licensees subject to fees under fee categories 1.A., 1.B., 1.E., or
  2.A. must pay the largest applicable fee and are not subject to
  additional fees listed in this table.
\7\ Licensees paying fees under 3.C., 3.C.1, or 3.C.2 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., 3.P.1, or 3.P.2 for calibration or leak testing services
  authorized on the same license.
\10\ Licensees paying fees under 7.B., 7.B.1, or 7.B.2 are not subject
  to paying fees under 7.C., 7.C.1, or 7.C.2. for broad scope 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.
\11\ A materials license (or part of a materials license) that
  transitions to fee category 14.A is assessed full-cost fees under 10
  CFR part 170, but is not assessed an annual fee under 10 CFR part 171.
  If only part of a materials license is transitioned to fee category
  14.A, the licensee may be charged annual fees (and any applicable 10
  CFR part 170 fees) for other activities authorized under the license
  that are not in decommissioning status.
\12\ Because the resources for import and export licensing activities
  are identified as a fee-relief activity to be excluded from the fee-
  recoverable budget, import and export licensing actions will not incur
  fees.
\13\ Licensees paying fees under 4.A., 4.B. or 4.C. are not subject to
  paying fees under 3.N. licenses that authorize services for other
  licensees 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
18. 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. 2215; 44 U.S.C. 3504 
note.


0
19. In Sec.  171.15, revise paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2) introductory 
text, (c)(1), (c)(2) introductory text, and paragraph (e) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  171.15  Annual fees: Non-power production or utilization 
licenses, reactor licenses, and independent spent fuel storage 
licenses.

* * * * *
    (b)(1) The FY 2024 annual fee for each operating power reactor that 
must be collected by September 30, 2024, is $5,336,000.
    (2) The FY 2024 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. The 
activities comprising the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning 
base annual fee are shown in paragraphs (c)(2)(i) and (ii) of this 
section. The activities comprising the FY 2024 base annual fee for 
operating power reactors are as follows:
* * * * *
    (c)(1) The FY 2024 annual fee for each power reactor holding a 10 
CFR part 50 license or combined license issued under 10 CFR part 52 
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

[[Page 51817]]

a 10 CFR part 50 license or a 10 CFR part 52 combined license, is 
$326,000.
    (2) The FY 2024 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). The activities comprising the FY 2024 spent fuel storage/
reactor decommissioning rebaselined annual fee are:
* * * * *
    (e) The FY 2024 annual fee for licensees authorized to operate one 
or more non-power production or utilization facilities under a single 
10 CFR part 50 license, unless the reactor is exempted from fees under 
Sec.  171.11(b), is $97,200.

0
20. In Sec.  171.16, revise paragraphs (b) introductory text, (c), and 
(d) 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.

* * * * *
    (b) The FY 2024 annual fee is comprised of a base annual fee and 
associated additional charges. The base FY 2024 annual fee is the sum 
of budgeted costs for the following activities:
* * * * *
    (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 table 1 
to this paragraph (c). Failure to file a small entity certification in 
a timely manner could result in the receipt of a delinquent invoice 
requesting the outstanding balance due and/or denial of any refund that 
might otherwise be due. The small entity fees are as follows:

                        Table 1 to Paragraph (c)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Maximum annual
           NRC small entity classification              fee per licensed
                                                            category
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Businesses Not Engaged in Manufacturing
 (Average gross receipts over the last 5 completed
 fiscal years):
    $555,000 to $8 million...........................             $5,200
    Less than $555,000...............................              1,000
Small Not-For-Profit Organizations (Annual Gross
 Receipts):
    $555,000 to $8 million...........................              5,200
    Less than $555,000...............................              1,000
Manufacturing Entities that Have an Average of 500
 Employees or Fewer:
    35 to 500 employees..............................              5,200
    Fewer than 35 employees..........................              1,000
Small Governmental Jurisdictions (Including publicly
 supported educational institutions) (Population):
    20,000 to 49,999.................................              5,200
    Fewer than 20,000................................              1,000
Educational Institutions that are not State or
 Publicly Supported, and have 500 Employees or Fewer:
    35 to 500 employees..............................              5,200
    Fewer than 35 employees..........................              1,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (d) The FY 2024 annual fees for materials licensees and holders of 
certificates, registrations, or approvals subject to fees under this 
section are shown in table 2 to this paragraph (d):

Table 2 to Paragraph (d)--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          $6,412,000
         Enriched Uranium) \15\ [Program Code(s):
         21213]......................................
        (b) Low Enriched Uranium in Dispersible Form           2,173,000
         Used for Fabrication of Power Reactor Fuel
         \15\ [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 \15\            1,791,000
         [Program Code(s): 21310, 21320].............
        (b) Gas centrifuge enrichment demonstration                  N/A
         facility \15\ [Program Code(s): 21205]......
        (c) Others, including hot cell facility \15\                 N/A
         [Program Code(s): 21130, 21131, 21133]......
    B. Licenses for receipt and storage of spent fuel                N/A
     and reactor-related Greater than Class C (GTCC)
     waste at an independent spent fuel storage
     installation (ISFSI)\11\ \15\ [Program Code(s):
     23200]..........................................
    C. Licenses for possession and use of special                  3,400
     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. [Program Code(s): 22140]

[[Page 51818]]

 
    D. All other special nuclear material licenses,                9,500
     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. [Program Code(s):
     22110, 22111, 22120, 22131, 22136, 22150, 22151,
     22161, 22170, 23100, 23300, 23310]..............
    E. Licenses or certificates for the operation of           2,794,000
     a uranium enrichment facility \15\ [Program
     Code(s): 21200].................................
    F. Licenses for possession and use of special                  5,900
     nuclear materials 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: 22155]....................................
2. Source material:
    A. (1) Licenses for possession and use of source           1,361,000
     material for refining uranium mill concentrates
     to uranium hexafluoride or for deconverting
     uranium hexafluoride in the production of
     uranium oxides for disposal.\15\ [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                              N/A
         facilities.\15\ [Program Code(s): 11100]....
        (b) Basic In Situ Recovery facilities.\15\                53,200
         [Program Code(s): 11500]....................
        (c) Expanded In Situ Recovery facilities \15\                N/A
         [Program Code(s): 11510]....................
        (d) In Situ Recovery Resin facilities.\15\                \5\N/A
         [Program Code(s): 11550]....................
         (e) Resin Toll Milling facilities.\15\                   \5\N/A
         [Program Code(s): 11555]....................
         (f) Other facilities \6\ [Program Code(s):              \5\ N/A
         11700]......................................
    (3) Licenses that authorize the receipt of                   \5\ N/A
     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) \15\ [Program
     Code(s): 11600, 12000]..........................
    (4) Licenses that authorize the receipt of                       N/A
     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) \15\ [Program Code(s): 12010]..
    B. Licenses which authorize the possession, use,               3,700
     and/or installation of source material for
     shielding.\16\ \17\Application [Program Code(s):
     11210]..........................................
    C. Licenses to distribute items containing source             14,000
     material to persons exempt from the licensing
     requirements of part 40 of this chapter.
     [Program Code: 11240]...........................
    D. Licenses to distribute source material to                   6,900
     persons generally licensed under part 40 of this
     chapter. [Program Code(s): 11230 and 11231].....
    E. Licenses for possession and use of source                   8,800
     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               11,800
     Code(s): 11200, 11220, 11221, 11300, 11800,
     11810, 11820]...................................
3. Byproduct material:
    A. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use             38,000
     of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and
     33 of this chapter for processing or
     manufacturing of items containing byproduct
     material for commercial distribution. Number of
     locations of use: 1-5. [Program Code(s): 03211,
     03212, 03213]...................................
        (1). Licenses of broad scope for the                      50,500
         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. Number of locations of use: 6-
         20. [Program Code(s): 04010, 04012, 04014]..
        (2). Licenses of broad scope for the                      63,000
         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. Number of locations of use:
         more than 20. [Program Code(s): 04011,
         04013, 04015]...............................
    B. Other licenses for possession and use of                   12,900
     byproduct material issued under part 30 of this
     chapter for processing or manufacturing of items
     containing byproduct material for commercial
     distribution. Number of locations of use: 1-5.
     [Program Code(s): 03214, 03215, 22135, 22162]...
        (1). Other licenses for possession and use of             17,100
         byproduct material issued under part 30 of
         this chapter for processing or manufacturing
         of items containing byproduct material for
         commercial distribution. Number of locations
         of use: 6-20. [Program Code(s): 04110,
         04112, 04114, 04116]........................
        (2). Other licenses for possession and use of             21,400
         byproduct material issued under part 30 of
         this chapter for processing or manufacturing
         of items containing byproduct material for
         commercial distribution. Number of locations
         of use: more than 20. [Program Code(s):
         04111, 04113, 04115, 04117].................
    C. Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   32.72 and/              12,900
     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) of this chapter. Number of
     locations of use: 1-5. [Program Code(s): 02500,
     02511, 02513]...................................
        (1). Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   32.72             17,200
         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). Number of locations of use: 6-
         20. [Program Code(s): 04210, 04212, 04214]..

[[Page 51819]]

 
        (2). Licenses issued under Sec.  Sec.   32.72             23,500
         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). Number of locations of use:
         more than 20. [Program Code(s): 04211,
         04213, 04215]...............................
    D. [Reserved]....................................            \5\ N/A
    E. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct               12,100
     material in sealed sources for irradiation of
     materials in which the source is not removed
     from its shield (self-shielded units). [Program
     Code(s): 03510, 03520]..........................
    F. Licenses for possession and use of less than               12,500
     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 in
     which the source is not exposed for irradiation
     purposes. [Program Code(s): 03511]..............
    G. Licenses for possession and use of greater                105,800
     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 in
     which the source is not exposed for irradiation
     purposes. [Program Code(s): 03521]..............
    H. Licenses issued under subpart A of part 32 of              13,000
     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              19,200
     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, 03253,
     03256]..........................................
    J. Licenses issued under subpart B of part 32 of               4,900
     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               3,700
     this chapter to distribute items containing
     byproduct material or quantities of byproduct
     material that do not require sealed source and/
     or device review to persons generally licensed
     under part 31 of this chapter, except specific
     licenses authorizing redistribution of items
     that have been authorized for distribution to
     persons generally licensed under part 31 of this
     chapter. [Program Code(s): 03242, 03244]........
    L. Licenses of broad scope for possession and use             17,600
     of byproduct material issued under parts 30 and
     33 of this chapter for research and development
     that do not authorize commercial distribution.
     Number of locations of use: 1-5. [Program
     Code(s): 01100, 01110, 01120, 03610, 03611,
     03612, 03613]...................................
        (1) Licenses of broad scope for possession                23,400
         and use of product material issued under
         parts 30 and 33 of this chapter for research
         and development that do not authorize
         commercial distribution. Number of locations
         of use: 6-20. [Program Code(s): 04610,
         04612, 04614, 04616, 04618, 04620, 04622]...
        (2) Licenses of broad scope for possession                29,200
         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: more than 20. [Program Code(s):
         04611, 04613, 04615, 04617, 04619, 04621,
         04623]......................................
    M. Other licenses for possession and use of                   18,400
     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                 20,100
     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.\21\ [Program Code(s): 03219, 03225, 03226].
    O. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct               43,700
     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. Number of locations of use: 1-5.
     [Program Code(s): 03310, 03320].................
        (1). Licenses for possession and use of                   58,500
         byproduct 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.
         Number of locations of use: 6-20. [Program
         Code(s): 04310, 04312]......................
        (2). Licenses for possession and use of                   73,100
         byproduct 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.
         Number of locations of use: more than 20.
         [Program Code(s): 04311, 04313].............
    P. All other specific byproduct material                      14,600
     licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
     through 9.D.\18\ Number of locations of use: 1-
     5. [Program Code(s): 02400, 02410, 03120, 03121,
     03122, 03123, 03124, 03140, 03130, 03220, 03221,
     03222, 03800, 03810, 22130].....................
        (1). All other specific byproduct material                19,500
         licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
         through 9.D.\18\ Number of locations of use:
         6-20. [Program Code(s): 04410, 04412, 04414,
         04416, 04418, 04420, 04422, 04424, 04426,
         04428, 04430, 04432, 04434, 04436, 04438]...
        (2). All other specific byproduct material                24,400
         licenses, except those in Categories 4.A.
         through 9.D.\18\ Number of locations of use:
         more than 20. [Program Code(s): 04411,
         04413, 04415, 04417, 04419, 04421, 04423,
         04425, 04427, 04429, 04431, 04433, 04435,
         04437, 04439]...............................

[[Page 51820]]

 
    Q. Registration of devices generally licensed               \13\ N/A
     under part 31 of this chapter...................
    R. Possession of items or products containing
     radium-226 identified in Sec.   31.12 of this
     chapter which exceed the number of items or
     limits specified in that section:\14\...........
        (1). Possession of quantities exceeding the                8,400
         number of items or limits in Sec.
         31.12(a)(4), or (5) of this chapter but less
         than or equal to 10 times the number of
         items or limits specified. [Program Code(s):
         02700]......................................
        (2). Possession of quantities exceeding 10                 8,700
         times the number of items or limits
         specified in Sec.   31.12(a)(4) or (5) of
         this chapter. [Program Code(s): 02710]......
    S. Licenses for production of accelerator-                    35,300
     produced radionuclides. [Program Code(s): 03210]
4. Waste disposal and processing:
    A. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt              27,400
     of waste byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material from other persons for
     the purpose of contingency storage or commercial
     land disposal by the licensee; or licenses
     authorizing contingency storage of low-level
     radioactive waste at the site of nuclear power
     reactors; or licenses for receipt of waste from
     other persons for incineration or other
     treatment, packaging of resulting waste and
     residues, and transfer of packages to another
     person authorized to receive or dispose of waste
     material. [Program Code(s): 03231, 03233, 03236,
     06100, 06101]...................................
    B. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt              20,400
     of waste byproduct material, source material, or
     special nuclear material from other persons for
     the purpose of packaging or repackaging the
     material. The licensee will dispose of the
     material by transfer to another person
     authorized to receive or dispose of the
     material. [Program Code(s): 03234]..............
    C. Licenses specifically authorizing the receipt              12,100
     of prepackaged waste byproduct material, source
     material, or special nuclear material from other
     persons. The licensee will dispose of the
     material by transfer to another person
     authorized to receive or dispose of the
     material. [Program Code(s): 03232]..............
5. Well logging:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct               16,200
     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             39,600
     of items contaminated with byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear material.
     [Program Code(s): 03218]........................
7. Medical licenses:
    A. Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40, and 70             37,600
     of this chapter for human use of byproduct
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material in sealed sources contained in gamma
     stereotactic radiosurgery units, teletherapy
     devices, or similar beam therapy devices. This
     category also includes the possession and use of
     source material for shielding when authorized on
     the same license.\9\ \17\ Number of locations of
     use: 1-5. [Program Code(s): 02300, 02310].......
        (1). Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,              50,000
         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. This category also includes
         the possession and use of source material
         for shielding when authorized on the same
         license.\9\ \17\ Number of locations of use:
         6-20. [Program Code(s): 04510, 04512].......
        (2). Licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,              62,500
         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. This category also includes
         the possession and use of source material
         for shielding when authorized on the same
         license.\9\ \17\ Number of locations of use:
         more than 20. [Program Code(s): 04511,
         04513]......................................
    B. Licenses of broad scope issued to medical                  53,000
     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\ \17\ Number of locations of
     use: 1-5. [Program Code(s): 02110]..............
        (1). Licenses of broad scope issued to                    70,600
         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.\9\ \17\
         Number of locations of use: 6-20. [Program
         Code(s): 04710].............................
        (2). Licenses of broad scope issued to                    88,000
         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.\9\ \17\
         Number of locations of use: more than 20.
         [Program Code(s): 04711]....................
    C. Other licenses issued under parts 30, 35, 40,              21,400
     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. This category also includes
     the possession and use of source material for
     shielding when authorized on the same
     license.\9\ \17\ \19\ Number of locations of
     use: 1-5. [Program Code(s): 02120, 02121, 02200,
     02201, 02210, 02220, 02230, 02231, 02240, 22160]

[[Page 51821]]

 
        (1). Other licenses issued under parts 30,                28,600
         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. This
         category also includes the possession and
         use of source material for shielding when
         authorized on the same license.\9\ \17\ \19\
         Number of locations of use: 6-20. [Program
         Code(s): 04810, 04812, 04814, 04816, 04818,
         04820, 04822, 04824, 04826, 04828]..........
        (2). Other licenses issued under parts 30,                36,600
         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. This
         category also includes the possession and
         use of source material for shielding when
         authorized on the same license.\9\ \17\ \19\
         Number of locations of use: more than 20.
         [Program Code(s): 04811, 04813, 04815,
         04817, 04819, 04821, 04823, 04825, 04827,
         04829]......................................
8. Civil defense:
    A. Licenses for possession and use of byproduct                8,400
     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             29,800
     of devices or products containing byproduct
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material, except reactor fuel devices, for
     commercial distribution.........................
    B. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation             13,200
     of devices or products containing byproduct
     material, source material, or special nuclear
     material manufactured in accordance with the
     unique specifications of, and for use by, a
     single applicant, except reactor fuel devices...
    C. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation              7,700
     of sealed sources containing byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear material,
     except reactor fuel, for commercial distribution
    D. Registrations issued for the safety evaluation              1,500
     of sealed sources containing byproduct material,
     source material, or special nuclear material,
     manufactured in accordance with the unique
     specifications of, and for use by, a single
     applicant, except reactor fuel..................
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                     \6\ N/A
         plutonium air packages......................
        2. Other Casks...............................            \6\ N/A
    B. Quality assurance program approvals issued
     under part 71 of this chapter...................
        1. Users and Fabricators.....................            \6\ N/A
        2. Users.....................................            \6\ N/A
    C. Evaluation of security plans, route approvals,            \6\ N/A
     route surveys, and transportation security
     devices (including immobilization devices)......
11. Standardized spent fuel facilities...............            \6\ N/A
12. Special Projects [Program Code(s): 25110]........            \6\ N/A
13. A. Spent fuel storage cask Certificate of                    \6\ N/A
 Compliance..........................................
    B. General licenses for storage of spent fuel               \12\ N/A
     under Sec.   72.210 of this chapter.............
14. Decommissioning/Reclamation:
    A. Byproduct, source, or special nuclear material        \7\ \20\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). The transition
     to this fee category occurs when a licensee has
     permanently ceased principal activities.
     [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              457,000
 to Government agencies.\15\ [Program Code(s): 03614]
18. Department of Energy:
    A. Certificates of Compliance....................     \10\ 2,331,000
    B. Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act               261,000
     (UMTRCA) activities [Program Code(s): 03237,
     03238]..........................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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 of the current FY, 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.

[[Page 51822]]

 
\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.A, 7.A.1, 7.A.2, 7.B., 7.B.1, 7.B.2,
  7.C, 7.C.1, or 7.C.2.
\10\ This includes Certificates of Compliance issued to the DOE 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 subject to fees under categories 1.A., 1.B., 1.E., 2.A.,
  and licensees paying fees under fee category 17 must pay the largest
  applicable fee and are not subject to additional fees listed in this
  table.
\16\ Licensees paying fees under 3.C. are not subject to fees under 2.B.
  for possession and shielding authorized on the same license.
\17\ Licensees paying fees under 7.A, 7.A.1, 7.A.2, 7.B, 7.B.1, 7.B.2,
  7.C, 7.C.1, or 7.C.2 are not subject to fees under 2.B. for possession
  and shielding authorized on the same license.
\18\ Licensees paying fees under 3.N. are not subject to paying fees
  under 3.P., 3.P.1, or 3.P.2 for calibration or leak testing services
  authorized on the same license.
\19\ Licensees paying fees under 7.B., 7.B.1, or 7.B.2 are not subject
  to paying fees under 7.C., 7.C.1, or 7.C.2 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.
\20\ No annual fee is charged for a materials license (or part of a
  materials license) that has transitioned to this fee category because
  the decommissioning costs will be recovered through 10 CFR part 170
  fees, but annual fees may be charged for other activities authorized
  under the license that are not in decommissioning status.
\21\ Licensees paying fees under 4.A., 4.B. or 4.C. are not subject to
  paying fees under 3.N. licenses that authorize services for other
  licensees authorized on the same license.

* * * * *

0
21. In Sec.  171.19, revise paragraph (a) to read as follows.


Sec.  171.19  Payment.

* * * * *
    (a) Method of payment. All annual fee payments under this part are 
to be made payable to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The 
payments are to be made in U.S. funds using the electronic payment 
methods accepted at www.Pay.gov. Federal agencies may also make payment 
by IntraGovernmental Payment and Collection (IPAC). Specific 
instructions for making payments may be obtained by contacting the 
Office of the Chief Financial Officer at 301-415-7554. In accordance 
with Department of the Treasury requirements, refunds will only be made 
upon receipt of information on the payee's financial institution and 
bank accounts.
* * * * *

    Dated: June 5, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer M. Golder,
Acting Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-13230 Filed 6-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P