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This rule would implement the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, which requires the NRC to recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority in a given fiscal year, less the amounts appropriated from the Waste Incidental to Reprocessing, generic homeland security activities, and Inspector General services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, through fees assessed to licensees. This rulemaking would amend the Commission's fee schedules for licensing, inspection, and annual fees charged to its applicants and licensees. The licensing and inspection fees are established under 10 CFR part 170 and recover the NRC's cost of providing services to identifiable applicants and licensees. Examples of services provided by the NRC for which 10 CFR part 170 fees are assessed include license application reviews, license renewals, license amendment reviews, and inspections. The annual fees established under 10 CFR part 171 recover budgeted costs for generic (e.g., research and rulemaking) and other regulatory activities not recovered under 10 CFR part 170 fees. 

Overall Description of Deadline: The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, requires that the NRC recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, less the amounts appropriated from the Waste Incidental to Reprocessing, generic homeland security activities, and Inspector General services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, through fees assessed to licensees. Under OBRA-90, the NRC is required to collect the fees for FY 2019, by September 30, 2019.

Statement of Need:

The NRC's fee regulations are primarily governed by two laws: 1) the Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 9701), and 2) OBRA-90. The OBRA-90 statute requires the NRC to recover approximately 90 percent of its budget authority through fees; this fee-recovery requirement excludes amounts appropriated for Waste Incidental to Reprocessing, generic homeland security activities, and Inspector General (IG) services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, as well as any amounts appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund. The OBRA-90 statute first requires the NRC to use its IOAA authority to collect user fees for NRC work that provides specific benefits to identifiable applicants and licensees (such as licensing work, inspections, special projects). The regulations at part 170 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) authorize these fees.  Because the NRC's fee recovery under the IOAA (10 CFR part 170) does not equal 90 percent of the NRC's budget authority, the NRC also assesses generic annual fees under 10 CFR part 171 to recover the remaining fees necessary to achieve OBRA-90's 90 percent fee recovery. These annual fees recover generic regulatory costs that are not otherwise collected through 10 CFR part 170.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

The OBRA-90, as amended, requires that the fees for FY 2019 must be collected by September 30, 2019.

Alternatives:

Because this action is mandated by statute and the fees must be assessed through rulemaking, the NRC did not consider alternatives to this action.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

The cost to the NRC's licensees is approximately 90 percent of the NRC FY 2019 budget authority less the amounts appropriated for non-fee items. 

Risks: