§ 170.12 - Payment of fees.

§ 170.12 Payment of fees.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 51811, June 20, 2024.

(a) Application and registration fees. Each application or registration for which a fee is prescribed must be accompanied by a remittance for the full amount of the fee. The NRC will not issue a new license or an amendment increasing the scope of an existing license to a higher fee category before receiving the prescribed application fee. The application or registration fee(s) is charged whether the Commission approves the application or not. The application or registration fee(s) is also charged if the applicant withdraws the application or registration.

(b) Licensing fees.

(1) Licensing fees will be assessed to recover full costs for—

(i) The review of applications for new licenses and approvals;

(ii) The review of applications for amendments to and renewal of existing licenses or approvals;

(iii) Preapplication consultations and reviews; and

(iv) The full cost for project managers assigned to a specific plant or facility, excluding leave time and time spent on generic activities (such as rulemaking).

(2) Full cost fees will be determined based on the professional staff time and appropriate contractual support services expended. The full cost fees for professional staff time will be determined at the professional hourly rates in effect the time the service was provided. The full cost fees are payable upon notification by the Commission.

(3) The NRC intends to bill each applicant or licensee at quarterly intervals for all accumulated costs for each application the applicant or licensee has on file for NRC review, until the review has been brought to an end, whether by issuance of a permit, license, approval, certificate, exemption, or other form of permission; by denial, withdrawal, or suspension of review of the application; or by postponement of action on the application by the applicant.

(4) The NRC intends to bill each applicant or licensee for costs related to project manager time on a quarterly basis. Each bill will identify the costs related to project manager time.

(c) Inspection fees.

(1) Inspection fees will be assessed to recover full cost for each resident inspector (including the senior resident inspector), assigned to a specific plant or facility. The fees assessed will be based on the number of hours that each inspector assigned to the plant or facility is in an official duty status (i.e., all time in a non-leave status), excluding time spent by a resident inspector in support of activities at another site. The hours will be billed at the appropriate hourly rate established in 10 CFR 170.20. Resident inspectors' time related to a specific inspection will be included in the fee assessed for the specific inspection in accordance with paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

(2) Inspection fees will be assessed to recover the full cost for each specific inspection, including plant- or licensee-specific performance reviews and assessments, evaluations, and incident investigations. For inspections that result in the issuance of an inspection report, fees will be assessed for costs incurred up to approximately 30 days after the inspection report is issued. The costs for these inspections include preparation time, time on site, documentation time, and follow-up activities and any associated contractual service costs, but exclude the time involved in the processing and issuance of a notice of violation or civil penalty.

(3) The NRC intends to bill for resident inspectors' time and for specific inspections subject to full cost recovery on a quarterly basis. The fees are payable upon notification by the Commission.

(d) Special project fees.

(1) All special projects performed by the Commission, unless otherwise exempt from fees or for which fees are otherwise specified in this part, will be assessed fees to recover the full cost of the service provided. Special projects means specific services provided by the Commission, including but not limited to—

(i) Topical reports;

(ii) Financial assurance submittals that do not require a license amendment;

(iii) Responses to Confirmatory Action Letters;

(iv) Uranium recovery licensees' land-use survey reports;

(v) 10 CFR 50.71 final safety analysis reports;

(vi) Contested hearings on licensing actions directly involving U.S Government national security initiatives, as determined by the NRC; and

(vii) Responses to Touhy requests that require the NRC staff to expend more than 50 hours of official time. Fees for Touhy requests will be billed at the appropriate hourly rate established in § 170.20.

(2) The NRC intends to bill each applicant or licensee at quarterly intervals until the special project is completed. Each bill will identify the special project, including any documents submitted for review or the specific contested hearing, and the related costs. The fees are payable upon notification by the Commission.

(e) Part 55 review fees. Fees for Part 55 review services are based on NRC time spent in administering the examinations and tests and any related contractual costs. The fees assessed will also include related activities such as preparing, reviewing, and grading of the examinations and tests. The NRC intends to bill the costs at quarterly intervals to the licensee employing the operators.

(f) Method of payment. All fee payments under 10 CFR this part 170 are to be made payable to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The payments are to be made in U.S. funds by electronic funds transfer, such as ACH (Automated Clearing House) using Electronic Data Interchange (E.D.I.), check, draft, money order, credit card, Amazon Pay, or PayPal (submit electronic payment using the electronic payment methods accepted at www.Pay.gov or manual payment using the NRC Form 629, “Authorization for Payment by Credit Card”). Specific written instructions for making electronic payments and credit card 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.

(g) Collection of underpayment of fees. The NRC is entitled to collect any underpayment of fees as a result of an error by the NRC.

[64 FR 31469, June 10, 1999, as amended at 65 FR 11204, Mar. 2, 2000; 65 FR 36959, June 12, 2000; 66 FR 32469, June 14, 2001; 67 FR 64037, Oct. 17, 2002; 72 FR 31420, June 6, 2007; 79 FR 37144, June 30, 2014; 81 FR 41186, June 24, 2016; 87 FR 37214, June 22, 2022; 88 FR 39140, June 15, 2023; 89 FR 51811, June 20, 2024]