The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it will need to collect $728.5 million in fees to fund its operations for the current federal budget year.
That proposed fee take meets the agency’s mandate under the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act to recover 90% of its yearly funding from fees, according to a Federal Register notice on NRC fee recovery for fiscal 2020. The remainder of the annual budget comes from congressional appropriations.
“The proposed fee rule reflects a budget authority in the amount of $855.6 million, a decrease of $55.4 million from FY 2019,” the notice says.
Within the $728.5 million in fees, $230.6 million would be derived from service fees and $497.9 million from annual fees on reactor, fuel cycle, and materials licensees.
The professional hourly rate for service fees would be $279 through Sept. 30. That would rise from $275 in fiscal 2019, which ended at the end of September 2019.
“The 0.4 percent increase in the FY 2020 professional hourly rate is due primarily to the anticipated decline in the number of mission-direct [full-time equivalents] compared to FY 2019,” the NRC said in the Federal Register.
The nuclear-industry regulator anticipates a reduction of 109 FTEs, resulting from closures of three nuclear power plants, termination of construction of the Energy Department’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and other developments.
Comments on the proposed fee rule are being accepted through March 19, via: www.regulations.gov, Docket ID NRC–2017–0228; by email, to [email protected]; by fax, to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 301– 415–1101; by mail, to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff; or in person, to 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md.
