Quiero saber acerca de...

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 28, 2021 / Rules and Regulations national security information. These individuals obtain an access authorization from the NRC. When a licensee requests access authorization for an employee or a contractor, the NRC initiates an investigation of the individual seeking access authorization.
Based on the results of that investigation, the NRC determines whether permitting that individual to have access to special nuclear material, restricted data, or national security information would create a security risk.
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency DCSA conducts the access authorization background investigations for the NRC and sets the rates charged for these investigations.
The combined cost of the DCSA
background investigation and any related NRC processing activities NRC
processing fee is recovered from the licensee through an access authorization fee assessed by the NRC. It is the NRCs practice to publish the fee schedule for special nuclear material access authorization in 11.15e of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 10
CFR and the corresponding fee schedule for restricted data and national security information access authorization in appendix A to 10 CFR
part 25. Both schedules are based on rates charged by DCSA for conducting the access authorization background investigations DCSA investigation billing rates.
IV. Discussion Updated Access Authorization Fees This direct final rule amends 10 CFR
parts 11, 25, and 95, along with appendix A to 10 CFR part 25. The NRC
is revising the processing fee charged to licensees for work performed under the Material Access Authorization Program MAAP and the Information Access Authority Program IAAP from 55.8
percent of the DCSA investigation billing rates to 90.2 percent. A
September 2019 NRC audit of actual inhouse costs incurred in processing licensee applications for access authorization showed an increase in the Current DCSA investigation billing rate for standard T5
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES

$5,465

any given request is determined using the following formula: The DCSA
investigation billing rates on the day the NRC receives the application + the NRC
processing fee = the NRC material access authorization fee. The provisions in this direct final rule set the NRC
processing fee; the fee is determined by multiplying the DCSA investigation billing rate on the day the NRC receives the application by 90.2 percent i.e., DCSA rate 90.2 percent.
Public Law 115439, the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act 42 U.S.C. 2215, requires the NRC
to recover through fees the full cost incurred in providing a service or thing of value. As noted previously, the DCSA
investigation billing rates are pulled directly from the current DCSA fee schedule for investigations. The tables in revised 11.15e3 and appendix A
to 10 CFR part 25 cross-reference each type of NRC access authorization request to the appropriate investigation service listed in the DCSAs investigation billing rates schedule. For example, a licensee seeking a special nuclear material NRCU access authorization requiring a Tier 5 T5
investigation is directed by the table in 11.15e3 to calculate the NRC
processing fee based on the DCSA
investigation billing rates for a standard T5 investigation. According to the current DCSA investigation billing rates schedule FIN 2004, FY
2021 and FY 2022 Investigations Reimbursable Billing Rates, June 30, 2020, the DCSA charges $5,465 for a standard T5 investigation. The table instructs the licensee to calculate the NRCs application processing fee by multiplying $5,465 by 90.2 percent, which equals $4,929.43. The licensee then rounds the NRCs processing fee to the nearest dollar, or $4,929, and adds that amount to the DCSA investigation billing rate of $5,465 to determine the total NRC access authorization fee:
$10,394.
The following table illustrates the calculation process:

Plus NRC application processing fee
Equals total NRC access authorization fee for NRC-U
application
DCSA rate NRC fee 90.2% = rounded to nearest $
$5,465 90.2% = $ 4,929,43 rounded to $4,929

Licensees applying for restricted data or national security information access authorization follow a similar procedure. The table in appendix A to 10 CFR part 25 cross-references each
VerDate Sep<11>2014

NRCs review time for each application.
The audit also showed that the NRC was not recovering its full-cost fees for the time spent processing the increased number of complex applications;
despite a 2016 biennial review indicating increasing costs, the NRC had not adjusted its fees since 2012.
In addition, all requests for reciprocity will be charged a flat fee rate of $95.00. Previously, the NRC did not charge a fee for reciprocity requests because certain applications from individuals with current Federal access authorizations were processed expeditiously and at a reduced cost.
This flat fee will be aligned with the level of effort that has recently been expended by DCSA to process reciprocity requests and accounts for inflation as well as recovery of the appropriate cost for conducting this work. In cases where reciprocity is not acceptable and it is necessary to perform a background investigation, then the NRC will charge the appropriate fee based on the DCSA investigation billing rate. This direct final rule continues to allow licensees to calculate the NRC
access authorization fee for any given application by referencing the current DCSA investigation billing rates schedule for background investigation services. Reimbursable billing rates for personnel background investigations are published by DCSA in a Federal Investigations Notice FIN. The current DCSA investigation billing rates are published on the DCSA website and are available at https www.dcsa.mil/mc/
pv/gov_hr_security/billing_rates/. The NRCs licensees can also obtain the current DCSA investigation billing rates schedule by contacting the NRCs Personnel Security Branch, Division of Facilities and Security, Office of Administration by email at Licensee_
Access_Authorization_Fee.Resource@
nrc.gov.
The fee-calculation formula is designed to recover the NRCs actual inhouse processing costs for each application received from a licensee.
The NRCs access authorization fee for
20:57 Dec 27, 2021

Jkt 256001

type of Q or L access authorization to the corresponding DCSA
investigation type. The DCSA
investigation billing rate for the type of investigation referenced is determined
PO 00000

Frm 00019

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

73633

= $10,394

by consulting the current DCSA
investigation billing rates schedule. This rate is then used in the formula to calculate the correct NRC access authorization fee for the type of
E:FRFM28DER1.SGM

28DER1