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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 16, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
reactors fee class as shown in Appendix C of the CBJ, which was developed based on the NRC staffs allocation of the FY 2021 budget request to fee classes under 10 CFR part 170 and allocations within the operating power reactors fee class under 10 CFR part 171, as well as certain data assumptions and historical information that was available during the FY 2021 budget formulation process. Consistent with NEIMA, when developing the annual fee rule, the NRC
had to take into account changes that occurred in the two-year interval between the development of the FY
2021 budget request, which began in FY
2019, and the enactment of the FY 2021
appropriation in December 2020. In developing the FY 2021 fee rule, the NRC estimated 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 that was charged to licensees and applicants for the previous four quarters. Because the NRCs fee recovery under the IOAA
10 CFR part 170 will not equal 100
percent of the agencys total budget authority for the fiscal year less the budget authority for excluded activities, the NRC must assess annual fees under 10 CFR part 171 to recover the remaining amount necessary to comply with NEIMA. NEIMA requires the NRC to establish a schedule of annual fees that fairly and equitably allocates budgeted resources. While these resources were anticipated to be used for 10 CFR part 170 work for the operating power reactors fee class, the resources have been shifted to being used for work that is recovered through 10 CFR part 171 because it will benefit the operating power reactors fee class.
Thus, the NRC has appropriately included the resources in 10 CFR part 171 fees for this fee class.
Fee-relief activities identified by the Commission fall into two categories: 1
Activities not attributable to an existing licensee or class of licensees, and 2
activities not assessed 10 CFR part 170
or 171 fees based on existing law or Commission policy. The categories of fee-relief activities are identified in the FY 2021 proposed fee rule in Table I
Excluded Activities and were also discussed during the FY 2021 proposed fee rule public meeting on March 18, 2021. The fee relief activities identified by the Commission reflect a fair and equitable allocation of resources.
No changes were made to this final rule as a result of these comments.
D. Corporate Support Cap and the Fee Rule Work Papers Comment: One commenter stated that One of NEIMAs requirements is the
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limitation of Corporate Support costs as a percentage of total budget authority, to the maximum extent practicable. Exelon suggests that the fee rule explain whether the Corporate Support costs are under the NEIMA limit. NRC should also demonstrate, either in the fee rule or the work papers, how the Corporate Support cost as a percentage of total budget authority is determined. For FY
2021, NEIMA limits Corporate Support costs to the maximum extent practicable to 30 percent of the NRCs total budget authority. During the March 18, 2021 NRC public meeting on the Proposed Fee Rule, the staff explained that Corporate Support costs for FY2021
totaled 31% of the agencys overall budget. However, the work papers for the determination of the professional hourly rate includes approximately $284M for Corporate Support with IG, which amounts to approximately 34%
of the overall budget authority of $844M. The NRC should clearly explain in the fee rule how it arrived at the 31%
allocation that it described during the public meeting. Exelon Response: Section 102a3 of NEIMA
requires that, to the maximum extent practicable, the corporate support costs requested in the annual budget justification provided to Congress not exceed a specified percentage of the total budget authority requested for the NRC in its annual budget justification Section 102a3A includes the percentage applicable to the annual budget justification for FY 2021. As stated in the Executive Summary to the FY 2021 CBJ, the corporate support request was approximately 31 percent of the agencys total requested budget authority and reflects the agencys efforts to comply with Section 102a3A of NEIMA to the maximum extent practicable. The FY 2021 CBJ
noted that further reductions to corporate support in FY 2021 were not feasible and would jeopardize the corporate activities necessary to accomplish the agencys mission. Pages 8386 of the FY 2021 CBJ provide more specific information on the corporate support costs by product line that comprised the 31 percent referenced during the March 18, 2021, public meeting. The corporate support business line resources total approximately $271.4 million in FY 2021, as shown on page 83 of the FY 2021 CBJ. Corporate support does not include Inspector General budgetary resources. The percent corporate support is calculated by dividing $271.4 million by $863.4
million, which is 31 percent of the agencys total requested budget authority.

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Section 102a3 of NEIMA as it pertains to the corporate support cap applicable to the annual budget justification does not apply to the annual fee rule. In the FY 2021
proposed fee rule and supporting work papers, the NRCs professional hourly rate calculation was derived by adding, in part, resources for agency support, which include both corporate support and the Inspector General. The agency support corporate support and the Inspector General resources in the FY
2021 proposed fee rule total $283.7
million, or approximately 34 percent when dividing by $844.4 million. In addition, the NRCs overall budget authority was reduced by $19.0 million and Congress, in turn, directed the NRC
to use carryover funding, as further discussed in the FY 2021 Fee CollectionOverview section of this document. Also, the FY 2021 fee rule is based on the enacted budget, not the budget request. 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.
E. 10 CFR Part 171 Operating Power Reactors Fee Class Invoicing Comment: As noted in the Proposed Fee Rule, NRC has improved the accuracy and clarity of Part 170 service fee invoicing, e.g., via internal auditing and development of Enterprise Project Identifiers EPID. Exelon acknowledges and salutes the NRCs success in this area. However, as accuracy and clarity in hourly fees collected under Part 170
has increased, the actual amount of fees collected under Part 170 has decreased.
Exelon understands that the numerous line item numbers shown in the work papers Power Reactors Fee Class details are themselves the summations of multiple other supporting calculations apparently too detailed to provide.
Numerous as these line items are, their general nature makes understanding difficult for an outside reviewer. Exelon suggests that some pointer designation be developed, similar to the EPID/CAC system used for Part 170 fees and included in the quarterly Part 171
reactor fee invoicing. This way, the details of which line items will be funded via reactor fee invoicing within a given calendar year quarter may be better tracked back to the work papers, allowing constructive dialogue between NRC and reactor licensees regarding the applicability of a particular line item to that licensee. Exelon Response: With respect to 10 CFR part 171, it would be impractical for the NRC

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