Federal

Nuclear Assistance for America’s Small Businesses Act

Source: Congress.gov · 1,981 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill amends the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act to help small businesses develop advanced nuclear reactors (new types of nuclear power plants). It allows the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (a federal agency that oversees nuclear power) to delay collecting licensing fees from eligible small business owners for up to 50 percent of pre-application fees and up to 35 percent of post-application fees.

Who It Affects

Small business owners who want to research, develop, and deploy advanced nuclear reactors and have submitted a response to NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2020-02 (a document published by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on August 31, 2020).

Key Provisions

• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must delay collecting up to 50 percent of fees related to activities before a covered application (an application for a construction permit, operating license, or combined license for an advanced nuclear reactor) is officially filed, starting 1 year after this law is enacted (Sec. 2(a)(4)(A)). • The Commission must delay collecting up to 35 percent of fees assessed after a covered application is filed until either the operating license is issued or a required finding is made, depending on the application type (Sec. 2(a)(4)(B)). • The Commission must collect 10 percent of delayed fees either when it issues the operating license or makes the required finding, then collect the remaining delayed fees annually over 10 years (Sec. 2(a)(4)(C)(i)). • If a small business owner does not submit a covered application within 5 years after responding to the 2020-02 document, the Commission must collect 25 percent of delayed pre-application fees starting on a date the Commission decides, paid annually over 4 years (Sec. 2(a)(4)(C)(ii)(I)). • If a covered application is withdrawn, the Commission must collect 25 percent of delayed fees beginning 1 year after withdrawal (Sec. 2(a)(4)(C)(iv)(I)). • If a covered application is temporarily suspended, the Commission delays collecting assessed fees until either the owner resumes review or 3 years pass, whichever comes first (Sec. 2(a)(4)(C)(iv)(II)(aa)). • The Commission must submit a report to Congress by December 31, 2029, describing whether the fee delay program should continue (Sec. 2(a)(4)(E)).

What Changes

If this becomes law, small business owners pursuing advanced nuclear reactors will not have to pay certain licensing fees upfront. Instead, they can delay paying up to 50 percent of pre-application fees and up to 35 percent of post-application fees. These delayed fees will be collected gradually over 10 years once the operating license is issued or a required finding is made. However, if the business fails to submit an application within 5 years or withdraws its application, the business must pay 25 percent of the delayed fees on a schedule set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Important Definitions

• "Covered application" means an application to the Commission for a construction permit, operating license, or combined license for an advanced nuclear reactor. • "Eligible owner" means an owner of a small business that seeks to research, develop, and deploy an advanced nuclear reactor and has submitted a response to the NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2020-02. • "Small business" means a small business concern assigned the North American Industry Classification System code 221113. • "Combined license" has the meaning given in federal nuclear regulations at section 52.1 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations. • "Operating license" means an operating license described in and issued under part 50 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations. • "Construction permit" means a construction permit described in and issued under part 50 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations.

Effective Date

The fee delay for pre-application activities begins 1 year after this law is enacted. Not specified in bill text for other provisions.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1007 To amend the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act to assist small businesses that seek to engage in the research, development, and deployment of advanced nuclear reactors by delaying onerous licensing fees, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 14, 2023 Mr. DONALDS (for himself, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, Mr. WEBER of Texas, and Ms. MACE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act to assist small businesses that seek to engage in the research, development, and deployment of advanced nuclear reactors by delaying onerous licensing fees, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Assistance for 4 America’s Small Businesses Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1007 IH SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(b) of the Nuclear En- 2 ergy Innovation and Modernization Act (Public Law 115– 3 439; 132 Stat. 5565) is amended by adding at the end 4 following: 5 ‘‘(4) SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE.— 6 ‘‘(A) PRE-APPLICATION FEES.—Beginning 7 1 year after the date of enactment of this para- 8 graph, the Commission shall, upon request by 9 an eligible owner, delay collection of up to 50 10 percent of fees that are assessed for activities 11 relating to a covered application before the date 12 on which such covered application is docketed. 13 ‘‘(B) POST-APPLICATION FEES.—The 14 Commission shall, upon request by an eligible 15 owner, delay collection of up to 35 percent of 16 fees that are assessed during— 17 ‘‘(i) the period that begins on the date 18 that a covered application for a construc- 19 tion permit is docketed and ends on the 20 date that the applicable operating license is 21 issued; 22 ‘‘(ii) the period that begins on the 23 date a covered application for a combined 24 license is docketed and ends on the date 25 that the finding required under section 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1007 IH 52.103(g) of title 10, Code of Federal Reg- 1 ulations (or any successor regulations) for 2 the combined license is made; or 3 ‘‘(iii) any appropriate period of time 4 that begins on the date a covered applica- 5 tion is docketed, as determined by the 6 Commission, under the framework devel- 7 oped in accordance with section 103(a)(4). 8 ‘‘(C) COLLECTION OF DELAYED FEES.— 9 ‘‘(i) DEFAULT COLLECTION PLAN.— 10 For any fees the collection of which is de- 11 layed pursuant to subparagraph (A) or 12 (B), the Commission shall collect, from the 13 applicable eligible owner, 10 percent of the 14 amount of such delayed fees— 15 ‘‘(I)(aa) on the date that the 16 Commission— 17 ‘‘(AA) issues the applicable 18 operating license; or 19 ‘‘(BB) makes a finding re- 20 quired under section 52.103(g) of 21 title 10, Code of Federal Regula- 22 tions (or any successor regula- 23 tions), for a combined license; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1007 IH ‘‘(bb) for fees assessed for any 1 period described in subparagraph 2 (B)(iii), not later than 1 day after the 3 date that the period ends; and 4 ‘‘(II) annually thereafter for a 5 period of 10 years. 6 ‘‘(ii) FAILURE TO SUBMIT A COVERED 7 APPLICATION.— 8 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 9 subclause (II), in the event an eligible 10 owner does not submit a covered ap- 11 plication within 5 years after the date 12 such eligible owner provides a formal 13 response to the RIS–20–02, the Com- 14 mission shall collect, from such eligi- 15 ble owner, 25 percent of any fees the 16 collection of which is delayed pursuant 17 to subparagraph (A) beginning on a 18 date the Commission determines ap- 19 propriate and annually thereafter for 20 a period of 4 years. 21 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—If an eligible 22 owner described in subclause (I) sub- 23 mits an applicable covered application 24 within the 4-year period described in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1007 IH subclause (I), the Commission shall 1 collect, from such eligible owner, any 2 fees the collection of which is delayed 3 pursuant to subparagraph (A) in ac- 4 cordance with clause (i). 5 ‘‘(iii) DENIED APPLICATION.— 6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 7 subclause (II), in the event that a cov- 8 ered application submitted by an eligi- 9 ble owner is docketed and then denied 10 by the Commission, the Commission 11 shall collect, from such eligible owner, 12 25 percent of any fees the collection 13 of which is delayed pursuant to sub- 14 paragraph (A) or (B) beginning on 15 the date that is 1 year after the date 16 such denial is issued. 17 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—If an eligible 18 owner described in subclause (I) sub- 19 mits or resubmits a covered applica- 20 tion within 1 year of the original de- 21 nial is issued, the Commission shall 22 collect, from such eligible owner, any 23 fees the collection of which is delayed 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1007 IH pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) 1 in accordance with clause (i). 2 ‘‘(iv) WITHDRAWN OR TEMPORARILY 3 SUSPENDED COVERED APPLICATIONS.— 4 ‘‘(I) WITHDRAWN COVERED AP- 5 PLICATIONS.—In the event a covered 6 application submitted by an eligible 7 owner is docketed and then such cov- 8 ered application is withdrawn by such 9 eligible owner, the Commission shall 10 collect, from such eligible owner, 25 11 percent of any fees the collection of 12 which is delayed pursuant to subpara- 13 graph (A) or (B) beginning on a date 14 that is 1 year after the date such cov- 15 ered application is withdrawn. 16 ‘‘(II) TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED 17 COVERED APPLICATIONS.— 18 ‘‘(aa) DELAY COLLEC- 19 TION.—In the event a covered 20 application submitted by an eligi- 21 ble owner is docketed and then 22 such covered application is tem- 23 porarily suspended from review 24 by such eligible owner, the Com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1007 IH mission shall delay collection of 1 any fees assessed prior to the 2 temporary suspension until the 3 sooner of— 4 ‘‘(AA) such eligible 5 owner resumes review of the 6 covered application; or 7 ‘‘(BB) a period of 3 8 years. 9 ‘‘(bb) COLLECTION.—In the 10 event that a covered application 11 is temporarily suspended, as de- 12 scribed in item (aa), and an eligi- 13 ble owner has not resumed review 14 of such covered application before 15 the end the 3 year period de- 16 scribed in item (aa)(BB), the 17 Commission shall collect, from 18 such eligible owner, 25 percent of 19 any fees the collection of which is 20 delayed pursuant to item (aa) be- 21 ginning on the date that is 3 22 years after the date the eligible 23 owner temporarily suspends a 24 covered application. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1007 IH ‘‘(cc) EXCEPTION.—If an el- 1 igible owner described in item 2 (bb) resumes review of a covered 3 application within 3 years after 4 the date such covered application 5 is temporarily suspended, the 6 Commission shall collect, from 7 such eligible owner, any fees the 8 collection of which is delayed pur- 9 suant to item (aa), in accordance 10 with item (bb). 11 ‘‘(D) EXCLUDED ACTIVITY FROM COST-RE- 12 COVERY REQUIREMENT.—Any fees the collec- 13 tion of which is delayed pursuant to this para- 14 graph shall be considered an excluded activity 15 under paragraph (1)(B). 16 ‘‘(E) REPORT.—Not later than December 17 31, 2029, the Commission shall prepare and 18 submit a report to the appropriate committees 19 describing the views of the Commission on the 20 continued appropriateness and necessity of pro- 21 viding eligible owners with the ability to defer 22 the collection of the fees in accordance with this 23 paragraph. 24 ‘‘(F) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1007 IH ‘‘(i) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES.— 1 The term ‘appropriate committees’ 2 means— 3 ‘‘(I) the Committee on Appro- 4 priations and the Committee on En- 5 ergy and Commerce of the House of 6 Representatives; and 7 ‘‘(II) the Committee on Appro- 8 priations and the Committee on Envi- 9 ronment and Public Works of the 10 Senate. 11 ‘‘(ii) COMBINED LICENSE.—The term 12 ‘combined license’ has the meaning given 13 such term in section 52.1 of title 10, Code 14 of Federal Regulations (or any successor 15 regulations). 16 ‘‘(iii) CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—The 17 term ‘construction permit’ means a con- 18 struction permit described in and issued 19 under part 50 of title 10, Code of Federal 20 Regulations (or any successor regulations). 21 ‘‘(iv) COVERED APPLICATION.—The 22 term ‘covered application’ means an appli- 23 cation, to be submitted to the Commission, 24 for a construction permit, operating li- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1007 IH cense, or a combined license, for an ad- 1 vanced nuclear reactor. 2 ‘‘(v) ELIGIBLE OWNER.—The term 3 ‘eligible owner’ means an owner of a small 4 business that— 5 ‘‘(I) seeks to engage in the re- 6 search, development, and deployment 7 of an advanced nuclear reactor; and 8 ‘‘(II) has submitted a response to 9 the RIS–20–02. 10 ‘‘(vi) OPERATING LICENSE.—The 11 term ‘operating license’ means an oper- 12 ating license described in and issued under 13 part 50 of title 10, Code of Federal Regu- 14 lations (or any successor regulations). 15 ‘‘(vii) RIS–20–02.—The term ‘RIS– 16 20–02’ means the NRC Regulatory Issue 17 Summary 2020–02 published by the Nu- 18 clear Regulatory Commission on August 19 31, 2020. 20 ‘‘(viii) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term 21 ‘small business’ means a small business 22 concern that is assigned a North American 23 Industry Classification System code of 24 221113.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1007 IH (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1 102(b)(1)(B) of the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Mod- 2 ernization Act (Public Law 115–439; 132 Stat. 5565) is 3 amended by adding at the end following: 4 ‘‘(iv) Any fees the collection of which 5 is delayed pursuant to paragraph (4).’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1007.IH H1007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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