Final SS for Comprehensive Decommissioning

FINAL SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
COMPREHENSIVE DECOMMISSIONING PROGRAM,
INCLUDING ANNUAL DATA COLLECTION
EXTENSION
(3150-0206)
Description of the Information Collection
Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act recognizes the need and establishment of programs for
cooperation between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the States to control
the radiation hazards associated with the use of radioactive materials. To further the objective of
cooperation in the decommissioning program area, information on uranium recovery and
complex sites being decommissioned in Agreement States will be requested. The information
requests will take the form of annual questionnaires.
Agreement States will be asked to provide information about uranium recovery and complex
sites undergoing decommissioning regulated by the Agreement States on an annual basis. The
information request will allow the NRC to compile, in a centralized location, more complete
information on the status of decommissioning and decontamination in the United States in order
to provide a national perspective on decommissioning.
A.

JUSTIFICATION
1.

Need for and Practical Utility of the Collection Information
In 1959, Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act was enacted to provide a statutory
basis under which the Federal Government could relinquish to the States portions
of its regulatory authority. The amendments made it possible for the States to
license and regulate byproduct, source materials, and small quantities of special
nuclear material including the decommissioning of materials facilities (nuclear
reactors were excluded) that possess, process or otherwise handle radioactive
materials. The mechanism for the transfer of NRC's authority to a State is an
agreement between the Governor of the State and the NRC. To date, there are
37 Agreement States.1 Currently, there are a number of licenses that are
undergoing termination under the jurisdiction of the Agreement States. As part of
the NRC’s comprehensive decommissioning program, information about uranium
recovery and complex materials sites undergoing decommissioning and license
termination, under the jurisdiction of the Agreement States, is being requested by
the NRC.
This will be used in the NRC’s continuous improvement program, and for
documenting lessons learned and making them available, so that improvements in
decommissioning and a national decommissioning perspective can be obtained
and shared.

1

Agreement States include: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IA, IL, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MN, MS,
NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, PR, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, VI, VT, WA, and WI

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2.

Agency Use of Information
The annual collection of data from the individual Agreement States will enable the
NRC to enhance openness with the public as well as allow the creation of a
repository of decommissioning information. The data will also be utilized in
preparing responses to Congressional inquiries and requests for information from
other sources. There is no source for obtaining such necessary information other
than from the Agreement States.
Confidential financial information will not be made public, but will be used
internally to assess the adequacy of funding mechanisms and improvements in
guidance for licensing decisions in order to minimize sites having insufficient
financial resources to perform and complete decommissioning. Additionally,
lessons learned from the Agreement States’ overall experience with the adequacy
of decommissioning-related funding mechanisms will be shared with all the
Agreement States.

3.

Reduction of Burden Through Information Technology
The NRC has issued Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC which
provides direction for the electronic transmission and submittal of documents to
the NRC. Electronic transmission and submittal of documents can be
accomplished via the following avenues: the Electronic Information Exchange
(EIE) process, which is available from the NRC's “Electronic Submittals” Web
page, by Optical Storage Media (OSM) (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD), by facsimile or by email. It is estimated that approximately 100% of the potential responses are filed
electronically.

4.

Efforts to Identify Duplication and Similar Use Information
No sources of similar information are available. There is no duplication of
requirements.

5.

Effort to Reduce Small Business Burden
Not Applicable.

6.

Consequences to Federal Program or Policy Activities if the Collection is Not
Conducted or is Conducted Less Frequently
The information collection is an annual action, which addresses specific sites
regulated by the Agreement States. The consequences of not collecting current
Agreement State uranium recovery and complex decommissioning site
information could potentially impact the American public’s confidence that the U.S.
program for the decommissioning of uranium recovery and complex sites is being
effectively overseen.

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7.

Circumstances Which Justify Variation From OMB Guidelines
Not Applicable.

8.

Consultation Outside the NRC
Opportunity for public comment on the information collection requirements for this
clearance package was published in the Federal Register on March 17, 2017 (82
FR 14237). Three potential respondents from Agreement States were contacted
by e-mail as part of the public consultation process. These potential respondents
were from the States of Colorado, Rhode Island, and Washington, and have
provided responses for previous information requests on this topic. No comments
were received.

9.

Payment or Gift to Respondents
Not applicable.

10.

Confidentiality of the Information
Confidential and proprietary information is protected in accordance with NRC
regulations at 10 CFR 9.17(a) and 10 CFR 2.390(b).
Except for the financial information relating to decommissioning funding, the NRC
is not requesting that the Agreement States submit any sensitive information on a
systematic basis. Because of the inadequate funding experienced in the cases of
legacy sites, the funding amounts, mechanisms, and degree of sufficiency to
complete decommissioning will be requested. This information is necessary to
promote a national perspective on the regulation of nuclear facilities, which will
eventually be decommissioned in the U.S. irrespective of their location in
Agreement States or non-Agreement States.
Confidential financial information will not be made public, but will be used
internally to assess the adequacy of funding mechanisms and improvements in
guidance for licensing decisions in order to minimize sites having insufficient
financial resources to perform and complete decommissioning.

11.

Justification for Sensitive Questions
Not applicable.

12.

Estimated Burden and Burden Hour Cost
The NRC will issue one request annually to 37 Agreement States. It is estimated
that 13 respondents from the 37 Agreement States will have sites of interest, and
the remaining 24 respondents will have no sites of interest. The NRC staff
estimates that there are a total of 45 sites of interest, based on current information
on the actual number of sites in the Agreement States as of December 2016.

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The 13 respondents with sites of interest will provide one response per site of
interest. As a result, the NRC anticipates receiving 45 voluntary responses from
these respondents including the requested information for each site. The average
number of responses is 3.5 for each of the 13 respondents with sites of interest
(45 sites / 13 Agreement States = 3.5 responses per Agreement State).
The average annual burden to provide the voluntary responses to the NRC is 8
hours for each of the 45 sites of interest. The 8 hour estimate is based on NRC
staff experience and is unchanged from the previous OMB clearance package for
this information collection. The estimated annual burden for the 13 Agreement
States respondents with uranium recovery and/or complex materials sites is 360
hours (45 responses x 8 hours).
STATES WITH
SITES OF
INTEREST

NO. OF
RESPONDENTS

AVERAGE
RESPONSES
PER
RESPONDENT

TOTAL
RESPONSES
(number of
sites)

ANNUAL
BURDEN PER
RESPONSE
(hours)

TOTAL ANNUAL
BURDEN
(hours)

Agreement States
with Sites of Interest

13

3.5

45

8

360

The 24 Agreement State respondents with no sites of interest will each provide
one response to this request. As a result, the NRC anticipates receiving 24
voluntary responses from these respondents confirming there are no sites of
interest. The average annual burden for each of these 24 respondents to verify
whether they have any uranium recovery and/or complex sites under their purview
is 3 hours. This estimate is based on NRC staff experience and is unchanged
from the previous OMB clearance package for this information collection. Burden
for Agreement States with no sites of interest is lower than burden for States with
sites of interest because these States only report that they have no sites of
interest.
The estimated annual burden for the 24 respondents with no sites of interest is 72
hours (24 respondents with no sites of interest x 3 hours).
STATES WITH NO
SITES OF
INTEREST

NO. OF
RESPONDENTS

AVERAGE
RESPONSES
PER
RESPONDENT

TOTAL
RESPONSES

ANNUAL
BURDEN PER
RESPONDENT
(hours)

TOTAL ANNUAL
BURDEN
(hours)

Agreement States
with No Sites of
Interest

24

1

24

3

72

The total estimated burden for the 37 respondents is estimated to be 432 hours
(360 hours for the 13 Agreement States respondents with uranium recovery
and/or complex sites + 72 hours for the 24 Agreement States respondents to
verify that they do not have any sites of interest). The total number of responses
is 69 (45 responses from Agreement States for sites of interest + 24 responses

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from Agreements States with no sites of interest). The annual cost is estimated to
be $114,480 ($265/professional staff hour x 432 staff hours). State pay rates are
assumed to be equal to the Federal pay rates shown in Item 14.
13.

Estimate of Other Additional Costs
There are no additional costs.

14.

Estimated Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
Based upon staff estimates, NRC will spend about 400 professional hours
annually on the exchange of site information with the Agreement States, including
the time spent compiling and processing Agreement State responses for
recordkeeping purposes at the conclusion of the collection. Using the staff hourly
rate of $265, the annual cost to the NRC is approximately $106,000 (400 annual
professional hours x $265/hour rate).

15.

Reasons for Change in Burden
The estimated burden has decreased by 37 hours from 469 hours to 432
hours. The burden has changed due to a decrease in the number of sites of
interest from 50 to 45. Agreement States are requested to complete one
response annually for each site of interest, or provide one response annually
stating that the Agreement State has no sites of interest. A decrease of 5 sites of
interest would decrease the estimated burden by 40 hours, while the addition of
one Agreement State with no sites of interest would require an additional 3 hours.
In addition, the fee rate decreased from $272 to $265 per hour.

16.

Publication for Statistical Use
Currently, there are no plans to publish this information for statistical use.

17.

Reason for Not Displaying the Expiration Date
The expiration date is shown on the letter requesting the information from
Agreement States.

18.

Exceptions to the Certification Statement
There are no exceptions.

B.

COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
Statistical methods are not used in this collection of information.

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