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Radiological Health Proposed Fee Rule 7-423

Radiological Health Proposed Fee Rule 7-423. David J. Allard, CHP Director, Bureau of Radiation Protection. Summary of Fees Affected. Annual fees for X-ray facility registration Annual fees for radioactive material licenses Annual fees for accelerator licenses

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Radiological Health Proposed Fee Rule 7-423

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  1. Radiological Health Proposed Fee Rule 7-423 David J. Allard, CHP Director, Bureau of Radiation Protection EQB Presentation December 18, 2007

  2. Summary of Fees Affected • Annual fees for X-ray facility registration • Annual fees for radioactive material licenses • Annual fees for accelerator licenses • Annual fee for x-ray service provider registration • Hourly Rate charged for professional staff time • Biennial certification fees for radon testers, mitigators and laboratories

  3. Other Fees and Changes • New biennial fee for listing approved Primary Testing Devices for radon • New biennial fee for listing approved Course Providers for continuing education • New biennial fee for each additional testing employee at a firm • New penalty fee for late reporting of the results from radon service activities • New penalty fee for the late submittal of renewal applications for radon services • All radon fees are summarized in a new table, the “Radon Certification Fee Schedule”

  4. Other Fees and Changes – Cont. • 218.11a, new provision for retroactively collecting a one-time prorated annual fee from NRC licensees initially transferred to the Commonwealth. • 218.11(i), new Department requirement to review the adequacy of fees at least every 3 years and propose changes to the Board to balance fees and costs; per Act 31-2007.

  5. Reason & Purpose for Rulemaking • Except for radon, the fees listed are the sole source of revenue for the associated programs. • The last fee increase was 6 years ago; program costs have risen 30% since 2001; personnel costs will rise at least 20% in the next 4 years; looking ahead, current fees will be unable to support programs at 100%. • Adequate revenue streams will be critical for impending program expansion under Agreement State. • The proposed fee increase will provide the required revenue.

  6. Federal Initiatives • NRC and the Commonwealth have determined an effective date of March 31, 2008, to take over responsibility (and associated costs) for licensing and inspection of radioactive materials under Agreement State. • Comparable NRC licensing fees have been increasing at about 5% per year, and we expect the same in the future; Commonwealth fees will track lower. • Matching funds from EPA radon grants are expected to rise in tandem with state program expenditures, but this is not a reliable revenue stream. • There is no significant federal support for the other programs that rely on the proposed fees. In fact , the size of the regulated community for those programs is static while costs are not.

  7. Strategy & Implementation • Imminent planned program expansion will require re-prioritization and reallocation of resources until additional Agreement State license revenues are fully integrated. • The proposed regulations will provide a means of collection of Agreement State license fees retroactive to the effective date of license transfer to prevent revenue loss in the transition.

  8. Cost of Compliance • The regulated community on average can expect an across-the-board increase of about 40%. • This is unavoidable as the middle of the next 3 year cycle (2009) will be 8 years from the last fee increase, with program costs escalating at about 5% per year. • Radioactive material license fees have been base-lined to this year’s NRC fees so licensees who otherwise would be regulated by NRC will benefit from the fees being frozen for at least 3 years. • The proposed radon fees include new fees which would shift more of the cost away from smaller operations to businesses with more employees and more clients.

  9. History of the Regulation RPAC approval on August 21, 2007, included three recommendations: 1.Phase in radon fees: Phasing is not practical due to the extended biennial permit cycle. 2. Scale radon fees with business size: The new individual employee fees for firms and certification for the use of individual testing devices were created with this in mind. 3. Re-evaluate feasibility of a CPI: There is little benefit as Act 31-2007 and this new rule would require fees to be evaluated every 3 years.

  10. Future Steps • The Department will expedite promulgation of Final-Form rulemaking with an effective target date of January 1, 2009, or before. • Act 31-2007 and the proposed rule will direct the Department to review these fees every 3 years, report back to the EQB, and propose any necessary fee rule changes.

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