[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 10, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 10CFR15.37]

[Page 291-292]
 
                            TITLE 10--ENERGY
 
                CHAPTER I--NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
 
PART 15--DEBT COLLECTION PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
             Subpart B--Administrative Collection of Claims
 
Sec. 15.37  Interest, penalties, and administrative costs.

    (a) The NRC shall assess interest, penalties, and administrative 
costs on debts owed to the United States Government in accordance with 
the guidance provided under the Federal Claims Collection Standards, 4 
CFR 102.13 unless otherwise directed by statute, regulation, or 
contract.
    (b) Before assessing any charges on delinquent debts, the NRC shall 
mail or hand-deliver a written notice to the debtor explaining its 
requirements concerning these charges under 4 CFR 102.2 and 102.13.
    (c) Interest begins to accrue from the date on which the initial 
written demand, advising the debtor of the interest requirements, is 
first mailed or hand delivered to the debtor unless a different date is 
specified in a statute, regulation, or contract.
    (d) The NRC shall assess interest based upon the rate of the current 
value of funds to the United States Treasury (the Treasury tax and loan 
account rate) prescribed for the current quarter and published in the 
Federal Register and the Treasury Financial Manual Bulletins, unless a 
different rate is prescribed by statute, regulation, or contract.
    (e) Interest is computed only on the principal of the debt and the 
interest rate remains fixed for the duration of

[[Page 292]]

the indebtedness, unless a debtor defaults on a repayment agreement and 
seeks to enter into a new agreement.
    (f) The NRC shall assess against a debtor charges to cover 
administrative costs incurred as a result of a delinquent debt. 
Administrative costs may include costs incurred in obtaining a credit 
report or in using a private debt collector, to the extent they are 
attributable to the delinquency.
    (g) The NRC shall assess a penalty charge of 6 percent a year on any 
portion of a debt that is delinquent for more than 90 days. The charge 
accrues retroactively to the date that the debt became delinquent.
    (h) Amounts received by the NRC as partial or installment payments 
are applied first to outstanding penalty and administrative cost 
charges, second to accrued interest, and third to outstanding principal.
    (i) The NRC shall waive collection of interest on the debt or any 
portion of the debt which is paid in full within 30 days after the date 
on which interest began to accrue.
    (j) The NRC may waive interest during the period a debt disputed 
under Sec. 15.31 is under investigation or review by the NRC. However, 
this additional waiver is not automatic and must be requested before the 
expiration of the initial 30-day waiver period. The NRC may grant the 
additional waiver only when it finds merit in the explanation the debtor 
has submitted under Sec. 15.31.
    (k) The NRC may waive the collection of interest, penalties, and 
administrative costs if it finds that one or more of the following 
conditions exist:
    (1) The debtor is unable to pay any significant sum toward the debt 
within a reasonable period of time;
    (2) Collection of interest, penalties, and administrative costs will 
jeopardize collection of the principal of the debt;
    (3) The NRC is unable to enforce collection in full within a 
reasonable time by enforced collection proceedings; or
    (4) Collection would be against equity and good conscience or not in 
the best interests of the United States, including the situation in 
which an administrative offset or installment payment agreement is in 
effect.

[55 FR 32380, Aug. 9, 1990]