§ 15.31 Disputed debts.

(a) Submitting a dispute of debt. For any type of charges assessed by the NRC, a debtor may submit a dispute of debt within 45 days from the date of the initial demand letter. The debtor shall explain why the debt is incorrect in fact or in law and may support the explanation by affidavit, cancelled checks, or other relevant evidence. The dispute must be submitted to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer via the eBilling system, by email to FeeBillingInquiries.Resource@nrc.gov, or by mail to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attn: Chief Financial Officer. For debt disputes related to charges for 10 CFR part 170 fees, the debtor must complete and submit an NRC Form 529 with the required information.

(b) Notification of receipt. Following receipt of the dispute, the NRC will acknowledge receipt to the contact person identified by the debtor.

(c) Dispute review. The NRC will consider the facts involved in the dispute and, if it considers it necessary, arrange for a conference during which the debtor may present evidence and any arguments in support of the debtor's position. If the debtor's dispute potentially raises an error, the NRC may extend the interest waiver period as described in § 15.37(j) pending a final determination of the existence or amount of the debt.

(d) Dispute resolution. If the NRC finds that the dispute has not identified an error, the NRC will notify the dispute contact. If the NRC finds that the dispute has identified an error, the NRC will:

(1) Notify the dispute contact;

(2) Make corrections to the charges or information on the demand letter; and

(3) Issue a revised demand letter

[47 FR 76716, Feb. 22, 1982, as amended at 55 FR 32379, Aug. 9, 1990; 86 FR 32169, Jun. 16, 2021]