General Provisions

10 C.F.R. Part ..., Subpart A
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01

10 C.F.R. § 12.101 Purpose.

The purpose of this part is to state the regulatory requirements for award of attorney fees to eligible individuals and entities in certain administrative proceedings before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in implementation of the Equal Access to Justice Act, 5 U.S.C. 504 (EAJA), which provides for the award of attorney fees and other expenses to parties to “adversary adjudications”, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 504(b)(1)(C). In general, an “adversary adjudication” is an adjudication that is required by statute to be determined on the record after opportunity for hearing before an agency of the United States and in which the position of the agency, or any component of the agency, is presented by an attorney or other representative who enters an appearance and participates in the proceeding. However, some agency adjudications are expressly excluded from coverage by 5 U.S.C. 504 (e.g., an adjudication for the purpose of granting or renewing a license) even though they fall within this general definition, and certain appeals before an agency board of contract appeals and Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act hearings conducted under 31 U.S.C. ch. 38 are expressly covered. An eligible party may receive an award in an adversary adjudication when the party prevails over the Commission, unless the Commission's position was substantially justified or special circumstances make an award unjust. The regulations in this part describe the parties eligible for awards and the proceedings that are covered. They also explain how to apply for awards, and the procedures and standards that the Commission will use to make them.

10 C.F.R. § 12.102 When the EAJA applies.

The EAJA applies to any covered adversary adjudication pending or commenced before the Commission on or after August 5, 1985.

10 C.F.R. § 12.103 Proceedings covered.

(a) The EAJA applies to the following proceedings: (1) Hearings under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act (31 U.S.C. 3801-12); (2) Any appeal of a decision made pursuant to section 6 of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 605) before an agency board of contract appeals as provided in section 8 of that Act (41 U.S.C. 607); and (3) Adversary adjudications conducted by the Commission pursuant to any other statutory provision that requires a proceeding before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to be so conducted as to fall within the meaning of “adversary adjudication” under 5 U.S.C. 504(b)(1)(C). (b) The Commission's failure to identify a type of proceeding as an adversary adjudication shall not preclude the filing of an application by a party who believes the proceeding is covered by the EAJA. Whether the proceeding is covered will then be an issue for resolution in proceedings on the application. (c) If a proceeding includes both matters covered by the EAJA and matters specifically excluded from coverage, any award made will include only fees and expenses related to covered issues.

10 C.F.R. § 12.104 Eligibility of applicants.

(a) To be eligible for an award of attorney fees and other expenses under the EAJA, the applicant must be a party to the adversary adjudication for which it seeks an award. The term “party” is defined in 5 U.S.C. 551(3). The applicant must show that it meets all conditions of eligibility set out in this subpart and in subpart B. (b) The types of eligible applicants are as follows: (1) An individual with a net worth of not more than $2 million; (2) The sole owner of an unincorporated business who has a net worth of not more than $7 million, including both personal and business interests, and not more than 500 employees; (3) A charitable or other tax-exempt organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) with not more than 500 employees; (4) A cooperative association as defined in section 15(a) of the Agricultural Marketing Act (12 U.S.C. 1141j(a)) with not more than 500 employees; and (5) Any other partnership, corporation, association, unit of local government, or organization with a net worth of not more than $7 million and not more than 500 employees. (c) For the purpose of eligibility, the net worth and number of employees of an applicant shall be determined as of the date the proceeding was initiated. (d) An applicant who owns an unincorporated business will be considered as an “individual” rather than a “sole owner of an unincorporated business” if the issues on which the applicant prevails are related primarily to personal interests rather than to business interests. (e) The employees of an applicant include all persons who regularly perform services for remuneration for the applicant, under the applicant's direction and control. Part-time employees shall be included on a proportional basis. (f) The net worth and number of employees of the applicant and all of its affiliates shall be aggregated to determine eligibility. Any individual, corporation, or other entity that directly or indirectly controls or owns a majority of the voting shares or other interests of the applicant, or any corporation or other entity of which the applicant directly or indirectly owns or controls a majority of the voting shares or other interest, will be considered an affiliate for purposes of this part, unless the adjudicative officer determines that such treatment would be unjust and contrary to the purposes of the Act in light of the actual relationship between the affiliated entities. In addition, the adjudicative officer may determine that financial relationships of the applicant other than those described in this paragraph constitute special circumstances that would make an award unjust. (g) An applicant that participates in a proceeding primarily on behalf of one or more other persons or entities that would be ineligible is not itself eligible for an award.

10 C.F.R. § 12.105 Standards for awards.

(a) A prevailing applicant may receive an award for fees and expenses incurred in connection with a proceeding or a significant and discrete substantive portion of the proceeding, unless the position of the Commission over which the applicant has prevailed was substantially justified. The position of the Commission includes, in addition to the position taken by the Commission in the adversary adjudication, the action or failure to act by the Commission upon which the adversary adjudication is based. The burden of proof that an award should not be made to a prevailing applicant because the Commission's position was substantially justified is on the Commission counsel. (b) An award will be reduced or denied if the applicant has unduly or unreasonably protracted the proceeding or if special circumstances make the award sought unjust.

10 C.F.R. § 12.106 Allowable fees and expenses.

(a) Awards will be based on rates customarily charged by persons engaged in the business of acting as attorneys, agents, and expert witnesses, even if the services were made available without charge or at reduced rate to the applicant. (b) No award for the fee of an attorney or agent under this part may exceed $75.00 per hour. No award to compensate an expert witness may exceed the highest rate at which the Commission pays expert witnesses. However, an award may also include the reasonable expenses of the attorney, agent, or witness as a separate item, if the attorney, agent, or witness ordinarily charges clients separately for these expenses. (c) In determining the reasonableness of the fee sought for an attorney, agent, or expert witness, the adjudicative officer shall consider the following: (1) If the attorney, agent, or witness is in private practice, his or her customary fees for similar services, or, if an employee of the applicant, the fully allocated costs of the services; (2) The prevailing rate for similar services in the community in which the attorney, agent, or witness ordinarily performs services; (3) The time actually spent in the representation of the applicant; (4) The time reasonably spent in light of the difficulty or complexity of the issues in the proceeding; and (5) Other factors that bear on the value of the services provided. (d) The reasonable cost of any study, analysis, engineering report, test, project, or similar matter prepared on behalf of a party may be awarded, to the extent that the charge for the services does not exceed the prevailing rate for similar services, and the study or other matter was necessary for preparation of applicant's case.

10 C.F.R. § 12.107 Rulemaking on maximum rates for attorney fees.

(a) If warranted by an increase in the cost of living or by special circumstances (such as limited availability of attorneys qualified to handle certain types of proceedings), the Commission may adopt regulations providing that attorney fees may be awarded at a rate higher than $75 per hour in some, or all of the types of proceedings covered by this part. The Commission will conduct any rulemaking proceedings for this purpose under the informal rulemaking procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act. (b) Any person may file with the Commission a petition for rulemaking to increase the maximum rate for attorney fees, in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 2.802. The petition should identify the rate the petitioner believes the Commission should establish and the types of proceedings in which the rate should be used. It should also explain fully the reasons why the higher rate is warranted. Within 90 days after the petition is filed, the Commission will determine whether it will initiate a rulemaking proceeding, deny the petition, or take other appropriate action on the petition. The Commission will act on the petition in accordance with 10 CFR 2.803.

10 C.F.R. § 12.108 Awards against other agencies.

If an applicant is entitled to an award because it prevails over another agency of the United States that participates in a proceeding before the Commission and takes a position that is not substantially justified, the award or an appropriate portion of the award shall be made against that agency.

10 C.F.R. § 12.109 Decisionmaking authority.

Unless otherwise ordered by the Commission in a particular proceeding, each application under this part shall be assigned for decision to the official or decisionmaking body that entered the decision in the adversary adjudication. That official or decisionmaking body is referred to in this part as the “adjudicative officer.”

Starting a business? Corpus forms LLCs in all 50 states and DC.