Copied below is the "petition to amend" letter that I sent to Health Commissioner Remley on Aug 18, 2009.  This was the official act that opened this evaluation of the Virginia Radiological Materials Program (VA-RMP)  Fee Schedule.

As I am new to this website, and others will be as well, I hope that I have entered this information correctly. I had hoped my petition would have already been automatically posted.

I will have other comments to post later, but first will be the official letter, below **

                         Harvey Lankford MD , Endocrine and Diabetes Managment Center Inc, 804-288-0202

**

Karen Remley MD

State Health Commissioner

VA Dept Health, Box  2448

Richmond, VA 23218

          RE: Petition to Amend 12VAC5-490 VA-RMP Nuclear Materials License Fee Schedule

Dear Dr. Remley:

This letter is a petition to amend a regulation in accordance with the Code of Virginia Section 2.2-4007

The legal authority for the Board of Health to take the requested action in this case is Code of Virginia Section 32.1-229.

The purpose of this request is to amend 12VAC5-490 Nuclear Materials License Fee Schedule of the VA-RMP (Radiological Materials Program) such that the regulations are consistent with the claims made in the Virginia Register of Regulations Volume 24, Issue 21- 12VAC5-490 Virginia Radiation Protection Regulations: Fee Schedule. Specifically, I am requesting that the Board of Health:

• Establish fee schedules that "shall not exceed comparable federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission fees." (as stated in Virginia Register of Regulations Volume 24, Issue 21, pages 2954 and 2955)
• Amend the regulations to be consistent with the comment that "It is also advantageous to businesses currently using radioactive materials under a federal license to pay a lesser fee when the Commonwealth enters into an agreement with the NRC. " (as stated in Virginia Register of Regulations Volume 24, Issue 21, page 2955)
• Amend the regulations to be consistent with the comment that " the proposed fee schedule for radioactive materials will be significantly reduced in most cases from the fees the licensees are currently paying to the NRC ( as stated in Virginia Register of Regulations Voume 24, Issue 21, page 2955)

Importantly, the significant differences between the Virginia Register publication of the Department of Health's intent compared to the actual regulations speaks strongly to the need for regulatory review and amendment. In fact, the broad discrepancy evident between the apparent intent of the initial proposed regulation published in the Virginia Register, when compared to the resulting final regulations raises the question as to whether or not the promulgated regulations exceed the intent or authority of the initial notice.

As an example of the magnitude of this issue, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provided me with a list of 105 Virginia Nuclear small business users affected by the fee structure. As for my own nuclear license, the former NRC yearly fee of $ 2,300 is now a Virginia RMP category 7D fee of $ 4,000 and clearly not the decrease as promised. As stated in the paragraphs above, I hereby request a formal petition to amend.

                                                                                                               Sincerely,

                                                                                                               Harvey V. Lankford MD