On July 1, 2003, a Notice of Violation was issued for a Severity level II violation involving the willful failure to obtain a specific license from the NRC or an Agreement State prior to acquiring and using byproduct material. Although a civil penalty would normally be considered for this type of case, the NRC exercised discretion in accordance with Section VII.B.6 of the Enforcement Policy and refrained from assessing a civil penalty based on the fact that the gauges were returned to an authorized NRC licensee and the company withdrew its application for an NRC license.