II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5406 

To establish an Office of Public Engagement and Participation within the 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 2, 2024 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish an Office of Public Engagement and Participation within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NRC Office of Public 

5 Engagement and Participation Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPA7 TION. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) CHAIR.—The term ‘‘Chair’’ means the 

10 Chairman of the Commission. 


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1 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

2 means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

3 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

4 the Director of the Office. 

5 (4) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Inter6 venor Trust Fund established under subsection 

7 (i)(1). 

8 (5) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of9 fice of Public Engagement and Participation estab10 lished under subsection (b). 

11 (6) PANEL.—The term ‘‘Panel’’ means the 

12 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel. 

13 (7) PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘participant’’ has 

14 the meaning given the term in section 2.4 of title 10, 

15 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

16 date of enactment of this Act). 

17 (8) PROCEEDING.—The term ‘‘proceeding’’ 

18 means any proceeding under the jurisdiction of the 

19 Panel. 

20 (9) SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL HARDSHIP.—The 

21 term ‘‘significant financial hardship’’, with respect 

22 to a participant in a proceeding before the Commis23 sion, means that the participant cannot afford, with24 out undue hardship to that participant or the appli25 cable entities represented by that participant, to pay 


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1 the costs of effective participation in the proceeding, 

2 including attorney’s fees, expert witness fees, and 

3 other reasonable costs of participation. 

4 (10) SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

5 ‘‘substantial contribution’’, with respect to a partici6 pant in a proceeding before the Commission, means 

7 that, as determined by the Office, in consultation 

8 with the Panel, the contributions of that participant 

9 are likely to assist the Commission in making an 

10 order or decision, based on the contentions made by 

11 that participant for the purpose of protecting the 

12 health and safety of the public with respect to issues 

13 under the jurisdiction of the Commission. 

14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Under the authorities pro15 vided by sections 25 and 161 d. of the Atomic Energy 

16 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2035, 2201(d)) and section 201(a) 

17 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 

18 5841(a)), the Commission shall establish an office, to be 

19 known as the ‘‘Office of Public Engagement and Partici20 pation’’, not later than 180 days after the date of enact21 ment of this Act. 

22 (c) DIRECTOR.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be adminis24 tered by a Director. 


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1 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The Chair shall initiate 

2 the appointment, subject to the approval of the 

3 Commission, of the Director from among individuals 

4 who have demonstrated ability in public engagement, 

5 public administration, or judicial proceedings. 

6 (3) TERM.—Subject to paragraph (7), the Di7 rector shall serve for— 

8 (A) a term of 5 years; and 

9 (B) not more than 2 terms. 

10 (4) DUTIES.—The Director— 

11 (A) shall be responsible for the discharge 

12 of the functions of the Office; and 

13 (B) may appoint, and assign the duties of, 

14 staff of the Office— 

15 (i) as necessary to carry out the func16 tions of the Office; and 

17 (ii) in accordance with all applicable 

18 provisions of title 5, United States Code. 

19 (5) SUPERVISION.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director— 

21 (i) shall report to and be under the 

22 general supervision of the Commission; but 

23 (ii) shall not report to, or be subject 

24 to supervision by— 


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1 (I) any individual member of the 

2 Commission, including the Chair; or 

3 (II) any individual officer or em4 ployee of the Commission. 

5 (B) LIMITATION.—Neither the Commission 

6 nor any member, officer, or employee of the 

7 Commission may prevent or prohibit the Direc8 tor from carrying out any function of the Office 

9 described in subsection (d). 

10 (6) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be 

11 compensated at a rate of pay not greater than the 

12 maximum rate of pay prescribed for a senior execu13 tive in the Senior Executive Service under section 

14 5382 of title 5, United States Code. 

15 (7) EXPIRATION OF TERM.—A Director may 

16 continue to serve after the expiration of the term of 

17 such Director until a successor is appointed. 

18 (d) FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE.—The functions of 

19 the Office shall be— 

20 (1) to support public participation in pro21 ceedings before the Commission; 

22 (2) to serve as a liaison to those who advocate 

23 for the public interest on matters within the jurisdic24 tion of the Commission; 


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1 (3) to provide educational and technical guid2 ance and assistance to members of the public with 

3 respect to participating in proceedings before the 

4 Commission, including guidance in submitting com5 ments, contentions, and hearing requests; 

6 (4) to coordinate assistance, including financial 

7 assistance, available to participants in proceedings 

8 before the Commission, including by— 

9 (A) providing widely accessible, plain-lan10 guage resources and guidance to the public re11 lating to— 

12 (i) eligibility to request compensation 

13 with respect to a proceeding before the 

14 Commission; 

15 (ii) completing and submitting a re16 quest for compensation, including informa17 tion on the documentation necessary to 

18 demonstrate— 

19 (I) a substantial contribution to 

20 the proceeding; and 

21 (II) significant financial hard22 ship; and 

23 (iii) deadlines and any other matters 

24 relating to a request for compensation, as 


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1 determined under rules promulgated by the 

2 Commission; and 

3 (B) publishing in a single location on a 

4 website designated by the Office and in a timely 

5 manner— 

6 (i) a notice of a determination by the 

7 Panel of eligibility or ineligibility to rel8 evant participants with respect to com9 pensation for participation in a proceeding 

10 before the Commission; and 

11 (ii) notice of a determination by the 

12 Panel on up-front and final compensation, 

13 as appropriate, to eligible participants; 

14 (5) to increase opportunities for virtual attend15 ance and participation by members of the public in 

16 Commission meetings and proceedings; 

17 (6) to facilitate the implementation of rec18 ommendations included in the package of the Com19 mission entitled ‘‘Systematic Review of How Agency 

20 Programs, Policies, and Activities Address Environ21 mental Justice’’, dated March 29, 2022, and num22 bered SECY–22–0025 (including enclosures), or 

23 subsequent documents, as approved and assigned to 

24 the Office by the Commission; 


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1 (7) to coordinate assistance to the public with 

2 respect to authorities exercised by the Commission; 

3 and 

4 (8) to conduct other activities to facilitate 

5 transparency and opportunity for public engagement 

6 with the Commission. 

7 (e) INDEPENDENT OFFICE.—The Chair— 

8 (1) shall take appropriate actions to ensure the 

9 independence of the Office within the Commission, 

10 including independence from other officers and em11 ployees of the Commission; and 

12 (2) shall not prevent or prohibit the Office from 

13 initiating, carrying out, or completing any support 

14 for public participation, including guidance or assist15 ance, that the Office determines is necessary and ap16 propriate under this section. 

17 (f) COMPENSATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 502 

19 of the Energy and Water Development Appropria20 tions Act, 1993 (5 U.S.C. 504 note; Public Law 

21 102–377), and subject to the availability of appro22 priations to the Fund, the Panel, in consultation 

23 with the Office, shall provide compensation for all 

24 reasonable attorney’s fees, expert witness fees, and 


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1 other costs of participating in any proceeding before 

2 the Commission to a participant, if— 

3 (A) the Panel, in consultation with the Of4 fice, determines that the participation of that 

5 participant in that proceeding without receipt of 

6 compensation constitutes a significant financial 

7 hardship with respect to that participant; and 

8 (B) the Office, in consultation with the 

9 Panel, determines that the participation of that 

10 participant in that proceeding would likely pro11 vide a substantial contribution to the record of 

12 the proceeding. 

13 (2) GUIDELINES.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

15 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

16 the Commission shall promulgate a rule pursu17 ant to which the Panel may provide compensa18 tion under paragraph (1). 

19 (B) PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY DETER20 MINATION.—In establishing guidelines under 

21 subparagraph (A), the Panel, in consultation 

22 with the Office, shall establish a process pursu23 ant to which a participant has an opportunity 

24 to file with the Panel, alongside a petition to in25 tervene, a notice of intent to request compensaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Dec 07, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5406.IS S5406

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1 tion, in order to receive, at the same time that 

2 a decision on the petition to intervene is issued, 

3 a notification of the eligibility of that partici4 pant to receive compensation based on the de5 terminations described in subparagraphs (A) 

6 and (B) of paragraph (1). 

7 (C) UP-FRONT COMPENSATION.—Pursuant 

8 to the rule promulgated under subparagraph 

9 (A), the Panel, in consultation with the Office, 

10 shall establish a process to provide compensa11 tion, in the form of grants, prior to the conclu12 sion of the applicable proceeding, if— 

13 (i) the participant has received ap14 proval to act as a party to the proceeding 

15 under the requirements of section 2.309 of 

16 title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (as 

17 in effect on the date of enactment of this 

18 Act); and 

19 (ii) the participant submits a sum20 mary of eligible, reasonable costs that the 

21 participant expects to incur as an acting 

22 party to the proceeding. 

23 (3) EFFECT OF OUTCOME OF PROCEEDING.— 

24 After the Panel has affirmed the eligibility of a par25 ticipant to receive, and has provided, compensation 


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1 under paragraph (1), the compensation claim or 

2 grant under this subsection shall not be affected by 

3 the outcome of the related proceeding, including any 

4 amendment or reversal of a final decision in the re5 lated proceeding. 

6 (4) APPEAL OF DECISIONS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—A participant may ap8 peal a decision described in subparagraph (B) 

9 to the Commission under the procedures de10 scribed in section 2.1407 of title 10, Code of 

11 Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of 

12 enactment of this Act). 

13 (B) DECISION DESCRIBED.—A decision re14 ferred to in subparagraph (A) is any decision 

15 made by the Panel relating to financial assist16 ance or compensation under this section with 

17 respect to the applicable participant. 

18 (g) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

21 thereafter, the Director shall submit to Congress a 

22 report on the activities of the Office. 

23 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Each report under para24 graph (1) shall include, for the year covered by the 

25 report— 


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1 (A) the number and types of requests for 

2 assistance received by the Office; 

3 (B) an assessment of the most common 

4 difficulties encountered by members of the pub5 lic with participating or proposing to participate 

6 in proceedings before the Commission; 

7 (C) an accounting of requests for com8 pensation filed with the Panel pursuant to sub9 section (f), including an accounting of payments 

10 made to fulfill approved compensation requests; 

11 and 

12 (D) a list of activities undertaken by the 

13 Office to follow recommendations approved and 

14 assigned to the Office by the Commission and 

15 outlined in the package of the Commission enti16 tled ‘‘Systematic Review of How Agency Pro17 grams, Policies, and Activities Address Environ18 mental Justice’’, dated March 29, 2022, and 

19 numbered SECY–22–0025 (including enclo20 sures) or subsequent documents. 

21 (h) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

22 STANDARDS.—Nothing in this Act reduces, or may be in23 terpreted as reducing, the standards for the Commission 

24 to engage the public in any proceeding or decision. 

25 (i) INTERVENOR TRUST FUND.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall estab2 lish a fund, to be known as the ‘‘Intervenor Trust 

3 Fund’’. 

4 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Fund shall be ad5 ministered by the Office, in coordination with the 

6 Panel. 

7 (3) USE OF FUND.—Notwithstanding section 

8 502 of the Energy and Water Development Appro9 priations Act, 1993 (5 U.S.C. 504 note; Public Law 

10 102–377), amounts in the Fund shall be used by the 

11 Panel to satisfy requests for compensation under 

12 subsection (f), in accordance with rules promulgated 

13 by the Commission under subsections (d)(4)(A)(iii) 

14 and (f). 

15 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS TO

16 FUND.—Notwithstanding section 502 of the Energy 

17 and Water Development Appropriations Act, 1993 

18 (5 U.S.C. 504 note; Public Law 102–377), there are 

19 authorized to be appropriated to the Fund such 

20 amounts as may be necessary to satisfy requests for 

21 compensation under subsection (f), to remain avail22 able until expended. 

23 (5) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 

24 section 1532 of title 31, United States Code, the 

25 Commission may transfer amounts from an approVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Dec 07, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5406.IS S5406

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1 priate appropriations account to the Fund, as the 

2 Commission determines necessary to meet the budg3 etary requirements of the Fund. 

4 (j) USE OF EXISTING AUTHORITY.—In carrying out 

5 this section, the Commission, to the maximum extent prac6 ticable, shall utilize the existing authority of the Commis7 sion under other law, including— 

8 (1) the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 

9 2011 et seq.); 

10 (2) the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 

11 U.S.C. 5801 et seq.); and 

12 (3) any other applicable law. 

Æ 


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