I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1578 

To streamline nuclear technology regulatory permitting and licensing, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Mr. KINZINGER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To streamline nuclear technology regulatory permitting and 

licensing, 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 ‘‘Nuclear Licensing Ef5 ficiency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STREAMLINING APPLICATION AND SITE PERMIT 

7 REVIEWS. 

8 Section 185 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

9 U.S.C. 2235) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1578 IH

1 ‘‘c. APPLICATION REVIEWS FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY

2 PROJECTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) STREAMLINING LICENSE APPLICATION RE4 VIEW.—With respect to an application that is dock5 eted seeking issuance of a construction permit, oper6 ating license, or combined construction permit and 

7 operating license for a production or utilization facil8 ity, the Commission shall include the following pro9 cedures: 

10 ‘‘(A) Undertake an environmental review 

11 process and issue any draft environmental im12 pact statement to the maximum extent prac13 ticable within 24 months after the application is 

14 accepted for docketing. 

15 ‘‘(B) Complete the technical review process 

16 and issue any safety evaluation report and any 

17 final environmental impact statement to the 

18 maximum extent practicable within 42 months 

19 after the application is accepted for docketing. 

20 ‘‘(2) EARLY SITE PERMIT.— 

21 ‘‘(A) SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IM22 PACT STATEMENT.—In a proceeding for a com23 bined construction permit and operating license 

24 for a site for which an early site permit has 

25 been issued, any environmental impact stateVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1578.IH H1578

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1578 IH

1 ment prepared by the Commission and cooper2 ating agencies shall be prepared as a supple3 ment to the environmental impact statement 

4 prepared for the early site permit. 

5 ‘‘(B) INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE.— 

6 The supplemental environmental impact state7 ment shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) incorporate by reference the anal9 ysis, findings, and conclusions from the en10 vironmental impact statement prepared for 

11 the early site permit; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) include additional discussion, 

13 analyses, findings, and conclusions on mat14 ters resolved in the early site permit pro15 ceeding only to the extent necessary to ad16 dress information that is new and signifi17 cant in that the information would materi18 ally change the prior findings or conclu19 sions. 

20 ‘‘(3) PRODUCTION OR UTILIZATION FACILITY

21 LOCATED AT AN EXISTING SITE.—In reviewing an 

22 application for an early site permit, construction 

23 permit, operating license, or combined construction 

24 permit and operating license for a production or uti25 lization facility located at the site of a licensed proVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1578.IH H1578

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1578 IH

1 duction or utilization facility, the Commission shall, 

2 to the extent practicable, use information that was 

3 part of the licensing basis of the licensed production 

4 or utilization facility. 

5 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall 

6 initiate a rulemaking, not later than 1 year after the 

7 date of enactment of this subsection, to amend the 

8 regulations of the Commission to implement this 

9 subsection. 

10 ‘‘(5) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DE11 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘environmental 

12 impact statement’ means a detailed statement re13 quired under section 102(2)(C) of the National En14 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

15 4332(2)(C)). 

16 ‘‘(6) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—Nothing 

17 in this subsection exempts the Commission from any 

18 requirement for full compliance with section 

19 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 

20 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).’’. 

21 SEC. 3. UPDATING HEARING PROCEDURES. 

22 (a) INFORMAL HEARING PROCEDURES.—Section 189 

23 a. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2239(a)) 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1578 IH

1 ‘‘(3) The Commission may use informal adjudicatory 

2 procedures for any hearing required under this section for 

3 which the Commission determines that adjudicatory proce4 dures under section 554 of title 5, United States Code, 

5 are unnecessary.’’. 

6 (b) STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF THE ELIMINATION OF

7 MANDATORY HEARING FOR UNCONTESTED LICENSING

8 APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

10 transmit to Congress a report containing the results of 

11 a study on the effects of eliminating the hearings required 

12 under section 189 a. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 

13 (42 U.S.C. 2239(a)) for an application under section 103 

14 or section 104 b. of such Act for a construction permit 

15 for a facility in the absence of a request of any person 

16 whose interest may be affected by the proceeding. 

17 SEC. 4. EFFICIENCY OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REAC18 TOR SAFEGUARDS. 

19 (a) COMMITTEE COMPOSITION.—Section 29 of the 

20 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2039) is amended 

21 by inserting ‘‘The Commission shall seek to include a di22 versity of disciplines and operational experiences when ap23 pointing members of the Committee.’’ after ‘‘four years 

24 each.’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1578 IH

1 (b) LICENSE APPLICATIONS.—Section 182 b. of the 

2 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2232(b)) is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If the Com4 mission determines referral of an application to the Com5 mittee is necessary, the Committee shall initiate a review 

6 of the application not later than 30 days after receiving 

7 such referral, and shall submit a report thereon under this 

8 subsection not later than 180 days after initiating such 

9 review.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. UPDATING NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

11 USER FEES AND CHARGES. 

12 Section 102(b)(3)(B) of the Nuclear Energy Innova13 tion and Modernization Act (Public Law 115–439) is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 

16 (2) by inserting after clause (i) the following: 

17 ‘‘(ii) FUEL FACILITIES.— 

18 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The total an19 nual charges under subparagraph (A) 

20 charged to fuel facility licensees, to 

21 the maximum extent practicable, shall 

22 not exceed an amount that is equal to 

23 the total annual fees collected from 

24 the fuel facilities class under the final 

25 rule of the Commission entitled ‘ReviVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1578.IH H1578

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1578 IH

1 sion of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery 

2 for Fiscal Year 2016’ (81 Fed Reg. 

3 41171 (June 24, 2016)), which 

4 amount may be adjusted annually by 

5 the Commission to reflect changes in 

6 the Consumer Price Index published 

7 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 

8 the Department of Labor. 

9 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—Subclause (I) 

10 shall not apply if the number of li11 censed facilities classified by the Com12 mission as fuel facilities exceeds 

13 seven. 

14 ‘‘(III) CHANGES TO ANNUAL

15 CHARGES.—Any change in an annual 

16 charge under subparagraph (A) 

17 charged to a fuel facility licensee shall 

18 be based on— 

19 ‘‘(aa) a change in the regu20 latory services provided with re21 spect to the fuel facility; or 

22 ‘‘(bb) an adjustment de23 scribed in subclause (I).’’; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1578 IH

1 (3) in clause (iii), as redesignated by paragraph 

2 (1) of this section, by striking ‘‘clause (i)’’ and in3 serting ‘‘clause (i) or (ii)’’. 

4 SEC. 6. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. 

5 Section 104 c. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

6 U.S.C. 2134(c)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking the third sentence and inserting 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON UTILIZATION FACILI10 TIES.—The Commission may issue a license under 

11 this section for a utilization facility useful in the 

12 conduct of research and development activities of the 

13 types specified in section 31 if— 

14 ‘‘(A) not more than 75 percent of the an15 nual costs to the licensee of owning and oper16 ating the facility are devoted to the sale, other 

17 than for research and development or education 

18 and training, of— 

19 ‘‘(i) nonenergy services; 

20 ‘‘(ii) energy; or 

21 ‘‘(iii) a combination of nonenergy 

22 services and energy; and 

23 ‘‘(B) not more than 50 percent of the an24 nual costs to the licensee of owning and operVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1578.IH H1578

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 1578 IH

1 ating the facility are devoted to the sale of en2 ergy.’’; 

3 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

4 Commission’’ and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) REGULATION.—The Commission’’; and 

6 (3) by striking ‘‘C. The Commission’’and insert7 ing the following: 

8 ‘‘C. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES. 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

10 and (3), the Commission’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS