I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6252 

To direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to submit a report and conduct 

a rulemaking on facilitating efficient, timely environmental reviews of 

nuclear reactor applications, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. WEBER of Texas (for himself, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. PFLUGER, and Mr. 

LATTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to submit a 

report and conduct a rulemaking on facilitating efficient, 

timely environmental reviews of nuclear reactor applications, 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 ‘‘Modernize Nuclear Re5 actor Environmental Reviews Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FACILITATION OF EFFICIENT ENVIRONMENTAL RE2 VIEWS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Nuclear Regulatory 

5 Commission (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commis6 sion’’) shall submit to the Committee on Environment and 

7 Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Energy 

8 and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report 

9 on the efforts of the Commission to facilitate efficient, 

10 timely environmental reviews of nuclear reactor applica11 tions, including through expanded use of categorical exclu12 sions, environmental assessments, and generic environ13 mental impact statements. 

14 (b) REPORT.—In completing the report under sub15 section (a), the Commission shall— 

16 (1) describe the actions the Commission will 

17 take to implement the amendments to the National 

18 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

19 et seq.) made by section 321 of the Fiscal Responsi20 bility Act of 2023; 

21 (2) consider— 

22 (A) using through adoption, incorporation 

23 by reference, or other appropriate means, cat24 egorical exclusions, environmental assessments, 

25 and environmental impact statements prepared 

26 by other Federal agencies to streamline environVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Nov 16, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6252.IH H6252

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1 mental reviews of nuclear reactor applications 

2 by the Commission; 

3 (B) using categorical exclusions, environ4 mental assessments, and environmental impact 

5 statements prepared by the Commission to 

6 streamline environmental reviews of nuclear re7 actor applications by the Commission; 

8 (C) using mitigated findings of no signifi9 cant impact in environmental reviews of nuclear 

10 reactor applications by the Commission to re11 duce the impact of a proposed action to a level 

12 that is not significant; 

13 (D) the extent to which the Commission 

14 may rely on prior studies or analyses prepared 

15 by Federal, State, and local governmental per16 mitting agencies to streamline environmental 

17 reviews of nuclear reactor applications by the 

18 Commission; 

19 (E) opportunities to coordinate the devel20 opment of environmental assessments and envi21 ronmental impact statements with other Fed22 eral agencies to avoid duplicative environmental 

23 reviews and to streamline environmental reviews 

24 of nuclear reactor applications by the Commis25 sion; 


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1 (F) opportunities to streamline formal and 

2 informal consultations and coordination with 

3 other Federal, State, and local governmental 

4 permitting agencies during environmental re5 views of nuclear reactor applications by the 

6 Commission; 

7 (G) opportunities to streamline the Com8 mission’s analyses of alternatives, including the 

9 Commission’s analysis of alternative sites, in 

10 environmental reviews of nuclear reactor appli11 cations by the Commission; 

12 (H) establishing new categorical exclusions 

13 that could be applied to actions relating to new 

14 nuclear reactors applications; 

15 (I) amending section 51.20(b) of title 10, 

16 Code of Federal Regulations, to allow the Com17 mission to determine on a case-specific basis 

18 whether an environmental assessment (rather 

19 than an environmental impact statement or 

20 supplemental environmental impact statement) 

21 is appropriate for a particular nuclear reactor 

22 application, including in proceedings in which 

23 the Commission relies upon a generic environ24 mental impact statement for advanced nuclear 

25 reactors; 


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1 (J) authorizing the use of an applicant’s 

2 environmental impact statement as the Com3 mission’s draft environmental impact statement, 

4 consistent with section 107(f) of the National 

5 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

6 4336a(f)); 

7 (K) opportunities to adopt online and dig8 ital technologies, including technologies that 

9 would allow applicants and cooperating agencies 

10 to upload documents and coordinate with the 

11 Commission to edit documents in real time, 

12 that would streamline communications be13 tween— 

14 (i) the Commission and applicants; 

15 and 

16 (ii) the Commission and other rel17 evant cooperating agencies; 

18 (L) in addition to implementing measures 

19 under subsection (c), potential revisions to part 

20 51 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, and 

21 relevant Commission guidance documents, to— 

22 (i) facilitate efficient environmental 

23 reviews of nuclear reactor applications; 

24 (ii) assist decision-making about rel25 evant environmental issues; 


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1 (iii) maintain openness with the pub2 lic; 

3 (iv) meet obligations under the Na4 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

5 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 

6 (v) reduce burdens on licensees, appli7 cants, and the Commission; and 

8 (3) include a schedule for promulgating the rule 

9 required under subsection (c). 

10 (c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 2 years after the 

11 submission of the report under subsection (a), the Com12 mission shall promulgate a final rule implementing, to the 

13 maximum extent practicable, measures considered by the 

14 Commission under subsection (b)(2) that are necessary to 

15 streamline the Commission’s review of nuclear reactor ap16 plications. 

Æ 


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