Nuclear Licensing Efficiency Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7406 To streamline nuclear technology regulatory permitting and licensing, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 29, 2020 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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Licensing Ef- 4 ficiency Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. STREAMLINING APPLICATION AND SITE PERMIT 6 REVIEWS. 7 Section 185 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 8 U.S.C. 2235) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7406.IH H7406 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7406 IH ‘‘c. APPLICATION REVIEWS FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY 1 PROJECTS.— 2 ‘‘(1) STREAMLINING LICENSE APPLICATION RE- 3 VIEW.—With respect to an application that is dock- 4 eted seeking issuance of a construction permit, oper- 5 ating license, or combined construction permit and 6 operating license for a production or utilization facil- 7 ity, the Commission shall include the following pro- 8 cedures: 9 ‘‘(A) Undertake an environmental review 10 process and issue any draft environmental im- 11 pact statement to the maximum extent prac- 12 ticable within 24 months after the application is 13 accepted for docketing. 14 ‘‘(B) Complete the technical review process 15 and issue any safety evaluation report and any 16 final environmental impact statement to the 17 maximum extent practicable within 42 months 18 after the application is accepted for docketing. 19 ‘‘(2) EARLY SITE PERMIT.— 20 ‘‘(A) SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IM- 21 PACT STATEMENT.—In a proceeding for a com- 22 bined construction permit and operating license 23 for a site for which an early site permit has 24 been issued, any environmental impact state- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7406.IH H7406 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7406 IH ment prepared by the Commission and cooper- 1 ating agencies shall be prepared as a supple- 2 ment to the environmental impact statement 3 prepared for the early site permit. 4 ‘‘(B) INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE.— 5 The supplemental environmental impact state- 6 ment shall— 7 ‘‘(i) incorporate by reference the anal- 8 ysis, findings, and conclusions from the en- 9 vironmental impact statement prepared for 10 the early site permit; and 11 ‘‘(ii) include additional discussion, 12 analyses, findings, and conclusions on mat- 13 ters resolved in the early site permit pro- 14 ceeding only to the extent necessary to ad- 15 dress information that is new and signifi- 16 cant in that the information would materi- 17 ally change the prior findings or conclu- 18 sions. 19 ‘‘(3) PRODUCTION OR UTILIZATION FACILITY 20 LOCATED AT AN EXISTING SITE.—In reviewing an 21 application for an early site permit, construction 22 permit, operating license, or combined construction 23 permit and operating license for a production or uti- 24 lization facility located at the site of a licensed pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7406.IH H7406 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7406 IH duction or utilization facility, the Commission shall, 1 to the extent practicable, use information that was 2 part of the licensing basis of the licensed production 3 or utilization facility. 4 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall 5 initiate a rulemaking, not later than 1 year after the 6 date of enactment of this subsection, to amend the 7 regulations of the Commission to implement this 8 subsection. 9 ‘‘(5) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DE- 10 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘environmental 11 impact statement’ means a detailed statement re- 12 quired under section 102(2)(C) of the National En- 13 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 14 4332(2)(C)). 15 ‘‘(6) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—Nothing 16 in this subsection exempts the Commission from any 17 requirement for full compliance with section 18 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 19 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).’’. 20 SEC. 3. UPDATING HEARING PROCEDURES. 21 (a) INFORMAL HEARING PROCEDURES.—Section 189 22 a. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2239(a)) 23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7406.IH H7406 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7406 IH ‘‘(3) The Commission may use informal adjudicatory 1 procedures for any hearing required under this section for 2 which the Commission determines that adjudicatory proce- 3 dures under section 554 of title 5, United States Code, 4 are unnecessary.’’. 5 (b) STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF THE ELIMINATION OF 6 MANDATORY HEARING FOR UNCONTESTED LICENSING 7 APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after the date 8 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 9 transmit to Congress a report containing the results of 10 a study on the effects of eliminating the hearings required 11 under section 189 a. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 12 (42 U.S.C. 2239(a)) for an application under section 103 13 or section 104 b. of such Act for a construction permit 14 for a facility in the absence of a request of any person 15 whose interest may be affected by the proceeding. 16 SEC. 4. EFFICIENCY OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REAC- 17 TOR SAFEGUARDS. 18 (a) COMMITTEE COMPOSITION.—Section 29 of the 19 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2039) is amended 20 by inserting ‘‘The Commission shall seek to include a di- 21 versity of disciplines and operational experiences when ap- 22 pointing members of the Committee.’’ after ‘‘four years 23 each.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7406.IH H7406 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7406 IH (b) LICENSE APPLICATIONS.—Section 182 b. of the 1 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2232(b)) is 2 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If the Com- 3 mission determines referral of an application to the Com- 4 mittee is necessary, the Committee shall initiate a review 5 of the application not later than 30 days after receiving 6 such referral, and shall submit a report thereon under this 7 subsection not later than 180 days after initiating such 8 review.’’. 9 SEC. 5. UPDATING NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 USER FEES AND CHARGES. 11 Section 102(b)(3)(B) of the Nuclear Energy Innova- 12 tion and Modernization Act (Public Law 115–439) is 13 amended— 14 (1) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 15 (2) by inserting after clause (i) the following: 16 ‘‘(ii) FUEL FACILITIES.— 17 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The total an- 18 nual charges under subparagraph (A) 19 charged to fuel facility licensees, to 20 the maximum extent practicable, shall 21 not exceed an amount that is equal to 22 the total annual fees collected from 23 the fuel facilities class under the final 24 rule of the Commission entitled ‘Revi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7406.IH H7406 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7406 IH sion of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery 1 for Fiscal Year 2016’ (81 Fed Reg. 2 41171 (June 24, 2016)), which 3 amount may be adjusted annually by 4 the Commission to reflect changes in 5 the Consumer Price Index published 6 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 7 the Department of Labor. 8 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—Subclause (I) 9 shall not apply if the number of li- 10 censed facilities classified by the Com- 11 mission as fuel facilities exceeds 12 seven. 13 ‘‘(III) CHANGES TO ANNUAL 14 CHARGES.—Any change in an annual 15 charge under subparagraph (A) 16 charged to a fuel facility licensee shall 17 be based on— 18 ‘‘(aa) a change in the regu- 19 latory services provided with re- 20 spect to the fuel facility; or 21 ‘‘(bb) an adjustment de- 22 scribed in subclause (I).’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7406.IH H7406 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7406 IH (3) in clause (iii), as redesignated by paragraph 1 (1) of this section, by striking ‘‘clause (i)’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘clause (i) or (ii)’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7406.IH H7406 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS