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NEPA Amendments/ADVANCE Act

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NEPA Amendments enacted through the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA):

The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) was signed into law on June 3, 2023. Section 321 of the FRA includes amendments to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is in compliance with the provisions of the NEPA amendments, which took effect immediately upon the enactment of the FRA.

For information on changes to NEPA included in the FRA, see Amendments to NEPA from the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. Some specific FRA-driven NEPA changes include the following:

  • mandatory deadlines for publication of Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs)
  • page limits for EAs and EIS, and requirements regarding the roles and responsibilities of lead, participating, and cooperating agencies.

Currently, the NRC is considering various options to balance meaningful public engagement while codifying new requirements, removing any inconsistencies with NEPA, and reducing the amount of time spent on and number of resources involved in environmental reviews. The staff’s considerations are documented in SECY-24-0046, “Implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 National Environmental Policy Act Amendments” (ML24078A013). Some of these options include:

  • Proposed Agency Action and Reasonable Range of Alternatives
  • Procedure for Determination of Level of Review
  • Project Sponsor Preparation of Environmental Documents
  • Lead, Participating, and Cooperating Agencies (Federal, State, Tribal, and Local)
  • Programmatic Environmental Documents
  • Additional Recommendations to Streamline and Enhance Efficiency

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Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations:

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) oversees and guides NEPA implementation across government agencies. Several of the NEPA amendments enacted by the FRA codify long-standing principles drawn from CEQ regulations and agency practice and add improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of the NEPA process consistent with NEPA’s purposes. Since 2021, the CEQ has been engaged in a multistage effort to revise and update its Governmentwide NEPA-implementing regulations. The CEQ’s Phase 2 final rule, published May 1, 2024, incorporates revisions to address the FRA amendments and provides additional details regarding the CEQ’s interpretation and implementation of the new requirements. In SECY-24-0046, the staff recommends incorporating consideration of CEQ's revised NEPA-implementing procedures in the development of a regulatory basis for the recommended rulemaking to allow for more stakeholder interaction on how CEQ's revisions should apply to the NRC's processes.

The NRC’s long-standing position is that the CEQ’s NEPA-implementing regulations are not binding on the NRC as an independent regulatory agency. However, since 1984, when the NRC first promulgated its NEPA-implementing regulations in 10 CFR Part 51, the NRC has taken a position that it will voluntarily take account of CEQ’s regulations subject to certain conditions (10 CFR 51.10(a)). As a result, the NRC has closely patterned its NEPA-implementing regulations on CEQ’s regulations.

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ADVANCE Act:

The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024, or ADVANCE Act of 2024, was signed into law in July 2024. It requires the NRC to take a number of actions, particularly in the areas of licensing of new reactors and fuels, while maintaining the NRC’s core mission to protect public health and safety. The NRC has established a public website (ADVANCE Act) to inform and engage external stakeholders during implementation of the ADVANCE Act.

Section 506 of the ADVANCE Act requires the NRC to submit to Congress in January 2025 a report on the agency’s efforts to facilitate efficient, timely, and predictable environmental reviews of nuclear reactor applications. The NRC’s report must address several efficiency considerations outlined in Section 506. The NRC will update this page with its report to Congress when it is available.

rendering of a facility from an aerial view.

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Page Last Reviewed/Updated Tuesday, October 29, 2024