The Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed a new rulemaking Tuesday revising how the agency intends to implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) standards.
Under the proposed rule, the agency is seeking to streamline and change Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 51 – or 10 CFR Part 51 regulations to “alleviate unnecessary regulatory burden, expand licensing efficiencies and flexibilities, address executive actions, and ensure compliance with NEPA,” according to the Federal Register notice.
NEPA is a law, signed in 1970, that requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental effects of their proposed actions before making decisions. NRC complies with NEPA through regulations in 10 CFR Part 51.
In streamlining the regulation, NRC proposed removing portions of 10 CFR Part 51, which it deemed not required because they are codified in NEPA. The 45-day comment period for this rulemaking will close on Aug. 21.
Among these proposed changes, NRC proposed revisions to determine whether to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS). This would establish threshold determinations, which were added to NEPA by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, for when a federal agency should an EA or EIS based on the significance of the possible effect of the agency’s action on the environment.
NRC said it is removing a list of certain agency actions that would require the preparation of an EIS in § 51.20 and reflect NEPA section 106(b). It will add procedures for determining the suitable level of NEPA review. There will still be exceptions where EIS is required by law, NRC said.
“Removing the list of actions in § 51.20(b) that automatically require an EIS would provide greater flexibility to consider and implement streamlined environmental review approaches, where appropriate, and would eliminate the need for exemptions to allow the preparation of an EA where an EIS is currently required by NRC regulations,” according to the document.
NRC also plans to add more categorical exclusions and expand its application framework, moving from one to two environmental information approaches for nuclear licensing applicants.
According to the notice, NRC said these revisions were proposed to address several of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, including EO 14300, laws and a recent Supreme Court decision.