The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday is scheduled to consider Jeff Baran’s appointment for another term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The White House on Sept. 5 formally nominated Baran for a second term, through June 30, 2023.
Baran’s current term does not expire until June 30 of next year. However, Environment and Public Works Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.) has made it clear he wanted the commissioner’s reappointment to advance alongside Trump administration nominees to fill two vacant spots on the NRC: Annie Caputo, a nuclear engineer and Republican staffer on the EPW Committee, and David Wright, an energy consultant and former head of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
The Senate panel in July forwarded Caputo and Wright to the full chamber for a final vote, which has not yet been scheduled but is expected this fall.
Baran is a lawyer who previously served as a senior counsel and Democratic staffer on Capitol Hill.
The Environment and Public Works Committee hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday in Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 406. Along with Baran’s nomination, the panel is considering four nominees for assistant administrator positions with the Environmental Protection Agency.
The other current members on the five-person commission are Chairman Kristine Svinicki, recently appointed to a third term to June 30, 2022; and Commissioner Stephen Burns, in his first term to June 30, 2019.
