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Washington Week: US Congress to take up nuclear, energy spending bills

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Washington Week: US Congress to take up nuclear, energy spending bills

A U.S. Senate subcommittee will mark up its fiscal-year 2019 energy spending bill May 22, while lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives look at legislation to support advanced nuclear energy technologies.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations' energy and water subcommittee will hold a markup of the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2019. The bill, which has yet to be released, will be the Senate's response to a House energy appropriations bill released May 6.

Congressional lawmakers have dismissed many of the Trump administration's calls to slash or eliminate funding for certain U.S. Department of Energy research efforts. Some programs, however, have fared better than others under lawmakers' proposals.

Republicans on the House Committee on Appropriations proposed to reduce funding for the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to $2.08 billion in fiscal year 2019, above the White House's request for $696 million but still down from 2018 enacted levels of about $2.3 billion.

But other DOE offices, including for fossil fuel and nuclear energy research and development, would get a boost under the House proposal.

In other budget news, the House appropriations committee will hold a May 22 markup of its fiscal-year 2019 spending bill for the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies. The legislation would trim the EPA's budget to $7.96 billion, off by $100 million from the prior fiscal year. The legislation also contains several policy riders, including one to fully repeal the Obama administration's Clean Water Rule, which the Trump administration already is in the process of rescinding.

Advancing nuclear

Also on May 22, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's energy subcommittee will examine a bill and several discussion drafts of legislation to support advanced nuclear power technologies.

Among other things, the hearing will address House Bill 1320 from U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Mike Doyle, D-Pa., which aims to streamline the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing process and limit how much the NRC can collect in fees for agency overhead costs, with the goal of funding a regulatory framework for advanced reactors.

Several bills are moving through Congress to support advanced nuclear energy technologies as the traditional nuclear fleet struggles with plant retirements spurred in part by competition from cheaper natural gas-fired generation. But nuclear energy proponents say the U.S. commercial nuclear sector will fail to grow without a long-term solution on waste storage.

By a strong 340-72 majority, the House voted May 10 to pass H.B. 3053 from Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., which would pave the way to restart licensing of a long-term nuclear waste repository at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. The Senate has yet to take up the bill, but leaders in the upper chamber are planning a meeting to discuss a new push on nuclear waste legislation, Politico reported in its May 18 Morning Energy newsletter.

FERC limits pipeline greenhouse gas review

A divided Federal Energy Regulatory Commission delivered a surprise May 18 when it handed down an order limiting when FERC will consider the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from the production and consumption of natural gas as part of the pipeline authorization process.

FERC issued the 3-2 decision over objections from Democratic members Cheryl LaFleur and Richard Glick, with Glick saying the ruling is "inconsistent with basic obligations to consider a pipeline's contribution to climate change."

The decision arrived as FERC already is reviewing its nearly 20-year-old pipeline permitting policy, in part to consider whether changes are needed to its methods for analyzing climate change impacts.

"At a time when we are grappling with increasing concern regarding the climate impacts of pipeline infrastructure projects, the commission should not change its policy on upstream and downstream impacts to provide less information and be less responsive," LaFleur said. LaFleur added that she hoped the broader inquiry on FERC's pipeline certification process will allow more consideration of what information the commission needs included in applications and how that information should factor into the agency's project analysis.

FERC's May 18 decision is another blow for climate action proponents. The Trump administration is working to unwind or ease several climate-focused regulations and policies promulgated under former President Barack Obama, including the EPA's Clean Power Plan and average vehicle fuel economy standards for model years 2022-2025.

The repeal of both policies has divided U.S. electric utilities, some of which want the regulations to stay in place. The National Coalition for Advanced Transportation, whose members include Exelon Corp., Edison International and Pacific Gas and Electric Co., filed a lawsuit May 3 against the EPA over its planned rollback of the fuel economy standards. The coalition's lawsuit came after a group of 17 states and the District of Columbia sued the EPA on May 1 over the proposal.

Utilities could benefit from increased use of electric vehicles as a result of tougher fuel economy standards, prompting some generators to seek protections for the existing 2022-2025 mandates. But supporters of the EPA's planned revisions say the Obama-era targets were too stringent and based on inaccurate assumptions on oil prices and deployment of advanced vehicles.

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US Congress
May 22

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Energy will hold a hearing on several bills to address the development, regulation and competitiveness of advanced nuclear energy technologies.

May 22

The House Committee on Appropriations will hold a markup of its fiscal year 2019 appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Interior, EPA and related agencies.

May 22

The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations will hold a subcommittee markup of its fiscal year 2019 energy and water development spending bill.

Industry events
May 24

The Center for Strategic & International Studies and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago will hold a half-day conference on the future of U.S. nuclear power.

Other notable stories from last week

PURPA review effort to get push from FERC

FERC disavows tax policy drama behind pipeline MLP shake-ups

Disconnected: Midstream stocks lose trading link to oil as crude prices surge

EPA science board says transparency rule restricts use of human health studies

Trump revokes another Obama climate directive, signs efficiency order

DOE releases 5-year strategy to bolster US energy sector cybersecurity