Legal & Regulatory

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) earlier this year published its updated “Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change,” a document for the assessment and disclosure

GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) BWRX-300 design has cleared the first two phases of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) Vendor Design Review (VDR) process, marking a first for a small modular reactor (SMR). The Canadian nuclear regulator’s VDR process is an optional pre-licensing mechanism that allows CNSC staff to give applicants feedback early in the […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 15 issued the final “Good Neighbor Plan,” its latest iteration of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) that could require coal, oil, or gas steam power plants in 22 states to reduce their nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions levels by 50% by 2027 compared to the 2021 ozone season. […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing more stringent discharge standards for three types of coal power plant wastewater as part of an update to its Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELGs). However, the agency also proposed compliance flexibilities, and in a separate direct final rule, moved to extend a deadline to allow more coal plants to […]

Climate legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions up to 43% below 2005 levels by 2030, has shifted the already critical need for domestic minerals into

A problematic hurdle imposed by the federal government has long plagued businesses looking to deploy their capital into the American economy: permitting. And while a deal last year between Democrats and Republicans to reform overly burdensome federal rules that delay the development of next generation infrastructure could not be reached, there is still hope on the horizon. The prospect […]

In addition to affordability, range anxiety—the ability to access efficient and reliable vehicle charging—remains one of the largest barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption. At the federal level

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed barring six coal-fired power plants in various states—a combined 11 GW—from disposing coal ash into unlined surface impoundments. The agency, however, also proposed to provide disposal extensions if the coal plants are needed to maintain grid reliability. The EPA’s proposed determinations, issued on Jan. 25, fall under its […]

NuScale Power has submitted a standard design approval (SDA) application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) based on its six-module VOYGR-6 configuration, which will use uprated 250-MWth (77-MWe) modules. The step is crucial for the proposed construction of the 462-MWe Carbon Free Power Plant at an Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site. NuScale’s SDA application submitted […]

President Joe Biden last year signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that, in addition to a number of other actions, extended and enhanced a number of green energy tax opportunities. Notably, it extended the