Energy and Commerce Committee passes bipartisan ozone and nuclear bills

Two bipartisan bills addressing ozone standards and nuclear technology development were passed this week by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The Ozone Standards Implementation Act, H.R. 4775, aims to provide states with a more forgiving timeframe in which to achieve compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards program.

“State after state is telling us what we already know,” Energy and Power Subcommittee Vice Chairman Pete Olson (R-TX) said. “The Clean Air Act is hugely important but it’s also imperfect. This bill is not about changing the fundamentals of the Clean Air Act; this bill recognizes a simple fact. States and EPA need more time. Ozone levels continue to trend in the right direction. My bill simply provides needed flexibility so that states and localities can achieve new, lower standards with time for compliance.”

H.R. 4979 focuses on the regulation of advanced nuclear energy technology, enabling the development of a safe regulatory framework, while steering the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) towards productive collaboration.

“As the United States looks to the future more energy will be needed and nuclear power provides a reliable, clean, baseload power option currently providing 63 percent of the total carbon free energy,” U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), co-author of the legislation, said. “H.R. 4979 requires the NRC establish a regulatory framework for issuing licenses for advanced nuclear technology and ensures the NRC provides the certainty the private sector needs to continue to invest in innovative technologies.”