H.R. 3925 (Rep. Obernolte), “Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation Land Exchange Act”
H.R. 7882 (Rep. Stauber), To provide for the leasing of certain deposits of minerals located within the City of Carlsbad, New Mexico and permit fracking under the city
H.R. 8686 (Rep. Gosar), To amend the Military Land Withdrawals Act of 2013 to withdraw and reserve certain public land in the vicinity of Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.
The legislative hearing for H.R. 7882 was held on March 25.
The purpose of the business meeting is to consider the following legislation:
S. 140, to address the forest health crisis on the National Forest System and public lands, and for other purposes. (Mr. Barrasso).
S. 332, to require a study on Holocaust education efforts of States, local educational agencies, and public elementary and secondary schools, and for other purposes. (Ms. Rosen).
S. 365/H.R. 1729, to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to allow for additional entities to be eligible to complete the maintenance work on Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch Headgate within the Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado. (Mr. Bennet/Rep. Neguse).
S. 764, to provide for the designation of certain wilderness areas, recreation management areas, and conservation areas in the State of Colorado, and for other purposes. (Mr. Bennet).
S. 789, to require reports on critical mineral and rare earth element resources around the world and a strategy for the development of advanced mining, refining, separation, and processing technologies, and for other purposes. (Mr. Cornyn).
S. 791, to establish the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site in the State of Maryland as an affiliated area of the National Park System, and for other purposes. (Mr. Van Hollen).
S. 888, to designate certain land administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service in the State of Oregon as wilderness and national recreation areas, to withdraw certain land located in Curry County and Josephine County, Oregon, from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and operation under the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws, and for other purposes. (Mr. Wyden).
S. 945, to amend the Smith River National Recreation Area Act to include certain additions to the Smith River National Recreation Area, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain wild rivers in the State of Oregon, and for other purposes. (Mr. Merkley).
S. 1088/H.R. 2290, to provide that the memorial to commemorate the sacrifice and service of the women who worked on the home front to support the efforts of the United States military during World War II may be located on the National Mall, and for other purposes. (Ms. Shaheen/Rep. Dingell).
S. 1288, to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to designate as a component of the National Heritage Area System the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area in the State of New York, and for other purposes. (Mrs. Gillibrand).
S. 1341, to amend the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to add certain land to the Sarvis Creek Wilderness, and for other purposes. (Mr. Hickenlooper).
S. 1349, to withdraw the National Forest System land in the Ruby Mountains subdistrict of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and the National Wildlife Refuge System land in Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, from operation under the mineral leasing laws. (Ms. Cortez Masto).
S. 1413, to authorize additional funding for the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act. (Mr. Padilla).
S. 1476, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain segments of the Gila River system in the State of New Mexico as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, to provide for the transfer of administrative jurisdiction over certain Federal land in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes. (Mr. Heinrich).
S. 1547, to amend title 54, United States Code, to reauthorize the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, and for other purposes. (Mr. Daines).
S. 1737, to designate and expand wilderness areas in Olympic National Forest in the State of Washington, and to designate certain rivers in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park as wild and scenic rivers, and for other purposes. (Ms. Murray).
S. 1870, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for other purposes. (Mr. Schiff).
S. 2437/H.R. 3857, to amend the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Authorization Act to reauthorize the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program, and for other purposes. (Mr. Hickenlooper/Rep. Hurd).
S. 2753, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to authorize certain extraordinary operation and maintenance work for urban canals of concern. (Mr. Risch).
S. 3500/H.R. 3657, to amend the Federal Power Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to annually submit to Congress a report on the status of ongoing hydropower relicensing applications. (Ms. Cortez Masto/Rep. Schrier) .
S. 3518, to amend the Federal Power Act to address certain alterations in, and the maintenance and repair of, project works, to provide for the licensing of micro hydrokinetic energy projects, and for other purposes. (Ms. Murkowski).
S. 3526, to provide for the protection of and investment in certain Federal land in the State of California, and for other purposes. (Mr. Padilla).
S. 3693, to extend the authorization for a large-scale water recycling and reuse grant program. (Ms. Cortez Masto).
S. 3723, to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a project to supply municipal, rural, and industrial water from the Missouri River to the Western Dakota Regional Water System, and for other purposes. (Mr. Thune).
S. 3732, to amend the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to authorize assistance under the storage program, and for other purposes. (Mr. Gallego).
S. 3736, to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a project to supply municipal, rural, and industrial water to the Dakota Mainstem Regional Water System service area in the States of South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota, and for other purposes. (Mr. Rounds).
S. 3743, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to carry out a feasibility study on a selective water withdrawal system at Glen Canyon Dam, and for other purposes. (Mr. Lee).
S. 3792, to provide for the establishment of a Water Project Navigators Program, and for other purposes. (Mr. Hickenlooper).
S. 3878, to establish the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians and Jefferson College as affiliated areas of the National Park System, and for other purposes. (Mrs. Hyde-Smith).
S. 4040, to amend Public Law 89–108 to modify the authorization of appropriations for State and Tribal, municipal, rural, and industrial water supplies, and for other purposes. (Mr. Hoeven).
H.R. 249, to redesignate certain facilities at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in honor of Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (Rep. Pallone).
H.R. 3872, to amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals. (Rep. Fallon).
H.R. 3937, to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, and for other purposes. (Rep. Tiffany).
The Data Center Working Group, Kairos Fellowship, and Fight Oligarchy team are offering a five-part training series to support organizing and campaign efforts to stop the expansion of data centers. Each session covers key skills and techniques to help groups build winning coalitions, strategies, and campaigns. Sessions have a progressive structure with each workshop building upon the previous one, as well as individual workshops can be taken as standalones. This series is part of the larger work of building a movement to advance an alternative vision of a society where our communities determine their own economies and futures.
In this session, gain tools to ask powerful research questions, uncover connections and lobbying relationships, and follow money trails that corporations hide to gain a strategic advantage over our communities.
Maria Korsnick, President and CEO, Nuclear Energy Institute
Jeffrey Merrifield, Chair of the Board of Directors, U.S. Nuclear Industry Council
Jeremy Harrell, Chief Executive Officer, ClearPath Action
Kathryn Huff, Associate Professor, University of Illinois
On July 9, 2024, the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced
Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act was signed into law. (The House version of this
legislation was H.R. 6544, the Atomic Energy Advancement Act.) The ADVANCE Act establishes
requirements for the NRC to license and regulate nuclear technology in an efficient, predictable, and
timely manner while maintaining public safety. Additionally, it requires the NRC to align its mission
statement with the foundational goals of the AEA and directs it to conduct efficient and predictable
licensing processes while regularly updating metrics to measure timely licensing performance and
efficiency. The law also updates NRC hiring authorities, reduces fees collected from applicants for
advanced nuclear reactors licenses, directs NRC to identify measures to facilitate licensing of
reactors at brownfield sites, and directs the NRC to implement measures to increase efficiency of
environmental reviews, among other measures.
On May 13, 2024, the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act was signed into law.10
While the U.S. maintains the largest market globally for nuclear fuels, domestic fuel infrastructure
has atrophied in recent years, to the point that Russia has been supplying up to a quarter of nuclear
fuel used in the U.S. reactor fleet. The Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act provides a date
certain, after which no Russian-sourced enriched nuclear fuel will be available for U.S. nuclear
reactors. This will create the market conditions for the long-term commercial contracts that domestic
fuel producers need to invest in new U.S. supply capacity, including uranium conversion and
enrichment capacity. The Nuclear Fuel Security Act of 2023 was signed into law on December 22,
2023, to provide funding and other support to assist the domestic development of advanced and
conventional nuclear fuel supplies.
Against this backdrop, the legislation under consideration makes additional reforms to
Atomic Energy Act licensing requirements.
A. H.R. 5549, Efficient Nuclear Licensing Hearings Act
This legislation would amend the AEA to remove the need for the NRC to expend
resources on unnecessary hearings. It would eliminate the requirement to hold uncontested
hearings on applications to the NRC for granting a construction permit, an operating license, or a
combined construction and operating license for nuclear facilities. The legislation would also
clarify that the NRC may use informal adjudicatory procedures for any hearing the Commission
determines appropriate. These provisions would in no way affect the right of persons whose
interests are affected to request a hearing on specific matters. (Reps. Griffith and Schrier
introduced this legislation on September 23, 2025.)
This legislation would amend the definition of a production facility in the AEA to
exclude facilities that reprocess spent nuclear fuel in a manner that does not separate plutonium
from other transuranic elements. In effect, amending the definition would clarify that certain
reprocessing facilities may be licensed under the same regulatory process as other fuel cycle
facilities rather than as a production facility. Licensing a fuel cycle facility involves a single
process for a license to operate a facility instead of a two-step licensing process for a production
facility, which must receive a construction permit and then complete a process for an operating
license. (Reps. Latta and Peters introduced this legislation on June 12, 2025.)
C. H.R. 9084, Department of Energy Nuclear Transparency Act
This legislation would require DOE to announce and post information on decisions
relating to the licensing and authorization of DOE nuclear facilities, as well as changes in
directives and safety standards relating to such facilities on a publicly accessible website, within
24 hours of such decisions or actions. The legislation would also require the Secretary of Energy
to provide a report annually to the Energy and Commerce Committee and to the Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee that details all such activity by DOE to authorize nuclear
facilities over the previous year. (Rep. Castor introduced this legislation on June 2, 2026.)
D. H.R. ____, Nuclear Advisory Committee Reform Act
This legislation would amend the AEA to update the role of the Advisory Committee on
Reactor Safeguards (ACRS). The legislation would establish that the ACRS would provide
advice to the NRC on license applications, license amendments, regulatory activities, and any
other matter only upon specific request by the Commission. The legislation would direct the
ACRS to focus on issues that are directly related to reactor design, safety significant, and novel,
and that have not previously been acted on by the Committee. The legislation would also update
term requirements and require membership that represents a diverse background of
technical expertise relevant to the NRC mission.
E. H.R. ____, American Enrichment Deployment Act
This legislation would amend the AEA to update the licensing of uranium enrichment
facilities to align with the licensing requirements for all other fuel cycle facilities. It does so by
removing enrichment-specific requirements for environmental review and for an adjudicatory
hearing and by clarifying that construction of a facility may be allowed prior to licensing under
the same terms and conditions applicable to other fuel cycle facilities. The uranium enrichment
facility would remain subject to all applicable licensing requirements under sections 53 and 63 of
the AEA, as well as NRC’s environmental review requirements. A rule of construction provides
that the amendment does not affect NRC authority to regulate construction and does not affect
the right of any person whose interest may be affected by a licensing proceeding to a hearing
under the AEA. The legislation also directs the NRC to revise its regulations to conform with the
bill.
F. H.R. ____, NRC Staff Pay Alignment Act
This legislation amends the AEA to provide that the Chairman of the NRC may fix the
compensation for career, Senior Executive Service (SES) appointees at a rate that is 10 percent
higher than the maximum annual rate of basic pay for SES positions within the Commission. The
legislation would help align the pay authority applicable to these career employees with
workforce development and pay authority amendments made to the AEA by the ADVANCE
Act.
Netroots Nation panel: Chester, Pennsylvania is a poster child for environmental justice in the U.S. State EJ legislation would require all toxic facilities to consider the cumulative impacts of their operations and allow citizens input as a factor in permitting decisions.
Speakers:
Maurice Sampson, Eastern Pennsylvania Director for Clean Water Action
Zulene Mayfield, Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living
This panel brings together veteran organizers and strategists to name what’s actually broken in a political system designed to block majorities, insulate power, and make accountability structurally impossible. The crises we’re living through have a common source. For decades, organizers have won hearts, minds, and votes — only to watch those wins dissolved by the Supreme Court, buried in the Senate, or gutted by executive power grabs. This panel brings together veteran organizers and strategists to name what’s actually broken: the veto points, the malapportionment, the chokepoints that protect minority rule. They’ll discuss where the real openings for structural reform are in the next few years, what coalitions are forming around them, and what more democratic systems elsewhere have actually required to take hold.
Current political wisdom requires Democrats to stop talking about climate change and instead couch their campaign plans as “energy affordability” or even a return to the Obama-era “all of the above” rhetoric giving equal footing to fossil fuels and renewable energy. This session will flip the script by spotlighting Democrats who have won their races by talking about climate change. Yes, the Beltway pundits are wrong. Again.
Speakers:
RL Miller, Climate Hawks Vote
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ)
Michelle Deatrick, DNC Climate and Environmental Caucus
Ryan O’Donnell, Executive Director, Data For Progress