ICYMI: President Joe Biden signed the remaining appropriation bills into law Saturday, averting a shutdown and funding the government into September. But tucked away in the legislation is an extension of liability protection for nuclear reactors – a component of a nuclear package that’s currently being negotiated in Congress.
Sound familiar? The provision we’re referring to is an extension of the Price-Anderson Act, a 1957 law that establishes accident liability limits for the nuclear industry in the event of a nuclear accident. The provision in the funding bills would extend the act for another 40 years.
The extension was originally included in both the House and Senate versions of a package designed to overhaul the nuclear sector and streamline the industry’s buildout. Lawmakers in both chambers are still actively working on the larger legislative package, but the Price-Anderson Act extension was pulled out to be included in the spending bills and signed into law Saturday. There were differences between the chamber’s version on how long the extension would stand to be – the House bill extended it for 40 years, and the Senate bill would’ve extended it for 20 years. The spending package went with the House’s version.
Without the extension, the protection would’ve expired at the end of next year.
From the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leaders: “For more than six decades, the Price-Anderson Act has provided the necessary certainty to enable the expansion of carbon-free nuclear energy, which now provides about 20 percent of America’s electricity and nearly half of America’s clean energy,” the lawmakers said in a written statement. “The extension of the Price-Anderson Act in the minibus sends a clear message that we are committed to the advancement of this safe and reliable power source, but this is only the first step.”
An update on nuclear package negotiations: We asked Senate EPW Chairman Tom Carper for an update on negotiations two weeks ago, to which he told us that lawmakers were “making progress and we’re encouraged.”
“Joe Biden always likes to say, ‘All politics is personal.’ We got a fair amount of conversations with Democrats, Republicans in the House and in the Senate, a lot of work at the [staff-level].”
When asked if there were any sticking points, Carper mentioned that there were “some,” but didn’t elaborate further. “I think we’re working through those.”
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$6B TO CUT EMISSIONS IN MANUFACTURING: The Biden administration is granting $6 billion to help combat emissions from producing metals and chemicals, and other sectors that have proven difficult to decarbonize – which includes money to build the first U.S. aluminum smelter in 45 years, Bloomberg reports.
Century Aluminum Company, a U.S. based producer of the metal, will receive as much as $500 million for the facility – which would double the country’s domestic production of aluminum while also decreasing emissions by an estimated 75%.
A little bit of history: Domestic production of aluminum has been slowly declining for years – even when demand has been gradually increasing. Demand has increased in recent years, as the metal is used in solar panels and semiconductors – and legislation that has passed in recent years has ramped up demand for aluminum.
The smelter facility is one of 33 that will receive funding from an Energy Department program to reduce GHG emissions within the manufacturing sector, while simultaneously aiming to revive industrial communities and further beef up U.S. manufacturing. The program is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Why it’s important: Direct industry emissions account for nearly a quarter of total U.S. GHG emissions – making it the third largest contributor, after the transportation and electric power sectors. Reducing emissions in these sectors will be critical if the Biden administration wants to meet its goals of achieving net zero by 2050. Read more here.
CHINA AND RUSSIA CHALLENGES U.S. CLAIMS TO SEABED FULL OF MINERALS: Chinese and Russian diplomats are challenging U.S. claims to a seabed strip rich of critical minerals, arguing that the claims are invalid since Washington has failed to ratify a treaty that would grant access to resources in international waters, the Financial Times reports.
The treaty being debated: The diplomats said last week the claims were void given the failure to ratify the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (otherwise known as Unclos), sources that attended a meeting in Jamaica of the International Seabed Authority told the Financial Times.
The objections from the Chinese and Russian diplomats came after the U.S. said in December that it would extend its authority over the area in question, which is the extended continental shelf, encompassing parts of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and regions off Alaska. A person familiar with the situation said the U.S. and other countries were entitled to extend their jurisdiction under international law.
The reason for the tension: The Biden administration is facing domestic pressure to compete with China on deep-sea mining on critical minerals. This comes before an expected Pentagon report on sourcing and processing seabed metals, which is mandated by Congress.
The last push to ratify Unclos was more than a decade ago. Read more on that here.
UKRAINIAN ATTACKS ON RUSSIAN REFINERIES PUT UPWARD PRESSURE ON OIL: Ukraine has kept up drone attacks on Russian refineries, helping to keep Brent crude above $86 as of this morning.
A drone attack over the weekend knocked out half the capacity at a refinery in the city of Samara along the Volga River, Reuters reported. The attacks have shut down 7% of total Russian capacity, according to the publication.
The losses have added to the extension of the OPEC+ supply curbs into the second quarter, in terms of limiting supply. Demand projections, meanwhile, are a little higher on expectations that the U.S. will avoid recession and see rate cuts later this year.
WHEN EXACTLY IS THE DEADLINE FOR BIDEN RULES TO AVOID CRA CHALLENGES? A question for the next few months is what deadline the Biden administration has to finish rules in order to avoid having them canceled next Congress if Republicans take over.
E&E News took a look at the timeline for finalizing rules early enough to avoid Congressional Review Act challenges, and found a range of opinions. Some suggested the deadline could be as early as May 22, but other analyses put the date further back toward the end of summer.
At issue is that the lookback window for canceling rules under the CRA is based on when Congress adjourns for the year, and also based on congressional working days. So the exact timing will depend on what happens in the House and Senate in the weeks and months ahead.
It’s a big question because the GOP-led House and Senate in 2017 were able to pass 16 CRA resolutions that were signed by President Donald Trump undoing Obama administration rules.
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