Chairman Capito Questions NRC Commissioners on Revised Mission Statement, Opportunities for Efficiency

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, led a hearing to conduct oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) with the current Chairman and Commissioners of the NRC.

During the hearing, Chairman Capito questioned the NRC Commissioners on steps that could be taken to make their revised mission statement actionable, and how reporting requirements can be streamlined to create efficiency.

HIGHLIGHTS:

ON UPDATED NRC MISSION STATEMENT:

Chairman Capito:

"I want to talk about the mission statement, making it actionable. We've all kind of alluded to the fact that the mission statement was realigned for the first time in many, many years, and to achieve its greatest impact, the Commission has to, with the staff, has to rewrite the guidance so that further actions can adhere to the vision that's outlined in that statement. The ADVANCE Act required the Commission to describe to Congress how it will update agency guidance to reflect the new mission statement. The report was due in July, but we have yet to receive that report. So, what are your observations about how the agency has reflected the spirit of the revised mission statement in its activities to implement the ADVANCE Act, and where do you see us going from here?"

Chairman Wright:

"The mission statement is something that we work very hard on, especially with colleague here to my left, we worked very hard on that over the holidays last year. And finally, the whole Commission, as you know, adopted it in January. The mission statement outlines exactly what we do as an agency every day. It hits every factor and even with the executive orders that are out there, as I see it right now, it supports the executive orders as well."

Commissioner Crowell:

"I think the mission statement we've worked out on a bipartisan basis was well received by this Committee. I think it reflects the current goals and mission of the agency."

ON STREAMLINING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:

Chairman Capito:

"Congress passed the ADVANCE Act to direct the NRC to be more efficient in its regulation, we've all talked about it, to focus on issues that are most important to safety. Prime example of unnecessary regulations is what is known as 'non-emergency event reporting,' which is some-300 issues that require licensees to notify the NRC. There are issues that are subsequently these are issues that are captured either in oversight activities or reports. So, after more than eight years of work, last summer, the career NRC staff submitted a proposed rule to the commission to eliminate a small subset of those issues. So, I'd like to ask each of you, briefly, do you support this straightforward, simple proposal that career NRC inspectors and staff endorsed, and if so, while the rule making proceeds, would you support providing a temporary compliance relief for licensees?"

Chairman Wright:

"My position for a long time has been that that effort to eliminate these requirements is a good example of risk-informing our regulations and improving them. So, yes, I would support."

Commissioner Crowell:

"Yes, I think what we can do to reduce the burden on our inspectors for doing potentially needless paperwork exercises is a valuable part of our efficiency goals."

Commissioner Marzano:

"There's definitely room for improvement. I support the staff's work here. In any way that we can ensure that the NRC remains situationally aware of what's going on the fleet at any given time, that is a valuable aspect of this type of reporting. But, I do support streamlining, making that process more efficient."

Click HERE to watch Chairman Capito's opening statement.

Click HERE to watch Chairman Capito's questions.

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