Capito earlier this month. Photo: Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images
The ADVANCE Act has dropped out of defense authorization bill negotiations, Nick has learned.
Why it matters: The bipartisan advanced nuclear legislation has robust support in the Senate and with industry, but it's fallen victim to a process dispute with the House.
- Lawmakers are making last-ditch efforts to get it into the final NDAA.
Driving the news: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito told Nick this afternoon that ADVANCE is "not included" in the NDAA as of right now.
- "There's negotiations going on," Capito said. "It's not over until it's over."
- Capito, the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and a lead sponsor of the nuclear bill, said she still sees "some potential" to get it tacked onto the defense bill.
- But lawmakers are holding a formal conference on the NDAA tomorrow. Capito said that's effectively the deadline, with committee leaders hoping to finalize the bill as soon as this week.
Flashback: Capito and EPW Chair Tom Carper got the bill included in the Senate's version of the NDAA back in July.
- It would cut licensing fees for advanced nuclear reactors in hopes of speeding deployment and authorize new money to clean up contaminated sites.
- Their counterparts on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, however, raised procedural concerns.
- An E&C subcommittee has marked up similar legislation, but it hasn't moved out of the full committee yet.
