Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios
Lawmakers unveiled the final text of the negotiated ADVANCE Act Wednesday, and they're pushing to include it in the FAA reauthorization.
Why it matters: House and Senate committee leaders have had the outlines of a deal for a while on the bipartisan Nuclear Regulatory Commission overhaul, but they need a vehicle to make it law.
Driving the news: EPW Ranking Republican Shelley Moore Capito offered the compromise bill as an amendment to the FAA measure on Wednesday.
- The House has also put it on the calendar for next week as an attachment to the Fire Grants and Safety Act.
- House E&C spokesperson Sean Kelly said lawmakers are trying to "find the right vehicle that gets this package across the finish line and signed into law."
Zoom in: The legislation includes a modified version of language from the House bill that would encourage the NRC to recognize the "benefits" of nuclear power.
- The original provision prompted concerns among progressives, who feared it would undermine safety.
What they're saying: Adding unrelated amendments to the FAA bill could cause some friction, but Capito told Axios she's "talking to a lot of different people about trying to wedge it onto a vehicle."
- EPW Chair Tom Carper told reporters they've had discussions about it with leadership.
Also in the mix: The CHIPS Act NEPA exemption that Ted Cruz and Mark Kelly have been trying to pass for months now.
- Cruz offered it as an amendment to the FAA reauthorization. He notably allowed the Russian uranium ban, which he had been holding up because of a dispute about the CHIPS Act, to pass earlier this week.
- Meanwhile, Sen. Martin Heinrich told Axios to look out for his Good Samaritan mining bill as an FAA amendment, too.
