In the previous three months, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has provided preliminary exclusion from federal regulations to 16 different hydropower projects, facilitating growth in renewable electricity generation and providing access for new hydroelectric markets. Overview President Obama signed the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 (H.R. 267) in August 2013 to facilitate hydroelectric…...
NRC has resumed safety review of the proposed Yucca Mountain waste repository in response to a U.S. appeals court order. On November 18, 2013, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced an Order directing its staff to complete the safety evaluation report (SER) on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) license application for the proposed Yucca Mountain…...
EPA has proposed standards for the 2014 Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) program, lowering its annual mandates for the first time and has sought input on waiver petitions to address E10 Blend Wall concerns. Overview On November 15, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the 2014 RFS requirements to establish annual volumes and percentage standards…...
DOE has announced the end of a 1993 U.S.-Russia nuclear nonproliferation program, which converted 500 metric tons of Russian HEU into LEU for U.S. nuclear power plants. On November 14, 2013, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced the culmination of a 1993 nuclear nonproliferation program to convert Russian weapons-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) into…...