{"abstract":"The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations that govern the NRC's environmental reviews of new nuclear reactor applications under the National Environmental Policy Act. The rulemaking codifies the generic findings of the NRC's Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors. The Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors uses a technology-neutral framework and a set of plant and site parameters to determine which potential environmental impacts would be common to the construction, operation, and decommissioning of many new nuclear reactors, and thus appropriate for a generic analysis, and which potential environmental impacts would be unique, and thus require a project-specific analysis. The NRC is also issuing revision 4 to regulatory guide 4.2, \"Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Stations,\" and COL-ISG-030, \"Environmental Considerations Associated with New Nuclear Reactor Applications that Reference the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (NUREG-2249).\" This rulemaking is separate from NRC's comprehensive review and reform of its regulations, including those governing environmental review, in accordance with Executive Order (E.O.) 14300, \"Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.\"","action":"Final rule.","agencies":[{"raw_name":"NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION","name":"Nuclear Regulatory Commission","id":383,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/nuclear-regulatory-commission","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/383","parent_id":null,"slug":"nuclear-regulatory-commission"}],"body_html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/html/2026/04/24/2026-08015.html","cfr_references":[{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":"51","title":10}],"citation":"91 FR 22394","comment_url":null,"comments_close_on":null,"correction_of":null,"corrections":[],"dates":"This final rule is effective May 26, 2026.","disposition_notes":null,"docket_ids":["NRC-2020-0101"],"dockets":[{"supporting_documents":[{"title":"Regulatory Guide 4.2 Revision 4 Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Stations (Final Rule - GEIS for Licensing New Nuclear Reactors)","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0214"},{"title":"STC-24-062 Issuance of Proposed Rule and Notice of Availability of the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0213"},{"title":"11-13-24 Public Meeting Transcript RE Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0210"},{"title":"STC-26-026 Letter NR GEIS Final Rule-Agreement States and State Liaison Officers","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0206"},{"title":"11-13-24 Public Meeting Summary RE_Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0205"},{"title":"Federal Register Notice-Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors Final Rule (RIN 3150-AK55_NRC-2020-0101)","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0201"},{"title":"SRM-M260413_ SECY-24-0069 - Affirmation Session Final Rule - b) Generic Environmental Impact","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0200"},{"title":"Part 51 Information Collection Supporting Statement for the NRC GEIS Final Rule","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0197"},{"title":"09/21/20 - SRM-SECY-20-0020, “Results of Exploratory Process for Developing a Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operation of Advanced Nuclear Reactors”","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0154"},{"title":"05/28/20 - Meeting to Discuss the Scope of the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Advanced Nuclear Reactors (Meeting Notice)","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0151"}],"agency_name":"NRC","documents":[{"comment_count":null,"comment_start_date":null,"updated_at":"2026-04-24T12:02:10.309-04:00","comment_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/NRC-2020-0101-0195","allow_late_comments":false,"id":"NRC-2020-0101-0195","comment_end_date":null,"regulations_dot_gov_open_for_comment":false}],"supporting_documents_count":55,"id":"NRC-2020-0101","title":"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors (formerly Advanced Nuclear Reactor Generic Environmental Impact Statement)"}],"document_number":"2026-08015","effective_on":"2026-05-26","end_page":22425,"executive_order_notes":null,"executive_order_number":null,"full_text_xml_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/xml/2026/04/24/2026-08015.xml","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/24/2026-08015/generic-environmental-impact-statement-for-licensing-of-new-nuclear-reactors","images":{},"images_metadata":{},"json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2026-08015?publication_date=2026-04-24","mods_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/metadata/granule/FR-2026-04-24/2026-08015/mods.xml","not_received_for_publication":null,"page_length":32,"page_views":{"count":1135,"last_updated":"2026-06-26 20:15:03 -0400"},"pdf_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-04-24/pdf/2026-08015.pdf","presidential_document_number":null,"proclamation_number":null,"public_inspection_pdf_url":"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-08015.pdf?1776948316","publication_date":"2026-04-24","raw_text_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/text/2026/04/24/2026-08015.txt","regulation_id_number_info":{"3150-AK55":{"issue":"202410","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/regulations/3150-AK55/generic-environmental-impact-statement-for-licensing-of-new-nuclear-reactors-nrc-2020-0101-","title":"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors [NRC-2020-0101]","xml_url":"http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202410&RIN=3150-AK55&operation=OPERATION_EXPORT_XML","priority_category":"Other Significant"}},"regulation_id_numbers":["3150-AK55"],"regulations_dot_gov_info":{"supporting_documents":[{"title":"09/21/20 - SRM-SECY-20-0020, “Results of Exploratory Process for Developing a Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operation of Advanced Nuclear Reactors”","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0154"},{"title":"Summary of October 1, 2020, Advanced Reactor Stakeholder Public Meeting, dated December 22, 2020","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0152"},{"title":"05/28/20 - Meeting to Discuss the Scope of the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Advanced Nuclear Reactors (Meeting Notice)","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0151"},{"title":"05/28/20 - Advanced Reactor Generic Environmental Impact Statement Scoping Meeting List of Attendees","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0150"},{"title":"Summary of November 15 and 20, 2019, Public Meetings to Discuss Exploratory Process for Developing an Advanced Nuclear Reactor Generic Environmental Impact Statement, dated December 10, 2019","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0148"},{"title":"02/28/20 - SECY-20-0020, “Results of Exploratory Process for Developing a Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operation of Advanced Nuclear Reactors”","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0147"},{"title":"09/2014 -NUREG-2157 Vol 2, \"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel: Final Report.\"","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0146"},{"title":"08/2024 - NUREG-1437, Volume 3, Revision 2, \"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants\" Final Report","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0144"},{"title":"08/2024 - NUREG-1437, Volume 2, Revision 2, \"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants\" Final Report","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0143"},{"title":"08/2024 - NUREG-1437, Volume 1, Revision 2, \"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants\" Final Report","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0142"}],"regulatory_plan":{"html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/regulations/3150-AK55/generic-environmental-impact-statement-for-licensing-of-new-nuclear-reactors-nrc-2020-0101-","title":"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors [NRC-2020-0101]"},"comments_count":0,"agency_id":"NRC","comments_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=50&so=DESC&sb=postedDate&po=0&dct=PS&D=NRC-2020-0101","supporting_documents_count":36,"docket_id":"NRC-2020-0101","document_id":"NRC-2020-0101-0195","regulation_id_number":"3150-AK55","title":"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors (formerly Advanced Nuclear Reactor Generic Environmental Impact Statement)","checked_regulationsdotgov_at":"2026-04-25T14:55:03Z"},"regulations_dot_gov_url":null,"significant":true,"signing_date":null,"start_page":22394,"subtype":null,"title":"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors","toc_doc":"Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors","toc_subject":null,"topics":["Administrative practice and procedure","Environmental impact statements","Hazardous waste","Nuclear energy","Nuclear materials","Nuclear power plants and reactors","Reporting and recordkeeping requirements"],"type":"Rule","volume":91}