HB 741

This bill expands Virginia's streamlined permitting process for small renewable energy projects to include small nuclear facilities by redefining "small renewable energy projects" as "small clean energy projects" and adding nuclear power plants with a capacity of up to 300 megawatts located in four specific southwest Virginia planning districts (LENOWISCO, Cumberland Plateau, Mount Rogers, and New River Valley Region). The legislation directs the Department of Environmental Quality to develop expedited "permit by rule" regulations for these nuclear facilities, which would allow them to bypass more lengthy traditional permitting processes that are typically required for nuclear power plants. This change would make it significantly easier and faster to develop small modular nuclear reactors in southwest Virginia by treating them similarly to solar, wind, and other renewable energy projects for permitting purposes.