00:00Dr. Manuel, I like your description, by the way, of the survey. The insiders call it the survey.
00:05It reminds me of a friend years ago who was a big fan of Mountain Dew, and I asked him whether he agreed with the assessment that it was the nectar of the gods.
00:12And his response was curious, reminded me of what you just said. He said, yes, but the gods just call it nectar, because to them that's what it is.
00:19So, the survey it is.
00:22All right, we'll now begin alternating rounds of five-minute questions.
00:26Republicans and Democrats, in order of seniority, subject to the early bird rule.
00:30And I'll begin. Mr. Brightbill, why don't we start with you? Let's talk about NEPA for a moment.
00:35NEPA is a significant law, and one that has to be followed.
00:42It requires agencies to, quote, ensure that presently unquantified environmental amenities and values may be given appropriate consideration in decision-making, along with economic and technical considerations.
00:54That's from NEPA, Section 102, of course.
00:57Now, some NEPA experts argue, based on the plain text of that, that if a cooperating agency is substantively analyzing an environmental effect,
01:06so that it can issue a permit, let's say, for example, a 404 permit under the Clean Water Act,
01:13then the agency need not assess the effects of the action on the waters covered by the 404 permit,
01:21because those effects are not presently unquantified, or to whatever degree and whatever circumstances in which they're not presently unquantified.
01:29I know that you're no stranger to NEPA, having worked previously in various government and private sector positions in the law working in this area,
01:37so I'd welcome your thoughts on this observation.
01:40Yes, thank you very much, Senator, and I, first of all, thank you very much for taking the time on Monday evening to meet with me prior to the hearing today,
01:49and as you know, based on our discussions, I absolutely agree that NEPA reform is a critical need for us to ultimately move forward in our reform of infrastructure and advancement of energy.
02:02I know a variety of bills have been circulated and proposals circulated on the Hill,
02:08but as someone who's both worked in government, litigating a tremendous volume of NEPA cases, candidly,
02:19once you're, when you're in the federal government and at the Environment and Natural Resources Division,
02:22as well as an individual who's litigated NEPA over the years on behalf of private entities
02:28and consulted many, many more than I've even actually litigated,
02:33there's a lot of talk about permitting reform.
02:36Permitting reform is really a euphemism when you actually go and you talk to industry players about the risks for NEPA reform,
02:44and NEPA reform really ought to be a euphemism for NEPA litigation reform,
02:51because it is the NEPA litigation that creates the unquantifiable and uncalculable risk
02:58of undertaking NEPA, based on my many years of experience working both with federal agencies
03:06as well as private sector entities, they are happy to try to quantify risks and assess risks,
03:12but ultimately the real problem with NEPA is the unknowable back-end tale that comes from a judicial review system
03:24that's been created by common law, rather than really by a congressionally designed review apparatus, Senator.
03:33And as you and I discussed, I think that that's an area where there is a lot of opportunity for reform
03:38that could advance all manner of energy infrastructure projects, transmission, generation, distribution, throughout.
03:48Right. Great observation. So it's more than just permitting. Very often, more specifically,
03:55people are referring to NEPA, and when they're referring to the delays they encounter,
03:58those are more often the result of the litigation age stage rather than the pre-issuance of the record of decision stage.
04:05That's helpful. Mr. Prohioska, let's turn to you next. During the first Trump administration,
04:10you were chief of staff and senior advisor for ARPA-E, the entity to which you've now been nominated.
04:16As I understand it, in the past, ARPA-E has funded R&D within the nuclear space,
04:26and if we're to meet the significant anticipated demand for baseload electric power in the coming decade,
04:34innovations in the nuclear sector could play a really critical role.
04:39Can you talk to us a little bit about the work of ARPA-E,
04:44the things that ARPA-E funded during the first Trump administration,
04:48the increased efficiency and output of traditional generating resources, such as nuclear?
04:53Thank you very much for the question, Chairman, and thank you also for the time in your office.
04:57It was very valuable to hear your insights on ARPA-E and where we can go with the energy dominance that we're looking for.
05:04It was a privilege in the first Trump administration to be part of the leadership team of ARPA-E,
05:09and in that role we were. One of the proudest programs and projects we started was a project that was about advanced reactors
05:16and understanding and simulating and testing some of the more untraditional problems that come with those advanced reactors.
05:25But one of the key things that we did there was we worked with the Office of Nuclear Energy to make sure that we weren't duplicating effort within the department.
05:33And I think one of the things that I would look forward to, if confirmed for ARPA-E,
05:37is because of my knowledge from my time at OTT and Chief Commercialization Officer at the department,
05:41I worked with every single office and every single lab at the Department of Energy,
05:45and I know the complex to a very, very good degree.
05:49And I come into ARPA-E with eyes wide open of what ARPA-E's capabilities are,
05:53what other offices in the department do,
05:55and how we can help to work on the advanced high-risk, high-reward items that need to be attacked,
06:04whether it's in nuclear, whether it's in fossil energy, whether it's in fusion,
06:09whether it's in small module reactors, which is nuclear, but geothermal, you can go through the list.
06:14But the ARPA-E portfolio is broad, the authorities are broad,
06:18and we intend, and confirmed, I intend to make sure that we attack all of those technologies as best as we possibly can.
06:24Great. Thank you.
06:26I've got more questions, including for the other two who I haven't asked questions to yet.
06:29We'll hopefully be able to get to those in a subsequent round later in the hearing.
06:34But in the interest of time, since I'm over, I'm going to hand it over to Senator Heinrich.
