The Overview

Pennsylvania no longer has to bill a small nuclear reactor site like a full-size power plant. House Bill 2017, now Act 37 of 2026, writes small modular reactors and microreactors into state law and lets regulators lower fees that were designed for bigger plants. ​

The state Department of Environmental Protection has charged nuclear fees site by site. Rep. José Giral (D-PA), the bill’s lead sponsor, has said that system works against smaller reactors, which are meant to spread across more sites with fewer reactors at each one.

What the Law Does

The law adds two new terms to the state’s Radiation Protection Act. A small modular reactor is an advanced nuclear reactor rated at 400 megawatts of electricity or less, and a microreactor tops out at 100 megawatts. Both can be built and run in groups at a single site.

The department may lower certain nuclear facility and transport fees for these sites. It can also waive any fee that doesn’t apply to what a site actually does.

Each qualifying site pays three flat fees of $10,000 to $50,000, no matter how many reactors it holds. One goes to the department and lands in the state’s Radiation Protection Fund, which pays for the department’s monitoring and oversight, including the eventual shutdown and cleanup of a site. The other two go to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for emergency planning, equipment and training.

The Debate

No House member voted against the bill at any stage. The House passed it 198 to 0 on Feb. 4, and the Senate amended it 47 to 2 on June 23.

The Senate passed the final version 46 to 4 on Sunday, July 12, and the House agreed to the Senate’s changes 202 to 0 the same day. The bill had 18 cosponsors, two of them Republicans.

“The faster we can help the industry streamline here, the faster we see return on our investment,” Giral said in a statement from the Pennsylvania House Democrats after Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) signed the bill on Monday, July 20.

What’s Next

The law took effect Friday, Sept. 18, 60 days after Shapiro signed it. Starting in 2030 and every three years after, the department and the emergency management agency will each review the fees they collect. If the money no longer covers their costs, the Environmental Quality Board, the state panel that writes environmental rules, or the emergency agency can set new amounts.

The law covers definitions and fees only. It does not approve or pay for any reactor, and any project would still need a license from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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