California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a multistate coalition opposing proposed Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rules that would reduce radiation protection regulations and reactor safety oversight. The attorney general argued the changes would increase public health risks and undermine environmental protections.
On July 15, 2026, the NRC published a proposed rule allowing increased allowable radiation exposure, reduced monitoring and reporting requirements, and revised air and water emission standards. The rule would eliminate the NRC's use of the As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) standard—which has been the benchmark for decades—and replace it with what the agency called a "graded approach" that the NRC has not described with particularity.
A day later, on July 16, 2026, the NRC proposed a second rule that would narrow the ability for states and the public to participate in the permitting and licensing processes for nuclear facilities and change construction and oversight requirements to allow faster deployment of nuclear technology. Bonta and the coalition argue in their comment letters that the proposed changes would grant too much latitude to licensees for self-regulation and violate the Atomic Energy Act and National Environmental Policy Act.
Bonta is joined in the coalition by the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.