Environmental Stewardship and Natural Resources Act of 1999

Summary: Environmental Stewardship and Natural Resources Act of 1999 - Designates the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory as the Center of Excellence of Environmental Stewardship of the Department of Energy (DOE).  Cites Center duties, including development, testing, and demonstration of methods and technologies necessary for DOE's long-term stewardship of defense nuclear facility lands affected by legacy waste. 
Requires the Center to enter into memoranda of understanding with Federal agencies to establish administrative procedures to: (1) participate in work for other programs on lands of the Departments of the Interior and of Agriculture; and (2) solve pressing long-term stewardship problems. 
Establishes a Natural Resources Institute as a pilot demonstration project within the Center to: (1) serve as partner and facilitator in performing enumerated Center duties; (2) perform multidisciplinary research regarding long-term stewardship; (3) support formulation and implementation of long-term stewardship public policy; and (4) act as an information resource center. 
Mandates Institute cooperation with governmental agencies, colleges and universities, national laboratories, and with the public.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Environmental Stewardship and 
Natural Resources Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) in order to maintain our quality of life, economic 
        growth should--
                    (A) be balanced with environmental management; and
                    (B) include collaborative scientific inquiry, 
                technology development, and public policy;
            (2) the failure of environmental science data, technology, 
        and knowledge to adequately support long-term policy leads to 
        questions of scientific data quality, credibility, and utility, 
        and results in an atmosphere of adversarial science and 
        conflicting policy;
            (3) individuals affected by decisions regarding long-term 
        stewardship have not always been effective in determining the 
        needs for, setting the agenda for, and participating in 
        environmental research and development;
            (4) decisions regarding the long-term stewardship can 
        significantly impact a region's economy and its residents' 
        quality of life;
            (5) the Department of Energy is just beginning to develop 
        long-term strategies for managing its vast holdings of land;
            (6) the Department of Energy environmental management 
        program--
                    (A) is the largest program in the Department;
                    (B) must have the scientific capability to support 
                long-term stewardship in order for the Department to 
                manage legacy waste; and
                    (C) has no national laboratories designated to 
                address the science, research, and developmental needs 
                for long-term stewardship; and
            (7) the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental 
        Laboratory, a multiprogrammatic federally funded research and 
        development laboratory, is geographically and technologically 
        positioned to capably address the needs for long-term 
        stewardship.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to designate the Idaho National Engineering and 
        Environmental Laboratory as the Center of Excellence for 
        Environmental Stewardship of the Department of Energy to 
        provide for the long-term stewardship of Department land;
            (2) to establish the Natural Resources Institute within the 
        Center; and
            (3) to authorize the Center and Institute--
                    (A) to provide scientific and technical assistance 
                to the Department in carrying out the environmental 
                missions of the Department;
                    (B) to perform basic and applied scientific 
                research necessary, and develop methods and 
                technologies, for modeling, detection, 
                characterization, remediation, treatment, and control 
                of contaminants--
                            (i) in the environment; or
                            (ii) stored or disposed of as waste;
                    (C) to serve as a neutral forum to develop 
                scientific solutions for long-term stewardship of 
                Department land;
                    (D) to coordinate research on and develop--
                            (i) appropriate and systematic approaches 
                        to long-term stewardship; and
                            (ii) the specific tools and mechanisms 
                        necessary to implement approaches--
                                    (I) to support public policy 
                                development by facilitating the 
                                creation of public-private partnerships 
                                necessary to implement systemic 
                                approaches to long-term stewardship; 
                                and
                                    (II) in cooperation with colleges 
                                and universities, to provide education 
                                and training regarding long-term 
                                stewardship by developing 
training programs and educational curricula using modern information 
systems such as the Internet and video teleconferencing for a wide 
variety of users, including--
                                            (aa) the public;
                                            (bb) local and regional 
                                        government;
                                            (cc) industry; and
                                            (dd) colleges and 
                                        universities; and
                    (E) to facilitate the creation of commercial 
                enterprises through application of derived use science 
                and technology by involving--
                            (i) local economic development agencies;
                            (ii) technology incubators;
                            (iii) research institutes; and
                            (iv) the private sector; and
                    (F) to transfer information and analyses regarding 
                long-term stewardship to persons and organizations to 
                allow informed decisionmaking.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Atomic energy defense activity.--The term ``atomic 
        energy defense activity'' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 
        10101).
            (2) Center.--The term ``Center'' means the Center of 
        Excellence for Environmental Stewardship of the Department 
        designated under section 4(a).
            (3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Energy.
            (4) Department of energy defense nuclear facility.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``Department of Energy 
                defense nuclear facility'' means a site under control 
                or jurisdiction of the Department that is operated for 
                the purpose of conducting an atomic energy defense 
                activity, including--
                            (i) a production facility, as defined in 
                        section 11 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 
                        U.S.C. 2014);
                            (ii) a utilization facility, as defined in 
                        section 11 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 
                        U.S.C. 2014);
                            (iii) a nuclear waste storage or disposal 
                        facility;
                            (iv) an atomic weapon testing and 
                        evaluation facility;
                            (v) an atomic weapons research and 
                        development facility; or
                            (vi) any facility described in any of 
                        clauses (i) through (v) that--
                                    (I) no longer is in operation; and
                                    (II) was operated for the purpose 
                                of conducting an atomic energy defense 
                                activity.
                    (B) Exclusion.--The term ``Department of Energy 
                defense nuclear facility'' does not include a facility 
                that conducts only civilian nuclear activities, such as 
                technology necessary for the generation of electricity 
                at a nuclear power plant.
            (5) Institute.--The term ``Institute'' means the Natural 
        Resources Institute established under section 5(a).
            (6) Long-term stewardship.--The term ``long-term 
        stewardship'' means the responsibility to manage all natural 
        and manmade resources in a manner that balances economics, 
        ecological, social, and cultural factors.
            (7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.

SEC. 4. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP.

    (a) In General.--The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental 
Laboratory is designated as the Center of Excellence for Environmental 
Stewardship of the Department.
    (b) Duties.--The Center shall--
            (1) develop, test, and demonstrate new and innovative 
        methods and technologies necessary for the implementation of 
        programs by the Department for the long-term stewardship of--
                    (A) contaminated land;
                    (B) remediated land that remains contaminated, such 
                as capped landfills or land under which ground water is 
                contaminated; and
                    (C) uncontaminated land used as a buffer area 
                around a Department of Energy defense nuclear facility;
            (2) develop, test, and demonstrate new and innovative 
        methods and technologies for the estimation of Federal 
        liability under section 107(f) of the Comprehensive 
        Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 
        (42 U.S.C. 9607(f));
            (3) develop and continually update systems engineering 
        methods for analyzing the options and efficiencies for 
        transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of waste at 
        Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities;
            (4) conduct basic scientific research into the transport of 
        contaminants in the environment;
            (5) develop models and predictive methods for estimating--
                    (A) the transport of contaminants in various 
                environmental settings; and
                    (B) the subsequent risk posed by contaminants in 
                the environment to humans and associated ecosystems; 
                and
            (6) develop, test, and demonstrate new and innovative 
        technologies for the detection, monitoring, stabilization, and 
        remediation of contaminants in the environment.
    (c) Memoranda of Understanding.--The Center shall enter into 
memoranda of understanding with the heads of appropriate Federal 
agencies to establish administrative procedures necessary for the 
Center to--
            (1) participate in work for other programs on land of the 
        Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture; 
        and
            (2) solve pressing long-term stewardship problems.
    (d) Acquisition of Information From Federal Agencies.--To assist 
the Center in carrying out this Act, the Center may acquire from any 
Federal agency unclassified and nonproprietary information maintained 
by the agency.

SEC. 5. NATURAL RESOURCES INSTITUTE.

    (a) In General.--Within the Center, there is established a Natural 
Resources Institute as a pilot demonstration project.
    (b) Duties.--The Institute shall--
            (1) serve in a dual capacity as a partner and facilitator 
        in performing the duties described in paragraphs (2) through 
        (5);
            (2) initiate and perform multidisciplinary, solution-
        oriented, focused, and needs-driven research regarding long-
        term stewardship through--
                    (A) coordination of research activities to minimize 
                duplication of effort and maximize scientific 
                advancement;
                    (B) maintenance of meaningful public involvement in 
                the development and implementation of research 
                activities;
                    (C) performance of research by high-quality 
                scientific experts who are private and public partners 
                of the Institute;
                    (D) performance of research in and development of 
                understanding of the field of predicting regional 
                ecosystem dynamics;
                    (E) development of methodologies, technologies, and 
                tools for environmental stewardship; and
                    (F) development and understanding of the science 
                associated with the long-term stewardship issues 
                associated with Department land;
            (3) support formulation and implementation of long-term 
        stewardship public policy through--
                    (A) consideration of the balance of socioeconomic 
                concerns and quality of life issues with respect to 
                environmental remediation, cost, and schedule concerns; 
                and
                    (B) involvement of the public with the research and 
                development activities of the Institute;
            (4) act as an information resource center by--
                    (A) serving as a centralized repository for 
                environmental data, data management resources, and 
                analytical tools for Department land;
                    (B) entering into partnership agreements with 
                private entities and public agencies to access or 
                acquire and maintain regional environmental data sets 
                through--
                            (i) monitoring data;
                            (ii) geographical information system 
                        coverages;
                            (iii) satellite data; and
                            (iv) data from local and regional 
                        ecological studies;
                    (C) providing quick and affordable access to all 
                public databases, such as those maintained by the 
                Federal and State agencies, and, as appropriate, access 
                to private databases developed to support specific 
                models or decisions; and
                    (D) training personnel to assist the public and 
                researchers in gaining access to information on long-
                term stewardship; and
            (5) provide training--
                    (A) using colleges and universities to educate the 
                public, future scientists, and educators;
                    (B) seminars and training assistance for the 
                public; and
                    (C) collaboration with colleges and universities to 
                provide resources, internships, and research 
                opportunities.
    (c) Cooperation.--In carrying out this section, the Institute shall 
cooperate with--
            (1) Federal and State agencies;
            (2) colleges and universities;
            (3) national laboratories;
            (4) the public; and
            (5) the private sector.