Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Amendment Act

Summary: Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Amendment Act - Amends the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act to repeal definitions relating to:  (1) no-migration determination; (2) retrieval; and (3) test-phase and test-phase activities. 
(Sec. 3) Declares that existing rights under specified oil and gas leases shall not be affected unless the Secretary of Energy determines that acquisition of such leases is necessary for the long-term protection of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) (currently, unless lease acquisition is required to comply with final disposal regulations or with the Solid Waste Disposal Act). 
(Sec. 4) Repeals the mandate for test phase and retrieval plans, and the attendant performance assessment report. 
(Sec. 6) Authorizes the WIPP to receive from the Secretary transuranic waste which did not result from a defense activity but that is under the Secretary's control on the date of enactment of this Act. 
(Sec. 7) Revises the requirements for commencement of disposal operations to authorize the Secretary to begin the disposal phase after review and certification by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (the Administrator) that Department of Energy's (DOE) application reasonably addresses final disposal standards. 
(Sec. 8) Directs the Secretary to submit transuranic waste disposal recommendations and surveys to the Congress. 
(Sec. 9) Prescribes criteria under which the Administrator shall certify compliance with disposal regulations.  States that the Administrator shall disapprove DOE's application only upon finding that the preponderance of evidence shows that the Secretary has failed to adequately address long-term environmental and human-health related risks.  Precludes the Administrator from conducting an independent evaluation of the analyses used to evaluate long-term disposal system performance. 
(Sec. 10) Instructs the Secretary to determine whether or not engineered barriers, or both (sic), will be required to comply with specified Federal regulations.  (Current law requires the use of both engineered and natural barriers.) 
(Sec. 11) Exempts the Secretary from complying with certain Solid Waste Disposal Act proscriptions against land disposal of specified wastes.  Repeals the mandate for:  (1) periodic oversight and compliance determination by the Administrator and the State of New Mexico (the State); and (2) determination of noncompliance during disposal and decommissioning phases. 
(Sec. 12) Repeals retrievability requirements.  Declares that it is the intent of the Congress that after completion of the Administrator's review and certification under this Act, the Secretary will begin the disposal phase by June 30, 1997. 
(Sec. 13) Repeals the mandate for:  (1) a WIPP decommissioning plan; and (2) the deadline for the Secretary to develop a management plan for the Withdrawal. 
(Sec. 15) Revises authorization of appropriations guidelines to authorize payments directly to the State instead of to the Secretary for subsequent payments to the State.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND REFERENCE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Waste Isolation 
Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Amendment Act''.
    (b) Reference.--Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment 
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be 
considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Waste 
Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act (Public Law 102-579).

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 2 is amended by striking paragraphs (11), (13), (18) and 
(19).

SEC. 3. ACQUISITION OF EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASES.

    Section 4(b)(5)(B) is amended by striking ``the Administrator 
determines, after consultation with the Secretary and the Secretary of 
the Interior, that the acquisition of such leases by the Secretary is 
required to comply with the final disposal regulations or with the 
Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.)'' and inserting ``the 
Secretary determined that acquisition of such leases are necessary for 
the long-term protection of the WIPP''.

SEC. 4. TEST PHASE AND RETRIEVAL PLANS.

    Section 5 is repealed.

SEC. 5. TEST PHASE ACTIVITIES.

    Section 6 is amended--
            (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b),
            (2) in subsection (c) by striking ``(c) Limitations.--'' 
        and all that follows through ``(B) Study.--'', and 
        redesignating subparagraphs (i), (ii), and (iii) as subsections 
        (a), (b), and (c) respectively, and
            (3) by striking subsection (d).

SEC. 6. NON-DEFENSE WASTE.

    Section 7(a) is amended by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph 
(4) and by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) Non-defense waste.--Within the capacity prescribed by 
        paragraph (4) and subject to other applicable restrictions, 
        WIPP may receive transuranic waste from the Secretary which did 
        not result from a defense activity but that is under the 
        control of the Secretary on the date of enactment of this 
        Act.''.

SEC. 7. REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMENCEMENT OF DISPOSAL OPERATIONS.

    Section 7(b) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Requirements'' and inserting 
        ``Requirement'',
            (2) by striking ``The Secretary'' and all that follows and 
        inserting: ``The Secretary may begin the disposal phase after 
        the completion of the Administrator's review and certification 
        under section 8(d) that DOE's application reasonably addresses 
        the final disposal standards.''.

SEC. 8. SURVEY AND RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING DISPOSAL.

    At the end of section 7, insert the following new subsections:
    ``(c) Recommendations Regarding Disposal.--Within 3 years of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 
comprehensive recommendations for the disposal of all transuranic waste 
under the control of the Secretary, including a timetable for the 
disposal of such waste. The recommendations shall provide for 
compliance with all agreements entered into by the Secretary regarding 
the disposal of transuranic waste stored at Department of Energy 
facilities. If the Secretary has completed other reports or timetables 
which contain information required by this subsection, the Secretary 
may incorporate the reports into the recommendations by reference.
    ``(d) Survey.--Within 3 years of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall complete, with notice and an opportunity for public 
comment, a survey identifying all transuranic waste types at all sites 
from which wastes are to be shipped to WIPP, and--
            ``(1) the results of such survey shall be made available to 
        the public and be provided to the Administrator; and
            ``(2) such survey shall not be subject to rulemaking or 
        judicial review. If the Secretary has completed other reports 
        or timetables which contain information required by this 
        subsection, the Secretary may incorporate the reports into the 
        recommendations by reference.''.

SEC. 9. CERTIFICATION.

    (a) Section 8(c) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Criteria for Certification of Compliance With Disposal 
Regulations.--The Administrator, in reviewing the Secretary's 
application submitted under subparagraph (A) shall limit such review to 
consideration of the Secretary's methods used in compiling information 
for the application. The Administrator shall disapprove the application 
only if the Administrator finds through a preponderance of the evidence 
in the record that the Secretary has failed to adequately address long-
term environmental and human-health related risks. The Administrator 
shall not conduct an independent evaluation of the Secretary's analyses 
used to evaluate long-term disposal system performance. The 
Administrator's review of the application shall be limited to the 
following criteria for certification of compliance with the final 
disposal regulations:
            ``(1) Completeness of the application.--Whether or not the 
        Secretary's application addresses the topics mandated by the 
        final disposal standards and listed in the certification 
        criteria.
            ``(2) Reasonableness of the application.--If the 
        Secretary's application provides a reasonable, scientifically 
        sound approach to determining compliance with the final 
        disposal standards.
            ``(3) Quality of the application.--If the Secretary has 
        provided in the application objective evidence of quality. The 
        Administrator shall determine that the Secretary prepared the 
        application using a recognized national nuclear quality 
        standard.
            ``(4) Result of the application.--The Administrator shall 
        determine if the bounding assumptions made by the Secretary in 
        assessing long-term performance of the WIPP disposal system are 
        reasonable and that any conditions imposed are technically 
        feasible.''.
    (b) Section 8(d) is amended by striking ``Disposal Regulations.--'' 
and inserting ``Certification.--''.
    (c) Section 8(d)(1) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``Within 7 years of the 
        date of the first receipt of transuranic waste at WIPP, the'' 
        and inserting ``The'',
            (2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as follows:
                    ``(B) Certification by administrator.--Within 6 
                months of receipt of the application under subparagraph 
                (A) the Administrator shall review the application for 
                compliance with the final disposal regulations. The 
                application shall be deemed certified 6 months after 
                receipt of the application by the Administrator unless 
                the Administrator disapproves the application according 
                to the criteria set forth in subsection (c). The 
                Administrator shall issue any such disapproval by rule 
                pursuant to section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 
                and sections 556 and 557 of such title shall not 
                apply.'', and
            (3) by striking subparagraph (D).
    (d) Section 8(d)(2) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Incremental submission of application for 
        compliance.--Within 30 days after the passage of this bill, the 
        Secretary shall provide to Congress a schedule for the 
        incremental submission of the final version of chapters of the 
        application to the Administrator. The Secretary shall notify 
        Congress of the submission of such chapters. The Administrator 
        shall review the submitted chapters according to the criteria 
        in subsection (c) and provide requests for additional 
        information for the Secretary only if the administrator makes a 
        prima facie showing that the information is needed to avoid a 
        rejection of the application under the criteria. The 
        Administrator shall provide comments within 45 days of receipt 
        of each chapter, and the Administrator shall notify Congress 
        when comments are provided to the Secretary under this 
        subparagraph. The Administrator shall be prohibited from 
        rejecting the final application submitted under paragraph 
        (1)(A) upon grounds that the Administrator did not raise under 
        this section if the Administrator knew or could have reasonably 
        anticipated the grounds for the rejection. The comments or 
        failure to comment of the Administrator under this subparagraph 
        shall not be a final agency action for purposes of the 
        Administrative procedures Act.''.
    (e) Section 8(d)(3) is repealed.

SEC. 10. ENGINEERED BARRIERS.

    Section 8(g) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(g) Engineered and Natural Barriers, etc.--The Secretary shall 
determine whether or not engineered barriers, or both, will be required 
at WIPP to comply with regulations published as part 191 of 40 
C.F.R.''.

SEC. 11. COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS.

    Section 9 is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)(C) by inserting after ``et seq.)'' 
        the following: ``, except that the Secretary shall not be 
        required to comply with the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 
        6924(d)'',
            (2) in subsection (a) by striking ``In General.--(1)'' and 
        renumbering subparagraphs (A) through (H) as paragraphs (1) 
        through (8) respectively,
            (3) in subsection (a) by striking paragraphs (2)(3),
            (4) by striking subsections (b), and (c), and
            (5) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (b) and 
        inserting after ``7401 et seq.)'' the following: ``, except 
        that the Secretary shall not be required to comply with the 
        requirements of 42 U.S.C. 6924(d).''.

SEC. 12. RETRIEVABILITY.

    Section 10 is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 10. DISPOSAL OF TRANSURANIC WASTE.

    ``It is the intent of Congress that, after the completion of the 
administrator's review and certification under section 8(d), the 
Secretary will begin the disposal phase no later than June 30, 1997.''.

SEC. 13. DECOMMISSIONING OF WIPP.

    Section 13 is amended--
            (1) by repealing subsection (a), and
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``(b) Management Plan 
        for the Withdrawal After Decommissioning.--Within 5 years after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, the'' and inserting 
        ``The''.

SEC. 14. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.

    Section 14 is amended in subsection (b)(2) by striking ``including 
all terms and conditions of the No-Migration Determination'' and 
inserting ``except that the Administrator and the State shall not 
enforce, and the Secretary shall not be obligated to comply with, the 
requirements of 42 U.S.C. 6924(d)''.

SEC. 15. ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE AND MISCELLANEOUS PAYMENTS.

    Section 15(a) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``to the Secretary for payments to the 
        State $20,000,000 for each of the 15 fiscal years beginning 
        with the fiscal year in which the transport of transuranic 
        waste to WIPP is initiated'' and inserting ``to the State 
        $20,000,000 for each of the 15 fiscal years beginning with the 
        date of the enactment of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land 
        Withdrawal Amendment Act'', and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``An appropriation 
        to the State shall be in addition to any appropriation for 
        WIPP.''.