I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5608 

To assist communities affected by stranded nuclear waste, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2020 

Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. KIM, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. WELCH, Mr. KIND, and Mr. CARBAJAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on 

Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To assist communities affected by stranded nuclear waste, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sensible, Timely Relief 

5 for America’s Nuclear Districts’ Economic Development 

6 Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘STRANDED Act of 2020’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) communities throughout the United States, 

2 including communities in the States of California, 

3 Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Mary4 land, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Or5 egon, Vermont, and Wisconsin, are tasked with deal6 ing with stranded nuclear waste; 

7 (2) communities affected by stranded nuclear 

8 waste are de facto interim nuclear waste storage 

9 sites; 

10 (3) the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 

11 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.)— 

12 (A) directed the Secretary of Energy to 

13 make annual impact assistance payments to 

14 States or appropriate units of local government 

15 to mitigate the social and economic impacts of 

16 the establishment and operation of interim nu17 clear waste storage capacity within the jurisdic18 tional boundaries of an affected community; 

19 and 

20 (B) established the rate for impact assist21 ance payments at $15 per kilogram of spent 

22 nuclear fuel; 

23 (4) decommissioning a commercial nuclear 

24 power plant is often catastrophic for the host comVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5608.IH H5608

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1 munity because nuclear power plants are major em2 ployers and the primary source of local tax revenue; 

3 (5) stranded nuclear waste is a profound obsta4 cle to future economic growth, deterring potential 

5 employers and residents from considering the host 

6 community; 

7 (6) stranded nuclear waste prevents economic 

8 development in communities in which the stranded 

9 nuclear waste is located; 

10 (7) stranded nuclear waste prevents commu11 nities from redeveloping sites where nuclear power 

12 plants previously operated which further inhibits tax 

13 revenues; and 

14 (8) it is critical to provide resources to commu15 nities that— 

16 (A) are challenged by stranded nuclear 

17 waste; or 

18 (B) will be challenged by stranded nuclear 

19 waste during the 10-year period beginning on 

20 the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) ACADEMY.—The term ‘‘Academy’’ means 

24 the National Academy of Sciences. 


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1 (2) NUCLEAR-AFFECTED COMMUNITY.—The 

2 term ‘‘nuclear-affected community’’ means a unit of 

3 local government, including a county, city, town, vil4 lage, school district, or special district, that the Ad5 ministrator determines to contain stranded nuclear 

6 waste within the jurisdictional boundary or contain 

7 an eligible civilian nuclear power plant within the ju8 risdictional boundary of such locality. 

9 (3) ELIGIBLE CIVILIAN NUCLEAR POWER

10 PLANT.—The term ‘‘eligible civilian nuclear power 

11 plant’’ means a civilian nuclear power plant (as de12 fined in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act 

13 of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101)) that— 

14 (A) has been decommissioned; or 

15 (B) is in the process of being decommis16 sioned. 

17 (4) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis18 trator’’ means the Administrator of the U.S. Eco19 nomic Development Administration. 

20 (5) STRANDED NUCLEAR WASTE.—The term 

21 ‘‘stranded nuclear waste’’ means nuclear waste or 

22 spent nuclear fuel stored in dry casks or spent fuel 

23 pools (as defined in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste 

24 Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101)) at the site 

25 of an eligible civilian nuclear power plant. 


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1 SEC. 4. TAX INCENTIVES FOR AFFECTED COMMUNITIES. 

2 (a) FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER CREDIT.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 36 of the Internal 

4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘for nuclear affected 

6 communities’’ after ‘‘credit’’ in the head7 ing; 

8 (B) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘in the 

9 United States’’ and inserting ‘‘in a nuclear af10 fected community (as such term is defined in 

11 section 3 of the STRANDED Act of 2020)’’; 

12 (C) in subsection (b), by striking para13 graphs (2) and (3) and redesignating paragraph 

14 (4) as paragraph (2); and 

15 (D) by striking subsections (f), (g), and 

16 (h). 

17 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec18 tions for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of 

19 chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the 

20 item relating to section 36 and inserting the fol21 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36. First-time homebuyer credit for nuclear affected communities.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.—The amendments made by 

23 subsection (a) shall apply to the purchase of a principal 

24 residence after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS PRIZE COMPETITION. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

4 establish a competitive prize competition (referred to in 

5 this section as the ‘‘prize competition’’) to award prizes 

6 to proposals for affected communities to carry out alter7 natives to nuclear facilities, generating sites, and waste 

8 sites. 

9 (b) PRIZE BOARD.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an 

11 advisory board (referred to in this section as the 

12 ‘‘Board’’) to advise the Administrator on— 

13 (A) the design and implementation of the 

14 prize competition; and 

15 (B) the development of the pilot project 

16 under subsection (d). 

17 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com18 posed of not fewer than 9 members appointed by the 

19 Administrator— 

20 (A) who shall provide expertise in— 

21 (i) nuclear waste; 

22 (ii) workforce issues; 

23 (iii) technology development; and 

24 (iv) economic development; and 

25 (B) who may include representatives 

26 from— 


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1 (i) The National Laboratories; 

2 (ii) nonprofit organizations; and 

3 (iii) institutions of higher education. 

4 (c) AWARD AMOUNT.—An award under the prize 

5 competition shall be in the amount of $500,000. 

6 (d) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con8 sultation with the Board, shall develop a pilot 

9 project based on the proposal of the winner of the 

10 prize competition. 

11 (2) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available 

12 under section 7, the Administrator may use 

13 $500,000 to carry out the pilot project under para14 graph (1). 

15 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

16 on which a prize is awarded under the prize competition, 

17 the Administrator shall submit to the relevant committees 

18 of Congress a report that describes the winning proposal 

19 of the prize competition. 

20 SEC. 6. ECONOMIC IMPACT GRANTS FOR AFFECTED COM21 MUNITIES. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

24 establish and carry out a noncompetitive grant program 


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1 to provide grants under either section 6(b) or section 6(c) 

2 to nuclear-affected communities for the purpose of— 

3 (1) offsetting the economic and social impacts 

4 of stranded nuclear waste on affected communities; 

5 and 

6 (2) supporting such communities that are in the 

7 process of decommissioning an eligible civilian nu8 clear power plant and that are facing decreased tax 

9 revenues or assessed valuation as a result of such 

10 decommissioning. 

11 (b) AWARDS BASED ON STRANDED NUCLEAR

12 WASTE.— 

13 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—A nuclear affected commu14 nity shall be eligible to receive a grant under this 

15 section for a fiscal year. 

16 (2) AWARDS.— 

17 (A) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant 

18 awarded under subsection (a) shall be equal to 

19 $15 for each kilogram of spent nuclear fuel 

20 stored at the eligible civilian nuclear power 

21 plant in the nuclear affected community, con22 sistent with the price paid per kilogram for im23 pact assistance outlined in the Nuclear Waste 

24 Policy Act of 1982. 


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1 (B) NUMBER AND FREQUENCY.—With re2 spect to each eligible civilian nuclear power 

3 plant, the Administrator shall request submis4 sions from affected nuclear communities and 

5 may only award 1 grant under subsection (a) to 

6 each eligible unit of local government for each 

7 fiscal year. 

8 (c) AWARDS BASED ON LOST TAX REVENUE.— 

9 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive fi10 nancial assistance under this section, the affected 

11 community shall submit to the Administrator an ap12 plication that includes documentation that the nu13 clear affected community has experienced, or is pre14 dicted to experience, during a calendar year begin15 ning after December 31, 2014, and ending before 

16 January 1, 2025— 

17 (A) a reduction of not less than 20 percent 

18 in overall tax revenue received by such affected 

19 community for such year compared with the av20 erage of such tax revenue for the previous 5 

21 years; and 

22 (B) a reduction in tax revenue attributable 

23 to a nuclear power plant received by such af24 fected community for such year, compared with 

25 the average of such tax revenue for the previous 


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1 5 years, that is not less than 20 percent of the 

2 average for such previous 5 years of the overall 

3 tax revenue received by such unit. 

4 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘‘tax rev5 enue’’ includes any payment in lieu of taxes received 

6 by an affected community. 

7 (2) ASSISTANCE.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to amounts 

9 made available in advance in appropriations 

10 Acts, financial assistance provided under this 

11 section to a nuclear affected community shall be 

12 made with respect to each year of the 8-year 

13 period beginning on the first day of the cal14 endar year described in paragraph (1). 

15 (B) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—Subject to 

16 amounts made available in advance in appro17 priations Acts, financial assistance provided 

18 under this section to a nuclear affected commu19 nity for a year of an 8-year period shall be 

20 equal to the lesser of $10,000,000 and— 

21 (i) in the case of the first year of the 

22 8-year period, 80 percent of the loss de23 scribed in paragraph (1)(B) with respect to 

24 such unit; 


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1 (ii) in the case of the second year of 

2 the 8-year period, 70 percent of such loss; 

3 (iii) in the case of the third year of 

4 the 8-year period, 60 percent of such loss; 

5 (iv) in the case of the fourth year of 

6 the 8-year period, 50 percent of such loss; 

7 (v) in the case of the fifth year of the 

8 8-year period, 40 percent of such loss; 

9 (vi) in the case of the sixth year of 

10 the 8-year period, 30 percent of such loss; 

11 (vii) in the case of the seventh year of 

12 the 8-year period, 20 percent of such loss; 

13 and 

14 (viii) in the case of the eighth year of 

15 the 8-year period, 10 percent of such loss. 

16 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro18 priated to carry out this Act $110,000,000 for each of 

19 fiscal years 2020 through 2025 and $120,000,000 for 

20 each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 

21 (b) NO OFFSET.—None of the funds made available 

22 under this section may be used to offset the funding for 

23 any other Federal program. 

24 (c) LIMITATION.—No nuclear affected community 

25 may receive more than one grant per calendar year, and 


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1 cannot receive grants under both sections 6(b) and (c) in 

2 the same calendar year. 

Æ 


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