I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1961

To provide for the external regulation of nuclear safety and occupational 

safety and health at the Department of Energy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 6, 2003

Mr. COSTELLO (for himself and Mr. CALVERT) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the 

Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce, 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 provide for the external regulation of nuclear safety and 

occupational safety and health at the Department of Energy.

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

3 SECTION 1. EXTERNAL REGULATION OF DEPARTMENT OF 

4 ENERGY. 

5 (a) ELIMINATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AU6 THORITY.—Effective 2 years after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Department of Energy shall have no regu8 latory or enforcement authority with respect to nuclear 
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1 safety and occupational safety and health responsibilities 

2 assumed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under 

3 subsection (b) or by the Occupational Safety and Health 

4 Administration under subsection (c) at any nonmilitary 

5 energy laboratory owned or operated by the Department. 

6 (b) NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AUTHOR7 ITY.—

8 (1) NUCLEAR SAFETY REGULATORY AND EN9 FORCEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES.—Effective 2 years 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Nuclear 

11 Regulatory Commission shall assume the nuclear 

12 safety regulatory and enforcement responsibilities of 

13 the Department of Energy under the Atomic Energy 

14 Act of 1954 with regard to nonmilitary energy lab15 oratories owned or operated by the Department. 

16 (2) LICENSED ENTITIES.—For the purposes of 

17 carrying out at nonmilitary energy laboratories 

18 owned or operated by the Department of Energy 

19 regulatory and enforcement responsibilities described 

20 in paragraph (1), the Nuclear Regulatory Commis21 sion may regulate, through licensing, certification, or 

22 other appropriate means, the Department’s contrac23 tors. 

24 (3) DECOMMISSIONING.—A contractor oper25 ating a nonmilitary energy laboratory owned by the 
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1 Department of Energy shall not be responsible for 

2 the costs of decommissioning that facility. No en3 forcement action may be taken against such con4 tractor for any violation of Nuclear Regulatory Com5 mission decommissioning requirements, if such viola6 tion is the result of a failure of the Department to 

7 authorize or fund decommissioning activities. The 

8 Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Depart9 ment shall, not later than 1 year after the date of 

10 enactment of this Act, enter into a memorandum of 

11 understanding establishing decommissioning proce12 dures and requirements for nonmilitary energy lab13 oratories owned or operated by the Department. 

14 (4) ACCELERATORS.—Notwithstanding the pro15 visions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

16 U.S.C. 2011 et. seq.), effective 2 years after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Nuclear Regu18 latory Commission shall have exclusive regulatory 

19 authority over accelerators, other electronic sources 

20 of radiation not assigned to the Commission as of 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, accelerator-pro22 duced radioisotopes, and naturally occurring radio23 active materials at nonmilitary energy laboratories, 

24 consistent with the authorities granted the Nuclear 

25 Regulatory Commission in the Atomic Energy Act of 
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1 1954. Until such time as the Commission has com2 pleted a rulemaking for the foregoing equipment and 

3 radioisotopes, nonmilitary energy laboratories shall 

4 be required to meet the requirements stipulated in a 

5 license for the facility. 

6 (5) ADMINISTRATION.—The responsibilities as7 sumed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under 

8 this subsection shall be administered by the Nuclear 

9 Regulatory Commission, not by States. 

10 (6) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 189 b. of the 

11 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2239(b)) is 

12 amended by adding the following paragraph after 

13 paragraph (4): 

14 ‘‘(5) Any final order or regulation of the Com15 mission establishing standards to govern nonmilitary 

16 energy laboratories owned or operated by the De17 partment of Energy that is issued to implement the 

18 Commission’s responsibilities under the Act which 

19 enacted this paragraph, and any final determination 

20 of the Commission relating to whether a nonmilitary 

21 energy laboratory owned or operated by the Depart22 ment is in compliance with such standards and all 

23 applicable Commission regulations or orders.’’.

24 (7) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—Any Department 

25 of Energy contractor operating a nonmilitary energy 
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1 laboratory that is regulated by the Nuclear Regu2 latory Commission under this section shall be sub3 ject to section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act 

4 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5851) to the same extent as any 

5 other employer subject to such section 211. 

6 (8) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Section 170A of 

7 the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210a) 

8 applies to contracts, agreements, or other arrange9 ments of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission pro10 posed or entered into pursuant to its responsibilities 

11 assumed under this subsection. 

12 (c) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH.—

13 (1) OSHA JURISDICTION.—Notwithstanding 

14 section 4(b)(1) of the Occupational Safety and 

15 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653(b)(1)), effective 

16 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

17 Occupational Safety and Health Administration shall 

18 assume the exclusive regulatory and enforcement re19 sponsibilities of the Department of Energy relating 

20 to matters covered by the Occupational Safety and 

21 Health Act of 1970 with regard to all nonmilitary 

22 energy laboratories owned or operated by the De23 partment, except as provided in paragraph (2). The 

24 responsibilities assumed by the Occupational Safety 

25 and Health Administration under this subsection 
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1 shall be administered by the Occupational Safety 

2 and Health Administration, not by States. Any De3 partment of Energy contractor operating such a lab4 oratory shall, with respect to matters relating to oc5 cupational safety and health, be considered to be an 

6 employer for purposes of the Occupational Safety 

7 and Health Act of 1970. 

8 (2) REGULATION OF HAZARDS CONTAINING RA9 DIOLOGICAL AND NON-RADIOLOGICAL COMPO10 NENT.—If a hazard at a nonmilitary energy labora11 tory owned or operated by the Department of En12 ergy presents a risk of occupational exposure and 

13 contains both a radiological and non-radiological 

14 component, the Occupational Safety and Health Ad15 ministration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commis16 sion shall, effective 2 years after the date of enact17 ment of this Act, share regulatory and enforcement 

18 responsibilities with respect to the hazard in accord19 ance with the memorandum of understanding en20 tered into pursuant to subsection (d). 

21 (d) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Nu22 clear Regulatory Commission and the Occupational Safety 

23 and Health Administration shall, not later than 1 year 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, enter into and 

25 transmit to the Congress a memorandum of under-
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1 standing to govern the exercise of their respective authori2 ties over nuclear safety and occupational safety and health 

3 at nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated by 

4 the Department of Energy. 

5 (e) CIVIL PENALTIES.—The Department of Energy’s 

6 contractor operating a nonmilitary energy laboratory 

7 owned or operated by the Department shall not be liable 

8 for civil penalties under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 

9 or the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 for 

10 any actions taken before the date of transfer of regulatory 

11 authority under this section, pursuant to the instructions 

12 of a Federal agency in preparation for the transfer of reg13 ulatory and enforcement responsibilities required by this 

14 section. 

15 (f) INDEMNIFICATION.—The Secretary of Energy 

16 shall continue to indemnify nonmilitary energy labora17 tories owned or operated by the Department in accordance 

18 with the provisions of section 170 d. of the Atomic Energy 

19 Act of 1954. 

20 (g) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REPORTING REQUIRE21 MENT.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enact22 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall transmit 

23 to the Congress a plan for the termination of the Depart24 ment of Energy’s regulatory and enforcement responsibil25 ities for nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated 
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1 by the Department required by this section. The report 

2 shall include—

3 (1) a detailed transition plan, drafted in coordi4 nation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and 

5 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 

6 giving the schedule for termination of self-regulation 

7 authority as outlined in subsection (a), including the 

8 activities to be coordinated with the Nuclear Regu9 latory Commission and the Occupational Safety and 

10 Health Administration; 

11 (2) a description of any issues remaining to be 

12 resolved with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

13 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 

14 or other external regulators, and a timetable for re15 solving such issues by the authority transfer date es16 tablished under this section; and 

17 (3) an estimate of—

18 (A) the annual cost of administering and 

19 implementing self-regulation of the nuclear 

20 safety and occupational safety and health re21 sponsibilities described in subsections (b) and 

22 (c) at nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or 

23 operated by the Department; 
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1 (B) the number of Federal and contractor 

2 employees administering and implementing such 

3 self-regulation; and 

4 (C) the extent and schedule by which the 

5 Department and the staffs at its nonmilitary 

6 energy laboratories will be reduced as a result 

7 of implementation of this section. 

8 (h) GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE REPORTING RE9 QUIREMENT.—The Comptroller General of the United 

10 States shall periodically report to the Congress on the 

11 progress made in implementing this section. The Comp12 troller General shall provide a report not later than 20 

13 months after the date of enactment of this Act on the De14 partment of Energy’s transition plan, and not later than 

15 26 months after the date of enactment of this Act on the 

16 implementation of Nuclear Regulatory Commission and 

17 Occupational Safety and Health Administration regula18 tions in the nonmilitary energy laboratories.

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