U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

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65–655

" ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 106TH CONGRESS

2d Session

REPT. 106–695

2000

Part 2

CIVIL PENALTIES ON NONPROFIT INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT

OF 1954

R E P O R T

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ON

H.R. 3383

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

JULY 21, 2000.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on

the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

(II)

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES

ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS

FLOYD D. SPENCE, South Carolina, Chairman

BOB STUMP, Arizona

DUNCAN HUNTER, California

JOHN R. KASICH, Ohio

HERBERT H. BATEMAN, Virginia

JAMES V. HANSEN, Utah

CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania

JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado

JIM SAXTON, New Jersey

STEVE BUYER, Indiana

TILLIE K. FOWLER, Florida

JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York

JAMES TALENT, Missouri

TERRY EVERETT, Alabama

ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland

HOWARD ‘‘BUCK’’ MCKEON, California

J.C. WATTS, JR., Oklahoma

MAC THORNBERRY, Texas

JOHN N. HOSTETTLER, Indiana

SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia

VAN HILLEARY, Tennessee

JOE SCARBOROUGH, Florida

WALTER B. JONES, JR., North Carolina

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina

JIM RYUN, Kansas

BOB RILEY, Alabama

JIM GIBBONS, Nevada

MARY BONO, California

JOSEPH PITTS, Pennsylvania

ROBIN HAYES, North Carolina

STEVEN KUYKENDALL, California

DONALD SHERWOOD, Pennsylvania

IKE SKELTON, Missouri

NORMAN SISISKY, Virginia

JOHN M. SPRATT, JR., South Carolina

SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, Texas

OWEN PICKETT, Virginia

LANE EVANS, Illinois

GENE TAYLOR, Mississippi

NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii

MARTIN T. MEEHAN, Massachusetts

ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD, Guam

PATRICK J. KENNEDY, Rhode Island

ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois

SILVESTRE REYES, Texas

TOM ALLEN, Maine

VIC SNYDER, Arkansas

JIM TURNER, Texas

ADAM SMITH, Washington

LORETTA SANCHEZ, California

JAMES H. MALONEY, Connecticut

MIKE MCINTYRE, North Carolina

CIRO D. RODRIGUEZ, Texas

CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY, GEORGIA

ELLEN O. TAUSCHER, California

ROBERT BRADY, Pennsylvania

ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey

BARON P. HILL, Indiana

MIKE THOMPSON, California

JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut

ROBERT S. RANGEL, Staff Director

(III)

C O N T E N T S

Page

Purpose and Background ........................................................................................ 1

Legislative History .................................................................................................. 2

Section-by-Section Analysis .................................................................................... 2

Section 1—Civil Penalties ................................................................................... 2

Committee Position ................................................................................................. 3

Fiscal Data ............................................................................................................... 3

Congressional Budget Office Estimate ............................................................... 3

Committee Cost Estimate .................................................................................... 4

Oversight Findings .................................................................................................. 4

Constitutional Authority Statement ...................................................................... 4

Statement of Federal Mandates ............................................................................. 4

Record Vote .............................................................................................................. 5

Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ..................................... 5

106TH CONGRESS REPT. 106–695 " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session Part 2

CIVIL PENALTIES ON NONPROFIT INSTITUTIONS UNDER

THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT OF 1954

JULY 21, 2000.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of

the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. SPENCE, from the Committee on Armed Services,

submitted the following

R E P O R T

[To accompany H.R. 3383]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Armed Services, to whom was referred the bill

(H.R. 3383) to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to remove

separate treatment or exemption for nuclear safety violations by

nonprofit institutions, having considered the same, report favorably

thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND

The purpose of H.R. 3383 is to repeal the exemption of non-profit

contractors of the Department of Energy (DOE) from civil penalties

for violations of DOE rules, regulations, and orders relating to nuclear safety.

The Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988 (Public Law 100–

408) amended the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (Public Law 83–703)

to provide for the establishment of civil penalties for contractors of

the Department of Energy that violate DOE rules, regulations, and

orders relating to nuclear safety. The Atomic Energy Act, as

amended, also provided for an exemption from such penalties for

the following non-profit and other DOE contractors: the University

of Chicago (Argonne National Laboratory), the University of California (Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory),

the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (Sandia National

Laboratories), the Universities Research Association, Inc. (FERMI

National Laboratory), Princeton University (Princeton Plasma

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Physics Laboratory), Associated Universities, Inc. (Brookhaven National Laboratory), and Battelle Memorial Institute (Pacific Northwest Laboratory). The Atomic Energy Act, as amended, also authorized the Secretary of Energy to provide for the automatic remission of assessed civil penalties for all non-profit institutions.

H.R. 3383 would repeal the authority of the Secretary of Energy

to grant non-profit institutions an automatic remission of any civil

penalty assessed for violations of any applicable rule, regulation, or

order related to nuclear safety issued by the Secretary of Energy.

H.R. 3383 would also limit any civil penalties assessed for violations of such rules, regulations, or orders to an amount not to exceed the amount of any discretionary fee paid to a non-profit institution by the Secretary of Energy under a contract to manage facilities and laboratories of the Department of Energy.

The committee notes that section 2282a(b)(2) of title 42, United

States Code, requires the Secretary of Energy to take into account

the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of any violations of

nuclear safety rules, in concert with the ability of the responsible

party to pay, the effect of such penalties on the ability to continue

to do business, the history of any prior violations, and the degree

of culpability, in the determination of the amount of any civil penalty to be assessed to a responsible party for such violations. H.R.

3383 would not disturb the discretionary authority of the Secretary

to determine the amount of any such civil penalties within the limitations otherwise provided by law.

The committee understands that the discretionary fees provided

to non-profit contractors by the Department of Energy, including,

in some cases, funds accumulated from discretionary fees awarded

in prior years, may be available for the payment of civil penalties

under the Atomic Energy Act as well as penalties imposed by other

federal, state, or local entities for violations of other laws, rules, or

regulations. The committee does not intend the repeal of the exemption from civil penalties for non-profit institutions contained in

H.R. 3383 to exceed the ability of any non-profit contractor to pay

such penalties.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 3383 was introduced on November 16, 1999. The bill was

reported (amended) June 23, 2000 by the House Committee on

Commerce (H. Rept. 106–695, Part I). The bill was also referred to

the Committee on Armed Services.

On June 28, 2000 the Committee on Armed Services held a

markup session to consider H.R. 3383. The committee adopted the

bill as reported by the Commerce Committee by a voice vote. The

bill was reported favorably by a voice vote.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

The following is a section-by-section analysis of the amendment

in the nature of a substitute adopted by the committee.

Section 1—Civil penalties

This section would amend section 2282a of title 42, United States

Code, to repeal the authority of the Secretary of Energy to grant

nonprofit institutions an automatic remission for any civil penalties

assessed for violations of any applicable rule, regulation, or order

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related to nuclear safety issued by the Secretary of Energy. This

section would also limit any civil penalties assessed for violations

of such rules, regulations, or orders to an amount not to exceed the

amount of any discretionary fee paid to a nonprofit institution by

the Secretary of Energy under a contract to manage facilities and

laboratories of the Department of Energy.

COMMITTEE POSITION

On June 28, 2000, the Committee on Armed Services, a quorum

being present, approved H.R. 3383 by a voice vote.

FISCAL DATA

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(2)(A) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, the committee attempted to ascertain

annual outlays resulting from the bill during fiscal year 2001 and

the four following fiscal years. The results of such efforts are reflected in the cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional

Budget Act of 1974, which is included in this report pursuant to

clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House.

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE

In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, the cost estimate prepared by the Congressional Budget Office and submitted pursuant to section 402(a)

of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is as follows:

JULY 5, 2000.

Hon. FLOYD SPENCE, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3383, a bill to amend the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to remove an exemption from civil penalties for nuclear safety violations by nonprofit institutions.

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Lisa Cash Driskill.

Sincerely,

DAN L. CRIPPEN, Director.

H.R. 3383—A bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to remove an exemption from civil penalties for nuclear safety violations by nonprofit institutions

H.R. 3383 would amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to repeal

the exemption from civil penalties for nuclear safety violations that

currently applies to nonprofit institutions operating laboratories of

the Department of Energy (DOE). Under the bill, nonprofit institutions that are operating DOE laboratories would be subject to penalties no greater than the amount that they are paid by DOE that

exceeds their reimbursable costs (known as the discretionary fee).

Thus, enactment of H.R. 3383 could result in an increase in governmental receipts, so pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. However, CBO estimates that any change in receipts would not be sigVerDate 11-MAY-2000 23:09 Jul 22, 2000 Jkt 065655 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR695P2.XXX pfrm02 PsN: HR695P2
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nificant. The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

Currently, several nonprofit institutions (primarily universities)

are exempt from paying civil penalties, assessed under the Price

Anderson Act, for nuclear safety violations at DOE laboratories. According to DOE’s Office of Enforcement and Investigation, over the

last four years nonprofit contractors have been assessed $990,625

in penalties. All of those penalties have been waived in accordance

with current law. Under H.R. 3383, any future penalties would be

paid to the Treasury. Based on penalties that have been assessed

in the past, CBO expects that such revenues would be less than

$250,000 a year.

On June 7, 2000, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 3383

as ordered reported by the House Committee on Commerce. The

cost estimates and the two versions of the bill are identical.

The CBO staff contacts are Lisa Cash Driskill (for federal costs),

and Victoria Heid Hall (for the state and local impact). This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant Director for

Budget Analysis.

COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

Pursuant to clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of

Representatives, the committee generally concurs with the estimate

contained in the report of the Congressional Budget Office.

OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

With respect to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, this legislation results from hearings

and other oversight activities conducted by the committee pursuant

to clause 2(b)(1) of rule X.

With respect to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives and section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional

Budget Act of 1974, this legislation does not include any new

spending or credit authority, nor does it provide for any increase

or decrease in tax revenues or expenditures. The fiscal features of

this legislation are addressed in the estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the

Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

With respect to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, the committee has not received a report

from the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight pertaining to the subject matter of H.R. 3383.

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House

of Representatives, the committee finds the authority for this legislation in Article I, section 8 of the United States Constitution.

STATEMENT OF FEDERAL MANDATES

Pursuant to section 423 of Public Law 104–4, this legislation contains no federal mandates with respect to state, local, and tribal

governments, nor with respect to the private sector. Similarly, the

bill provides no unfunded federal intergovernmental mandates.

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RECORD VOTE

In accordance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, the committee notes that no rollcall

votes were taken with respect to H.R. 3383.

The committee ordered H.R. 3383 reported to the House with a

favorable recommendation by a voice vote, a quorum being present.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

The bill was referred to this committee for consideration of such

provisions of the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction

of this committee pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule X of the Rules of

the House of Representatives. The changes made to existing law by

the amendment reported by the Committee on Commerce are

shown in the report filed by that committee (Rept. 106–695, Part

1).

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