Union Calendar No. 307

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1663

[Report No. 104–540, Part I]

A BILL

To amend the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land

Withdrawal Act.

JUNE 14, 1996

Committee on National Security discharged; committed

the Union and ordered to be printedto the Committee of the Whole House on the State of
IB

Union Calendar No. 307

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1663

[Report No. 104–540, Part I]

To amend the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 17, 1995

Mr. SKEEN (for himself, Mr. SCHAEFER, and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in

addition to the Committee on National Security, 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

APRIL 25, 1996

Reported from the Committee on Commerce with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

APRIL 25, 1996

Referral to the Committee on National Security extended for a period ending

not later than June 14, 1996

JUNE 14, 1996

Committee on National Security discharged; committed to the Committee of

the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 17, 1995]

A BILL

To amend the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal

Act.
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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 AND REFERENCE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Amendment

6 Act’’.

7 (b) REFERENCE.—Except as otherwise expressly pro8 vided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is ex9 pressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section

10 or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be

11 made to a section or other provision of the Waste Isolation

12 Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act (Public Law 102–579).

13 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

14 Paragraphs (18) and (19) of section 2 are repealed.

15 SEC. 3. TEST PHASE AND RETRIEVAL PLANS.

16 Section 5 and the item relating to such section in the

17 table of contents are repealed.

18 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

19 Section 4(b)(5)(B) is amended by striking ‘‘or with the

20 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.)’’.

21 SEC. 5. TEST PHASE ACTIVITIES.

22 Section 6 is amended—

23 (1) by repealing subsections (a) and (b),

24 (2) by repealing paragraph (1) of subsection (c),
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1 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection

2 (a) and in that subsection—

3 (A) by repealing subparagraph (A) of para4 graph (2),

5 (B) by striking the subsection heading and

6 the matter immediately following the subsection

7 heading and inserting ‘‘STUDY.—The following

8 study shall be conducted:’’,

9 (C) by striking ‘‘(2) REMOTE-HANDLED

10 WASTE.—’’,

11 (D) by striking ‘‘(B) STUDY.—’’,

12 (E) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), and

13 (iii) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respec14 tively, and

15 (F) by realigning the margins of such

16 clauses to be margins of paragraphs,

17 (5) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘, during the

18 test phase, a biennial’’ and inserting ‘‘a’’ and by

19 striking ‘‘, consisting of a documented analysis of’’

20 and inserting ‘‘as necessary to demonstrate’’, and

21 (6) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection

22 (b).

23 SEC. 6. DISPOSAL OPERATIONS.

24 Section 7(b) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMENCEMENT OF DIS2 POSAL OPERATIONS.—The Secretary may commence em3 placement of transuranic waste underground for disposal

4 at WIPP only upon completion of—

5 ‘‘(1) the Administrator’s certification under sec6 tion 8(d)(1) that the WIPP facility will comply with

7 disposal regulations; and

8 ‘‘(2) the acquisition by the Secretary (whether by

9 purchase, condemnation, or otherwise) of Federal Oil

10 and Gas Leases No. NMNM 02953 and No. NMNM

11 02953C, unless the Administrator determines, under

12 section 4(b)(5), that such acquisition is not re13 quired.’’.

14 SEC. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY DISPOSAL

15 REGULATIONS.

16 (a) SECTION 8(d)(1).—Section 8(d)(1) is amended—

17 (1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as

18 follows:

19 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION FOR COMPLIANCE.—

20 Within 30 days after the date of the enactment

21 of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land With22 drawal Amendment Act, the Secretary shall pro23 vide to Congress a schedule for the incremental

24 submission of chapters of the application to the

25 Administrator beginning no later than 30 days
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1 after such date. The Administrator shall review

2 the submitted chapters and provide requests for

3 additional information from the Secretary as

4 needed for completeness within 45 days of the re5 ceipt of each chapter. The Administrator shall

6 notify Congress of such requests. The schedule

7 shall call for the Secretary to submit all chapters

8 to the Administrator no later than October 31,

9 1996.’’; and

10 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘after the

11 application is’’ and inserting ‘‘after the full applica12 tion has been’’.

13 (b) SECTION 8(d) (2), (3).—Section 8(d) is amended

14 by striking paragraphs (2) and (3), by striking ‘‘(1) COM15 PLIANCE WITH DISPOSAL REGULATIONS.—’’, and by redes16 ignating subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of para17 graph (1) as paragraph (1), (2), (3), and (4), respectively.

18 (c) SECTION 8(g).—Section 8(g) is amended to read

19 as follows:

20 ‘‘(g) ENGINEERED AND NATURAL BARRIERS, ETC.—

21 The Secretary shall use both engineered and natural bar22 riers and any other measures to the extent necessary at

23 WIPP to comply with final disposal regulations.’’.
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1 SEC. 8. COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AND

2 REGULATIONS.

3 (a) SECTION 9(a)(1).—Section 9(a)(1) is amended by

4 adding after and below subparagraph (H) the following:

5 ‘‘With respect to transuranic mixed waste designated by the

6 Secretary for disposal at WIPP, such waste is exempt from

7 the land disposal restrictions published at part 268 of 40

8 C.F.R. because compliance with the environmental radi9 ation protection standards published at part 191 of 40

10 C.F.R. renders compliance with the land disposal restric11 tions unnecessary to achieve desired environmental protec12 tion and a no migration variance is not required for dis13 posal of transuranic mixed waste at WIPP.’’.

14 (b) SECTION 9(b).—Subsection (b) of section 9 is re15 pealed.

16 (c) SECTION 9(c).—Subsection (c) of section 9 is re17 pealed.

18 (d) SECTION 14.—Section 14 is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘No provision’’

20 and inserting ‘‘Except for the exemption from the

21 land disposal restrictions described in section 9(a)(1),

22 no provision’’; and

23 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘including

24 all terms and conditions of the No-Migration Deter25 mination’’ and inserting ‘‘except that the transuranic

26 mixed waste designated by the Secretary for disposal
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1 at WIPP is exempt from the land disposal restrictions

2 described in section 9(a)(1)’’.

3 SEC. 9. RETRIEVABILITY.

4 (a) SECTION 10.—Section 10 is amended to read as

5 follows:

6 ‘‘SEC. 10. TRANSURANIC WASTE.

7 ‘‘It is the intent of Congress that a decision will be

8 made by the Secretary with respect to the disposal of trans9 uranic waste no later than November 30, 1997.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT .—The item relating to

11 section 10 in the table of contents is amended to read as

12 follows:

‘‘Sec. 10. Transuranic waste.’’.

13 SEC. 10. DECOMMISSIONING OF WIPP.

14 Section 13 is amended—

15 (1) by repealing subsection (a), and

16 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b) MANAGE17 MENT PLAN FOR THE WITHDRAWAL AFTER DECOM18 MISSIONING.—Within 5 years after the date of the en19 actment of this Act, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’.

20 SEC. 11. ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE AND MISCELLANEOUS

21 PAYMENTS.

22 Section 15(a) is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘to the Secretary for payments to

24 the State $20,000,000 for each of the 15 fiscal years

25 beginning with the fiscal year in which the transport
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1 of transuranic waste to WIPP is initiated’’ and in2 serting ‘‘to the State $20,000,000 for each of the 15

3 fiscal years beginning with the date of the enactment

4 of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal

5 Amendment Act’’, and

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An ap7 propriation to the State shall be in addition to any

8 appropriation for WIPP.’’.

9 SEC. 12. NON-DEFENSE WASTE.

10 Section 7(a) is amended by redesignating paragraph

11 (3) as paragraph (4) and by inserting after paragraph (2)

12 the following:

13 ‘‘(3) NON-DEFENSE WASTE.—Within the limits

14 prescribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) and within the

15 capacity prescribed by paragraph (4), WIPP may re16 ceive transuranic waste from the Secretary which did

17 not result from a defense activity.’’.