Calendar No. 490

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1936

A BILL

To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

JULY 10, 1996

Read the second time and placed on the calendar
II

Calendar No. 490

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1936

To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 9, 1996

Mr. CRAIG (for himself and Mr. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill;

which was read the first time

JULY 10, 1996

Read the second time and placed on the calendar

A BILL

To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

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

3 That the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 is amended

4 to read as follows:

5 ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

7 ‘Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996’.

8 ‘‘(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

‘‘Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
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‘‘Sec. 2. Definitions.

‘‘TITLE I—OBLIGATIONS

‘‘Sec. 101. Obligations of the Secretary of Energy.

‘‘TITLE II—INTEGRATED SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM

‘‘Sec. 201. Intermodal transfer.

‘‘Sec. 202. Transportation planning.

‘‘Sec. 203. Transportation requirements.

‘‘Sec. 204. Interim storage.

‘‘Sec. 205. Permanent repository.

‘‘Sec. 206. Land withdrawal.

‘‘Sec. 207. Permanent disposal alternatives.

‘‘TITLE III—LOCAL RELATIONS

‘‘Sec. 301. Financial assistance.

‘‘Sec. 302. On-site representative.

‘‘Sec. 303. Acceptance of benefits.

‘‘Sec. 304. Restrictions on use of funds.

‘‘Sec. 305. Land conveyances.

‘‘TITLE IV—FUNDING AND ORGANIZATION

‘‘Sec. 401. Program funding.

‘‘Sec. 402. Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.

‘‘Sec. 403. Federal contribution.

‘‘Sec. 404. Budget priorities.

‘‘TITLE V—GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

‘‘Sec. 501. Compliance with other laws.

‘‘Sec. 502. Judicial review of agency actions.

‘‘Sec. 503. Licensing of facility expansions and transshipments.

‘‘Sec. 504. Siting a second repository.

‘‘Sec. 505. Financial arrangements for low-level radioactive waste site closure.

‘‘Sec. 506. Nuclear Regulatory Commission training authority.

‘‘Sec. 507. Emplacement schedule.

‘‘Sec. 508. Transfer of title.

‘‘Sec. 509. Decommissioning pilot program.

‘‘Sec. 510. Water rights.

‘‘TITLE VI—NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD

‘‘Sec. 601. Definitions.

‘‘Sec. 602. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.

‘‘Sec. 603. Functions.

‘‘Sec. 604. Investigatory powers.

‘‘Sec. 605. Compensation of members.

‘‘Sec. 606. Staff.

‘‘Sec. 607. Support services.

‘‘Sec. 608. Report.

‘‘Sec. 609. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘Sec. 610. Termination of the board.
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‘‘TITLE VII—MANAGEMENT REFORM

‘‘Sec. 701. Management reform initiatives.

‘‘Sec. 702. Reporting.

1 ‘‘SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 ‘‘For purposes of this Act:

3 ‘‘(1) ACCEPT, ACCEPTANCE.—The terms ‘ac4 cept’ and ‘acceptance’ mean the Secretary’s act of

5 taking possession of spent nuclear fuel or high-level

6 radioactive waste.

7 ‘‘(2) AFFECTED INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘af8 fected Indian tribe’ means any Indian tribe—

9 ‘‘(A) whose reservation is surrounded by or

10 borders an affected unit of local government, or

11 ‘‘(B) whose federally defined possessory or

12 usage rights to other lands outside of the res13 ervation’s boundaries arising out of congres14 sionally ratified treaties may be substantially

15 and adversely affected by the locating of such

16 a facility if the Secretary of the Interior finds,

17 upon the petition of the appropriate govern18 mental officials of the tribe, that such effects

19 are both substantial and adverse to the tribe.

20 ‘‘(3) AFFECTED UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERN21 MENT.—The term ‘affected unit of local government’

22 means the unit of local government with jurisdiction

23 over the site of a repository or interim storage facil-
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1 ity. Such term may, at the discretion of the Sec2 retary, include other units of local government that

3 are contiguous with such unit.

4 ‘‘(4) ATOMIC ENERGY DEFENSE ACTIVITY.—

5 The term ‘atomic energy defense activity’ means any

6 activity of the Secretary performed in whole or in

7 part in carrying out any of the following functions:

8 ‘‘(A) Naval reactors development.

9 ‘‘(B) Weapons activities including defense

10 inertial confinement fusion.

11 ‘‘(C) Verification and control technology.

12 ‘‘(D) Defense nuclear materials produc13 tion.

14 ‘‘(E) Defense nuclear waste and materials

15 byproducts management.

16 ‘‘(F) Defense nuclear materials security

17 and safeguards and security investigations.

18 ‘‘(G) Defense research and development.

19 ‘‘(5) CIVILIAN NUCLEAR POWER REACTOR.—

20 The term ‘civilian nuclear power reactor’ means a ci21 vilian nuclear power plant required to be licensed

22 under section 103 or 104 b. of the Atomic Energy

23 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2133, 2134(b)).

24 ‘‘(6) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’

25 means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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1 ‘‘(7) CONTRACTS.—The term ‘contracts’ means

2 the contracts, executed prior to the date of enact3 ment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996,

4 under section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy

5 Act of 1982, by the Secretary and any person who

6 generates or holds title to spent nuclear fuel or high7 level radioactive waste of domestic origin for accept8 ance of such waste or fuel by the Secretary and the

9 payment of fees to offset the Secretary’s expendi10 tures, and any subsequent contracts executed by the

11 Secretary pursuant to section 401(a) of this Act.

12 ‘‘(8) CONTRACT HOLDERS.—The term ‘contract

13 holders’ means parties (other than the Secretary) to

14 contracts.

15 ‘‘(9) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘Department’

16 means the Department of Energy.

17 ‘‘(10) DISPOSAL.—The term ‘disposal’ means

18 the emplacement in a repository of spent nuclear

19 fuel, high-level radioactive waste, or other highly ra20 dioactive material with no foreseeable intent of re21 covery, whether or not such emplacement permit re22 covery of such material for any future purpose.

23 ‘‘(11) DISPOSAL SYSTEM.—The term ‘disposal

24 system’ means all natural barriers and engineered

25 barriers, and engineered systems and components,
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1 that prevent the release of radionuclides from the re2 pository.

3 ‘‘(12) EMPLACEMENT SCHEDULE.—The term

4 ‘emplacement schedule’ means the schedule estab5 lished by the Secretary in accordance with section

6 507(a) for emplacement of spent nuclear fuel and

7 high-level radioactive waste at the interim storage

8 facility.

9 ‘‘(13) ENGINEERED BARRIERS AND ENGI10 NEERED SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS.—The terms

11 ‘engineered barriers’ and ‘engineered systems and

12 components,’ means man-made components of a dis13 posal system. These terms include the spent nuclear

14 fuel or high-level radioactive waste form, spent nu15 clear fuel package or high-level radioactive waste

16 package, and other materials placed over and around

17 such packages.

18 ‘‘(14) HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE.—The

19 term ‘high-level radioactive waste’ means—

20 ‘‘(A) the highly radioactive material result21 ing from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel,

22 including liquid waste produced directly in re23 processing and any solid material derived from

24 such liquid waste that contains fission products

25 in sufficient concentrations; and
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1 ‘‘(B) other highly radioactive material that

2 the Commission, consistent with existing law,

3 determines by rule requires permanent isola4 tion, which includes any low-level radioactive

5 waste with concentrations of radionuclides that

6 exceed the limits established by the Commission

7 for class C radioactive waste, as defined by sec8 tion 61.55 of title 10, Code of Federal Regula9 tions, as in effect on January 26, 1983.

10 ‘‘(15) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal

11 agency’ means any Executive agency, as defined in

12 section 105 of title 5, United States Code.

13 ‘‘(16) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’

14 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga15 nized group or community of Indians recognized as

16 eligible for the services provided to Indians by the

17 Secretary of the Interior because of their status as

18 Indians including any Alaska Native village, as de19 fined in section 3(c) of the Alaska Native Claims

20 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(c)).

21 ‘‘(17) INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.—

22 The term ‘integrated management system’ means

23 the system developed by the Secretary for the ac24 ceptance, transportation, storage, and disposal of
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1 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

2 under title II of this Act.

3 ‘‘(18) INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY.—The term

4 ‘interim storage facility’ means a facility designed

5 and constructed for the receipt, handling, possession,

6 safeguarding, and storage of spent nuclear fuel and

7 high-level radioactive waste in accordance with title

8 II of this Act.

9 ‘‘(19) INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY SITE.—The

10 term ‘interim storage facility site’ means the specific

11 site within area 25 of the Nevada test site that is

12 designated by the Secretary and withdrawn and re13 served in accordance with this Act for the location

14 of the interim storage facility.

15 ‘‘(20) LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE.—The

16 term ‘low-level radioactive waste’ means radioactive

17 material that—

18 ‘‘(A) is not spent nuclear fuel, high-level

19 radioactive waste, transuranic waste, or byprod20 uct material as defined in section 11 e.(2) of

21 the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.

22 2014(e)(2)); and

23 ‘‘(B) the Commission, consistent with ex24 isting law, classifies as low-level radioactive

25 waste.
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1 ‘‘(21) METRIC TONS URANIUM.—The term

2 ‘metric tons uranium’ and ‘MTU’ means the amount

3 of uranium in the original unirradiated fuel element

4 whether or not the spent nuclear fuel has been re5 processed.

6 ‘‘(22) NUCLEAR WASTE FUND.—The term ‘Nu7 clear Waste Fund’ and ‘waste fund’ means the nu8 clear waste fund established in the United States

9 Treasury prior to the date of enactment of this Act

10 under section 302 (c) of the Nuclear Waste Policy

11 Act of 1982.

12 ‘‘(23) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the

13 Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management es14 tablished within the Department prior to the date of

15 enactment of this Act under the provisions of the

16 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

17 ‘‘(24) PROGRAM APPROACH.—The term ‘pro18 gram approach’ means the Civilian Radioactive

19 Waste Management Program Plan, dated May 6,

20 1996, as modified by this Act, and as amended from

21 time to time by the Secretary in accordance with

22 this Act.

23 ‘‘(25) REPOSITORY.—The term ‘repository’

24 means a system designed and constructed under title

25 II of this Act for the geologic disposal of spent nu-
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1 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, including

2 both surface and subsurface areas at which spent

3 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste receipt,

4 handling, possession, safeguarding, and storage are

5 conducted.

6 ‘‘(26) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’

7 means the Secretary of Energy.

8 ‘‘(27) SITE CHARACTERIZATION.—The term

9 ‘site characterization’ means activities, whether in a

10 laboratory or in the field, undertaken to establish

11 the geologic condition and the ranges of the param12 eters of a candidate site relevant to the location of

13 a repository, including borings, surface excavations,

14 excavations of exploratory facilities, limited sub15 surface lateral excavations and borings, and in situ

16 testing needed to evaluate the licensability of a can17 didate site for the location of a repository, but not

18 including preliminary borings and geophysical test19 ing needed to assess whether site characterization

20 should be undertaken.

21 ‘‘(28) SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL.—The term

22 ‘spent nuclear fuel’ means fuel that has been with23 drawn from a nuclear reactor following irradiation,

24 the constituent elements of which have not been sep25 arated by reprocessing.
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1 ‘‘(29) STORAGE.—The term ‘storage’ means re2 tention of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive

3 waste with the intent to recover such waste or fuel

4 for subsequent use, processing, or disposal.

5 ‘‘(30) WITHDRAWAL.—The term ‘withdrawal’

6 has the same definition as that set forth in section

7 103(j) of the Federal Land Policy and Management

8 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(j)).

9 ‘‘(31) YUCCA MOUNTAIN SITE.—The term

10 ‘Yucca Mountain site’ means the area in the State

11 of Nevada that is withdrawn and reserved in accord12 ance with this Act for the location of a respository.

13 ‘‘TITLE I—OBLIGATIONS

14 ‘‘SEC. 101. OBLIGATIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY.

15 ‘‘(a) DISPOSAL.—The Secretary shall develop and op16 erate an integrated management system for the storage

17 and permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high18 level radioactive waste.

19 ‘‘(b) INTERIM STORAGE.—The Secretary shall store

20 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from

21 facilities designated by contract holders for storage at an

22 interim storage facility pursuant to section 204 in accord23 ance with the emplacement schedule, beginning not later

24 than November 30, 1999.
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1 ‘‘(c) TRANSPORTATION.—The Secretary shall provide

2 for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

3 radioactive waste accepted by the Secretary. The Sec4 retary shall procure all systems and components necessary

5 to transport spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

6 waste from facilities designated by contract holders to and

7 among facilities comprising the Integrated Management

8 System. Consistent with the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C.

9 10a–10c), unless the Secretary shall determine it to be

10 inconsistent with the public interest, or the cost to be un11 reasonable, all such systems and components procured by

12 the Secretary shall be manufactured in the United States,

13 with the exception of any transportable storage systems

14 purchased by contract holders prior to the effective date

15 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996 and procured

16 by the Secretary from such contract holders for use in the

17 integrated management system.

18 ‘‘(d) INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.—The

19 Secretary shall expeditiously pursue the development of

20 each component of the integrated management system,

21 and in so doing shall seek to utilize effective private sector

22 management and contracting practies.

23 ‘‘(e) PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION.—In admin24 istering the Integrated Spent Nuclear Fuel Management

25 System, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent pos-
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1 sible, utilize, employ, procure and contract with, the pri2 vate sector to fulfill the Secretary’s obligations and re3 quirements under this Act.

4 ‘‘(f) PRE-EXISTING RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act is

5 intended to or shall be construed to modify—

6 ‘‘(1) any right of a contract holder under sec7 tion 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

8 1982, or under a contract executed prior to the date

9 of enactment of this Act under that section; or

10 ‘‘(2) obligations imposed upon the Federal Gov11 ernment by the United States District Court of

12 Idaho in an order entered on October 17, 1995 in

13 United States v. Batt (No. 91–0054–S–EJL).

14 ‘‘(g) LIABILITY.—Subject to any valid existing right

15 under subsection (f), nothing in this Act shall be construed

16 to subject the United States to financial liability for the

17 Secretary’s failure to meet any deadline for the acceptance

18 or emplacement of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radio19 active waste for storage or disposal under this Act.

20 ‘‘TITLE II—INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT

21 SYSTEM

22 ‘‘SEC. 201. INTERMODAL TRANSFER.

23 ‘‘(a) ACCESS.—The Secretary shall utilize heavy-haul

24 truck transport to move spent nuclear fuel and high-level
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1 radioactive waste from the mainline rail line at Caliente,

2 Nevada, to the interim storage facility site.

3 ‘‘(b) CAPABILITY DATE.—The Secretary shall de4 velop the capability to commence rail to truck intermodal

5 transfer at Caliente, Nevada, no later than November 30,

6 1999. Intermodal transfer and related activities are inci7 dental to the interstate transportation of spent nuclear

8 fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

9 ‘‘(c) ACQUISITIONS.—The Secretary shall acquire

10 lands and rights-of-way along the ‘Chalk Mountain Heavy

11 Haul Route’ depicted on the map dated March 13, 1996,

12 and on file with the Secretary, necessary to commence

13 intermodal transfer at Caliente, Nevada.

14 ‘‘(d) REPLACEMENTS.—The Secretary shall acquire

15 and develop on behalf of, and dedicate to, the City of

16 Caliente, Nevada, parcels of land and right-of-way within

17 Lincoln County, Nevada, as required to facilitate replace18 ment of land and city wastewater disposal facilities nec19 essary to commence intermodal transfer pursuant to this

20 Act. Replacement of land and city wastewater disposal ac21 tivities shall occur no later than November 30, 1999.

22 ‘‘(e) NOTICE AND MAP.—Within 6 months of the

23 date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

24 1996, the Secretary shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) publish in the Federal Register a notice

2 containing a legal description of the sites and rights3 of-way to be acquired under this subsection; and

4 ‘‘(2) file copies of a map of such sites and

5 rights-of-way with the Congress, the Secretary of the

6 Interior, the State of Nevada, the Archivist of the

7 United States, the Board of Lincoln County Com8 missioners, the Board of Nye County Commis9 sioners, and the Caliente City Council.

10 Such map and legal description shall have the same force

11 and effect as if they were included in this Act. The Sec12 retary may correct clerical and typographical errors and

13 legal descriptions and make minor adjustments in the

14 boundaries.

15 ‘‘(f) IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary shall make im16 provements to existing roadways selected for heavy-haul

17 truck transport between Caliente, Nevada, and the interim

18 storage facility site as necessary to facilitate year-round

19 safe transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio20 active waste.

21 ‘‘(g) LOCAL GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT.—The

22 Commission shall enter into a Memorandum of Under23 standing with the City of Caliente and Lincoln County,

24 Nevada, to provide advice to the Commission regarding

25 intermodal transfer and to facilitate on-site representa-
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1 tion. Reasonable expenses of such representation shall be

2 paid by the Secretary.

3 ‘‘(h) BENEFITS AGREEMENT.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall offer to

5 enter into an agreement with Lincoln County, Ne6 vada, concerning the integrated management system.

7 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENT CONTENT.—Any agreement

8 shall contain such terms and conditions, including

9 such financial and institutional arrangements, as the

10 Secretary and agreement entity determine to be rea11 sonable and appropriate and shall contain such pro12 visions as are necessary to preserve any right to par13 ticipation or compensation of Lincoln County, Ne14 vada.

15 ‘‘(3) AMENDMENT.—An agreement entered into

16 under this subsection may be amended only with the

17 mutual consent of the parties to the amendment and

18 terminated only in accordance with paragraph (4).

19 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall ter20 minate the agreement under this subsection if any

21 major element of the integrated management system

22 may not be completed.

23 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—Only one agreement may be

24 in effect at any one time.
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1 ‘‘(6) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Decisions of the Sec2 retary under this section are not subject to judicial

3 review.

4 ‘‘(i) CONTENT OF AGREEMENT.—

5 ‘‘(1) SCHEDULE.—In addition to the benefits to

6 which Lincoln County is entitled to under this title,

7 the Secretary shall make payments under the bene8 fits agreement in accordance with the following

9 schedule:

‘‘BENEFITS SCHEDULE

‘‘(Amounts in millions)

‘‘Event Payment

‘‘(A) Annual payments prior to first receipt of spent fuel ................ $2.5

‘‘(B) Annual payments beginning upon first spent fuel receipt ........ 5

‘‘(C) Payment upon closure of the intermodal transfer facility ........ 5

10 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec11 tion, the term—

12 ‘‘(A) ‘spent fuel’ means high-level radio13 active waste or spent nuclear fuel; and

14 ‘‘(B) ‘first spent fuel receipt’ does not in15 clude receipt of spent fuel or high-level radio16 active waste for purposes of testing or oper17 ational demonstration.

18 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL PAYMENTS.—Annual payments

19 prior to first spent fuel receipt under paragraph

20 (1)(A) shall be made on the date of execution of the

21 benefits agreement and thereafter on the anniver22 sary date of such execution. Annual payments after
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1 the first spent fuel receipt until closure of the facil2 ity under paragraph (1)(C) shall be made on the an3 niversary date of such first spent fuel receipt.

4 ‘‘(4) REDUCTION.—If the first spent fuel pay5 ment under paragraph (1)(B) is made within 6

6 months after the last annual payment prior to the

7 receipt of spent fuel under paragraph (1)(A), such

8 first spent fuel payment under paragraph (1)(B)

shall be reduced by an amount equal to 1 9 ⁄12 of such

10 annual payment under paragraph (1)(A) for each

11 full month less than 6 that has not elapsed since the

12 last annual payment under paragraph (1)(A).

13 ‘‘(5) RESTRICTIONS.—The Secretary may not

14 restrict the purposes for which the payments under

15 this section may be used.

16 ‘‘(6) DISPUTE.—In the event of a dispute con17 cerning such plan, the Secretary shall resolve such

18 dispute, consistent with this Act and applicable

19 State law.

20 ‘‘(7) CONSTRUCTION.—The signature of the

21 Secretary on a valid benefits agreement under this

22 section shall constitute a commitment by the United

23 States to make payments in accordance with such

24 agreement under section 401(c)(2).

25 ‘‘(j) INITIAL LAND CONVEYANCES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) CONVEYANCES OF PUBLIC LANDS.—One

2 hundred and twenty days after enactment of this

3 Act, all right, title and interest of the United States

4 in the property described in paragraph (2), and im5 provements thereon, together with all necessary

6 easements for utilities and ingress and egress to

7 such property, including, but not limited to, the

8 right to improve those easements, are conveyed by

9 operation of law to the County of Lincoln, Nevada,

10 unless the county notifies the Secretary of the Inte11 rior or the head of such other appropriate agency in

12 writing within 60 days of such date of enactment

13 that it elects not to take title to all or any part of

14 the property, except that any lands conveyed to the

15 County of Lincoln under this subsection that are

16 subject to a Federal grazing permit or lease or a

17 similar federally granted permit or lease shall be

18 conveyed between 60 and 120 days of the earliest

19 time the Federal agency administering or granting

20 the permit or lease would be able to legally termi21 nate such right under the statutes and regulations

22 existing at the date of enactment of this Act, unless

23 Lincoln County and the affected holder of the permit

24 or lease negotiate an agreement that allows for an

25 earlier conveyance.
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1 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL CONVEYANCES.—Notwithstanding

2 any other law, the following public lands depicted on

3 the maps and legal descriptions date October 11,

4 1995, shall be conveyed under paragraph (1) to the

5 County of Lincoln, Nevada:

6 Map 10; Lincoln County, parcel M, indus7 trial park site.

8 Map 11; Lincoln County, parcel F, mixed

9 use industrial site.

10 Map 13; Lincoln County, parcel J, mixed

11 use, Alamo Community Expansion Area.

12 Map 14; Lincoln County, parcel E, mixed

13 use, Pioche Community Expansion Area.

14 Map 15; Lincoln County, parcel B, landfill

15 expansion site.

16 ‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION.—The maps and legal de17 scriptions special conveyances referred to in para18 graph (2) shall have the same force and effect as if

19 they were included in this Act. The Secretary may

20 correct clerical and typographical errors in the maps

21 and legal descriptions and make minor adjustments

22 in the boundaries of the sites.

23 ‘‘(4) EVIDENCE OF TITLE TRANSFER.—Upon

24 the request of the County of Lincoln, Nevada, the
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1 Secretary of the Interior shall provide evidence of

2 title transfer.

3 ‘‘SEC. 202. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.

4 ‘‘(a) TRANSPORTATION READINESS.—The Secretary

5 shall take those actions that are necessary and appropriate

6 to ensure that the Secretary is able to transport spent nu7 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from sites des8 ignated by the contract holders to mainline transportation

9 facilities beginning not later than November 30, 1999. As

10 soon as is practicable following enactment of this Act, the

11 Secretary shall analyze each specific reactor facility des12 ignated by contract holders in the order of priority estab13 lished in the emplacement schedule, and develop a

14 logistical plan to assure the Secretary’s ability to transport

15 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

16 ‘‘(b) TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.—In conjunction

17 with the development of the logistical plan in accordance

18 with subsection (a), the Secretary shall update and mod19 ify, as necessary, the Secretary’s transportation institu20 tional plans to ensure that institutional issues are ad21 dressed and resolved on a schedule to support the com22 mencement of transportation of spent nuclear fuel and

23 high-level radioactive waste to the interim storage facility

24 no later than November 30, 1999. Among other things,

25 such planning shall provide a schedule and process for ad-
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1 dressing and implementing as necessary, transportation

2 routing plans, transportation contracting plans, transpor3 tation training in accordance with section 203, and public

4 education regarding transportation of spent nuclear fuel

5 and nuclear waste; and transportation tracking pro6 grams.

7 ‘‘SEC. 203. TRANSPORTATION REQUIREMENTS.

8 ‘‘(a) PACKAGE CERTIFICATION.—No spent nuclear

9 fuel or high-level radioactive waste may be transported by

10 or for the Secretary under this Act except in packages that

11 have been certified for such purposes by the Commission.

12 ‘‘(b) STATE NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall

13 abide by regulations of the Commission regarding advance

14 notification of State and local governments prior to trans15 portation of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive

16 waste under this Act.

17 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall

18 provide technical assistance and funds to States, units of

19 local government, and Indian tribes through whose juris20 diction the Secretary plans to transport substantial

21 amounts of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive

22 waste for public safety officials of appropriate units of

23 local government. The Secretary shall also provide tech24 nical assistance and funds for training directly to national

25 nonprofit employee organizations which demonstrate expe-
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1 rience in implementing and operating worker health and

2 safety training and education programs and demonstrate

3 the ability to reach and involve in training programs tar4 get populations of workers who are or will be directly en5 gaged in the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high6 level radioactive waste, or emergency response or post7 emergency response with respect to such transportation.

8 Training shall cover procedures required for safe routine

9 transportation of these materials, as well as procedures

10 for dealing with emergency response situations, and shall

11 be consistent with any training standards established by

12 the Secretary of Transportation in accordance with sub13 section (g). The Secretary’s duty to provide technical and

14 financial assistance under this subsection shall be limited

15 to amounts specified in annual appropriations.

16 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The Secretary shall con17 duct a program to educate the public regarding the trans18 portation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

19 waste, with an emphasis upon those States, units of local

20 government, and Indian tribes through whose jurisdiction

21 the Secretary plans to transport substantial amounts of

22 spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste.

23 ‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE WITH TRANSPORTATION REGULA24 TIONS.—Any person that transports spent nuclear fuel or

25 high-level radioactive waste under the Nuclear Waste Pol-
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1 icy Act of 1986, pursuant to a contract with the Secretary,

2 shall comply with all requirements governing such trans3 portation issued by the federal, state and local govern4 ments, and Indian tribes, in the same way and to the same

5 extent that any person engaging in that transportation

6 that is in or affects interstate commerce must comply with

7 such requirements, as required by 49 U.S.C. sec. 5126.

8 ‘‘(f) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—Any person engaged

9 in the interstate commerce of spent nuclear fuel or high10 level radioactive waste under contract to the Secretary

11 pursuant to this Act shall be subject to and comply fully

12 with the employee protection provisions of 49 U.S.C.

13 20109 and 49 U.S.C. 31105. Carmen shall be designated

14 to perform the inspection and testing of trains under the

15 provisions of 49 CFR 215 and 232 at all initial terminals

16 and intermediate inspection points. Members of an operat17 ing crew shall be trained to perform the cursory inspection

18 and testing required on cars picked up at outlying points

19 under the provisions of 49 CFR 215 appendix D and 232.

20 ‘‘(g) TRAINING STANDARD.—(1) No later than 12

21 months after the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste

22 Policy Act of 1996, the Secretary of Transportation, pur23 suant to authority under other provisions of law, in con24 sultation with the Secretary of Labor and the Commission,

25 shall promulgate a regulation establishing training stand-
25

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1 ards applicable to workers directly involved in the removal,

2 transportation, interim storage, and permanent disposal of

3 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The

4 regulation shall specify minimum training standards appli5 cable to workers, including managerial personnel. The reg6 ulation shall require that evidence of satisfaction of the

7 applicable training standard, through certification or other

8 means, be provided to an employer before any individual

9 may be employed in the removal, transportation, interim

10 storage, and permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and

11 high-level radioactive waste.

12 ‘‘(2) If the Secretary of Transportation determines,

13 in promulgating the regulation required by subparagraph

14 (1), that regulations promulgated by the Commission es15 tablish adequate training standards for workers directly

16 involved in the interim storage and permanent disposal of

17 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, then

18 the Secretary of Transportation can refrain from promul19 gating additional regulations with respect to worker train20 ing in such activities. The Secretary of Transportation and

21 the Commission shall work through their Memorandum of

22 Understanding to ensure coordination of worker training

23 standards and to avoid duplicative regulation.

24 ‘‘(3) The training standards required to be promul25 gated under subparagraph (1) shall, among other things
26

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1 deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of

2 Transportation, include the following provisions—

3 ‘‘(A) a specified minimum number of hours of

4 initial off site instruction and actual field experience

5 under the direct supervision of a trained, experi6 enced supervisor;

7 ‘‘(B) a requirement that onsite managerial per8 sonnel receive the same training as workers, and a

9 minimum number of additional hours of specialized

10 training pertinent to their managerial responsibil11 ities; and

12 ‘‘(C) a training program applicable to persons

13 responsible for responding to and cleaning up emer14 gency situations occurring during the removal,

15 transportation, interim storage, and permanent dis16 posal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

17 waste.

18 ‘‘(4) There is authorized to be appropriated to the

19 Secretary of Transportation, from general revenues, such

20 sums as may be necessary to perform his duties under this

21 subsection.

22 ‘‘SEC. 204. INTERIM STORAGE.

23 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary shall design,

24 construct, and operate a facility for the interim storage

25 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at
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1 the interim storage facility site. The interim storage facil2 ity shall be subject to licensing pursuant to the Atomic

3 Energy Act of 1954 in accordance with the Commission’s

4 regulations governing the licensing of independent spent

5 fuel storage installations, which regulations shall be

6 amended by the Commission as necessary to implement

7 the provisions of this Act. The interim storage facility

8 shall commence operation in phases by January 31, 1999.

9 ‘‘(b) SCHEDULE.—(1) The Secretary shall proceed

10 forthwith and without further delay with all activities nec11 essary to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel and high-level

12 radioactive waste at the interim storage facility at the in13 terim storage facility site by November 30, 1999, except

14 that:

15 ‘‘(A) The Secretary shall not begin any con16 struction activities at the interim storage facility site

17 before December 31, 1998.

18 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall cease all activities (ex19 cept necessary termination activities) at the Yucca

20 Mountain site if the President determines, in his dis21 cretion, on or before December 31, 1998, based on

22 a preponderance of the information available at such

23 time, that the Yucca Mountain site is unsuitable for

24 development as a repository, including geologic and

25 engineered barriers, because of a substantial likeli-
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1 hood that a repository of useful size, cannot be de2 signed, licensed, and constructed at the Yucca

3 Mountain site.

4 ‘‘(C) No later than June 30, 1998, the Sec5 retary shall provide to the President and to the Con6 gress a viability assessment of the Yucca Mountain

7 site. The viability assessment shall include—

8 ‘‘(i) the preliminary design concept for the

9 critical elements of the repository and waste

10 package,

11 ‘‘(ii) a total system performance assess12 ment, based upon the design concept and the

13 scientific data and analysis available by June

14 30, 1998, describing the probable behavior of

15 the respository in the Yucca Mountain geologic

16 setting relative to the overall system perform17 ance standard set forth in section 205(d) of this

18 Act.

19 ‘‘(iii) a plan and cost estimate for the re20 maining work required to complete a license ap21 plication, and

22 ‘‘(iv) an estimate of the costs to construct

23 and operate the repository in accordance with

24 the design concept.
29

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1 ‘‘(D) Within 18 months of a determination by

2 the President that the Yucca Mountain site is un3 suitable for development as a repository under para4 graph (B), the President shall designate a site for

5 the construction of an interim storage facility. If the

6 President does not designate a site for the construc7 tion of an interim storage facility, or the construc8 tion of an interim storage facility at the designated

9 site is not approved by law within 24 months of the

10 President’s determination that the Yucca Mountain

11 site is not suitable for development as a repository,

12 the Secretary shall begin construction of an interim

13 storage facility at the interim storage facility site as

14 defined in section 2(19) of this Act. The interim

15 storage facility site as defined in section 2(19) of

16 this Act shall be deemed to be approved by law for

17 purposes of this section.

18 ‘‘(2) Upon the designation of an interim storage facil19 ity site by the President under paragraph (1)(D), the Sec20 retary shall proceed forthwith and without further delay

21 with all activities necessary to begin accepting spent nu22 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at an interim

23 storage facility at the designated site, except that the Sec24 retary shall not begin any construction activities at the
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1 designated interim storage facility site before the des2 ignated interim storage facility site is approved by law.

3 ‘‘(c) DESIGN.—

4 ‘‘(1) The interim storage facility shall be de5 signed in two phases in order to commence oper6 ations no later than November 30, 1999. The design

7 of the interim storage facility shall provide for the

8 use of storage technologies, licensed, approved, or

9 certified by the Commission for use at the interim

10 storage facility as necessary to ensure compatibility

11 between the interim storage facility and contract

12 holders’ spent nuclear fuel and facilities, and to fa13 cilitate the Secretary’s ability to meet the Sec14 retary’s obligations under this Act.

15 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall consent to an amend16 ment to the contracts to provide for reimbursement

17 to contract holders for transportable storage systems

18 purchased by contract holders if the Secretary deter19 mines that it is cost effective to use such transport20 able storage systems as part of the integrated man21 agement system, provided that the Secretary shall

22 not be required to expend any funds to modify con23 tract holders’ storage or transport systems or to

24 seek additional regulatory approvals in order to use

25 such systems.
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1 ‘‘(d) LICENSING.—

2 ‘‘(1) PHASES.—The interim storage facility

3 shall be licensed by the Commission in two phases

4 in order to commerce operations no later than No5 vember 30, 1999.

6 ‘‘(2) FIRST PHASE.—No later than 12 months

7 after the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste

8 Policy Act of 1996, the Secretary shall submit to the

9 Commission an application for a license for the first

10 phase of the interim storage facility. The Environ11 mental Report and Safety Analysis Report submitted

12 in support of such license application shall be con13 sistent with the scope of authority requested in the

14 license application. The license issued for the first

15 phase of the interim storage facility shall have a

16 term of 20 years. The interim storage facility li17 censed in the first phase shall have a capacity of not

18 more than 15,000 MTU. The Commission shall issue

19 a final decision granting or denying the application

20 for the first phase license no later than 16 months

21 from the date of the submittal of the application for

22 such license.

23 ‘‘(3) SECOND PHASE.—No later than 30

24 months after the date of enactment of the Nuclear

25 Waste Policy Act of 1996, the Secretary shall sub-
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1 mit to the Commission an application for a license

2 for the second phase interim storage facility. The li3 cense for the second phase facility shall authorize a

4 storage capacity of 40,000 MTU. If the Secretary

5 does not complete the viability assessment of the

6 Yucca Mountain site by June 30, 1998, or submit

7 the license application for construction of a

8 respository by February 1, 2002, or does not begin

9 full spent nuclear fuel receipt operations at a reposi10 tory by January 17, 2010, the license shall authorize

11 a storage capacity of 60,000 MTU. The license ap12 plication shall be submitted such that the license can

13 be issued to permit the second phase facility to begin

14 full spent nuclear fuel receipt operations no later

15 than December 31, 2002. The license for the second

16 phase shall have an initial term of up to 100 years,

17 and shall be renewable for additional terms upon ap18 plication of the Secretary.

19 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—

20 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of comply21 ing with subsection (a), the Secretary may com22 mence site preparation for the interim storage facil23 ity as soon as practicable after the date of enact24 ment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996 and

25 shall commence construction of each phase of the in-
33

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1 terim storage facility subsequent to submittal of the

2 license application for such phase except that the

3 Commission shall issue an order suspending such

4 construction at any time if the Commission deter5 mines that such construction poses an unreasonable

6 risk to public health and safety or the environment.

7 The Commission shall terminate all or part of such

8 order upon a determination that the Secretary has

9 taken appropriate action to eliminate such risk.

10 ‘‘(2) FACILITY USE.—Notwithstanding any oth11 erwise applicable licensing requirement, the Sec12 retary may utilize any facility owned by the Federal

13 Government on the date of enactment of the Nuclear

14 Waste Policy Act of 1996 within the boundaries of

15 the interim storage facility site, in connection with

16 an imminent and substantial endangerment to public

17 health and safety at the interim storage facility prior

18 to commencement of operations during the second

19 phase.

20 ‘‘(3) EMPLACEMENT OF FUEL AND WASTE.—

21 Subject to paragraph (i), once the Secretary has

22 achieved the annual acceptance rate for spent nu23 clear fuel from civilian nuclear power reactors estab24 lished pursuant to the contracts executed prior to

25 the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy
34

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1 Act of 1996, the Secretary shall accept, in an

2 amount not less than 25 percent of the difference

3 between the contractual acceptance rate and the an4 nual emplacement rate for spent nuclear fuel from

5 civilian nuclear power reactors established under sec6 tion 507(a), the following radioactive materials:

7 ‘‘(A) spent nuclear fuel or high-level radio8 active waste of domestic origin from civilian nu9 clear power reactors that have permanently

10 ceased operation on or before the date of enact11 ment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996;

12 ‘‘(B) spent nuclear fuel from foreign re13 search reactors, as necessary to promote non14 proliferation objectives; and

15 ‘‘(C) spent nuclear fuel, including spent

16 nuclear fuel from naval reactors, and high-level

17 radioactive waste from atomic energy defense

18 activities.

19 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF

20 1969.—

21 ‘‘(1) PRELIMINARY DECISIONMAKING ACTIVI22 TIES.—The Secretary’s and President’s activities

23 under this section, including, but not limited to, the

24 selection of a site for the interim storage facility, as25 sessments, determinations and designations made
35

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1 under section 204(b), the preparation and submittal

2 of a license application and supporting documenta3 tion, the construction and operation of any facility,

4 and facility use pursuant to paragraph (d)(2) of this

5 section shall be considered preliminary decisionmak6 ing activities for purposes of judicial review. The

7 Secretary shall not prepare an environmental impact

8 statement under section 102(2)(C) of the National

9 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

10 4332(2)(C)) or any environmental review under sub11 paragraph (E) or (F) of such Act before conducting

12 these activities.

13 ‘‘(2) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—

14 ‘‘(A) FINAL DECISION.—A final decision

15 by the Commission to grant or deny a license

16 application for the first or second phase of the

17 interim storage facility shall be accompanied by

18 an Environmental Impact Statement prepared

19 under section 102(2)(C) of the National Envi20 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

21 4332(2)(C)). In preparing such Environmental

22 Impact Statement, the Commission—

23 ‘‘(i) shall ensure that the scope of the

24 Environmental Impact Statement is con-
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1 sistent with the scope of the licensing ac2 tion; and

3 ‘‘(ii) shall analyze the impacts of the

4 transportation of spent nuclear fuel and

5 high-level radioactive waste to the interim

6 storage facility in a generic manner.

7 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—Such Environ8 mental Impact Statement shall not consider—

9 ‘‘(i) the need for the interim storage

10 facility, including any individual compo11 nent thereof;

12 ‘‘(ii) the time of the initial availability

13 of the interim storage facility;

14 ‘‘(iii) any alternatives to the storage

15 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio16 active waste at the interim storage facility;

17 ‘‘(iv) any alternatives to the site of

18 the facility as designated by the Secretary

19 in accordance with subsection (a);

20 ‘‘(v) any alternatives to the design cri21 teria for such facility or any individual

22 component thereof, as specified by the Sec23 retary in the license application; or

24 ‘‘(vi) the environmental impacts of the

25 storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level
37

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1 radioactive waste at the interim storage fa2 cility beyond the initial term of the license

3 or the term of the renewal period for which

4 a license renewal application is made.

5 ‘‘(g) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Judicial review of the Com6 mission’s environmental impact statement under the Na7 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321

8 et seq.) shall be consolidated with judicial review of the

9 Commission’s licensing decision. No court shall have juris10 diction to enjoin the construction or operation of the in11 terim storage facility prior to its final decision on review

12 of the Commission’s licensing action.

13 ‘‘(h) WASTE CONFIDENCE.—The Secretary’s obliga14 tion to construct and operate the interim storage facility

15 in accordance with this section and the Secretary’s obliga16 tion to develop an integrated management system in ac17 cordance with the provisions of this Act, shall provide suf18 ficient and independent grounds for any further findings

19 by the Commission of reasonable assurance that spent nu20 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste will be disposed

21 of safely and on a timely basis for purposes of the Com22 mission’s decision to grant or amend any license to operate

23 any civilian nuclear power reactor under the Atomic En24 ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011, et seq.).
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1 ‘‘(i) STORAGE OF OTHER SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL

2 AND HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE.—No later than

3 18 months following the date of enactment of the Nuclear

4 Waste Policy Act of 1996, the Commission shall, by rule,

5 establish criteria for the storage in the interim storage fa6 cility of fuel and waste listed in paragraph (e)(3)(A)

7 through (C), to the extent such criteria are not included

8 in regulations issued by the Commission and existing on

9 the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act

10 of 1996. Following establishment of such criteria, the Sec11 retary shall seek authority, as necessary, to store fuel and

12 waste listed in paragraph (d)(3)(A) through (C) at the in13 terim storage facility. None of the activities carried out

14 pursuant to this paragraph shall delay, or otherwise affect,

15 the development, construction, licensing, or operation of

16 the interim storage facility.

17 ‘‘(j) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—The Commission shall, by

18 rule, establish procedures for the licensing of any tech19 nology for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel by rule

20 and without, to the maximum extent possible, the need

21 for site-specific approvals by the Commission. Nothing in

22 this Act shall affect any such procedures, or any licenses

23 or approvals issued pursuant to such procedures in effect

24 on the date of enactment.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 205. PERMANENT REPOSITORY.

2 ‘‘(a) REPOSITORY CHARACTERIZATION.—

3 ‘‘(1) GUIDELINES.—The guidelines promul4 gated by the Secretary and published at 10 CFR

5 part 960 are annulled and revoked and the Sec6 retary shall make no assumptions or conclusions

7 about the licensability of the Yucca Mountain site as

8 a repository by reference to such guidelines.

9 ‘‘(2) SITE CHARACTERIZATION ACTIVITIES.—

10 The Secretary shall carry out appropriate site char11 acterization activities at the Yucca Mountain site in

12 accordance with the Secretary’s program approach

13 to site characterization. The Secretary shall modify

14 or eliminate those site characterization activities de15 signed only to demonstrate the suitability of the site

16 under the guidelines referenced in paragraph (1).

17 ‘‘(3) SCHEDULE DATE.—Consistent with the

18 schedule set forth in the program approach, as

19 modified to be consistent with the Nuclear Waste

20 Policy Act of 1996. No later than February 1, 2002,

21 the Secretary shall apply to the Commission for au22 thorization to construct a repository. If, at any time

23 prior to the filing of such application, the Secretary

24 determines that the Yucca Mountain site cannot sat25 isfy the Commission’s regulations applicable to the

26 licensing of a geologic repository, the Secretary shall
40

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1 terminate site characterization activities at the site,

2 notify Congress and the State of Nevada of the Sec3 retary’s determination and the reasons therefor, and

4 recommend to Congress not later than 6 months

5 after such determination further actions, including

6 the enactment of legislation, that may be needed to

7 manage the Nation’s spent nuclear fuel and high8 level radioactive waste.

9 ‘‘(4) MAXIMIZING CAPACITY.—In developing an

10 application for authorization to construct the reposi11 tory, the Secretary shall seek to maximize the capac12 ity of the repository, in the most cost-effective man13 ner, consistent with the need for disposal capacity.

14 ‘‘(b) REPOSITORY LICENSING.—Upon the completion

15 of any licensing proceeding for the first phase of the in16 terim storage facility, the Commission shall amend its reg17 ulations governing the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and

18 high-level radioactive waste in geologic repositories to the

19 extent necessary to comply with this Act. Subject to sub20 section (c), such regulations shall provide for the licensing

21 of the repository according to the following procedures:

22 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION.—The

23 Commission shall grant the Secretary a construction

24 authorization for the repository upon determining

25 that there is reasonable assurance that spent nuclear
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1 fuel and high-level radioactive waste can be disposed

2 of in the repository—

3 ‘‘(A) in conformity with the Secretary’s ap4 plication, the provisions of this Act, and the

5 regulations of the Commission;

6 ‘‘(B) without unreasonable risk to the

7 health and safety of the public; and

8 ‘‘(C) consistent with the common defense

9 and security.

10 ‘‘(2) LICENSE.—Following substantial comple11 tion of construction and the filing of any additional

12 information needed to complete the license applica13 tion, the Commission shall issue a license to dispose

14 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

15 in the repository if the Commission determines that

16 the repository has been constructed and will oper17 ate—

18 ‘‘(A) in conformity with the Secretary’s ap19 plication, the provisions of this Act, and the

20 regulations of the Commission;

21 ‘‘(B) without unreasonable risk to the

22 health and safety of the public; and

23 ‘‘(C) consistent with the common defense

24 and security.
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1 ‘‘(3) CLOSURE.—After emplacing spent nuclear

2 fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the reposi3 tory and collecting sufficient confirmatory data on

4 repository performance to reasonably confirm the

5 basis for repository closure consistent with the Com6 mission’s regulations applicable to the licensing of a

7 repository, as modified in accordance with this Act,

8 the Secretary shall apply to the Commission to

9 amend the license to permit permanent closure of

10 the repository. The Commission shall grant such li11 cense amendment upon finding that there is reason12 able assurance that the repository can be perma13 nently closed—

14 ‘‘(A) in conformity with the Secretary’s ap15 plication to amend the license, the provisions of

16 this Act, and the regulations of the Commis17 sion;

18 ‘‘(B) without unreasonable risk to the

19 health and safety of the public; and

20 ‘‘(C) consistent with the common defense

21 and security.

22 ‘‘(4) POST-CLOSURE.—The Secretary shall take

23 those actions necessary and appropriate at the

24 Yucca Mountain site to prevent any activity at the
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1 site subsequent to repository closure that poses an

2 unreasonable risk of—

3 ‘‘(A) breaching the repository’s engineered

4 or geologic barriers; or

5 ‘‘(B) increasing the exposure of individual

6 members of the public to radiation beyond the

7 release standard established in subsection

8 (d)(1).

9 ‘‘(c) MODIFICATION OF REPOSITORY LICENSING

10 PROCEDURE.—The Commission’s regulations shall pro11 vide for the modification of the repository licensing proce12 dure, as appropriate, in the event that the Secretary seeks

13 a license to permit the emplacement in the repository, on

14 a retrievable basis, of spent nuclear fuel or high-level ra15 dioactive waste as is necessary to provide the Secretary

16 with sufficient confirmatory data on repository perform17 ance to reasonably confirm the basis for repository closure

18 consistent with applicable regulations.

19 ‘‘(d) REPOSITORY LICENSING STANDARDS.—Not20 withstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator

21 of the Environmental Protection Agency shall not promul22 gate, by rule or otherwise, standards for protection of the

23 public from releases of radioactive materials or radioactiv24 ity from the repository and any such standards existing

25 on the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act
44

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1 of 1996 shall not be incorporated in the Commission’s li2 censing regulations. The Commission’s repository licens3 ing determinations for the protection of the public shall

4 be based solely on a finding whether the repository can

5 be operated in conformance with the overall system per6 formance standard established in paragraph (1), applied

7 in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (2). The

8 Commission shall amend its regulations in accordance

9 with subsection (b) to incorporate each of the following

10 licensing standards:

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF OVERALL SYSTEM

12 PERFORMANCE STANDARD.—The standard for pro13 tection of the public from release of radioactive ma14 terial or radioactivity from the repository shall pro15 hibit releases that would expose an average member

16 of the general population in the vicinity of the Yucca

17 Mountain site to an annual dose in excess of 100

18 millirems unless the Commission determines by rule

19 that such standard would constitute an unreasonable

20 risk to health and safety and establishes by rule an21 other standard which will protect health and safety.

22 Such standard shall constitute an overall system

23 performance standard.

24 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF OVERALL SYSTEM PER25 FORMANCE STANDARD.—The Commission shall issue
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1 the license if it finds reasonable assurance that for

2 the first 1,000 years following the commencement of

3 repository operations, the overall system perform4 ance standard will be met based on a probabilistic

5 evaluation, as appropriate, of compliance with the

6 overall system performance standard in paragraph

7 (1).

8 ‘‘(3) FACTORS.—For purposes of making the

9 finding in paragraph (2)—

10 ‘‘(A) the Commission shall not consider

11 catastrophic events where the health con12 sequences of individual events themselves can

13 be reasonably assumed to exceed the health

14 consequences due to the impact of the events on

15 repository performance;

16 ‘‘(B) for the purpose of this section, an av17 erage member of the general population in the

18 vicinity of the Yucca Mountain site means a

19 person whose physiology, age, general health,

20 agricultural practices, eating habits, and social

21 behavior represent the average for persons liv22 ing in the vicinity of the site. Extremes in social

23 behavior, eating habits, or other relevant prac24 tices or characteristics shall not be considered;

25 and
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1 ‘‘(C) the Commission shall assume that,

2 following repository closure, the inclusion of en3 gineered barriers and the Secretary’s post-clo4 sure actions at the Yucca Mountain site; in ac5 cordance with subsection (b)(4), shall be suffi6 cient to—

7 ‘‘(i) prevent any human activity at the

8 site that poses an unreasonable risk of

9 breaching the repository’s engineered or

10 geologic barriers; and

11 ‘‘(ii) prevent any increase in the expo12 sure of individual members of the public to

13 radiation beyond the allowable limits speci14 fied in paragraph (1).

15 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS.—The Commission

16 shall analyze the overall system performance through

17 the use of probabilistic evaluations that use best es18 timate assumptions, data, and methods for the pe19 riod commencing after the first 1,000 years of oper20 ation of the repository and terminating at 10,000

21 years after the commencement of operation of the

22 repository.

23 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT.—

24 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF STATEMENT.—Construc25 tion and operation of the repository shall be consid-
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1 ered a major Federal action significantly affecting

2 the quality of the human environment for purposes

3 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

4 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The Secretary shall submit

5 an environmental impact statement on the construc6 tion and operation of the repository to the Commis7 sion with the license application and shall supple8 ment such environmental impact statement as ap9 propriate.

10 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—For purposes of com11 plying with the requirements of the National Envi12 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 and this section, the

13 Secretary shall not consider in the environmental

14 impact statement the need for the repository, or al15 ternative sites or designs for the repository.

16 ‘‘(3) ADOPTION BY COMMISSION.—The Sec17 retary’s environmental impact statement and any

18 supplements thereto shall, to the extent practicable,

19 be adopted by the Commission in connection with

20 the issuance by the Commission of a construction

21 authorization under subsection (b)(1), a license

22 under subsection (b)(2), or a license amendment

23 under subsection (b)(3). To the extent such state24 ment or supplement is adopted by the Commission,

25 such adoption shall be deemed to also satisfy the re-
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1 sponsibilities of the Commission under the National

2 Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and no further

3 consideration shall be required, except that nothing

4 in this subsection shall affect any independent re5 sponsibilities of the Commission to protect the public

6 health and safety under the Atomic Energy Act of

7 1954. In any such statement or supplement pre8 pared with respect to the repository, the Commission

9 shall not consider the need for a repository, or alter10 nate sites or designs for the repository.

11 ‘‘(f) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No court shall have juris12 diction to enjoin issuance of the Commission repository

13 licensing regulations prior to its final decision on review

14 of such regulations.

15 ‘‘SEC. 206. LAND WITHDRAWAL.

16 ‘‘(a) WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION.—

17 ‘‘(1) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing

18 rights, the interim storage facility site and the

19 Yucca Mountain site, as described in subsection (b),

20 are withdrawn from all forms of entry, appropria21 tion, and disposal under the public land laws, includ22 ing the mineral leasing laws, the geothermal leasing

23 laws, the material sale laws, and the mining laws.

24 ‘‘(2) JURISDICTION.—Jurisdiction of any land

25 within the interim storage facility site and the Yucca
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1 Mountain site managed by the Secretary of the Inte2 rior or any other Federal officer is transferred to the

3 Secretary.

4 ‘‘(3) RESERVATION.—The interim storage facil5 ity site and the Yucca Mountain site are reserved for

6 the use of the Secretary for the construction and op7 eration, respectively, of the interim storage facility

8 and the repository and activities associated with the

9 purposes of this title.

10 ‘‘(b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—

11 ‘‘(1) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries depicted

12 on the map entitled ‘Interim Storage Facility Site

13 Withdrawal Map,’ dated March 13, 1996, and on file

14 with the Secretary, are established as the boundaries

15 of the Interim Storage Facility site.

16 ‘‘(2) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries depicted

17 on the map entitled ‘Yucca Mountain Site With18 drawal Map,’ dated July 9, 1996, and on file with

19 the Secretary, are established as the boundaries of

20 the Yucca Mountain site.

21 ‘‘(3) NOTICE AND MAPS.—Within 6 months of

22 the date of the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Pol23 icy Act of 1996, the Secretary shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) publish in the Federal Register a no2 tice containing a legal description of the interim

3 storage facility site; and

4 ‘‘(B) file copies of the maps described in

5 paragraph (1), and the legal description of the

6 interim storage facility site with the Congress,

7 the Secretary of the Interior, the Governor of

8 Nevada, and the Archivist of the United States.

9 ‘‘(4) NOTICE AND MAPS.—Concurrent with the

10 Secretary’s application to the Commission for au11 thority to construct the repository, the Secretary

12 shall—

13 ‘‘(A) publish in the Federal Register a no14 tice containing a legal description of the Yucca

15 Mountain site; and

16 ‘‘(B) file copies of the maps described in

17 paragraph (2), and the legal description of the

18 Yucca Mountain site with the Congress, the

19 Secretary of the Interior, the Governor of Ne20 vada, and the Archivist of the United States.

21 ‘‘(5) CONSTRUCTION.—The maps and legal de22 scriptions of the interim storage facility site and the

23 Yucca Mountain site referred to in this subsection

24 shall have the same force and effect as if they were

25 included in this Act. The Secretary may correct cler-
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1 ical and typographical errors in the maps and legal

2 descriptions and make minor adjustments in the

3 boundaries of the sites.

4 ‘‘SEC. 207. PERMANENT DISPOSAL ALTERNATIVES.

5 ‘‘(a) STUDY.—Within 270 days after the date of the

6 enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996, the

7 Secretary shall report to Congress on alternatives for the

8 permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra9 dioactive waste. The report under this section shall in10 clude—

11 ‘‘(1) an assessment of the current state of

12 knowledge of alternative technologies for the treat13 ment and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high14 level radioactive waste;

15 ‘‘(2) an estimate of the costs of research and

16 development of alternative technologies;

17 ‘‘(3) an analysis of institutional factors associ18 ated with alternative technologies, including inter19 national aspects of a decision of the United States

20 to proceed with the development of alternative tech21 nologies (including nuclear proliferation concerns) as

22 an option for nuclear waste management and dis23 posal;
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1 ‘‘(4) a full discussion of environmental and pub2 lic health and safety aspects of alternative tech3 nologies;

4 ‘‘(5) recommendations on alternative ways to

5 structure an effort in research, development, and

6 demonstration with respect to alternative tech7 nologies; and

8 ‘‘(6) the recommendations of the Secretary with

9 respect to research, development, and demonstration

10 of the most promising alternative technologies for

11 the treatment and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and

12 high-level radioactive waste.

13 ‘‘(b) OFFICE OF NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL RE14 SEARCH.—(1) There is hereby established an Office of Nu15 clear Waste Disposal Research within the Office of Energy

16 Research of the Department of Energy. The Office shall

17 be headed by the Director, who shall be a member of the

18 Senior Executive Service appointed by the Director of the

19 Office of Energy Research, and compensated at a rate de20 termined by applicable law.

21 ‘‘(2) The Director of the Office of Nuclear Waste Re22 search shall be responsible for carrying out research, de23 velopment, and demonstration activities on alternative

24 technologies for the treatment and disposal of high-level

25 nuclear radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, subject
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1 to the general supervision of the Secretary. The Director

2 of the Office shall be directly responsible to the Director

3 of the Office of Energy Research, and the first such Direc4 tor shall be appointed within 30 days of the date of enact5 ment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996.

6 ‘‘(3) In carrying out his responsibilities under this

7 Section, the Secretary may make grants to, or enter into

8 contracts with, the Nuclear Waste Research Consortium

9 described in paragraph (4) of this section and other per10 sons.

11 ‘‘(4)(A) Within 60 days of the date of enactment of

12 the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996, the Secretary shall

13 establish a university-based Nuclear Waste Disposal Con14 sortium involving leading universities and institutions, na15 tional laboratories, the commercial nuclear industry, and

16 other organizations to investigate technical and institu17 tional feasibility of alternative technologies for the treat18 ment and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra19 dioactive waste.

20 ‘‘(B) The Nuclear Waste Disposal Consortium shall

21 develop a research plan and budget to achieve the follow22 ing objectives by 2005:

23 ‘‘(i) identify promising alternative technologies

24 for the treatment and disposal of spent nuclear fuel

25 and high-level radioactive waste.
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1 ‘‘(ii) conduct research and develop conceptual

2 designs for promising alternative technologies, in3 cluding estimated costs and institutional require4 ments for continued research and development; and

5 ‘‘(iii) identify and assess potential impacts of

6 promising alternative technologies on the environ7 ment.

8 ‘‘(C) In 2000, and again in 2005, the Nuclear Waste

9 Disposal Consortium shall report to Congress on the

10 progress being made in achieving the objectives of para11 graph (2).

12 ‘‘(5) The Director of the Office of Nuclear Waste Dis13 posal Research shall annually prepare and submit a report

14 to the Congress on the activities and expenditures of the

15 Office.

16 ‘‘TITLE III—LOCAL RELATIONS

17 ‘‘SEC. 301. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

18 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary is authorized to make

19 grants to any affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local

20 government for purposes of enabling the affected Indian

21 tribe or affected unit of local government—

22 ‘‘(1) to review activities taken with respect to

23 the Yucca Mountain site for purposes of determining

24 any potential economic, social, public health and

25 safety, and environmental impacts of the integrated
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1 management system the affected Indian tribe or the

2 affected unit of local government and its residents;

3 ‘‘(2) to develop a request for impact assistance

4 under subsection (c);

5 ‘‘(3) to engage in any monitoring, testing, or

6 evaluation activities with regard to such site;

7 ‘‘(4) to provide information to residents regard8 ing any activities of the Secretary, or the Commis9 sion with respect to such site; and

10 ‘‘(5) to request information from, and make

11 comments and recommendations to, the Secretary

12 regarding any activities taken with respect to such

13 site.

14 ‘‘(b) SALARY AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Any salary

15 or travel expense that would ordinarily be incurred by any

16 affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local government

17 may not be considered eligible for funding under this sec18 tion.

19 ‘‘(c) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—

20 ‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE REQUESTS.—The Secretary is

21 authorized to offer to provide financial and technical

22 assistance to any affected Indian tribe or affected

23 unit of local government requesting such assistance.

24 Such assistance shall be designed to mitigate the im25 pact on the affected Indian tribe or affected unit of
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1 local government of the development of the inte2 grated management system.

3 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Any affected Indian tribe or af4 fected unit of local government may request assist5 ance under this section by preparing and submitting

6 to the Secretary a report on the economic, social,

7 public health and safety, and environmental impacts

8 that are likely to result from activities of the inte9 grated management system.

10 ‘‘(d) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—

11 ‘‘(1) TAXABLE AMOUNTS.—In addition to finan12 cial assistance provided under this subsection, the

13 Secretary is authorized to grant to any affected In14 dian tribe or affected unit of local government an

15 amount each fiscal year equal to the amount such

16 affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local govern17 ment, respectively, would receive if authorized to tax

18 integrated management system activities, as such af19 fected Indian tribe or affected unit of local govern20 ment taxes the non-Federal real property and indus21 trial activities occurring within such affected unit of

22 local government.

23 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION.—Such grants shall con24 tinue until such time as all such activities, develop25 ment, and operations are terminated at such site.
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1 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE TO INDIAN TRIBES AND

2 UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—

3 ‘‘(A) PERIOD.—Any affected Indian tribe

4 or affected unit of local government may not re5 ceive any grant under paragraph (1) after the

6 expiration of the 1-year period following the

7 date on which the Secretary notifies the af8 fected Indian tribe or affected unit of local gov9 ernment of the termination of the operation of

10 the integrated management system.

11 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES.—Any affected Indian

12 tribe or affected unit of local government may

13 not receive any further assistance under this

14 section if the integrated management system

15 activities at such site are terminated by the

16 Secretary or if such activities are permanently

17 enjoined by any court.

18 ‘‘SEC. 302. ON-SITE REPRESENTATIVE.

19 ‘‘The Secretary shall offer to the unit of local govern20 ment within whose jurisdiction a site for an interim stor21 age facility or repository is located under this Act an op22 portunity to designate a representative to conduct onsite

23 oversight activities at such site. The Secretary is author24 ized to pay the reasonable expenses of such representa25 tives.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 303. ACCEPTANCE OF BENEFITS.

2 ‘‘(a) CONSENT.—The acceptance or use of any of the

3 benefits provided under this title by any affected Indian

4 tribe or affected unit of local government shall not be

5 deemed to be an expression of consent, express, or denied,

6 either under the Constitution of the State or any law

7 thereof, to the siting of an interim storage facility or re8 pository in the State of Nevada, any provision of such

9 Constitution or laws to the contrary notwithstanding.

10 ‘‘(b) ARGUMENTS.—Neither the United States nor

11 any other entity may assert any argument based on legal

12 or equitable estoppel, or acquiescence, or waiver, or con13 sensual involvement, in response to any decision by the

14 State to oppose the siting in Nevada of an interim storage

15 facility or repository premised upon or related to the ac16 ceptance or use of benefits under this title.

17 ‘‘(c) LIABILITY.—No liability of any nature shall ac18 crue to be asserted against any official of any government

19 unit of Nevada premised solely upon the acceptance or use

20 of benefits under this title.

21 ‘‘SEC. 304. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF FUNDS.

22 ‘‘None of the funding provided under this title may

23 be used—

24 ‘‘(1) directly or indirectly to influence legislative

25 action on any matter pending before Congress or a

26 State legislature or for any lobbying activity as pro-
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1 vided in section 1913 of title 18, United States

2 Code;

3 ‘‘(2) for litigation purposes; and

4 ‘‘(3) to support multistate efforts or other coali5 tion-building activities inconsistent with the purposes

6 of this Act.

7 ‘‘SEC. 305 LAND CONVEYANCES.

8 ‘‘(a) CONVEYANCES OF PUBLIC LANDS.—One hun9 dred and twenty days after enactment of this Act, all

10 right, title and interest of the United States in the prop11 erty described in subsection (b), and improvements there12 on, together with all necessary easements for utilities and

13 ingress and egress to such property, including, but not

14 limited to, the right to improve those easements, are con15 veyed by operation of law to the County of Nye, Nevada,

16 unless the county notifies the Secretary of Interior or the

17 head of such other appropriate agency in writing within

18 60 days of such date of enactment that it elects not to

19 take title to all or any part of the property, except that

20 any lands conveyed to the County of Nye under this sub21 section that are subject to a Federal grazing permit or

22 lease or a similar federally granted permit or lease shall

23 be conveyed between 60 and 120 days of the earliest time

24 the Federal agency administering or granting the permit

25 or lease would be able to legally terminate such right
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1 under the statutes and regulations existing at the date of

2 enactment of this Act, unless Nye County and the affected

3 holder of the permit or lease negotiate an agreement that

4 allows for an earlier conveyance.

5 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL CONVEYANCES.—Notwithstanding any

6 other law, the following public lands depicted on the maps

7 and legal descriptions dated October 11, 1995, and on file

8 with the Secretary shall be conveyed under paragraph (1)

9 to the County of Nye, Nevada:

10 Map 1; proposed Pahrump industrial park site.

11 Map 2; proposed Lathrop Wells (gate 510) in12 dustrial park site.

13 Map 3; Pahrump landfill sites.

14 Map 4; Amargosa Valley Regional Landfill site.

15 Map 5; Amargosa Valley Municipal Landfill

16 site.

17 Map 6; Beatty Landfill/Transfer Station site.

18 Map 7; Round Mountain Landfill site.

19 Map 8; Tonopah Landfill site.

20 Map 9; Gabbs Landfill site.

21 ‘‘(c) CONSTRUCTION.—The maps and legal descrip22 tions special conveyances referred to in paragraph (2)

23 shall have the same force and effect as if they were in24 cluded in this Act. The Secretary may correct clerical and

25 typographical errors in the maps and legal descriptions
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1 and make minor adjustments in the boundaries of the

2 sites.

3 ‘‘(d) EVIDENCE OF TITLE TRANSFER.—Upon the re4 quest of the County of Nye, Nevada, the Secretary of the

5 Interior shall provide evidence of title transfer.

6 ‘‘TITLE IV—FUNDING AND ORGANIZATION

7 ‘‘SEC. 401. PROGRAM FUNDING.

8 ‘‘(a) CONTRACTS.—

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—In the per10 formance of the Secretary’s functions under this

11 Act, the Secretary is authorized to enter into con12 tracts with any person who generates or holds title

13 to spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste

14 of domestic origin for the acceptance of title and

15 possession, transportation, interim storage, and dis16 posal of such waste or spent fuel. Such contracts

17 shall provide for payment of annual fees to the Sec18 retary in the amounts set by the Secretary pursuant

19 to paragraphs (2) and (3). Except as provided in

20 paragraph (3), fees assessed pursuant to this para21 graph shall be paid to the Treasury of the United

22 States and shall be available for use by the Sec23 retary pursuant to this section until expended. Sub24 sequent to the date of enactment of the Nuclear

25 Waste Policy Act of 1996, the contracts executed
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1 under section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy

2 Act of 1982 shall continue in effect under this Act,

3 provided that the Secretary shall consent to an

4 amendment to such contracts as necessary to imple5 ment the provisions of this Act.

6 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL FEES.—

7 ‘‘(A) for electricity generated by civilian

8 nuclear power reactors and sold between Janu9 ary 7, 1983, and September 30, 2002, the fee

10 under paragraph (1) shall be equal to 1.0 mill

11 per kilowatt-hour generated and sold. For elec12 tricity generated by civilian nuclear power reac13 tors and sold on or after October 1, 2002, the

14 aggregate amount of fees collected during each

15 fiscal year shall be no greater than the annual

16 level of appropriations for expenditures on those

17 activities consistent with subsection (d) for that

18 fiscal year, minus—

19 ‘‘(i) any unobligated balance collected

20 pursuant to this section during the pre21 vious fiscal year; and

22 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of such appro23 priation required to be funded by the Fed24 eral Government pursuant to section 403.
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1 The Secretary shall determine the level of the

2 annual fee for each civilian nuclear power reac3 tor based on the amount of electricity generated

4 and sold, except that the annual fee collected

5 under this subparagraph shall not exceed 1.0

6 mill per kilowatthour generated and sold.

7 ‘‘(B) EXPENDITURES IF SHORTFALL.—If,

8 during any fiscal year on or after October 1,

9 2002, the aggregate amount of fees assessed

10 pursuant to subparagraph (A) is less than the

11 annual level of appropriations for expenditures

12 on those activities specified in subsection (d) for

13 that fiscal year, minus—

14 ‘‘(i) any unobligated balance collected

15 pursuant to this section during the pre16 vious fiscal year; and

17 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of such appro18 priations required to be funded by the Fed19 eral Government pursuant to section 403,

20 the Secretary may make expenditures from the

21 Nuclear Waste Fund up to the level of the fees

22 assessed.

23 ‘‘(C) RULES.—The Secretary shall, by

24 rule, establish procedures necessary to imple25 ment this paragraph.
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1 ‘‘(3) ONE-TIME FEE.—For spent nuclear fuel or

2 solidified high-level radioactive waste derived from

3 spent nuclear fuel, which fuel was used to generate

4 electricity in a civilian nuclear power reactor prior to

5 January 7, 1983, the fee shall be in an amount

6 equivalent to an average charge of 1.0 mill per

7 kilowatthour for electricity generated by such spent

8 nuclear fuel, or such solidified high-level waste de9 rived therefrom. Payment of such one-time fee prior

10 to the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Pol11 icy Act of 1996 shall satisfy the obligation imposed

12 under this paragraph. Any one-time fee paid and

13 collected subsequent to the date of enactment of the

14 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996 pursuant to the

15 contracts, including any interest due pursuant to

16 such contracts, shall be paid to the Nuclear Waste

17 Fund no later than September 30, 2002. The Com18 mission shall suspend the license of any licensee who

19 fails or refuses to pay the full amount of the fee

20 referred to in this paragraph on or before September

21 30, 2002, and the license shall remain suspended

22 until the full amount of the fee referred to in this

23 paragraph is paid. The person paying the fee under

24 this paragraph to the Secretary shall have no fur25 ther financial obligation to the Federal Government
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1 for the long-term storage and permanent disposal of

2 spent fuel or high-level radioactive waste derived

3 from spent nuclear fuel used to generate electricity

4 in a civilian power reactor prior to January 7, 1983.

5 ‘‘(4) ADJUSTMENTS TO FEE.—The Secretary

6 shall annually review the amount of the fees estab7 lished by paragraphs (2) and (3), together with the

8 existing balance of the Nuclear Waste Fund on the

9 date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act

10 of 1996, to evaluate whether collection of the fee will

11 provide sufficient revenues to offset the costs as de12 fined in subsection (c)(2). In the event the Secretary

13 determines that the revenues being collected are ei14 ther insufficient or excessive to recover the costs in15 curred by the Federal Government that are specified

16 in subsection (c)(2), the Secretary shall propose an

17 adjustment to the fee in subsection (c)(2) to ensure

18 full cost recovery. The Secretary shall immediately

19 transmit the proposal for such an adjustment to

20 both houses of Congress.

21 ‘‘(b) ADVANCE CONTRACTING REQUIREMENT.

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

23 ‘‘(A) LICENSE ISSUANCE AND RENEWAL.—

24 The Commission shall not issue or renew a li25 cense to any person to use a utilization or pro-
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1 duction facility under the authority of section

2 103 or 104 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954

3 (42 U.S.C. 2133, 2134) unless—

4 ‘‘(i) such person has entered into a

5 contract under subsection (a) with the Sec6 retary; or

7 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary affirms in writing

8 that such person is actively and in good

9 faith negotiating with the Secretary for a

10 contract under this section.

11 ‘‘(B) PRECONDITION.—The Commission,

12 as it deems necessary or appropriate, may re13 quire as a precondition to the issuance or re14 newal of a license under section 103 or 104 of

15 the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.

16 2133, 2134) that the applicant for such license

17 shall have entered into an agreement with the

18 Secretary for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel

19 and high-level radioactive waste that may result

20 from the use of such license.

21 ‘‘(2) DISPOSAL IN REPOSITORY.—Except as

22 provided in paragraph (1), no spent nuclear fuel or

23 high-level radioactive waste generated or owned by

24 any person (other than a department of the United

25 States referred to in section 101 or 102 of title 5,
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1 United States Code) may be disposed of by the Sec2 retary in the repository unless the generator or

3 owner of such spent fuel or waste has entered into

4 a contract under subsection (a) with the Secretary

5 by not later than the date on which such generator

6 or owner commences generation of, or takes title to,

7 such spent fuel or waste.

8 ‘‘(3) ASSIGNMENT.—The rights and duties of

9 contract holders are assignable.

10 ‘‘(c) NUCLEAR WASTE FUND.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Nuclear Waste Fund

12 established in the Treasury of the United States

13 under section 302(c) of the Nuclear Waste Policy

14 Act of 1982 shall continue in effect under this Act

15 and shall consist of—

16 ‘‘(A) the existing balance in the Nuclear

17 Waste Fund on the date of enactment of the

18 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996; and

19 ‘‘(B) all receipts, proceeds, and recoveries

20 realized under subsections (a), and (c)(3) subse21 quent to the date of enactment of the Nuclear

22 Waste Policy Act of 1996, which shall be depos23 ited in the Nuclear Waste Fund immediately

24 upon their realization.
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1 ‘‘(2) USE.—The Secretary may make expendi2 tures from the Nuclear Waste Fund, subject to sub3 section (d), only for purposes of the integrated man4 agement system.

5 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION OF NUCLEAR WASTE

6 FUND.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the

8 Treasury shall hold the Nuclear Waste Fund

9 and, after consultation with the Secretary, an10 nually report to the Congress on the financial

11 condition and operations of the Nuclear Waste

12 Fund during the preceding fiscal year.

13 ‘‘(B) AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF CURRENT

14 NEEDS.—If the Secretary determines that the

15 Nuclear Waste Fund contains at any time

16 amounts in excess of current needs, the Sec17 retary may request the Secretary of the Treas18 ury to invest such amounts, or any portion of

19 such amounts as the Secretary determines to be

20 appropriate, in obligations of the United

21 States—

22 ‘‘(i) having maturities determined by

23 the Secretary of the Treasury to be appro24 priate to the needs of the Nuclear Waste

25 Fund; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) bearing interest at rates deter2 mined to be appropriate by the Secretary

3 of the Treasury, taking into consideration

4 the current average market yield on out5 standing marketable obligations of the

6 United States with remaining periods to

7 maturity comparable to the maturities of

8 such investments, except that the interest

9 rate on such investments shall not exceed

10 the average interest rate applicable to ex11 isting borrowings.

12 ‘‘(C) EXEMPTION.—Receipts, proceeds,

13 and recoveries realized by the Secretary under

14 this section, and expenditures of amounts from

15 the Nuclear Waste Fund, shall be exempt from

16 annual apportionment under the provisions of

17 subchapter II of chapter 15 of title 31, United

18 States Code.

19 ‘‘(d) BUDGET.—The Secretary shall submit the budg20 et for implementation of the Secretary’s responsibilities

21 under this Act to the Office of Management and Budget

22 annually along with the budget of the Department of En23 ergy submitted at such time in accordance with chapter

24 11 of title 31, United States Code. The budget shall con25 sist of the estimates made by the Secretary of expendi-
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1 tures under this Act and other relevant financial matters

2 for the succeeding 3 fiscal years, and shall be included

3 in the budget of the United States Government.

4 ‘‘(e) APPROPRIATIONS.—The Secretary may make ex5 penditures from the Nuclear Waste Fund, subject to ap6 propriations, which shall remain available until expended.

7 ‘‘SEC. 402. OFFICE OF CIVILIAN RADIOACTIVE WASTE MAN8 AGEMENT.

9 ‘‘(a) CONTINUATION OF THE OFFICE OF CIVILIAN

10 RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT.—The Office of Ci11 vilian Radioactive Waste Management established under

12 section 304(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982

13 as constituted prior to the date of enactment of the Nu14 clear Waste Policy Act of 1996, shall continue in effect

15 subsequent to the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste

16 Policy Act of 1996.

17 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS OF DIRECTOR.—The Director of the

18 Office shall be responsible for carrying out the functions

19 of the Secretary under this Act, subject to the general su20 pervision of the Secretary. The Director of the Office shall

21 be directly responsible to the Secretary.

22 ‘‘SEC. 403. FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.

23 ‘‘(a) ALLOCATION.—No later than one year from the

24 date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

25 1996, acting pursuant to section 553 of title 5, United
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1 States Code, the Secretary shall issue a final rule estab2 lishing the appropriate portion of the costs of managing

3 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste under

4 this Act allocable to the interim storage or permanent dis5 posal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

6 from atomic energy defense activities and spent nuclear

7 fuel from foreign research reactors. The share of costs al8 locable to the management of spent nuclear fuel and high9 level radioactive waste from atomic energy defense activi10 ties and spent nuclear fuel from foreign research reactors

11 shall include,

12 ‘‘(1) an appropriate portion of the costs associ13 ated with research and development activities with

14 respect to development of an interim storage facility

15 and repository; and

16 ‘‘(2) as appropriate, interest on the principal

17 amounts due calculated by reference to the appro18 priate Treasury bill rate as if the payments were

19 made at a point in time consistent with the payment

20 dates for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio21 active waste under the contracts.

22 ‘‘(b) APPROPRIATION REQUEST.—In addition to any

23 request for an appropriation from the Nuclear Waste

24 Fund, the Secretary shall request annual appropriations

25 from general revenues in amounts sufficient to pay the
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1 costs of the management of spent nuclear fuel and high2 level radioactive waste from atomic energy defense activi3 ties as established under subsection (a).

4 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—In conjunction with the annual report

5 submitted to Congress under Section 702, the Secretary

6 shall advise the Congress annually of the amount of spent

7 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from atomic

8 energy activities requiring management in the integrated

9 management system.

10 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap11 propriated to the Secretary, from general revenues, for

12 carrying out the purposes of this Act, such sums as may

13 be necessary to pay the costs of the management of spent

14 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from atomic

15 energy defense activities as established under subsection

16 (a).

17 SEC. 404. BUDGET PRIORITIES.

18 ‘‘(a) THE SECRETARY.—For purposes of preparing

19 annual requests for appropriations for the integrated man20 agement system and allocating funds among competing re21 quirements, the Secretary shall give funding for the licens22 ing, construction, and operation of the interim storage fa23 cility under section 204 and development of the transpor24 tation capability under sections 201, 202, and 203 the

25 highest priority.
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1 ‘‘(b) THE COMMISSION.—For purposes of preparing

2 annual requests for appropriations from the Nuclear

3 Waste Fund and allocating annual appropriations from

4 the Nuclear Waste Fund among competing requirements,

5 the Commission shall allocate funds in accordance with the

6 following prioritization:

7 ‘‘(1) The issuance of regulations for and the li8 censing of an interim storage facility under section

9 205 and any associated storage and/or transport

10 systems to be used in the integrated management

11 system shall be accorded the highest priority; and

12 ‘‘(2) the licensing of the repository under sec13 tion 206 shall be accorded the next highest priority.

14 ‘‘TITLE V—GENERAL AND

15 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

16 ‘‘SEC. 501. COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER LAWS.

17 ‘‘If the requirements of any law are inconsistent with

18 or duplicative of the requirements of the Atomic Energy

19 Act and this Act, the Secretary shall comply only with the

20 requirements of the Atomic Energy Act and this Act in

21 implementing the integrated management system. Any re22 quirement of a State or political subdivision of a State

23 is preempted if—

24 ‘‘(1) complying with such requirement and a re25 quirement of this Act is impossible; or
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1 ‘‘(2) such requirement, as applied or enforced,

2 is an obstacle to accomplishing or carrying out this

3 Act or a regulation under this Act.

4 ‘‘SEC. 502. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF AGENCY ACTIONS.

5 ‘‘(a) JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES COURTS

6 OF APPEALS.—

7 ‘‘(1) ORIGINAL AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDIC8 TION.—Except for review in the Supreme Court of

9 the United States, and except as otherwise provided

10 in this Act, the United States courts of appeals shall

11 have original and exclusive jurisdiction over any civil

12 action—

13 ‘‘(A) for review of any final decision or ac14 tion of the Secretary, the President, or the

15 Commission under this Act;

16 ‘‘(B) alleging the failure of the Secretary,

17 the President, or the Commission to make any

18 decision, or take any action, required under this

19 Act;

20 ‘‘(C) challenging the constitutionality of

21 any decision made, or action taken, under any

22 provision of this Act; or

23 ‘‘(D) for review of any environmental im24 pact statement prepared or environmental as25 sessment pursuant to the National Environ-
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1 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et

2 seq.) with respect to any action under this Act

3 or alleging a failure to prepare such statement

4 with respect to any such action.

5 ‘‘(2) VENUE.—The venue of any proceeding

6 under this section shall be in the judicial circuit in

7 which the petitioner involved resides or has its prin8 cipal office, or in the United States Court of Appeals

9 for the District of Columbia Circuit.

10 (b) DEADLINE FOR COMMENCING ACTION.—A civil

11 action for judicial review described under subsection (a)(1)

12 may be brought no later than 180 days after the date of

13 the decision or action or failure to act involved, as the

14 case may be, except that if a party shows that he did not

15 know of the decision or action complained of (or of the

16 failure to act), and that a reasonable person acting under

17 the circumstances would not have known, such party may

18 bring a civil action no later than 180 days after the date

19 such party acquired actual or constructive knowledge or

20 such decision, action, or failure to act.

21 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION OF OTHER LAW.—The provisions

22 of this section relating to any matter shall apply in lieu

23 of the provisions of any other Act relating to the same

24 matter.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 503. LICENSING OF FACILITY EXPANSIONS AND

2 TRANSSHIPMENTS.

3 ‘‘(a) ORAL ARGUMENT.—In any Commission hearing

4 under section 189 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42

5 U.S.C. 2239) on an application for a license, or for an

6 amendment to an existing license, filed after January 7,

7 1983, to expand the spent nuclear fuel storage capacity

8 at the site of a civilian nuclear power reactor, through the

9 use of high-density fuel storage racks, fuel rod compac10 tion, the transshipment of spent nuclear fuel to another

11 civilian nuclear power reactor within the same utility sys12 tem, the construction of additional spent nuclear fuel pool

13 capacity or dry storage capacity, or by other means, the

14 Commission shall, at the request of any party, provide an

15 opportunity for oral argument with respect to any matter

16 which the Commission determines to be in controversy

17 among the parties. The oral argument shall be preceded

18 by such discovery procedures as the rules of the Commis19 sion shall provide. The Commission shall require each

20 party, including the Commission staff, to submit in writ21 ten form, at the time of the oral argument, a summary

22 of the facts, data, and arguments upon which such party

23 proposes to rely that are known at such time to such

24 party. Only facts and data in the form of sworn testimony

25 or written submission may be relied upon by the parties

26 during oral argument. Of the materials that may be sub-
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1 mitted by the parties during oral argument, the Commis2 sion shall only consider those facts and data that are sub3 mitted in the form of sworn testimony or written submis4 sion.

5 ‘‘(b) ADJUDICATORY HEARING.—

6 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—At the conclusion of any

7 oral argument under subsection (a), the Commission

8 shall designate any disputed question of fact, to9 gether with any remaining questions of law, for reso10 lution in an adjudicatory hearing only if it deter11 mines that—

12 ‘‘(A) there is a genuine and substantial

13 dispute of fact which can only be resolved with

14 sufficient accuracy by the introduction of evi15 dence in an adjudicatory hearing; and

16 ‘‘(B) the decision of the Commission is

17 likely to depend in whole or in part on the reso18 lution of such dispute.

19 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—In making a deter20 mination under this subsection, the Commission—

21 ‘‘(A) shall designate in writing the specific

22 facts that are in genuine and substantial dis23 pute, the reason why the decision of the agency

24 is likely to depend on the resolution of such
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1 facts, and the reason why an adjudicatory hear2 ing is likely to resolve the dispute; and

3 ‘‘(B) shall not consider—

4 ‘‘(i) any issue relating to the design,

5 construction, or operation of any civilian

6 nuclear power reactor already licensed to

7 operate at such site, or any civilian nuclear

8 power reactor to which a construction per9 mit has been granted at such site, unless

10 the Commission determines that any such

11 issue substantially affects the design, con12 struction, or operation of the facility or ac13 tivity for which such license application,

14 authorization, or amendment is being con15 sidered; or

16 ‘‘(ii) any siting or design issue fully

17 considered and decided by the Commission

18 in connection with the issuance of a con19 struction permit or operating license for a

20 civilian nuclear power reactor at such site;

21 unless

22 ‘‘(I) such issue results from any

23 revision of siting or design criteria by

24 the Commission following such deci25 sion; and
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1 ‘‘(II) the Commission determines

2 that such issue substantially affects

3 the design, construction, or operation

4 of the facility or activity for which

5 such license application, authorization,

6 or amendment is being considered.

7 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—The provisions of para8 graph (2)(B) shall apply only with respect to li9 censes, authorizations, or amendments to licenses or

10 authorizations, applied for under the Atomic Energy

11 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) before Decem12 ber 31, 2005.

13 ‘‘(4) CONSTRUCTION.—The provisions of this

14 section shall not apply to the first application for a

15 license or license amendment received by the Com16 mission to expand onsite spent fuel storage capacity

17 by the use of a new technology not previously ap18 proved for use at any nuclear power plant by the

19 Commission.

20 ‘‘(c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No court shall hold unlaw21 ful or set aside a decision of the Commission in any pro22 ceeding described in subsection (a) because of a failure

23 by the Commission to use a particular procedure pursuant

24 to this section unless—
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1 ‘‘(1) an objection to the procedure used was

2 presented to the Commission in a timely fashion or

3 there are extraordinary circumstances that excuse

4 the failure to present a timely objection; and

5 ‘‘(2) the court finds that such failure has pre6 cluded a fair consideration and informed resolution

7 of a significant issue of the proceeding taken as a

8 whole.

9 ‘‘SEC. 504. SITING A SECOND REPOSITORY.

10 ‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONAL ACTION REQUIRED.—The Sec11 retary may not conduct site-specific activities with respect

12 to a second repository unless Congress has specifically au13 thorized and appropriated funds for such activities.

14 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall report to the

15 President and to Congress on or after January 1, 2007,

16 but not later than January 1, 2010, on the need for a

17 second repository.

18 ‘‘SEC. 505. FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR LOW-LEVEL

19 RADIOACTIVE WASTE SITE CLOSURE.

20 ‘‘(a) FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) STANDARDS AND INSTRUCTIONS.—The

22 Commission shall establish by rule, regulation, or

23 order, after public notice, and in accordance with

24 section 181 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42

25 U.S.C. 2231), such standards and instructions as
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1 the Commission may deem necessary or desirable to

2 ensure in the case of each license for the disposal of

3 low-level radioactive waste that an adequate bond,

4 surety, or other financial arrangement (as deter5 mined by the Commission) will be provided by a li6 censee to permit completion of all requirements es7 tablished by the Commission for the decontamina8 tion, decommissioning, site closure, and reclamation

9 of sites, structures, and equipment used in conjunc10 tion with such low-level radioactive waste. Such fi11 nancial arrangements shall be provided and ap12 proved by the Commission, or, in the case of sites

13 within the boundaries of any agreement State under

14 section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42

15 U.S.C. 2021), by the appropriate State or State en16 tity, prior to issuance of licenses for low-level radio17 active waste disposal or, in the case of licenses in ef18 fect on January 7, 1983, prior to termination of

19 such licenses.

20 ‘‘(2) BONDING, SURETY OR OTHER FINANCIAL

21 ARRANGEMENTS.—If the Commission determines

22 that any long-term maintenance or monitoring, or

23 both, will be necessary at a site described in para24 graph (1), the Commission shall ensure before termi25 nation of the license involved that the licensee has
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1 made available such bonding, surety, or other finan2 cial arrangements as may be necessary to ensure

3 that any necessary long-term maintenance or mon4 itoring needed for such site will be carried out by

5 the person having title and custody for such site fol6 lowing license termination.

7 ‘‘(b) TITLE AND CUSTODY.—

8 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Sec9 retary shall have authority to assume title and cus10 tody of low-level radioactive waste and the land on

11 which such waste is disposed of, upon request of the

12 owner of such waste and land and following termi13 nation of the license issued by the Commission for

14 such disposal, if the Commission determines that—

15 ‘‘(A) the requirements of the Commission

16 for site closure, decommissioning, and decon17 tamination have been met by the licensee in18 volved and that such licensee is in compliance

19 with the provisions of subsection (a);

20 ‘‘(B) such title and custody will be trans21 ferred to the Secretary without cost to the Fed22 eral Government; and

23 ‘‘(C) Federal ownership and management

24 of such site is necessary or desirable in order to
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1 protect the public health and safety, and the

2 environment.

3 ‘‘(2) PROTECTION.—If the Secretary assumes

4 title and custody of any such waste and land under

5 this subsection, the Secretary shall maintain such

6 waste and land in a manner that will protect the

7 public health and safety, and the environment.

8 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL SITES.—If the low-level radioactive

9 waste involved is the result of a licensed activity to recover

10 zirconium, hafnium, and rare earths from source material,

11 the Secretary, upon request of the owner of the site in12 volved, shall assume title and custody of such waste and

13 the land on which it is disposed when such site has been

14 decontaminated and stabilized in accordance with the re15 quirements established by the Commission and when such

16 owner has made adequate financial arrangements ap17 proved by the Commission for the long-term maintenance

18 and monitoring of such site.

19 ‘‘SEC. 506. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION TRAINING

20 AUTHORIZATION.

21 ‘‘The Commission is authorized and directed to pro22 mulgate regulations, or other appropriate regulatory guid23 ance, for the training and qualifications of civilian nuclear

24 power plant operators, supervisors, technicians, and other

25 appropriate operating personnel. Such regulations or guid-
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1 ance shall establish simulator training requirements for

2 applicants for civilian nuclear power plant operator li3 censes and for operator requalification programs; require4 ments governing Commission administration of requali5 fication examinations; requirements for operating tests at

6 civilian nuclear power plant simulators, and instructional

7 requirements for civilian nuclear power plant licensee per8 sonnel training programs.

9 ‘‘SEC. 507. EMPLACEMENT SCHEDULE.

10 ‘‘(a) The emplacement schedule shall be implemented

11 in accordance with the following:

12 ‘‘(1) Emplacement priority ranking shall be de13 termined by the Department’s annual ‘Acceptance

14 Priority Ranking’ report.

15 ‘‘(2) The Secretary’s spent fuel emplacement

16 rate shall be no less than the following: 1,200 MTU

17 in fiscal year 2000 and 1,200 MTU in fiscal year

18 2001; 2,000 MTU in fiscal year 2002 and 2,000

19 MTU in fiscal year 2003; 2,700 MTU in fiscal year

20 2004; and 3,000 MTU annually thereafter.

21 ‘‘(b) If the Secretary is unable to begin emplacement

22 by January 31, 1999 at the rates specified in paragraph

23 (a), or if the cumulative amount emplaced in any year

24 thereafter is less than that which would have been accept25 ed under the emplacement rate specified in paragraph (a),
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1 the Secretary shall, as a mitigation measure, adjust the

2 emplacement schedule upward such that within 5 years

3 of the start of emplacement by the Secretary,

4 ‘‘(1) the total quantity accepted by the Sec5 retary is consistent with the total quantity that the

6 Secretary would have accepted if the Secretary had

7 began emplacement in fiscal year 2000, and

8 ‘‘(2) thereafter the emplacement rate is equiva9 lent to the rate that would be in place pursuant to

10 paragraph (a) above if the Secretary had commenced

11 emplacement in fiscal year 2000.

12 ‘‘SEC. 508. TRANSFER OF TITLE.

13 ‘‘(a) Acceptance by the Secretary of any spent nu14 clear fuel or high-level radioactive waste shall constitute

15 a transfer of title to the Secretary.

16 ‘‘(b) No later than 6 months following the date of

17 enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996, the

18 Secretary is authorized to accept all spent nuclear fuel

19 withdrawn from Dairyland Power Cooperative’s La Crosse

20 Reactor and, upon acceptance, shall provide Dairyland

21 Power Cooperative with evidence of the title transfer. Im22 mediately upon the Secretary’s acceptance of such spent

23 nuclear fuel, the Secretary shall assume all responsibility

24 and liability for the interim storage and permanent dis25 posal thereof and is authorized to compensate Dairyland
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1 Power Cooperative for any costs related to operating and

2 maintaining facilities necessary for such storage from the

3 date of acceptance until DOE removes the spent nuclear

4 fuel from the La Crosse Reactor site.’’

5 ‘‘SEC. 509. DECOMMISSIONING PILOT PROGRAM.

6 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized

7 to establish a Decommissioning Pilot Program to decom8 mission and decontaminate the sodium-cooled fast breeder

9 experimental test-site reactor located in northwest Arkan10 sas.

11 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—No funds from the Nuclear Waste

12 Fund may be used for the Decommissioning Pilot Pro13 gram.

14 ‘‘SEC. 501. WATER RIGHTS.

15 ‘‘(a) NO FEDERAL RESERVATION.—Nothing in this

16 Act or any other Act of Congress shall constitute or be

17 construed to constitute either an express or implied Fed18 eral reservation of water or water rights for any purpose

19 arising under this Act.

20 ‘‘(b) ACQUISITION AND EXERCISE OF WATER

21 RIGHTS UNDER NEVADA LAW.—The United States may

22 acquire and exercise such water rights as it deems nec23 essary to carry out its responsibilities under this Act pur24 suant to the substantive and procedural requirements of

25 the State of Nevada. Nothing in this Act shall be con-
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1 strued to authorize the use of eminent domain by the

2 United States to acquire water rights for such lands.

3 ‘‘(c) EXERCISE OF WATER RIGHTS GENERALLY

4 UNDER NEVADA LAWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be con5 strued to limit the exercise of water rights as provided

6 under Nevada State laws.

7 ‘‘TITLE VI—NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL

8 REVIEW BOARD

9 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS.

10 ‘‘For purposes of this title—

11 ‘‘(1) CHAIRMAN.—The term ‘Chairman’ means

12 the Chairman of the Nuclear Waste Technical Re13 view Board.

14 ‘‘(2) Board.—The term ‘Board’ means the Nu15 clear Waste Technical Review Board continued

16 under section 602.

17 ‘‘SEC. 602. NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD.

18 ‘‘(a) CONTINUATION OF THE NUCLEAR WASTE

19 TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD.—The Nuclear Waste Tech20 nical Review Board, established under section 502(a) of

21 the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 as constituted prior

22 to the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act

23 of 1996, shall continue in effect subsequent to the date

24 of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996.

25 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) NUMBER.—The Board shall consist of 11

2 members who shall be appointed by the President

3 not later than 90 days after December 22, 1987,

4 from among persons nominated by the National

5 Academy of Sciences in accordance with paragraph

6 (3).

7 ‘‘(2) CHAIR.—The President shall designate a

8 member of the Board to serve as Chairman.

9 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—

10 ‘‘(A) NOMINATIONS.—The National Acad11 emy of Sciences shall, not later than 90 days

12 after December 22, 1987, nominate not less

13 than 22 persons for appointment to the Board

14 from among persons who meet the qualifica15 tions described in subparagraph (C).

16 ‘‘(B) VACANCIES.—The National Academy

17 of Sciences shall nominate not less than 2 per18 sons to fill any vacancy on the Board from

19 among persons who meet the qualifications de20 scribed in subparagraph (C).

21 ‘‘(C) NOMINEES.—

22 ‘‘(i) Each persons nominated for ap23 pointment to the Board shall be—
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1 ‘‘(I) eminent in a field of science

2 or engineering, including environ3 mental sciences; and

4 ‘‘(II) selected solely on the basis

5 of established records of distinguished

6 service.

7 ‘‘(ii) The membership of the Board

8 shall be representatives of the broad range

9 of scientific and engineering disciplines re10 lated to activities under this title.

11 ‘‘(iii) No person shall be nominated

12 for appointment to the Board who is an

13 employee of—

14 ‘‘(I) the Department of Energy;

15 ‘‘(II) a national laboratory under

16 contract with the Department of En17 ergy; or

18 ‘‘(III) an entity performing spent

19 nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive

20 waste activities under contract with

21 the Department of Energy.

22 ‘‘(4) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy on the Board

23 shall be filled by the nomination and appointment

24 process described in paragraphs (1) and (3).
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1 ‘‘(5) TERMS.—Members of the Board shall be

2 appointed for terms of 4 years, each such term to

3 commence 120 days after December 22, 1987, ex4 cept that of the 11 members first appointed to the

5 Board, 5 shall serve for 2 years and 6 shall serve

6 for 4 years, to be designated by the President at the

7 time of appointment, except that a member of the

8 Board whose term has expired may continue to serve

9 as a member of the Board until such member’s suc10 cessor has taken office.

11 ‘‘SEC. 603. FUNCTIONS.

12 ‘‘The Board shall limit its evaluations to the technical

13 and scientific validity solely of the following activities un14 dertaken directly by the Secretary after December 22,

15 1987—

16 ‘‘(1) site characterization activities; and

17 ‘‘(2) activities of the Secretary relating to the

18 packaging or transportation of spent nuclear fuel or

19 high-level radioactive waste.

20 ‘‘SEC. 604. INVESTIGATORY POWERS.

21 ‘‘(a) HEARINGS.—Upon request of the Chairman or

22 a majority of the members of the Board, the Board may

23 hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places,

24 take such testimony, and receive such evidence, as the

25 Board considers appropriate. Any member of the Board
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1 may administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses appear2 ing before the Board. The Secretary or the Secretary’s

3 designee or designees shall not be required to appear be4 fore the Board or any element of the Board for more than

5 twelve working days per calendar year.

6 ‘‘(b) PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS.—

7 ‘‘(1) RESPONSE TO INQUIRES.—Upon the re8 quest of the Chairman or a majority of the members

9 of the Board, and subject to existing law, the Sec10 retary (or any contractor of the Secretary) shall pro11 vide the Board with such record, files, papers, data,

12 or information that is generally available to the pub13 lic as may be necessary to respond to any inquiry of

14 the Board under this title.

15 ‘‘(2) EXTENT.—Subject to existing law, infor16 mation obtainable under paragraph (1) shall be lim17 ited to final work products of the secretary, but may

18 include drafts of such products and documentation

19 of work in progress.

20 ‘‘SEC. 605. COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Board shall

22 be paid at the rate of pay payable for level III of the Exec23 utive Schedule for each day (including travel time) such

24 member is engaged in the work of the Board.
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1 ‘‘(b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the

2 Board may receive travel expenses, including per diem in

3 lieu of subsidence, in the same manner as is permitted

4 under sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States

5 Code.

6 ‘‘SEC. 606. STAFF.

7 ‘‘(a) CLERICAL STAFF.—

8 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF CHAIRMAN.—Subject to

9 paragraph (2), the Chairman may appoint and fix

10 the compensation of such clerical staff as may be

11 necessary to discharge the responsibilities of the

12 Board.

13 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONS OF TITLE 5.—Clerical staff

14 shall be appointed subject to the provisions of title

15 5, United States Code, governing appointments in

16 the competitive service, and shall be paid in accord17 ance with the provisions of chapter 51 and sub18 chapter III of chapter 3 of such title relating to clas19 sification and General Schedule pay rates.

20 ‘‘(b) PROFESSIONAL STAFF.—

21 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF CHAIRMAN.—Subject to

22 paragraphs (2) and (3), the Chairman may appoint

23 and fix the compensation of such professional staff

24 as may be necessary to discharge the responsibilities

25 of the Board.
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1 ‘‘(2) NUMBER.—Not more than 10 professional

2 staff members may be appointed under this sub3 section.

4 ‘‘(3) TITLE 5.—Professional staff members may

5 be appointed without regard to the provisions of title

6 5, United States Code, governing appointments in

7 the competitive service, and may be paid without re8 gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter

9 III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classifica10 tion and General Schedule pay rates, except that no

11 individual so appointed may receive pay in excess of

12 the annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–18 of

13 the General Schedule.

14 ‘‘SEC. 607. SUPPORT SERVICES.

15 ‘‘(a) GENERAL SERVICES.—To the extent permitted

16 by law and requested by the Chairman, the Administrator

17 of General Services shall provide the Board with necessary

18 administrative services, facilities, and support on a reim19 bursable basis.

20 ‘‘(b) ACCOUNTING, RESEARCH, AND TECHNOLOGY

21 ASSESSMENT SERVICES.—The Comptroller General, the

22 Librarian of Congress, and the Director of the Office of

23 Technology Assessment shall, to the extent permitted by

24 law and subject to the availability of funds, provide the

25 Board with such facilities, support, funds and services, in-
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1 cluding staff, as may be necessary for the effective per2 formance of the functions of the Board.

3 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.—Upon the request of

4 the Chairman, the Board may secure directly from the

5 head of any department or agency of the United States

6 information necessary to enable it to carry out this title.

7 ‘‘(d) MAILS.—The Board may use the United States

8 mails in the same manner and under the same conditions

9 as other departments and agencies of the United States.

10 ‘‘(e) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—Subject to such

11 rules as may be prescribed by the Board, the Chairman

12 may procure temporary and intermittent services under

13 section 3109(b) of title 5 of the United States Code, but

14 at rates for individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent

15 of the maximum annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–

16 18 of the General Schedule.

17 ‘‘SEC. 608. REPORT.

18 ‘‘The Board shall report not less than two times per

19 year to Congress and the Secretary its findings, conclu20 sions, and recommendations.

21 ‘‘SEC. 609. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for expendi23 tures such sums as may be necessary to carry out the pro24 visions of this title.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 610. TERMINATION OF THE BOARD.

2 ‘‘The Board shall cease to exist not later than one

3 year after the date on which the Secretary begins disposal

4 of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste in the

5 repository.

6 ‘‘TITLE VII—MANAGEMENT REFORM

7 ‘‘SEC. 701. MANAGEMENT REFORM INITIATIVES.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is directed to take

9 actions as necessary to improve the management of the

10 civilian radioactive waste management program to ensure

11 that the program is operated, to the maximum extent

12 practicable, in like manner as a private business. Notwith13 standing any other provision of law, the civilian radio14 active waste management program is not subject to laws

15 or regulations concerning the civil service as described in

16 this title.

17 ‘‘(b) OFFICE OF CIVILIAN RADIOACTIVE WASTE

18 MANAGEMENT EMPLOYEES.—

19 ‘‘(1) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary shall,

20 without regard to section 5301 of title 5, United

21 States Code, fix the compensation of the Director

22 and the Deputy Director of Office of Civilian Radio23 active Waste Management. The Director shall, with24 out regard to section 5301 of title 5, United States

25 Code, fix the compensation for all other Federal em26 ployees assigned to the Office of Civilian Radioactive
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1 Waste Management, define their duties, and provide

2 for a system of organization to fix responsibility and

3 promote efficiency. The Deputy Director may be re4 moved at the Director’s discretion without regard to

5 any laws, rules, or regulations concerning personnel

6 actions in the Civil Service System or Senior Execu7 tive Service. Any other Federal employee assigned to

8 the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Manage9 ment may be removed at the discretion of the Sec10 retary or Director without regard to any laws, rules,

11 or regulations concerning personnel actions in the

12 Civil Service System or Senior Executive Service.

13 The Secretary shall ensure that Federal employees

14 assigned to the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste

15 Management are appointed, promoted, and assigned

16 on the basis of merit and fitness. Other personnel

17 actions shall be consistent with the principles of fair18 ness and due process specified in title 5 of the Unit19 ed States Code, but without regard to those provi20 sions of said title governing appointments and other

21 personnel actions in the competitive service.

22 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—The provisions of para23 graph (1) shall not apply to Federal employees who

24 may be, from time to time, temporarily assigned to

25 the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Manage-
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1 ment. The use of temporary assignment of Federal

2 employees to the Office of Civilian Radioactive

3 Waste Management shall not be used in any manner

4 to circumvent the full application of the provisions

5 in paragraph (1).

6 ‘‘(3) TRANSITION.—The Secretary shall transi7 tion the Federal employees assigned to the Office of

8 Civilian Radioactive Waste Management to the pro9 visions of this section in an orderly manner allowing

10 for the development of the needed procedures. Under

11 no circumstances shall this transition take longer

12 than 6 months from the date of enactment of this

13 Section.

14 ‘‘(4) RETENTION OF BENEFITS.—Federal em15 ployees assigned to the Office of Civilian Radioactive

16 Waste Management and transitioned to the provi17 sions of this section shall retain employment benefits

18 in effect immediately prior to the transition date.

19 Transitioned employees will continue in the Civil

20 Service System’s retirement system.

21 ‘‘(c) AUDITS.—

22 ‘‘(1) STANDARD.—The Office of Civilian Radio23 active Waste Management, its contractors, and sub24 contractors at all tiers, shall conduct, or have con25 ducted, audits and examinations of their operations
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1 in accordance with the usual and customary prac2 tices of private corporations engaged in large nuclear

3 construction projects consistent with its role in the

4 program.

5 ‘‘(2) TIME.—The management practices and

6 performances of the Office of Civilian Radioactive

7 Waste Management shall be audited every 5 years

8 by an independent management consulting firm with

9 significant experience in similar audits of private

10 corporation engaged in large nuclear construction

11 projects. The first such audit shall be conducted 5

12 years after the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Pol13 icy Act of 1995.

14 ‘‘(3) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The Comptrol15 ler General of the United States shall annually make

16 an audit of the Office, in accordance with such regu17 lations as the Comptroller General may prescribe.

18 The Comptroller General shall have access to such

19 books, records, accounts, and other materials of the

20 Office as the Comptroller General determines to be

21 necessary for the preparation of such audit. The

22 Comptroller General shall submit to the Congress a

23 report on the results of each audit conducted under

24 this section.
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1 ‘‘(4) TIME.—No audit contemplated by this

2 subsection shall take longer than 30 days to con3 duct. An audit report shall be issued in final form

4 no longer than 60 days after the audit is com5 menced.

6 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.—All audit reports

7 shall be public documents and available to any indi8 vidual upon request.

9 ‘‘(d) VALUE ENGINEERING.—The Secretary shall

10 create a value engineering function within the Office of

11 Civilian Radioactive Waste Management that reports di12 rectly to the Director, which shall carry out value engi13 neering functions in accordance with the usual and cus14 tomary practices of private corporations engaged in large

15 nuclear construction projects.

16 ‘‘(g) SITE CHARACTERIZATION.—The Secretary shall

17 employ, on an on-going basis, integrated performance

18 modeling to identify appropriate parameters for the re19 maining site characterization effort and to eliminate stud20 ies of parameters that are shown not to affect long-term

21 repository performance.

22 ‘‘SEC. 702. REPORTING.

23 ‘‘(a) INITIAL REPORT.—Within 180 days of enact24 ment of this section, the Secretary shall report to Con25 gress on its planned actions for implementing the provi-
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1 sions of this Act, including the development of the Inte2 grated Waste Management System. Such report shall in3 clude—

4 ‘‘(1) an analysis of the Secretary’s progress in

5 meeting its statutory and contractual obligation to

6 accept title to, possession of, and delivery of spent

7 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste begin8 ning no later than January 31, 1998, and in accord9 ance with the acceptance schedule;

10 ‘‘(2) a detailed schedule and timeline showing

11 each action that the Secretary intends to take to

12 meet the Secretary’s obligation under this Act and

13 the contracts;

14 ‘‘(3) a detailed description of the Secretary’s

15 contingency plans in the event that the Secretary is

16 unable to meet the planned schedule and timeline;

17 and

18 ‘‘(4) an analysis by the Secretary of its funding

19 needs for fiscal years 1996 through 2001.

20 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORTS.—On each anniversary of the

21 submittal of the report required by subsection (a), the Sec22 retary shall make annual reports to the Congress for the

23 purpose of updating the information contained in such re24 port. The annul reports shall be brief and shall notify the

25 Congress of:
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1 ‘‘(1) any modifications to the Secretary’s sched2 ule and timeline for meeting its obligations under

3 this Act;

4 ‘‘(2) the reasons for such modifications, and the

5 status of the implementation of any of the Sec6 retary’s contingency plans; and

7 ‘‘(3) the Secretary’s analysis of its funding

8 needs for the ensuring 5 fiscal years.’’.