II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1903 

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

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 2, 2017 

Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To assist communities affected by stranded nuclear waste, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 for America’s Nuclear Districts’ Economic Development 

6 Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘STRANDED Act of 2017’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 

9 (1) in 1982, Congress authorized the Secretary 

10 of Energy and the Chairman of the Nuclear ReguVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Oct 03, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1903.IS S1903

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1903 IS

1 latory Commission to safely manage and dispose of 

2 the most highly radioactive nuclear waste of the 

3 United States, a responsibility that includes— 

4 (A) removing spent nuclear fuel from com5 mercial nuclear power plants for a fee; and 

6 (B) transporting the spent fuel to— 

7 (i) a permanent geological repository; 

8 or 

9 (ii) an interim storage facility before 

10 permanent disposal; 

11 (2) for more than 30 years, nuclear power 

12 plants have operated in good faith that the Federal 

13 Government would establish a permanent geological 

14 repository; 

15 (3) communities throughout the United States, 

16 including communities in the States of California, 

17 Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, 

18 Michigan, New York, Vermont, and Wisconsin, are 

19 tasked with dealing with stranded nuclear waste; 

20 (4) communities affected by stranded nuclear 

21 waste are in fact interim nuclear waste storage sites; 

22 (5) the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 

23 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.)— 

24 (A) directed the Secretary to make annual 

25 impact assistance payments to States or approVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Oct 03, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1903.IS S1903

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1903 IS

1 priate units of local government to mitigate the 

2 social and economic impacts of the establish3 ment and operation of interim nuclear waste 

4 storage capacity within the jurisdictional bound5 aries of an affected community; and 

6 (B) established the rate for impact assist7 ance payments at $15 per kilogram of spent 

8 nuclear fuel; 

9 (6) decommissioning a commercial nuclear 

10 power plant is often catastrophic for the host com11 munity because nuclear power plants are major em12 ployers and the primary source of local tax revenue; 

13 (7) stranded nuclear waste is a profound obsta14 cle to future economic growth, deterring potential 

15 employers and residents from considering the host 

16 community; 

17 (8) stranded nuclear waste prevents economic 

18 development in communities in which the stranded 

19 nuclear waste is located; and 

20 (9) it is critical to provide resources to commu21 nities that— 

22 (A) are challenged by stranded nuclear 

23 waste; or 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1903 IS

1 (B) will be challenged by stranded nuclear 

2 waste during the 10-year period beginning on 

3 the date of enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

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

7 the National Academy of Sciences. 

8 (2) AFFECTED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘af9 fected community’’ means a municipality that con10 tains stranded nuclear waste within the boundaries 

11 of the municipality, as determined by the Secretary. 

12 (3) ELIGIBLE CIVILIAN NUCLEAR POWER

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

14 plant’’ means a nuclear power plant that— 

15 (A) has been decommissioned; or 

16 (B) is in the process of being decommis17 sioned. 

18 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Energy. 

20 (5) STRANDED NUCLEAR WASTE.—The term 

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

22 spent nuclear fuel stored in dry casks or spent fuel 

23 pools at a decommissioned or decommissioning nu24 clear facility. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1903 IS

1 SEC. 4. INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS STUDY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter 

4 into an arrangement under which the Academy, in collabo5 ration with the National Laboratories (as the term is de6 fined in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

7 U.S.C. 15801)), shall conduct a study to determine wheth8 er opportunities exist for affected communities to consider 

9 alternatives to nuclear facilities, generating sites, and 

10 waste sites. 

11 (b) COMPLETION.—The Secretary shall ensure that, 

12 not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

13 Act, the Academy— 

14 (1) completes the study described in subsection 

15 (a); and 

16 (2) submits to the appropriate Committees of 

17 Congress a report describing findings and rec18 ommendations based on the study. 

19 SEC. 5. STRANDED NUCLEAR WASTE TASK FORCE. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 a task force, to be known as the ‘‘Stranded Nuclear Waste 

22 Task Force’’— 

23 (1) to conduct a study on existing public and 

24 private resources and funding for which affected 

25 communities may be eligible; and 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1903 IS

1 (2) to develop immediate and long-term eco2 nomic adjustment plans tailored to the needs of each 

3 affected community. 

4 (b) STUDY.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the Stranded Nuclear Waste 

6 Task Force shall complete and submit to Congress the 

7 study described in subsection (a). 

8 SEC. 6. ECONOMIC IMPACT GRANTS. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es11 tablish and carry out a noncompetitive grant program to 

12 provide financial assistance to units of local government 

13 within the jurisdictional boundary of which an eligible ci14 vilian nuclear power plant is located to offset the economic 

15 and social impacts of stranded nuclear waste in affected 

16 communities. 

17 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A unit of local government that is 

18 an affected community shall be eligible to receive a grant 

19 under this section for a fiscal year. 

20 (c) AWARDS.— 

21 (1) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant awarded 

22 under subsection (a) shall be equal to $15 for each 

23 kilogram of spent nuclear fuel stored at the eligible 

24 civilian nuclear power plant in the affected commu25 nity. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1903 IS

1 (2) NUMBER AND FREQUENCY.—With respect 

2 to each eligible civilian nuclear power plant, the Sec3 retary may only award 1 grant under subsection (a) 

4 to each eligible unit of local government for each fis5 cal year. 

6 SEC. 7. TAX INCENTIVES FOR AFFECTED COMMUNITIES. 

7 (a) NEW MARKETS TAX CREDIT.—Section 45D of 

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting ‘‘or 

10 qualified nuclear affected community investments’’ 

11 before the comma; 

12 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting ‘‘or quali13 fied nuclear affected community investments’’ before 

14 the period; 

15 (3) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘for,’’ 

16 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘for— 

17 ‘‘(i) low-income communities or low18 income persons, or 

19 ‘‘(ii) nuclear affected communities or 

20 individuals residing in nuclear affected 

21 communities,’’; 

22 (4) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by inserting ‘‘or nu23 clear affected communities, whichever is applicable,’’ 

24 after ‘‘low-income communities’’; 

25 (5) in subsection (d)— 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1903 IS

1 (A) by striking ‘‘LOW-INCOME COMMU2 NITY’’ in the heading; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘IN GENERAL’’ in the 

4 heading of paragraph (1) and inserting 

5 ‘‘QUALIFIED LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY INVEST6 MENT’’; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED NUCLEAR AFFECTED COMMU10 NITY INVESTMENT.—The term ‘qualified nuclear af11 fected community investment’ means any invest12 ment, loan, loan purchase, or service which would be 

13 a qualified low-income community investment if 

14 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) were applied by sub15 stituting ‘nuclear affected community’ and ‘nuclear 

16 affected communities’ for ‘low-income community’ 

17 and ‘low-income communities’, respectively, each 

18 place they appear.’’; 

19 (6) in subsection (e)— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘AND NUCLEAR AF21 FECTED COMMUNITY’’ after ‘‘COMMUNITY’’ in 

22 the heading; 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘IN GENERAL’’ in the 

24 heading of paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘LOW25 INCOME COMMUNITY’’; 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1903 IS

1 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘In’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (1), in’’; 

3 and 

4 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

5 paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(6) NUCLEAR AFFECTED COMMUNITY.—The 

7 term ‘nuclear affected community’ means an af8 fected community as defined in section 3(2) of the 

9 STRANDED Act of 2017 and any other munici10 pality which borders on a municipality where a com11 mercial nuclear power plant which has been decom12 missioned or is in the process of being decommis13 sioned is located.’’; and 

14 (7) in subsection (f)(2)(B), by inserting ‘‘or 

15 qualified nuclear affected community investments’’ 

16 after ‘‘qualified low-income community investments’’. 

17 (b) FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER CREDIT.— 

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

19 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘FOR NUCLEAR AF21 FECTED COMMUNITIES’’ after ‘‘CREDIT’’ in 

22 the heading; 

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

24 United States’’ and inserting ‘‘in a nuclear af25 fected community’’; 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1903 IS

1 (C) in subsection (b), by striking para2 graphs (2) and (3) and redesignating paragraph 

3 (4) as paragraph (2); 

4 (D) in subsection (c), by striking para5 graph (4) and by inserting after paragraph (3) 

6 the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(4) NUCLEAR AFFECTED COMMUNITY.—The 

8 term ‘nuclear affected community’ means an af9 fected community, as defined in section 3(2) of the 

10 STRANDED Act of 2017.’’; and 

11 (E) by striking subsections (f), (g), and 

12 (h). 

13 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec14 tions for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of 

15 chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the 

16 item relating to section 36 and inserting the fol17 lowing new item: 

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

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

19 (1) NEW MARKETS TAX CREDIT.—The amend20 ments made by subsection (a) shall apply to alloca21 tions of credits under section 45D of the Internal 

22 Revenue Code of 1986 in calendar years beginning 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

24 (2) FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER CREDIT.—The 

25 amendments made by subsection (b) shall apply to 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 1903 IS

1 the purchase of a principal residence after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro5 priated to carry out this Act $94,000,000 for each of fiscal 

6 years 2018 through 2024. 

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

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

9 any other Federal program. 

Æ 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS