II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 104

To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21, 1997

Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. KEMPTHORNE,

Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. HELMS, Mr. THURMOND, Mr. KYL, Mr. HOLLINGS,

Mr. MACK, Mr. FAIRCLOTH, Mr. HATCH, Mr. WARNER, Mr. BOND, Mr.

SMITH of New Hampshire, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. LOTT,

and Mr. JEFFORDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

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 1997’.

8 ‘‘(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

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

‘‘Sec. 2. Definitions.
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‘‘TITLE I—OBLIGATIONS

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

‘‘TITLE II—INTEGRATED 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.

‘‘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.

‘‘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.

‘‘TITLE VII—MANAGEMENT REFORM

‘‘Sec. 701. Management reform initiatives.

‘‘Sec. 702. Reporting.

‘‘Sec. 703. Effective date.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 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 an in16 terim storage facility or a repository if the Sec17 retary of the Interior finds, upon the petition of

18 the appropriate governmental officials of the

19 tribe, that such effects are both substantial and

20 adverse to the tribe.

21 ‘‘(3) AFFECTED UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERN22 MENT.—The term ‘affected unit of local government’

23 means the unit of local government with jurisdiction
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1 over the site of a repository or interim storage facil2 ity. Such term may, at the discretion of the Sec3 retary, include other units of local government that

4 are contiguous with such unit.

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

6 The term ‘atomic energy defense activity’ means any

7 activity of the Secretary performed in whole or in

8 part in carrying out any of the following functions:

9 ‘‘(A) Naval reactors development.

10 ‘‘(B) Weapons activities including defense

11 inertial confinement fusion.

12 ‘‘(C) Verification and control technology.

13 ‘‘(D) Defense nuclear materials produc14 tion.

15 ‘‘(E) Defense nuclear waste and materials

16 byproducts management.

17 ‘‘(F) Defense nuclear materials security

18 and safeguards and security investigations.

19 ‘‘(G) Defense research and development.

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

21 The term ‘civilian nuclear power reactor’ means a ci22 vilian nuclear power plant required to be licensed

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

24 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2133, 2134(b)).
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1 ‘‘(6) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’

2 means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

3 ‘‘(7) CONTRACTS.—The term ‘contracts’ means

4 the contracts, executed prior to the date of enact5 ment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997,

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

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

8 generates or holds title to spent nuclear fuel or high9 level radioactive waste of domestic origin for accept10 ance of such waste or fuel by the Secretary and the

11 payment of fees to offset the Secretary’s expendi12 tures, and any subsequent contracts executed by the

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

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

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

16 contracts.

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

18 means the Department of Energy.

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

20 the emplacement in a repository of spent nuclear

21 fuel, high-level radioactive waste, or other highly ra22 dioactive material with no foreseeable intent of re23 covery, whether or not such emplacement permits re24 covery of such material for any future purpose.
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1 ‘‘(11) DISPOSAL SYSTEM.—The term ‘disposal

2 system’ means all natural barriers and engineered

3 barriers, and engineered systems and components,

4 that prevent the release of radionuclides from the re5 pository.

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

7 ‘emplacement schedule’ means the schedule estab8 lished by the Secretary in accordance with section

9 507(a) for emplacement of spent nuclear fuel and

10 high-level radioactive waste at the interim storage

11 facility.

12 ‘‘(13) ENGINEERED BARRIERS AND ENGI13 NEERED SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS.—The terms

14 ‘engineered barriers’ and ‘engineered systems and

15 components,’ mean man-made components of a dis16 posal system. These terms include the spent nuclear

17 fuel or high-level radioactive waste form, spent nu18 clear fuel package or high-level radioactive waste

19 package, and other materials placed over and around

20 such packages.

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

22 term ‘high-level radioactive waste’ means—

23 ‘‘(A) the highly radioactive material result24 ing from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel,
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1 including liquid waste produced directly in re2 processing and any solid material derived from

3 such liquid waste that contains fission products

4 in sufficient concentrations; and

5 ‘‘(B) other highly radioactive material that

6 the Commission, consistent with existing law,

7 determines by rule requires permanent isola8 tion, which includes any low-level radioactive

9 waste with concentrations of radionuclides that

10 exceed the limits established by the Commission

11 for class C radioactive waste, as defined by sec12 tion 61.55 of title 10, Code of Federal Regula13 tions, as in effect on January 26, 1983.

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

15 agency’ means any Executive agency, as defined in

16 section 105 of title 5, United States Code.

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

18 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga19 nized group or community of Indians recognized as

20 eligible for the services provided to Indians by the

21 Secretary of the Interior because of their status as

22 Indians including any Alaska Native village, as de23 fined in section 3(c) of the Alaska Native Claims

24 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(c)).
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1 ‘‘(17) INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.—

2 The term ‘integrated management system’ means

3 the system developed by the Secretary for the ac4 ceptance, transportation, storage, and disposal of

5 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

6 under title II of this Act.

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

8 ‘interim storage facility’ means a facility designed

9 and constructed for the receipt, handling, possession,

10 safeguarding, and storage of spent nuclear fuel and

11 high-level radioactive waste in accordance with title

12 II of this Act.

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

14 term ‘interim storage facility site’ means the specific

15 site within Area 25 of the Nevada Test Site that is

16 designated by the Secretary and withdrawn and re17 served in accordance with this Act for the location

18 of the interim storage facility.

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

20 term ‘low-level radioactive waste’ means radioactive

21 material that—

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

23 radioactive waste, transuranic waste, or byprod24 uct material as defined in section 11 e. (2) of the
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1 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.

2 2014(e). (2)); and

3 ‘‘(B) the Commission, consistent with ex4 isting law, classifies as low-level radioactive

5 waste.

6 ‘‘(21) METRIC TONS URANIUM.—The terms

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

8 of uranium in the original unirradiated fuel element

9 whether or not the spent nuclear fuel has been re10 processed.

11 ‘‘(22) NUCLEAR WASTE FUND.—The terms

12 ‘Nuclear Waste Fund’ and ‘waste fund’ mean the

13 nuclear waste fund established in the United States

14 Treasury prior to the date of enactment of this Act

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

16 Act of 1982.

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

18 Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management es19 tablished within the Department prior to the date of

20 enactment of this Act under the provisions of the

21 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

22 ‘‘(24) PROGRAM APPROACH.—The term ‘pro23 gram approach’ means the Civilian Radioactive

24 Waste Management Program Plan, dated May 6,

25 1996, as modified by this Act, and as amended from
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1 time to time by the Secretary in accordance with

2 this Act.

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

4 means a system designed and constructed under title

5 II of this Act for the geologic disposal of spent nu6 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, including

7 both surface and subsurface areas at which spent

8 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste receipt,

9 handling, possession, safeguarding, and storage are

10 conducted.

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

12 means the Secretary of Energy.

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

14 ‘site characterization’ means activities, whether in a

15 laboratory or in the field, undertaken to establish

16 the geologic condition and the ranges of the param17 eters of a candidate site relevant to the location of

18 a repository, including borings, surface excavations,

19 excavations of exploratory facilities, limited sub20 surface lateral excavations and borings, and in situ

21 testing needed to evaluate the licensability of a can22 didate site for the location of a repository, but not

23 including preliminary borings and geophysical test24 ing needed to assess whether site characterization

25 should be undertaken.
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1 ‘‘(28) SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL.—The term

2 ‘spent nuclear fuel’ means fuel that has been with3 drawn from a nuclear reactor following irradiation,

4 the constituent elements of which have not been sep5 arated by reprocessing.

6 ‘‘(29) STORAGE.—The term ‘storage’ means re7 tention of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive

8 waste with the intent to recover such waste or fuel

9 for subsequent use, processing, or disposal.

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

11 has the same definition as that set forth in section

12 103(j) of the Federal Land Policy and Management

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

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

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

16 of Nevada that is withdrawn and reserved in accord17 ance with this Act for the location of a repository.

18 ‘‘TITLE I—OBLIGATIONS

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

20 ‘‘(a) DISPOSAL.—The Secretary shall develop and op21 erate an integrated management system for the storage

22 and permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high23 level radioactive waste.

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

25 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from
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1 facilities designated by contract holders at an interim stor2 age facility pursuant to section 204 in accordance with

3 the emplacement schedule, beginning not later than No4 vember 30, 1999.

5 ‘‘(c) TRANSPORTATION.—The Secretary shall provide

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

7 radioactive waste accepted by the Secretary. The Sec8 retary shall procure all systems and components necessary

9 to transport spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

10 waste from facilities designated by contract holders to and

11 among facilities comprising the Integrated Management

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

13 10a–10c), unless the Secretary shall determine it to be

14 inconsistent with the public interest, or the cost to be un15 reasonable, all such systems and components procured by

16 the Secretary shall be manufactured in the United States,

17 with the exception of any transportable storage systems

18 purchased by contract holders prior to the effective date

19 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997 and procured

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

21 integrated management system.

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

23 Secretary shall expeditiously pursue the development of

24 each component of the integrated management system,
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1 and in so doing shall seek to utilize effective private sector

2 management and contracting practices.

3 ‘‘(e) PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION.—In admin4 istering the Integrated Management System, the Sec5 retary shall, to the maximum extent possible, utilize, em6 ploy, procure and contract with, the private sector to fulfill

7 the Secretary’s obligations and requirements under this

8 Act.

9 ‘‘(f) PREEXISTING RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act is

10 intended to or shall be construed to modify—

11 ‘‘(1) any right of a contract holder under sec12 tion 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

13 1982, or under a contract executed prior to the date

14 of enactment of this Act under that section; or

15 ‘‘(2) obligations imposed upon the Federal Gov16 ernment by the United States District Court of

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

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

19 ‘‘(g) LIABILITY.—Subject to subsection (f), nothing

20 in this Act shall be construed to subject the United States

21 to financial liability for the Secretary’s failure to meet any

22 deadline for the acceptance or emplacement of spent nu23 clear fuel or high-level radioactive waste for storage or dis24 posal under this Act.
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1 ‘‘TITLE II—INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT

2 SYSTEM

3 SEC. 201. INTERMODAL TRANSFER.

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

5 truck transport to move spent nuclear fuel and high-level

6 radioactive waste from the mainline rail line at Caliente,

7 Nevada, to the interim storage facility site.

8 ‘‘(b) CAPABILITY DATE.—The Secretary shall de9 velop the capability to commence rail to truck intermodal

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

11 1999. Intermodal transfer and related activities are inci12 dental to the interstate transportation of spent nuclear

13 fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

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

15 lands and rights-of-way necessary to commence intermodal

16 transfer at Caliente, Nevada.

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

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

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

20 Lincoln County, Nevada, as required to facilitate replace21 ment of land and city wastewater disposal facilities nec22 essary to commence intermodal transfer pursuant to this

23 Act. Replacement of land and city wastewater disposal ac24 tivities shall occur no later than November 30, 1999.
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1 ‘‘(e) NOTICE AND MAP.—Within 6 months of the

2 date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

3 1997, the Secretary shall—

4 ‘‘(1) publish in the Federal Register a notice

5 containing a legal description of the sites and rights6 of-way to be acquired under this subsection; and

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

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

9 Interior, the State of Nevada, the Archivist of the

10 United States, the Board of Lincoln County Com11 missioners, the Board of Nye County Commis12 sioners, and the Caliente City Council.

13 Such map and legal description shall have the same force

14 and effect as if they were included in this Act. The Sec15 retary may correct clerical and typographical errors and

16 legal descriptions and make minor adjustments in the

17 boundaries.

18 ‘‘(f) IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary shall make im19 provements to existing roadways selected for heavy-haul

20 truck transport between Caliente, Nevada, and the interim

21 storage facility site as necessary to facilitate year-round

22 safe transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio23 active waste.
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1 ‘‘(g) LOCAL GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT.—The

2 Commission shall enter into a Memorandum of Under3 standing with the City of Caliente and Lincoln County,

4 Nevada, to provide advice to the Commission regarding

5 intermodal transfer and to facilitate on-site representa6 tion. Reasonable expenses of such representation shall be

7 paid by the Secretary.

8 ‘‘(h) BENEFITS AGREEMENT.—

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

10 enter into an agreement with the City of Caliente

11 and Lincoln County, Nevada concerning the inte12 grated management system.

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

14 shall contain such terms and conditions, including

15 such financial and institutional arrangements, as the

16 Secretary and agreement entity determine to be rea17 sonable and appropriate and shall contain such pro18 visions as are necessary to preserve any right to par19 ticipation or compensation of the City of Caliente

20 and Lincoln County, Nevada.

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

22 under this subsection may be amended only with the

23 mutual consent of the parties to the amendment and

24 terminated only in accordance with paragraph (4).
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1 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall ter2 minate the agreement under this subsection if any

3 major element of the integrated management system

4 may not be completed.

5 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—Only 1 agreement may be

6 in effect at any one time.

7 ‘‘(6) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Decisions of the Sec8 retary under this section are not subject to judicial

9 review.

10 ‘‘(i) CONTENT OF AGREEMENT.—

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

12 which the City of Caliente and Lincoln County are

13 entitled to under this title, the Secretary shall make

14 payments under the benefits agreement in accord15 ance with the following 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

16 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec17 tion, the term—

18 ‘‘(A) ‘spent fuel’ means high-level radio19 active waste or spent nuclear fuel; and
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1 ‘‘(B) ‘first spent fuel receipt’ does not in2 clude receipt of spent fuel or high-level radio3 active waste for purposes of testing or oper4 ational demonstration.

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

6 prior to first spent fuel receipt under paragraph

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

8 benefits agreement and thereafter on the anniver9 sary date of such execution. Annual payments after

10 the first spent fuel receipt until closure of the facil11 ity under paragraph (1)(C) shall be made on the an12 niversary date of such first spent fuel receipt.

13 ‘‘(4) REDUCTION.—If the first spent fuel pay14 ment under paragraph (1)(B) is made within 6

15 months after the last annual payment prior to the

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

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

shall be reduced by an amount equal to 1 18 ⁄12 of such

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

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

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

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

23 restrict the purposes for which the payments under

24 this section may be used.
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1 ‘‘(6) DISPUTE.—In the event of a dispute con2 cerning such agreement, the Secretary shall resolve

3 such dispute, consistent with this Act and applicable

4 State law.

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

6 Secretary on a valid benefits agreement under this

7 section shall constitute a commitment by the United

8 States to make payments in accordance with such

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

10 ‘‘(j) INITIAL LAND CONVEYANCES.

11 ‘‘(1) CONVEYANCES OF PUBLIC LANDS.—One

12 hundred and twenty days after enactment of this

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

14 in the property described in paragraph (2), and im15 provements thereon, together with all necessary

16 easements for utilities and ingress and egress to

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

18 right to improve those easements, are conveyed by

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

20 unless the county notifies the Secretary of Interior

21 or the head of such other appropriate agency in

22 writing within 60 days of such date of enactment

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

24 the property, except that any lands conveyed to the

25 County of Lincoln under this subsection that are
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1 subject to a Federal grazing permit or lease or a

2 similar federally granted permit or lease shall be

3 conveyed between 60 and 120 days of the earliest

4 time the Federal agency administering or granting

5 the permit or lease would be able to legally termi6 nate such right under the statutes and regulations

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

8 Lincoln County and the affected holder of the permit

9 or lease negotiate an agreement that allows for an

10 earlier conveyance.

11 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL CONVEYANCES.—Notwithstand12 ing any other law, the following public lands de13 picted on the maps and legal descriptions dated Oc14 tober 11, 1995, shall be conveyed under paragraph

15 (1) to the County of Lincoln, Nevada:

16 Map 10: Lincoln County, Parcel M, Indus17 trial Park Site

18 Map 11: Lincoln County, Parcel F, Mixed

19 Use Industrial Site

20 Map 13: Lincoln County, Parcel J, Mixed

21 Use, Alamo Community Expansion Area

22 Map 14: Lincoln County, Parcel E, Mixed

23 Use, Pioche Community Expansion Area

24 Map 15: Lincoln County, Parcel B, Land25 fill Expansion Site.
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1 ‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION.—The maps and legal de2 scriptions of special conveyances referred to in para3 graph (2) shall have the same force and effect as if

4 they were included in this Act. The Secretary may

5 correct clerical and typographical errors in the maps

6 and legal descriptions and make minor adjustments

7 in the boundaries of the sites.

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

9 the request of the County of Lincoln, Nevada, the

10 Secretary of the Interior shall provide evidence of

11 title transfer.

12 ‘‘SEC. 202. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.

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

14 shall take those actions that are necessary and appropriate

15 to ensure that the Secretary is able to transport safely

16 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from

17 sites designated by the contract holders to mainline trans18 portation facilities, using routes that minimize, to the

19 maximum practicable extent consistent with Federal re20 quirements governing transportation of hazardous mate21 rials, transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

22 radioactive waste through populated areas, beginning not

23 later than November 30, 1999, and, by that date, shall,

24 in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, de25 velop and implement a comprehensive management plan
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1 that ensures that safe transportation of spent nuclear fuel

2 and high-level radioactive waste from the sites designated

3 by the contract holders to the interim storage facility site

4 beginning not later than November 30, 1999.

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

6 with the development of the logistical plan in accordance

7 with subsection (a), the Secretary shall update and mod8 ify, as necessary, the Secretary’s transportation institu9 tional plans to ensure that institutional issues are ad10 dressed and resolved on a schedule to support the com11 mencement of transportation of spent nuclear fuel and

12 high-level radioactive waste to the interim storage facility

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

14 such planning shall provide a schedule and process for ad15 dressing and implementing, as necessary, transportation

16 routing plans, transportation contracting plans, transpor17 tation training in accordance with Section 203, and public

18 education regarding transportation of spent nuclear fuel

19 and high level radioactive waste; and transportation track20 ing programs.

21 ‘‘SEC. 203. TRANSPORTATION REQUIREMENTS.

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

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

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

25 have been certified for such purposes by the Commission.
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1 ‘‘(b) STATE NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall

2 abide by regulations of the Commission regarding advance

3 notification of State and local governments prior to trans4 portation of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive

5 waste under this Act.

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

7 provide technical assistance and funds to States, units of

8 local government, and Indian tribes through whose juris9 diction the Secretary plans to transport substantial

10 amounts of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive

11 waste for training for public safety officials of appropriate

12 units of local government. The Secretary shall also provide

13 technical assistance and funds for training directly to na14 tional nonprofit employee organizations which dem15 onstrate experience in implementing and operating worker

16 health and safety training and education programs and

17 demonstrate the ability to reach and involve in training

18 programs target populations of workers who are or will

19 be directly engaged in the transportation of spent nuclear

20 fuel and high-level radioactive waste, or emergency re21 sponse or post-emergency response with respect to such

22 transportation. Training shall cover procedures required

23 for safe routine transportation of these materials, as well

24 as procedures for dealing with emergency response situa25 tions, and shall be consistent with any training standards
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1 established by the Secretary of Transportation in accord2 ance with subsection (g). The Secretary’s duty to provide

3 technical and financial assistance under this subsection

4 shall be limited to amounts specified in annual appropria5 tions.

6 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The Secretary shall con7 duct a program to educate the public regarding the trans8 portation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

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

10 government, and Indian tribes through whose jurisdiction

11 the Secretary plans to transport substantial amounts of

12 spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste.

13 ‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE WITH TRANSPORTATION REGULA14 TIONS.—Any person that transports spent nuclear fuel or

15 high-level radioactive waste under the Nuclear Waste Pol16 icy Act of 1986, pursuant to a contract with the Secretary,

17 shall comply with all requirements governing such trans18 portation issued by the Federal, State, and local govern19 ments, and Indian tribes, in the same way and to the same

20 extent that any person engaging in that transportation

21 that is in or affects interstate commerce must comply with

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

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

24 in the interstate commerce of spent nuclear fuel or high25 level radioactive waste under contract to the Secretary
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1 pursuant to this Act shall be subject to and comply fully

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

3 20109 and 49 U.S.C. 31105.

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

5 months after the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste

6 Policy Act of 1997, the Secretary of Transportation, pur7 suant to authority under other provisions of law, in con8 sultation with the Secretary of Labor and the Commission,

9 shall promulgate a regulation establishing training stand10 ards applicable to workers directly involved in the removal

11 and transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra12 dioactive waste. The regulation shall specify minimum

13 training standards applicable to workers, including mana14 gerial personnel. The regulation shall require that the em15 ployer possess evidence of satisfaction of the applicable

16 training standard before any individual may be employed

17 in the removal and transportation of spent nuclear fuel

18 and high-level radioactive waste.

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

20 in promulgating the regulation required by subparagraph

21 (1), that regulations promulgated by the Commission es22 tablish adequate training standards for workers, then the

23 Secretary of Transportation can refrain from promulgat24 ing additional regulations with respect to worker training

25 in such activities. The Secretary of Transportation and the
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1 Commission shall work through their Memorandum of Un2 derstanding to ensure coordination of worker training

3 standards and to avoid duplicative regulation.

4 ‘‘(3) The training standards required to be promul5 gated under subparagraph (1) shall, among other things

6 deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of

7 Transportation, include the following provisions—

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

9 initial offsite instruction and actual field experience

10 under the direct supervision of a trained, experi11 enced supervisor;

12 ‘‘(B) a requirement that onsite managerial per13 sonnel receive the same training as workers, and a

14 minimum number of additional hours of specialized

15 training pertinent to their managerial responsibil16 ities; and

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

18 responsible for responding to and cleaning up emer19 gency situations occurring during the removal and

20 transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

21 radioactive waste.

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

23 Secretary of Transportation, from general revenues, such

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

25 subsection.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 204. INTERIM STORAGE.

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

3 construct, and operate a facility for the interim storage

4 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at

5 the interim storage facility site. The interim storage facil6 ity shall be subject to licensing pursuant to the Atomic

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

8 regulations governing the licensing of independent spent

9 fuel storage installations, which regulations shall be

10 amended by the Commission as necessary to implement

11 the provisions of this Act. The interim storage facility

12 shall commence operation in phases in accordance with

13 subsection (b).

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

15 forthwith and without further delay with all activities nec16 essary to begin storing spent nuclear fuel and high-level

17 radioactive waste at the interim storage facility at the in18 terim storage facility site by November 30, 1999, except

19 that:

20 ‘‘(A) The Secretary shall not begin any con21 struction activities at the interim storage facility site

22 before December 31, 1998.

23 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall cease all activities (ex24 cept necessary termination activities) at the Yucca

25 Mountain site if the President determines, in his dis26 cretion, on or before December 31, 1998, based on
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1 a preponderance of the information available at such

2 time, that the Yucca Mountain site is unsuitable for

3 development as a repository, including geologic and

4 engineered barriers, because of a substantial likeli5 hood that a repository of useful size cannot be de6 signed, licensed, and constructed at the Yucca

7 Mountain site.

8 ‘‘(C) No later than June 30, 1998, the Sec9 retary shall provide to the President and to the Con10 gress a viability assessment of the Yucca Mountain

11 site. The viability assessment shall include—

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

13 critical elements of the repository and waste

14 package,

15 ‘‘(ii) a total system performance assess16 ment, based upon the design concept and the

17 scientific data and analysis available by June

18 30, 1998, describing the probable behavior of

19 the repository in the Yucca Mountain geologic

20 setting relative to the overall system perform21 ance standard set forth in section 205(d) of this

22 Act,

23 ‘‘(iii) a plan and cost estimate for the re24 maining work required to complete a license ap25 plication, and
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1 ‘‘(iv) an estimate of the costs to construct

2 and operate the repository in accordance with

3 the design concept.

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

5 the President that the Yucca Mountain site is un6 suitable for development as a repository under sub7 paragraph (B), the President shall designate a site

8 for the construction of an interim storage facility. If

9 the President does not designate a site for the con10 struction of an interim storage facility, or the con11 struction of an interim storage facility at the des12 ignated site is not approved by law within 24

13 months of the President’s determination that the

14 Yucca Mountain site is not suitable for development

15 as a repository, the Secretary shall begin construc16 tion of an interim storage facility at the interim

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

18 this Act. The interim storage facility site as defined

19 in section 2(19) of this Act shall be deemed to be

20 approved by law for purposes of this section.

21 ‘‘(2) Upon the designation of an interim storage facil22 ity site by the President under paragraph (1)(D), the Sec23 retary shall proceed forthwith and without further delay

24 with all activities necessary to begin storing spent nuclear

25 fuel and high-level radioactive waste at an interim storage
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1 facility at the designated site, except that the Secretary

2 shall not begin any construction activities at the des3 ignated interim storage facility site before the designated

4 interim storage facility site is approved by law.

5 ‘‘(c) DESIGN.—

6 ‘‘(1) The interim storage facility shall be de7 signed in two phases in order to commence oper8 ations no later than November 30, 1999. The design

9 of the interim storage facility shall provide for the

10 use of storage technologies, licensed, approved, or

11 certified by the Commission for use at the interim

12 storage facility as necessary to ensure compatibility

13 between the interim storage facility and contract

14 holders’ spent nuclear fuel and facilities, and to fa15 cilitate the Secretary’s ability to meet the Sec16 retary’s obligations under this Act.

17 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall consent to an amend18 ment to the contracts to provide for reimbursement

19 to contract holders for transportable storage systems

20 purchased by contract holders if the Secretary deter21 mines that it is cost effective to use such transport22 able storage systems as part of the integrated man23 agement system, provided that the Secretary shall

24 not be required to expend any funds to modify con25 tract holders’ storage or transport systems or to
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1 seek additional regulatory approvals in order to use

2 such systems.

3 ‘‘(d) LICENSING.—

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

5 shall be licensed by the Commission in two phases

6 in order to commence operations no later than No7 vember 30, 1999.

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

9 after the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste

10 Policy Act of 1997, the Secretary shall submit to the

11 Commission an application for a license for the first

12 phase of the interim storage facility. The Environ13 mental Report and Safety Analysis Report submitted

14 in support of such license application shall be con15 sistent with the scope of authority requested in the

16 license application. The license issued for the first

17 phase of the interim storage facility shall have a

18 term of 20 years. The interim storage facility li19 censed in the first phase shall have a capacity of

20 not more than 15,000 MTU. The Commission shall

21 issue a final decision granting or denying the appli22 cation for the first phase license no later than 16

23 months from the date of the submittal of the appli24 cation for such license.
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1 ‘‘(3) SECOND PHASE.—No later than 30

2 months after the date of enactment of the Nuclear

3 Waste Policy Act of 1997, the Secretary shall sub4 mit to the Commission an application for a license

5 for the second phase interim storage facility. The li6 cense for the second phase facility shall authorize a

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

8 does not submit the license application for construc9 tion of a respository by February 1, 2002, or does

10 not begin full spent nuclear fuel receipt operations

11 at a repository by January 17, 2010, the license

12 shall authorize a storage capacity of 60,000 MTU.

13 The license application shall be submitted such that

14 the license can be issued to permit the second phase

15 facility to begin full spent nuclear fuel receipt oper16 ations no later than December 31, 2002. The license

17 for the second phase shall have an initial term of up

18 to 100 years, and shall be renewable for additional

19 terms upon application of the Secretary.

20 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—

21 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of comply22 ing with this section, the Secretary may commence

23 site preparation for the interim storage facility as

24 soon as practicable after the date of enactment of

25 the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997 and shall
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1 commence construction of each phase of the interim

2 storage facility subsequent to submittal of the li3 cense application for such phase except that the

4 Commission shall issue an order suspending such

5 construction at any time if the Commission deter6 mines that such construction poses an unreasonable

7 risk to public health and safety or the environment.

8 The Commission shall terminate all or part of such

9 order upon a determination that the Secretary has

10 taken appropriate action to eliminate such risk.

11 ‘‘(2) FACILITY USE.—Notwithstanding any oth12 erwise applicable licensing requirement, the Sec13 retary may utilize any facility owned by the Federal

14 Government on the date of enactment of the Nuclear

15 Waste Policy Act of 1997 within the boundaries of

16 the interim storage facility site, in connection with

17 an imminent and substantial endangerment to public

18 health and safety at the interim storage facility prior

19 to commencement of operations during the second

20 phase.

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

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

23 achieved the annual acceptance rate for spent nu24 clear fuel from civilian nuclear power reactors estab25 lished pursuant to the contracts executed prior to
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1 the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy

2 Act of 1997, as set forth in the Secretary’s annual

3 capacity report dated March 1995 (DOE/RW–

4 0457), the Secretary shall accept, in an amount not

5 less than 25 percent of the difference between the

6 contractual acceptance rate and the annual emplace7 ment rate for spent nuclear fuel from civilian nu8 clear power reactors established under section

9 507(a), the following radioactive materials:

10 ‘‘(A) spent nuclear fuel or high-level radio11 active waste of domestic origin from civilian nu12 clear power reactors that have permanently

13 ceased operation on or before the date of enact14 ment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997;

15 ‘‘(B) spent nuclear fuel from foreign re16 search reactors, as necessary to promote non17 proliferation objectives; and

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

19 nuclear fuel from naval reactors, and high-level

20 radioactive waste from atomic energy defense

21 activities.

22 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF

23 1969.—

24 ‘‘(1) PRELIMINARY DECISIONMAKING ACTIVI25 TIES.—The Secretary’s and President’s activities
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1 under this section, including, but not limited to, the

2 selection of a site for the interim storage facility, as3 sessments, determinations and designations made

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

5 of a license application and supporting documenta6 tion, the construction of a facility under paragraph

7 (e)(1) of this section, and facility use pursuant to

8 paragraph (e)(2) of this section shall be considered

9 preliminary decisionmaking activities for purposes of

10 judicial review. The Secretary shall not prepare an

11 environmental impact statement under section

12 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act

13 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) or any environ14 mental review under subparagraph (E) or (F) of

15 such Act before conducting these activities.

16 ‘‘(2) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—

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

18 by the Commission to grant or deny a license

19 application for the first or second phase of the

20 interim storage facility shall be accompanied by

21 an Environmental Impact Statement prepared

22 under section 102(2)(C) of the National Envi23 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

24 4332(2)(C)). In preparing such Environmental

25 Impact Statement, the Commission—
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1 ‘‘(i) shall ensure that the scope of the

2 Environmental Impact Statement is con3 sistent with the scope of the licensing ac4 tion; and

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

6 transportation of spent nuclear fuel and

7 high-level radioactive waste to the interim

8 storage facility in a generic manner.

9 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—Such Environ10 mental Impact Statement shall not consider—

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

12 facility, including any individual compo13 nent thereof;

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

15 of the interim storage facility;

16 ‘‘(iii) any alternatives to the storage

17 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio18 active waste at the interim storage facility;

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

20 the facility as designated by the Secretary

21 in accordance with subsection (a);

22 ‘‘(v) any alternatives to the design cri23 teria for such facility or any individual

24 component thereof, as specified by the Sec25 retary in the license application; or
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1 ‘‘(vi) the environmental impacts of the

2 storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

3 radioactive waste at the interim storage fa4 cility beyond the initial term of the license

5 or the term of the renewal period for which

6 a license renewal application is made.

7 ‘‘(g) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Judicial review of the Com8 mission’s environmental impact statement under the Na9 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321

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

11 Commission’s licensing decision. No court shall have juris12 diction to enjoin the construction or operation of the in13 terim storage facility prior to its final decision on review

14 of the Commission’s licensing action.

15 ‘‘(h) WASTE CONFIDENCE.—The Secretary’s obliga16 tion to construct and operate the interim storage facility

17 in accordance with this section and the Secretary’s obliga18 tion to develop an integrated management system in ac19 cordance with the provisions of this Act, shall provide suf20 ficient and independent grounds for any further findings

21 by the Commission of reasonable assurance that spent nu22 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste will be disposed

23 of safely and on a timely basis for purposes of the Com24 mission’s decision to grant or amend any license to operate
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1 any civilian nuclear power reactor under the Atomic En2 ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).

3 ‘‘(i) STORAGE OF OTHER SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL

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

5 18 months following the date of enactment of the Nuclear

6 Waste Policy Act of 1997, the Commission shall, by rule,

7 establish criteria for the storage in the interim storage fa8 cility of fuel and waste listed in subsection (e)(3) (A)

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

10 in regulations issued by the Commission and existing on

11 the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act

12 of 1997. Following establishment of such criteria, the Sec13 retary shall seek authority, as necessary, to store fuel and

14 waste listed in subsection (e)(3) (A) through (C) at the

15 interim storage facility. None of the activities carried out

16 pursuant to this subsection shall delay, or otherwise affect,

17 the development, construction, licensing, or operation of

18 the interim storage facility.

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

20 rule, establish procedures for the licensing of any tech21 nology for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel by rule

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

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

24 this Act shall affect any such procedures, or any licenses
39

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1 or approvals issued pursuant to such procedures in effect

2 on the date of enactment.

3 ‘‘SEC. 205. PERMANENT REPOSITORY.

4 ‘‘(a) REPOSITORY CHARACTERIZATION.—

5 ‘‘(1) GUIDELINES.—The guidelines promul6 gated by the Secretary and published at 10 CFR

7 part 960 are annulled and revoked and the Sec8 retary shall make no assumptions or conclusions

9 about the licensability of the Yucca Mountain site as

10 a repository by reference to such guidelines.

11 ‘‘(2) SITE CHARACTERIZATION ACTIVITIES.—

12 The Secretary shall carry out appropriate site char13 acterization activities at the Yucca Mountain site in

14 accordance with the Secretary’s program approach

15 to site characterization. The Secretary shall modify

16 or eliminate those site characterization activities de17 signed only to demonstrate the suitability of the site

18 under the guidelines referenced in paragraph (1).

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

20 schedule set forth in the program approach, as

21 modified to be consistent with the Nuclear Waste

22 Policy Act of 1997, no later than February 1, 2002,

23 the Secretary shall apply to the Commission for au24 thorization to construct a repository. If, at any time

25 prior to the filing of such application, the Secretary
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1 determines that the Yucca Mountain site cannot sat2 isfy the Commission’s regulations applicable to the

3 licensing of a geologic repository, the Secretary shall

4 terminate site characterization activities at the site,

5 notify Congress and the State of Nevada of the Sec6 retary’s determination and the reasons therefor, and

7 recommend to Congress not later than 6 months

8 after such determination furthers actions, including

9 the enactment of legislation, that may be needed to

10 manage the Nation’s spent nuclear fuel and high11 level radioactive waste.

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

13 application for authorization to construct the reposi14 tory, the Secretary shall seek to maximize the capac15 ity of the repository, in the most cost-effective man16 ner, consistent with the need for disposal capacity.

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

18 of any licensing proceeding for the first phase of the in19 terim storage facility, the Commission shall amend its reg20 ulations governing the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and

21 high-level radioactive waste in geologic repositories to the

22 extent necessary to comply with this Act. Subject to sub23 section (c), such regulations shall provide for the licensing

24 of the repository according to the following procedures:
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1 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION.—The

2 Commission shall grant the Secretary a construction

3 authorization for the repository upon determining

4 that there is reasonable assurance that spent nuclear

5 fuel and high-level radioactive waste can be disposed

6 of in the repository—

7 ‘‘(A) in conformity with the Secretary’s ap8 plication, the provisions of this Act, and the

9 regulations of the Commission;

10 ‘‘(B) without unreasonable risk to the

11 health and safety of the public; and

12 ‘‘(C) consistent with the common defense

13 and security.

14 ‘‘(2) LICENSE.—Following substantial comple15 tion of construction and the filing of any additional

16 information needed to complete the license applica17 tion, the Commission shall issue a license to dispose

18 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

19 in the repository if the Commission determines that

20 the repository has been constructed and will oper21 ate—

22 ‘‘(A) in conformity with the Secretary’s ap23 plication, the provisions of this Act, and the

24 regulations of the Commission;
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1 ‘‘(B) without unreasonable risk to the

2 health and safety of the public; and

3 ‘‘(C) consistent with the common defense

4 and security.

5 ‘‘(3) CLOSURE.—After emplacing spent nuclear

6 fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the reposi7 tory and collecting sufficient confirmatory data on

8 repository performance to reasonably confirm the

9 basis for repository closure consistent with the Com10 mission’s regulations applicable to the licensing of a

11 repository, as modified in accordance with this Act,

12 the Secretary shall apply to the Commission to

13 amend the license to permit permanent closure of

14 the repository. The Commission shall grant such li15 cense amendment upon finding that there is reason16 able assurance that the repository can be perma17 nently closed—

18 ‘‘(A) in conformity with the Secretary’s ap19 plication to amend the license, the provisions of

20 this Act, and the regulations of the Commis21 sion;

22 ‘‘(B) without unreasonable risk to the

23 health and safety of the public; and

24 ‘‘(C) consistent with the common defense

25 and security.
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1 ‘‘(4) POST-CLOSURE.—The Secretary shall take

2 those actions necessary and appropriate at the

3 Yucca Mountain site to prevent any activity at the

4 site subsequent to repository closure that poses an

5 unreasonable risk of—

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

7 or geologic barriers; or

8 ‘‘(B) increasing the exposure of individual

9 members of the public to radiation beyond the

10 release standard established in subsection

11 (d)(1).

12 ‘‘(c) MODIFICATION OF REPOSITORY LICENSING

13 PROCEDURE.—The Commission’s regulations shall pro14 vide for the modification of the repository licensing proce15 dure, as appropriate, in the event that the Secretary seeks

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

17 a retrievable basis, of spent nuclear fuel or high-level ra18 dioactive waste as is necessary to provide the Secretary

19 with sufficient confirmatory data on repository perform20 ance to reasonably confirm the basis for repository closure

21 consistent with applicable regulations.

22 ‘‘(d) REPOSITORY LICENSING STANDARDS.—The Ad23 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall,

24 pursuant to authority under others provisions of law, issue

25 generally applicable standards for the protection of the
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1 public from releases of radioactive materials or radioactiv2 ity from the repository. Such standards shall be consistent

3 with the overall system performance standard established

4 by this subsection unless the Administrator determines by

5 rule that the overall system performance standard would

6 constitute an unreasonable risk to health and safety. The

7 Commission’s repository licensing determinations for the

8 protection of the public shall be based solely on a finding

9 whether the repository can be operated in conformance

10 with the overall system performance standard established

11 in paragraph (1), applied in accordance with the provi12 sions of paragraph (2), and the Administrator’s radiation

13 protection standards. The Commission shall amend its

14 regulations in accordance with subsection (b) to incor15 porate each of the following licensing standards:

16 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF OVERALL SYSTEM

17 PERFORMANCE STANDARD.—The standard for pro18 tection of the public from release of radioactive ma19 terial or radioactivity from the repository shall pro20 hibit releases that would expose an average member

21 of the general population in the vicinity of the Yucca

22 Mountain site to an annual dose in excess of 100

23 millirems unless the Commission determines by rule

24 that such standard would constitute an unreasonable
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1 risk to health and safety and establishes by rule an2 other standard which will protect health and safety.

3 Such standard shall constitute an overall system

4 performance standard.

5 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF OVERALL SYSTEM PER6 FORMANCE STANDARD.—The Commission shall issue

7 the license if it finds reasonable assurance that for

8 the first 1,000 years following the commencement of

9 repository operations, the overall system perform10 ance standard will be met based on a probabilistic

11 evaluation, as appropriate, of compliance with the

12 overall system performance standard in paragraph

13 (1).

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

15 finding in paragraph (2)—

16 ‘‘(A) the Commission shall not consider

17 catastrophic events where the health con18 sequences of individual events themselves can

19 be reasonably assumed to exceed the health

20 consequences due to the impact of the events on

21 repository performance;

22 ‘‘(B) for the purpose of this section, an av23 erage member of the general population in the

24 vicinity of the Yucca Mountain site means a

25 person whose physiology, age, general health,
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1 agricultural practices, eating habits, and social

2 behavior represent the average for persons liv3 ing in the vicinity of the site. Extremes in social

4 behavior, eating habits, or other relevant prac5 tices or characteristics shall not be considered;

6 and

7 ‘‘(C) the Commission shall assume that,

8 following repository closure, the inclusion of en9 gineered barriers and the Secretary’s post-clo10 sure actions at the Yucca Mountain site, in ac11 cordance with subsection (b)(4), shall be suffi12 cient to—

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

14 site that poses an unreasonable risk of

15 breaching the repository’s engineered or

16 geologic barriers; and

17 ‘‘(ii) prevent any increase in the expo18 sure of individual members of the public to

19 radiation beyond the allowable limits speci20 fied in paragraph (1).

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

22 shall analyze the overall system performance through
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1 the use of probabilistic evaluations that use best es2 timate assumptions, data, and methods for the pe3 riod commencing after the first 1,000 years of oper4 ation of the repository and terminating at 10,000

5 years after the commencement of operation of the

6 repository.

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

8 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF STATEMENT.—Construc9 tion and operation of the repository shall be consid10 ered a major Federal action significantly affecting

11 the quality of the human environment for purposes

12 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

13 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The Secretary shall submit

14 an environmental impact statement on the construc15 tion and operation of the repository to the Commis16 sion with the license application and shall supple17 ment such environmental impact statement as ap18 propriate.

19 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—For purposes of com20 plying with the requirements of the National Envi21 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 and this section, the

22 Secretary shall not consider in the environmental

23 impact statement the need for the repository, or al24 ternative sites or designs for the repository.
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1 ‘‘(3) ADOPTION BY COMMISSION.—The Sec2 retary’s environmental impact statement and any

3 supplements thereto shall, to the extent practicable,

4 be adopted by the Commission in connection with

5 the issuance by the Commission of a construction

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

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

8 under subsection (b)(3). To the extent such state9 ment or supplement is adopted by the Commission,

10 such adoption shall be deemed to also satisfy the re11 sponsibilities of the Commission under the National

12 Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and no further

13 consideration shall be required, except that nothing

14 in this subsection shall affect any independent re15 sponsibilities of the Commission to protect the public

16 health and safety under the Atomic Energy Act of

17 1954. In any such statement or supplement pre18 pared with respect to the repository, the Commission

19 shall not consider the need for a repository, or alter20 nate sites or designs for the repository.

21 ‘‘(f) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No court shall have juris22 diction to enjoin issuance of the Commission repository

23 licensing regulations prior to its final decision on review

24 of such regulations.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 206. LAND WITHDRAWAL.

2 ‘‘(a) WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION.—

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

4 rights, the interim storage facility site and the

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

6 are withdrawn from all forms of entry, appropria7 tion, and disposal under the public land laws, includ8 ing the mineral leasing laws, the geothermal leasing

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

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

11 within the interim storage facility site and the Yucca

12 Mountain site managed by the Secretary of the Inte13 rior or any other Federal officer is transferred to the

14 Secretary.

15 ‘‘(3) RESERVATION.—The interim storage facil16 ity site and the Yucca Mountain site are reserved for

17 the use of the Secretary for the construction and op18 eration, respectively, of the interim storage facility

19 and the repository and activities associated with the

20 purposes of this title.

21 ‘‘(b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—

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

23 on the map entitled ‘‘Interim Storage Facility Site

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

25 file with the Secretary, are established as the bound26 aries of the Interim Storage Facility site.
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1 ‘‘(2) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries depicted

2 on the map entitled ‘Yucca Mountain Site With3 drawal Map,’ dated July 9, 1996, and on file with

4 the Secretary, are established as the boundaries of

5 the Yucca Mountain site.

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

7 the date of the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Pol8 icy Act of 1997, the Secretary shall—

9 ‘‘(A) publish in the Federal Register a no10 tice containing a legal description of the interim

11 storage facility site; and

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

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

14 interim storage facility site with the Congress,

15 the Secretary of the Interior, the Governor of

16 Nevada, and the Archivist of the United States.

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

18 Secretary’s application to the Commission for au19 thority to construct the repository, the Secretary

20 shall—

21 ‘‘(A) publish in the Federal Register a no22 tice containing a legal description of the Yucca

23 Mountain site; and

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

25 paragraph (2), and the legal description of the
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1 Yucca Mountain site with the Congress, the

2 Secretary of the Interior, the Governor of Ne3 vada, and the Archivist of the United States.

4 ‘‘(5) CONSTRUCTION.—The maps and legal de5 scriptions of the interim storage facility site and the

6 Yucca Mountain site referred to in this subsection

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

8 included in this Act. The Secretary may correct cler9 ical and typographical errors in the maps and legal

10 descriptions and make minor adjustments in the

11 boundaries of the sites.

12 ‘‘TITLE III—LOCAL RELATIONS

13 ‘‘SEC. 301. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

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

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

16 government for purposes of enabling the affected Indian

17 tribe or affected unit of local government—

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

19 the Yucca Mountain site for purposes of determining

20 any potential economic, social, public health and

21 safety, and environmental impacts of the integrated

22 management system on the affected Indian tribe or

23 the affected unit of local government and its resi24 dents;
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1 ‘‘(2) to develop a request for impact assistance

2 under subsection (c);

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

4 evaluation activities with regard to such site;

5 ‘‘(4) to provide information to residents regard6 ing any activities of the Secretary, or the Commis7 sion with respect to such site; and

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

9 comments and recommendations to, the Secretary

10 regarding any activities taken with respect to such

11 site.

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

13 or travel expense that would ordinarily be incurred by any

14 affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local government

15 may not be considered eligible for funding under this sec16 tion.

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

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

19 authorized to offer to provide financial and technical

20 assistance to any affected Indian tribe or affected

21 unit of local government requesting such assistance.

22 Such assistance shall be designed to mitigate the im23 pact on the affected Indian tribe or affected unit of

24 local government of the development of the inte25 grated management system.
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1 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Any affected Indian tribe or af2 fected unit of local government may request assist3 ance under this section by preparing and submitting

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

5 public health and safety, and environmental impacts

6 that are likely to result from activities of the inte7 grated management system.

8 ‘‘(d) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—

9 ‘‘(1) TAXABLE AMOUNTS.—In addition to finan10 cial assistance provided under this subsection, the

11 Secretary is authorized to grant to any affected In12 dian tribe or affected unit of local government an

13 amount each fiscal year equal to the amount such

14 affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local govern15 ment, respectively, would receive if authorized to tax

16 integrated management system activities, as such af17 fected Indian tribe or affected unit of local govern18 ment taxes the non-Federal real property and indus19 trial activities occurring within such affected unit of

20 local government.

21 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION.—Such grants shall con22 tinue until such time as all such activities, develop23 ment, and operations are terminated at such site.

24 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE TO INDIAN TRIBES AND

25 UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—
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1 ‘‘(A) PERIOD.—Any affected Indian tribe

2 or affected unit of local government may not re3 ceive any grant under paragraph (1) after the

4 expiration of the 1-year period following the

5 date on which the Secretary notifies the af6 fected Indian tribe or affected unit of local gov7 ernment of the termination of the operation of

8 the integrated management system.

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

10 tribe or affected unit of local government may

11 not receive any further assistance under this

12 section if the integrated management system

13 activities at such site are terminated by the

14 Secretary or if such activities are permanently

15 enjoined by any court.

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

17 ‘‘The Secretary shall offer to the unit of local govern18 ment within whose jurisdiction a site for an interim stor19 age facility or repository is located under this Act an op20 portunity to designate a representative to conduct on-site

21 oversight activities at such site. The Secretary is author22 ized to pay the reasonable expenses of such representative.

23 ‘‘SEC. 303. ACCEPTANCE OF BENEFITS.

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

25 benefits provided under this title by any affected Indian
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1 tribe or affected unit of local government shall not be

2 deemed to be an expression of consent, express, or implied,

3 either under the Constitution of the State or any law

4 thereof, to the siting of an interim storage facility or re5 pository in the State of Nevada, any provision of such

6 Constitution or laws to the contrary notwithstanding.

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

8 any other entity may assert any argument based on legal

9 or equitable estoppel, or acquiescence, or waiver, or con10 sensual involvement, in response to any decision by the

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

12 facility or repository premised upon or related to the ac13 ceptance or use of benefits under this title.

14 ‘‘(c) LIABILITY.—No liability of any nature shall ac15 crue to be asserted against any official of any govern16 mental unit of Nevada premised solely upon the accept17 ance or use of benefits under this title.

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

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

20 be used—

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

22 action on any matter pending before Congress or a

23 State legislature or for any lobbying activity as pro24 vided in section 1913 of title 18, United States

25 Code;
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1 ‘‘(2) for litigation purposes; and

2 ‘‘(3) to support multistate efforts or other coali3 tion-building activities inconsistent with the purposes

4 of this Act.

5 ‘‘SEC. 305. LAND CONVEYANCES.

6 ‘‘(a) CONVEYANCES OF PUBLIC LANDS.—One hun7 dred and twenty days after enactment of this Act, all

8 rights, title and interest of the United States in the prop9 erty described in subsection (b), and improvements there10 on, together with all necessary easements for utilities and

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

12 limited to, the right to improve those easements, are con13 veyed by operation of law to the County of Nye, Nevada,

14 unless the county notifies the Secretary of the Interior or

15 the head of such other appropriate agency in writing with16 in 60 days of such date of enactment that it elects not

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

18 any lands conveyed to the County of Nye under this sub19 section that are subject to a Federal grazing permit or

20 lease or a similar federally granted permit or lease shall

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

22 the Federal agency administering or granting the permit

23 or lease would be able to legally terminate such right

24 under the statutes and regulations existing at the date of

25 enactment of this Act, unless Nye County and the affected
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1 holder of the permit or lease negotiate an agreement that

2 allows for an earlier conveyance.

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

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

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

6 with the Secretary shall be conveyed under subsection (a)

7 to the County of Nye, Nevada:

8 Map 1: Proposed Pahrump Industrial Park Site

9 Map 2: Proposed Lathrop Wells (Gate 510) In10 dustrial Park Site

11 Map 3: Pahrump Landfill Sites

12 Map 4: Amargosa Valley Regional Landfill Site

13 Map 5: Amargosa Valley Municipal Landfill

14 Site

15 Map 6: Beatty Landfill/Transfer Station Site

16 Map 7: Round Mountain Landfill Site

17 Map 8: Tonopah Landfill Site

18 Map 9: Gabbs Landfill Site.

19 ‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION.—The maps and legal de20 scriptions of special conveyances referred to in sub21 section (b) shall have the same force and effect as

22 if they were included in this Act. The Secretary may

23 correct clerical and typographical errors in the maps

24 and legal descriptions and make minor adjustments

25 in the boundaries of the sites.
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1 ‘‘(4) EVIDENCE OF TITLE TRANSFER.—Upon

2 the request of the County of Nye, Nevada, the Sec3 retary of the Interior shall provide evidence of title

4 transfer.

5 ‘‘TITLE IV—FUNDING AND ORGANIZATION

6 ‘‘SEC. 401. PROGRAM FUNDING.

7 ‘‘(a) CONTRACTS.—

8 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—In the per9 formance of the Secretary’s functions under this

10 Act, the Secretary is authorized to enter into con11 tracts with any person who generates or holds title

12 to spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste

13 of domestic origin for the acceptance of title and

14 possession, transportation, interim storage, and dis15 posal of such waste or spent fuel. Such contracts

16 shall provide for payment of annual fees to the Sec17 retary in the amounts set by the Secretary pursuant

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

19 paragraph (3), fees assessed pursuant to this para20 graph shall be paid to the Treasury of the United

21 States and shall be available for use by the Sec22 retary pursuant to this section until expended. Sub23 sequent to the date of enactment of the Nuclear

24 Waste Policy Act of 1997, the contracts executed

25 under section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy
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1 Act of 1982 shall continue in effect under this Act,

2 provided that the Secretary shall consent to an

3 amendment to such contracts as necessary to imple4 ment the provisions of this Act.

5 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL FEES.—

6 ‘‘(A) For electricity generated by civilian

7 nuclear power reactors and sold between Janu8 ary 7, 1983, and September 30, 2002, the fee

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

10 per kilowatt hour generated and sold. For elec11 tricity generated by civilian nuclear power reac12 tors and sold on or after October 1, 2002, the

13 aggregate amount of fees collected during each

14 fiscal year shall be no greater than the annual

15 level of appropriations for expenditures on those

16 activities consistent with subsection (d) for that

17 fiscal year, minus—

18 ‘‘(i) any unobligated balance collected

19 pursuant to this section during the pre20 vious fiscal year; and

21 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of such appro22 priation required to be funded by the Fed23 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 kilowatt-hour 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 kilo7 watt-hour for electricity generated by such spent nu8 clear fuel, or such solidified high-level waste derived

9 therefrom. Payment of such one-time fee prior to the

10 date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act

11 of 1997 shall satisfy the obligation imposed under

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

13 subsequent to the date of enactment of the Nuclear

14 Waste Policy Act of 1997 pursuant to the contracts,

15 including any interest due pursuant to such con16 tracts, shall be paid to the Nuclear Waste Fund no

17 later than September 30, 2002. The Commission

18 shall suspend the license of any licensee who fails or

19 refuses to pay the full amount of the fee referred to

20 in this paragraph on or before September 30, 2002,

21 and the license shall remain suspended until the full

22 amount of the fee referred to in this paragraph is

23 paid. The person paying the fee under this para24 graph to the Secretary shall have no further finan25 cial obligation to the Federal Government for the
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1 long-term storage and permanent disposal of spent

2 fuel or high-level radioactive waste derived from

3 spent nuclear fuel used to generate electricity in a

4 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 1997, 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.—
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1 ‘‘(A) LICENSE ISSUANCE AND RENEWAL.—

2 The Commission shall not issue or renew a li3 cense to any person to use a utilization or pro4 duction facility under the authority of section

5 103 or 104 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954

6 (42 U.S.C. 2133, 2134) unless—

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

8 contract under subsection (a) with the Sec9 retary; or

10 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary affirms in writing

11 that such person is actively and in good

12 faith negotiating with the Secretary for a

13 contract under this section.

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

15 as it deems necessary or appropriate, may re16 quire as a precondition to the issuance or re17 newal of a license under section 103 or 104 of

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

19 2133, 2134) that the applicant for such license

20 shall have entered into an agreement with the

21 Secretary for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel

22 and high-level radioactive waste that may result

23 from the use of such license.

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

25 provided in paragraph (1), no spent nuclear fuel or
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1 high-level radioactive waste generated or owned by

2 any person (other than a department of the United

3 States referred to in section 101 or 102 of title 5,

4 United States Code) may be disposed of by the Sec5 retary in the repository unless the generator or

6 owner of such spent fuel or waste has entered into

7 a contract under subsection (a) with the Secretary

8 by not later than the date on which such generator

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

10 such spent fuel or waste.

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

12 contract holders are assignable.

13 ‘‘(c) NUCLEAR WASTE FUND.—

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

15 established in the Treasury of the United States

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

17 Act of 1982 shall continue in effect under this Act

18 and shall consist of—

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

20 Waste Fund on the date of enactment of the

21 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997; and

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

23 realized under subsections (a), and (c)(3) subse24 quent to the date of enactment of the Nuclear
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1 Waste Policy Act of 1997, which shall be depos2 ited in the Nuclear Waste Fund immediately

3 upon their realization.

4 ‘‘(2) USE.—The Secretary may make expendi5 tures from the Nuclear Waste Fund, subject to sub6 sections (d) and (e), only for purposes of the inte7 grated management system.

8 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION OF NUCLEAR WASTE

9 FUND.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the

11 Treasury shall hold the Nuclear Waste Fund

12 and, after consultation with the Secretary, an13 nually report to the Congress on the financial

14 condition and operations of the Nuclear Waste

15 Fund during the preceding fiscal year.

16 ‘‘(B) AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF CURRENT

17 NEEDS.—If the Secretary determines that the

18 Nuclear Waste Fund contains at any time

19 amounts in excess of current needs, the Sec20 retary may request the Secretary of the Treas21 ury to invest such amounts, or any portion of

22 such amounts as the Secretary determines to be

23 appropriate, in obligations of the United

24 States—
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1 ‘‘(i) having maturities determined by

2 the Secretary of the Treasury to be appro3 priate to the needs of the Nuclear Waste

4 Fund; and

5 ‘‘(ii) bearing interest at rates deter6 mined to be appropriate by the Secretary

7 of the Treasury, taking into consideration

8 the current average market yield on out9 standing marketable obligations of the

10 United States with remaining periods to

11 maturity comparable to the maturities of

12 such investments, except that the interest

13 rate on such investments shall not exceed

14 the average interest rate applicable to ex15 isting borrowings.

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

17 and recoveries realized by the Secretary under

18 this section, and expenditures of amounts from

19 the Nuclear Waste Fund, shall be exempt from

20 annual apportionment under the provisions of

21 subchapter II of chapter 15 of title 31, United

22 States Code.

23 ‘‘(d) BUDGET.—The Secretary shall submit the budg24 et for implementation of the Secretary’s responsibilities

25 under this Act to the Office of Management and Budget
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1 annually along with the budget of the Department of En2 ergy submitted at such time in accordance with chapter

3 11 of title 31, United States Code. The budget shall con4 sist of the estimates made by the Secretary of expendi5 tures under this Act and other relevant financial matters

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

7 in the budget of the United States Government.

8 ‘‘(e) APPROPRIATIONS.—The Secretary may make ex9 penditures from the Nuclear Waste Fund, subject to ap10 propriations, which shall remain available until expended.

11 ‘‘SEC. 402. OFFICE OF CIVILIAN RADIOACTIVE WASTE MAN12 AGEMENT.

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There hereby is established

14 within the Department of Energy an Office of Civilian Ra15 dioactive Waste Management. The Office shall be headed

16 by a Director, who shall be appointed by the President,

17 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and

18 who shall be compensated at the rate payable for level IV

19 of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5,

20 United States Code.

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

22 Office shall be responsible for carrying out the functions

23 of the Secretary under this Act, subject to the general su24 pervision of the Secretary. The Director of the Office shall

25 be directly responsible to the Secretary.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 403. FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.

2 ‘‘(a) ALLOCATION.—No later than 1 year from the

3 date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

4 1997, acting pursuant to section 553 of title 5, United

5 States Code, the Secretary shall issue a final rule estab6 lishing the appropriate portion of the costs of managing

7 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste under

8 this Act allocable to the interim storage or permanent dis9 posal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

10 from atomic energy defense activities and spent nuclear

11 fuel from foreign research reactors. The share of costs al12 locable to the management of spent nuclear fuel and high13 level radioactive waste from atomic energy defense activi14 ties and spent nuclear fuel from foreign research reactors

15 shall include,

16 ‘‘(1) an appropriate portion of the costs associ17 ated with research and development activities with

18 respect to development of an interim storage facility

19 and repository; and

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

21 amounts due calculated by reference to the appro22 priate Treasury bill rate as if the payments were

23 made at a point in time consistent with the payment

24 dates for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio25 active waste under the contracts.
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1 ‘‘(b) APPROPRIATION REQUEST.—In addition to any

2 request for an appropriation from the Nuclear Waste

3 Fund, the Secretary shall request annual appropriations

4 from general revenues in amounts sufficient to pay the

5 costs of the management of spent nuclear fuel and high6 level radioactive waste from atomic energy defense activi7 ties and spent nuclear fuel from foreign research reactors,

8 as established under subsection (a).

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

10 submitted to Congress under section 702, the Secretary

11 shall advise the Congress annually of the amount of spent

12 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from atomic

13 energy defense activities and spent nuclear fuel from for14 eign research reactors, requiring management in the inte15 grated management system.

16 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap17 propriated to the Secretary, from general revenues, for

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

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

20 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from atomic

21 energy defense activities and spent nuclear fuel from for22 eign research reactors, as established under subsection

23 (a).
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1 ‘‘TITLE V—GENERAL AND

2 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

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

4 ‘‘If the requirements of any Federal, State, or local

5 law (including a requirement imposed by regulation or by

6 any other means under such a law) are inconsistent with

7 or duplicative of the requirements of the Atomic Energy

8 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) or of this Act, the

9 Secretary shall comply only with the requirements of the

10 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and of this Act in implement11 ing the integrated management system.

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

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

14 OF APPEALS.—

15 ‘‘(1) ORIGINAL AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDIC16 TION.—Except for review in the Supreme Court of

17 the United States, and except as otherwise provided

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

19 have original and exclusive jurisdiction over any civil

20 action—

21 ‘‘(A) for review of any final decision or ac22 tion of the Secretary, the President, or the

23 Commission under this Act;

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

25 the President, or the Commission to make any
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1 decision, or take any action, required under this

2 Act;

3 ‘‘(C) challenging the constitutionality of

4 any decision made, or action taken, under any

5 provision of this Act; or

6 ‘‘(D) for review of any environmental im7 pact statement prepared or environmental as8 sessment pursuant to the National Environ9 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et

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

11 or alleging a failure to prepare such statement

12 with respect to any such action.

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

14 under this section shall be in the judicial circuit in

15 which the petitioner involved resides or has its prin16 cipal office, or in the United States Court of Appeals

17 for the District of Columbia Circuit.

18 ‘‘(b) DEADLINE FOR COMMENCING ACTION.— A civil

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

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

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

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

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

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

25 the circumstances would not have known, such party may
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1 bring a civil action no later than 180 days after the date

2 such party acquired actual or constructive knowledge or

3 such decision, action, or failure to act.

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

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

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

7 matter.

8 ‘‘SEC. 503. LICENSING OF FACILITY EXPANSIONS AND

9 TRANSSHIPMENTS.

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

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

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

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

14 1983, to expand the spent nuclear fuel storage capacity

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

16 use of high-density fuel storage racks, fuel rod compac17 tion, the transshipment of spent nuclear fuel to another

18 civilian nuclear power reactor within the same utility sys19 tem, the construction of additional spent nuclear fuel pool

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

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

22 opportunity for oral argument with respect to any matter

23 which the Commission determines to be in controversy

24 among the parties. The oral argument shall be preceded
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1 by such discovery procedures as the rules of the Commis2 sion shall provide. The Commission shall require each

3 party, including the Commission staff, to submit in writ4 ten form, at the time of the oral argument, a summary

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

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

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

8 or written submission may be relied upon by the parties

9 during oral argument. Of the materials that may be sub10 mitted by the parties during oral argument, the Commis11 sion shall only consider those facts and data that are sub12 mitted in the form of sworn testimony or written submis13 sion.

14 ‘‘(b) ADJUDICATORY HEARING.—

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

16 oral argument under subsection (a), the Commission

17 shall designate any disputed question of fact, to18 gether with any remaining questions of law, for reso19 lution in an adjudicatory hearing only if it deter20 mines that—

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

22 dispute of fact which can only be resolved with

23 sufficient accuracy by the introduction of evi24 dence in an adjudicatory hearing; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the decision of the Commission is

2 likely to depend in whole or in part on the reso3 lution of such dispute.

4 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—In making a deter5 mination under this subsection, the Commission—

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

7 facts that are in genuine and substantial dis8 pute, the reason why the decision of the agency

9 is likely to depend on the resolution of such

10 facts, and the reason why an adjudicatory hear11 ing is likely to resolve the dispute; and

12 ‘‘(B) shall not consider—

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

14 construction, or operation of any civilian

15 nuclear power reactor already licensed to

16 operate at such site, or any civilian nuclear

17 power reactor to which a construction per18 mit has been granted at such site, unless

19 the Commission determines that any such

20 issue substantially affects the design, con21 struction, or operation of the facility or ac22 tivity for which such license application,

23 authorization, or amendment is being con24 sidered; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) any siting or design issue fully

2 considered and decided by the Commission

3 in connection with the issuance of a con4 struction permit or operating license for a

5 civilian nuclear power reactor at such site,

6 unless—

7 ‘‘(I) such issue results from any

8 revision of siting or design criteria by

9 the Commission following such deci10 sion; and

11 ‘‘(II) the Commission determines

12 that such issue substantially affects

13 the design, construction, or operation

14 of the facility or activity for which

15 such license application, authorization,

16 or amendment is being considered.

17 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—The provisions of para18 graph (2)(B) shall apply only with respect to li19 censes, authorizations, or amendments to licenses or

20 authorizations, applied for under the Atomic Energy

21 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) before Decem22 ber 31, 2005.

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

24 section shall not apply to the first application for a
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1 license or license amendment received by the Com2 mission to expand onsite spent fuel storage capacity

3 by the use of a new technology not previously ap4 proved for use at any nuclear power plant by the

5 Commission.

6 ‘‘(c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No court shall hold unlaw7 ful or set aside a decision of the Commission in any pro8 ceeding described in subsection (a) because of a failure

9 by the Commission to use a particular procedure pursuant

10 to this section unless—

11 ‘‘(1) an objection to the procedure used was

12 presented to the Commission in a timely fashion or

13 there are extraordinary circumstances that excuse

14 the failure to present a timely objection; and

15 ‘‘(2) the court finds that such failure has pre16 cluded a fair consideration and informed resolution

17 of a significant issue of the proceeding taken as a

18 whole.

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

20 ‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONAL ACTION REQUIRED.—The Sec21 retary may not conduct site-specific activities with respect

22 to a second repository unless Congress has specifically au23 thorized and appropriated funds for such activities.

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

25 President and to Congress on or after January 1, 2007,
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1 but not later than January 1, 2010, on the need for a

2 second repository.

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

4 RADIOACTIVE WASTE SITE CLOSURE.

5 ‘‘(a) FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS.—

6 (1) STANDARDS AND INSTRUCTIONS.—The

7 Commission shall establish by rule, regulation, or

8 order, after public notice, and in accordance with

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

10 U.S.C. 2231), such standards and instructions as

11 the Commission may deem necessary or desirable to

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

13 low-level radioactive waste that an adequate bond,

14 surety, or other financial arrangement (as deter15 mined by the Commission) will be provided by a li16 censee to permit completion of all requirements es17 tablished by the Commission for the decontamina18 tion, decommissioning, site closure, and reclamation

19 of sites, structures, and equipment used in conjunc20 tion with such low-level radioactive waste. Such fi21 nancial arrangements shall be provided and ap22 proved by the Commission, or, in the case of sites

23 within the boundaries of any agreement State under

24 section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42
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1 U.S.C. 2021), by the appropriate State or State en2 tity, prior to issuance of licenses for low-level radio3 active waste disposal or, in the case of licenses in ef4 fect on January 7, 1983, prior to termination of

5 such licenses.

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

7 ARRANGEMENTS.—If the Commission determines

8 that any long-term maintenance or monitoring, or

9 both, will be necessary at a site described in para10 graph (1), the Commission shall ensure before termi11 nation of the license involved that the licensee has

12 made available such bonding, surety, or other finan13 cial arrangements as may be necessary to ensure

14 that any necessary long-term maintenance or mon15 itoring needed for such site will be carried out by

16 the person having title and custody for such site fol17 lowing license termination.

18 ‘‘(b) TITLE AND CUSTODY.—

19 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Sec20 retary shall have authority to assume title and cus21 tody of low-level radioactive waste and the land on

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

23 owner of such waste and land and following termi24 nation of the license issued by the Commission for

25 such disposal, if the Commission determines that—
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1 ‘‘(A) the requirements of the Commission

2 for site closure, decommissioning, and decon3 tamination have been met by the licensee in4 volved and that such licensee is in compliance

5 with the provisions of subsection (a);

6 ‘‘(B) such title and custody will be trans7 ferred to the Secretary without cost to the Fed8 eral Government; and

9 ‘‘(C) Federal ownership and management

10 of such site is necessary or desirable in order to

11 protect the public health and safety, and the

12 environment.

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

14 title and custody of any such waste and land under

15 this subsection, the Secretary shall maintain such

16 waste and land in a manner that will protect the

17 public health and safety, and the environment.

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

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

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

21 the Secretary, upon request of the owner of the site in22 volved, shall assume title and custody of such waste and

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

24 decontaminated and stabilized in accordance with the re25 quirements established by the Commission and when such
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1 owner has made adequate financial arrangements ap2 proved by the Commission for the long-term maintenance

3 and monitoring of such site.

4 ‘‘SEC. 506. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION TRAINING

5 AUTHORIZATION.

6 ‘‘The Commission is authorized and directed to pro7 mulgate regulations, or other appropriate regulatory guid8 ance, for the training and qualifications of civilian nuclear

9 power plant operators, supervisors, technicians, and other

10 appropriate operating personnel. Such regulations or guid11 ance shall establish simulator training requirements for

12 applicants for civilian nuclear power plant operator li13 censes and for operator requalification programs; require14 ments governing Commission administration of requali15 fication examinations; requirements for operating tests at

16 civilian nuclear power plant simulators, and instructional

17 requirements for civilian nuclear power plant licensee per18 sonnel training programs.

19 ‘‘SEC. 507. EMPLACEMENT SCHEDULE.

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

21 in accordance with the following:

22 ‘‘(1) Emplacement priority ranking shall be de23 termined by the Department’s annual ‘Acceptance

24 Priority Ranking’ report.
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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary’s spent fuel emplacement

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

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

4 2001; 2,000 MTU in fiscal year 2002 and 2,000

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

6 2004; and 3,000 MTU annually thereafter.

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

8 by November 30, 1999 at the rates specified in subsection

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

10 thereafter is less than that which would have been accept11 ed under the emplacement rate specified in subsection (a),

12 the Secretary shall, as a mitigation measure, adjust the

13 emplacement schedule upward such that within 5 years

14 of the start of emplacement by the Secretary,

15 ‘‘(1) the total quantity accepted by the Sec16 retary is consistent with the total quantity that the

17 Secretary would have accepted if the Secretary had

18 began emplacement in fiscal year 2000, and

19 ‘‘(2) thereafter the emplacement rate is equiva20 lent to the rate that would be in place pursuant to

21 paragraph (a) above if the Secretary had commenced

22 emplacement in fiscal year 2000.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 508. TRANSFER OF TITLE.

2 ‘‘(a) Acceptance by the Secretary of any spent nu3 clear fuel or high-level radioactive waste shall constitute

4 a transfer of title to the Secretary.

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

6 enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997, the

7 Secretary is authorized to accept all spent nuclear fuel

8 withdrawn from Dairyland Power Cooperative’s La Crosse

9 Reactor and, upon acceptance, shall provide Dairyland

10 Power Cooperative with evidence of the title transfer. Im11 mediately upon the Secretary’s acceptance of such spent

12 nuclear fuel, the Secretary shall assume all responsibility

13 and liability for the interim storage and permanent dis14 posal thereof and is authorized to compensate Dairyland

15 Power Cooperative for any costs related to operating and

16 maintaining facilities necessary for such storage from the

17 date of acceptance until the Secretary removes the spent

18 nuclear fuel from the La Crosse Reactor site.’’

19 ‘‘SEC. 509. DECOMMISSIONING PILOT PROGRAM.

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

21 to establish a Decommissioning Pilot Program to decom22 mission and decontaminate the sodium-cooled fast breeder

23 experimental test-site reactor located in northwest Arkan24 sas.
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1 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—No funds from the Nuclear Waste

2 Fund may be used for the Decommissioning Pilot Pro3 gram.

4 ‘‘SEC. 510. WATER RIGHTS.

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

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

7 construed to constitute either an express or implied Fed8 eral reservation of water or water rights for any purpose

9 arising under this Act.

10 ‘‘(b) ACQUISITION AND EXERCISE OF WATER

11 RIGHTS UNDER NEVADA LAW.—The United States may

12 acquire and exercise such water rights as it deems nec13 essary to carry out its responsibilities under this Act pur14 suant to the substantive and procedural requirements of

15 the State of Nevada. Nothing in this Act shall be con16 strued to authorize the use of eminent domain by the

17 United States to acquire water rights for such lands.

18 ‘‘(c) EXERCISE OF WATER RIGHTS GENERALLY

19 UNDER NEVADA LAWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be con20 strued to limit the exercise of water rights as provided

21 under Nevada State laws.

22 ‘‘TITLE VI—NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL

23 REVIEW BOARD

24 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS.

25 ‘‘For purposes of this title—
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1 ‘‘(1) CHAIRMAN.—The term ‘Chairman’ means

2 the Chairman of the Nuclear Waste Technical Re3 view Board.

4 ‘‘(2) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the Nu5 clear Waste Technical Review Board continued

6 under section 602.

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

8 ‘‘(a) CONTINUATION OF THE NUCLEAR WASTE

9 TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD.—The Nuclear Waste Tech10 nical Review Board, established under section 502(a) of

11 the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 as constituted prior

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

13 of 1997, shall continue in effect subsequent to the date

14 of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997.

15 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.—

16 ‘‘(1) NUMBER.—The Board shall consist of 11

17 members who shall be appointed by the President

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

19 from among persons nominated by the National

20 Academy of Sciences in accordance with paragraph

21 (3).

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

23 member of the Board to serve as Chairman.

24 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—
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1 ‘‘(A) NOMINATIONS.—The National Acad2 emy of Sciences shall, not later than 90 days

3 after December 22, 1987, nominate not less

4 than 22 persons for appointment to the Board

5 from among persons who meet the qualifica6 tions described in subparagraph (C).

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

8 of Sciences shall nominate not less than 2 per9 sons to fill any vacancy on the Board from

10 among persons who meet the qualifications de11 scribed in subparagraph (C).

12 ‘‘(C) NOMINEES.—

13 ‘‘(i) Each person nominated for ap14 pointment to the Board shall be—

15 ‘‘(I) eminent in a field of science

16 or engineering, including environ17 mental sciences; and

18 ‘‘(II) selected solely on the basis

19 of established records of distinguished

20 service.

21 ‘‘(ii) The membership of the Board

22 shall be representatives of the broad range

23 of scientific and engineering disciplines re24 lated to activities under this title.
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1 ‘‘(iii) No person shall be nominated

2 for appointment to the Board who is an

3 employee of—

4 ‘‘(I) the Department of Energy;

5 ‘‘(II) a national laboratory under

6 contract with the Department of En7 ergy; or

8 ‘‘(III) an entity performing spent

9 nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive

10 waste activities under contract with

11 the Department of Energy.

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

13 shall be filled by the nomination and appointment

14 process described in paragraphs (1) and (3).

15 ‘‘(5) TERMS.—Members of the Board shall be

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

17 commence 120 days after December 22, 1987, ex18 cept that of the 11 members first appointed to the

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

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

21 time of appointment, except that a member of the

22 Board whose term has expired may continue to serve

23 as a member of the Board until such member’s suc24 cessor has taken office.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 603. FUNCTIONS.

2 The Board shall limit its evaluations to the technical

3 and scientific validity solely of the following activities un4 dertaken directly by the Secretary after December 22,

5 1987—

6 ‘‘(1) site characterization activities; and

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

8 packaging or transportation of spent nuclear fuel or

9 high-level radioactive waste.

10 ‘‘SEC. 604. INVESTIGATORY POWERS.

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

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

13 hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places,

14 take such testimony, and receive such evidence, as the

15 Board considers appropriate. Any member of the Board

16 may administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses appear17 ing before the Board. The Secretary or the Secretary’s

18 designee or designees shall not be required to appear be19 fore the Board or any element of the Board for more than

20 12 working days per calendar year.

21 ‘‘(b) PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) RESPONSE TO INQUIRIES.—Upon the re23 quest of the Chairman or a majority of the members

24 of the Board, and subject to existing law, the Sec25 retary (or any contractor of the Secretary) shall pro26 vide the Board with such records, files, papers, data,
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1 or information that is generally available to the pub2 lic as may be necessary to respond to any inquiry of

3 the Board under this title.

4 ‘‘(2) EXTENT.—Subject to existing law, infor5 mation obtainable under paragraph (1) may include

6 drafts of products and documentation of work in

7 progress.

8 ‘‘SEC. 605. COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Board shall

10 be paid at the rate of pay payable for level III of the Exec11 utive Schedule for each day (including travel time) such

12 member is engaged in the work of the Board.

13 ‘‘(b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the

14 Board may receive travel expenses, including per diem in

15 lieu of subsidence, in the same manner as is permitted

16 under sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States

17 Code.

18 ‘‘SEC. 606. STAFF.

19 ‘‘(a) CLERICAL STAFF.—

20 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF CHAIRMAN.—Subject to

21 paragraph (2), the Chairman may appoint and fix

22 the compensation of such clerical staff as may be

23 necessary to discharge the responsibilities of the

24 Board.
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1 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONS OF TITLE 5.—Clerical staff

2 shall be appointed subject to the provisions of title

3 5, United States Code, governing appointments in

4 the competitive service, and shall be paid in accord5 ance with the provisions of chapter 51 and sub6 chapter III of chapter 3 of such title relating to clas7 sification and General Schedule pay rates.

8 ‘‘(b) PROFESSIONAL STAFF.—

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF CHAIRMAN.—Subject to

10 paragraphs (2) and (3), the Chairman may appoint

11 and fix the compensation of such professional staff

12 as may be necessary to discharge the responsibilities

13 of the Board.

14 ‘‘(2) NUMBER.—Not more than 10 professional

15 staff members may be appointed under this sub16 section.

17 ‘‘(3) TITLE 5.—Professional staff members may

18 be appointed without regard to the provisions of title

19 5, United States Code, governing appointments in

20 the competitive service, and may be paid without re21 gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter

22 III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classifica23 tion and General Schedule pay rates, except that no

24 individual so appointed may receive pay in excess of
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1 the annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–18 of

2 the General Schedule.

3 ‘‘SEC. 607. SUPPORT SERVICES.

4 ‘‘(a) GENERAL SERVICES.—To the extent permitted

5 by law and requested by the Chairman, the Administrator

6 of General Services shall provide the Board with necessary

7 administrative services, facilities, and support on a reim8 bursable basis.

9 ‘‘(b) ACCOUNTING, RESEARCH, AND TECHNOLOGY

10 ASSESSMENT SERVICES.—The Comptroller General and

11 the Librarian of Congress shall, to the extent permitted

12 by law and subject to the availability of funds, provide the

13 Board with such facilities, support, funds and services, in14 cluding staff, as may be necessary for the effective per15 formance of the functions of the Board.

16 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.—Upon the request of

17 the Chairman, the Board may secure directly from the

18 head of any department or agency of the United States

19 information necessary to enable it to carry out this title.

20 ‘‘(d) MAILS.—The Board may use the United States

21 mails in the same manner and under the same conditions

22 as other departments and agencies of the United States.

23 ‘‘(e) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—Subject to such

24 rules as may be prescribed by the Board, the Chairman

25 may procure temporary and intermittent services under
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1 section 3109(b) of title 5 of the United States Code, but

2 at rates for individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent

3 of the maximum annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–

4 18 of the General Schedule.

5 ‘‘SEC. 608. REPORT.

6 ‘‘The Board shall report not less than two times per

7 year to Congress and the Secretary its findings, conclu8 sions, and recommendations.

9 ‘‘SEC. 609. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for expendi11 tures such sums as may be necessary to carry out the pro12 visions of this title.

13 ‘‘SEC. 610. TERMINATION OF THE BOARD.

14 ‘‘The Board shall cease to exist not later than one

15 year after the date on which the Secretary begins disposal

16 of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste in the

17 repository.

18 ‘‘TITLE VII—MANAGEMENT REFORM

19 ‘‘SEC. 701. MANAGEMENT REFORM INITIATIVES.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is directed to take

21 actions as necessary to improve the management of the

22 civilian radioactive waste management program to ensure

23 that the program is operated, to the maximum extent

24 practicable, in like manner as a private business.

25 ‘‘(b) AUDITS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) STANDARD.—The Office of Civilian Radio2 active Waste Management, its contractors, and sub3 contractors at all tiers, shall conduct, or have con4 ducted, audits and examinations of their operations

5 in accordance with the usual and customary prac6 tices of private corporations engaged in large nuclear

7 construction projects consistent with its role in the

8 program.

9 ‘‘(2) TIME.—The management practices and

10 performances of the Office of Civilian Radioactive

11 Waste Management shall be audited every 5 years

12 by an independent management consulting firm with

13 significant experience in similar audits of private

14 corporations engaged in large nuclear construction

15 projects. The first such audit shall be conducted 5

16 years after the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Pol17 icy Act of 1997.

18 ‘‘(3) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The Comptrol19 ler General of the United States shall annually make

20 an audit of the Office, in accordance with such regu21 lations as the Comptroller General may prescribe.

22 The Comptroller General shall have access to such

23 books, records, accounts, and other materials of the

24 Office as the Comptroller General determines to be

25 necessary for the preparation of such audit. The
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1 Comptroller General shall submit to the Congress a

2 report on the results of each audit conducted under

3 this section.

4 ‘‘(4) TIME.—No audit contemplated by this

5 subsection shall take longer than 30 days to con6 duct. An audit report shall be issued in final form

7 no longer than 60 days after the audit is com8 menced.

9 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.—All audit reports

10 shall be public documents and available to any indi11 vidual upon request.

12 ‘‘(d) VALUE ENGINEERING.—The Secretary shall

13 create a value engineering function within the Office of

14 Civilian Radioactive Waste Management that reports di15 rectly to the Director, which shall carry out value engi16 neering functions in accordance with the usual and cus17 tomary practices of private corporations engaged in large

18 nuclear construction projects.

19 ‘‘(e) SITE CHARACTERIZATION.—The Secretary shall

20 employ, on an on-going basis, integrated performance

21 modeling to identify appropriate parameters for the re22 maining site characterization effort and to eliminate stud23 ies of parameters that are shown not to affect long-term

24 repository performance.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 702. REPORTING.

2 ‘‘(a) INITIAL REPORT.—Within 180 days of enact3 ment of this section, the Secretary shall report to Con4 gress on its planned actions for implementing the provi5 sions of this Act, including the development of the Inte6 grated Waste Management System. Such report shall in7 clude—

8 ‘‘(1) an analysis of the Secretary’s progress in

9 meeting its statutory and contractual obligation to

10 accept title to, possession of, and delivery of spent

11 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste begin12 ning no later than November 30, 1999, and in ac13 cordance with the acceptance schedule;

14 ‘‘(2) a detailed schedule and timeline showing

15 each action that the Secretary intends to take to

16 meet the Secretary’s obligations under this Act and

17 the contracts;

18 ‘‘(3) a detailed description of the Secretary’s

19 contingency plans in the event that the Secretary is

20 unable to meet the planned schedule and timeline;

21 and

22 ‘‘(4) an analysis by the Secretary of its funding

23 needs for fiscal years 1997 through 2001.

24 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORTS.—On each anniversary of the

25 submittal of the report required by subsection (a), the Sec26 retary shall make annual reports to the Congress for the
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1 purpose of updating the information contained in such re2 port. The annual reports shall be brief and shall notify

3 the Congress of:

4 ‘‘(1) any modifications to the Secretary’s sched5 ule and timeline for meeting its obligations under

6 this Act;

7 ‘‘(2) the reasons for such modifications, and the

8 status of the implementation of any of the Sec9 retary’s contingency plans; and

10 ‘‘(3) the Secretary’s analysis of its funding

11 needs for the ensuing 5 fiscal years.’’

12 ‘‘SEC. 703. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 This Act shall become effective one day after enact14 ment.’’.

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