105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 104

AN ACT

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,
2

S 104 ES

1 That the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 is amended

2 to read as follows:

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

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

5 ‘Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997’.

6 ‘‘(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

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

‘‘Sec. 2. Definitions.

‘‘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. Viability assessment and Presidential determination

‘‘Sec. 205. Interim storage facility.

‘‘Sec. 206. Permanent repository.

‘‘Sec. 207. Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

‘‘Sec. 208. 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.
3

S 104 ES

‘‘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.

‘‘TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS

‘‘Sec. 801. Sense of the Senate.

‘‘Sec. 802. Effective date.

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 Sec-
4

S 104 ES

1 retary of the Interior finds, upon the petition of

2 the appropriate governmental officials of the

3 tribe, that such effects are both substantial and

4 adverse to the tribe.

5 ‘‘(3) AFFECTED UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERN6 MENT.—The term ‘affected unit of local government’

7 means the unit of local government with jurisdiction

8 over the site of a repository or interim storage facil9 ity. Such term may, at the discretion of the Sec10 retary, include other units of local government that

11 are contiguous with such unit.

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

13 The term ‘atomic energy defense activity’ means any

14 activity of the Secretary performed in whole or in

15 part in carrying out any of the following functions:

16 ‘‘(A) Naval reactors development.

17 ‘‘(B) Weapons activities including defense

18 inertial confinement fusion.

19 ‘‘(C) Verification and control technology.

20 ‘‘(D) Defense nuclear materials produc21 tion.

22 ‘‘(E) Defense nuclear waste and materials

23 byproducts management.

24 ‘‘(F) Defense nuclear materials security

25 and safeguards and security investigations.
5

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(G) Defense research and development.

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

3 The term ‘civilian nuclear power reactor’ means a ci4 vilian nuclear power plant required to be licensed

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

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

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

8 means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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

10 the contracts, executed prior to the date of enact11 ment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997,

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

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

14 generates or holds title to spent nuclear fuel or high15 level radioactive waste of domestic origin for accept16 ance of such waste or fuel by the Secretary and the

17 payment of fees to offset the Secretary’s expendi18 tures, and any subsequent contracts executed by the

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

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

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

22 contracts.

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

24 means the Department of Energy.
6

S 104 ES

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

2 the emplacement in a repository of spent nuclear

3 fuel, high-level radioactive waste, or other highly ra4 dioactive material with no foreseeable intent of re5 covery, whether or not such emplacement permits re6 covery of such material for any future purpose.

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

8 system’ means all natural barriers and engineered

9 barriers, and engineered systems and components,

10 that prevent the release of radionuclides from the re11 pository.

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

13 ‘emplacement schedule’ means the schedule estab14 lished by the Secretary in accordance with section

15 507(a) for emplacement of spent nuclear fuel and

16 high-level radioactive waste at the interim storage

17 facility.

18 ‘‘(13) ENGINEERED BARRIERS AND ENGI19 NEERED SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS.—The terms

20 ‘engineered barriers’ and ‘engineered systems and

21 components’, mean man-made components of a dis22 posal system. These terms include the spent nuclear

23 fuel or high-level radioactive waste form, spent nu24 clear fuel package or high-level radioactive waste
7

S 104 ES

1 package, and other materials placed over and around

2 such packages.

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

4 term ‘high-level radioactive waste’ means—

5 ‘‘(A) the highly radioactive material result6 ing from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel,

7 including liquid waste produced directly in re8 processing and any solid material derived from

9 such liquid waste that contains fission products

10 in sufficient concentrations; and

11 ‘‘(B) other highly radioactive material that

12 the Commission, consistent with existing law,

13 determines by rule requires permanent isola14 tion, which includes any low-level radioactive

15 waste with concentrations of radionuclides that

16 exceed the limits established by the Commission

17 for class C radioactive waste, as defined by sec18 tion 61.55 of title 10, Code of Federal Regula19 tions, as in effect on January 26, 1983.

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

21 agency’ means any Executive agency, as defined in

22 section 105 of title 5, United States Code.

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

24 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga25 nized group or community of Indians recognized as
8

S 104 ES

1 eligible for the services provided to Indians by the

2 Secretary of the Interior because of their status as

3 Indians including any Alaska Native village, as de4 fined in section 3(c) of the Alaska Native Claims

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

6 ‘‘(17) INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.—

7 The term ‘integrated management system’ means

8 the system developed by the Secretary for the ac9 ceptance, transportation, storage, and disposal of

10 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

11 under title II of this Act.

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

13 ‘interim storage facility’ means a facility designed

14 and constructed for the receipt, handling, possession,

15 safeguarding, and storage of spent nuclear fuel and

16 high-level radioactive waste in accordance with title

17 II of this Act.

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

19 term ‘interim storage facility site’ means the specific

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

21 designated by the Secretary and withdrawn and re22 served in accordance with this Act for the location

23 of the interim storage facility.
9

S 104 ES

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

2 term ‘low-level radioactive waste’ means radioactive

3 material that—

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

5 radioactive waste, transuranic waste, or byprod6 uct material as defined in section 11 e.(2) of

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

8 2014(e)(2)); and

9 ‘‘(B) the Commission, consistent with ex10 isting law, classifies as low-level radioactive

11 waste.

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

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

14 of uranium in the original unirradiated fuel element

15 whether or not the spent nuclear fuel has been re16 processed.

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

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

19 nuclear waste fund established in the United States

20 Treasury prior to the date of enactment of this Act

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

22 Act of 1982.

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

24 Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management es25 tablished within the Department prior to the date of
10

S 104 ES

1 enactment of this Act under the provisions of the

2 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

3 ‘‘(24) PROGRAM APPROACH.—The term ‘pro4 gram approach’ means the Civilian Radioactive

5 Waste Management Program Plan, dated May 6,

6 1996, as modified by this Act, and as amended from

7 time to time by the Secretary in accordance with

8 this Act.

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

10 means a system designed and constructed under title

11 II of this Act for the geologic disposal of spent nu12 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, including

13 both surface and subsurface areas at which spent

14 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste receipt,

15 handling, possession, safeguarding, and storage are

16 conducted.

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

18 means the Secretary of Energy.

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

20 ‘site characterization’ means activities, whether in a

21 laboratory or in the field, undertaken to establish

22 the geologic condition and the ranges of the param23 eters of a candidate site relevant to the location of

24 a repository, including borings, surface excavations,

25 excavations of exploratory facilities, limited sub-
11

S 104 ES

1 surface lateral excavations and borings, and in situ

2 testing needed to evaluate the licensability of a can3 didate site for the location of a repository, but not

4 including preliminary borings and geophysical test5 ing needed to assess whether site characterization

6 should be undertaken.

7 ‘‘(28) SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL.—The term

8 ‘spent nuclear fuel’ means fuel that has been with9 drawn from a nuclear reactor following irradiation,

10 the constituent elements of which have not been sep11 arated by reprocessing.

12 ‘‘(29) STORAGE.—The term ‘storage’ means re13 tention of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive

14 waste with the intent to recover such waste or fuel

15 for subsequent use, processing, or disposal.

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

17 has the same definition as that set forth in section

18 103(j) of the Federal Land Policy and Management

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

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

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

22 of Nevada that is withdrawn and reserved in accord23 ance with this Act for the location of a repository.
12

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(32) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis2 trator’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency.

4 ‘‘(33) SUITABLE.—The term ‘suitable’ means

5 that there is reasonable assurance that the site fea6 tures of a repository and the engineered barriers

7 contained therein will allow the repository, as an

8 overall system, to provide containment and isolation

9 of radionuclides sufficient to meet applicable stand10 ards for protection of public health and safety.

11 ‘‘TITLE I—OBLIGATIONS

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

13 ‘‘(a) DISPOSAL.—The Secretary shall develop and op14 erate an integrated management system for the storage

15 and permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high16 level radioactive waste.

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

18 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from

19 facilities designated by contract holders at an interim stor20 age facility pursuant to section 205 in accordance with

21 the emplacement schedule, beginning no later than 18

22 months after issuance of a license for an interim storage

23 facility under section 205(g).

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

25 for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level
13

S 104 ES

1 radioactive waste accepted by the Secretary. The Sec2 retary shall procure all systems and components necessary

3 to transport spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

4 waste from facilities designated by contract holders to and

5 among facilities comprising the Integrated Management

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

7 10a–10c), unless the Secretary shall determine it to be

8 inconsistent with the public interest, or the cost to be un9 reasonable, all such systems and components procured by

10 the Secretary shall be manufactured in the United States,

11 with the exception of any transportable storage systems

12 purchased by contract holders prior to the effective date

13 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997 and procured

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

15 integrated management system.

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

17 Secretary shall expeditiously pursue the development of

18 each component of the integrated management system,

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

20 management and contracting practices.

21 ‘‘(e) PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION.—In admin22 istering the Integrated Management System, the Sec23 retary shall, to the maximum extent possible, utilize, em24 ploy, procure and contract with, the private sector to fulfill
14

S 104 ES

1 the Secretary’s obligations and requirements under this

2 Act.

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

4 intended to or shall be construed to modify—

5 ‘‘(1) any right of a contract holder under sec6 tion 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

7 1982, or under a contract executed prior to the date

8 of enactment of this Act under that section; or

9 ‘‘(2) obligations imposed upon the Federal Gov10 ernment by the United States District Court of

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

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

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

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

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

16 deadline for the acceptance or emplacement of spent nu17 clear fuel or high-level radioactive waste for storage or dis18 posal under this Act.

19 ‘‘TITLE II—INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT

20 SYSTEM

21 ‘‘SEC. 201. INTERMODAL TRANSFER.

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

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

24 radioactive waste from the mainline rail line at Caliente,

25 Nevada, to the interim storage facility site.
15

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(b) CAPABILITY DATE.—The Secretary shall de2 velop the capability to commence rail to truck intermodal

3 transfer at Caliente, Nevada, no later than 18 months

4 after issuance of a license under section 205(g) for an in5 terim storage facility designated under section 204(c)(1).

6 Intermodal transfer and related activities are incidental to

7 the interstate transportation of spent nuclear fuel and

8 high-level radioactive waste.

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

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

11 transfer at Caliente, Nevada.

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

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

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

15 Lincoln County, Nevada, as required to facilitate replace16 ment of land and city wastewater disposal facilities nec17 essary to commence intermodal transfer pursuant to this

18 Act. Replacement of land and city wastewater disposal ac19 tivities shall occur no later than 2 years after the effective

20 date of this section.

21 ‘‘(e) NOTICE AND MAP.—No later than 6 months

22 after the effective date of this section, the Secretary

23 shall—
16

S 104 ES

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 Such map and legal description shall have the same force

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

13 legal descriptions and make minor adjustments in the

14 boundaries.

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

17 truck transport between Caliente, Nevada, and the interim

18 storage facility site as necessary to facilitate year-round

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

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

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

24 Nevada, to provide advice to the Commission regarding

25 intermodal transfer and to facilitate on-site representa-
17

S 104 ES

1 tion. Reasonable expenses of such representation shall be

2 paid by the Secretary.

3 ‘‘(h) BENEFITS AGREEMENT.—

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

5 enter into an agreement with the City of Caliente

6 and Lincoln County, Nevada concerning the inte7 grated management system.

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

9 shall contain such terms and conditions, including

10 such financial and institutional arrangements, as the

11 Secretary and agreement entity determine to be rea12 sonable and appropriate and shall contain such pro13 visions as are necessary to preserve any right to par14 ticipation or compensation of the City of Caliente

15 and Lincoln County, Nevada.

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

17 under this subsection may be amended only with the

18 mutual consent of the parties to the amendment and

19 terminated only in accordance with paragraph (4).

20 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall ter21 minate the agreement under this subsection if any

22 major element of the integrated management system

23 may not be completed.

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

25 in effect at any one time.
18

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(6) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Decisions of the Sec2 retary under this section are not subject to judicial

3 review.

4 ‘‘(i) CONTENT OF AGREEMENT.—

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

6 which the City of Caliente and Lincoln County is en7 titled to under this title, the Secretary shall make

8 payments under the benefits agreement in accord9 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

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

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

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

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

19 prior to first spent fuel receipt under paragraph

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

21 benefits agreement and thereafter on the anniver22 sary date of such execution. Annual payments after
19

S 104 ES

1 the first spent fuel receipt until closure of the facil2 ity under paragraph (1)(C) shall be made on the an3 niversary date of such first spent fuel receipt.

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

6 months after the last annual payment prior to the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 restrict the purposes for which the payments under

15 this section may be used.

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

18 such dispute, consistent with this Act and applicable

19 State law.

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

21 Secretary on a valid benefits agreement under this

22 section shall constitute a commitment by the United

23 States to make payments in accordance with such

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

25 ‘‘(j) INITIAL LAND CONVEYANCES.—
20

S 104 ES

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

2 hundred and twenty days after enactment of this

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

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

6 easements for utilities and ingress and egress to

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

8 right to improve those easements, are conveyed by

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

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

12 writing within 60 days of such date of enactment

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

14 the property, except that any lands conveyed to the

15 County of Lincoln under this subsection that are

16 subject to a Federal grazing permit or lease or a

17 similar federally granted permit or lease shall be

18 conveyed between 60 and 120 days of the earliest

19 time the Federal agency administering or granting

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

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

23 Lincoln County and the affected holder of the permit

24 or lease negotiate an agreement that allows for an

25 earlier conveyance.
21

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL CONVEYANCES.—Notwithstanding

2 any other law, the following public lands depicted on

3 the maps and legal descriptions dated October 11,

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

5 County of Lincoln, Nevada:

6 Map 10: Lincoln County, Parcel M, Indus7 trial Park Site

8 Map 11: Lincoln County, Parcel F, Mixed

9 Use Industrial Site

10 Map 13: Lincoln County, Parcel J, Mixed

11 Use, Alamo Community Expansion Area

12 Map 14: Lincoln County, Parcel E, Mixed

13 Use, Pioche Community Expansion Area

14 Map 15: Lincoln County, Parcel B, Land15 fill Expansion Site.

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

19 they were included in this Act. The Secretary may

20 correct clerical and typographical errors in the maps

21 and legal descriptions and make minor adjustments

22 in the boundaries of the sites.

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

24 the request of the County of Lincoln, Nevada, the
22

S 104 ES

1 Secretary of the Interior shall provide evidence of

2 title transfer.

3 ‘‘(k) This section shall become effective on the date

4 on which the Secretary submits a license application under

5 section 205 for an interim storage facility at a site des6 ignated under section 204(c)(1).

7 ‘‘SEC. 202. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.

8 ‘‘(a) TRANSPORTATION READINESS.—The Sec9 retary—

10 ‘‘(1) shall take such actions as are necessary

11 and appropriate to ensure that the Secretary is able

12 to transport safely spent nuclear fuel and high-level

13 radioactive waste from sites designated by the con14 tract holders to mainline transportation facilities

15 and from the mainline transportation facilities to the

16 interim storage facility or repository, using routes

17 that minimize, to the maximum practicable extent

18 consistent with Federal requirements governing

19 transportation of hazardous materials, transpor20 tation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio21 active waste through populated areas; and

22 ‘‘(2) not later than 24 months after the Sec23 retary submits a license application under section

24 205 for an interim storage facility shall, in consulta25 tion with the Secretary of Transportation and af-
23

S 104 ES

1 fected States and tribes, and after an opportunity

2 for public comment, develop and implement a com3 prehensive management plan that ensures safe

4 transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

5 radioactive waste from the sites designated by the

6 contract holders to the interim storage facility site.

7 ‘‘(b) TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In conjunction with the de9 velopment of the logistical plan in accordance with

10 subsection (a), the Secretary shall update and mod11 ify, as necessary, the Secretary’s transportation in12 stitutional plans to ensure that institutional issues

13 are addressed and resolved on a schedule to support

14 the commencement of transportation of spent nu15 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to the in16 terim storage facility.

17 ‘‘(2) MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—Among

18 other things, planning under paragraph (1) shall

19 provide a schedule and process for addressing and

20 implementing, as necessary—

21 ‘‘(A) transportation routing plans;

22 ‘‘(B) transportation contracting plans;

23 ‘‘(C) transportation training in accordance

24 with section 203;
24

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(D) public education regarding transpor2 tation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra3 dioactive waste; and

4 ‘‘(E) transportation tracking programs.

5 ‘‘(c) SHIPPING CAMPAIGN TRANSPORTATION

6 PLANS.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop

8 a transportation plan for the implementation of each

9 shipping campaign (as that term is defined by the

10 Secretary) from each site at which high-level nuclear

11 waste is stored, consistent with the principles and

12 procedures stated in Department of Energy Order

13 No. 460.2 and the Program Manager’s Guide.

14 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A shipping campaign

15 transportation plan shall—

16 ‘‘(A) be fully integrated with State and

17 tribal government notification, inspection, and

18 emergency response plans along the preferred

19 shipping route or State-designated alternative

20 route identified under subsection (d) (unless the

21 Secretary certifies in the plan that the State or

22 tribal government has failed to cooperate in

23 fully integrating the shipping campaign trans24 portation plan with the applicable State or trib25 al government plans); and
25

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(B) be consistent with the principles and

2 procedures developed for the safe transportation

3 of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation

4 Pilot Plant (unless the Secretary certifies in the

5 plan that a specific principle or procedure is in6 consistent with a provision of this Act).

7 ‘‘(d) SAFE SHIPPING ROUTES AND MODES.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall evalu9 ate the relative safety of the proposed shipping

10 routes and shipping modes from each shipping origin

11 to the interim storage facility or repository com12 pared with the safety of alternative modes and

13 routes.

14 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—The evaluation under

15 paragraph (1) shall be conducted in a manner con16 sistent with regulations promulgated by the Sec17 retary of Transportation under authority of chapter

18 51 of title 49, United States Code, and the Nuclear

19 Regulatory Commission under authority of the

20 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et

21 seq.), as applicable.

22 ‘‘(3) DESIGNATION OF PREFERRED SHIPPING

23 ROUTE AND MODE.—Following the evaluation under

24 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall designate pre25 ferred shipping routes and modes from each civilian
26

S 104 ES

1 nuclear power reactor and Department of Energy fa2 cility that stores spent nuclear fuel or other high3 level defense waste.

4 ‘‘(4) SELECTION OF PRIMARY SHIPPING

5 ROUTE.—If the Secretary designates more than 1

6 preferred route under paragraph (3), the Secretary

7 shall select a primary route after considering, at a

8 minimum, historical accident rates, population, sig9 nificant hazards, shipping time, shipping distance,

10 and mitigating measures such as limits on the speed

11 of shipments.

12 ‘‘(5) USE OF PRIMARY SHIPPING ROUTE AND

13 MODE.—Except in cases of emergency, for all ship14 ments conducted under this Act, the Secretary shall

15 cause the primary shipping route and mode or

16 State-designated alternative route under chapter 51

17 of title 49, United States Code, to be used. If a

18 route is designated as a primary route for any reac19 tor or Department of Energy facility, the Secretary

20 may use that route to transport spent nuclear fuel

21 or high-level radioactive waste from any other reac22 tor or Department of Energy facility.

23 ‘‘(6) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—

24 Following selection of the primary shipping routes,

25 or State-designated alternative routes, the Secretary
27

S 104 ES

1 shall focus training and technical assistance under

2 section 203(c) on those routes.

3 ‘‘(7) PREFERRED RAIL ROUTES.—

4 ‘‘(A) REGULATION.—Not later than 1 year

5 after the date of enactment of the Nuclear

6 Waste Policy Act of 1997, the Secretary of

7 Transportation, pursuant to authority under

8 other provisions of law, shall promulgate a reg9 ulation establishing procedures for the selection

10 of preferred routes for the transportation of

11 spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste by rail.

12 ‘‘(B) INTERIM PROVISION.—During the pe13 riod beginning on the date of enactment of the

14 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997 and ending

15 on the date of issuance of a final regulation

16 under subparagraph (A), rail transportation of

17 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

18 waste shall be conducted in accordance with

19 regulatory requirements in effect on that date

20 and with this section.

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.
28

S 104 ES

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

2 abide by regulations of the Commission regarding advance

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

5 waste under this Act.

6 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

8 ‘‘(A) STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.—As

9 provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary shall

10 provide technical assistance and funds to States

11 and Indian tribes for training of public safety

12 officials of appropriate units of State, local, and

13 tribal government. A State shall allocate to

14 local governments within the State a portion of

15 any funds that the Secretary provides to the

16 State for technical assistance and funding.

17 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS.—The

18 Secretary shall provide technical assistance and

19 funds for training directly to nonprofit em20 ployee organizations and joint labor-manage21 ment organizations that demonstrate experience

22 in implementing and operating worker health

23 and safety training and education programs

24 and demonstrate the ability to reach and in25 volve in training programs target populations of
29

S 104 ES

1 workers who are or will be directly engaged in

2 the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and

3 high-level radioactive waste, or emergency re4 sponse or post-emergency response with respect

5 to such transportation.

6 ‘‘(C) TRAINING.—Training under this sec7 tion—

8 ‘‘(i) shall cover procedures required

9 for safe routine transportation of materials

10 and procedures for dealing with emergency

11 response situations;

12 ‘‘(ii) shall be consistent with any

13 training standards established by the Sec14 retary of Transportation under subsection

15 (g); and

16 ‘‘(iii) shall include—

17 ‘‘(I) a training program applica18 ble to persons responsible for respond19 ing to emergency situations occurring

20 during the removal and transportation

21 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

22 radioactive waste;

23 ‘‘(II) instruction of public safety

24 officers in procedures for the com-
30

S 104 ES

1 mand and control of the response to

2 any incident involving the waste; and

3 ‘‘(III) instruction of radiological

4 protection and emergency medical per5 sonnel in procedures for responding to

6 an incident involving spent nuclear

7 fuel or high-level radioactive waste

8 being transported.

9 ‘‘(2) NO SHIPMENTS IF NO TRAINING.—(A)

10 There will be no shipments of spent nuclear fuel and

11 high-level radioactive waste through the jurisdiction

12 of any State or the reservation lands of any Indian

13 tribe eligible for grants under paragraph (3)(B)

14 until the Secretary has made a determination that

15 personnel in all State, local, and tribal jurisdictions

16 on primary and alternative shipping routes have met

17 acceptable standards of training for emergency re18 sponses to accidents involving spent nuclear fuel and

19 high-level nuclear waste, as established by the Sec20 retary, and unless technical assistance and funds to

21 implement procedures for the safe routine transpor22 tation and for dealing with emergency response situ23 ations under paragraph (1)(A) have been available

24 to a State or Indian tribe for at least 3 years prior

25 to any shipment: Provided, however, That the Sec-
31

S 104 ES

1 retary may ship spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra2 dioactive waste if technical assistance or funds have

3 not been made available due to (i) an emergency, in4 cluding the sudden and unforeseen closure of a high5 way or rail line or the sudden and unforeseen need

6 to remove spent fuel from a reactor because of an

7 accident, or (ii) the refusal to accept technical assist8 ance by a State or Indian tribe, or (iii) fraudulent

9 actions which violate Federal law governing the ex10 penditure of Federal funds.

11 ‘‘(B) In the event the Secretary is required to

12 transport spent fuel or high-level radioactive waste

13 through a jurisdiction prior to 3 years after the pro14 vision of technical assistance or funds to such juris15 diction, the Secretary shall, prior to such shipment,

16 hold meetings in each State and Indian reservation

17 through which the shipping route passes in order to

18 present initial shipment plans and receive comments.

19 Department of Energy personnel trained in emer20 gency response shall escort each shipment. Funds

21 and all Department of Energy training resources

22 shall be made available to States and Indian tribes

23 along the shipping route no later than three months

24 prior to the commencement of shipments: Provided,

25 however, That in no event shall such shipments ex-
32

S 104 ES

1 ceed 1,000 metric tons per year: Provided further,

2 That no such shipments shall be conducted more

3 than four years after the effective date of the Nu4 clear Waste Policy Act of 1997.

5 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To implement this

7 section, grants shall be made under section

8 401(c)(2).

9 ‘‘(B) GRANTS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF

10 PLANS.—

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary

12 shall make a grant of at least $150,000 to

13 each State through the jurisdiction of

14 which and each federally recognized Indian

15 tribe through the reservation lands of

16 which a shipment of spent nuclear fuel or

17 high-level radioactive waste will be made

18 under this Act for the purpose of develop19 ing a plan to prepare for such shipments.

20 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—A grant shall be

21 made under clause (i) only to a State or a

22 federally recognized Indian tribe that has

23 the authority to respond to incidents in24 volving shipments of hazardous material.
33

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(C) GRANTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF

2 PLANS.—

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Annual implemen4 tation grants shall be made to States and

5 Indian tribes that have developed a plan to

6 prepare for shipments under this Act

7 under subparagraph (B). The Secretary, in

8 submitting the annual departmental budg9 et to Congress for funding of implementa10 tion grants under this section, shall be

11 guided by the State and tribal plans devel12 oped under subparagraph (B). As part of

13 the Department of Energy’s annual budget

14 request, the Secretary shall report to Con15 gress on—

16 ‘‘(I) the funds requested by

17 States and federally recognized Indian

18 tribes to implement this subsection;

19 ‘‘(II) the amount requested by

20 the President for implementation; and

21 ‘‘(III) the rationale for any dis22 crepancies between the amounts re23 quested by States and federally recog24 nized Indian tribes and the amounts

25 requested by the President.
34

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATION.—Of funds avail2 able for grants under this subparagraph

3 for any fiscal year—

4 ‘‘(I) 25 percent shall be allocated

5 by the Secretary to ensure minimum

6 funding and program capability levels

7 in all States and Indian tribes based

8 on plans developed under subpara9 graph (B); and

10 ‘‘(II) 75 percent shall be allo11 cated to States and Indian tribes in

12 proportion to the number of shipment

13 miles that are projected to be made in

14 total shipments under this Act

15 through each jurisdiction.

16 ‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR SHIP17 MENTS.—Funds under paragraph (1) shall be pro18 vided for shipments to an interim storage facility or

19 repository, regardless of whether the interim storage

20 facility or repository is operated by a private entity

21 or by the Department of Energy.

22 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The Secretary shall con23 duct a program to educate the public regarding the trans24 portation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

25 waste, with an emphasis upon those States, units of local
35

S 104 ES

1 government, and Indian tribes through whose jurisdiction

2 the Secretary plans to transport substantial amounts of

3 spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste.

4 ‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE WITH TRANSPORTATION REGULA5 TIONS.—Any person that transports spent nuclear fuel or

6 high-level radioactive waste under the Nuclear Waste Pol7 icy Act of 1997, pursuant to a contract with the Secretary,

8 shall comply with all requirements governing such trans9 portation issued by the Federal, State and local govern10 ments, and Indian tribes, in the same way and to the same

11 extent that any person engaging in that transportation

12 that is in or affects interstate commerce must comply with

13 such requirements, as required by section 5126 of title 49,

14 United States Code.

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

16 in the interstate commerce of spent nuclear fuel or high17 level radioactive waste under contract to the Secretary

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

19 with the employee protection provisions of section 20109

20 of title 49, United States Code (in the case of employees

21 of railroad carriers) and section 31105 of title 49, United

22 States Code (in the case of employees operating commer23 cial motor vehicles), or the Commission (in the case of all

24 other employees).
36

S 104 ES

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

2 months after the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste

3 Policy Act of 1997, the Secretary of Transportation, pur4 suant to authority under other provisions of law, in con5 sultation with the Secretary of Labor and the Commission,

6 shall promulgate a regulation establishing training stand7 ards applicable to workers directly involved in the removal

8 and transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra9 dioactive waste. The regulation shall specify minimum

10 training standards applicable to workers, including mana11 gerial personnel. The regulation shall require that the em12 ployer possess evidence of satisfaction of the applicable

13 training standard before any individual may be employed

14 in the removal and transportation of spent nuclear fuel

15 and high-level radioactive waste.

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

17 in promulgating the regulation required by subparagraph

18 (1), that regulations promulgated by the Commission es19 tablish adequate training standards for workers, then the

20 Secretary of Transportation can refrain from promulgat21 ing additional regulations with respect to worker training

22 in such activities. The Secretary of Transportation and the

23 Commission shall work through their Memorandum of Un24 derstanding to ensure coordination of worker training

25 standards and to avoid duplicative regulation.
37

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(3) The training standards required to be promul2 gated under subparagraph (1) shall, among other things

3 deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of

4 Transportation, include the following provisions—

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

6 initial off site instruction and actual field experience

7 under the direct supervision of a trained, experi8 enced supervisor;

9 ‘‘(B) a requirement that onsite managerial per10 sonnel receive the same training as workers, and a

11 minimum number of additional hours of specialized

12 training pertinent to their managerial responsibil13 ities; and

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

15 responsible for responding to and cleaning up emer16 gency situations occurring during the removal and

17 transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

18 radioactive waste.

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

20 Secretary of Transportation, from general revenues, such

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

22 subsection.
38

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘SEC. 204. VIABILITY ASSESSMENT AND PRESIDENTIAL DE2 TERMINATION.

3 ‘‘(a) VIABILITY ASSESSMENT.—No later than De4 cember 1, 1998, the Secretary shall provide to the Presi5 dent and to the Congress a viability assessment of the

6 Yucca Mountain site. The viability assessment shall in7 clude—

8 ‘‘(1) the preliminary design concept for the crit9 ical elements of the repository and waste package;

10 ‘‘(2) a total system performance assessment,

11 based upon the preliminary design concept in para12 graph (1) of this subsection and the scientific data

13 and analysis available on June 30, 1998, describing

14 the probable behavior of the repository relative to

15 the overall system performance standard under sec16 tion 206(f) of this Act or, if the standard under sec17 tion 206(f) has not been promulgated, relative to an

18 estimate by the Secretary of an overall system per19 formance standard that is consistent with section

20 206(f);

21 ‘‘(3) a plan and cost estimate for the remaining

22 work required to complete the license application

23 under section 206(c) of this Act, and

24 ‘‘(4) an estimate of the costs to construct and

25 operate the repository in accordance with the pre-
39

S 104 ES

1 liminary design concept in paragraph (1) of this sub2 section.

3 ‘‘(b) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION.—No later

4 than March 1, 1999, the President, in his sole and

5 unreviewable discretion, may make a determination dis6 qualifying the Yucca Mountain site as a repository, based

7 on the President’s views that the preponderance of infor8 mation available at such time indicates that the Yucca

9 Mountain site is not suitable for development of a reposi10 tory of useful size. If the President makes a determination

11 under this subsection—

12 ‘‘(1) the Secretary shall cease all activities (ex13 cept necessary termination activities) at the Yucca

14 Mountain site and section 206 of this Act shall cease

15 to be in effect; and

16 ‘‘(2) no later than 6 months after such deter17 mination, the Secretary shall report to Congress on

18 the need for additional legislation relating to the

19 permanent disposal of nuclear waste.

20 ‘‘(c) PRELIMINARY SECRETARIAL DESIGNATION OF

21 INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY SITES.—

22 ‘‘(1) If the President does not make a deter23 mination under subsection (b) of this section, no

24 later than March 31, 1999, the Secretary shall make

25 a preliminary designation of a specific site within
40

S 104 ES

1 Area 25 of the Nevada Test Site for planning and

2 construction of an interim storage facility under sec3 tion 205.

4 ‘‘(2) 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 section (b), the President shall designate a site for

8 the construction of an interim storage facility. The

9 President shall not designate the Hanford Nuclear

10 Reservation in the State of Washington, and the Sa11 vannah River Site and Barnwell County in the State

12 of South Carolina, or the Oak Ridge Reservation in

13 the State of Tennessee, as a site for construction of

14 an interim storage facility. If the President does not

15 designate a site for the construction of an interim

16 storage facility, or the construction of an interim

17 storage facility at the designated site is not approved

18 by law within 24 months of the President’s deter19 mination that the Yucca Mountain site is not suit20 able for development as a repository, the interim

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

22 this Act is designated as the interim storage facility

23 site for purposes of section 205. The interim storage

24 facility site shall be deemed to be approved by law

25 for purposes of this paragraph.
41

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘SEC. 205. INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY.

2 ‘‘(a) NON-SITE-SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES.—As soon as

3 practicable after the date of enactment of the Nuclear

4 Waste Policy Act of 1997, the Secretary shall submit to

5 the Commission a topical safety analysis report containing

6 a generic design for an interim storage facility. If the Sec7 retary has submitted such a report prior to such date of

8 enactment, the report shall be deemed to have satisfied

9 the requirement in the preceding sentence. No later than

10 December 31, 1998, the Commission shall issue a safety

11 evaluation report approving or disapproving the generic

12 design submitted by the Secretary.

13 ‘‘(b) SITE-SPECIFIC AUTHORIZATION.—The Sec14 retary shall design, construct, and operate a facility for

15 the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

16 radioactive waste at the interim storage facility site des17 ignated under section 204 and licensed by the Commission

18 under this section. The Commission shall license the in19 terim storage facility in accordance with the Commission’s

20 regulations governing the licensing of independent storage

21 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste (10

22 CFR part 72). Such regulations shall be amended by the

23 Commission as necessary to implement the provisions of

24 this Act. The Commission may amend part 72 of title 10,

25 Code of Federal Regulations with regard to facilities not
42

S 104 ES

1 covered by this Act as deemed appropriate by the Commis2 sion.

3 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS.—

4 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall not commence con5 struction of an interim storage facility (which shall

6 mean taking actions within the meaning of the term

7 ‘commencement of construction’ contained in the

8 Commission’s regulations in section 72.3 of title 10,

9 Code of Federal Regulations) before the Commis10 sion, or an appropriate officer or Board of the Com11 mission, makes the finding under section 72.40(b) of

12 title 10, Code of Federal Regulations.

13 ‘‘(2) After the Secretary makes the preliminary

14 designation of an interim storage site under section

15 204, the Secretary may commence site data acquisi16 tion activities and design activities necessary to com17 plete license application and environmental report

18 under subsection (d) of this section.

19 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other applicable li20 censing requirement, the Secretary may utilize facili21 ties owned by the Federal Government on the date

22 of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

23 1997 and located within the boundaries of the in24 terim storage site, in connection with addressing any

25 imminent and substantial endangerment to public
43

S 104 ES

1 health and safety at the interim storage facility site,

2 prior to receiving a license from the Commission for

3 the interim storage facility, for purposes of fulfilling

4 requirements for retrievability during the first five

5 years of operation of the interim storage facility.

6 ‘‘(d) LICENSE APPLICATION.—No later than 30 days

7 after the date on which the Secretary makes a preliminary

8 designation of an interim storage facility site under section

9 204, the Secretary shall submit a license application and

10 an environmental report in accordance with applicable reg11 ulations (subpart B of part 72 of title 10, Code of Federal

12 Regulations, and subpart A of part 51 of title 10, Code

13 of Federal Regulations, respectively). The license applica14 tion—

15 ‘‘(1) shall be for a term of 40 years; and

16 ‘‘(2) shall be for a quantity of spent nuclear

17 fuel or high-level radioactive waste equal to the

18 quantity that would be emplaced under section 507

19 prior to the date that the Secretary estimates, in the

20 license application, to be the date on which the Sec21 retary will receive and store spent nuclear fuel and

22 high-level radioactive waste at the permanent reposi23 tory.

24 ‘‘(e) DESIGN.—
44

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(1) The design for the interim storage facility

2 shall provide for the use of storage technologies

3 which are licensed, approved, or certified by the

4 Commission, to ensure compatibility between the in5 terim storage facility and contract holders’ spent nu6 clear fuel and facilities, and to facilitate the Sec7 retary’s ability to meet the Secretary’s obligations

8 under this Act.

9 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall consent to an amend10 ment to the contracts to provide for reimbursement

11 to contract holders for transportable storage systems

12 purchased by contract holders if the Secretary deter13 mines that it is cost effective to use such transport14 able storage systems as part of the integrated man15 agement system: Provided, That the Secretary shall

16 not be required to expend any funds to modify con17 tract holders’ storage or transport systems or to

18 seek additional regulatory approvals in order to use

19 such systems.

20 ‘‘(f) LICENSE AMENDMENTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) The Secretary may seek such amendments

22 to the license for the interim storage facility as the

23 Secretary may deem appropriate, including amend24 ments to use new storage technologies licensed by
45

S 104 ES

1 the Commission or to respond to changes in Com2 mission regulations.

3 ‘‘(2) After receiving a license from the Commis4 sion to receive and store spent nuclear fuel and

5 high-level radioactive waste in the permanent reposi6 tory, the Secretary shall seek such amendments to

7 the license for the interim storage facility as will

8 permit the optimal use of such facility as an integral

9 part of a single system with the repository.

10 ‘‘(g) COMMISSION ACTIONS.—

11 ‘‘(1) The issuance of a license to construct and

12 operate an interim storage facility shall be consid13 ered a major Federal action significantly affecting

14 the quality of the human environment for purposes

15 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

16 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Prior to issuing a license

17 under this section, the Commission shall prepare a

18 final environmental impact statement in accordance

19 with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,

20 the Commission’s regulations, and section 207 of

21 this Act. The Commission shall ensure that this en22 vironmental impact statement is consistent with the

23 scope of the licensing action and shall analyze the

24 impacts of transportation of spent nuclear fuel and
46

S 104 ES

1 high-level radioactive waste to the interim storage

2 facility in a generic manner.

3 ‘‘(2) The Commission shall issue a final deci4 sion granting or denying a license for an interim

5 storage facility not later than 32 months after the

6 date of submittal of the application for such license.

7 ‘‘(3) No later than 32 months following the

8 date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act

9 of 1997, the Commission shall make any amend10 ments necessary to the definition of ‘spent nuclear

11 fuel’ in section 72.4 of title 10, Code of Federal

12 Regulations, to allow an interim storage facility to

13 accept (subject to such conditions as the Commis14 sion may require in a subsequent license)—

15 ‘‘(A) spent nuclear fuel from research reac16 tors;

17 ‘‘(B) spent nuclear fuel from naval reac18 tors;

19 ‘‘(C) high-level radioactive waste of domes20 tic origin from civilian nuclear reactors that

21 have permanently ceased operation before such

22 date of enactment; and

23 ‘‘(D) spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra24 dioactive waste from atomic energy defense ac25 tivities.
47

S 104 ES

1 Following any such amendments, the Secretary shall

2 seek authority, as necessary, to store such fuel and

3 waste at the interim storage facility. None of the ac4 tivities carried out pursuant to this paragraph shall

5 delay, or otherwise affect, the development, licens6 ing, construction, or operation of the interim storage

7 facility.

8 ‘‘SEC. 206. PERMANENT REPOSITORY.

9 ‘‘(a) REPOSITORY CHARACTERIZATION.—

10 ‘‘(1) CHARACTERIZATION OF THE YUCCA

11 MOUNTAIN SITE.—The Secretary shall carry out site

12 characterization activities at the Yucca Mountain

13 site in accordance with the Secretary’s program ap14 proach to site characterization. Such activities shall

15 be limited to only those activities which the Sec16 retary considers necessary to provide the data re17 quired for evaluation of the suitability of such site

18 for an application to be submitted to the Commis19 sion for a construction authorization for a repository

20 at such site, and for compliance with the National

21 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321

22 et seq.).

23 ‘‘(2) GUIDELINES.—The Secretary shall amend

24 the guidelines in part 960 of title 10, Code of Fed25 eral Regulations, to base any conclusions regarding
48

S 104 ES

1 whether a repository site is suitable on, to the extent

2 practicable, an assessment of total system perform3 ance of the repository.

4 ‘‘(b) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—

5 ‘‘(1) PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IM6 PACT STATEMENT.—Construction and operation of

7 the repository shall be considered a major Federal

8 action significantly affecting the quality of the

9 human environment for purposes of the National

10 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321

11 et seq.). The Secretary shall prepare an environ12 mental impact statement on the construction and

13 operation of the repository and shall submit such

14 statement to the Commission with the license appli15 cation. The Secretary shall supplement such environ16 mental impact statement as appropriate.

17 ‘‘(2) SCHEDULE.—

18 ‘‘(A) No later than September 30, 2000,

19 the Secretary shall publish the final environ20 mental impact statement under paragraph (1)

21 of this subsection.

22 ‘‘(B) No later than October 31, 2000, the

23 Secretary shall publish a record of decision on

24 applying for a license to construct and operate

25 a repository at the Yucca Mountain site.
49

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(c) LICENSE APPLICATION.—

2 ‘‘(1) SCHEDULE.—No later than October 31,

3 2001, the Secretary shall apply to the Commission

4 for authorization to construct a repository at the

5 Yucca Mountain site.

6 ‘‘(2) MAXIMIZING CAPACITY.—In developing an

7 application for authorization to construct the reposi8 tory, the Secretary shall seek to maximize the capac9 ity of the repository, in the most cost-effective man10 ner, consistent with the need for disposal capacity.

11 ‘‘(3) DECISION NOT TO APPLY FOR A LICENSE

12 FOR THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN SITE.—If, at any time

13 prior to October 31, 2001, the Secretary determines

14 that the Yucca Mountain site is not suitable or can15 not satisfy the Commission’s regulations applicable

16 to the licensing of a geological repository, the Sec17 retary shall—

18 ‘‘(A) notify the Congress and the State of

19 Nevada of the Secretary’s determinations and

20 the reasons therefor; and

21 ‘‘(B) promptly take the actions described

22 in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 204(b).

23 ‘‘(d) REPOSITORY LICENSING.—The Commission

24 shall license the repository according to the following pro25 cedures:
50

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION.—The

2 Commission shall grant the Secretary a construction

3 authorization for the repository, subject to such re4 quirements or limitations as the Commission may in5 corporate pursuant to its regulations, upon deter6 mining that there is reasonable assurance that spent

7 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste can be

8 disposed of in the repository—

9 ‘‘(A) in conformity with the Secretary’s ap10 plication, the provisions of this Act, and the

11 regulations of the Commission;

12 ‘‘(B) without unreasonable risk to the

13 health and safety of the public; and

14 ‘‘(C) consistent with the common defense

15 and security.

16 ‘‘(2) LICENSE.—Following the filing by the

17 Secretary of any additional information needed by

18 the Commission to issue a license to receive and pos19 sess source, special nuclear, or byproduct material at

20 a geologic repository operations area the Commis21 sion shall issue a license to dispose of spent nuclear

22 fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the reposi23 tory, subject to such requirements or limitations as

24 the Commission may incorporate pursuant to its reg-
51

S 104 ES

1 ulations, if the Commission determines that the re2 pository has been constructed and will operate—

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

5 regulations of the Commission;

6 ‘‘(B) without unreasonable risk to the

7 health and safety of the public; and

8 ‘‘(C) consistent with the common defense

9 and security.

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

11 fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the reposi12 tory and collecting sufficient confirmatory data on

13 repository performance to reasonably confirm the

14 basis for repository closure consistent with the Com15 mission’s regulations applicable to the licensing of a

16 repository, as modified in accordance with this Act,

17 the Secretary shall apply to the Commission to

18 amend the license to permit permanent closure of

19 the repository. The Commission shall grant such li20 cense amendment, subject to such requirements or

21 limitations as the Commission may incorporate pur22 suant to its regulations, upon finding that there is

23 reasonable assurance that the repository can be per24 manently closed—
52

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(A) in conformity with the Secretary’s ap2 plication, the provisions of this Act, and the

3 regulations of the Commission;

4 ‘‘(B) without unreasonable risk to the

5 health and safety of the public; and

6 ‘‘(C) consistent with the common defense

7 and security.

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

9 those actions necessary and appropriate at the

10 Yucca Mountain site to prevent any activity at the

11 site subsequent to repository closure that poses an

12 unreasonable risk of—

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

14 or geologic barriers; or

15 ‘‘(B) increasing the risk of the repository

16 beyond the standard established in subsection

17 (f)(1).

18 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION OF HEALTH AND SAFETY

19 STANDARDS.—The licensing determination of the

20 Commission with respect to risk to the health and

21 safety of the public under paragraphs (1), (2), or (3)

22 of this subsection shall be based solely on a finding

23 whether the repository can be operated in conform24 ance with the overall performance standard in sub25 section (f)(1) of this section, applied in accordance
53

S 104 ES

1 with the provisions of subsection (f)(2) of this sec2 tion and the standards established by the Adminis3 trator under section 801 of the Energy Policy Act

4 of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note).

5 ‘‘(e) MODIFICATION OF THE COMMISSION’S REPOSI6 TORY LICENSING REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall

7 amend its regulations governing the disposal of spent nu8 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste (10 CFR part

9 60), as necessary, to be consistent with the provisions of

10 this Act. The Commission’s regulations shall provide for

11 the modification of the repository licensing procedure in

12 subsection (d) of this section, as appropriate, in the event

13 that the Secretary seeks a license to permit the emplace14 ment in the repository, on a retrievable basis, of spent nu15 clear fuel or high-level radioactive waste as is necessary

16 to provide the Secretary with sufficient confirmatory data

17 on repository performance to reasonably confirm the basis

18 for repository closure consistent with applicable regula19 tions.

20 ‘‘(f) REPOSITORY LICENSING STANDARDS AND ADDI21 TIONAL PROCEDURES.—In complying with the require22 ments of section 801 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992

23 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note), the Administrator shall achieve

24 consistency with the findings and recommendations of the

25 National Academy of Sciences, and the Commission shall
54

S 104 ES

1 amend its regulations with respect to licensing standards

2 for the repository, as follows:

3 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF OVERALL SYSTEM

4 PERFORMANCE STANDARD.—

5 ‘‘(A) RISK STANDARD.—The standard for

6 protection of the public from releases of radio7 active material or radioactivity from the reposi8 tory shall limit the lifetime risk, to the average

9 member of the critical group, of premature

10 death from cancer due to such releases to ap11 proximately, but not greater than, 1 in 1000.

12 The comparison to this standard shall use the

13 upper bound of the 95-percent confidence inter14 val for the expected value of lifetime risk to the

15 average member of the critical group.

16 ‘‘(B) FORM OF STANDARD.—The standard

17 promulgated by the Administrator under section

18 801 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42

19 U.S.C. 10141 note) shall be an overall system

20 performance standard. The Administrator shall

21 not promulgate a standard for the repository in

22 the form of release limits or contaminant levels

23 for individual radionuclides discharged from the

24 repository.
55

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(C) ASSUMPTIONS USED IN FORMULAT2 ING AND APPLYING THE STANDARD.—In pro3 mulgating the standard under section 801 of

4 the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C.

5 10141 note), the Administrator shall consult

6 with the Secretary of Energy and the Commis7 sion. The Commission, after consultation with

8 the Secretary, shall specify, by rule, values for

9 all of the assumptions considered necessary by

10 the Commission to apply the standard in a li11 censing proceeding for the repository before the

12 Commission, including the reference biosphere

13 and size and characteristics of the critical

14 group.

15 ‘‘(D) DEFINITION.—As used in this sub16 section, the term ‘critical group’ means a small

17 group of people that is—

18 ‘‘(i) representative of individuals ex19 pected to be at highest risk of premature

20 death from cancer as a result of discharges

21 of radionuclides from the permanent repos22 itory;

23 ‘‘(ii) relatively homogeneous with re24 spect to expected radiation dose, which

25 shall mean that there shall be no more
56

S 104 ES

1 than a factor of ten in variation in individ2 ual dose among members of the group; and

3 ‘‘(iii) selected using reasonable as4 sumptions—concerning lifestyle, occupa5 tion, diet and eating and drinking habits,

6 technological sophistication, or other rel7 evant social and behavioral factors—that

8 are based on reasonably available informa9 tion, when the group is defined, on current

10 inhabitants and conditions in the area of

11 50-mile radius surrounding Yucca Moun12 tain contained within a line drawn 50

13 miles beyond each of the boundaries of the

14 Yucca Moutain site.

15 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF OVERALL SYSTEM PER16 FORMANCE STANDARD.—The Commission shall issue

17 the construction authorization, license, or license

18 amendment, as applicable, if it finds reasonable as19 surance that for the first 10,000 years following the

20 closure of the repository, the overall system perform21 ance standard will be met based on a probabilistic

22 evaluation, as appropriate, of compliance with the

23 overall system performance standard in paragraph

24 (1).
57

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(3) FACTORS.—For purposes of establishing

2 the overall system performance standard in para3 graph (1) and making the finding in paragraph

4 (2)—

5 ‘‘(A) the Administrator and the Commis6 sion shall not consider climate regimes that are

7 substantially different from those that have oc8 curred during the previous 100,000 years at the

9 Yucca Mountain site;

10 ‘‘(B) the Administrator and the Commis11 sion shall not consider catastrophic events

12 where the health consequences of individual

13 events themselves to the critical group can be

14 reasonably assumed to exceed the health con15 sequences due to impact of the events on repos16 itory performance; and

17 ‘‘(C) the Administrator and the Commis18 sion shall not base the standard in paragraph

19 (1) or the finding in paragraph (2) on scenarios

20 involving human intrusion into the repository

21 following repository closure.

22 ‘‘(4) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—

23 ‘‘(A) Any standard promulgated by the Ad24 ministrator under section 801 of the Energy

25 Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note)
58

S 104 ES

1 shall be deemed a major rule within the mean2 ing of section 804(2) of title 5, United States

3 Code, and shall be subject to the requirements

4 and procedures pertaining to a major rule in

5 chapter 8 of such title.

6 ‘‘(B) The effective date of the construction

7 authorization for the repository shall be 90 days

8 after the issuance of such authorization by the

9 Commission, unless Congress is standing in ad10 journment for a period of more than one week

11 on the date of issuance, in which case the effec12 tive date shall be 90 days after the date on

13 which Congress is expected to reconvene after

14 such adjournment.

15 ‘‘(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—At the time that

16 the Commission issues a construction authorization

17 for the repository, the Commission shall submit a re18 port to Congress—

19 ‘‘(A) analyzing the overall system perform20 ance of the repository through the use of prob21 abilistic evaluations that use best estimate as22 sumptions, data, and methods for the period

23 commencing after the first 10,000 years after

24 repository closure and including the time after

25 repository closure of maximum risk to the criti-
59

S 104 ES

1 cal group of premature death from cancer due

2 to repository releases;

3 ‘‘(B) analyzing the consequences of a sin4 gle instance of human intrusion into the reposi5 tory, during the first 1,000 years after reposi6 tory closure, on the ability of the repository to

7 perform its intended function.

8 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—

9 The Commission shall take final action on the Secretary’s

10 application for construction authorization for the reposi11 tory no later than 40 months after submission of the appli12 cation.

13 ‘‘SEC. 207. COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRON14 MENTAL POLICY ACT.

15 ‘‘(a) PRELIMINARY ACTIVITIES.—Each activity of the

16 Secretary under sections 203, 204, 205(a), 205(c),

17 205(d), and 206(a) shall be considered a preliminary deci18 sion making activity. No such activity shall be considered

19 final agency action for purposes of judicial review. No ac20 tivity of the Secretary or the President under sections 203,

21 204, 205, or 206(a) shall require the preparation of an

22 environmental impact statement under section 102(2)(C)

23 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42

24 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) or any environmental review under
60

S 104 ES

1 subparagraph (E) or (F) of section 102(2) of such Act

2 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(E) or (F)).

3 ‘‘(b) STANDARDS AND CRITERIA.—The promulgation

4 of standards or criteria in accordance with the provisions

5 of this title, or under section 801 of the Energy Policy

6 Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note), shall not require the

7 preparation of an environmental impact statement under

8 section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy

9 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) or any environmental

10 review under subparagraph (E) or (F) of section 102(2)

11 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(E) or (F)).

12 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTAL

13 IMPACT STATEMENTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) With respect to the requirements imposed

15 by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

16 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)—

17 ‘‘(A) in any final environmental impact

18 statement under section 205 or 206, the Sec19 retary or the Commission, as applicable, shall

20 not be required to consider the need for a re21 pository or an interim storage facility; the time

22 of initial availability of a repository or interim

23 storage facility; the alternatives to geological

24 disposal or centralized interim storage; or alter25 native sites to the Yucca Mountain site or the
61

S 104 ES

1 interim storage facility site designated under

2 section 204(c)(1); and

3 ‘‘(B) compliance with the procedures and

4 requirements of this title shall be deemed ade5 quate consideration of the need for centralized

6 interim storage or a repository; the time of ini7 tial availability of centralized interim storage or

8 the repository or centralized interim storage;

9 and all alternatives to centralized interim stor10 age and permanent isolation of high-level radio11 active waste and spent nuclear fuel in an in12 terim storage facility or a repository, respec13 tively.

14 ‘‘(2) The final environmental impact statement

15 for the repository prepared by the Secretary and

16 submitted with the license application for a reposi17 tory under section 206(c) shall, to the extent prac18 ticable, be adopted by the Commission in connection

19 with the issuance by the Commission of a construc20 tion authorization and license for such repository.

21 To the extent such statement is adopted by the

22 Commission, such adoption shall be deemed to sat23 isfy the responsibilities of the Commission under the

24 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and no

25 further consideration shall be required, except that
62

S 104 ES

1 nothing in this subsection shall affect any independ2 ent responsibilities of the Commission to protect the

3 public health and safety under the Atomic Energy

4 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).

5 ‘‘(c) CONSTRUCTION WITH OTHER LAWS.—Nothing

6 in this Act shall be construed to amend or otherwise de7 tract from the licensing requirements of the Nuclear Reg8 ulatory Commission established in title II of the Energy

9 Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5841 et seq.).

10 ‘‘(d) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Judicial review under sec11 tion 502 of this Act of any environmental impact state12 ment prepared or adopted by the Commission shall be con13 solidated with the judicial review of the licensing decision

14 to which it relates.

15 SEC. 208. LAND WITHDRAWAL.

16 ‘‘(a) WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION.—

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

18 rights, the interim storage facility site and the

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

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

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

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

25 within the interim storage facility site and the Yucca
63

S 104 ES

1 Mountain site managed by the Secretary of the Inte2 rior or any other Federal officer is transferred to the

3 Secretary.

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

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

8 and the repository and activities associated with the

9 purposes of this title.

10 ‘‘(b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—

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

12 on the map entitled ‘Interim Storage Facility Site

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

14 with the Secretary, are established as the boundaries

15 of the Interim Storage Facility site.

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

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

19 the Secretary, are established as the boundaries of

20 the Yucca Mountain site.

21 ‘‘(3) NOTICE AND MAPS.—Concurrent with the

22 Secretary’s designation of an interim storage facility

23 site under section 204(c)(1), the Secretary shall—
64

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(A) publish in the Federal Register a no2 tice containing a legal description of the interim

3 storage facility site; and

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

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

6 interim storage facility site with the Congress,

7 the Secretary of the Interior, the Governor of

8 Nevada, and the Archivist of the United States.

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

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

12 shall—

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

15 Mountain site; and

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

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

18 Yucca Mountain site with the Congress, the

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

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

23 Yucca Mountain site referred to in this subsection

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

25 included in this Act. The Secretary may correct cler-
65

S 104 ES

1 ical and typographical errors in the maps and legal

2 descriptions and make minor adjustments in the

3 boundaries of the sites.

4 ‘‘TITLE III—LOCAL RELATIONS

5 ‘‘SEC. 301. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

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

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

8 government for purposes of enabling the affected Indian

9 tribe or affected unit of local government—

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

11 the Yucca Mountain site for purposes of determining

12 any potential economic, social, public health and

13 safety, and environmental impacts of the integrated

14 management system on the affected Indian tribe or

15 the affected unit of local government and its resi16 dents;

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

18 under subsection (c);

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

20 evaluation activities with regard to such site;

21 ‘‘(4) to provide information to residents regard22 ing any activities of the Secretary, or the Commis23 sion with respect to such site; and

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

25 comments and recommendations to, the Secretary
66

S 104 ES

1 regarding any activities taken with respect to such

2 site.

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

4 or travel expense that would ordinarily be incurred by any

5 affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local government

6 may not be considered eligible for funding under this sec7 tion.

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

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

10 authorized to offer to provide financial and technical

11 assistance to any affected Indian tribe or affected

12 unit of local government requesting such assistance.

13 Such assistance shall be designed to mitigate the im14 pact on the affected Indian tribe or affected unit of

15 local government of the development of the inte16 grated management system.

17 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Any affected Indian tribe or af18 fected unit of local government may request assist19 ance under this section by preparing and submitting

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

21 public health and safety, and environmental impacts

22 that are likely to result from activities of the inte23 grated management system.

24 ‘‘(d) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—
67

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(1) TAXABLE AMOUNTS.—In addition to finan2 cial assistance provided under this subsection, the

3 Secretary is authorized to grant to any affected In4 dian tribe or affected unit of local government an

5 amount each fiscal year equal to the amount such

6 affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local govern7 ment, respectively, would receive if authorized to tax

8 integrated management system activities, as such af9 fected Indian tribe or affected unit of local govern10 ment taxes the non-Federal real property and indus11 trial activities occurring within such affected unit of

12 local government.

13 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION.—Such grants shall con14 tinue until such time as all such activities, develop15 ment, and operations are terminated at such site.

16 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE TO INDIAN TRIBES AND

17 UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—

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

19 or affected unit of local government may not re20 ceive any grant under paragraph (1) after the

21 expiration of the 1-year period following the

22 date on which the Secretary notifies the af23 fected Indian tribe or affected unit of local gov24 ernment of the termination of the operation of

25 the integrated management system.
68

S 104 ES

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

2 tribe or affected unit of local government may

3 not receive any further assistance under this

4 section if the integrated management system

5 activities at such site are terminated by the

6 Secretary or if such activities are permanently

7 enjoined by any court.

8 ‘‘SEC. 302. ON-SITE REPRESENTATIVE.

9 ‘‘The Secretary shall offer to the unit of local govern10 ment within whose jurisdiction a site for an interim stor11 age facility or repository is located under this Act an op12 portunity to designate a representative to conduct onsite

13 oversight activities at such site. The Secretary is author14 ized to pay the reasonable expenses of such representative.

15 ‘‘SEC. 303. ACCEPTANCE OF BENEFITS.

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

17 benefits provided under this title by any affected Indian

18 tribe or affected unit of local government shall not be

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

20 either under the Constitution of the State or any law

21 thereof, to the siting of an interim storage facility or re22 pository in the State of Nevada, any provision of such

23 Constitution or laws to the contrary notwithstanding.

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

25 any other entity may assert any argument based on legal
69

S 104 ES

1 or equitable estoppel, or acquiescence, or waiver, or con2 sensual involvement, in response to any decision by the

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

4 facility or repository premised upon or related to the ac5 ceptance or use of benefits under this title.

6 ‘‘(c) LIABILITY.—No liability of any nature shall ac7 crue to be asserted against any official of any govern8 mental unit of Nevada premised solely upon the accept9 ance or use of benefits under this title.

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

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

12 be used—

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

14 action on any matter pending before Congress or a

15 State legislature or for any lobbying activity as pro16 vided in section 1913 of title 18, United States

17 Code;

18 ‘‘(2) for litigation purposes; and

19 ‘‘(3) to support multistate efforts or other coali20 tion-building activities inconsistent with the purposes

21 of this Act.

22 ‘‘SEC. 305. LAND CONVEYANCES.

23 ‘‘(a) CONVEYANCES OF PUBLIC LANDS.—One hun24 dred and twenty days after the effective date of the con25 struction authorization issued by the Commission for the
70

S 104 ES

1 repository under section 206(g), all right, title and interest

2 of the United States in the property described in sub3 section (b), and improvements thereon, together with all

4 necessary easements for utilities and ingress and egress

5 to such property, including, but not limited to, the right

6 to improve those easements, are conveyed by operation of

7 law to the County of Nye, Nevada, unless the county noti8 fies the Secretary of the Interior or the head of such other

9 appropriate agency in writing within 60 days of such date

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

11 property, except that any lands conveyed to the County

12 of Nye under this subsection that are subject to a Federal

13 grazing permit or lease or a similar federally granted per14 mit or lease shall be conveyed between 60 and 120 days

15 of the earliest time the Federal agency administering or

16 granting the permit or lease would be able to legally termi17 nate such right under the statutes and regulations existing

18 at the date of enactment of this Act, unless Nye County

19 and the affected holder of the permit or lease negotiate

20 an agreement that allows for an earlier conveyance.

21 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL CONVEYANCES.—Nothwithstanding

22 any other law, the following public lands depicted on the

23 maps and legal descriptions dated October 11, 1995, and

24 on file with the Secretary shall be conveyed under sub25 section (a) to the County of Nye, Nevada:
71

S 104 ES

1 Map 1: Proposed Pahrump Industrial Park Site

2 Map 2: Proposed Lathrop Wells (Gate 510) In3 dustrial Park Site

4 Map 3: Pahrump Landfill Sites

5 Map 4: Amargosa Valley Regional Landfill Site

6 Map 5: Amargosa Valley Municipal Landfill

7 Site

8 Map 6: Beatty Landfill/Transfer Station Site

9 Map 7: Round Mountain Landfill Site

10 Map 8: Tonopah Landfill Site

11 Map 9: Gabbs Landfill Site.

12 ‘‘(c) CONSTRUCTION.—The maps and legal descrip13 tions of special conveyances referred to in subsection (b)

14 shall have the same force and effect as if they were in15 cluded in this Act. The Secretary may correct clerical and

16 typographical errors in the maps and legal descriptions

17 and make minor adjustments in the boundaries of the

18 sites.

19 ‘‘(d) EVIDENCE OF TITLE TRANSFER.—Upon the re20 quest of the County of Nye, Nevada, the Secretary of the

21 Interior shall provide evidence of title transfer.

22 ‘‘TITLE IV—FUNDING AND ORGANIZATION

23 ‘‘SEC. 401. PROGRAM FUNDING.

24 ‘‘(a) CONTRACTS.—
72

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY.—In the

2 performance of the Secretary’s functions under this

3 Act, the Secretary is authorized to enter into con4 tracts with any person who generates or holds title

5 to spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste

6 of domestic origin for the acceptance of title and

7 possession, transportation, interim storage, and dis8 posal of such waste or spent fuel. Such contracts

9 shall provide for payment of fees to the Secretary in

10 the amounts set under paragraphs (2), (3), and (4),

11 sufficient to offset expenditures described in sub12 section (c)(2). Subsequent to the enactment of the

13 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997, the contracts ex14 ecuted under section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste

15 Policy Act of 1982 shall continue in effect under this

16 Act: Provided, That the Secretary shall consent to

17 an amendment to such contracts as necessary to im18 plement the provisions of this Act.

19 ‘‘(2) NUCLEAR WASTE OFFSETTING COLLEC20 TION.—

21 ‘‘(A) For electricity generated by civilian

22 nuclear power reactors and sold during an off23 setting collection period, the Secretary shall col24 lect an aggregate amount of fees under this

25 paragraph equal to the annual level of appro-
73

S 104 ES

1 priations for expenditures on those activities

2 consistent with subsection (d) for each fiscal

3 year in the offsetting collection period, minus

4 the percentage of such appropriation required

5 to be funded by the Federal Government pursu6 ant to section 403.

7 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall determine the

8 level of the annual fee for each civilian nuclear

9 power reactor based on the amount of elec10 tricity generated and sold.

11 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the

12 term ‘offsetting collection period’ means—

13 ‘‘(i) the period beginning on October

14 1, 1998 and ending on September 30,

15 2001; and

16 ‘‘(ii) the period on and after October

17 1, 2006.

18 ‘‘(3) NUCLEAR WASTE MANDATORY FEE.—

19 ‘‘(A) Except as provided in subparagraph

20 (C) of this paragraph, for electricity generated

21 by civilian nuclear power reactors and sold on

22 or after January 7, 1983, the fee paid to the

23 Secretary under this paragraph shall be equal

24 to—
74

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(i) 1.0 mill per kilowatt-hour gen2 erated and sold, minus

3 ‘‘(ii) the amount per kilowatt-hour

4 generated and sold paid under paragraph

5 (2):

6 Provided, That if the amount under clause (ii)

7 is greater than the amount under clause (i) the

8 fee under this paragraph shall be equal to zero.

9 ‘‘(B) No later than 30 days after the be10 ginning of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall

11 determine whether insufficient or excess reve12 nues are being collected under this subsection,

13 in order to recover the costs incurred by the

14 Federal Government that are specified in sub15 section (c)(2). In making this determination the

16 Secretary shall—

17 ‘‘(i) rely on the ‘Analysis of the Total

18 System Life Cycle Cost of the Civilian Ra19 dioactive Waste Management Program’,

20 dated September 1995, or on a total sys21 tem life-cycle cost analysis published by the

22 Secretary (after notice and opportunity for

23 public comment) after the date of enact24 ment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

25 1997, in making any estimate of the costs
75

S 104 ES

1 to be incurred by the Government under

2 subsection (c)(2);

3 ‘‘(ii) rely on projections from the En4 ergy Information Administration, consist5 ent with the projections contained in the

6 reference case in the most recent ‘Annual

7 Energy Outlook’ published by such Admin8 istration, in making any estimate of future

9 nuclear power generation; and

10 ‘‘(iii) take into account projected bal11 ances in, and expenditures from, the Nu12 clear Waste Fund.

13 ‘‘(C) If the Secretary determines under

14 subparagraph (B) that either insufficient or ex15 cess revenues are being collected, the Secretary

16 shall, at the time of the determination, transmit

17 to Congress a proposal to adjust the amount in

18 subparagraph (A)(i) to ensure full cost recov19 ery. The amount in subparagraph (A)(i) shall

20 be adjusted, by operation of law, immediately

21 upon enactment of a joint resolution of ap22 proval under paragraph (5) of this subsection.

23 ‘‘(D) The Secretary shall, by rule, establish

24 procedures necessary to implement this para25 graph.
76

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(4) 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 the contracts,

16 shall be paid to the Nuclear Waste Fund no later

17 than September 30, 2001. The Commission shall

18 suspend the license of any licensee who fails or re19 fuses to pay the full amount of the fees assessed

20 under this subsection, on or before the date on

21 which such fees are due, and the license shall remain

22 suspended until the full amount of the fees assessed

23 under this subsection is paid. The person paying the

24 fee under this paragraph to the Secretary shall have

25 no further financial obligation to the Federal Gov-
77

S 104 ES

1 ernment for the long-term storage and permanent

2 disposal of spent fuel or high-level radioactive waste

3 derived from spent nuclear fuel used to generate

4 electricity in a civilian power reactor prior to Janu5 ary 7, 1983.

6 ‘‘(5) EXPENDITURES IF SHORTFALL.—If, dur7 ing any fiscal year on or after October 1, 1997, the

8 aggregate amount of fees assessed under this sub9 section is less than the annual level of appropria10 tions for expenditures on those activities specified in

11 subsection (d) for that fiscal year, minus the per12 centage of such appropriations required to be funded

13 by the Federal Government pursuant to section 403,

14 the Secretary may make expenditures from the Nu15 clear Waste Fund up to the level equal to the dif16 ference between the amount appropriated and the

17 amount of fees assessed under this subsection.

18 ‘‘(6) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES FOR APPROVAL

19 OF CHANGES TO THE NUCLEAR WASTE MANDATORY

20 FEE.—

21 ‘‘(A) At any time after the Secretary

22 transmits a proposal for a fee adjustment under

23 paragraph (3)(C) of this subsection, a joint res24 olution may be introduced in either House of

25 Congress, the matter after the resolving clause
78

S 104 ES

1 of which is as follows: ‘That Congress approves

2 the adjustment to the basis for the nuclear

3 waste mandatory fee, submitted by the Sec4 retary on llll’. (The blank space being

5 appropriately filled in with a date.)

6 ‘‘(B) A joint resolution described in sub7 paragraph (A) shall be referred to the commit8 tees in each House of Congress with jurisdic9 tion.

10 ‘‘(C) In the Senate, if the committee to

11 which is referred a joint resolution described in

12 subparagraph (A) has not reported such joint

13 resolution (or an identical joint resolution) at

14 the end of 20 calendar days after the date on

15 which it is introduced, such committee may be

16 discharged from further consideration of such

17 joint resolution upon a petition supported in

18 writing by 30 Members of the Senate, and such

19 joint resolution shall be placed on the calendar.

20 ‘‘(D) In the Senate, the procedure under

21 section 802(d) of title 5, United States Code,

22 shall apply to a joint resolution described under

23 subparagraph (A).

24 ‘‘(7) POINTS OF ORDER.—Notwithstanding any

25 other provision of this Act, no points of order, which
79

S 104 ES

1 require 60 votes in order to adopt a motion to waive

2 such point of order, shall be considered to be waived

3 during the consideration of a joint resolution under

4 section 401 of this Act.

5 ‘‘(8) LEVEL OF ANNUAL FEE.—Notwithstand6 ing any other provision of this Act, except as pro7 vided in paragraph (3)(C), the level of annual fee for

8 each civilian nuclear power reactor shall not exceed

9 1.0 mill per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated

10 and sold.

11 ‘‘(b) ADVANCE CONTRACTING REQUIREMENT.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

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

14 The Commission shall not issue or renew a li15 cense to any person to use a utilization or pro16 duction facility under the authority of section

17 103 or 104 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954

18 (42 U.S.C. 2133, 2134) unless—

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

20 contract under subsection (a) with the Sec21 retary; or

22 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary affirms in writing

23 that such person is actively and in good

24 faith negotiating with the Secretary for a

25 contract under this section.
80

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(B) PRECONDITION.—The Commission,

2 as it deems necessary or appropriate, may re3 quire as a precondition to the issuance or re4 newal of a license under section 103 or 104 of

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

6 2133, 2134) that the applicant for such license

7 shall have entered into an agreement with the

8 Secretary for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel

9 and high-level radioactive waste that may result

10 from the use of such license.

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

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

13 high-level radioactive waste generated or owned by

14 any person (other than a department of the United

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

16 United States Code) may be disposed of by the Sec17 retary in the repository unless the generator or

18 owner of such spent fuel or waste has entered into

19 a contract under subsection (a) with the Secretary

20 by not later than the date on which such generator

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

22 such spent fuel or waste.

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

24 contract holders are assignable.

25 ‘‘(c) NUCLEAR WASTE FUND.—
81

S 104 ES

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

2 established in the Treasury of the United States

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

4 Act of 1982 shall continue in effect under this Act

5 and shall consist of—

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

7 Waste Fund on the date of enactment of the

8 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997; and

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

10 realized under subsections (a)(3), (a)(4), and

11 (c)(3) subsequent to the date of enactment of

12 the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997, which

13 shall be deposited in the Nuclear Waste Fund

14 immediately upon their realization.

15 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES OF THE NUCLEAR WASTE FUND

16 AND THE NUCLEAR WASTE OFFSETTING COLLEC17 TION.—Subject to subsections (d) and (e) of this

18 section, the Secretary may make expenditures from

19 the Nuclear Waste Fund or the Nuclear Waste Off20 setting Collection in section 401(a)(2) only for—

21 ‘‘(A) identification, development, design, li22 censing, construction, acquisition, operation,

23 modification, replacement, decommissioning,

24 and post-decommissioning maintenance and
82

S 104 ES

1 monitoring of the integrated management sys2 tem or parts thereof;

3 ‘‘(B) the administrative cost of the inte4 grated management system, including the Of5 fice of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management

6 under section 402, the Nuclear Waste Technical

7 Review Board under section 602, and those of8 fices under the Commission involved in regula9 tion of the integrated management system or

10 parts thereof; and

11 ‘‘(C) the provision of assistance and bene12 fits to States, units of general local government,

13 nonprofit organizations, joint labor-manage14 ment organizations, and Indian tribes under

15 title II of this Act.

16 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION OF NUCLEAR WASTE

17 FUND.—

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

19 Treasury shall hold the Nuclear Waste Fund

20 and, after consultation with the Secretary, an21 nually report to the Congress on the financial

22 condition and operations of the Nuclear Waste

23 Fund during the preceding fiscal year.

24 ‘‘(B) AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF CURRENT

25 NEEDS.—If the Secretary determines that the
83

S 104 ES

1 Nuclear Waste Fund contains at any time

2 amounts in excess of current needs, the Sec3 retary may request the Secretary of the Treas4 ury to invest such amounts, or any portion of

5 such amounts as the Secretary determines to be

6 appropriate, in obligations of the United

7 States—

8 ‘‘(i) having maturities determined by

9 the Secretary of the Treasury to be appro10 priate to the needs of the Nuclear Waste

11 Fund;

12 ‘‘(ii) bearing interest at rates deter13 mined to be appropriate by the Secretary

14 of the Treasury, taking into consideration

15 the current average market yield on out16 standing marketable obligations of the

17 United States with remaining periods to

18 maturity comparable to the maturities of

19 such investments, except that the interest

20 rate on such investments shall not exceed

21 the average interest rate applicable to ex22 isting borrowings; and

23 ‘‘(iii) interest earned on these obliga24 tions shall be credited to the Nuclear

25 Waste Fund.
84

S 104 ES

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

2 and recoveries realized by the Secretary under

3 this section, and expenditures of amounts from

4 the Nuclear Waste Fund, shall be exempt from

5 annual apportionment under the provisions of

6 subchapter II of chapter 15 of title 31, United

7 States Code.

8 ‘‘(d) BUDGET.—The Secretary shall submit the budg9 et for implementation of the Secretary’s responsibilities

10 under this Act to the Office of Management and Budget

11 annually along with the budget of the Department of En12 ergy submitted at such time in accordance with chapter

13 11 of title 31, United States Code. The budget shall con14 sist of the estimates made by the Secretary of expendi15 tures under this Act and other relevant financial matters

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

17 in the budget of the United States Government.

18 ‘‘(e) APPROPRIATIONS.—The Secretary may make ex19 penditures from the Nuclear Waste Fund and the Nuclear

20 Waste Offsetting Collection, subject to appropriations,

21 which shall remain available until expended.

22 ‘‘SEC. 402. OFFICE OF CIVILIAN RADIOACTIVE WASTE MAN23 AGEMENT.

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

25 within the Department of Energy an Office of Civilian Ra-
85

S 104 ES

1 dioactive Waste Management. The Office shall be headed

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

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

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

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

6 United States Code.

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

8 Office shall be responsible for carrying out the functions

9 of the Secretary under this Act, subject to the general su10 pervision of the Secretary. The Director of the Office shall

11 be directly responsible to the Secretary.

12 ‘‘SEC. 403. FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.

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

14 date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

15 1997, acting pursuant to section 553 of title 5, United

16 States Code, the Secretary shall issue a final rule estab17 lishing the appropriate portion of the costs of managing

18 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste under

19 this Act allocable to the interim storage or permanent dis20 posal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

21 from atomic energy defense activities and spent nuclear

22 fuel from foreign research reactors. The share of costs al23 locable to the management of spent nuclear fuel and high24 level radioactive waste from atomic energy defense activi-
86

S 104 ES

1 ties and spent nuclear fuel from foreign research reactors

2 shall include—

3 ‘‘(1) an appropriate portion of the costs associ4 ated with research and development activities with

5 respect to development of an interim storage facility

6 and repository; and

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

8 amounts due calculated by reference to the appro9 priate Treasury bill rate as if the payments were

10 made at a point in time consistent with the payment

11 dates for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio12 active waste under the contracts.

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

14 request for an appropriation from the Nuclear Waste

15 Fund, the Secretary shall request annual appropriations

16 from general revenues in amounts sufficient to pay the

17 costs of the management of spent nuclear fuel and high18 level radioactive waste from atomic energy defense activi19 ties and spent nuclear fuel from foreign research reactors,

20 as established under subsection (a).

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

22 submitted to Congress under section 702, the Secretary

23 shall advise the Congress annually of the amount of spent

24 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from atomic

25 energy defense activities and spent nuclear fuel from for-
87

S 104 ES

1 eign research reactors, requiring management in the inte2 grated management system.

3 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap4 propriated to the Secretary, from general revenues, for

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

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

7 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from atomic

8 energy defense activities and spent nuclear fuel from for9 eign research reactors, as established under subsection

10 (a).

11 ‘‘TITLE V—GENERAL AND

12 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

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

14 ‘‘(a) CONFLICTING REQUIREMENTS.—Except as pro15 vided in subsection (b) of this section, a requirement of

16 a State, political subdivision of a State, or Indian tribe

17 is preempted if—

18 ‘‘(1) complying with a requirement of the State,

19 political subdivision, or tribe and a requirement of

20 this Act or a regulation prescribed under this Act is

21 not possible; or

22 ‘‘(2) the requirement of the State, political sub23 division, or tribe, as applied or enforced, is an obsta24 cle to accomplishing and carrying out this Act or a

25 regulation prescribed under this Act.
88

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(b) SUBJECTS EXPRESSLY PREEMPTED.—Except

2 as otherwise provided in this Act, a law, regulation, order,

3 or other requirement of a State, political subdivision of

4 a State, or Indian tribe about any of the following sub5 jects, that is not substantively the same as a provision of

6 this Act or a regulation prescribed under this Act, is pre7 empted:

8 ‘‘(1) The designation, description, and classi9 fication of spent fuel or high-level radioactive waste.

10 ‘‘(2) The packing, repacking, handling, labeling,

11 marking, and placarding of spent nuclear fuel or

12 high-level radioactive waste.

13 ‘‘(3) The siting, design, or licensing of—

14 ‘‘(A) an interim storage facility;

15 ‘‘(B) a repository;

16 ‘‘(C) the capability to conduct intermodal

17 transfer of spent nuclear fuel under section

18 201.

19 ‘‘(4) The withdrawal or transfer of the interim

20 storage facility site, the intermodal transfer site, or

21 the repository site to the Secretary of Energy.

22 ‘‘(5) The design, manufacturing, fabrication,

23 marking, maintenance, reconditioning, repairing, or

24 testing of packaging or a container represented,

25 marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in
89

S 104 ES

1 transporting or storing spent nuclear fuel or high2 level radioactive waste.

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

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

5 OF APPEALS.—

6 ‘‘(1) ORIGINAL AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDIC7 TION.—Except for review in the Supreme Court of

8 the United States, and except as otherwise provided

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

10 have original and exclusive jurisdiction over any civil

11 action—

12 ‘‘(A) for review of any final decision or ac13 tion of the Secretary, the President, or the

14 Commission under this Act;

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

16 the President, or the Commission to make any

17 decision, or take any action, required under this

18 Act;

19 ‘‘(C) challenging the constitutionality of

20 any decision made, or action taken, under any

21 provision of this Act; or

22 ‘‘(D) for review of any environmental im23 pact statement prepared or environmental as24 sessment pursuant to the National Environ25 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
90

S 104 ES

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

2 or alleging a failure to prepare such statement

3 with respect to any such action.

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

5 under this section shall be in the judicial circuit in

6 which the petitioner involved resides or has its prin7 cipal office, or in the United States Court of Appeals

8 for the District of Columbia Circuit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

16 the circumstances would not have known, such party may

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

18 such party acquired actual or constructive knowledge or

19 such decision, action, or failure to act.

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

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

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

23 matter.
91

S 104 ES

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

2 TRANSSHIPMENTS.

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

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

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

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

7 1983, to expand the spent nuclear fuel storage capacity

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

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

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

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

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

15 opportunity for oral argument with respect to any matter

16 which the Commission determines to be in controversy

17 among the parties. The oral argument shall be preceded

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

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

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

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

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

25 or written submission may be relied upon by the parties

26 during oral argument. Of the materials that may be sub-
92

S 104 ES

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

5 ‘‘(b) ADJUDICATORY HEARING.—

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

7 oral argument under subsection (a), the Commission

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

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

13 dispute of fact which can only be resolved with

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

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

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

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

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

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

24 is likely to depend on the resolution of such
93

S 104 ES

1 facts, and the reason why an adjudicatory hear2 ing is likely to resolve the dispute; and

3 ‘‘(B) shall not consider—

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

5 construction, or operation of any civilian

6 nuclear power reactor already licensed to

7 operate at such site, or any civilian nuclear

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

10 the Commission determines that any such

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

14 authorization, or amendment is being con15 sidered; or

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

17 considered and decided by the Commission

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

20 civilian nuclear power reactor at such site,

21 unless—

22 ‘‘(I) such issue results from any

23 revision of siting or design criteria by

24 the Commission following such deci25 sion; and
94

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘(II) the Commission determines

2 that such issue substantially affects

3 the design, construction, or operation

4 of the facility or activity for which

5 such license application, authorization,

6 or amendment is being considered.

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

10 authorizations, applied for under the Atomic Energy

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

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

14 section shall not apply to the first application for a

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

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

19 Commission.

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

23 by the Commission to use a particular procedure pursuant

24 to this section unless—
95

S 104 ES

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

2 presented to the Commission in a timely fashion or

3 there are extraordinary circumstances that excuse

4 the failure to present a timely objection; and

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

7 of a significant issue of the proceeding taken as a

8 whole.

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

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

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

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

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

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

17 second repository.

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

19 RADIOACTIVE WASTE SITE CLOSURE.

20 ‘‘(a) FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS.—

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

22 Commission shall establish by rule, regulation, or

23 order, after public notice, and in accordance with

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

25 U.S.C. 2231), such standards and instructions as
96

S 104 ES

1 the Commission may deem necessary or desirable to

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

3 low-level radioactive waste that an adequate bond,

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

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

13 within the boundaries of any agreement State under

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

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

19 such licenses.

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

21 ARRANGEMENTS.—If the Commission determines

22 that any long-term maintenance or monitoring, or

23 both, will be necessary at a site described in para24 graph (1), the Commission shall ensure before termi25 nation of the license involved that the licensee has
97

S 104 ES

1 made available such bonding, surety, or other finan2 cial arrangements as may be necessary to ensure

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

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

7 ‘‘(b) TITLE AND CUSTODY.—

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

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

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

14 such disposal, if the Commission determines that—

15 ‘‘(A) the requirements of the Commission

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

19 with the provisions of subsection (a);

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

23 ‘‘(C) Federal ownership and management

24 of such site is necessary or desirable in order to
98

S 104 ES

1 protect the public health and safety, and the

2 environment.

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

4 title and custody of any such waste and land under

5 this subsection, the Secretary shall maintain such

6 waste and land in a manner that will protect the

7 public health and safety, and the environment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18 and monitoring of such site.

19 ‘‘SEC. 506. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION TRAINING

20 AUTHORIZATION.

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

24 power plant operators, supervisors, technicians, and other

25 appropriate operating personnel. Such regulations or guid-
99

S 104 ES

1 ance shall establish simulator training requirements for

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

6 civilian nuclear power plant simulators, and instructional

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

9 ‘‘SEC. 507. EMPLACEMENT SCHEDULE.

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

11 in accordance with the following:

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

14 Priority Ranking’ report.

15 ‘‘(2) Subject to the conditions contained in the

16 license for the interim storage facility, the Sec17 retary’s spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste

18 emplacement rate shall be no less than the following:

19 1,200 MTU in fiscal year 2003 and 1,200 MTU in

20 fiscal year 2004; 2,000 MTU in fiscal year 2005 and

21 2000 MTU in fiscal year 2006; 2,700 MTU in fiscal

22 year 2007; and 3,000 MTU annually thereafter.

23 ‘‘(3) Subject to the conditions contained in the

24 license for the interim storage facility, of the
100

S 104 ES

1 amounts provided for in paragraph (2) for each

2 year, not less than one-sixth shall be—

3 ‘‘(A) spent nuclear fuel or high-level radio4 active waste of domestic origin from civilian nu5 clear power reactors that have permanently

6 ceased operation on or before the date of enact7 ment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997.

8 ‘‘(B) spent nuclear fuel from foreign re9 search reactors, as necessary to promote non10 proliferation activities; and

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

12 nuclear fuel from naval reactors, and high-level

13 radioactive waste from research or atomic en14 ergy defense activities: Provided, however, That

15 the Secretary shall accept not less than five

16 percent of the total quantity of fuel and high17 level radioactive waste accepted in any year

18 from the categories of radioactive materials de19 scribed in subparagraphs (B) and (C).

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

21 by June 30, 2003 at the rates specified in subsection (a),

22 or if the cumulative amount emplaced in any year there23 after is less than that which would have been accepted

24 under the emplacement rate specified in subsection (a),

25 the Secretary shall, as a mitigation measure, adjust the
101

S 104 ES

1 emplacement schedule upward such that within 5 years

2 of the start of emplacement by the Secretary—

3 ‘‘(1) the total quantity accepted by the Sec4 retary is consistent with the total quantity that the

5 Secretary would have accepted if the Secretary had

6 began emplacement in fiscal year 2003, and

7 ‘‘(2) thereafter the emplacement rate is equiva8 lent to the rate that would be in place pursuant to

9 subsection (a) above if the Secretary had commenced

10 emplacement in fiscal year 2003.

11 ‘‘SEC. 508. TRANSFER OF TITLE.

12 ‘‘(a) Acceptance by the Secretary of any spent nu13 clear fuel or high-level radioactive waste shall constitute

14 a transfer of title to the Secretary.

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

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

17 Secretary is authorized to accept all spent nuclear fuel

18 withdrawn from Dairyland Power Cooperative’s La Crosse

19 Reactor and, upon acceptance, shall provide Dairyland

20 Power Cooperative with evidence of the title transfer. Im21 mediately upon the Secretary’s acceptance of such spent

22 nuclear fuel, the Secretary shall assume all responsibility

23 and liability for the interim storage and permanent dis24 posal thereof and is authorized to compensate Dairyland

25 Power Cooperative for any costs related to operating and
102

S 104 ES

1 maintaining facilities necessary for such storage from the

2 date of acceptance until the Secretary removes the spent

3 nuclear fuel from the La Crosse Reactor site.

4 ‘‘SEC. 509. DECOMMISSIONING PILOT PROGRAM.

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

6 to establish a Decommissioning Pilot Program to decom7 mission and decontaminate the sodium-cooled fast breeder

8 experimental test-site reactor located in northwest Arkan9 sas.

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

11 Fund may be used for the Decommissioning Pilot Pro12 gram.

13 ‘‘SEC. 510. WATER RIGHTS.

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

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

16 construed to constitute either an express or implied Fed17 eral reservation of water or water rights for any purpose

18 arising under this Act.

19 ‘‘(b) ACQUISITION AND EXERCISE OF WATER

20 RIGHTS UNDER NEVADA LAW.—The United States may

21 acquire and exercise such water rights as it deems nec22 essary to carry out its responsibilities under this Act pur23 suant to the substantive and procedural requirements of

24 the State of Nevada. Nothing in this Act shall be con-
103

S 104 ES

1 strued to authorize the use of eminent domain by the

2 United States to acquire water rights for such lands.

3 ‘‘(c) EXERCISE OF WATER RIGHTS GENERALLY

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

6 under Nevada State laws.

7 ‘‘SEC. 511. DRY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY.

8 ‘‘The Commission is authorized to establish, by rule,

9 procedures for the licensing of any technology for the dry

10 storage of spent nuclear fuel by rule and without, to the

11 maximum extent possible, the need for site-specific ap12 provals by the Commission. Nothing in this Act shall af13 fect any such procedures, or any licenses or approvals is14 sued pursuant to such procedures in effect on the date

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

16 ‘‘TITLE VI—NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL

17 REVIEW BOARD

18 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS.

19 ‘‘For purposes of this title—

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

21 the Chairman of the Nuclear Waste Technical Re22 view Board.

23 ‘‘(2) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the Nu24 clear Waste Technical Review Board continued

25 under section 602.
104

S 104 ES

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

2 ‘‘(a) CONTINUATION OF THE NUCLEAR WASTE

3 TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD.—The Nuclear Waste Tech4 nical Review Board, established under section 502(a) of

5 the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 as constituted prior

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

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

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

9 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.—

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

11 members who shall be appointed by the President

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

13 from among persons nominated by the National

14 Academy of Sciences in accordance with paragraph

15 (3).

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

17 member of the Board to serve as Chairman.

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

19 ‘‘(A) NOMINATIONS.—The National Acad20 emy of Sciences shall, not later than 90 days

21 after December 22, 1987, nominate not less

22 than 22 persons for appointment to the Board

23 from among persons who meet the qualifica24 tions described in subparagraph (C).

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

26 of Sciences shall nominate not less than 2 per-
105

S 104 ES

1 sons to fill any vacancy on the Board from

2 among persons who meet the qualifications de3 scribed in subparagraph (C).

4 ‘‘(C) NOMINEES.—

5 ‘‘(i) Each person nominated for ap6 pointment to the Board shall be—

7 ‘‘(I) eminent in a field of science

8 or engineering, including environ9 mental sciences; and

10 ‘‘(II) selected solely on the basis

11 of established records of distinguished

12 service.

13 ‘‘(ii) The membership of the Board

14 shall be representatives of the broad range

15 of scientific and engineering disciplines re16 lated to activities under this title.

17 ‘‘(iii) No person shall be nominated

18 for appointment to the Board who is an

19 employee of—

20 ‘‘(I) the Department of Energy;

21 ‘‘(II) a national laboratory under

22 contract with the Department of En23 ergy; or

24 ‘‘(III) an entity performing spent

25 nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive
106

S 104 ES

1 waste activities under contract with

2 the Department of Energy.

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

4 shall be filled by the nomination and appointment

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

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

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

8 commence 120 days after December 22, 1987, ex9 cept that of the 11 members first appointed to the

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

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

12 time of appointment, except that a member of the

13 Board whose term has expired may continue to serve

14 as a member of the Board until such member’s suc15 cessor has taken office.

16 ‘‘SEC. 603. FUNCTIONS.

17 ‘‘The Board shall evaluate the technical and scientific

18 validity of activities undertaken by the Secretary after De19 cember 22, 1987, including—

20 ‘‘(1) site characterization activities; and

21 ‘‘(2) activities relating to the packaging or

22 transportation of high-level radioactive waste or

23 spent nuclear fuel.
107

S 104 ES

1 ‘‘SEC. 604. INVESTIGATORY POWERS.

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

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

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

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

6 Board considers appropriate. Any member of the Board

7 may administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses appear8 ing before the Board.

9 ‘‘(b) PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS.—

10 ‘‘(1) RESPONSE TO INQUIRIES.—Upon the re11 quest of the Chairman or a majority of the members

12 of the Board, and subject to existing law, the Sec13 retary (or any contractor of the Secretary) shall pro14 vide the Board with such records, files, papers, data,

15 or information as may be necessary to respond to

16 any inquiry of the Board under this title.

17 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF DRAFTS.—Subject to ex18 isting law, information obtainable under paragraph

19 (1) shall not be limited to final work products of the

20 Secretary, but shall include drafts of such products

21 and documentation of work in progress.

22 ‘‘SEC. 605. COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.

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

24 be paid at the rate of pay payable for level III of the Exec25 utive Schedule for each day (including travel time) such

26 member is engaged in the work of the Board.
108

S 104 ES

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

2 Board may receive travel expenses, including per diem in

3 lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as is permitted

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

5 Code.

6 ‘‘SEC. 606. STAFF.

7 ‘‘(a) CLERICAL STAFF.—

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

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

10 the compensation of such clerical staff as may be

11 necessary to discharge the responsibilities of the

12 Board.

13 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONS OF TITLE 5.—Clerical staff

14 shall be appointed subject to the provisions of title

15 5, United States Code, governing appointments in

16 the competitive service, and shall be paid in accord17 ance with the provisions of chapter 51 and sub18 chapter III of chapter 3 of such title relating to clas19 sification and General Schedule pay rates.

20 ‘‘(b) PROFESSIONAL STAFF.—

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

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

23 and fix the compensation of such professional staff

24 as may be necessary to discharge the responsibilities

25 of the Board.
109

S 104 ES

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

2 staff members may be appointed under this sub3 section.

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

5 be appointed without regard to the provisions of title

6 5, United States Code, governing appointments in

7 the competitive service, and may be paid without re8 gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter

9 III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classifica10 tion and General Schedule pay rates, except that no

11 individual so appointed may receive pay in excess of

12 the annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–18 of

13 the General Schedule.

14 ‘‘SEC. 607. SUPPORT SERVICES.

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

16 by law and requested by the Chairman, the Administrator

17 of General Services shall provide the Board with necessary

18 administrative services, facilities, and support on a reim19 bursable basis.

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

21 ASSESSMENT SERVICES.—The Comptroller General and

22 the Librarian of Congress shall, to the extent permitted

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

24 Board with such facilities, support, funds and services, in-
110

S 104 ES

1 cluding staff, as may be necessary for the effective per2 formance of the functions of the Board.

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

4 the Chairman, the Board may secure directly from the

5 head of any department or agency of the United States

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

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

8 mails in the same manner and under the same conditions

9 as other departments and agencies of the United States.

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

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

12 may procure temporary and intermittent services under

13 section 3109(b) of title 5 of the United States Code, but

14 at rates for individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent

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

16 18 of the General Schedule.

17 ‘‘SEC. 608. REPORT.

18 ‘‘The Board shall report not less than 2 times per

19 year to Congress and the Secretary its findings, conclu20 sions, and recommendations.

21 ‘‘SEC. 609. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 ‘‘Nothwithstanding section 401(d), and subject to

23 section 401(e), there are authorized to be appropriated for

24 expenditures from amounts in the Nuclear Waste Fund
111

S 104 ES

1 under section 401(c) such sums as may be necessary to

2 carry out the provisions of this title.

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

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

5 year after the date on which the Secretary begins disposal

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

7 repository.

8 ‘‘TITLE VII—MANAGEMENT REFORM

9 ‘‘SEC. 701. MANAGEMENT REFORM INITIATIVES.

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

11 actions as necessary to improve the management of the

12 civilian radioactive waste management program to ensure

13 that the program is operated, to the maximum extent

14 practicable, in like manner as a private business.

15 ‘‘(b) AUDITS.—

16 ‘‘(1) STANDARD.—The Office of Civilian Radio17 active Waste Management, its contractors, and sub18 contractors at all tiers, shall conduct, or have con19 ducted, audits and examinations of their operations

20 in accordance with the usual and customary prac21 tices of private corporations engaged in large nuclear

22 construction projects consistent with its role in the

23 program.

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

25 performances of the Office of Civilian Radioactive
112

S 104 ES

1 Waste Management shall be audited every 5 years

2 by an independent management consulting firm with

3 significant experience in similar audits of private

4 corporations engaged in large nuclear construction

5 projects. The first such audit shall be conducted 5

6 years after the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Pol7 icy Act of 1997.

8 ‘‘(3) TIME.—No audit contemplated by this

9 subsection shall take longer than 30 days to con10 duct. An audit report shall be issued in final form

11 no longer than 60 days after the audit is com12 menced.

13 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.—All audit reports

14 shall be public documents and available to any indi15 vidual upon request.

16 ‘‘(c) VALUE ENGINEERING.—The Secretary shall cre17 ate a value engineering function within the Office of Civil18 ian Radioactive Waste Management that reports directly

19 to the Director, which shall carry out value engineering

20 functions in accordance with the usual and customary

21 practices of private corporations engaged in large nuclear

22 construction projects.

23 ‘‘(d) SITE CHARACTERIZATION.—The Secretary shall

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

25 modeling to identify appropriate parameters for the re-
113

S 104 ES

1 maining site characterization effort and to eliminate stud2 ies of parameters that are shown not to affect long-term

3 repository performance.

4 ‘‘SEC. 702. REPORTING.

5 ‘‘(a) INITIAL REPORT.—Within 180 days of enact6 ment of this section, the Secretary shall report to Con7 gress on its planned actions for implementing the provi8 sions of this Act, including the development of the Inte9 grated Waste Management System. Such report shall in10 clude—

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

12 meeting its statutory and contractual obligation to

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

14 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in ac15 cordance with the emplacement schedule under sec16 tion 507;

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

18 each action that the Secretary intends to take to

19 meet the Secretary’s obligations under this Act and

20 the contracts;

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

22 contingency plans in the event that the Secretary is

23 unable to meet the planned schedule and timeline;

24 and
114

S 104 ES

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

2 needs for the five fiscal years beginning after the fis3 cal year in which the date of enactment of the Nu4 clear Waste Policy Act of 1997 occurs.

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

6 submittal of the report required by subsection (a), the Sec7 retary shall make annual reports to the Congress for the

8 purpose of updating the information contained in such re9 port. The annual reports shall be brief and shall notify

10 the Congress of—

11 ‘‘(1) any modifications to the Secretary’s sched12 ule and timeline for meeting its obligations under

13 this Act;

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

15 status of the implementation of any of the Sec16 retary’s contingency plans; and

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

18 needs for the ensuing 5 fiscal years.

19 ‘‘TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS

20 ‘‘SEC. 801. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

21 ‘‘It is the sense of the Senate that the Secretary and

22 the petitioners in Northern States Power (Minnesota), v.

23 Department of Energy, pending before the United States

24 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (No.

25 97–1064), should enter into a settlement agreement to re-
115

S 104 ES

1 solve the issues pending before the court in that case prior

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

3 of 1997.

4 ‘‘SEC. 802. EFFECTIVE DATE.

5 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act

6 shall become effective one day after enactment.’’.

7 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING ASSISTANCE

8 FOR ELDERLY AND DISABLED LEGAL IMMI9 GRANTS.

10 It is the sense of the Senate that elderly and disabled

11 legal immigrants who are unable to work should receive

12 assistance essential to their well-being, and that the Presi13 dent, Congress, the States, and faith-based and other or14 ganizations should continue to work together toward that

15 end.

Passed the Senate April 15, 1997.

Attest:

Secretary.
105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 104

AN ACT

To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.