II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1985 

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

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2019 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. KING, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

SANDERS, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To assist communities affected by stranded nuclear waste, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 for America’s Nuclear Districts’ Economic Development 

6 Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘STRANDED Act of 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) in 1982, Congress authorized the Secretary 

2 of Energy and the Chairman of the Nuclear Regu3 latory Commission to safely manage and dispose of 

4 the most highly radioactive nuclear waste of the 

5 United States, a responsibility that includes— 

6 (A) removing spent nuclear fuel from com7 mercial nuclear power plants for a fee; and 

8 (B) transporting the spent fuel to— 

9 (i) a permanent geological repository; 

10 or 

11 (ii) an interim storage facility before 

12 permanent disposal; 

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

14 plants have operated in good faith that the Federal 

15 Government would establish a permanent geological 

16 repository; 

17 (3) communities affected by stranded nuclear 

18 waste are in fact interim nuclear waste storage sites; 

19 (4) the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 

20 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.)— 

21 (A) directed the Secretary to make annual 

22 impact assistance payments to States or appro23 priate units of local government to mitigate the 

24 social and economic impacts of the establish25 ment and operation of interim nuclear waste 


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1 storage capacity within the jurisdictional bound2 aries of an affected community; and 

3 (B) established the rate for impact assist4 ance payments at $15 per kilogram of spent 

5 nuclear fuel; 

6 (5) decommissioning a commercial nuclear 

7 power plant is often catastrophic for the host com8 munity because nuclear power plants are major em9 ployers and the primary source of local tax revenue; 

10 (6) stranded nuclear waste is a profound obsta11 cle to future economic growth, deterring potential 

12 employers and residents from considering the host 

13 community; 

14 (7) stranded nuclear waste prevents economic 

15 development in communities in which the stranded 

16 nuclear waste is located; and 

17 (8) it is critical to provide resources to commu18 nities that— 

19 (A) are challenged by stranded nuclear 

20 waste; or 

21 (B) will be challenged by stranded nuclear 

22 waste during the 10-year period beginning on 

23 the date of enactment of this Act. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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

2 the National Academy of Sciences. 

3 (2) AFFECTED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘af4 fected community’’ means a unit of local govern5 ment, including a county, city, town, village, school 

6 district, or special district, that contains stranded 

7 nuclear waste within the boundaries of the unit of 

8 local government, as determined by the Secretary. 

9 (3) ELIGIBLE CIVILIAN NUCLEAR POWER

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

11 plant’’ means a nuclear power plant that— 

12 (A) has been decommissioned; or 

13 (B) is in the process of being decommis14 sioned. 

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

16 the Secretary of Energy. 

17 (5) STRANDED NUCLEAR WASTE.—The term 

18 ‘‘stranded nuclear waste’’ means nuclear waste or 

19 spent nuclear fuel stored in dry casks or spent fuel 

20 pools at a decommissioned or decommissioning nu21 clear facility. 

22 SEC. 4. INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS PRIZE COMPETITION. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es25 tablish under section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler TechVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1985.IS S1985

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1 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719) a com2 petitive prize competition (referred to in this section as 

3 the ‘‘prize competition’’) to award prizes to proposals for 

4 affected communities to carry out alternatives to nuclear 

5 facilities, generating sites, and waste sites. 

6 (b) PRIZE BOARD.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an 

8 advisory board (referred to in this section as the 

9 ‘‘Board’’) to advise the Secretary on— 

10 (A) the design and implementation of the 

11 prize competition; and 

12 (B) the development of the pilot project 

13 under subsection (d). 

14 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com15 posed of not fewer than 9 members appointed by the 

16 Secretary— 

17 (A) who shall provide expertise in— 

18 (i) nuclear waste; 

19 (ii) workforce issues; 

20 (iii) technology development; and 

21 (iv) economic development; and 

22 (B) who may include representatives 

23 from— 

24 (i) the National Laboratories; 

25 (ii) nonprofit organizations; and 


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1 (iii) institutions of higher education. 

2 (c) AWARD AMOUNT.—An award under the prize 

3 competition shall be in the amount of $500,000. 

4 (d) PILOT PROJECT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta6 tion with the Board, shall develop a pilot project 

7 based on the proposal of the winner of the prize 

8 competition. 

9 (2) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available 

10 under section 7, the Secretary may use $500,000 to 

11 carry out the pilot project under paragraph (1). 

12 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

13 on which a prize is awarded under the prize competition, 

14 the Secretary shall submit to the relevant committees of 

15 Congress a report that describes the winning proposal of 

16 the prize competition. 

17 SEC. 5. STRANDED NUCLEAR WASTE TASK FORCE. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

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

20 Task Force’’— 

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

22 private resources and funding for which affected 

23 communities may be eligible; and 


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

3 affected community. 

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

5 of enactment of this Act, the Stranded Nuclear Waste 

6 Task Force shall complete and submit to Congress the 

7 study described in subsection (a). 

8 SEC. 6. ECONOMIC IMPACT GRANTS. 

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

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

12 provide financial assistance to units of local government 

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

15 and social impacts of stranded nuclear waste in affected 

16 communities. 

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

18 an affected community shall be eligible to receive a grant 

19 under this section for a fiscal year. 

20 (c) AWARDS.— 

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

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

23 kilogram of spent nuclear fuel stored at the eligible 

24 civilian nuclear power plant in the affected commu25 nity. 


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1 (2) NUMBER AND FREQUENCY.—With respect 

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

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

6 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro8 priated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary to 

9 carry out this Act for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

10 2026. 

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

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

13 any other Federal program. 

Æ 


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