I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5275
To provide for the external regulation of nuclear safety and occupational
safety and health at nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated
by the Department of Energy.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 26, 2002
Mr. COSTELLO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Science, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and
Commerce and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To provide for the external regulation of nuclear safety and
occupational safety and health at nonmilitary energy lab-
oratories owned or operated by the Department of En-
ergy.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘External Regulation
of the Department of Energy Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Department of Energy has studied ex-
ternal regulation for nine years.
(2) The Department has already conducted a
successful pilot program that demonstrated the util-
ity of moving to external regulation of the non-
military energy laboratory complex.
(3) Managers of the nonmilitary energy labora-
tories, the General Accounting Office, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, and the Occupational Safe-
ty and Health Administration all agree that external
regulation is both workable and desirable.
(4) The safety of the Department of Energy’s
nonmilitary energy laboratories, both for the workers
in the laboratories and the people that live near
them, is of paramount importance.
(5) Putting the Department of Energy out of
the self-regulation business would free up more re-
sources in the nonmilitary energy laboratories to
conduct the critical scientific missions for which
those laboratories have been established.
(6) It is time to terminate the Department of
Energy’s self-regulation of nuclear and worker safety
in the nonmilitary energy laboratory complex and
move to external regulation by the experts in these
issues, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AU-
THORITY.
Effective October 1, 2003, the Department of Energy
shall have no regulatory or enforcement authority with re-
spect to nuclear safety and occupational safety and health
responsibilities assumed by the Nuclear Regulatory Com-
mission under section 4 or by the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration under section 5 at any nonmilitary
energy laboratory owned or operated by the Department.
SEC. 4. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AUTHORITY.
(a) NUCLEAR SAFETY REGULATORY AND ENFORCE-
MENT RESPONSIBILITIES.—Effective October 1, 2003, the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall assume the nuclear
safety regulatory and enforcement responsibilities of the
Department of Energy under the Atomic Energy Act of
1954 with regard to nonmilitary energy laboratories
owned or operated by the Department.
(b) LICENSED ENTITIES.—For the purposes of car-
rying out at nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or op-
erated by the Department of Energy regulatory and en-
forcement responsibilities described in subsection (a), the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission may regulate, through li-
censing, certification, or other appropriate means, the De-
partment, the Department’s contractors, or both.
(c) DECOMMISSIONING.—A contractor operating a
nonmilitary energy laboratory owned by the Department
of Energy shall not be responsible for the costs of decom-
missioning that facility. No enforcement action may be
taken against such contractor for any violation of Nuclear
Regulatory Commission decommissioning requirements, if
such violation is the result of a failure of the Department
to authorize or fund decommissioning activities. The Nu-
clear Regulatory Commission and the Department shall,
not later than January 1, 2004, enter into a memorandum
of understanding establishing decommissioning procedures
and requirements for nonmilitary energy laboratories
owned or operated by the Department.
(d) ADMINISTRATION.—The responsibilities assumed
by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under this section
shall be administered by the Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion, not by States.
(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 189 b. of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2239(b)) is amended by
adding the following paragraph after paragraph (4):
‘‘(5) Any final order or regulation of the Com-
mission establishing standards to govern nonmilitary
energy laboratories owned or operated by the De-
partment of Energy that are issued to implement
the Commission’s responsibilities under the External
Regulation of the Department of Energy Act, and
any final determination of the Commission relating
to whether a nonmilitary energy laboratory owned or
operated by the Department is in compliance with
such standards and all applicable Commission regu-
lations or orders.’’.
(f) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—Any Department of
Energy contractor operating a nonmilitary energy labora-
tory that is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion under this section shall be subject to section 211 of
the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (41 U.S.C. 5851)
to the same extent as any other employer subject to such
section 211.
(g) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Section 170A of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210a) applies to
contracts, agreements, or other arrangements of the Nu-
clear Regulatory Commission proposed or entered into
pursuant to its responsibilities assumed under this section.
SEC. 5. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH.
(a) OSHA JURISDICTION.—Notwithstanding section
4(b)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970 (29 U.S.C. 653(b)(1)) and any other provision of
law, effective October 1, 2003, the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration shall assume the regulatory
and enforcement responsibilities of the Department of En-
ergy relating to matters covered by the Occupational Safe-
ty and Health Act of 1970 with regard to all nonmilitary
energy laboratories owned or operated by the Department,
except as provided in subsection (b). Any Department con-
tractor operating such a laboratory shall, with respect to
matters relating to occupational safety and health, be con-
sidered to be an employer for purposes of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970.
(b) REGULATION OF HAZARDS CONTAINING RADIO-
LOGICAL
AND NON-RADIOLOGICAL COMPONENT.—If a
hazard at a nonmilitary energy laboratory owned or oper-
ated by the Department presents a risk of occupational
exposure and contains both a radiological and non-radio-
logical component, the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
shall, effective October 1, 2003, share regulatory and en-
forcement responsibilities with respect to the hazard in ac-
cordance with the memorandum of understanding entered
into pursuant to section 6.
SEC. 6. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Occu-
pational Safety and Health Administration shall, before
January 1, 2003, enter into and transmit to the Congress
a memorandum of understanding to govern the exercise
of their respective authorities over nuclear safety and oc-
cupational safety and health at nonmilitary energy labora-
tories owned or operated by the Department of Energy.
SEC. 7. CIVIL PENALTIES.
The Department of Energy’s contractor operating a
nonmilitary energy laboratory owned or operated by the
Department shall not be liable for civil penalties under the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 or the Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970 for any actions taken before Octo-
ber 1, 2003, pursuant to the instructions of a Federal
agency in preparation for the transfer of regulatory and
enforcement responsibilities required by this Act.
SEC. 8. INDEMNIFICATION.
The Secretary of Energy shall continue to indemnify
nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated by the
Department in accordance with the provisions of section
170 d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
SEC. 9. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REPORTING REQUIRE-
MENT.
By April 1, 2003, the Secretary of Energy shall
transmit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the
Committee on Science, and the Committee on Appropria-
tions of the House of Representatives, and the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate, a plan for the termination
of the Department’s regulatory and enforcement respon-
sibilities for nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or op-
erated by the Department required by this Act. The report
shall include—
(1) a detailed transition plan, drafted in coordi-
nation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
giving the schedule for termination of self-regulation
authority as outlined in section 3, including the ac-
tivities to be coordinated with the Nuclear Regu-
latory Commission and the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration;
(2) a description of any issues remaining to be
resolved with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
or other external regulators, and a timetable for re-
solving such issues before October 1, 2003; and
(3) an estimate of—
(A) the annual cost of administering and
implementing self-regulation of the nuclear
safety and occupational safety and health re-
sponsibilities described in sections 4 and 5 at
nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or oper-
ated by the Department;
(B) the number of Federal and contractor
employees administering and implementing such
self-regulation; and
(C) the extent and schedule by which the
Department and the staffs at its nonmilitary
energy laboratories will be reduced as a result
of implementation of this Act.
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