‘‘SEC. 603. FUNCTIONS.
‘‘The Board shall evaluate the technical and scientific
validity of activities undertaken by the Secretary after De-
cember 22, 1987, including—
‘‘(1) site characterization activities; and
‘‘(2) activities relating to the packaging or trans-
portation of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radio-
active waste.
‘‘SEC. 604. INVESTIGATORY POWERS.
‘‘(a) HEARINGS.—Upon request of the Chairman or a
majority of the members of the Board, the Board may hold
such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take
such testimony, and receive such evidence, as the Board con-
siders appropriate. Any member of the Board may admin-
ister oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before the
Board.
‘‘(b) PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS.—
‘‘(1) RESPONSE
TO
INQUIRIES.—Upon the re-
quest of the Chairman or a majority of the members
of the Board, and subject to existing law, the Sec-
retary (or any contractor of the Secretary) shall pro-
vide the Board with such records, files, papers, data,
or information as may be necessary to respond to any
inquiry of the Board under this title.
‘‘(2) EXTENT.—Subject to existing law, informa-
tion obtainable under paragraph (1) shall not be lim-
ited to final work products of the Secretary, but shall
include drafts of such products and documentation of
work in progress.
‘‘SEC. 605. COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Board shall
be paid at the rate of pay payable for level III of the Execu-
tive Schedule for each day (including travel time) such
member is engaged in the work of the Board.
‘‘(b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the Board
may receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of
subsistence, in the same manner as is permitted under sec-
tions 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.
‘‘SEC. 606. STAFF.
‘‘(a) CLERICAL STAFF.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY
OF
CHAIRMAN.—Subject to
paragraph (2), the Chairman may appoint and fix
the compensation of such clerical staff as may be nec-
essary to discharge the responsibilities of the Board.
‘‘(2) PROVISIONS
OF
TITLE
5.—Clerical staff
shall be appointed subject to the provisions of title 5,
United States Code, governing appointments in the
competitive service, and shall be paid in accordance
with the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III
of chapter 3 of such title relating to classification and
General Schedule pay rates.
‘‘(b) PROFESSIONAL STAFF.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY
OF
CHAIRMAN.—Subject to
paragraphs (2) and (3), the Chairman may appoint
and fix the compensation of such professional staff as
may be necessary to discharge the responsibilities of
the Board.
‘‘(2) NUMBER.—Not more than 10 professional
staff members may be appointed under this sub-
section.
‘‘(3) TITLE 5.—Professional staff members may
be appointed without regard to the provisions of title
5, United States Code, governing appointments in the
competitive service, and may be paid without regard
to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of
chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and
General Schedule pay rates, except that no individual
so appointed may receive pay in excess of the annual
rate of basic pay payable for GS–18 of the General
Schedule.
‘‘SEC. 607. SUPPORT SERVICES.
‘‘(a) GENERAL SERVICES.—To the extent permitted by
law and requested by the Chairman, the Administrator of
General Services shall provide the Board with necessary ad-
ministrative services, facilities, and support on a reimburs-
able basis.
‘‘(b) ACCOUNTING, RESEARCH, AND TECHNOLOGY AS-
SESSMENT SERVICES.—The Comptroller General, the Li-
brarian of Congress, and the Director of the Office of Tech-
nology Assessment shall, to the extent permitted by law and
subject to the availability of funds, provide the Board with
such facilities, support, funds and services, including staff,
as may be necessary for the effective performance of the
functions of the Board.
‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.—Upon the request of the
Chairman, the Board may secure directly from the head
of any department or agency of the United States informa-
tion necessary to enable it to carry out this title.
‘‘(d) MAILS.—The Board may use the United States
mails in the same manner and under the same conditions
as other departments and agencies of the United States.
‘‘(e) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—Subject to such
rules as may be prescribed by the Board, the Chairman may
procure temporary and intermittent services under section
3109(b) of title 5 of the United States Code, but at rates
for individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent of the
maximum annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–18 of
the General Schedule.
‘‘SEC. 608. REPORT.
‘‘The Board shall report not less than 2 times per year
to Congress and the Secretary its findings, conclusions, and
recommendations.
‘‘SEC. 609. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for expendi-
tures such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provi-
sions of this title.
‘‘SEC. 610. TERMINATION OF THE BOARD.
‘‘The Board shall cease to exist not later than one year
after the date on which the Secretary begins disposal of
spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste in the re-
pository.
‘‘TITLE VII—MANAGEMENT
REFORM
‘‘SEC. 701. MANAGEMENT REFORM INITIATIVES.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is directed to take
actions as necessary to improve the management of the ci-
vilian radioactive waste management program to ensure
that the program is operated, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, in like manner as a private business. Notwithstand-
ing any other provision of law, the civilian radioactive
waste management program is not subject to laws or regula-
tions concerning the civil service as described in this title.
‘‘(b) OFFICE OF CIVILIAN RADIOACTIVE WASTE MAN-
AGEMENT EMPLOYEES.—
‘‘(1) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary shall, with-
out regard to section 5301 of title 5, United States
Code, fix the compensation of the Director and the
Deputy Director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive
Waste Management. The Director shall, without re-
gard to section 5301 of title 5, United States Code,
fix the compensation for all other Federal employees
assigned to the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste
Management, define their duties, and provide for a
system of organization to fix responsibility and pro-
mote efficiency. The Deputy Director may be removed
at the Director’s discretion without regard to any
laws, rules, or regulations concerning personnel ac-
tions in the Civil Service System or Senior Executive
Service. Any other Federal employee assigned to the
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management
may be removed at the discretion of the Secretary or
Director without regard to any laws, rules, or regula-
tions concerning personnel actions in the Civil Serv-
ice System or Senior Executive Service. The Secretary
shall ensure that Federal employees assigned to the
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management are
appointed, promoted, and assigned on the basis of
merit and fitness. Other personnel actions shall be
consistent with the principles of fairness and due
process specified in title 5 of the United States Code,
but without regard to those provisions of such title
governing appointments and other personnel actions
in the competitive service.
‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—The provisions of para-
graph (1) shall not apply to Federal employees who
may be, from time to time, temporarily assigned to
the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.
The use of temporary assignment of Federal employ-
ees to the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Man-
agement shall not be used in any manner to cir-
cumvent the full application of the provisions in
paragraph (1).
‘‘(3) TRANSITION.—The Secretary shall transi-
tion the Federal employees assigned to the Office of
Civilian Radioactive Waste Management to the provi-
sions of this section in an orderly manner allowing
for the development of the needed procedures. Under
no circumstances shall this transition take longer
than 6 months from the date of enactment of the Nu-
clear Waste Policy Act of 1995.
‘‘(4) RETENTION
OF
BENEFITS.—Federal em-
ployees assigned to the Office of Civilian Radioactive
Waste Management and transitioned to the provisions
of this section shall retain employment benefits in ef-
fect immediately prior to the transition date.
Transitioned employees will continue in the Civil
Service System’s retirement system.
‘‘(c) AUDITS.—
‘‘(1) STANDARD.—The Office of Civilian Radio-
active Waste Management, its contractors, and sub-
contractors at all tiers, shall conduct, or have con-
ducted, audits and examinations of their operations
in accordance with the usual and customary practices
of private corporations engaged in large nuclear con-
struction projects consistent with its role in the pro-
gram.
‘‘(2) TIME.—The management practices and per-
formances of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste
Management shall be audited every 5 years by an
independent management consulting firm with sig-
nificant experience in similar audits of private cor-
porations engaged in large nuclear construction
projects. The first such audit shall be conducted 5
years after the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act of 1995.
‘‘(3) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The Comptroller
General of the United States shall annually make an
audit of the Office, in accordance with such regula-
tions as the Comptroller General may prescribe. The
Comptroller General shall have access to such books,
records, accounts, and other materials of the Office
as the Comptroller General determines to be necessary
for the preparation of such audit. The Comptroller
General shall submit to the Congress a report on the
results of each audit conducted under this section.
‘‘(4) TIME.—No audit contemplated by this sub-
section shall take longer than 30 days to conduct. An
audit report shall be issued in final form no longer
than 60 days after the audit is commenced.
‘‘(5) PUBLIC
DOCUMENTS.—All audit reports
shall be public documents and available to any indi-
vidual upon request.
‘‘(d) VALUE ENGINEERING.—The Secretary shall cre-
ate a value engineering function within the Office of Civil-
ian Radioactive Waste Management that reports directly
to the Director, which shall carry out value engineering
functions in accordance with the usual and customary
practices of private corporations engaged in large nuclear
construction projects.
‘‘(e) SITE CHARACTERIZATION.—The Secretary shall
employ, on an on-going basis, integrated performance mod-
eling to identify appropriate parameters for the remaining
site characterization effort and to eliminate studies of pa-
rameters that are shown not to affect long-term repository
performance.
‘‘SEC. 702. REPORTING.
‘‘(a) INITIAL REPORT.—Within 180 days of the date
of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1995, the
Secretary shall report to Congress on its planned actions
for implementing the provisions of this Act, including the
development of the Integrated Waste Management System.
Such report shall include—
‘‘(1) an analysis of the Secretary’s progress in
meeting its statutory and contractual obligation to
accept title to, possession of, and delivery of spent nu-
clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste beginning
no later than January 31, 1998, and in accordance
with the acceptance schedule;
‘‘(2) a detailed schedule and timeline showing
each action that the Secretary intends to take to meet
the Secretary’s obligations under this Act and the
contracts;
‘‘(3) a detailed description of the Secretary’s con-
tingency plans in the event that the Secretary is un-
able to meet the planned schedule and timeline; and
‘‘(4) an analysis by the Secretary of its funding
needs for fiscal years 1996 through 2001.
‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORTS.—On each anniversary of the
submittal of the report required by subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall make annual reports to the Congress for the
purpose of updating the information contained in such re-
port. The annual reports shall be brief and shall notify the
Congress of—
‘‘(1) any modifications to the Secretary’s sched-
ule and timeline for meeting its obligations under this
Act;
‘‘(2) the reasons for such modifications, and the
status of the implementation of any of the Secretary’s
contingency plans; and
‘‘(3) the Secretary’s analysis of its funding needs
for the ensuing 5 fiscal years.’’.
SEC. 2. CONTINUATION OF CONTRACTS.
Subsequent to the date of enactment of the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act of 1995, the contracts executed under sec-
tion 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 shall
continue in effect under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of
1995 in accordance with their terms except to the extent
that the contracts have been modified by the parties to the
contract.
HR 1020 RH——2
HR 1020 RH——3
HR 1020 RH——4
HR 1020 RH——5
HR 1020 RH——6
HR 1020 RH——7