I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3151
To provide funding for the Portsmouth and Paducah, Tennessee, gaseous
diffusion plants.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 26, 1999
Mr. STRICKLAND (for himself and Mr. WHITFIELD) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To provide funding for the Portsmouth and Paducah,
Tennessee, gaseous diffusion plants.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. URANIUM ENRICHMENT DECONTAMINATION
AND DECOMMISSIONING FUND.
(a) EXPENDITURES BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 1999.—
Notwithstanding any other law, beginning on October 1,
1999, the Secretary of Energy may expend amounts col-
lected under subsections (c) and (d) of section 1802 of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. section 2297g–
1 (c), (d)) for the purposes set forth in subsections (b)
and (c) of section 1803 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2297g–
2 (b), (c)) without further appropriation and without fiscal
year limitation.
(b) EXPENDITURES BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2008.—
Notwithstanding any other law, beginning October 1,
2008, the Secretary of Energy may expend amounts in
the fund established by section 1801 of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2297g) for the purposes set forth
in subsections (b) and (c) of section 1803 of such Act (42
U.S.C. section 2297g–1 (c), (d)) without further appro-
priation and without fiscal year limitation but subject to
limitations that may be included in appropriations Acts.
SEC. 2. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The funds referred to in section
1 shall be allocated to each decontamination and decom-
missioning program of the 3 gaseous diffusion plants in,
Portsmouth, Ohio, Paducah, Kentucky, and Oak Ridge,
Tennessee, proportional to the total number of Separative
Work Units processed at each such site. Such units shall
be calculated as of the date of enactment of this Act. The
Secretary of Energy shall report the allocation to Congress
within 60 days of such date of enactment.
(b) ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF TERMINATION OF
LEASE.—Upon receiving advance notification that the
United States Enrichment Corporation, or its affiliates,
is terminating all or part of its lease with the Department
of Energy at the gaseous diffusion plant at Portsmouth,
Ohio, or Paducah, Kentucky, the Department of Energy
shall notify local and State officials, the congressional del-
egation, employee representatives, and community reuse
organizations (if any).
(c) DECONTAMINATION AND DECOMMISSIONING PRO-
GRAM.—If such a lease is terminated, in whole or in part,
the Department of Energy shall, within 60 days, make a
determination whether it will lease the facility involved in
the lease to a successor entity, operate the facility as a
government enterprise, operate the facility on standby, or
close all or part of the operations of the facility. In the
event that the Department of Energy determines that it
will no longer operate or lease all or part of a gaseous
diffusion plant, the Department of Energy shall imme-
diately initiate a decontamination and decommissioning
program. Within 30 days of such decision, the Department
of Energy shall immediately commence all required envi-
ronmental reviews, including compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
(d) REPORT.—The Secretary of Energy shall trans-
mit to Congress a decontamination and decommissioning
program for the Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah, Ken-
tucky, gaseous diffusion plants no later than 180 days
after the date a decision has been made to close all or
part of one of the gaseous diffusion plants.
SEC. 3. PORTSMOUTH AND PADUCAH OPERATIONS OFFICE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Department of Energy shall
establish, not later than March 30, 2000, a Portsmouth
and Paducah Operations Office. The office shall manage
the environmental restoration, nuclear energy, and ura-
nium enrichment program activities at such 2 sites. The
office shall be provided with budget authority and con-
tracting authority over existing contracts and authority to
award new contracts. The office shall manage and direct,
among other projects, the depleted uranium hexafluoride
conversion program and decontamination and decommis-
sioning program. The office shall also have its own capac-
ity to perform environmental, safety, health, and financal
oversight.
(b) PLAN.—The Department shall submit, not later
than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, a
plan for establishing the Portsmouth and Paducah Oper-
ations Office. The plan shall describe actions required to
transfer functions from the Oak Ridge Operations Office
to the Portsmouth and Paducah Operations Office. The
plan shall outline the personnel transfers, full-time equiva-
lent requirements, budget requirements, physical space re-
quirements, and identify the source of funds to accomplish
the transfer of personnel, documents, and support sys-
tems. The plan shall include the provision for legal counsel
and chief financial officer and describe the reporting rela-
tionships to the Headquarters Program Office. The plan
shall detail which Operations Office functions shall be lo-
cated at the Portsmouth Plant Area Office versus the Pa-
ducah Plant Area Office.
(c) PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.—The President’s Budget
request for fiscal year 2001 and for each fiscal year there-
after shall include funding for the Portsmouth and Padu-
cah Operations Office as a separate line item from the
Oak Ridge Operations Office budget.
SEC. 4. CLOSURE OF GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT.
The Department of Energy shall minimize the social
and economic impacts of any decisions related to the clo-
sure of all or part of a gaseous diffusion plant at Ports-
mouth, Ohio, or Paducah, Kentucky. As part of this effort,
all contracts and subcontracts for safe shutdown, deactiva-
tion, decontamination, and decommissioning work at such
Department of Energy’s gaseous diffusion plants shall in-
clude requirements that—
(1) consistent with site seniority practices, con-
tractors and subcontractors of all tiers directly pro-
vide a continuing right of first refusal for available
work to gaseous diffusion plant employees and De-
partment of Energy contractor employees who were
employed on the date of enactment of this Act and
are displaced or facing displacement and are quali-
fied or can qualify with a reasonable amount of
training;
(2) contractors and subcontractors provide req-
uisite training and retraining for incumbent employ-
ees not to exceed $10,000 per worker, excluding
wages and time spent in training;
(3) pay wages and benefits not less than wages
and fringes provided under the Service Contract Act
of 1965, and provide pension and retiree health care
benefit continuity using the Multiple Employer Pen-
sion Plan now in place at the Portsmouth, Ohio, Pa-
ducah, Kentucky, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee sites or
an equivalent instrument;
(4) comply with the workforce restructuring
plan promulgated by the Department of Energy pur-
suant to section 3161 of the National Defense Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 (42 U.S.C.
7274h); and
(5) suits alleging violations of this section may
be brought in any district court of the United States
having jurisdiction over the parties, without regard
to the amount in controversy or citizenship of the
parties.
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