I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1559
To amend the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 to
provide for the remediation of the Atlas mill tailings site near Moab, Utah.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 26, 1999
Mr. CANNON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act
of 1978 to provide for the remediation of the Atlas
mill tailings site near Moab, Utah.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REMEDIATION OF ATLAS SITE.
Subsection (a) of section 102 of the Uranium Mill
Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C.
7912(a)) is amended by adding the following new para-
graph at the end thereof:
‘‘(4) The Secretary shall designate as a proc-
essing site within the meaning of section 101(6) the
Atlas uranium tailing site (hereafter in this para-
graph referred to as the ‘‘Atlas Site’’) located ap-
proximately 3 miles northwest of Moab, Utah, and
identified in the Draft Environmental Impact State-
ment issued in January, 1996, in connection with
Source Material License No. SUA 917 by the Nu-
clear Regulatory Commission, Office of Nuclear Ma-
terial Safety and Safeguards. The provisions of this
Act shall apply to the site so designated in the same
manner and to the same extent as to the sites des-
ignated under this subsection, except that in apply-
ing such provisions to the site—
‘‘(A) subsection (a) of section 112 and
subsection (a) of section 115 shall not apply;
‘‘(B) any reference in this Act to the date
of the enactment of this Act shall be treated as
a reference to the date of the enactment of this
paragraph;
‘‘(C) the Secretary’s share shall be 100
percent; and
‘‘(D) the Secretary, without regard to sec-
tion 104(b), shall, in consultation with the gov-
ernment of Grand County, Utah, remove resid-
ual radioactive material from the Atlas Site and
from the floodplain of the Colorado River for
permanent disposition and stabilization of such
residual radioactive material in a safe and envi-
ronmentally sound manner.
As promptly as practicable after the enactment of this
paragraph, the Attorney General shall undertake the stud-
ies required under subsection (b) of section 115 with re-
spect to the Atlas Site and take such action as may be
necessary in accordance with such subsection to require
the owner or operator of the Atlas Site, or any other per-
son liable for the costs of remedial action at such site,
to reimburse the United States for the costs of such reme-
dial action. Section 1001(a) of the Energy Policy Act of
1992 (42 U.S.C. 2296a(a)) notwithstanding, the current
owner and operator of the Atlas Site shall be relieved of
all further responsibility for costs of remedial action at
the Atlas Site if such owner and operator transfers to the
Secretary fee simple title and all water rights appurtenant
thereto to the entire Site (consisting of 437 acres more
or less) and such owner and operator releases and surren-
ders to the Secretary all existing and future rights to re-
ceive reimbursement for costs of remedial action under
section 1001(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The
Commission shall transfer to the Secretary all surety
bonds or other instruments securing the performance of
the licensee’s decontamination, decommissioning, reclama-
tion, and other remedial obligations under Source Material
License No. SUA 917, whereupon such license shall be
terminated. After the removal of radioactive materials
from the Atlas Site, the Secretary, with the concurrence
of the Commission, may sell any lands and interests ac-
quired in the Atlas Site or donate such lands and interests
to a governmental entity within the State of Utah for per-
manent use for park, recreational, or other public pur-
poses.’’.
Æ