I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4566
To set standards for radioactive contamination content in both the domestic
and international metals industry, to prohibit the release of radioactively
contaminated scrap metal by the Department of Energy and nuclear
fuel production, utilization, and fabrication facilities, and to require all
nations exporting metals into the United States to certify and document
the amount of radioactive contamination of any scrap metals being ex-
ported into the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 25, 2000
Mr. KLINK (for himself, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr.
COYNE, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. DOYLE, and Mr. BRADY of
Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To set standards for radioactive contamination content in
both the domestic and international metals industry, to
prohibit the release of radioactively contaminated scrap
metal by the Department of Energy and nuclear fuel
production, utilization, and fabrication facilities, and to
require all nations exporting metals into the United
States to certify and document the amount of radioactive
contamination of any scrap metals being exported into
the United States.
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 ‘‘Steel and Metal Con-
sumers Radioactivity Protection Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The metals industry in the United States is
a $100,000,000,000 plus industry and employs mil-
lions of Americans.
(2) Because of their unique features, most met-
als can be recycled over and over again which con-
serves the world’s natural resources and contributes
to a healthy environment.
(3) Metal is an essential component of millions
of industrial, business, and consumer products. The
presence of radioactive contamination in steel scrap
and other metals resulting from the production, uti-
lization, and fabrication of nuclear fuel by the De-
partment of Energy and other facilities poses a risk
to public safety, threatens the metals recycling
stream, and can cause millions of dollars worth of
damage to facilities that unknowingly process con-
taminated metals.
(4) The metals industry in the United States
desires to keep radioactive contamination resulting
from the production, utilization, and fabrication of
nuclear fuel by the Department of Energy and other
facilities out of its facilities and products.
(5) Currently there are no approved standards
for the unrestricted release of metals containing ra-
dioactive contamination in the United States. The
American public has rejected all previous attempts
by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to set a
standard for such releases. It is expected that Amer-
ican consumers will reject products that contain un-
known amounts of radioactive contamination from
the Department of Energy and nuclear fuel produc-
tion, utilization, and fabrication facilities. All such
releases are now done only with the specific approval
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or its agree-
ment States.
(6) However, the Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion currently is deliberating whether there is a need
for a rulemaking to set a specified level of radio-
active material in scrap and other metal that will be
allowed in metals for unrestricted use.
(7) At present, there is a lack of accountability
and a lack of standards regarding radioactive con-
tent in metals imported into the United States. The
Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no authority to
regulate these metals at the time of their importa-
tion.
SEC. 3. DUTIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION.—
(1) STANDARD.—
(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 24
months after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall estab-
lish, through a rulemaking under chapter 5 of
title 5, United States Code (relating to adminis-
trative procedures), a standard that controls
the free release of radioactively contaminated
scrap metal from the Department of Energy or
nuclear fuel cycle facilities in order to protect
the health and safety of the American con-
sumer.
(B) LIMITATION.— Until such standard is
established, the Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion and agreement States shall not take any
action to facilitate, implement, promulgate, or
issue a rule or guidance or take any other ad-
ministrative action that would allow the free re-
lease into commerce of radioactively contami-
nated scrap metal.
(2) RELEASE
OF
RADIOACTIVELY
CONTAMI-
NATED
EQUIPMENT, DEVICES, COMMODITIES, AND
OTHER MATERIALS.—Effective upon the date of en-
actment of this Act, all radioactively contaminated
equipment, devices, commodities, and other mate-
rials approved for general release to persons exempt
from licensing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion or any of its agreement States will be released
only under the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954 and its implementing regulations governing
the release of byproduct and source material (as de-
fined in section 11 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2014)).
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is prohibited
from establishing separate and differing release reg-
ulations and standards for equipment, devices, com-
modities, and other materials which are contami-
nated during the nuclear fuel production, utilization,
and fabrication process from those regulations and
standards established for equipment, devices, com-
modities, and other materials into which byproduct
and source material have been deliberately inserted
for their beneficial use.
(b) DEPARTMENTS OF DEFENSE AND ENERGY; EN-
VIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY; OTHER
AGEN-
CIES.—The Departments of Defense and Energy, the En-
vironmental Protection Agency, and all other agencies that
have oversight or control over the release of radioactively
contaminated metals shall adopt standards that are no
less stringent than the standards established by the Nu-
clear Regulatory Commission under subsection (a). Until
such standards are established, the Secretary of Energy,
the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, and the heads of all other
agencies that have oversight or control over the release
of radioactively contaminated metals shall not take any
action to facilitate, promote, or allow the release into com-
merce of radioactively contaminated scrap metal.
(c) UNITED
STATES
CUSTOMS
SERVICE.—The
United States Customs Service shall, within 12 months
after establishment of the standard under subsection (a),
monitor and enforce these standards at the borders of the
United States.
(d) SECRETARY OF STATE.—After the standard is es-
tablished under subsection (a), the Secretary of State shall
work with international standard-writing bodies to adopt
standards consistent with the standard established under
subsection (a).
(e) INTERIM CERTIFICATIONS.—Before the standard
established under subsection (a) takes effect, all scrap
metal imported into the United States must be accom-
panied by documentation—
(1) stating the amount of radioactive contami-
nation as certified by the government of the export-
ing country; and
(2) validating that the metal does not contain
any byproduct, source, or any special nuclear mate-
rial.
Such information shall be readily available as part of the
documentation and must accompany the shipment of these
products. This requirement will go into effect 90 days
after the date of enactment of this Act and the Secretary
of Commerce is directed to promulgate a final rule imple-
menting this requirement by that date.
SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTY FOR FALSE DOCUMENTATION.
Any person who knowingly falsifies any documenta-
tion required under section 3(e) or required under any
standard in effect under section 3 shall be subject to a
civil penalty of not more than $250,000 for each violation.
SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.
The Secretary of Commerce shall not later than one
year after the date of enactment of this Act and annually
thereafter submit a report to the Congress which—
(1) lists the number of violations of the stand-
ards in effect under section 3 and the volume of tons
of radioactively contaminated metals involved in each
violation reported on; and
(2) for each violation, lists the number of tons
of radioactively contaminated metals involved in each
violation reported on, the country of origin of such
metals, and the type of metal involved.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) AGREEMENT STATE.—The term ‘‘agreement
State’’ means a State that—
(A) has entered into an agreement with the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission under section
274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42
U.S.C. 2021); and
(B) has authority to regulate the disposal
of low-level waste under such agreement.
(2) NUCLEAR FUEL PRODUCTION, UTILIZATION,
AND
FABRICATION
FACILITY.—The term ‘‘nuclear
fuel production, utilization, and fabrication facility’’
means—
(A) any nuclear reactor, including those
designed or used primarily for the formation of
plutonium or uranium-233;
(B) any facility, equipment, or device de-
signed or used for the separation of the isotopes
of plutonium, except laboratory scale facilities
designed or used for experimental or analytical
purposes only; or
(C) any facility, equipment, or device de-
signed or used for processing irradiated mate-
rials containing special nuclear material or by-
product material, except—
(i) laboratory scale facilities designed
or used for experimental or analytical pur-
poses; and
(ii) facilities in which processing is
conducted pursuant to a license issued
under parts 30 and 70 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations or the equiva-
lent regulations of an agreement State for
the receipt, possession, use, and transfer of
irradiated special nuclear material, which
license authorizes the processing of the ir-
radiated materials on a batch basis for the
separation of selected fission products and
limits the process batch to not more than
100 grams of uranium enriched in the iso-
tope 235 and not more than 15 grams of
any other special nuclear material.
(3) 
RADIOACTIVELY
CONTAMINATED.—The
term ‘‘radioactively contaminated’’ means any mate-
rial containing residual levels of radiological con-
tamination involving any source material, by-product
material, or special nuclear material as defined in
section 11 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42
U.S.C. 2014) or any waste derived therefrom.
(4) SCRAP METAL.—The term ‘‘scrap metal’’
means ferrous or non-ferrous metal equipment, vehi-
cles, tools, and other metal items (including metal
pieces, parts, and bits) that are no longer being used
for their original purpose and are destined to be
processed as feedstock to produce new metal mate-
rials and products.
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