I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 755 
To provide for the external regulation of nuclear safety and occupational 
safety and health responsibilities at any nonmilitary energy laboratory 
owned or operated by the Department of Energy. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 10, 2005 
Mr. COSTELLO (for himself, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. EHLERS, Ms. 
JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON 
of Texas, Mr. WU, and Mr. MCNULTY) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the 
Committees on Energy and Commerce and Education and the Workforce, 
for a period to be subsequently 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 responsibilities at any 
nonmilitary energy laboratory owned or operated by the 
Department of Energy. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. EXTERNAL REGULATION OF DEPARTMENT. 
(a) ELIMINATION OF DEPARTMENT AUTHORITY.— 
Effective 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Department shall have no regulatory or enforcement 
authority with respect to nuclear safety and occupational 
safety and health responsibilities assumed by the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission under subsection (b) or by the Oc-
cupational Safety and Health Administration under sub-
section (c) at any nonmilitary energy laboratory owned or 
operated by the Department. 
(b) NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AUTHOR-
ITY.— 
(1) NUCLEAR SAFETY REGULATORY AND EN-
FORCEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES.—Effective 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission shall assume the nuclear 
safety regulatory and enforcement responsibilities of 
the Department under the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954 with regard to nonmilitary energy laboratories 
owned or operated by the Department. 
(2) LICENSED ENTITIES.—For the purposes of 
carrying out at nonmilitary energy laboratories 
owned or operated by the Department regulatory 
and enforcement responsibilities described in para-
graph (1), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may 
regulate, through licensing, certification, or other 
appropriate means, the Department’s contractors.
(3) DECOMMISSIONING.—A contractor oper-
ating a nonmilitary energy laboratory owned by the 
Department shall not be responsible for the costs of 
decommissioning that facility. No enforcement action 
may be taken against such contractor for any viola-
tion of Nuclear Regulatory Commission decommis-
sioning requirements, if such violation is the result 
of a failure of the Department to authorize or fund 
decommissioning activities. The Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission and the Department shall, not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 
enter into a memorandum of understanding estab-
lishing decommissioning procedures and require-
ments for nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or 
operated by the Department. 
(4) ACCELERATORS.—Notwithstanding the pro-
visions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 
U.S.C. 2011 et. seq.), effective 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Nuclear Regu-
latory Commission shall have exclusive regulatory 
authority over accelerators, other electronic sources 
of radiation not assigned to the Commission as of 
the date of enactment of this Act, accelerator-pro-
duced radioisotopes, and naturally occurring radio-
active materials at nonmilitary energy laboratories,
consistent with the authorities granted the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission in the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954. Until such time as the Commission has com-
pleted a rulemaking for the foregoing equipment and 
radioisotopes, nonmilitary energy laboratories shall 
be required to meet the requirements stipulated in a 
license for the facility. 
(5) ADMINISTRATION.—The responsibilities as-
sumed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under 
this subsection shall be administered by the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, not by States. 
(6) 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 is issued to implement the 
Commission’s responsibilities under the Act which 
enacted this paragraph, and any final determination 
of the Commission relating to whether a nonmilitary 
energy laboratory owned or operated by the Depart-
ment is in compliance with such standards and all 
applicable Commission regulations or orders.’’.
(7) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—Any Department 
contractor operating a nonmilitary energy laboratory 
that is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Com-
mission under this section shall be subject to section 
211 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 
U.S.C. 5851) to the same extent as any other em-
ployer subject to such section 211. 
(8) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Section 170A of 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210a) 
applies to contracts, agreements, or other arrange-
ments of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission pro-
posed or entered into pursuant to its responsibilities 
assumed under this subsection. 
(c) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH.— 
(1) 
OSHA 
JURISDICTION.—Notwithstanding 
section 4(b)(1) of the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653(b)(1)), effective 
2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration shall 
assume the exclusive regulatory and enforcement re-
sponsibilities of the Department relating to matters 
covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 with regard to all nonmilitary energy lab-
oratories owned or operated by the Department, ex-
cept as provided in paragraph (2). The responsibil-
ities assumed by the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration under this subsection shall be admin-
istered by the Occupational Safety and Health Ad-
ministration, not by States. Any Department con-
tractor operating such a laboratory shall, with re-
spect to matters relating to occupational safety and 
health, be considered to be an employer for purposes 
of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. 
(2) REGULATION OF HAZARDS CONTAINING RA-
DIOLOGICAL
AND
NON-RADIOLOGICAL
COMPO-
NENT.—If a hazard at a nonmilitary energy labora-
tory owned or operated by the Department presents 
a risk of occupational exposure and contains both a 
radiological and non-radiological component, the Oc-
cupational Safety and Health Administration and 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall, effective 2 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, share 
regulatory and enforcement responsibilities with re-
spect to the hazard in accordance with the memo-
randum of understanding entered into pursuant to 
subsection (d). 
(d) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Nu-
clear Regulatory Commission and the Occupational Safety 
and Health Administration shall, not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, enter into and
transmit to the Congress a memorandum of under-
standing to govern the exercise of their respective authori-
ties over nuclear safety and occupational safety and health 
at nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated by 
the Department. 
(e) CIVIL PENALTIES.—The Department’s contractor 
operating a nonmilitary energy laboratory owned or oper-
ated by the Department shall not be liable for civil pen-
alties under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 or the Occu-
pational Safety and Health Act of 1970 for any actions 
taken before the date of transfer of regulatory authority 
under this section, pursuant to the instructions of a Fed-
eral agency in preparation for the transfer of regulatory 
and enforcement responsibilities required by this section. 
(f) INDEMNIFICATION.—The Secretary shall continue 
to indemnify nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or op-
erated by the Department in accordance with the provi-
sions of section 170 d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. 
(g) DEPARTMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not 
later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress a plan 
for the termination of the Department’s regulatory and 
enforcement responsibilities for nonmilitary energy labora-
tories owned or operated by the Department required by 
this section. 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 subsection (a), including the 
activities 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 by the authority transfer date es-
tablished under this section; 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 subsections (b) and 
(c) at nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or 
operated 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 section. 
(h) GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE REPORTING RE-
QUIREMENT.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall periodically report to the Congress on the 
progress made in implementing this section. The Comp-
troller General shall provide a report not later than 20 
months after the date of enactment of this Act on the De-
partment’s transition plan, and not later than 26 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act on the implementa-
tion of Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration regulations in the non-
military energy laboratories. 
(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart-
ment of Energy; 
(2) the term ‘‘nonmilitary energy laboratory’’ 
means— 
(A) Ames Laboratory; 
(B) Argonne National Laboratory; 
(C) Brookhaven National Laboratory; 
(D) Fermi National Accelerator Labora-
tory;
(E) Lawrence Berkeley National Labora-
tory; 
(F) Oak Ridge National Laboratory; 
(G) Pacific Northwest National Labora-
tory; 
(H) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory; 
(I) Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; or 
(J) Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator 
Facility; and 
(3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Energy. 
Æ