Nuclear Fees Reauthorization Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-858
Sponsor: Sen. Voinovich, George V. [R-OH]
Introduced: 2005-04-20 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Americans in foreign countries
Antitrust law
Black colleges
Civil service retirement
Collection of accounts
Commerce
Conflict of interests
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Environmental Protection
Environmental assessment
Export controls
Federal aid to education
Federal employees
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Government Operations and Politics
Governmental investigations
Graduate education
Health
Higher education
Hispanic Americans
Independent regulatory commissions
Labor and Employment
Law
Licenses
Minorities
Minority education
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear energy research
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear facilities
Nuclear fuels
Nuclear power plants
Nuclear reactors
Nuclear security measures
Radioisotopes in medicine
Recruiting of employees
Scholarships
Science, Technology, Communications
Transportation of hazardous substances
Travel costs
Uranium
Uranium enrichment
User charges

Summary:
action_date: 2005-04-20
text: 
Nuclear Fees Reauthorization Act of 2005 - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to: (1) repeal the sunset date for Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) user fees and annual charges; and (2) revise the formula governing annual charges collected from licensees and certificate holders.
 
Amends Federal bankruptcy law to except from creditors claims and bankruptcy procedures such funds, assets, or private insurance premiums as are held to comply with NRC decontamination and decommissioning requirements for a nuclear power reactor until such requirements have been satisfactorily completed.
 
Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to provide that requirements governing transmissions of license applications to the Attorney General for antitrust review do not apply to a commercial, industrial, or medical license to construct or operate a utilization or production facility if the application is filed on or after, or is pending on, the date of enactment of this Act.
 
States that the NRC shall not give any consideration to the need for, or any alternative to, the facility to be licensed when conducting any environmental review in connection with a license application or renewal.
 
Prescribes guidelines for an NRC license to export highly enriched uranium to specified countries for medical isotope production.
 
Prescribes procedural guidelines governing NRC: (1) cost recovery from government agencies; (2) conflicts of interest relating to contracts and other arrangements; and (3) hearing procedures.
 
Prescribes guidelines for NRC: (1) support to university nuclear safety, security, and environmental protection programs; (2) payment of promotional items and expenses; (3) scholarship and fellowship program in critical skill areas; (4) partnership program with certain institutions of higher education; and (5) elimination of pension offset for certain rehired federal retirees.

action_date: 2005-07-01
text: 
 Nuclear Fees Reauthorization Act of 2005 - 
Title I: NRC User Fees
 - (Sec. 101) Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to: (1) extend from September 20, 2005, until September 20, 2011, the last assessment of annual charges; and (2) revise and extend through FY2011 the formula governing annual charges collected from licensees and certificate holders.
 

Title II: NRC Reform 
- (Sec. 201) Amends federal bankruptcy law to exclude from the property of the estate in bankruptcy funds accumulated or otherwise designated for decontamination and decommissioning pursuant to a regulation or order of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a nuclear power reactor licensed under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
 
(Sec. 202) Specifies that the 40-year limit on a combined nuclear power utilization or production facilities is 40 years from the authorization to commence operations.
 
(Sec. 203) Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to provide that requirements governing transmissions of license applications to the Attorney General for antitrust review do not apply to a commercial, industrial, or medical license to construct or operate a utilization or production facility if the application is filed on or after, or is pending on, the date of enactment of this Act.
 
(Sec. 204) Prescribes guidelines governing an NRC license to export highly enriched uranium to specified countries for medical isotope production.
 
Instructs the Secretary of Energy to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to study: (1) the feasibility of procuring supplies of medical isotopes from commercial sources that do not use highly enriched uranium; (2) the current and projected demand and availability of medical isotopes in regular current domestic use; (3) the progress made to eliminate all use of highly enriched uranium in reactor fuel, reactor targets, and medical isotope production facilities; and (4) the potential cost differential in medical isotope production in the reactors and target processing facilities if the products were derived from production systems that do not involve fuels and targets with highly enriched uranium.
 
(Sec. 205) Revises requirements governing NRC cost recovery from government agencies.
 
(Sec. 206) Revises requirements with respect to conflicts of interest relating to contracts and other arrangements to declare that, notwithstanding any conflict of interest, the NRC may enter into a contract, agreement, or arrangement with the Department of Energy (DOE) or the operator of a DOE facility, if the NRC determines that: (1) the conflict of interest cannot be mitigated; and (2) adequate justification exists to proceed without its mitigation.
 
(Sec. 207) Authorizes appropriations for FY2006 and subsequent fiscal years.
 

Title III: NRC Human Capital Provisions
 - (Sec. 301) Prescribes guidelines for NRC: (1) support to university nuclear safety, security, and environmental protection programs; (2) purchase of promotional items; (3) authority to pay for transportation, lodging, and subsistence expenses of NRC employees assisting certain other NRC employees, or studying work-related courses at an institution of higher learning, as well as the health and medical expenses of NRC employees serving in foreign countries; (3) scholarship and fellowship programs in critical skill areas; (4) partnership with certain institutions of higher education (including Hispanic-serving institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, and Tribal colleges); and (5) authority to waive the pension offset for certain rehired federal retirees.
 
(Sec. 307) Authorizes appropriations for FY2006 and subsequent fiscal years.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-07-01
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 154.
action_date: 2005-07-01
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Reported by Senator Inhofe with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 109-100.
action_date: 2005-07-01
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Reported by Senator Inhofe with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 109-100.
action_date: 2005-06-08
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2005-04-20
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4028-4031)
action_date: 2005-04-20
text: Introduced in Senate