Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2012

Bill: 112-s-3469
Sponsor: Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM]
Introduced: 2012-08-01 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Administrative remedies
Appropriations
Congressional oversight
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental regulatory procedures
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal officials
Federal-Indian relations
Government buildings, facilities, and property
Government liability
Government studies and investigations
Government trust funds
Intergovernmental relations
Judicial review and appeals
Licensing and registrations
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Nuclear power
Nuclear weapons
Public contracts and procurement
Public participation and lobbying
Radioactive wastes and releases
State and local government operations
Transportation programs funding
Transportation safety and security
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2012-08-01
text: 
Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2012 - Establishes as an independent agency in the executive branch: (1) the Nuclear Waste Administration (NWA) to provide for the permanent disposal of nuclear waste, including the siting, construction, and operation of additional repositories, a test and evaluation facility, and additional storage facilities; and (2) the Nuclear Waste Oversight Board. 
 
Transfers to the NWA Administrator specified functions of the Secretary of Energy.
 
Prescribes guidelines for nuclear waste facilities and for the identification and suitability of candidate sites. 
 
Directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt generally applicable standards to protect the environment from offsite releases from radioactive material in geological repositories.
 
Directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to amend its regulations governing the licensing of geological repositories to make them consistent with comparable EPA standards.
 
Prohibits the Administrator, before ratification of a consent agreement with a state, local, or tribal government, from possessing, taking title to, or storing more than 10,000 metric tons of spent nuclear repository fuel at a storage facility licensed under this Act.
 
Requires the Secretary to arrange for the Administrator to dispose of defense wastes in a repository developed under this Act.
 
Confers upon the Administrator responsibility for transporting nuclear waste under this Act.
 
Establishes in the Treasury the Nuclear Waste Administration Working Capital Fund.
 
 Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to reflect the amendments made by this Act.
 
Authorizes the Administrator to proceed with siting and licensing consolidated storage facilities pursuant to a certain cooperative agreement entered into before the date of enactment of this Act. 
 
Terminates those authorities of the Secretary regarding siting, construction, and operation of repositories, storage facilities, or test and evaluation facilities which were not transferred to the Administrator under this Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-09-12
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-598.
action_date: 2012-08-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5874-5880)
action_date: 2012-08-01
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5873-5874)
action_date: 2012-08-01
text: Introduced in Senate