[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 297 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 297

To establish a Presidential commission on nuclear waste, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 11, 1997

  Mr. Bryan (for himself and Mr. Reid) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a Presidential commission on nuclear waste, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nuclear Waste Independent Review 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress find that--
            (1) despite the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act 
        of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), ratepayer contributions to 
        the Nuclear Waste Fund established by section 302 of the Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 10222) of over $6,000,000,000, and expenditures of 
        over $4,000,000,000, the high-level radioactive waste program 
        is behind schedule and is the subject of numerous fundamental 
        controversies, including the very concept of deep geologic 
        storage;
            (2) the Federal Government's only proposed transuranic 
        waste disposal facility, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant 
        (WIPP), is beset with unresolved engineering, geologic, and 
        certification problems and suffers from cost overruns;
            (3) Federal and State efforts to site low-level radioactive 
        waste disposal sites have failed in many instances because of 
        technical problems and public opposition; and
            (4) there has never been a comprehensive independent review 
        of Federal nuclear waste policies.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to establish a commission to conduct a 
full independent review of United States nuclear waste policy.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--The President, in consultation with the Science 
Advisor to the President and the Council on Environmental Quality, 
shall establish a commission to be known as the ``Nuclear Waste Policy 
Review Commission'' (referred to in this Act as the ``Commission'').
    (b) Representation of Interest Groups.--The membership and 
structure of the Commission shall be determined by the President with a 
view towards providing representation from--
            (1) environmental groups;
            (2) consumer groups;
            (3) taxpayer groups;
            (4) the scientific community, including nuclear-oriented 
        and other fields such as biology and medicine;
            (5) State and local governments;
            (6) Indian tribes;
            (7) transportation experts;
            (8) management experts;
            (9) Federal, State, and local regulatory agencies;
            (10) utilities; and
            (11) other affected industries.
    (c) Independent Status.--The Commission shall be independent of the 
Department of Energy and other Federal agencies.
    (d) Participation by the Public.--The Commission shall hold public 
meetings and provide full opportunities for participation by all 
interested parties.

SEC. 5. ISSUES TO BE CONSIDERED.

    The Commission shall consider all issues related to United States 
policy concerning high-level, transuranic, low-level waste, and other 
radioactive wastes including--
            (1) various options for high-level radioactive waste 
        storage and disposal, including deep geologic disposal, on-site 
        dry storage, monitored retrievable storage, centralized interim 
        storage, or any other options;
            (2) evaluation of the experiences of other countries in 
        storing and disposing of radioactive waste;
            (3) an analysis of funding through the Nuclear Waste Fund 
        established by section 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 
        1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222), including fee sufficiency and 
        strategies for providing equity for ratepayer contributions to 
        the Nuclear Waste Fund;
            (4) the siting and characterization process for nuclear 
        waste programs currently in effect and alternatives to those 
        programs;
            (5) technical, managerial, economic, and policy analyses of 
        the nuclear waste inventory of the United States; and
            (6) an examination of the classification system for nuclear 
        waste currently in effect, and options for reclassification.

SEC. 6. REPORT.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Commission shall submit to Congress a report on its review under this 
Act, including recommendations for legislative or other action.

SEC. 7. MORATORIUM ON ISSUANCE OF LICENSES.

    No Federal agency may issue a license for a facility for the 
storage or disposal of radioactive waste (except a license for 
temporary on-site storage) until the date on which the Commission 
submits its report under section 6.

SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.

    The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the date on which the 
Commission submits its report under section 6.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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