[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1559 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1559

  To amend the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 to 
provide for the remediation of the Atlas mill tailings site near Moab, 
                                 Utah.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 1999

  Mr. Cannon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 to 
provide for the remediation of the Atlas mill tailings site near Moab, 
                                 Utah.

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

SECTION 1. REMEDIATION OF ATLAS SITE.

    Subsection (a) of section 102 of the Uranium Mill Tailings 
Radiation Control Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 7912(a)) is amended by adding 
the following new paragraph at the end thereof:
            ``(4) The Secretary shall designate as a processing site 
        within the meaning of section 101(6) the Atlas uranium tailing 
        site (hereafter in this paragraph referred to as the ``Atlas 
        Site'') located approximately 3 miles northwest of Moab, Utah, 
        and identified in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
        issued in January, 1996, in connection with Source Material 
        License No. SUA 917 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
        Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. The 
        provisions of this Act shall apply to the site so designated in 
        the same manner and to the same extent as to the sites 
        designated under this subsection, except that in applying such 
        provisions to the site--
                    ``(A) subsection (a) of section 112 and subsection 
                (a) of section 115 shall not apply;
                    ``(B) any reference in this Act to the date of the 
                enactment of this Act shall be treated as a reference 
                to the date of the enactment of this paragraph;
                    ``(C) the Secretary's share shall be 100 percent; 
                and
                    ``(D) the Secretary, without regard to section 
                104(b), shall, in consultation with the government of 
                Grand County, Utah, remove residual radioactive 
                material from the Atlas Site and from the floodplain of 
                the Colorado River for permanent disposition and 
                stabilization of such residual radioactive material in 
                a safe and environmentally sound manner.
As promptly as practicable after the enactment of this paragraph, the 
Attorney General shall undertake the studies required under subsection 
(b) of section 115 with respect to the Atlas Site and take such action 
as may be necessary in accordance with such subsection to require the 
owner or operator of the Atlas Site, or any other person liable for the 
costs of remedial action at such site, to reimburse the United States 
for the costs of such remedial action. Section 1001(a) of the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 2296a(a)) notwithstanding, the current 
owner and operator of the Atlas Site shall be relieved of all further 
responsibility for costs of remedial action at the Atlas Site if such 
owner and operator transfers to the Secretary fee simple title and all 
water rights appurtenant thereto to the entire Site (consisting of 437 
acres more or less) and such owner and operator releases and surrenders 
to the Secretary all existing and future rights to receive 
reimbursement for costs of remedial action under section 1001(b) of the 
Energy Policy Act of 1992. The Commission shall transfer to the 
Secretary all surety bonds or other instruments securing the 
performance of the licensee's decontamination, decommissioning, 
reclamation, and other remedial obligations under Source Material 
License No. SUA 917, whereupon such license shall be terminated. After 
the removal of radioactive materials from the Atlas Site, the 
Secretary, with the concurrence of the Commission, may sell any lands 
and interests acquired in the Atlas Site or donate such lands and 
interests to a governmental entity within the State of Utah for 
permanent use for park, recreational, or other public purposes.''.
                                 <all>