[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 393 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 393

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 19, 1999

 Mr. George Miller of California (for himself, Mr. Filner, Ms. Pelosi, 
 Mr. McInnis, and Mr. Gutierrez) 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 uranium milling 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.

    Section 102(e) of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act 
of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 7912(e); (relating to processing site designations)) 
is amended by adding the following new paragraph at the end thereof:
    ``(4)(A) The Secretary shall designate as a processing site within 
the meaning of section 101(6) the Atlas uranium milling 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 U.S. 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 subsection (a) of this section, except that in 
applying such provisions to the Atlas Site--
            ``(i) subsection (a) of section 112 (relating to 
        termination of the authority of the Secretary) shall not apply;
            ``(ii) 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;
            ``(iii) in determining the Federal share of the cost of the 
        remedial action under section 107, 100 percent shall be 
        substituted for 90 percent; and
            ``(iv) the Secretary, without regard to section 104(b) 
        (relating to disposition and stabilization sites for residual 
        radioactive materials), shall remove residual radioactive 
        material from the Atlas Site and from the associated flood 
        plain of the Colorado River for permanent disposition and 
        stabilization of such residual radioactive material in a safe 
        and environmentally sound manner.
    ``(B) As promptly as practicable after the enactment of this 
paragraph, the Attorney General shall undertake the studies required 
under subsection (b) of section 115 (relating to owner liability) with 
respect to the Atlas Site and the associated flood plain of the 
Colorado River and take such action as may be necessary in accordance 
with such subsection to require the owner or operator of the Atlas 
Site, and any other person liable for the costs of remedial action at 
such site and the associated flood plain of the Colorado River, to 
reimburse the United States for all or part of the costs of such 
remedial action.
    ``(C) Notwithstanding section 1001(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 
1992 (42 U.S.C. 2296a(a)) (relating to liability for costs of remedial 
action at active processing sites), the current owner or operator of 
the Atlas Site and any other person determined to be liable for the 
costs of remedial action at the Atlas Site and the associated flood 
plain of the Colorado River shall be relieved of all further 
responsibility for such costs if--
            ``(i) all existing surety bonds or other instruments 
        securing the performance of remedial action have been 
        transferred to the Secretary;
            ``(ii) fee simple title to the entire Atlas Site 
        (consisting of 437 acres more or less) and all water rights 
        appurtenant thereto have been transferred to the Secretary;
            ``(iii) the owner or operator, respectively, 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; and
            ``(iv) the owner, operator, or other liable person, 
        reimburses the United States for that portion of the total cost 
        of the remedial action required by clause (iv) of subparagraph 
        (A) of this paragraph for which the Attorney General determines 
        the owner, operator, or other liable person, respectively, is 
        liable, minus the value attributable to the owner, operator, or 
        other liable person of the asset transferred or released and 
        surrendered to the Secretary in accordance with clauses (i), 
        (ii), and (iii) of this subparagraph.
Upon such transfers, release and surrender, and reimbursement Source 
Material License No. SUA 917 shall be terminated.
    ``(D) After the removal of radioactive materials from the Atlas 
Site and from the associated flood plain of the Colorado River, 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>