[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4605 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4605

     To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 with respect to 
                    transportation of nuclear waste.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 25, 2002

 Mr. Kucinich introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
  Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 with respect to 
                    transportation of nuclear waste.

    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 Transportation 
Protection Amendments Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The transportation of nuclear waste to a Yucca Mountain 
        repository would require a massive transportation undertaking. 
        More nuclear waste would be shipped in the first full year of 
        repository operations than has been transported in the entire 
        five-decade history of nuclear waste shipments in the United 
        States.
            (2) The transportation of this waste would require over 
        96,000 truck shipments over four decades. Almost every major 
        east-west interstate highway and mainline railroad in the 
        country would experience nuclear waste shipments as waste is 
        moved from reactors and other sites in 39 States.
            (3) The Department of Energy proposes to directly impact 44 
        States, many of the major metropolitan areas in the Nation, and 
        at least 109 cities with populations exceeding 100,000. Highway 
        shipments alone will impact at least 703 counties with a 
        combined population of 123,000,000 people. Nationally, between 
        7,000,000 and 11,000,000 people reside within one-half mile of 
        the anticipated truck or rail routes.
            (4) This never-before-attempted nuclear waste 
        transportation effort would bring with it a constellation of 
        hazards and risks, including potentially serious economic 
        damage and property value losses in cities and communities 
        along shipping routes. Also of concern are the increased 
        security risks from shipments that represent numerous mobile 
        targets within some of the country's most populous and 
        vulnerable metropolitan areas.
            (5) Before any nuclear waste shipments occur, the Federal 
        Government must ensure the safety and security of these 
        shipments. This Act requires the Secretary of Energy to develop 
        a comprehensive safety program that establishes new safety and 
        security measures that greatly exceed the minimal level of 
        protection offered today.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS.

    Section 180 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 
10175) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(d) Comprehensive Safety Program.--The Secretary shall develop a 
comprehensive safety program that includes, consistent with this title, 
driver selection, independent inspections, bad weather protocols, road 
condition reporting, safe parking areas, advance notice, real time 
tracking and monitoring, emergency response, medical preparedness, 
equipment standards, training and exercises, mutual aid agreements, 
emergency alternative routing, program evaluation, and public 
information.
    ``(e) Protecting Populated Communities.--The Secretary may not 
transport high-level radioactive waste through an incorporated 
community with a population in excess of 50,000 unless the waste 
originates in that community.
    ``(f) Oldest Fuel First.--The Secretary shall ensure that the 
oldest spent nuclear fuel shall be transported before other spent 
nuclear fuel.
    ``(g) Full-Scale Cask Testing.--No spent nuclear fuel or high-level 
radioactive waste may be transported by or for the Secretary under this 
Act except in packages the design of which has been certified by the 
Commission and tested at full-scale, including physical tests to 
destruction, to demonstrate compliance with the Commission performance 
standards. The Commission shall ensure a stakeholder role in the 
development of a cask testing program for testing under this 
subsection, including selection of test facilities, personnel, and peer 
review.
    ``(h) State and Local Route Consultation.--Affected State, local, 
and tribal governments shall be consulted in the selection of routes 
for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive 
waste.
    ``(i) Private Carrier Prohibition.--Spent nuclear fuel and high-
level radioactive waste shall not be transported under this Act by a 
private sector carrier.
    ``(j) Advance Notification.--The Secretary shall provide a minimum 
of 14 days advance notification to States, Indian tribes, and local 
communities through whose jurisdiction the Secretary plans to transport 
spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
    ``(k) Security Precautions.--All transportation of spent nuclear 
fuel and high-level radioactive waste under this Act shall--
            ``(1) if by train, be on a train dedicated solely to such 
        transportation;
            ``(2) include at least 3 armed escorts for each nuclear 
        waste convoy, including a lead vehicle and a trailer vehicle;
            ``(3) be scheduled to avoid regular transportation 
        patterns;
            ``(4) be planned in order to minimize storage times; and
            ``(5) occur at a time when the receiver at the final 
        delivery point will be present to accept shipment.''.
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