[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5275 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5275

     To provide for the external regulation of nuclear safety and 
occupational safety and health at nonmilitary energy laboratories owned 
                or operated by the Department of Energy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2002

 Mr. Costello introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and 
     Commerce and Education and the Workforce, 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 provide for the external regulation of nuclear safety and 
occupational safety and health at nonmilitary energy laboratories owned 
                or operated by the Department of Energy.

    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 ``External Regulation of the 
Department of Energy Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Department of Energy has studied external 
        regulation for nine years.
            (2) The Department has already conducted a successful pilot 
        program that demonstrated the utility of moving to external 
        regulation of the nonmilitary energy laboratory complex.
            (3) Managers of the nonmilitary energy laboratories, the 
        General Accounting Office, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
        and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration all agree 
        that external regulation is both workable and desirable.
            (4) The safety of the Department of Energy's nonmilitary 
        energy laboratories, both for the workers in the laboratories 
        and the people that live near them, is of paramount importance.
            (5) Putting the Department of Energy out of the self-
        regulation business would free up more resources in the 
        nonmilitary energy laboratories to conduct the critical 
        scientific missions for which those laboratories have been 
        established.
            (6) It is time to terminate the Department of Energy's 
        self-regulation of nuclear and worker safety in the nonmilitary 
        energy laboratory complex and move to external regulation by 
        the experts in these issues, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
        and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AUTHORITY.

    Effective October 1, 2003, the Department of Energy shall have no 
regulatory or enforcement authority with respect to nuclear safety and 
occupational safety and health responsibilities assumed by the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission under section 4 or by the Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration under section 5 at any nonmilitary energy 
laboratory owned or operated by the Department.

SEC. 4. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AUTHORITY.

    (a) Nuclear Safety Regulatory and Enforcement Responsibilities.--
Effective October 1, 2003, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall 
assume the nuclear safety regulatory and enforcement responsibilities 
of the Department of Energy under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 with 
regard to nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated by the 
Department.
    (b) Licensed Entities.--For the purposes of carrying out at 
nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated by the Department of 
Energy regulatory and enforcement responsibilities described in 
subsection (a), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may regulate, through 
licensing, certification, or other appropriate means, the Department, 
the Department's contractors, or both.
    (c) Decommissioning.--A contractor operating a nonmilitary energy 
laboratory owned by the Department of Energy shall not be responsible 
for the costs of decommissioning that facility. No enforcement action 
may be taken against such contractor for any violation of Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission decommissioning requirements, if such violation 
is the result of a failure of the Department to authorize or fund 
decommissioning activities. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the 
Department shall, not later than January 1, 2004, enter into a 
memorandum of understanding establishing decommissioning procedures and 
requirements for nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated by 
the Department.
    (d) Administration.--The responsibilities assumed by the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission under this section shall be administered by the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, not by States.
    (e) Judicial Review.--Section 189 b. of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954 (42 U.S.C. 2239(b)) is amended by adding the following paragraph 
after paragraph (4):
            ``(5) Any final order or regulation of the Commission 
        establishing standards to govern nonmilitary energy 
        laboratories owned or operated by the Department of Energy that 
        are issued to implement the Commission's responsibilities under 
        the External Regulation of the Department of Energy Act, and 
        any final determination of the Commission relating to whether a 
        nonmilitary energy laboratory owned or operated by the 
        Department is in compliance with such standards and all 
        applicable Commission regulations or orders.''.
    (f) Employee Protection.--Any Department of Energy contractor 
operating a nonmilitary energy laboratory that is regulated by the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission under this section shall be subject to 
section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (41 U.S.C. 5851) 
to the same extent as any other employer subject to such section 211.
    (g) Conflict of Interest.--Section 170A of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210a) applies to contracts, agreements, or other 
arrangements of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed or entered 
into pursuant to its responsibilities assumed under this section.

SEC. 5. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH.

    (a) OSHA Jurisdiction.--Notwithstanding section 4(b)(1) of the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653(b)(1)) and 
any other provision of law, effective October 1, 2003, the Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration shall assume the regulatory and 
enforcement responsibilities of the Department of Energy relating to 
matters covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 with 
regard to all nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated by the 
Department, except as provided in subsection (b). Any Department 
contractor operating such a laboratory shall, with respect to matters 
relating to occupational safety and health, be considered to be an 
employer for purposes of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
1970.
    (b) Regulation of Hazards Containing Radiological and Non-
Radiological Component.--If a hazard at a nonmilitary energy laboratory 
owned or operated by the Department presents a risk of occupational 
exposure and contains both a radiological and non-radiological 
component, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall, effective October 1, 2003, share 
regulatory and enforcement responsibilities with respect to the hazard 
in accordance with the memorandum of understanding entered into 
pursuant to section 6.

SEC. 6. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration shall, before January 1, 2003, enter into and 
transmit to the Congress a memorandum of understanding to govern the 
exercise of their respective authorities over nuclear safety and 
occupational safety and health at nonmilitary energy laboratories owned 
or operated by the Department of Energy.

SEC. 7. CIVIL PENALTIES.

    The Department of Energy's contractor operating a nonmilitary 
energy laboratory owned or operated by the Department shall not be 
liable for civil penalties under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 or the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 for any actions taken before 
October 1, 2003, pursuant to the instructions of a Federal agency in 
preparation for the transfer of regulatory and enforcement 
responsibilities required by this Act.

SEC. 8. INDEMNIFICATION.

    The Secretary of Energy shall continue to indemnify nonmilitary 
energy laboratories owned or operated by the Department in accordance 
with the provisions of section 170 d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

SEC. 9. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

    By April 1, 2003, the Secretary of Energy shall transmit to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Science, and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate, a plan for the termination of the 
Department's regulatory and enforcement responsibilities for 
nonmilitary energy laboratories owned or operated by the Department 
required by this Act. The report shall include--
            (1) a detailed transition plan, drafted in coordination 
        with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Occupational 
        Safety and Health Administration, giving the schedule for 
        termination of self-regulation authority as outlined in section 
        3, including the activities to be coordinated with the Nuclear 
        Regulatory Commission and the Occupational Safety and Health 
        Administration;
            (2) a description of any issues remaining to be resolved 
        with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Occupational Safety 
        and Health Administration, or other external regulators, and a 
        timetable for resolving such issues before October 1, 2003; and
            (3) an estimate of--
                    (A) the annual cost of administering and 
                implementing self-regulation of the nuclear safety and 
                occupational safety and health responsibilities 
                described in sections 4 and 5 at nonmilitary energy 
                laboratories owned or operated by the Department;
                    (B) the number of Federal and contractor employees 
                administering and implementing such self-regulation; 
                and
                    (C) the extent and schedule by which the Department 
                and the staffs at its nonmilitary energy laboratories 
                will be reduced as a result of implementation of this 
                Act.
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