[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2508 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2508

     To prohibit the Department of Energy from disposing low-level 
                radioactive waste in certain landfills.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 18, 2003

   Mr. Inslee (for himself, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Dicks, Mr. 
McDermott, and Mr. Larsen of Washington) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To prohibit the Department of Energy from disposing low-level 
                radioactive waste in certain landfills.

    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 ``Safe Disposal of Low-Level 
Radioactive Waste Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION.

    (a) Amendment.--Subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 
U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 3024. DISPOSAL OF LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE.

    ``(a) Prohibition.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        after December 31, 2003, the Department of Energy shall not 
        dispose of any low-level radioactive waste in a landfill that 
        does not meet all requirements and standards applicable to 
        landfills containing hazardous waste under Federal law, or 
        under a State regulatory program authorized by section 3006, 
        with respect to landfill lining, leachate collection systems, 
        and groundwater and soil column monitoring systems.
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to disposal 
        by the Department of Energy of sealed reactor compartments and 
        reactor components from Naval nuclear-powered warships and 
        prototypes as permitted under this Act or under a State program 
        authorized by section 3006, where a performance assessment or 
        analysis in an environmental impact statement demonstrates that 
        the sealed nature of the metal compartment or reactor component 
        will significantly outlast and exceed performance standards for 
        a liner system.
    ``(b) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term `low-
level radioactive waste' has the meaning given such term in section 2 
of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 2021b), but 
does not include mixed waste.
    ``(c) Applicability.--For purposes of the application of section 
6001 to the requirements of this section, low-level radioactive waste 
shall be considered solid waste.''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents for such 
subtitle C is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 3024. Disposal of low-level radioactive waste.''.
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