[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2457 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  2d Session
                                S. 2457

                Entitled ``Nuclear Waste Cleanup Act''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 20, 2004

 Ms. Cantwell introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                Entitled ``Nuclear Waste Cleanup Act''.

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

SECTION 1. DEFENSE SITE ACCELERATION COMPLETION.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with 
respect to material stored at a Department of Energy site at which 
activities are regulated by the State pursuant to approved closure 
plans or permits issued by the State, high-level radioactive waste does 
not include radioactive material resulting from the reprocessing of 
spent nuclear fuel that the Secretary of Energy determines--
            (1) does not require permanent isolation in a deep geologic 
        repository for spent fuel or highly radioactive waste pursuant 
        to criteria promulgated by the Department of Energy by rule in 
        consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission;
            (2) has had highly radioactive radionuclides removed to the 
        maximum extent practical in accordance with the Nuclear 
        Regulatory Commission-reviewed criteria; and
            (3) in the case of material derived from the storage tanks, 
        is disposed of in a facility (including a tank) within the 
        State pursuant to a State-approved closure plan or a State-
        issued permit, authority for the approval or issuance of which 
        is conferred on the State outside of this Act.
    (b) Inapplicability to Certain Materials.--Subsection (a) shall not 
apply to any material otherwise covered by that subsection that is 
transported from the State.
    (c) Scope of Authority To Carry Out Actions.--The Department of 
Energy may implement any action authorized--
            (1) by a State-approved closure plan or State-issued permit 
        in existence on the date of enactment of this section; or
            (2) by a closure plan approved by the State or a permit 
        issued by the State during the pendency of the rulemaking 
        provided for in subsection (a).
Any such action may be completed pursuant to the terms of the closure 
plan or the State-issued permit notwithstanding the final criteria 
adopted by the rulemaking pursuant to subsection (a).
    (d) State Defined.--In this section, the term ``State'' means the 
State of South Carolina.
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