[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3448 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3448

   To establish an expedited schedule for the issuance of a Combined 
   Construction and Operating License for nuclear reactors that meet 
              certain conditions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2009

    Mr. Pitts (for himself, Mr. Rehberg, Mr. Bachus, Mr. Olson, Mr. 
Crenshaw, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Barrett of South Carolina, Mr. Fleming, and 
 Mr. Paulsen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Natural Resources, 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 establish an expedited schedule for the issuance of a Combined 
   Construction and Operating License for nuclear reactors that meet 
              certain conditions, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Streamline America's Future Energy 
Nuclear Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY.

    Nothing in this Act shall supersede, mitigate, detract from, or in 
anyway decrease the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's ability to maintain 
the highest possible levels of public health and safety standards, 
consistent with the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. No 
authority granted by this Act shall be executed in a manner that 
jeopardizes, minimizes, reduces, or lessens public health and safety 
standards.

SEC. 3. STREAMLINING COMBINED CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATING LICENSE.

    (a) In General.--The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall establish 
and implement an expedited procedure for issuing a Combined 
Construction and Operating License.
    (b) Qualifications.--To qualify for the expedited procedure under 
this section, an applicant shall--
            (1) apply for construction of a reactor based on a design 
        approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission;
            (2) construct the new reactor on or adjacent to a site 
        where an operating nuclear power plant already exists;
            (3) not be subject to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission order 
        to modify, suspend, or revoke a license under section 2.202 of 
        title 10, Code of Federal Regulations; and
            (4) submit a complete Combined Construction and Operating 
        License application that is docketed by the Commission.
    (c) Expedited Procedure.--With respect to a license for which the 
applicant has satisfied the requirements of subsection (b) and seeks 
fast track consideration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall 
follow the following procedures:
            (1) Undertake an expedited environmental review process and 
        issue a draft Environmental Impact Statement within 12 months 
        after the application is accepted for docketing.
            (2) Complete any public licensing hearings and related 
        processes within 24 months of accepting for docketing the 
        expedited Combined Construction and Operating License 
        application. Such hearings shall begin with the issuance of a 
        draft Environmental Impact Statement.
            (3) Complete the technical review process and issue the 
        Safety Evaluation Report and the final Environmental Impact 
        Statement within 18 months after the application is accepted 
        for docketing.
            (4) Make a final decision on whether to issue the Combined 
        Construction and Operating License within 25 months after 
        docketing the application.
    (d) Goals.--The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall present 
recommendations to Congress within 90 days of the date of enactment of 
this Act for procedures that would further facilitate the licensing of 
new nuclear reactors in a timely manner.

SEC. 4. REACTOR DESIGN CERTIFICATION.

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall reduce by one half the time 
necessary to certify a reactor design and may include designs under 
consideration for certification by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as 
of the date of enactment of this Act. Such a schedule shall be 
presented to Congress within one year of date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. TECHNOLOGY NEUTRAL PLANT DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS.

    Within one year of date of enactment of this Act, the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission shall outline to the Congress an approach that 
will allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop technology-
neutral guidelines for nuclear plant licensing in the future that would 
allow for the more seamless entry of new technologies into the 
marketplace.

SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL FUNDING AND PERSONNEL RESOURCES.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall transmit to the Congress a request 
for such additional funding and personnel resources as are necessary to 
carry out sections 2 through 5 without delaying consideration of 
applications for Combined Construction and Operating Licenses or 
reactor design certifications not subject to expedited procedures under 
this Act.

SEC. 7. NATIONAL LABORATORY SUPPORT.

    Each national laboratory with expertise in the nuclear field shall, 
in coordination with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, dedicate 
personnel to supporting either or both the expedited licensing 
procedures under section 3 and the expedited design certification 
procedures under section 4.

SEC. 8. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FUNDS.

    To both support the Nation's effort to efficiently license new 
nuclear power plants and build the expertise and workforce necessary to 
regulate and operate those plants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
and the Department of Energy shall direct educational funding to 
programs to enhance or directly support the activities authorized by 
this Act.

SEC. 9. NATIONAL NUCLEAR ENERGY COUNCIL.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) The Secretary of Energy shall establish a National 
        Nuclear Energy Council (in this section referred to as the 
        ``Council'').
            (2) The Council shall be subject to the requirements of the 
        Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
    (b) Purpose.--The Council shall--
            (1) serve in an advisory capacity to the Secretary of 
        Energy regarding nuclear energy on matters submitted to the 
        Council by the Secretary of Energy;
            (2) advise, inform, and make recommendations to the 
        Secretary of Energy with respect to any matter relating to 
        nuclear energy;
            (3) help nuclear energy related investors to navigate the 
        Federal bureaucracy to efficiently bring their products and 
        services to the marketplace; and
            (4) not participate in any research and development or 
        commercialization activities.
    (c) Membership and Organization.--
            (1) The members of the Council shall be appointed by the 
        Secretary of Energy.
            (2) The Council may establish such study and administrative 
        committees as it considers appropriate.

SEC. 10. NUCLEAR POWER 2010.

    There are authorized to be appropriated for the Nuclear Power 2010 
$121,000,000 to accomplish its original mission of defining the plant 
permitting and design certification process by September 30, 2010, at 
which date the program shall cease to exist.

SEC. 11. NEXT GENERATION NUCLEAR POWER PLANT.

    The Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
shall reevaluate the Next Generation Nuclear Power Plant schedule with 
the purpose of significant acceleration. Within 180 days of the date of 
enactment of this Act, program managers shall submit to the Congress a 
revised schedule, including funding requirements, that would allow for 
program completion as near as is possible to 2015 (halving the current 
schedule of program completion in 2021).

SEC. 12. URANIUM MINING ON FEDERAL LANDS.

    The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 shall not be 
used to arbitrarily prevent uranium mining from taking place on Federal 
lands. The Federal Government shall not collect additional leasing 
fees, beyond that which are currently applicable, to mine uranium on 
Federal lands. Any fees collected in association with commercial 
uranium mining on Federal lands that should be applied for remediation 
purposes, shall only be applied to the remediation of sites that 
incurred damage as a result of commercial nuclear activities. Such fees 
shall not be applied to the remediation of any sites that incurred 
damage as a result of Government or Government-sponsored activities.
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