[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6814 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6814

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry out a program 
 to provide financial assistance to units of local government impacted 
       by the reduction in tax revenue from nuclear power plants.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 13, 2018

 Ms. Kaptur (for herself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry out a program 
 to provide financial assistance to units of local government impacted 
       by the reduction in tax revenue from nuclear power plants.

    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 ``Troubled Nuclear Power Plants 
Communities Assistance Act''.

SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR COMMUNITIES WITH TROUBLED NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The markets for electricity generation are rapidly 
        evolving due to the very low cost of natural gas such that many 
        nuclear power plants are no longer economically competitive.
            (2) Over the past 5 years, 18 nuclear power plants have 
        permanently closed or have announced plans to close.
            (3) The impact of closure of a nuclear power plant on the 
        local economy can be severe due to the loss of jobs and a 
        reduced tax base.
            (4) Closure of a nuclear power plant typically means the 
        loss of 400 to 700 highly paid workers.
            (5) A typical reactor has estimated wages for workers of 
        $40 million annually.
            (6) Nuclear power plants are among the largest taxpayers in 
        the jurisdictions in which they are sited, typically 
        contributing tens of millions of dollars in local taxes.
            (7) When calculating the total tax impact (direct and 
        secondary), the average nuclear power plant provides over $100 
        million in tax revenue each year to the local and State 
        governments.
            (8) The closure of a nuclear power plant causes significant 
        negative impacts to the GDPs of the affected States.
            (9) Stranded spent nuclear fuel prevents communities from 
        redeveloping sites where nuclear power plants previously 
        operated which further inhibits tax revenues.
    (b) Assistance for Communities With Troubled Nuclear Power Plants 
Program.--
            (1) Establishment.--The Secretary of Energy shall establish 
        and carry out a program to be known as the ``Assistance for 
        Communities with Troubled Nuclear Power Plants Program'' (in 
        this section referred to as the ``Program'') to provide 
        financial assistance to units of local government who have 
        experienced a reduction in tax revenue from nuclear power 
        plants.
            (2) Unit of local government.--In this section, a unit of 
        local government includes a county, city, town, village, school 
        district, and special district.
            (3) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive financial 
        assistance under this section, a unit of local government shall 
        submit to the Secretary of Energy an application that includes 
        documentation that--
                    (A) the unit of local government has experienced, 
                or is predicted to experience, during a calendar year 
                beginning after December 31, 2014, and ending before 
                January 1, 2025--
                            (i) a reduction of not less than 20 percent 
                        in overall tax revenue received by such unit of 
                        local government for such year compared with 
                        the average of such tax revenue for the 
                        previous 5 years; and
                            (ii) a reduction in tax revenue 
                        attributable to a nuclear power plant received 
                        by such unit of local government for such year, 
                        compared with the average of such tax revenue 
                        for the previous 5 years, that is not less than 
                        20 percent of the average for such previous 5 
                        years of the overall tax revenue received by 
                        such unit; and
                    (B) spent nuclear fuel is stored at the site of 
                such nuclear power plant.
            (4) Assistance.--
                    (A) In general.--Subject to amounts made available 
                in advance in appropriations Acts, financial assistance 
                provided under this section to a unit of local 
                government shall be made with respect to each year of 
                the 8-year period beginning on the first day of the 
                calendar year described in paragraph (3)(A).
                    (B) Amount of assistance.--Subject to amounts made 
                available in advance in appropriations Acts, financial 
                assistance provided under this section to a unit of 
                local government for a year of an 8-year period shall 
                be equal to the lesser of $10,000,000 and--
                            (i) in the case of the first year of the 8-
                        year period, 80 percent of the loss described 
                        in paragraph (3)(A)(ii) with respect to such 
                        unit;
                            (ii) in the case of the second year of the 
                        8-year period, 70 percent of such loss;
                            (iii) in the case of the third year of the 
                        8-year period, 60 percent of such loss;
                            (iv) in the case of the fourth year of the 
                        8-year period, 50 percent of such loss;
                            (v) in the case of the fifth year of the 8-
                        year period, 40 percent of such loss;
                            (vi) in the case of the sixth year of the 
                        8-year period, 30 percent of such loss;
                            (vii) in the case of the seventh year of 
                        the 8-year period, 20 percent of such loss; and
                            (viii) in the case of the eighth year of 
                        the 8-year period, 10 percent of such loss.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $80,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2019 through 2031.
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