[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 113 (Thursday, July 13, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S9933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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             CIVILIAN RADIO ACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

 Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, the Secretary of Energy has 
transmitted to the Senate legislation to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy 
Act of 1982 to create a new funding approach for the Department of 
Energy's civilian radioactive waste management program. This program 
was created to meet the Department's obligation under the NWPA to 
provide for the disposal of spent civilian nuclear fuel in a permanent 
geologic repository by 1998.
  To fund the program, the NWPA requires DOE to collect a fee of one 
mill per kilowatt hour on electricity generated by nuclear energy. The 
fee is collected by utilities from their ratepayers in their monthly 
bills and placed into a special nuclear waste fund in the Treasury. The 
fund receives approximately $600 million per year from collections and 
interest. To date, approximately $9 billion in fees and interest has 
been placed in the fund.
  Although the nuclear waste fund has a balance of about $4.9 billion 
that was collected from ratepayers for precisely this purpose, the 
money is considered to be on-budget, and as such, is subject to 
discretionary spending caps under Gramm-Rudman-Hollings. Thus, any 
increases over past spending levels will require spending reductions in 
other DOE programs under the spending cap. As a part of the DOE fiscal 
year 1995 budget request, DOE proposed that future contributions to the 
nuclear waste fund be set aside in a special off-budget fund for the 
program, with one-half of those funds available as a permanent 
appropriation each year. This proposal, which would have required 
legislative action, was not adopted by the Congress. Instead, increased 
funding for the program was provided under DOE's discretionary spending 
caps. In its fiscal year 1996 budget request, DOE has proposed again 
that a mandatory appropriation be established from the nuclear waste 
fund of $431.6 million per year. The legislation proposed by DOE would 
be necessary to effectuate that change.
  I believe that this legislation has no chance of success. There is 
strong opposition to taking the waste fund off budget for a variety of 
reasons. First in my mind is the limitation on budgetary oversight that 
would result from such an arrangement. Although DOE will have spent 
over $4.2 billion through the first quarter of fiscal year 1995 on the 
program, DOE has conceded that the 1998 deadline for the acceptance of 
spent nuclear fuel will not be met. Both the Nuclear Waste Technical 
Review Board and the General Accounting Office have issued reports that 
are critical of the management of the Yucca Mountain program. Although 
DOE has recently made progress in improving the management of the 
program, in the past, overhead has consumed 56 percent of the funding 
for site characterization.
  What is needed is more oversight and involvement by the Congress, not 
less. The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is considering 
legislation that would alter the structure of the NWPA and DOE's 
program, with the goal of providing for the more efficient use of the 
ratepayer's money. Funding and oversight issues will be considered in 
the context of that legislation. Therefore, although I am not 
introducing this bill as legislation, I am acknowledging receipt of the 
administration's proposal and request that it be printed in the Record.
  The material follows;
                          Proposed Legislation

       A bill to provide additional flexibility for the Department 
     of Energy's program for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel 
     and high level radioactive waste, 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 ``Nuclear Waste Disposal 
     Funding Act''.

     SEC. 2. NUCLEAR WASTE FUND AVAILABILITY.

       Section 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 
     U.S.C. 10222) is amended by inserting the following after 
     subsection (e):
       ``(f) Nuclear Waste Fund Availability.--(1) If the 
     condition in subsection (g)(2) is met, the net proceeds from 
     the sale of the U.S. Enrichment Corporation which are 
     deposited in a special fund in the Treasury under subsection 
     (g)(1) may be used by the Department for radioactive waste 
     disposal activities under this Act. No more than the 
     following amounts shall be made available in the fiscal year 
     specified--
       ``(A) for fiscal year 1996, $431,600,000;
       ``(B) for fiscal year 1997, $540,000,000; and
       ``(C) for fiscal year 1998, $627,400,000.

     The net proceeds are the revenues derived from the sale of 
     U.S. Enrichment Corporation stock, based upon its sales price 
     less cash payments to the purchasers and less the value 
     assigned to highly enriched and natural uranium transferred 
     from the Department to U.S. Enrichment Corporation after 
     February 1, 1995, as specified in the stock offering 
     prospectus of the U.S. Enrichment Corporation. In determining 
     net proceeds, the cash and the value of highly enriched 
     uranium shall be prorated in proportion to the amount of 
     stock that is sold to non-Federal entities.
       ``(2) In addition to the amounts in paragraph (1), amounts 
     deposited in the Nuclear Waste Fund in fiscal years 1996, 
     1997, and 1998 resulting from any increase in the fee 
     established under this section shall be available to the 
     Department for expenditure for radioactive waste disposal 
     activities under this Act.
       ``(3) Amounts available under this subsection shall remain 
     available until expended, without further appropriation but 
     within any specific directives and limitations included in 
     appropriations Acts. Amounts for radioactive waste disposal 
     activities shall be included in the annual budget submitted 
     to Congress for Nuclear Waste Disposal Fund activities.
       ``(g) Offsets.--(1) The net proceeds from the sale of all 
     stock of the U.S. Enrichment Corporation shall be deposited 
     in a special fund in the Treasury and be available for the 
     purposes specified in subsection (f).
       ``(2) If the President so designates, the net proceeds 
     shall be included in the budget baseline required by the 
     Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and 
     shall be counted for the purposes of section 252 of that Act 
     as an offset to direct spending, notwithstanding section 
     257(e) of that Act.''.
     

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