[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 163 (Wednesday, November 17, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2408]]


  THE INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO MAKE NON-PROFIT DOE CONTRACTORS 
            SUBJECT TO CIVIL PENALTIES FOR SAFETY VIOLATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE BARTON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 16, 1999

  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation 
to correct a long-standing problem in the management of Department of 
Energy facilities.
  Current law provides a special deal for DOE's non-profit contractors. 
When these non-profit contractors violate DOE's nuclear safety 
regulations, they are exempt from paying any fines for their misdeeds.
  This exemption means that we now have two different sets of rules for 
DOE contractors--one set of rules for the conventional for-profit 
contractors, who are subject to fines for safety violations, and 
another set of rules for the non-profit contractors, who pay no penalty 
whatsoever for safety violations.
  Because there are no adverse financial consequences when these non-
profit contractors violate safety rules, we have unintentionally 
created a system in which there is little incentive for the non-profit 
contractors to take their nuclear safety responsibilities seriously.
  The 1988 Price-Anderson Amendments to the Atomic Energy Act 
specifically exempted seven contractors, including non-profit 
institutions such as the University of California, from civil 
penalties. In a 1993 rule, the Secretary of Energy provided an 
automatic exemption from civil penalties for all non-profit educational 
institutions. This bill would amend the Atomic Energy Act to eliminate 
the statutory exemption for specific non-profit contractors and also 
eliminate the authority of the Secretary of Energy to provide, by 
regulation, an automatic exemption for all non-profit educational 
institutions.
  At the Committee's request, the General Accounting Office recently 
completed a review of DOE's enforcement of nuclear safety rules, 
documenting recent DOE safety violations at DOE facilities. Of the 
total penalties assessed from 1996 through 1998 for safety violations, 
one-third of those penalties were assessed against non-profit 
contractors--and because of the exemptions in statute and in 
regulation, never had to be paid.
  GAO concluded that the exemption for non-profit contractors should be 
eliminated. It made that recommendation in its report to Congress, and 
it testified to that effect before the Commerce Committee in a hearing 
on DOE Worker Safety on June 29, 1999.
  This is a good example of how the legislative process works. Problems 
in agency performance, in this case recurrent safety problems at DOE 
facilities, prompted a closer look by the Oversight and Investigations 
Subcommittee, with the assistance of the GAO. This led to the 
legislation we are introducing today to solve those problems.

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