[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 102 (Tuesday, June 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S4055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2991. Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Ms. Baldwin, and Mr. Peters) 
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2910 
proposed by Mr. Shelby to the bill H.R. 5895, making appropriations for 
energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes; which was ordered to 
lie on the table; as follows:

       On page 50, between lines 17 and 18, insert the following:

     SEC. 305. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A 
                   PERMANENT GEOLOGICAL REPOSITORY FOR NUCLEAR 
                   WASTE AND RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS IN THE GREAT 
                   LAKES BASIN.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The water resources of the Great Lakes Basin are 
     precious public natural resources, which are shared by the 
     Great Lakes States and the Canadian Provinces.
       (2) Since 1909, the United States and Canada have worked to 
     maintain and improve the water quality of the Great Lakes 
     through water quality agreements.
       (3) More than 40,000,000 people, in both Canada and the 
     United States, depend on fresh water from the Great Lakes for 
     drinking water.
       (4) Ontario Power Generation is proposing to build a 
     permanent geological repository for nuclear waste less than 1 
     mile from Lake Huron in Kincardine, Ontario, Canada.
       (5) Nuclear waste is highly toxic and can take tens of 
     thousands of years to decompose to safe levels.
       (6) A spill of nuclear waste into the Great Lakes could 
     have lasting and severely adverse environmental, health, and 
     economic impacts on the Great Lakes and the people who depend 
     on the Great Lakes for their livelihood.
       (7) At least 187 State, tribal, county, and local 
     governments have passed resolutions opposing Ontario Power 
     Generation's proposed nuclear waste repository.
       (8) Tribes and First Nations' citizens have a strong 
     spiritual and cultural connection to the Great Lakes, and the 
     protection of the Great Lakes is fundamental to treaty 
     rights.
       (9) Ontario Power Generation has promised not to move 
     forward with its current proposal without the support of the 
     First Nations that would be impacted.
       (10) During the 1980s, when the Department of Energy, in 
     accordance with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, was 
     studying potential sites for a permanent nuclear waste 
     repository in the United States, the Government of Canada 
     expressed concern with locating a permanent nuclear waste 
     repository within shared water basins of the 2 countries.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Government of Canada should not allow a permanent 
     nuclear waste repository to be built within the Great Lakes 
     Basin;
       (2) the President, the Secretary of Energy, and the 
     Secretary of State should take appropriate action to work 
     with the Government of Canada to prevent a permanent nuclear 
     waste repository from being built within the Great Lakes 
     Basin; and
       (3) the President, the Secretary of Energy, and the 
     Secretary of State should work together with the Government 
     of Canada to consider other avenues to identify safer and 
     more responsible solutions for addressing the long-term 
     storage of nuclear waste.
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