[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 124 (Monday, July 21, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S4509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2957. Mrs. MURRAY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by her to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2026 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place in title XXXI, insert the
following:
SEC. 31___. LIMITATION RELATING TO RECLASSIFICATION OF HIGH-
LEVEL WASTE.
(a) Limitation.--Except as provided by subsection (b), none
of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or
otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 for the
Department of Energy may be obligated or expended by the
Secretary of Energy to apply the interpretation of high-level
radioactive waste described in the notice published by the
Secretary titled ``Supplemental Notice Concerning U.S.
Department of Energy Interpretation of High-Level Radioactive
Waste'' (84 Fed. Reg. 26835), or successor notice, with
respect to such waste located in the State of Washington.
(b) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the limitation under
subsection (a) relating to the reclassification of high-level
radioactive waste if--
(1) the Secretary submits to the appropriate congressional
committees a notice of the waiver that includes--
(A) a justification for such reclassification; and
(B) documentation from both the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Department of Ecology of the State of
Washington that indicates that such Agency and Department,
respectively, concur with such reclassification, as required
by the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order,
signed on January 10, 2025; and
(2) a period of 60 days has elapsed following the
submission of such notice.
(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(1) The Committee on Armed Services and the Subcommittee on
Energy and Water Development of the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
(2) The Committee on Armed Services and the Subcommittee on
Energy and Water Development of the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
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