[Senate Report 106-98]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 180
106th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                     106-98

======================================================================



 
              NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY AMENDMENTS ACT OF 1999

                                _______
                                

                  June 24, 1999.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______


  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                         [To accompany S. 1287]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, having 
considered the same, reports favorably an original bill, to 
provide for the storage of spent nuclear fuel pending 
completion of the nuclear waste repository, and for other 
purposes, and recommends that the bill do pass.
    The text of the bill follows:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act 
of 1999''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
         (1) the term ``contract holder'' means a party to a contract 
        with the Secretary of Energy for the disposal of spent nuclear 
        fuel or high-level radioactive waste entered into pursuant to 
        section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 
        U.S.C. 1022(a)); and
         (2) the terms ``Administrator'', civilian nuclear power 
        reactor'', ``Commission'', ``Department'', ``disposal'', 
        ``high-level radioactive waste'', ``Indian tribe'', 
        ``repository'', ``reservation'', ``Secretary'', ``spent nuclear 
        fuel'', ``State'', ``storage'', ``Waste Fund'', and ``Yucca 
        Mountain site'' shall have the meanings given such terms in 
        section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 
        10101).

                      TITLE I--STORAGE AN DISPOSAL

SEC. 101. PROGRAM SCHEDULE.

    (a) In General.--The President, the Secretary, and the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission shall carry out their duties under this Act and 
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 by the earliest practicable date 
consistent with the public interest and applicable provisions of law.
    (b) Milestones.--
          (1) The Secretary shall make a final decision whether to 
        recommend the Yucca Mountain site for development of the 
        repository to the President by December 31, 2001;
          (2) The President shall make a final decision whether to 
        recommend the Yucca Mountain site for development of the 
        repository to the Congress by March 31, 2002;
          (3) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall make a final 
        decision whether to authorize construction of the repository by 
        December 31, 2006; and
          (4) As provided in subsection (c), the Secretary shall begin 
        receiving waste at the repository site at the earliest 
        practicable date after receiving authorization from the Nuclear 
        Regulatory Commission.
    (c) Receipt Facilities.--
          (1) Concurrent with the submission of an application for a 
        construction authorization pursuant to section 114(b) of the 
        Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(b)), the 
        Secretary shall apply to the Commission for a license to 
        receive and possess spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
        radioactive waste at surface facilities within the geologic 
        repository operations area for the receipt, handling, 
        packaging, and storage prior to emplacement.
          (2) Concurrent with the issuance of the construction 
        authorization under section 114(b) of the Nuclear Waste Policy 
        Act of 1982, the Commission shall issue a license authorizing 
        receipt and possession of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
        radioactive waste at surface facilities within the geologic 
        repository operations area for the purposes in subsection 
        (c)(1). The Commission shall issue this license in accordance 
        with such standards as the C0mmission finds are necessary to 
        protect the public health and safety.
    (d) Notice of Noncompliance.--If, at any time, the Secretary, the 
President, or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determines that the 
Secretary, President, or Commission, as appropriate, cannot meet a 
milestone under subsection (b), the Secretary, President, or 
Commission, as appropriate, shall immediately notify Congress--
          (1) that the deadline will not be met and the reason it will 
        not be met; and
          (2) the date on which the milestone will be met.

SEC. 102. BACKUP STORAGE CAPACITY.

    (a) Authorization.--Subject to section 105(d), the Secretary shall 
enter into a contract under this subsection with any person generating 
or owning spent nuclear fuel that meets the requirements of section 
135(b)(1)(A) and (B) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 
10155(b)(1)(A) and (B)) to--
          (1) take title at the civilian nuclear power reactor site to 
        such amounts of spent nuclear fuel from the civilian nuclear 
        power reactor as the Commission determines cannot be stored 
        onsite; and
          (2) transport such spent nuclear fuel to, and store such 
        spent nuclear fuel at--
                  (A) The repository site after the Commission has 
                authorized construction of the repository without 
                regard to the Secretary's Acceptance Priority Ranking 
                report or Annual Capacity Report; or
                  (B) a privately owned and operated independent spent 
                fuel storage facility licensed by the Nuclear 
                Regulatory Commission.

SEC. 103. REPOSITORY LICENSING.

    (a) Section 801 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 is repealed.
    (b) Section 121 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 is amended 
to read as follows:
    ``Sec. 121. (a) Repository Licensing Standards.--The Commission 
shall establish standards for protection of the public and the 
environment from releases of radioactive materials or radioactivity 
from the repository, consistent with the following:
          ``(1) Risk standard.--The standard for protection of the 
        public and environment from releases of radioactive materials 
        or radioactivity from the repository after permanent closure 
        shall limit the lifetime risk to the average member of the 
        critical group of premature death from cancer due to such 
        releases to approximately, but not greater than, 1 in 1000.
          ``(2) Establishment of overall system performance 
        objective.--The Commission shall implement the standard in 
        paragraph (1) by establishing, by rule, an overall system 
        performance objective for expected annual dose to the average 
        member of the critical group. The Commission shall not 
        promulgate performance objectives for the repository in the 
        form of release limits or contaminant levels for individual 
        radionuclides discharged from the repository.
          ``(3) Assumption and factors.--The Commission shall specify, 
        by rule, values for all of the assumptions deemed necessary to 
        apply the overall system performance objective in a licensing 
        proceeding for the repository, including reference biosphere 
        and size characteristics of the critical group. For purposes of 
        establishing the overall system performance objective in 
        paragraph (2) and making the findings in subsection (b), the 
        Commission shall not--
                  ``(A) consider climate regimes that are substantially 
                different from those that have occurred during the 
                previous 100,000 years at the Yucca Mountain site;
                  ``(B) consider catastrophic events where the health 
                consequences of individual events themselves to the 
                critical group can be reasonably assumed to exceed the 
                health consequences due to the impact of the events on 
                repository performance; and
                  ``(C) base the overall system performance objective 
                in paragraph (2) or the finding in subsection (b) on 
                scenarios involving human intrusion into the repository 
                following repository closure, although the Commission 
                may consider the consequences of an assumed human 
                intrusion scenario to determine if repository 
                performance would be substantially degraded by a single 
                instance of human intrusion during the first 1,000 
                years after repository closure.
          ``(4) Definitions.--As used in this section, the term 
        ``critical group'' means a small group of people that is--
                  ``(A) representative of individuals expected to be at 
                highest risk of premature death from cancer as a result 
                of discharges of radionuclides from the repository;
                  ``(B) relatively homogeneous with respect to expected 
                radiation dose, which shall mean that there shall be no 
                more than a factor of 10 in variation in individual 
                doses among members of the group; and
                  ``(C) selected using reasonable assumptions 
                concerning lifestyle, occupation, diet and eating 
                habits, technological sophistication, and other 
                relevant social and behavioral factors that are based 
                on reasonably available information on inhabitants and 
                conditions in the area within a 50-mile radius 
                surrounding Yucca Mountain when the group is defined.
    ``(b) Application of Overall System Performance Objective.--The 
Commission shall issue a construction authorization, license to dispose 
of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the 
repository, and license amendment to permit permanent closure of the 
repository, upon a finding of reasonable assurance, making allowance 
for the time period, hazards, and uncertainties involved, that for the 
first 10,000 years following closure of the repository, the overall 
system performance established pursuant to subsection (a) will be met. 
The finding of reasonable assurance shall be based on regulatory 
insight gained by the Commission through use of predictive models, 
supported, to the extent deemed practicable by the Commission, by data 
from field and laboratory tests, site-specific monitoring, and natural 
analog studies and supplemented, as necessary, by expert judgment.
    ``(c) Environmental Impact Statement.--The promulgation of 
standards or criteria in accordance with the provisions of this section 
shall not require the preparation of an environmental impact statement 
under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) or any environmental review under 
subparagraph (E) or (F) of section 102(2) of such Act.''
    (c) Guidelines.--Section 112(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 
1982 (42 U.S.C. 10132(a)) is amended by adding, at the end of the 
section, the following: ``The Secretary's guidelines shall not be 
inconsistent with any standards promulgated under section 121, and to 
the extent practicable, any conclusions of the Secretary regarding site 
suitability shall be based on an assessment of total system performance 
of the repository.''.
    (d) Capacity.--Section 114 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 
(42 U.S.C. 10134) is amended--
          (1) in subsection (b) by inserting at the end: ``In 
        developing an application forauthorization to construct the 
repository, the Secretary shall seek to maximize the capacity of the 
repository.'', and
          (2) in subsection (d) by striking ``The Commission decision 
        approving the first such application * * *'' through the period 
        at the end of the sentence.

SEC. 104. NUCLEAR WASTE FEE.

    The last sentence of section 302(a)(4) of the Nuclear Waste Policy 
Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 
``The adjusted fee proposed by the Secretary shall be effective upon 
enactment of a joint resolution or other provision of law specifically 
approving the adjusted fee.''

SEC. 105. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may, upon the request of any person 
with whom he has entered into a contract under section 302(a) of the 
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a), enter into a 
settlement agreement with the contract holder to--
          (1) relieve any harm caused by the Secretary's failure to 
        meet the Department's commitment, or
          (2) settle any legal claims against the United States arising 
        out of such failure.
    (b) Types of Relief.--Pursuant to a settlement agreement entered 
into under this section, the Secretary may--
          (1) take title to the contract holder's spent nuclear fuel, 
        notwithstanding section 302(a)(5) of the Nuclear Waste Policy 
        Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)(5));
          (2) provide spent nuclear fuel storage casks to the contract 
        holder;
          (3) take title to and operate an existing dry cask storage 
        facility at the contract holder's site;
          (4) compensate the contract holder for the cost of providing 
        spent nuclear fuel storage at the contract holders' storage 
        facility; or
          (5) provide any combination of the foregoing.
    (c) Scope of Relief.--The Secretary's obligation to take title to a 
contract holder's spent nuclear fuel, provide storage casks, or 
compensate a contract holder for the cost of providing nuclear fuel 
storage under a settlement agreement under this section shall not 
exceed the Secretary's obligation to accept delivery of such spent fuel 
under the terms of the Secretary's contract with such contract holder 
under section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 
10222(a)) and the delivery commitment schedule annexed thereto 
(including any otherwise permissible assignment of rights under such 
schedule).
    (d) Waiver of Claims.--(1) The Secretary may not enter into a 
settlement agreement under subsection (a) or a backup contract under 
section 102(a) with any contract holder unless the contract holder--
          (A) makes an election within 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act to enter into a settlement agreement, and
          (B) as part of such settlement agreement, waives any claim 
        for damages against the United States arising out of the 
        Secretary's failure to begin disposing of such person's high-
        level waste or spent nuclear fuel by January 31, 1998.
    (2) Nothing in this subsection shall be read to require a contract 
holder to waive any future claim against the United States arising out 
of the Secretary's failure to meet any new obligation assumed under 
settlement agreement or backup storage agreement.
    (e) Source of Funds.--Notwithstanding section 302(d) of the Nuclear 
Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(d)), the Secretary may not 
make expenditures from the Nuclear Waste Fund for any costs that may be 
incurred by the Secretary pursuant to a settlement agreement or backup 
storage contract under this Act except--
          (1) the cost of acquiring and loading spent nuclear fuel 
        casks;
          (2) the cost of transporting spent nuclear fuel from the 
        contract holder's site to the repository; and
          (3) any other cost incurred by the Secretary pursuant to a 
        settlement agreement or backup storage contract that would have 
        been incurred by the Secretary under the contracts entered into 
        under section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 
        (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)) notwithstanding their amendment pursuant 
        to this Act.
    (f) Savings Clause.--(1) Nothing in this section shall limit the 
Secretary's existing authority to enter into settlement agreements or 
address shutdown reactors and any associated public health and safety 
or environmental concerns that may arise.
    (2) Nothing in this Act modifies or alters obligations imposed upon 
the Federal Government by the United States District Court of Idaho in 
an order entered on October 17, 1995 in United States v. Batt (No. 91-
0054-S-EJL).

SEC. 106. ACCEPTANCE SCHEDULE.

    The acceptance schedule shall be implemented in accordance with the 
following:
          (1) Priority ranking.--Acceptance priority ranking shall be 
        determined by the Department's `Acceptance Priority Ranking' 
        report.
          (2) Acceptance rate.--Beginning in the year of the issuance 
        of a license to receive and possess spent nuclear fuel and 
        high-level radioactive waste under section 101(c), the 
        Secretary's acceptance rate for spent nuclear fuel shall be no

        less than the following: 1,200 Metric Tons Uranium (MTU) in 
        year 1 and 1,200 MTU in year 2, 2,000 MTU in year 3 and 2,000 
        MTU in year 4, 2,700 MTU in year 5, and 3,000 MTU annually 
        thereafter.
          (3) Other acceptance.--Subject to the conditions contained in 
        the license to receive and possess spent nuclear fuel and high-
        level radioactive waste issued under section 101(c), of the 
        amounts provided for in paragraph (2) for each year, not less 
        than one-sixth shall be--
                  (A) spent nuclear fuel or civilian high-level 
                radioactive waste of domestic origin from civilian 
                nuclear power reactors have permanently ceased 
                operation on or before the date of enactment of the 
                Nuclear Waste Policy Act Amendments of 1999;
                  (B) spent nuclear fuel from foreign research 
                reactors, as necessary to promote nonproliferation 
                activities; and
                  (C) spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive 
                waste from research and atomic energy defense 
                activities, including spent nuclear fuel from naval 
                reactors:
        Proviced, however, That the Secretary shall accept not less 
        than 7.5 percent of the total quantity of fuel and high-level 
        radioactive waste accepted in any year from the categories of 
        radioactive materials described in subparagraphs (B) and (C) in 
        paragraph (3). If sufficient amounts of radioactive materials 
        are not available to utilize this allocation, the Secretary 
        shall allocate this acceptance capacity to other contract 
        holders.
          (4) Effect on schedule.--The contractual acceptance schedule 
        shall not be modified in any way as a result of the Secretary's 
        acceptance of any material other than contract holders' spent 
        nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

                        TITLE II--TRANSPORTATION

SEC. 201. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.

    (a) Transportation Readiness.--The Secretary--
          (1) shall take such actions as are necessary and appropriate 
        to ensure that the Secretary is able to transport safely spent 
        nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from any site 
        where such spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste 
        is generated or stored to the Yucca Mountain site, using routes 
        that minimize, to the maximum practicable extent consistent 
        with Federal requirements governing transportation of hazardous 
        materials, transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
        radioactive waste through populated areas; and
          (2) as soon as is practicable following the enactment of this 
        Act, the Secretary shall, in consultation with the Secretary of 
        Transportation and affected States and tribes, and after an 
        opportunity for public comment, develop and implement a 
        comprehensive management plan that ensures safe transportation 
        of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from the 
        sites designated by the contract holders to the Yucca Mountain 
        site.
    (b) Transportation Planning.--In conjunction with the development 
of the logistical plan in accordance with subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall update and modify, as necessary, the Secretary's transportation 
institutional plans to ensure that institutional issues are addressed 
and resolved on a schedule to support the commencement of 
transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste 
to the Yucca Mountain site no later than December 31, 2006. Among other 
things, such planning shall provide a schedule and process of 
addressing and implementing, as necessary, transportation routing 
plans, transportation contracting plans, transportation training in 
accordance with section 202, public education regarding transportation 
of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, and 
transportation tracking programs.
    (c) Shipping Campaign Transportation Plans.--
          (1) In general.--The Secretary shall develop a transportation 
        plan for the implementation of each shipping campaign (as that 
        term is defined by the Secretary) from each site at which spent 
        nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste is stored, consistent 
        with the principles and procedures stated in Department of 
        Energy Order No. 460.2 and the Program Manager's Guide.
           (2) Requirements.--A shipping campaign transportation plan 
        shall--
                  (A) be fully integrated with State and tribal 
                government notification, inspection, and emergency 
                response plans along the preferred shipping route or 
                State-designated alternative route identified under 
                subsection (d) (unless the Secretary certifies in the 
                plan that the State or tribal government has failed to 
                cooperate in fully integrating the shipping campaign 
                transportation plan with theapplicable State or tribal 
                government plans); and
                  (B) be consistent with the principles and procedures 
                developed for the safe transportation of transuranic 
                waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (unless the 
                Secretary certifies in the plan that a specific 
                principle or procedure is inconsistent with a provision 
                of this Act).
    (d) Safe Shipping Routes and Modes.--
          (1) In general.--The Secretary shall evaluate the relative 
        safety of the proposed shipping routes and shipping modes from 
        each shipping origin to the repository compared with the safety 
        of alternative modes and routes.
          (2) Considerations.--The evaluation under paragraph (1) shall 
        be conducted in a manner consistent with regulations 
        promulgated by the Secretary of Transportation under authority 
        of chapter 51 of title 49, United States Code, and the Nuclear 
        Regulatory Commission under authority of the Atomic Energy Act 
        of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), as applicable.
          (3) Designation of preferred shipping route and mode.--
        Following the evaluation under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall designate preferred shipping routes and modes from each 
        civilian nuclear power reactor and Department of Energy 
        facility that stores spent nuclear fuel or other high-level 
        defense waste.
          (4) Selection of primary shipping route.--If the Secretary 
        designates more than 1 preferred route under paragraph (3), the 
        Secretary shall select a primary route after considering, at a 
        minimum, historical accident rates, population, significant 
        hazards, shipping time, shipping distance, and mitigating 
        measures such as limits on the speed of shipments.
          (5) Use of primary shipping route and mode.--Except in cases 
        of emergency, for all shipments conducted under this Act, the 
        Secretary shall cause the primary shipping route and mode or 
        State-designated alternative route under chapter 51 of title 
        49, Unites States Code, to be used. If a route is designated as 
        a primary route for any reactor or Department of Energy 
        facility, the Secretary may use that route to transport spent 
        nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste from any other 
        reactor or Department of Energy facility.
          (6) Training and technical assistance.--Following selection 
        of the primary shipping routes, or State-designated alternative 
        routes, the Secretary shall focus training and technical 
        assistance under section 202(c) on those routes.
          (7) Preferred rail routes.--
                  (A) Regulation.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
                of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendment Act 
                of 1999, the Secretary of Transportation, pursuant to 
                authority under other provisions of law, shall 
                promulgate a regulation establishing procedures for the 
                selection of preferred routes for the transportation of 
                spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by 
                rail.
                  (B) Interim provision.--During the period beginning 
                on the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy 
                Act of 1999 and ending on the date of issuance of a 
                final regulation under subparagraph (A), rail 
                transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
                radioactive waste shall be conducted in accordance with 
                regulatory requirements in effect on that date and with 
                this section.

SEC. 202. TRANSPORTATION REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Package Certification.--No spent nuclear fuel or high-level 
radioactive waste may be transported by or for the Secretary under this 
Act except in packages that have been certified for such purposes by 
the Commission.
    (b) State Notification.--The Secretary shall abide by regulations 
of the Commission regarding advance notification of State and tribal 
governments prior to transportation of spent nuclear fuel or high-level 
radioactive waste under this Act.
    (c) Technical Assistance.--
          (1) In general.--
                  (A) States and indian tribes.--As provided in 
                paragraph (3), the Secretary shall provide technical 
                assistance and funds to States and Indian tribes for 
                training of public safety officials of appropriate 
                units of State, local, and tribal government. A State 
                shall allocate to local governments within the State a 
                portion of any funds that the secretary provides to the 
                State for technical assistance and funding.
                  (B) Employee organizations.--The Secretary shall 
                provide technical assistance and funds for training 
                directly to nonprofit employee organizations, voluntary 
                emergency response organizations, and joint labor-
                management organizations that demonstrate experience in 
                implementing and operating worker health and safety 
                training and education programs and demonstrate the 
                ability to reach and involve in training programs 
                target populations of workers who are or will be 
                directly engaged in the transportation of spent nuclear 
                fuel and high-level radioactive waste or emergency 
                response or post-emergency response with respect to 
                such transportation.
                  (C) Training.--Training under this section--
                          (i) shall cover procedures required for safe 
                        routine transportation of materials and 
                        procedures for dealing with emergency response 
                        situations;
                          (ii) shall be consistent with any training 
                        standards established by the Secretary of 
                        Transportation under subsection (h); and
                          (iii) shall include--
                                  (I) a training program applicable to 
                                persons responsible for responding to 
                                emergency situations occurring during 
                                the removal and transportation of spent 
                                nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive 
                                waste;
                                  (II) instruction of public safety 
                                officers in procedures for the command 
                                and control of the response to any 
                                incident involving the waste; and
                                  (III) instruction of radiological 
                                protection and emergency medical 
                                personnel in procedures for responding 
                                to an incident involving spent nuclear 
                                fuel or high-level radioactive waste 
                                being transported.
                  (2) No shipments if no training.--
                  (A) There shall be no shipments of spent nuclear fuel 
                and high-level radioactive waste through the 
                jurisdiction of any State or the reservation lands of 
                any Indian tribe eligible for grants under paragraph 
                (3)(B) until the Secretary has made a determination 
                that personnel in all State, local, and tribal 
                jurisdictions on primary and alternative shipping 
                routes have met acceptable standards of training for 
                emergency responses to accidents involving spent 
                nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, as 
                established by the Secretary, and unless technical 
                assistance and funds to implement procedures for the 
                safe routine transportation and for dealing with 
                emergency response situations under paragraph (1)(A) 
                have been available to a State or Indian tribe for at 
                least 3 years prior to any shipment: Provided, however, 
                That the Secretary may ship spent nuclear fuel and 
                high-level radioactive waste if technical assistance or 
                funds have not been made available because of
                          (i) an emergency, including the sudden and 
                        unforeseen closure of a highway or rail line or 
                        the sudden and unforeseen need to remove spent 
                        fuel from a reactor because of an accident, or
                          (ii) the refusal to accept technical 
                        assistance by a State or Indian tribe, or
                          (iii) fraudulent actions which violate 
                        Federal law governing the expenditure of 
                        Federal funds.
                  (B) In the event the Secretary is required to 
                transport spent fuel or high-level radioactive waste 
                through a jurisdiction prior to 3 years after the 
                provisions of technical assistance or funds to such 
                jurisdiction, the Secretary shall, prior to such 
                shipment, hold meetings in each State and Indian 
                reservation through which the shipping route passes in 
                order to present initial shipment plans and receive 
                comments. Department of Energy personnel trained in 
                emergency response shall escort each shipment. Funds 
                and all Department of Energy training resources shall 
                be made available to States and Indian tribes along the 
                shipping route not later than three months prior to the 
                commencement of shipments: Provided, however, That in 
                no event shall such shipments exceed 1,000 metric tons 
                per year: Provided further, That no such shipments 
                shall be conducted more than four years after the 
                effective date of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments 
                Act of 1999.
         (3) Grants.--
                  (A) In general.--To implement this section, the 
                Secretary may make expenditures from the Nuclear Waste 
                Fund to the extent provided for in appropriation acts.
                  (B) Grants for development of plans.--
                          (i) in general.--The Secretary shall make a 
                        grant of at least $150,000 to each State 
                        through the jurisdiction of which and each 
                        federally recognized Indian tribe through the 
                        reservation lands of which a shipment of spent 
                        nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste 
                        will be made under this Act for the purpose of 
                        developing a plan to prepare for such 
                        shipments.
                          (ii) Limitation.--A grant shall be made under 
                        clause (i) only to a State or a federally 
                        recognized Indian tribe that has the authority 
                        to respond to incidents involving shipments of 
                        hazardous material.
                  (C) Grants for implementation of plans.--
                          (i) In general.--Annual implementation grants 
                        shall be made to States and Indian tribes that 
                        have developed a plan to prepare for shipments 
                        under this Act under subparagraph (B). The 
                        Secretary, in submitting the annual departmental 
                        budget to Congress for funding of implementation 
                        grants under this section, shall be guided by 
                        the State and tribal plans developed under 
                        subparagraph (B). As part of the Department of 
                        Energy's annual budget request, the Secretary 
                        shall report to Congress on--
                                  (I) the funds requested by States and 
                                federally recognized Indian tribes to 
                                implement this subsection;
                                  (II) the amount requested by the 
                                President for implementation; and
                                  (III) the rationale for any 
                                discrepancies between the amounts 
                                requested by States and federally 
                                recognized Indian tribes and the 
                                amounts requested by the President.
                          (ii) Allocation.--Of funds available for 
                        grants under this subparagraph for any fiscal 
                        year--
                                  (I) 25 percent shall be allocated by 
                                the Secretary to ensure minimum funding 
                                and program capability levels in all 
                                States and Indian tribes based on plans 
                                developed under subparagraph (B); and
                                  (II) 75 percent shall be allocated to 
                                States and Indian tribes in proportion 
                                to the number of shipment miles that 
                                are projected to be made in total 
                                shipments under this Act through each 
                                jurisdiction.
          (4) Availability of funds for shipments.--Funds under 
        paragraph (1) shall be provided for shipments to a repository, 
        regardless of whether the repository is operated by a private 
        entity or by the Department of Energy.
          (5) Minimizing duplication of effort and expenses.--The 
        Secretaries of Transportation, Labor, and Energy, Directors of 
        the Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Institute 
        of Environmental Health Sciences, the Nuclear Regulatory 
        Commission, and Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency shall review periodically, with the head of each 
        department, agency, or instrumentality of the Government, all 
        emergency response and preparedness training programs of that 
        department, agency, or instrumentality to minimize duplication 
        of effort and expense of the department, agency, or 
        instrumentality in carrying out the programs and shall take 
        necessary action to minimize duplication.
    (d) Public Education.--The Secretary shall conduct a program to 
educate the public regarding the transportation of spent nuclear fuel 
and high-level radioactive waste, with an emphasis on those States, 
units of local government, and Indian tribes through whose jurisdiction 
the Secretary plans to transport substantial amounts of spent nuclear 
fuel or high-level radioactive waste.
    (e) Use of Private Carriers.--The Secretary, in providing for the 
transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste 
under this Act, shall contract with private industry to the fullest 
extent possible in each aspect of such transportation. The Secretary 
shall use direct Federal services for such transportation only upon a 
determination by the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with 
the Secretary, that private industry is unable or unwilling to provide 
such transportation services at a reasonable cost.
    (f) Compliance With Transportation Regulations.--Any person that 
transports spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste under the 
Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1999, pursuant to a contract 
with the Secretary, shall comply with all requirements governing such 
transportation issued by the Federal, State and local governments, and 
Indian tribes, in the same way and to the same extent that any person 
engaging in that transportation that is in or affects interstate 
commerce must comply with such requirements, as required by section 
5126 of title 49, United States Code.
    (g) Employee Protection.--Any person engaged in the interstate 
commerce of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste under 
contract to the Secretary pursuant to this Act shall be subject to and 
comply fully with the employee protection provisions of section 20109 
of title 49, United States Code (in the case of employees of railroad 
carriers) and section 31105 of title 49, United States Code (in the 
case of employees operating commercial motor vehicles), or the 
Commission (in the case of all other employees).
    (h) Training Standards.--
          (1) Regulation.--No later than 12 months after the date of 
        enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1999, 
        the Secretary of Transportation, pursuant to authority under 
        other provisions of law, in consultation with the Secretary of 
        Labor and the Commission, shall promulgate a regulation 
        establishing training standards applicable to workers directly 
        involved in the removal and transportation of spent nuclear 
        fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The regulation shall 
        specify minimum training standards applicable to workers, 
        including managerial personnel. The regulation shall require 
        that the employer possess evidence of satisfaction of the 
        applicable training standard before any individual may be 
        employed in the removal and transportation of spent nuclear 
        fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
          (2) Secretary of Transportation.--If the Secretary of 
        Transportation determines, in promulgating the regulation 
        required by paragraph (1), that existing Federal regulations 
        establish adequate training standards for workers, then the 
        Secretary of Transportation can refrain from promulgating 
        additional regulations with respect to worker training in such 
        activities. The Secretary of Transportation and the 
        Commission shall, by Memorandum of Understanding, ensure 
        coordination of worker training standards and to avoid 
        duplicate regulation.
          (3) Training standings content.--(A) If training standards 
        are required to be promulgated under paragraph (1), such 
        standards shall, among other things deemed necessary and 
        appropriate by the Secretary of Transportation, provide for--
                  (i) a specified minimum number of hours of initial 
                off site instruction and actual field experience under 
                the direct supervision of a trained, experienced 
                supervisor;
                  (ii) a requirement that onsite managerial personnel 
                receive the same training as workers, and a minimum 
                number of additional hours of specialized training 
                pertinent to their managerial responsibilities; and
                  (iii) a training program applicable to persons 
                responsible for responding to and cleaning up emergency 
                situations occurring during the removal and 
                transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
                radioactive waste.
          (B) The Secretary of Transporation may specify an appropriate 
        combination of knowledge, skills, and prior training to fulfill 
        the minimum number of hours requirements of subparagraphs (i) 
        and (ii).
          (4) Emergency responder training standards.--The training 
        standards for persons responsible for responding to emergency 
        situations occurring during the removal and transportation of 
        spent nuclear and high level radioactive waste shall, in 
        accordance with existing regulations, ensure their ability to 
        protect nearby persons property, or the environment from the 
        effects of accidents involving spent nuclear fuel and high-
        level radioactive waste.
          (5) Authorization.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Secretary of Transportation, from general revenues, such 
        sums as may be necessary to perform his duties under this 
        subsection.

     TITLE III--DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL STRATEGY

SEC. 301. FINDINGS.

    (a) Prior to permanent closure of the geologic repository in Yucca 
Mountain, Congress must determine whether the spent fuel in the 
repository should be treated as waste subject to permanent burial or 
should be considered an energy resource that is needed to meet future 
energy requirements;
    (b) Future use of nuclear energy may require construction of a 
second geologic repository unless Yucca Mountain can safely accommodate 
additional spent fuel. Improved spent fuel strategies may increase the 
capacity of Yucca Mountain.
    (c) Prior to construction of any second permanent geologic 
repository, the nation's current plans for permanent burial of spent 
fuel should be re-evaluated.

SEC. 302 OFFICE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL RESEARCH.

    (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established an Office of Spent 
Nuclear Fuel Research within the Office of Nuclear Energy Science and 
Technology of the Department of Energy. The Office shall be headed by 
the Associate Director, who shall be a member of the Senior Executive 
Service appointed by the Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy 
Science and Technology, and compensated at a rate determined by 
applicable law.
    (b) Associate Director.--The Associate Director of the Office of 
Spent Nuclear Fuel Research shall be responsible for carrying out an 
integrated research, development, and demonstration program on 
technologies for treatment, recycling, and disposal of high-level 
nuclear radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, subject to the 
general supervision of the Secretary. The Associate Director of the 
Office shall report to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy 
Science and Technology. The first such Associate Director shall be 
appointed within 90 days of the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy 
Act of 1999.
    (c) Grant and Contract Authority.--In carrying out his 
responsibilities under this Section, the Secretary may make grants, or 
enter into contracts, for the purpose of the research projects and 
activities described in (d)(2).
    (d)(1) Duties.--The Associate Director of the Office shall involve 
national laboratories, universities, the commercial nuclear industry, 
and other organizations to investigate technologies for the treatment, 
recycling, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
radioactive waste.
    (2) The Associate Director of the Office shall:
          (A) develop a research plan to provide recommendations by 
        2015;
          (B) identify promising technologies for the treatment, 
        recycling, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
        radioactive waste;
          (C) conduct research and development activities for promising 
        technologies;
          (D) ensure that all activities include as key objectives 
        minimization of proliferation concerns and risk to the health 
        of the general public or site workers, as well as development 
        of cost-effective technologies;
          (E) require research on both reactor- and accelerator-based 
        transmutation systems;
          (F) require research on advanced processing and separations;
          (G) encourage that research efforts include participation of 
        international collaborators;
          (H) be authorized to fund international collaborators when 
        they bring unique capabilities not available in the United 
        States and their host country is unable to provide for their 
        support;
          (I) ensure that research efforts with this Office are 
        coordinated with research on advanced fuel cycles and reactors 
        conducted within the Office of Nuclear Energy Science and 
        Technology.
    (e) Report.--The Associate Director of the Office of Spent Nuclear 
Fuel Research shall annually prepare and submit a report to the 
Congress on the activities and expenditures of the office that 
discusses progress being made in achieving the objectives of paragraph 
(b).

                         Purpose of the Measure

    The bill reported by the Committee provides for the 
completion of siting and licensing activities for a permanent 
geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, including a facility for 
the early receipt of spent fuel and nuclear waste that is keyed 
to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) construction license 
for the permanent repository. The bill also provides a 
mechanism for the resolution of lawsuits over the failure of 
the Department of Energy to perform its obligation to move and 
safely store spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste.

                      Summary of Major Provisions

    The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1999, provides 
for (1) operation of a repository fuel acceptance facility 
keyed to NRC construction authorization for the permanent 
repository, which is expected to be granted before 2007; (2) a 
radiation protection standard for the repository set by the NRC 
consistent with the National Academy of Sciences 
recommendations; (3) a requirement for Congressional approval 
to raise the Nuclear Waste Fee; (4) authorization for the 
settlement of the lawsuits, with a prohibition on using the 
Nuclear Waste Fund to settle the lawsuits (except for costs 
that would otherwise be incurred as part of the permanent 
repository program); and (5) transportation provisions based on 
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant model. In addition, the bill 
provides for the establishment of an Office of Spent Nuclear 
Fuel Research.

                          Background and Need


General

    Nuclear power plants, which provide 20% of the United 
States electric generating capacity, burn small uranium pellets 
which are loaded into rods within the reactor. Approximately 
every 18 months, a reactor is refueled, at which time between 
one-fourth and one-third of the reactor's fuel, which has 
become inefficient, or ``spent,'' is removed. All nuclear 
reactors were designed with on-site storage pools that were 
intended to serve as temporary storage while the highly 
radioactive fuel cooled before transport to a permanent storage 
site. However, because no permanent storage site exists, the 
reactors have been forced to retain spent fuel in their storage 
pools indefinitely. A typical nuclear plant produces about 30 
tons of spent fuel a year. At this time, over 40,000 metric 
tons of spent fuel is now in temporary storage at nuclear power 
plants at 71 sites across the country. The fuel is very dense: 
all of the spent fuel produced by all of America's nuclear 
plants over the last 30 years would cover only an area the size 
of a football field to a depth of about three yards.
    In addition to the commercial nuclear power industry, the 
Federal government has produced spent nuclear fuel and high-
level nuclear waste through defense and research activities. 
Research reactors owned by the Department of Energy (DOE) and 
universities produce spent nuclear fuel that is currently 
stored at DOE sites across the country. However, most of the 
fuel at DOE sites is from reactors at the Hanford and Savannah 
River Sites that produced materials for DOE's nuclear weapons 
program. These reactors are no longer operating. The fuel from 
the weapons facilities was intended to be processed to extract 
weapons-grade materials, and as a result, most must be 
stabilized in some manner before it can be safely stored for 
long periods of time.
    Also, since 1957, spent nuclear fuel from nuclear-powered 
naval vessels and naval reactor prototypes has been transported 
to the Naval Reactors Facility at the Idaho National 
Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for testing and examination, 
where it is then stored by DOE. In the course of litigation 
over the State of Idaho's attempt to stop the importation of 
further waste into the state, a court order was issued on 
December 22, 1993 that allowed only a limited number of 
shipments of spent fuel to Idaho pending the completion of an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) by DOE. In April, 1995, 
DOE completed an EIS that confirmed DOE's plan to store spent 
naval fuel at INEL. The State of Idaho contested the adequacy 
of the EIS and objected to further shipments. On October 16, 
1995, the State of Idaho, DOE and the Navy entered into a 
settlement agreement that allows limited shipments of navy fuel 
to Idaho in return for DOE's commitment to remove the fuel by 
January 1, 2035.
    In addition to spent fuel, high-level nuclear waste has 
also been produced by defense activities. High-level waste is 
the highly radioactive waste material that results from the 
chemical reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and irradiated 
targets. Government operations from 1944 to the present have 
generated approximately 398,700 cubic meters of high-level 
waste at four sites--the Hanford Site, INEL, the Savannah River 
Site, and the West Valley Demonstration Project. The Hanford 
facility alone has 61 million gallons of high-level radioactive 
waste in 177 tanks. DOE plans to stabilize these wastes by 
transforming them into a glass-like material, through a process 
called vitrification. DOE estimates that, depending upon 
canister design and waste composition, approximately 30,000 
canisters of vitrified high-level waste may require disposal.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act and amendments

    In 1982, Congress adopted the Nuclear Waste Policy Act 
(NWPA), which required the DOE to design and implement a system 
to dispose of spent nuclear fuel in a permanent geologic 
repository. The NWPA required DOE to begin accepting spent fuel 
from commercial reactors at a repository by 1998. In 1985, the 
President determined that defense-related spent fuel held by 
DOE could be emplaced within the permanent repository. To fund 
the project, Congress ordered that the Department of Energy 
collect a fee of one mill (one-tenth of one cent) 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 over half a billion dollars per 
year from collections and $300 million per year in interest on 
the unobligated balance. To date, more than $13 billion in fees 
and interest has been placed in the Fund, with over a billion 
dollars more in fees accrued, but not yet paid. In addition, 
funds are appropriated annually from the Defense Programs 
budget at DOE to the nuclear waste disposalprogram to pay for 
the disposal of defense spent fuel and waste.
    By 1987, DOE had focused on potential sites for a geologic 
repository in Texas, the State of Washington, and Ycca 
Mountain, Nevada, as well as several sites in the eastern U.S. 
In the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 (NWPAA), 
Congress reaffirmed that DOE should construct a geologic 
repository, and instructed DOE to study the suitability of only 
the Yucca Mountain site. Due to litigation over the attempts of 
the State of Nevada to stop the study of Yucca Mountain, DOE 
was unable to begin site characterization activities until 
1991. Although the management of the Yucca Mountain site 
characterization program has been frequently criticized in the 
past, management reforms in recent years have produced a much 
more efficient program. For example, despite a reduction in 
funding, the five mile loop tunnel at the Exploratory Studies 
Facility in Yucca Mountain was completed ahead of the original 
schedule.
    Although DOE will have spent over $6 billion through the 
second quarter of fiscal year 1999 on the program, DOE failed 
to meet the 1998 deadline for the acceptance of spent nuclear 
fuel. On December 12, 1998, DOE issued the ``Viability 
Assessment of a Repository at Yucca Mountain,'' which concluded 
that the scientific data collected by DOE reveals no 
``showstoppers.'' The current ``Civilian Radioactive Waste 
Management Program Plan, Revision 2'' calls for the 
recommendation of a repository site to the President in 2001, 
and the submission of a repository license application to the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2002.

Litigation

    In the meantime, many state regulators and utilities have 
become quite angry with the current situation, in which they 
are required to collect money from consumers to fund a DOE 
waste program which will not accept waste any time in the 
immediate future. At the same time, the utilities are faced 
with growing expenses for on-site storage or for a private 
storage facility. When DOE admitted that it would be unable to 
take spent fuel in 1998, a group of state regulatory agencies, 
nuclear utilities and state Attorneys General sued DOE for 
failure to perform under its contracts entered into under the 
NWPA. On July 23, 1996, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit ruled that section 302(a)(5)(B) of 
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act ``creates an obligation in DOE, 
reciprocal to the utilities obligation to pay, to start 
disposing of the [spent nuclear fuel] no later than January 31, 
1998.'' The Court found that it was premature to determine the 
appropriate remedy, as DOE has not yet defaulted upon its 
obligation. DOE did not appeal the Court's decision.
    On December 17, 1996, DOE sent a letter to all nuclear 
plant owners, indicating that DOE would be unable to fulfill 
its obligation. On January 31, 1997, in light of the contents 
of this letter, a new lawsuit was filed against DOE. In 
November, 1997, the Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit ruled that DOE has an unconditional obligation 
to move nuclear waste in 1998. The Court also ruled that DOE 
cannot avoid paying damages by claiming: (1) that it cannot 
take spent fuel until it has a permanent repository, or (2) 
that its failure was an ``unavoidable delay'' under the 
contract. However, the Court also ruled that utilities have 
potentially adequate remedies under their contracts with DOE 
and did not order DOE to begin taking fuel. Subsequently, DOE 
and the utilities appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, 
but the Supreme Court refused to review the opinion of the D.C. 
Circuit Court, letting the decision stand as is.
    Ten utilities have filed claims for damages at the Court of 
Claims. The claims in these cases total over $8.5 billion. In 
November, the Court of Claims ruled in three of the cases that 
DOE owes the utilities damages. The amount of damages will be 
decided in separate hearings. So far, the utilities that have 
won their cases in the Court of Claims have shut down reactors 
and no longer pay the per kilowatt hour nuclear waste fee. For 
one of the remaining seven utilities, the Court of Claims has 
ruled that, as a utility that continues to pay the Nuclear 
Waste Fee, it should pursue contract remedies with DOE. The 
contract process will likely result in some credit to the 
nuclear waste fee. The utilities are arguing that this is an 
inadequate remedy. Other cases are pending in the U.S. Court of 
Appeals and the U.S. District Court. Whether the remedy is 
monetary damages from the Courts, or credit to the nuclear 
waste fee from DOE, the Federal budget impact will be 
substantial. The nuclear industry estimates the Federal 
government's liability to the $50 billion or more. Secretary 
Bill Richardson, of the Department of Energy, has proposed that 
DOE meet its obligation under the contracts by taking title to 
the spent nuclear fuel, with DOE assuming responsibility for 
continued storage of the fuel at the reactive sites will a 
permanent repository is available to receive the spent fuel.

Interim storage

    As it became clear that a permanent repository would not 
open by the 1998 deadline, the 1987 NWPAA established the 
Office of the Nuclear Waster Negotiator, which was established 
to find a volunteer state or Indian tribe to host a temporary 
storage facility, referred to as a ``monitored retrievable 
storage'' facility or ``MRS.'' Although several Indian tribes 
applied for study grants, due to state and Congressional 
intervention in the process, the program was unable to make 
progress in siting an MRS. Although funds has been appropriated 
for the Office through the end of FY '95, under the terms of 
the NWPA, the Office terminated on December 22, 1994.
    Although the NWPA provided for the recommendation of 
multiple MRS sites to Congress, the NWPA authorized one MRS, 
but ``linked'' it to the siting of the permanent repository. 
The NWPA provides that DOE cannot select an MRS site until the 
Secretary has recommended that a permanent repository be built 
at Yucca Mountain, and cannot begin construction of an MRS 
until the NRC has issued a construction authorized for the 
permanent repository. The NWPA prohibited the construction of 
that MRS in Nevada.
    By 2010, DOES's rather optimistic target date for opening a 
permanent repository, a total of eighty-five reactors will be 
out of room in their spend fuel storage pools. Thus, many 
utilities with limited space in their storage pools have begun 
to search for alternative storage facilities. At this time, 
twenty-three utilities have licenses for on-site dry canister 
storage at the reactors.In 1994, Northern States Power Company 
(NSP) was forced to apply for approval from the Minnesota State 
Legislature for on-site dry storage for its spent nuclear fuel at its 
Prairie Island facility. Although NSP eventually won permission to 
store the spent fuel on-site, it was only after a long high-profile 
battle in the state legislature. The permission for on-site storage was 
limited, meaning that NSP will run out of space, and be faced with 
shutting down the reactors, in 2007. NSP, along with 33 other utility 
and 2 contractor partners, began negotiations with the Mescalero Indian 
Tribe regarding the siting of a privately funded storage facility on 
tribal lands. Although these negotiations are not proceeding, a similar 
group of utilities has filed a license application to build a private 
storage facility on land owned by the Skull Valley Goshute Tribe in 
Utah. Privately funded storage could be constructed as long as the 
facility met Nuclear Regulatory Commission certification standards.
    In 1995, the County Commission of Lincoln County, Nevada, a 
county adjacent to the Yucca Mountain site, passed a resolution 
inviting DOE to build a spent fuel cask handling facility and 
temporary storage facility in Lincoln County in return for 
specified payments and benefits to the county. Under the 
proposal, spent fuel casks would be removed from the Union 
Pacific Railroad line in Elgin, Nevada, and stored there. If 
Yucca Mountain is deemed a suitable site for a permanent 
repository, under the proposal, a heavy-haul road could be 
constructed to truck the casks of spent fuel to the Yucca 
Mountain site. The state government in Nevada, which has been 
constant in its objections to the Yucca Mountain project, filed 
civil and criminal lawsuits against the Lincoln County 
Commissioners for making the proposal. These lawsuits have 
since been settled.

Permanent disposal standards

    The Energy Policy Act of 1992 required a review by the 
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of technical bases for 
public health and safety standards applicable to a repository 
at Yucca Mountain. Based upon this report, the Environmental 
Protection Agency is required to set standards for disposal of 
spent fuel at Yucca Mountain. Specially, the NAS was asked to 
determine whether it is possible to predict whether a geologic 
repository will be unbreached for a 10,000 year period. The NAS 
report was issued in August, 1995, and among other things, 
concluded that although the physical and geologic processes at 
Yucca Mountain are predictable enough to allow the future 
performance of the repository to be assessed, the time of 
maximum releases from a repository maybe well after the 10,000 
year timeframe. Finally, the NAS panel concluded that a risk-
based standard for releases is called for, but that it is up to 
policy-makers to decide what level of risk is acceptable for 
people in the ``critical group'' living near the repository.
    At the time of this report, the EPA has not issued a 
proposed rule setting that radiation protection standards for 
the permanent repository. Pursuant to the requirements of 
section 121 of the NWPA, and citing the short amount of time 
available before a license application for the permanent 
repository is due to be completed, the NRC has issued proposed 
licensing requirements, including a radiation protection 
standard, under Part 63 of its regulations. Due to the 
politicization of nuclear issues in general, and nuclear waste 
disposal in particular, it necessary that the technical 
analysis of what level of releases comport with a given level 
of risk be set by an independent, bi-partisan body such as the 
NRC. The 25 millirem value set by the NRC in its proposed rule 
in consistent with existing limits for monitored retrievable 
storage and independent spent fuel storage installations (10 
C.F.R. Part 72) and low-level waste facilities (10 C.F.R. Part 
61). At the Committee's March 24, 1999, hearing, Chairman 
Shirley Jackson of the NRC testified that the 25 millirem value 
is also within the international constraints that allocate 
doses from high-level waste disposal to between 10 and 30 
international constraints that allocate doses from high-level 
waste disposal to between 10 and 30 millirem/year and is 
comparable to the risk recommended by the National Academy of 
Sciences for Yucca Mountain.

                          Legislative History

    In 1996, S. 1271, the ``Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996,'' 
introduced by Senator Craig, was reported by the Committee with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute on March 29, 1996 
(S. Rept. 104-248). For procedural reasons, on July 9, S. 1936, 
a bill containing the text of S. 1271 as reported out of 
Committee, was introduced and placed on the Senate Legislative 
Calendar. The Senate passed S. 1936 on July 31, 1996 by a 63 to 
37 vote. The President threatened to veto the legislation. No 
further action was taken on the legislation by the House. S. 
104 is identical to S. 1936, as it passed the Senate in the 
104th Congress.
    S. 104 was introduced on January 21, 1997 by Senator 
Murkowski for himself, Senator Craig, Senator Grams, and 
sixteen other cosponsors. The Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources met in open business session on March 12 and 13, 
1997, to consider S. 104, and on March 13, 1997, by a majority 
vote ordered favorably reported S. 104, as amended. On April 
14, 1997, the Senate passed S. 104 by a 65 to 34 vote. On 
October 30, 1998, the House passed H.R. 1270 by a 307-120 vote.
    On March 5, 1998, the House ruled that S. 104 was a revenue 
measure and contravened the constitutional requirement that 
revenue measures originate in the House and returned the bill 
to the Senate. On February 23, 1998, H.R. 1270 was received in 
the Senate. On June 2, 1998, the Senate failed to invoke 
cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 1270 by a 56-39 vote. 
No further action on the legislation was taken in the 105th 
Congress.
    On March 15, Senators Murkowski, Craig, Grams and Crapo 
introduced S. 608, ``The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1999.''
    On Wednesday, March 24, 1999, the Senate Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on nuclear waste 
disposal policy, including S. 608.
    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 
business session on June 16, 1999, to consider ``The Nuclear 
Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1999, an original bill and by a 
majority vote ordered favorably reported the original bill.

           Committee Recommendation and Tabulation of Votes.

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on June 16, 1999, by majority vote of a 
quorum present recommends that the Senate pass this original 
bill.
    During the Committee's consideration of the bill, a roll 
call vote was taken on an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute to the bill. The vote was taken in open business 
session, has been announced publicly by the Committee, and is 
included in the minutes of the session.
    The roll call vote on the motion to report the original 
bill was 14 yeas, 6 nays as follows:
        YEAS                          NAYS
Murkowski                           Bingaman
Domenici                            Akaka
Nickles                             Dorgan
Craig                               Wyden *
Campbell                            Johnson *
Thomas                              Bayh
Smith
Bunning
Fitzgerald
Gorton
Burns *
Graham
Landrieu
Lincoln

    * Indicates voted by proxy.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


                         section 1. short title

    The Act is to be cited as the ``Nuclear Waste Policy 
Amendments Act of 1999''.

                         SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS

    This section adopts definitions used in the Nuclear Waste 
Policy Act of 1982.

                     TITLE I--STORAGE AND DISPOSAL


                     SECTION 101. PROGRAM SCHEDULE

    This section sets forth the schedule for decisions 
regarding the permanent repository at Yucca Mountain. The dates 
set forth are consistent with the Department of Energy's (DOE) 
existing schedule for Yucca Mountain.
    Subsection (c) also requires the Secretary to submit to the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) an application for a 
license for surface facilities to receive and possess spent 
fuel and high-level waste at the Yucca Mountain site at the 
same time as the submission of the application for the 
construction authorization for the permanent repository. If the 
application for surface facilities meets the NRC's 
requirements, the NRC is required to issue a license for 
surface facilities concurrent with the issuance of the 
construction authorization for Yucca Mountain, or as soon as 
practicable thereafter. These provisions should result in the 
acceptance of spent fuel and nuclear waste at the Yucca 
Mountain site by 2007.

                  SECTION 102. BACKUP STORAGE CAPACITY

    This section authorizes the Secretary to enter into an 
agreement with a utility that is unable to build adequate on-
site storage for spent fuel. The provision authorizes the 
Secretary to take title to the fuel at the reactor site and 
give priority to the transportation of the fuel when the early 
acceptance facility at Yucca Mountain becomes available, or 
transport the fuel to a private, NRC-licensed independent fuel 
storage facility.

               SECTION 103. RADIATION PROTECTION STANDARD

    This section authorizes the NRC to set a radiation 
protection standard consistent with the proposed NRC rule for 
Yucca Mountain. (64 Fed. Reg. 8640 (Feb. 22, 1999).

                     SECTION 104. NUCLEAR WASTE FEE

    The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 allowed the Secretary 
of Energy to adjust the Nuclear Waste Fee, subject to the 
disapproval of either house of Congress. Such ``one-house'' 
veto provisions were subsequently held to be unconstitutional. 
This section clarifies that an adjusted fee proposed by the 
Secretary shall only be effective upon enactment of a joint 
resolution by Congress.

                   SECTION 105. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

    This section authorizes the Secretary of Energy to enter 
into settlement agreements to resolve claims relating to the 
Secretary's failure to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-
level waste beginning not later than January 31, 1998, as 
required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. The Secretary 
may settle the claims by taking title to the fuel at the 
reactor sites, providing storage casks to the contract holder; 
or compensate the contract holder for his costs of on-site 
storage. The section prohibits expenditures from the Nuclear 
Waste Fund for settlement purposes, except for the cost of 
acquiring and loading spent nuclear fuel casks, the cost of 
transporting spent nuclear fuel to the repository, and any 
other cost that the Secretary would have incurred under the 
contracts entered into under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 
1982. Thissection also clarifies that nothing in this Act 
modifies obligations imposed on the Federal Government by the United 
States District Court of Idaho in an order entered on October 17, 1995 
in United States v. Batt (No. 91-0054-S-EJL).

                    section 106. acceptance schedule

    This section requires that the acceptance schedule shall be 
implemented in accordance with the acceptance priority ranking 
determined by the Department's annual ``Acceptance Priority 
Ranking'' report. It requires that the Secretary's spent fuel 
emplacement rate shall be no less than 1,200 MTU in years 1 and 
2; 2,000 MTU in years 3 and 4; 2,700 MTU in year 5; and 3,000 
MTU annually thereafter. This section also provides that no 
less than one-sixth of the fuel accepted shall be spent nuclear 
fuel or high level waste from shut down civilian reactors, 
foreign research reactors, and research and atomic energy 
defense activities, with a minimum of 7.5% of the total 
quantity accepted from the latter two categories.

                        TITLE II--TRANSPORTATION

    This title carries forward the transportation provisions 
contained in S. 608. These provisions provide special 
considerations for routing decisions, funding and curricula for 
training of transportation personnel and emergency responders, 
and grants for state and local governments and Indian tribes 
along the transportation routes. These provisions are modeled 
upon those in place for transportation of material to the Waste 
Isolation Pilot Plant.

                  section 201. transportation planning

    This section requires the Secretary to take those action 
necessary to ensure the ability to transport fuel and waste 
from sites designated by contract holders to the repository 
developed under the Act. In addition, this section specifies 
regulatory requirements governing such transportation that are 
intended to augment the existing regulatory regime governing 
radioactive materials transportation and further protect the 
public safety.
    Subsection (a)(1) requires the Secretary to take those 
actions necessary to ensure the ability to transport safely 
fuel and waste from facilities where it is generated or stored 
to the Yucca Mountain site. This paragraph further requires 
that all such transportation shall take place using routes that 
minimize, to the maximum practicable extent consistent with 
Federal requirements, transportation of fuel and waste through 
populated areas.
    Subsection (a)(2) requires the Secretary, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Transportation and affected States and 
tribes, to develop and implement a comprehensive management 
plan that ensures the safe transportation of fuel and waste 
from sites designated by contract holders to the Yucca Mountain 
site. The management plan would address, among other things, 
transportation logistical issues, schedules, routes, and other 
transportation requirements specified in this Act.
    Subsection (b) requires the Secretary, in conjunction with 
the development of the management plan, to update and modify, 
as necessary, the Secretary's institutional plans to ensure the 
resolution of outstanding institutional issues on a schedule 
that supports the commencement of transportation of fuel and 
waste to the permanent repository no later than December 31, 
2006. Specific institutional issues that should be addressed 
and implemented are identified, including transportation 
routing plans, transportation contracting plans, transportation 
training in accordance with section 202, public education 
regarding transportation of fuel and waste, and transportation 
tracking programs.
    Subsection (c)(1) requires the Secretary to develop a 
transportation plan for the implementation of each ``shipping 
campaign'' as that term is defined by the Secretary, from each 
site at which fuel and waste is stored. The transportation plan 
must be developed in accordance with DOE Order No. 460.2, which 
specifies DOE policies and requirements governing materials 
transportation and packaging operations, and which generally 
requires compliance with all applicable Federal, state, local 
and tribal requirements governing materials transportation that 
are consistent with Federal requirements. The transportation 
plan must also be consistent with the requirements stated in 
the Program Manager's Guide.
    subsection (c)(2) specifies additional requirements that 
the shipping campaign transportation plan must satisfy. 
Specifically, subsection (c)(2)(A) requires that the 
transportation plan be fully integrated with State and tribal 
government notification, inspection and emergency response 
plans along the primary route (including any portion thereof 
that is a State-designated alternative route selected in 
accordance with DOT regulations) designated by the Secretary in 
accordance with subsection (d). Subsection (c)(2)(B) requires 
that the transportation plan be consistent with the principles 
and procedures developed for the safe transportation of 
transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, unless 
the Secretary demonstrates that a specific principle or 
procedures is inconsistent with a provision of this Act. 
Although the Committee believes that the principles and 
procedures developed by DOE, in conjunction with affected 
jurisdictions, for the shipment of waste to WIPP provide an 
excellent model for the development of similar principles and 
procedures governing shipments of fuel and waste under this 
Act, it also recognizes that there are differences between the 
WIPP program and the Integrated Management System in terms of 
the materials to be shipped and the governing regulatory 
regime. Accordingly, this subsection directs the Secretary to 
develop a shipping campaign transportation plan that is 
consistent with the principles and procedures governing 
shipments to the WIPP, but provides the Secretary the 
discretion to deviate from the WIPP procedures if the Secretary 
demonstrates that a specific WIPP principle or procedure is 
inconsistent with a provision of this Act.
    Subsection (d) provides standards and procedures that the 
Secretary must comply with in selecting shipping routes and 
modes. This section is intended to enhance the safety of the 
transportation by both rail and highway of spent nuclear fuel 
and high-level radioactive waste under this Act. These 
additional requirements are intended to be consistent with and 
supplement the existing regulatory regime governing fuel and 
waste shipments by the Secretary under this Act.
    Subsection (d)(1) requires the Secretary to evaluate the 
relative safety of proposed shipping routes and shipping modes 
from each origin point to the repository with the safety of 
alternative modes and routes.
    Subsection (d)(2) requires that the evaluation of proposed 
routes and modes be conducted consistent with applicable DOT 
and NRC regulations. This provision makes clear that any 
proposed route or mode selected by DOT must meet all applicable 
DOT and NRC regulations.
    Subsection (d)(3) requires the Secretary, following the 
evaluation of proposed routes and modes, to designate preferred 
shipping routes and modes from each origin point of fuel and 
waste (including reactor sites and DOE facilities) to the 
repository. These preferred routes and modes also must comply 
with DOT and NRC regulations.
    Pursuant to Subsection (c)(4), if the Secretary designates 
more than one preferred shipping route, the Secretary must 
conduct an evaluation to support the selection of a primary 
route from among the preferred routes. The evaluation must 
consider, at a minimum, historical accident rates, population, 
significant hazards, shipping time, shipping distance, and 
mitigating measures such as limits on the speed of shipments.
    Subsection (d)(5) makes clear that, following selection of 
a primary shipping route (which, with respect to highway 
routes, would include any alternative route designated by a 
State in accordance with applicable DOT requirements) and mode, 
the Secretary must use such primary route and mode except in 
cases of emergency. In addition, if the Secretary selects a 
primary route for any reactor or DOE facility, the Secretary 
may use that primary route to transport fuel and waste from any 
other reactor or DOE facility.
    Subsection (d)(6) requires the Secretary to focus training 
and technical assistance required under section 202(c) on 
primary shipping routes. Again, with respect to primary highway 
routes, such training and assistance shall also be provided 
along the State-designated alternative portion of the route.
    Subsection (d)(7) requires the Secretary of Transportation, 
within one year of the date of enactment of the Act, to 
exercise authority under existing law to promulgate a 
regulations establishing procedures for the selection of 
preferred routes for the transportation of fuel and waste by 
rail. The Committee believes that a Federal rail routing 
regulation, similar to the DOT's regulation governing the 
selection of highway routes for shipments of fuel and waste, 
would provide necessary guidance to the Secretary in selecting 
and evaluating potential rail routes and further enhance the 
safety of these shipments. However, recognizing that the 
current regulatory regime does provide requirements governing 
the rail transportation of fuel and waste, and that this regime 
has proven successful in ensuring safe rail transportation of 
these material, this section provides that during the period 
following the date of enactment of the Act and the issuance of 
a final rail routing regulation, transportation of fuel and 
waste shall be conducted in accordance with the regulatory 
requirements in effect on the date of enactment and the 
requirements of this Act.

                Section 202. Transportation Requirements

    Subsection (a) and (b) of section 202 require NRC 
certification of packages used for shipments of fuel and waste 
under this Act, and the required provision of advance 
notification to States and tribal government of shipments in 
accordance with NRC regulations.
    Subsection (c)(1)(A) requires the Secretary to provide 
technical and financial assistance to States and Indian tribes 
for training of public safety officials of appropriate units of 
State, local, and tribal government. This provision clarifies 
that the assistance and funds shall be made available directly 
to States and tribes, and that States shall allocate a portion 
of any funds provided to local governments. Technical 
assistance and funds must be provided pursuant to the grant 
provision of subsection (c)(3).
    Subsection (c)(1)(B) requires that the Secretary also 
provide technical assistance and funds for training directly to 
nonprofit employee organizations and joint labor-management 
organizations that demonstrate experience in implementing and 
operating worker health and safety training and education 
programs and demonstrate the ability to reach and involve in 
training programs workers who are or will be directly engaged 
in the transportation of fuel and waste, or emergency response 
or post-emergency response with respect to such transportation.
    Subsection (c)(1)(C) specifies the scope and content of the 
training that must be provided under this section, and requires 
that the training be consistent with training standards 
established by the Secretary of Transportation under subsection 
(g) of this section. The training must cover procedures 
required for the safe routine transportation of fuel and waste, 
as well as procedures for dealing with emergency response 
situations. In addition, the training must include a training 
program for responding to emergency situations occurring during 
the removal and transportation of fuel and waste, the 
instruction of public safety officers in procedures for the 
command and control of the response, and instruction of 
radiological protection and emergency medical personnel in 
response procedures.
    Subsection (c)(2) provides that, with certain specified 
exceptions, there shall be no shipments of fuel or waste 
through the jurisdiction of any State or reservation lands of 
any tribe eligible for grants under subsection (c)(3) unless 
technical assistance and funds for dealing with safe routing 
transportation and emergency response situations have been 
available to the State or tribe for at least three years prior 
to the shipments. This provision is consistent with DOE's 
current plans, which recommend that technical assistance and 
funds be provided to States and tribes approximately three 
years prior to shipment. Under the exceptions, DOE may ship 
fuel and waste where technical assistance and funds have not 
been available for three years prior to the shipment where such 
shipment is necessary due to an emergency (including the sudden 
andunforeseen closure of a highway or rail line or the sudden 
and unforeseen need to remove fuel from a reactor); the State or 
Tribe's refusal to accept technical assistance; or fraudulent actions 
which violate federal law governing the expenditure of federal funds.
    Subsection (c)(2)(B) provides conditions that must be 
satisfied in the event transportation of fuel and waste takes 
place pursuant to one of the exceptions. The Secretary shall, 
prior to the shipment, hold meetings in each State or Indian 
reservation through which the shipping route passes in order to 
present initial shipment plans and receive comments; shipments 
shall be escorted by DOE personnel trained in emergency 
response; and funds and DOE training resources shall be made 
available to States and tribes along the route no later than 
three months prior to the shipments. This subsection further 
provides that ship shipments shall not exceed 1,000 MTU per 
year, and that no such shipments shall take place more than 
four years after the effective date of the Act.
    Subsection (c)(3) covers the provision of grants to 
implement this section. Subsection (c)(3)(B) provides that the 
Secretary shall make a grant of at least $150,000 to each State 
through the jurisdiction of which and each federally recognized 
Tribe through the reservation lands of which a shipment of fuel 
or waste will be made under this Act for the purpose of 
developing a plan to prepare for such shipments. And such grant 
shall be made only to a State or federally recognized Tribe 
that has the authority to respond to incidents involving 
shipments of hazardous material.
    Subsection (c)(3)(C) provides for grants to implement the 
plans developed by the States and tribes with the grants 
provided under subsection (c)(3)(B). Subsection (c)(3)(C)(i) 
provides that annual implementation grants shall be made to 
States and tribes that have developed a plan for shipments. The 
Secretary is required, in submitting annual department budgets 
to Congress for the funding of implementation grants, to be 
guided by the State and tribal plans. In addition, as part of 
the DOE's annual budget requests, the Secretary shall report to 
Congress on the amount of funds requested by the States and 
tribes, the amount requested by the President for 
implementation, and the rational for any discrepancies between 
the two amounts.
    Subsection (c)(3)(C)(ii) specifies the manner in which the 
Secretary is to allocate funds made available for grants in any 
fiscal year: 25% shall be allocated to ensure minimum funding 
and program capability levels in all States and tribes on the 
plans developed by such States and tribes and 75% shall be 
allocated to States and tribes in proportion to the number of 
shipment miles projected to be made in total shipments through 
each jurisdiction.
    Subsection (c)(4) clarifies and provides that funds 
available under paragraph (1) shall be made available to 
prepare for shipments to a permanent repository, regardless of 
whether the repository is operated by a private entity or the 
DOE.
    Subsection (d) requires that the Secretary conduct a 
program to educate the public regarding the transportation of 
fuel and waste, with an emphasis upon those States, units of 
local government, and tribes through whose jurisdiction the 
Secretary plans to transport substantial amount of fuel or 
waste.
    Subsection (e) requires the Secretary to contract with 
private industry to the greatest extent possible in each aspect 
of transportation. The Secretary is allowed to use direct 
Federal services only to the extent that the Secretary of 
Transportation determines that private industry is unable or 
unwilling to provide such transportation services at reasonable 
cost.
    Subsection (f) specifies that any person that transports 
spent nuclear fuel or high-level waste pursuant to this Act 
under contract to Secretary shall comply with all requirements 
governing such transportation issued by Federal, State and 
local governments, and Indian tribes to the same extent that 
any person engaging in that transportation that is in or 
affects interstate commerce would be required to comply with 
such requirements, as required by 49 U.S.C. sec. 5126. That 
statutory provision is a section of the Hazardous Materials 
Transportation Act that requires any person under contract with 
the Federal government that transport hazardous materials to 
comply with Federal, state and local, and tribal requirements 
(except a requirement preempted by Federal law) in the same way 
as a private party would comply.
    Subsection (g) provides that any person engaged in the 
interstate commerce of spent nuclear fuel or high-level waste 
under contract to the Secretary pursuant to this Act shall be 
subject to and comply fully with the employee protections 
provisions of 49 U.S.C. 20109 and 49 U.S.C. 31105. Those 
sections protect employees of rail carriers (49 U.S.C. 20109) 
and motor carriers (49 U.S.C. 31105) from retaliation for the 
refusal to work, providing certain conditions are satisfied, 
when confronted by a hazardous condition related to performance 
of the employee's duties.
    Subsection (h)(1) requires the Secretary of Transportation, 
no later than 12 months following enactment of NWPA of 1997, 
pursuant to authority under other provisions of law, to 
promulgate training standards applicable to workers directly 
involved in the removal and transportation of spent nuclear 
fuel and high-level waste. The training standards must specify 
minimum training standards applicable to workers, including 
managerial personnel. In addition, the regulation shall require 
that the employee posses evidence of satisfaction of the 
applicable training standard before the employee may be 
employed in the removal and transportation of fuel and waste.
    Subsection (h)(2) authorizes the Secretary of 
Transportation to refrain from promulgating such training 
regulations if the Secretary determines that regulations 
promulgated by the Commission establish adequate training 
standards for such workers. The DOT and NRC are directed to 
work through their Memorandum of Understanding to ensure 
coordination of worker training standards and to avoid 
duplicative regulation.
    Subsection (h)(3) specified the minimum provisions required 
to be included in the training standards including a specified 
minimum number of hours of offsite instruction and actual field 
experience; a requirement that on site managerial personnel receive the 
same training as workers as well as specialized training related to 
their managerial responsibilities; and provisions applicable to persons 
responsible for responding to and cleaning up emergency situations 
occurring during the removal and transportation of fuel and waste.
    Subsection (h)(4) provides that the training standards for 
emergency responders shall ensure their ability to protect 
nearby persons, property, or the environment from the effects 
of accidents involving spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste.
    Subsection (h)(5) authorizes to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Energy such sums as may be necessary to perform 
his duties under this subsection.

     TITLE III--DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL NUCLEAR SPENT FUEL STRATEGY

    The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 set up a selection 
process for permanent geologic repositories for spent nuclear 
fuel. In 1987, the Act was subsequently amended to allow 
consideration only of Yucca Mountain. This title sets up the 
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management with the sole 
function of qualifying a repository and permanently disposing 
of the spent fuel.
    This provision authorizes an Office of Nuclear Spent Fuel 
Research, with the charter to study ``treatment, recycling, and 
disposal'' of spent fuel with emphasis on minimizing health 
risks to the general public or site workers, minimizing 
proliferation concerns, and studying cost-effective 
technologies. It specifically requires study of reprocessing 
and transmutation (by both accelerators and reactors) and 
requires international participation.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    In compliance with paragraph 11(a) of the rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Congressional Budget Office 
cost estimate has been requested but was not received at the 
time the report was filed. When the report is available, the 
Chairman will request that it be printed in the Congressional 
Record for the advice of the Senate.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
implementing this legislation. The bill is not a regulatory 
measure in the sense of imposing Government-established 
standards or significant economic responsibilities on private 
individuals and businesses above those in existing law.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of the bill.

                        Executive Communications

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has not 
received a legislative report from the Department of Energy at 
the time the report the original bill was filed. When the 
report becomes available, the Chairman will request that it be 
printed in the Congressional Record for the advice of the 
Senate. The Committee has received the following communication 
from the Department of Energy with regard to S. 608 and related 
legislation.

                                   The Secretary of Energy,
                                     Washington, DC, June 15, 1999.
Hon. Frank Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: I was disappointed to learn that your 
Committee will hold a markup tomorrow on interim storage 
legislation, S. 608, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 
1999. I understand, however, that the Committee is continuing 
to look at other proposals, and I look forward to reviewing 
them when they are available.
    I have been encouraged by Senator Bingaman's effort to 
develop a substitute acceptable to all parties, and I had hoped 
that some agreement could be reached on an alternative to 
interim storage prior to your Committee taking action on 
legislation. I continue to believe that taking title to spent 
fuel at reactor sites could provide a basis for resolving many 
of the utilities' concerns, particularly in light of the 
decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that the standard 
contract provides an adequate remedy.
    Let me reiterate the Administration's opposition to any 
legislation that would make a decision to place an interim 
storage facility in Nevada prior to completion of the 
scientific and technical work necessary to determine where a 
final repository will be located.
    As you are well aware, the Department has completed 
considerable work at Yucca Mountain and submitted its viability 
assessment to Congress and the President in December 1998. 
While the viability assessment found no technical showstoppers 
at Yucca Mountain, it identified a number of scientific issues 
that remain to be addressed before the Department will be able 
to make a judgment on the suitability and licensability of the 
site. Making a decision now to place interim storage in Nevada, 
in advance of completion of the scientific work, undermine 
public confidence that a repository evaluation will be 
objective and technically sound, and jeopardize the credibility 
of any future decisions related to Yucca Mountain. It also does 
not make sense to transport spent fuel across the country until 
we know where the final repository will be.
    In addition, the Administration strongly objects to any 
legislative provisions that would weaken existing environmental 
standards by mandating a specific radiation protection standard 
and removing the Environmental Protection Agency from its 
standard-setting role and by preemption of Federal, State, and 
local laws.
    For the reasons stated above, the Administration remains 
opposed to the proposed interim storage legislation, and I 
would recommend a veto if legislation containing these 
provisions were presented to the President.
    As you know, the Department has been discussing my 
alternative proposal to take title to spent fuel at reactor 
sites with a number of utilities and other interested parties, 
and we will continue to do so. Similarly, I hope that we can 
continue to work with you on these issues and that a proposal 
can be developed that would be acceptable to all parties.
            Yours sincerely,
                                           Bill Richardson.

                   MINORITY VIEWS OF SENATOR BINGAMAN

    I commend Senator Murkowski for setting aside his bill to 
build an interim storage facility for nuclear waste in Nevada 
in favor of the original bill the Committee reports today. 
Although Senator Murkowski had the votes to report his interim 
storage bill out of Committee, it could not be enacted into 
law. It would have met with the same fate as the interim 
storage bills in the past two Congresses.
    For the past few months, I have worked with Secretary 
Richardson and members of the nuclear industry to try to craft 
a solution to the nuclear waste problem. Our efforts focused on 
having the Department of Energy take title to the utilities' 
waste and store it where it is until the repository is 
licensed. We came very close to reaching a consensus on a draft 
bill.
    Senator Murkowski's original bill incorporates the take-
title concept and draws heavily on our draft (``draft 10''). 
Senator Murkowski's decision to abandon the centralized interim 
storage approach in favor of onsite storage is a step in the 
right direction. Unfortunately, however, Senator Murkowski's 
bill does not resolve the remaining differences and it 
introduces new provisions which make it harder to win the 
Administration's support. Regrettably, I cannot support it in 
its current form.
    My principal objection to the bill is found in the section 
on radiation protection standards, section 103. Section 103 
divests the Environmental Protection Agency of its statutory 
role in setting standards to protect the health and safety of 
the public from radiation emitted from the nuclear waste 
repository and vests the authority in the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission. The Administration has repeatedly stated its 
opposition to this step. As recently as June 15, 1999, 
Secretary Richardson informed the Committee that ``the 
Administration strongly objects to any legislative provisions 
that would weaken existing environmental standards by mandating 
a specific radiation protection standard and removing the 
Environmental Protection Agency from its standard-setting role. 
* * * ''
    The Administration's reasons for this position are sound. 
The authority to set radiation protection standards has been 
kept separate from the authority to license and regulate 
nuclear energy activities since President Eisenhower created 
the Federal Radiation Council in 1959. The authority has been 
vested in the Environmental Protection Agency since President 
Nixon created the Agency in 1970. Congress gave EPA the 
authority to set standards for the nuclear waste repository in 
1982 and reaffirmed the authority in 1992. EPA acted 
responsibly in setting standards for the Waste Isolation Pilot 
Plant and for certifying that they were met. EPA's independent 
and professional assessment of WIPP gave the citizens of my 
state the assurance they needed that WIPP was safe. The 
citizens of Nevada deserve no less.
    The original bill contains other problems. First, it does 
not solve the problem facing Northern States Power's Prairie 
Island plant, which will run out of storage space at the end of 
2006 and will have to shut down if DOE is unable to provide 
off-site storage for its waste. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 
1982 authorized DOE to provide off-site storage at federal 
sites to address this problem, but that authority has since 
expired. I proposed reviving that authority to keep Prairie 
Island running. The Chairman's bill does not.
    Moreover, the backup storage solution in section 102 of the 
bill, as it has been rewritten by the Chairman, may now be 
unworkable. Section 102 requires DOE enter into contracts to 
store spent nuclear fuel for utilities that run out of onsite 
storage space, but it allows DOE to store the waste only at the 
repository site or at a privately owned interim storage site 
and not another federal site. Thus, under the Chairman's bill, 
if the NRC has licensed neither the repository nor a private 
storage site by the end of 2006, Northern States Power will not 
only have to shut down its Prairie Island plant but DOE may be 
held liable for breach of contract.
    Second, section 106 imposes an ``acceptance schedule'' for 
receiving waste at the repository that is both too aggressive 
and not aggressive enough. Section 106 requires DOE to move up 
its shipping schedule by four years and to ship three times as 
much waste in the first year and twice as much in the second 
year as it now plans. At the same time, title II of the bill 
imposes a host of new transportation requirements that will 
make it harder for DOE to meet the new schedule. Conversely, in 
later years, beginning in 2015, section 106 will require DOE to 
accept less waste from commercial spent fuel, less naval 
reactor fuel, and less high-level defense waste than DOE 
currently plans to accept.
    Third, while title II adds page after page of new 
transportation requirements, it omits two of the most needed. 
Under the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act, DOE can ship no transuranic 
waste to WIPP except in containers ``that have been determined 
by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to satisfy its quality 
assurance requirements.'' I proposed giving the NRC the same 
power over spent fuel and high-level waste shipments to the 
repository. The Chairman's bill omits it.
    Similarly, the NRC testified that the new transportation 
requirements do not give it the power it needs to regulate DOE 
shipments of DOE-titled waste. The NRC can certify DOE shipping 
casks under title II, but it cannot inspect shipments for 
radiological safety, review and approve physical security 
plans, or oversee DOE shipments. I proposed correcting this 
deficiency. The Chairman's bill does not.
    In addition, title II creates confusion on when DOE will 
start shipping nuclear waste on the public highways and 
railroads. The thrust of the bill is to leave the waste where 
it is until the NRC licenses the repository in 2006. But 
section 201(d)(7)(B) expressly contemplates rail shipments of 
spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste within a 
year after the bills enactment and section 202(c)(2)(B) 
provides for highway shipments within four years after the 
bill's enactment. This inconsistency needs to be resolved or 
explained.
    Fourth, the Chairman's bill adds a new title III on 
reprocessing transmutation. I am not opposed to more research 
on these alternatives. But we need to recognize that commercial 
reprocessing is prohibitively expensive and that other nations 
that have looked at transmutation, such as the United Kingdom, 
have decided that it will not solve the spent fuel problem.
    The Chairman's bill not only creates a new bureaucracy and 
authorizes a broad research and development program to study 
reprocessing and transmutation in this country, it requires the 
new office to ``fund international collaborators'' if ``their 
host country is unable to provide for their support.'' The 
Chairman's bill does not tell us how much these activities, at 
home and abroad, will cost. Nor does it tell us whether the 
cost will be paid for by American ratepayers through the 
Nuclear Waste Fund or by American taxpayers through tax 
revenues. Neither solution makes any sense to me at a time when 
Congress is unable to fund the repository program at the level 
it needs to stay on schedule.
    For these reasons, I had to oppose the Chairman's bill. I 
regret having to do so, after having invested a great deal of 
time and effort in trying to resolve the differences between 
the Administration and the nuclear industry over this issue in 
the past several months. I am still hopeful that we can work 
out these remaining differences as the bill moves forward.
                                                     Jeff Bingaman.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of Rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as ordered reported, are shown as follows (existing 
law proposed to be omitted in enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                       ENERGY POLICE ACT OF 1992

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                TITLE VIII--HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE

[SEC. 801. NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL.

    [(a) Environmental Protection Agency Standards.--
          [(1) Promulgation.--Notwithstanding the provisions of 
        section 121(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 
        (42 U.S.C. 10141(a)), section 161 b. of the Atomic 
        Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2201(b)), and any other 
        authority of the Administrator of the Environmental 
        Protection Agency to set generally applicable standards 
        for the Yucca Mountain site, the Administrator shall, 
        based upon and consistent with the findings and 
        recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences, 
        promulgate, by rule, public health and safety standards 
        for protection of the public from releases from 
        radioactive materials stored or disposed of in the 
        repository at the Yucca Mountain site. Such standards 
        shall prescribe the maximum annual effective dose 
        equivalent to individual members of the public from 
        releases to the accessible environment from radioactive 
        materials stored or disposed of in the repository. The 
        standards shall be promulgated not later than 1 year 
        after the Administrator receives the findings and 
        recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences 
        under paragraph (2) and shall be the only such 
        standards applicable to the Yucca Mountain site.
          [(2) Study by national academy of sciences.--Within 
        90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
        the Administrator shall contract with the National 
        Academy of Sciences to conduct a study to provide, by 
        not later than December 31, 1993, findings and 
        recommendations on reasonable standards for protection 
        of the public health and safety, including--
                  [(A) whether a health-based standard based 
                upon doses to individual members of the public 
                from releases to the accessible environment (as 
                that term is defined in the regulations 
                contained in subpart B of part 191 of title 40, 
                Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 
                November 18, 1985) will provide a reasonable 
                standard for protection of the health and 
                safety of the general public;
                  [(B) whether it is reasonable to assume that 
                a system for post-closure oversight of the 
                repository can be developed, based upon active 
                institutional controls, that will prevent an 
                unreasonable risk of breaching the repository's 
                engineered or geologic barriers or increasing 
                the exposure of individual members of the 
                public to radiation beyond allowable limits; 
                and
                  [(C) whether it is possible to make 
                scientifically supportable predictions of the 
                probability that the repository's engineered or 
                geologic barriers will be breached as a result 
                of human intrusion over a period of 10,000 
                years.
          [(3) Applicability.--The provisions of this section 
        shall apply to the Yucca Mountain site, rather than any 
        other authority of the Administrator to set generally 
        applicable standards for radiation protection.
    [(b) Nuclear Regulatory Commission Requirements and 
Criteria.--
          [(1) Modifications.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        Administrator promulgates standards under subsection 
        (a), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall, by rule, 
        modify its technical requirements and criteria under 
        section 121(b) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 
        (42 U.S.C. 10141(b)), as necessary, to be consistent 
        with the Administrator's standards promulgated under 
        subsection (a).
          [(2) Required assumptions.--The Commission's 
        requirements and criteria shall assume, to the extent 
        consistent with the findings and recommendations of the 
        National Academy of Sciences, that, following 
        repository closure, the inclusion of engineered 
        barriers and the Secretary's post-closure oversight of 
        the Yucca Mountain site, in accordance with subsection 
        (c), shall be sufficient to--
                  [(A) prevent any activity at the site that 
                poses an unreasonable risk of breaching the 
                repository's engineered or geologic barriers; 
                and
                  [(B) prevent any increase in the exposure of 
                individual members of the public to radiation 
                beyond allowable limits.]

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                              ----------                              


                    NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 1982

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


 TITLE I--DISPOSAL AND STORAGE OF HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, SPENT 
             NUCLEAR FUEL, AND LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE

      recommendation of candidate sites for site characterization

    Sec. 112. (a) Guidelines.--Not later than 180 days after 
January 7, 1983, the Secretary, following consultation with the 
Council on Environmental Quality, the Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the United 
States Geological Survey, and interested Governors, and the 
concurrence of the Commission shall issue general guidelines 
for the recommendation of sites for repositories. Such 
guidelines shall specify detailed geologic considerations that 
shall be primary criteria for the selection of sites in various 
geologic media. Such guidelines shall specify factors that 
qualify or disqualify any site from development as a 
repository, including factors pertaining to the location of 
valuable natural resources, hydrology,geophysics, seismic 
activity, and atomic energy defense activities, proximity to water 
supplies, proximity to populations, the effect upon the rights of users 
of water, and proximity to components of the National Park System, the 
National Wildlife Refuge System, the National Wild and Scenic Rivers 
Systems, the National Wilderness Preservation System, or National 
Forest Lands. Such guidelines shall take into consideration the 
proximity to sites where high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear 
fuel is generated or temporarily stored and the transportation and 
safety factors involved in moving such waste to a repository. Such 
guidelines shall specify population factors that will disqualify any 
site from development as a repository if any surface facility of such 
repository would be located (1) in a highly populated area; or (2) 
adjacent to an area 1 mile by 1 mile having a population of not less 
than 1,000 individuals. Such guidelines also shall require the 
Secretary to consider the cost and impact of transporting to the 
repository site the solidified high-level radioactive waste and spent 
fuel to be disposed of in the repository and the advantages of regional 
distribution in the siting of repositories. Such guidelines shall 
require the Secretary to consider the various geologic media in which 
sites for repositories may be located and, to the extent practicable, 
to recommend sites in different geologic media. The Secretary shall use 
guidelines established under this subsection in considering candidate 
sites for recommendation under subsection (b). The Secretary may revise 
such guidelines from time to time, consistent with the provisions of 
this subsection. The Secretary's guidelines shall not be inconsistent 
with any standards promulgated under section 121, and to the extent 
practicable, any conclusions of the Secretary regarding site 
suitability shall be based on an assessment of total system performance 
of the repository.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


              SITE APPROVAL AND CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION

    Sec. 114. (a) * * *
    (b) Submission of Application.--If the President recommends 
to the Congress the Yucca Mountain site under subsection (a) 
and the site designation is permitted to take effect under 
section 115, the Secretary shall submit to the Commission an 
application for a construction authorization for a repository 
at such site not later than 90 days after the date on which the 
recommendation of the site designation is effective under such 
section and shall provide to the Governor and legislature of 
the State of Nevada a copy of such application. In developing 
an application for authorization to construct the repository, 
the Secretary shall seek to maximize the capacity of the 
repository.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (d) Commission Action.--The Commission shall consider a 
application for a construction authorization for all or part of 
a repository in accordance with the laws applicable to such 
applications, except that the Commission shall issue a final 
decision approving or disapproving the issuance of a 
construction authorization not later than the expiration of 3 
years after the date of the submission of such application, 
except that the Commission may extend such deadline by not more 
than 12 months if, not less than 30 days before such deadline, 
the Commission complies with the reporting requirements 
established in subsection (e)(2). [The Commission decision 
approving the first such application shall prohibit the 
emplacement in the first repository of a quantity of spent fuel 
containing in excess of 70,000 metric tons of heavy metal or a 
quantity of solidified high-level radioactive waste resulting 
from the reprocessing of such a quantity of spent fuel until 
such time as a second repository is in operation.] In the event 
that a monitored retrievable storage facility, approved 
pursuant to subtitle C of this Act, shall be located, or is 
planned to be located, within 50 miles of the first repository, 
then the Commission decision approving the first such 
application shall prohibit the emplacement of a quantity of 
spent fuel containing in excess of 70,000 metric tons of heavy 
metal or a quantity of solidified high-level radioactive waste 
resulting from the reprocessing of spent fuel in both the 
repository and monitored retrievable storage facility until 
such time as a second repository is in operation.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                     certain standards and criteria

    [Sec. 121. (a) Environmental Protection Agency Standards.--
Not later than 1 year after January 7, 1983, the Administrator, 
pursuant to authority under other provisions of law, shall, by 
rule, promulgate generally applicable standards for protection 
of the general environment from offsite releases from 
radioactive material in repositories.
    [(b) Commission Requirements and Criteria.--(1)(A) Not 
later than January 1, 1984, the Commission, pursuant to 
authority under other provisions of law, shall, by rule, 
promulgate technical requirements and criteria that it will 
apply, under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C 2011 et 
seq.) and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5801 
et seq.) in approving or disapproving--
          [(i) applications for authorization to construct 
        repositories;
          [(ii) applications for licenses to receive and 
        possess spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive 
        waste in such repositories; and
          [(iii) applications for authorization for closure and 
        decommissioning of such repositories.
    [(B) Such criteria shall provide for the use of a system of 
multiple barriers in the design of the repository and shall 
include such restrictions on the retrievability of the 
solidified high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel emplaced 
in the repository as the Commission deems appropriate.
    [(C) Such requirements and criteria shall not be 
inconsistent with any comparable standards promulgated by the 
Administrator under subsection (a).
    [(2) For purposes of this Act, nothing in this section 
shall be construed to prohibit the Commission from promulgating 
requirements and criteria under paragraph (1) before the 
Administrator promulgates standards under subsection (a). If 
the Administrator promulgates standards under subsection (a) 
after requirements and criteria are promulgated by the 
Commission under paragraph (1), such requirements and criteria 
shall be revised by the Commission if necessary to comply with 
paragraph (1)(C).
    [(c) Environmental Impact Statement.--The promulgation of 
standards or criteria in accordance with the provisions of this 
section shall not require the preparation of an environmental 
impact statement under section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), or to 
require any environmental review under subparagraph (E) or (F) 
of section 102(2) of such Act.]
    Sec. 121. (a) Repository Licensing Standards.--The 
Commission shall establish standards for protection of the 
public and the environment for releases of radioactive 
materials or radioactivity from the repository, consistent with 
the following:
          (1) Risk standard.--The standard for protection of 
        the public and environment from releases of radioactive 
        material or radioactivity from the repository after 
        permanent closure shall limit the lifetime risk to the 
        average member of the critical group of premature death 
        from cancer due to such releases to approximately, but 
        not greater than, 1 in 1000.
          (2) Establishment of overall system performance 
        objective.--The Commission shall implement the standard 
        in paragraph (1) by establishing, by rule, an overall 
        system performance objective for expected annual dose 
        to the average member of the critical group. The 
        Commission shall not promulgate performance objectives 
        for the repository in the form of release limits or 
        contaminant levels for individual radionuclides 
        discharged from the repository.
          (3) Assumption and factors.--The Commission shall 
        specify, by rule, values for all of the assumptions 
        deemed necessary to apply the overall system 
        performance objective in a licensing proceeding for the 
        repository, including reference biosphere and size 
        characteristics of the critical group. For purposes of 
        establishing the overall system performance objective 
        in paragraph (2) and making the findings in subsection 
        (b), the Commission shall not--
                  (A) consider climate regimes that are 
                substantially different from those that have 
                occurred during the previous 100,000 years at 
                the Yucca Mountain Site;
                  (B) consider catastrophic events where the 
                health consequences of individual events 
                themselves to the critical group can be 
                reasonably assumed to exceed the health 
                consequences due to the impact of the events on 
                repository performance; and
                  (C) base the overall system performance 
                objective in paragraph (2) or the finding in 
                subsection (b) on scenarios involving human 
                intrusion into the repository following 
                repository closure, although the Commission may 
                consider the consequences of an assumed human 
                intrusion scenario to determine if repository 
                performance would be substantially degraded by 
                a single instance of human intrusion during the 
                first 1,000 years after repository closure.
          (4) Definitions.--As used in this section, the term 
        ``critical group'' means a small group of people that 
        is--
                  (A) representative of individuals expected to 
                be at highest risk of premature death from 
                cancer as a result of discharges of 
                radionuclides from the repository;
                  (B) relatively homogeneous with respect to 
                expected radiation dose, which shall mean that 
                there shall be no more than on the order of a 
                factor of 10 in variation in individual doses 
                among members of the group; and
                  (C) selected using reasonable assumptions 
                concerning lifestyle, occupation, diet and 
                eating habits, technological sophistication, 
                and other relevant social and behavioral 
                factors that are based on reasonable available 
                information on inhabitants and conditions in 
                the area within a 50-mile radius surrounding 
                Yucca Mountain when the group is defined.
    (b) Application of Overall System Performance Objective.--
The Commission shall issue a construction authorization, 
license to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
radioactive waste in the repository, and license amendment to 
permit permanent closure of the repository, upon a finding of 
reasonable assurance, making allowance for the time period, 
hazards, and uncertainties involved, that for the first 10,000 
years following closure of the repository, the overall system 
performance established pursuant to subsection (a) will be met. 
The finding of reasonable assurance shall be based on 
regulatory insight gained by the Commission through use of 
predictive models, supported, to the extent deemed practicable 
by the Commission, by data from field and laboratory tests, 
site-specific monitoring, and natural analog studies and 
supplemented, as necessary, by expert judgment.
    (c) Environmental Impact Statement.--The promulgation of 
standards or criteria in accordance with the provisions of this 
section shall not require the preparation of an environmental 
impact statement under section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) or any 
environmental review under subparagraph (E) or (F) of section 
102(2) of such Act.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


        TITLE III--OTHER PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIOACTIVE WASTE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



                           NUCLEAR WASTE FUND

    Sec. 302. (a) Contracts.--(1) In the performance of his 
functions under this chapter, the Secretary is authorized to 
enter into contracts with any person who generates or holds 
title to high-level radioactive waste, or spent nuclear fuel, 
of domestic origin for the acceptance of title, subsequent 
transportation, and disposal of such waste or spend fuel. Such 
contracts shall provide for payment to the Secretary of fees 
pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) sufficient to offset 
expenditures described in subsection (d).
    (2) For electricity generated by a civilian nuclear power 
reactor and sold on or after the date 90 days after January 7, 
1983, the fee under paragraph (1) shall be equal 1.0 mil per 
kilowatt-hour.
    (3) For spent nuclear fuel, or solidified high-level 
radioactive waste derived from spent nuclear fuel, which fuel 
was used to generate electricity in a civilian nuclear power 
reactor prior to the application of the fee under paragraph (2) 
to such reactor, the Secretary shall, not later than90 days 
after January 7, 1983, establish a 1 time fee per kilogram of heavy 
metal in spent nuclear fuel, or in solidified high-level radioactive 
waste. Such fee shall be in an amount equivalent to an average charge 
of 1.0 mil per kilowatt-hour for electricity generated by such spent 
nuclear fuel, or such solidified high-level waste derived therefrom, to 
be collected from any person delivering such spent nuclear fuel or 
high-level waste, pursuant to section 123, to the Federal Government. 
Such fee shall be paid to the Treasury of the United States and shall 
be deposited in the separate fund established by subsection (c) 126(b). 
In paying such a fee, the person delivering spent fuel, or solidified 
high-level radioactive wastes derived therefrom, to the Federal 
Government shall have no further financial obligation to the Federal 
Government for the long-term storage and permanent disposal of such 
spent fuel, or the solidified high-level radioactive waste derived 
therefrom.
    (4) Not later than 180 days after January 7, 1983, the 
Secretary shall establish procedures for the collection and 
payment of the fees established by paragraph (2) and paragraph 
(3). The Secretary shall annually review the amount of the fees 
established by paragraphs (2) and (3) above to evaluate whether 
collection of the fee will provide sufficient revenues to 
offset the costs as defined in subsection (d) herein. In the 
event the Secretary determines that either insufficient or 
excess revenues are being collected, in order to recover the 
costs incurred by the Federal Government that are specified in 
subsection (d), the Secretary shall propose an adjustment to 
the fee to insure full cost recovery. The Secretary shall 
immediately transmit this proposal for such an adjustment to 
Congress. [The adjusted fee proposed by the Secretary shall be 
effective after a period of 90 days of continuous session have 
elapsed following the receipt of such transmittal unless during 
such 90-day period either House of Congress adopts a resolution 
disapproving the Secretary's proposed adjustment in accordance 
with the procedures set forth for congressional review of an 
energy action under section 551 of the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act.] The adjusted fee proposed by the Secretary 
shall be effective upon enactment of a joint resolution or 
other provision of law specifically approving the adjusted fee.
    (5) Contracts entered into under this section shall provide 
that--
          (A) following commencement operation of a repository, 
        the Secretary shall take title to the high-level 
        radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel involved as 
        expeditiously as practicable upon the request of the 
        generator or owner of such waste or spent fuel; and
          (B) in return for the payment of fees established by 
        this section, the Secretary, beginning not later than 
        January 31, 1998, will dispose of the high-level 
        radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel involved as 
        provided in this subtitle.
    (6) The Secretary shall establish in writing criteria 
setting forth the terms and conditions under which such 
disposal services shall be made available.

                                  
