S.Amdt. 2991

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

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

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

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