II
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 37
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 23, 2007
Mr. Domenici (for himself, Mr. Craig, Mr. Burr, Mr. Crapo, Mr. DeMint, Mr. Graham, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Thomas, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Bunning, and Mr. Martinez) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To enhance the management and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, to assure protection of public health and safety, to ensure the territorial integrity and security of the repository at Yucca Mountain, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as
the Nuclear Waste Access to Yucca
Act
.
Definitions
In this Act:
Disposal
The term disposal has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101).
High-level radioactive waste
The term high-level radioactive waste has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101).
Project
The term Project means the Yucca Mountain Project.
Repository
The term repository has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101).
Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.
Spent nuclear fuel
The term spent nuclear fuel has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101).
Yucca Mountain site
The term Yucca Mountain site has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101).
Withdrawal of land
Land withdrawal; jurisdiction; reservation; acquisition
Land withdrawal
Subject to valid existing rights, and except as otherwise provided in this Act, the land described in subsection (b) is withdrawn permanently from any form of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, including, without limitation—
the mineral leasing laws;
the geothermal leasing laws;
materials sales laws; and
the mining laws.
Jurisdiction
As of the date of enactment of this Act, any land described in subsection (b) that is under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Air Force or the Secretary of the Interior shall be—
transferred to the Secretary; and
under the jurisdiction of the Secretary.
Reservation
The land described in subsection (b) is reserved for use by the Secretary for activities associated with the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), including—
development;
preconstruction testing and performance confirmation;
licensing;
construction;
management and operation;
monitoring;
closure and post-closure; and
other such activities associated with the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.).
Land description
Boundaries
The
land referred to in subsection (a) is the approximately 147,000 acres of land
located in Nye County, Nevada, as generally depicted on the map relating to the
Project, numbered YMP–03–024.2, entitled Proposed Land
Withdrawal
, and dated July 21, 2005.
Legal description and map
In general
As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall—
publish in the Federal Register a notice containing a legal description of the land described in this subsection; and
provide to Congress, the Governor of the State of Nevada, and the Archivist of the United States—
a copy of the map referred to in paragraph (1); and
the legal description of the land.
Treatment
In general
The map and legal description referred to in subparagraph (A) shall have the same force and effect as if the map and legal description were included in this Act.
Technical corrections
The Secretary of the Interior may correct any clerical or typographical error in the map and legal description referred to in subparagraph (A).
Revocations
Public land order
Public Land Order 6802, dated September 25, 1990 (as extended by Public Land Order 7534), and any condition or memorandum of understanding accompanying the land order (as so extended), is revoked.
Right of way
The rights-of-way reservations relating to the Project, numbered N–48602 and N–47748 and dated January 5, 2001, are revoked.
Management of withdrawn land
In general
The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate, shall manage the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1) in accordance with—
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
this Act; and
other applicable laws.
Management plan
Development
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate, shall develop and submit to Congress and the State of Nevada a management plan for the use of the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1).
Priority
Subject to subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E), use of the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1) for an activity not relating to the Project shall be subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Secretary considers to be appropriate to facilitate activities relating to the Project.
Air Force use
The management plan may provide for the continued use by the Department of the Air Force of the portion of the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1) located within the Nellis Air Force base test and training range under such terms and conditions as may be agreed to by the Secretary and the Secretary of the Air Force.
Nevada Test Site use
The management plan may provide for the continued use by the National Nuclear Security Administration of the portion of the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1) located within the Nevada test site of the Administration under such conditions as the Secretary considers to be necessary to minimize any effect on activities relating to the Project or other activities of the Administration.
Other uses
In general
The management plan shall include provisions—
relating to the maintenance of wildlife habitat on the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1); and
under which the Secretary may permit any use not relating to the Project, as the Secretary considers to be appropriate, in accordance with the requirements under clause (ii).
Requirements
Grazing
The Secretary may permit any grazing use to continue on the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1) if the grazing use was established before the date of enactment of this Act, subject to such regulations, policies, and practices as the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, determines to be appropriate, and in accordance with applicable grazing laws and policies, including—
the
Act of June 28, 1934 (commonly known as the Taylor Grazing Act
)
(43 U.S.C.
315 et seq.);
title IV of the Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); and
the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (43 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.).
Hunting and trapping
The Secretary may permit any hunting or trapping use to continue on the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1) if the hunting or trapping use was established before the date of enactment of this Act, at such time and in such zones as the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and the State of Nevada, may establish, taking into consideration public safety, national security, administration, and public use and enjoyment of the land.
Public access
In general
The management plan may provide for limited public access to the portion of the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1) that was under the control of the Bureau of Land Management on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
Specific uses
The management plan may permit public uses of the land relating to the Nye County Early Warning Drilling Program, utility corridors, and other uses the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, considers to be consistent with the purposes of the withdrawal under subsection (a)(1).
Mining
In general
Surface and subsurface mining and oil and gas production, including slant drilling from outside the boundaries of the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1), shall be prohibited at any time on or under the land.
Evaluation of claims
The Secretary of the Interior shall evaluate and adjudicate the validity of any mining claim relating to any portion of the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1) that was under the control of the Bureau of Land Management on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
Compensation
The Secretary shall provide just compensation for the acquisition of any valid property right relating to mining pursuant to the withdrawal under subsection (a)(1).
Closures
If the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate, determines that the health and safety of the public or the national defense and security require the closure of a road, trail, or other portion of the land withdrawn under subsection (a)(1) (including the airspace above the land), the Secretary—
may close the road, trail, or portion of land (including airspace); and
shall provide to the public a notice of the closure.
Implementation
The Secretary and the Secretary of the Air Force or the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate, shall implement the management plan developed under paragraph (2) under such terms and conditions as may be agreed to by the Secretaries.
Receipt and storage facilities
Section 114(b) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(b)) is amended—
by striking
If the President
and inserting the following:
In general
If the President
; and
by adding at the end the following:
Application for receipt and storage facilities
In general
In conjunction with the submission of an application for a construction authorization under this subsection, the Secretary shall apply to the Commission for a license in accordance with part 72 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), to construct and operate facilities to receive and store spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at the Yucca Mountain site.
Deadline for final decision by Commission
The Commission shall issue a final decision approving or disapproving the issuance of the license not later than 18 months after the date of submission of the application to the Commission.
.
Repeal of capacity limitation
Section 114(d) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(d)) is amended by striking the second and third sentences.
Infrastructure activities
Section 114 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Infrastructure activities
Construction of connected facilities
At any time after the completion by the Secretary of a final environmental impact statement that evaluates the activities to be performed under this subsection, the Secretary may commence the following activities in connection with any activity or facility licensed or to be licensed by the Commission at the Yucca Mountain site:
Preparation of the site for construction of the facility (including such activities as clearing, grading, and construction of temporary access roads and borrow areas).
Installation of temporary construction support facilities (including such items as warehouse and shop facilities, utilities, concrete mixing plants, docking and unloading facilities, and construction support buildings).
Excavation for facility structures.
Construction of service facilities (including such facilities as roadways, paving, railroad spurs, fencing, exterior utility and lighting systems, transmission lines, and sanitary sewerage treatment facilities).
Construction of structures, systems, and components that do not prevent or mitigate the consequences of possible accidents that could cause undue risk to the health and safety of the public.
Installation of structural foundations (including any necessary subsurface preparation) for structures, systems, and components that prevent or mitigate the consequences of possible accidents that could cause undue risk to the health and safety of the public.
Authorization to receive and store
Definitions
In this paragraph:
Defense waste
The term defense waste means high-level radioactive waste, and spent nuclear fuel, that results from an atomic energy defense activity.
Legacy spent nuclear fuel
The term legacy spent nuclear fuel means spent nuclear fuel—
that is subject to a contract entered into pursuant to section 302; and
for which the Secretary determines that there is not at the time of the determination, and will not be within a reasonable time after the determination, sufficient domestic capacity available to recycle the spent nuclear fuel.
Authorization for defense waste
At any time after the issuance of a license for receipt and storage facilities under subsection (b)(2), the Secretary may transport defense waste to receipt and storage facilities at the Yucca Mountain site.
Authorization for legacy spent nuclear fuel
At any time after the issuance of a construction authorization under subsection (d) and the issuance of a license for receipt and storage facilities under subsection (b)(2), the Secretary may receive and store legacy spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at the Yucca Mountain site.
.
Rail line
Construction of rail line
The Secretary shall acquire rights-of-way within the corridor designated in subsection (b) in accordance with this section, and shall construct and operate, or cause to be constructed and operated, a railroad and such facilities as are required to transport spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from existing rail systems to the site of surface facilities within the geologic repository operations area for the receipt, handling, packaging, and storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste prior to emplacement.
Acquisition and withdrawal of land
Route designation and acquisition
Rights-of-way and facilities
The Secretary shall acquire such rights-of-way and
develop such facilities within the corridor referred to as X
on
the map dated ___ and on file with the
Secretary as are necessary to carry out subsection (a).
Recommendations
The Secretary shall consider specific alignment proposals for the route for the corridor made by the State of Nevada and the units of local government within whose jurisdiction the route is proposed to pass.
Notice and description
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall—
publish in the Federal Register a notice containing a legal description of the corridor; and
file copies of the map referred to in paragraph (1) and the legal description of the corridor with—
Congress;
the Secretary of the Interior;
the Governor of the State of Nevada;
the Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County, Nevada;
the Board of County Commissioners of Nye County, Nevada; and
the Archivist of the United States.
Administration
Effect
The map and legal description referred to in subparagraph (C) shall have the same force and effect as if the map and legal description were included in this Act.
Corrections
The Secretary may correct clerical and typographical errors in the map and legal description and make minor adjustments in the boundaries of the corridor.
Withdrawal and reservation
Public land
Subject to valid existing rights, the public land depicted on the map referred to in paragraph (1)(C) is withdrawn from all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws, including the mineral leasing laws, the geothermal laws, the material sale laws, and the mining laws.
Administrative jurisdiction
Administrative jurisdiction over the land is transferred from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary.
Reservation
The land is reserved for the use of the Secretary for the construction and operation of transportation facilities and associated activities under title I of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10121 et seq.)
Memorandum of understanding
The Secretary may also enter into a memorandum of understanding with the head of any other agency having administrative jurisdiction over other Federal land used for purposes of the corridor referred to in paragraph (1)(A).
Environmental impact
In general
The Secretary shall comply with all applicable requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to activities carried out under this section.
Consideration of potential impacts
To the extent a Federal agency is required to consider the potential environmental impact of an activity carried out under this section, the Federal agency shall adopt, to the maximum extent practicable, an environmental impact statement prepared under this section.
Effect of adoption of statement
The adoption by a Federal agency of an environmental impact statement under paragraph (2) shall be considered to satisfy the responsibilities of the Federal agency under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and no further consideration under that Act shall be required by the Federal agency.
New plant contracts
Section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the following:
Required provisions
In general
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), any contract entered into under this section shall provide that—
following issuance of a license to construct and operate facilities to receive and store spent nuclear fuel at the Yucca Mountain site, 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
in return for the payment of fees established by this section, the Secretary, beginning not later than January 31, 1998, shall dispose of the high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel involved as provided in this subtitle.
Exception
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), with respect to a nuclear power facility for which a license application is filed with the Commission after January 1, 2008, under section 103 or 104 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2133, 2134), a contract entered into under this section shall—
except as
provided in clause (ii) and any terms and conditions relating to spent nuclear
fuel generated before the date of enactment of the Nuclear Fuel Management and
Disposal Act, be consistent with the terms and conditions of the contract
entitled Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High-Level
Radioactive Waste
that is included in section 961.11 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of the
Nuclear Fuel Management and Disposal Act);
provide for the taking of title to, and removal of, high-level waste or spent nuclear fuel beginning not later than 30 years after the date on which the nuclear power facility begins commercial operations; and
be entered into not later than 60 days after the date on which the license application is docketed by the Commission.
.
Nuclear Waste Fund
Budget Act Allocations
Effective for fiscal year 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter, funds appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund established under section 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222) shall not be subject to—
the allocations for discretionary spending under section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 633(a)); or
the suballocations of appropriations committees under section 302(b) of that Act.
Fund uses
Section 302(d)(4) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982
(42 U.S.C. 10222(d)(4)) is amended by striking with
and all that
follows through storage site
and inserting with surface
facilities within the geologic repository operations area (including surface
facilities for the receipt, handling, packaging, and storage of spent nuclear
fuel and high-level radioactive waste prior to emplacement, or transportation
to the repository of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste to
surface facilities for the receipt, handling, packaging, and storage of spent
nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste prior to emplacement and the
transportation, treating, or packaging of spent nuclear fuel or high-level
radioactive waste to be disposed of in the repository, to be stored in a
monitored retrievable storage site),
.
Waste confidence
For purposes of a determination by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on whether to grant or amend any license to operate any civilian nuclear power reactor or high-level radioactive waste or spent fuel storage or treatment facility under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), the provisions of this Act (including the amendments made by this Act) and the obligation of the Secretary to develop a repository in accordance with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), shall provide sufficient and independent grounds for any further findings by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of reasonable assurances that spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste would be disposed of safely and in a timely manner.