Home > 105th Congressional Bills > S. 104 (rs) To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. ...S. 104 (rs) To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. ...
the repository licensing procedure in subsection (d) of this section,
as appropriate, in the event that the Secretary seeks a license to
permit the emplacement in the repository, on a retrievable basis, of
spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste as is necessary to
provide the Secretary with sufficient confirmatory data on repository
performance to reasonably confirm the basis for repository closure
consistent with applicable regulations.
``(f) Repository Licensing Standards and Additional Procedures.--In
complying with the requirements of section 801 of the Energy Policy Act
of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note), the Administrator shall achieve
consistency with the findings and recommendations of the National
Academy of Sciences, and the Commission shall amend its regulations
with respect to licensing standards for the repository, as follows:
``(1) Establishment of overall system performance
standard.--
``(A) Risk standard.--The standard for protection
of the public from releases of radioactive material or
radioactivity from the repository 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. The comparison to this standard shall use the
upper bound of the 95-percent confidence interval for
the expected value of lifetime risk to the average
member of the critical group.
``(B) Form of standard.--The standard promulgated
by the Administrator under section 801 of the Energy
Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note) shall be an
overall system performance standard. The Administrator
shall not promulgate a standard for the repository in
the form of release limits or contaminant levels for
individual radionuclides discharged from the
repository.
``(C) Assumptions used in formulating and applying
the standard.--In promulgating the standard under
section 801 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C.
10141 note), the Administrator shall consult with the
Secretary of Energy and the Commission. The Commission,
after consultation with the Secretary, shall specify,
by rule, values for all of the assumptions considered
necessary by the Commission to apply the standard in a
licensing proceeding for the repository before the
Commission, including the reference biosphere and size
and characteristics of the critical group.
``(D) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the
term `critical group' means a small group of people
that is--
``(i) representative of individuals
expected to be at highest risk of premature
death from cancer as a result of discharges of
radionuclides from the permanent repository;
``(ii) relatively homogeneous with respect
to expected radiation dose, which shall mean
that there shall be no more than a factor of
ten in variation in individual dose among
members of the group; and
``(iii) selected using reasonable
assumptions--concerning lifestyle, occupation,
diet and eating and drinking habits,
technological sophistication, or other relevant
social and behavioral factors--that are based
on reasonably available information, when the
group is defined, on current inhabitants and
conditions in the area of 50-mile radius
surrounding Yucca Mountain contained within a
line drawn 50 miles beyond each of the
boundaries of the Yucca Moutain site.
``(2) Application of overall system performance standard.--
The Commission shall issue the construction authorization,
license, or license amendment, as applicable, if it finds
reasonable assurance that for the first 10,000 years following
the closure of the repository, the overall system performance
standard will be met based on a probabilistic evaluation, as
appropriate, of compliance with the overall system performance
standard in paragraph (1).
``(3) Factors.--For purposes of establishing the overall
system performance standard in paragraph (1) and making the
finding in paragraph (2)--
``(A) the Administrator and the Commission shall
not consider climate regimes that are substantially
different from those that have occurred during the
previous 100,000 years at the Yucca Mountain site;
``(B) the Administrator and the Commission shall
not 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 impact of the events on
repository performance; and
``(C) the Administrator and the Commission shall
not base the standard in paragraph (1) or the finding
in paragraph (2) on scenarios involving human intrusion
into the repository following repository closure.
``(4) Congressional review.--
``(A) Any standard promulgated by the Administrator
under section 801 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42
U.S.C. 10141 note) shall be deemed a major rule within
the meaning of section 804(2) of title 5, United States
Code, and shall be subject to the requirements and
procedures pertaining to a major rule in chapter 8 of
such title.
``(B) The effective date of the construction
authorization for the repository shall be 90 days after
the issuance of such authorization by the Commission,
unless Congress is standing in adjournment for a period
of more than one week on the date of issuance, in which
case the effective date shall be 90 days after the date
on which Congress is expected to reconvene after such
adjournment.
``(5) Report to congress.--At the time that the Commission
issues a construction authorization for the repository, the
Commission shall submit a report to Congress--
``(A) analyzing the overall system performance of
the repository through the use of probabilistic
evaluations that use best estimate assumptions, data,
and methods for the period commencing after the first
10,000 years after repository closure and including the
time after repository closure of maximum risk to the
critical group of premature death from cancer due to
repository releases;
``(B) analyzing the consequences of a single
instance of human intrusion into the repository, during
the first 1,000 years after repository closure, on the
ability of the repository to perform its intended
function.
``(g) Additional Actions by the Commission.--The Commission shall
take final action on the Secretary's application for construction
authorization for the repository no later than 40 months after
submission of the application.
``SEC. 207. COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT.
``(a) Preliminary Activities.--Each activity of the Secretary under
sections 203, 204, 205(a), 205(c), 205(d), and 206(a) shall be
considered a preliminary decision making activity. No such activity
shall be considered final agency action for purposes of judicial
review. No activity of the Secretary or the President under sections
203, 204, 205, or 206(a) shall 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 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(E) or (F)).
``(b) Standards and Criteria.--The promulgation of standards or
criteria in accordance with the provisions of this title, or under
section 801 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note),
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 (42 U.S.C.
4332(2)(E) or (F)).
``(c) Requirements Relating to Environmental Impact Statements.--
``(1) With respect to the requirements imposed by the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.)--
``(A) in any final environmental impact statement
under section 205 or 206, the Secretary or the
Commission, as applicable, shall not be required to
consider the need for a repository or an interim
storage facility; the time of initial availability of a
repository or interim storage facility; the
alternatives to geological disposal or centralized
interim storage; or alternative sites to the Yucca
Mountain site or the interim storage facility site
designated under section 204(c)(1); and
``(B) compliance with the procedures and
requirements of this title shall be deemed adequate
consideration of the need for centralized interim
storage or a repository; the time of initial
availability of centralized interim storage or the
repository or centralized interim storage; and all
alternatives to centralized interim storage and
permanent isolation of high-level radioactive waste and
spent nuclear fuel in an interim storage facility or a
repository, respectively.
``(2) The final environmental impact statement for the
repository prepared by the Secretary and submitted with the
license application for a repository under section 206(c)
shall, to the extent practicable, be adopted by the Commission
in connection with the issuance by the Commission of a
construction authorization and license for such repository. To
the extent such statement is adopted by the Commission, such
adoption shall be deemed to satisfy the responsibilities of the
Commission under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
and no further consideration shall be required, except that
nothing in this subsection shall affect any independent
responsibilities of the Commission to protect the public health
and safety under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011
et seq.).
``(c) Construction with Other Laws.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to amend or otherwise detract from the licensing requirements
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission established in title II of the
Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5841 et seq.).
``(d) Judicial Review.--Judicial review under section 502 of this
Act of any environmental impact statement prepared or adopted by the
Commission shall be consolidated with the judicial review of the
licensing decision to which it relates.
SEC. 208. LAND WITHDRAWAL.
``(a) Withdrawal and Reservation.--
``(1) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing rights, the
interim storage facility site and the Yucca Mountain site, as
described in subsection (b), are withdrawn from all forms of
entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws,
including the mineral leasing laws, the geothermal leasing
laws, the material sale laws, and the mining laws.
``(2) Jurisdiction.--Jurisdiction of any land within the
interim storage facility site and the Yucca Mountain site
managed by the Secretary of the Interior or any other Federal
officer is transferred to the Secretary.
``(3) Reservation.--The interim storage facility site and
the Yucca Mountain site are reserved for the use of the
Secretary for the construction and operation, respectively, of
the interim storage facility and the repository and activities
associated with the purposes of this title.
``(b) Land Description.--
``(1) Boundaries.--The boundaries depicted on the map
entitled `Interim Storage Facility Site Withdrawal Map', dated
March 13, 1996, and on file with the Secretary, are established
as the boundaries of the Interim Storage Facility site.
``(2) Boundaries.--The boundaries depicted on the map
entitled `Yucca Mountain Site Withdrawal Map', dated July 9,
1996, and on file with the Secretary, are established as the
boundaries of the Yucca Mountain site.
``(3) Notice and maps.--Concurrent with the Secretary's
designation of an interim storage facility site under section
204(c)(1), the Secretary shall--
``(A) publish in the Federal Register a notice
containing a legal description of the interim storage
facility site; and
``(B) file copies of the maps described in
paragraph (1), and the legal description of the interim
storage facility site with the Congress, the Secretary
of the Interior, the Governor of Nevada, and the
Archivist of the United States.
``(4) Notice and maps.--Concurrent with the Secretary's
application to the Commission for authority to construct the
repository, the Secretary shall--
``(A) publish in the Federal Register a notice
containing a legal description of the Yucca Mountain
site; and
``(B) file copies of the maps described in
paragraph (2), and the legal description of the Yucca
Mountain site with the Congress, the Secretary of the
Interior, the Governor of Nevada, and the Archivist of
the United States.
``(5) Construction.--The maps and legal descriptions of the
interim storage facility site and the Yucca Mountain site
referred to in this subsection shall have the same force and
effect as if they were included in this Act. The Secretary may
correct clerical and typographical errors in the maps and legal
descriptions and make minor adjustments in the boundaries of
the sites.
``TITLE III--LOCAL RELATIONS
``SEC. 301. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.
``(a) Grants.--The Secretary is authorized to make grants to any
affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local government for purposes
of enabling the affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local
government--
``(1) to review activities taken with respect to the Yucca
Mountain site for purposes of determining any potential
economic, social, public health and safety, and environmental
impacts of the integrated management system on the affected
Indian tribe or the affected unit of local government and its
residents;
``(2) to develop a request for impact assistance under
subsection (c);
``(3) to engage in any monitoring, testing, or evaluation
activities with regard to such site;
``(4) to provide information to residents regarding any
activities of the Secretary, or the Commission with respect to
such site; and
``(5) to request information from, and make comments and
recommendations to, the Secretary regarding any activities
taken with respect to such site.
``(b) Salary and Travel Expenses.--Any salary or travel expense
that would ordinarily be incurred by any affected Indian tribe or
affected unit of local government may not be considered eligible for
funding under this section.
``(c) Financial and Technical Assistance.--
``(1) Assistance requests.--The Secretary is authorized to
offer to provide financial and technical assistance to any
affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local government
requesting such assistance. Such assistance shall be designed
to mitigate the impact on the affected Indian tribe or affected
unit of local government of the development of the integrated
management system.
``(2) Report.--Any affected Indian tribe or affected unit
of local government may request assistance under this section
by preparing and submitting to the Secretary a report on the
economic, social, public health and safety, and environmental
impacts that are likely to result from activities of the
integrated management system.
``(d) Other Assistance.--
``(1) Taxable amounts.--In addition to financial assistance
provided under this subsection, the Secretary is authorized to
grant to any affected Indian tribe or affected unit of local
government an amount each fiscal year equal to the amount such
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