Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Sensible, Timely Relief for America's Nuclear Districts' Economic Development Act of 2017” or the “STRANDED Act of 2017”.
Sensible, Timely Relief for America's Nuclear Districts' Economic Development Act of 2017
A BILL
To assist communities affected by stranded nuclear waste, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds that—
in 1982, Congress authorized the Secretary of Energy and the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to safely manage and dispose of the most highly radioactive nuclear waste of the United States, a responsibility that includes—
removing spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants for a fee; and
transporting the spent fuel to—
a permanent geological repository; or
an interim storage facility before permanent disposal;
for more than 30 years, nuclear power plants have operated in good faith that the Federal Government would establish a permanent geological repository;
communities throughout the United States, including communities in the States of California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Vermont, and Wisconsin, are tasked with dealing with stranded nuclear waste;
communities affected by stranded nuclear waste are in fact interim nuclear waste storage sites;
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.)—
directed the Secretary to make annual impact assistance payments to States or appropriate units of local government to mitigate the social and economic impacts of the establishment and operation of interim nuclear waste storage capacity within the jurisdictional boundaries of an affected community; and
established the rate for impact assistance payments at $15 per kilogram of spent nuclear fuel;
decommissioning a commercial nuclear power plant is often catastrophic for the host community because nuclear power plants are major employers and the primary source of local tax revenue;
stranded nuclear waste is a profound obstacle to future economic growth, deterring potential employers and residents from considering the host community;
stranded nuclear waste prevents economic development in communities in which the stranded nuclear waste is located; and
it is critical to provide resources to communities that—
are challenged by stranded nuclear waste; or
will be challenged by stranded nuclear waste during the 10-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 3 Definitions
In this Act:
Academy— The term Academy means the National Academy of Sciences.
Affected community— The term affected community means a municipality that contains stranded nuclear waste within the boundaries of the municipality, as determined by the Secretary.
Eligible civilian nuclear power plant— The term eligible civilian nuclear power plant means a nuclear power plant that—
has been decommissioned; or
is in the process of being decommissioned.
Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.
Stranded nuclear waste— The term stranded nuclear waste means nuclear waste or spent nuclear fuel stored in dry casks or spent fuel pools at a decommissioned or decommissioning nuclear facility.
Sec. 4 Innovative solutions study
In general— Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter into an arrangement under which the Academy, in collaboration with the National Laboratories (as the term is defined in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)), shall conduct a study to determine whether opportunities exist for affected communities to consider alternatives to nuclear facilities, generating sites, and waste sites.
Completion— The Secretary shall ensure that, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Academy—
completes the study described in subsection (a); and
submits to the appropriate Committees of Congress a report describing findings and recommendations based on the study.
Sec. 5 Stranded Nuclear Waste Task Force
Establishment— The Secretary shall establish a task force, to be known as the “Stranded Nuclear Waste Task Force”—
to conduct a study on existing public and private resources and funding for which affected communities may be eligible; and
to develop immediate and long-term economic adjustment plans tailored to the needs of each affected community.
Study— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Stranded Nuclear Waste Task Force shall complete and submit to Congress the study described in subsection (a).
Sec. 6 Economic impact grants
Establishment— Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish and carry out a noncompetitive grant program to provide financial assistance to units of local government within the jurisdictional boundary of which an eligible civilian nuclear power plant is located to offset the economic and social impacts of stranded nuclear waste in affected communities.
Eligibility— A unit of local government that is an affected community shall be eligible to receive a grant under this section for a fiscal year.
Awards—
Amount— The amount of a grant awarded under subsection (a) shall be equal to $15 for each kilogram of spent nuclear fuel stored at the eligible civilian nuclear power plant in the affected community.
Number and frequency— With respect to each eligible civilian nuclear power plant, the Secretary may only award 1 grant under subsection (a) to each eligible unit of local government for each fiscal year.
Sec. 7 Tax incentives for affected communities
in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting “or qualified nuclear affected community investments” before the comma;
in subsection (b)(3), by inserting “or qualified nuclear affected community investments” before the period;
in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking “for,” and all that follows and inserting “for—
“(i) low-income communities or low-income persons, or
“(ii) nuclear affected communities or individuals residing in nuclear affected communities,”
in subsection (c)(1)(B), by inserting “or nuclear affected communities, whichever is applicable,” after “low-income communities”;
in subsection (d)—
by striking “low-income community” in the heading;
by striking “In general” in the heading of paragraph (1) and inserting “Qualified low-income community investment”; and
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(4) Qualified nuclear affected community investment—The term qualified nuclear affected community investment means any investment, loan, loan purchase, or service which would be a qualified low-income community investment if paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) were applied by substituting “nuclear affected community” and “nuclear affected communities” for “low-income community” and “low-income communities”, respectively, each place they appear.”
in subsection (e)—
by inserting “and nuclear affected community” after “community” in the heading;
by striking “In general” in the heading of paragraph (1) and inserting “Low-income community”;
in paragraph (3), by striking “In” and inserting “For purposes of paragraph (1), in”; and
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(6) Nuclear affected community—The term nuclear affected community means an affected community as defined in section 3(2) of the STRANDED Act of 2017 and any other municipality which borders on a municipality where a commercial nuclear power plant which has been decommissioned or is in the process of being decommissioned is located.”
in subsection (f)(2)(B), by inserting “or qualified nuclear affected community investments” after “qualified low-income community investments”.
First-Time homebuyer credit—
by inserting “for nuclear affected communities” after “credit” in the heading;
in subsection (a), by striking “in the United States” and inserting “in a nuclear affected community”;
in subsection (b), by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (2);
in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (4) and by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new paragraph:
“(4) Nuclear affected community—The term nuclear affected community means an affected community, as defined in section 3(2) of the STRANDED Act of 2017.”
by striking subsections (f), (g), and (h).
Clerical amendment— The table of sections for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the item relating to section 36 and inserting the following new item:
Effective dates—
New markets tax credit— The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply to allocations of credits under section 45D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in calendar years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
First-time homebuyer credit— The amendments made by subsection (b) shall apply to the purchase of a principal residence after the date of the enactment of this Act.