Title II — Permanent Repository

S. 2917 · 116th Congress · Nov 20, 2019 · Lineage

II Permanent Repository

Sec. 201 Land withdrawal, jurisdiction, and reservation

(a)

Land withdrawal, jurisdiction, and reservation—

(1)

Land withdrawal— Subject to valid existing rights and except as provided otherwise in this section, the lands described in subsection (c) are withdrawn permanently from all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws, including the mineral leasing laws, the geothermal leasing laws, and the mining laws.

(2)

Jurisdiction— Except as otherwise provided in this section, jurisdiction over the withdrawal is vested in the Secretary. There are transferred to the Secretary the lands within the withdrawal under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned on the effective date described in subsection (j)(1).

(3)

Reservation— The withdrawal is reserved for use by the Secretary for development, preconstruction testing and performance confirmation, licensing, construction, management and operation, monitoring, closure, postclosure, and other 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.).

(b)

Revocation and modification of public land orders and rights-of-Way—

(1)

Public land order revocation— Public Land Order 6802 of September 25, 1990, as extended by Public Land Order 7534, and any conditions or memoranda of understanding accompanying those land orders, are revoked.

(2)

Right-of-way reservations— Project right-of-way reservations N–48602 and N–47748 of January 2001, are revoked.

(c)

Land description—

(1)

Boundaries— The lands and interests in lands withdrawn and reserved by this section comprise the approximately 147,000 acres of land in Nye County, Nevada, as generally depicted on the Yucca Mountain Project Map, YMP–03–024.2, entitled “Proposed Land Withdrawal” and dated July 21, 2005.

(2)

Legal description and map— Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall—

(A)

publish in the Federal Register a notice containing a legal description of the withdrawal; and

(B)

file copies of the maps described in paragraph (1) and the legal description of the withdrawal with the Congress, the Governor of the State of Nevada, and the Archivist of the United States.

(3)

Technical corrections— The maps and legal description referred to in this subsection have the same force and effect as if they were included in this section. The Secretary of the Interior may correct clerical and typographical errors in the maps and legal description.

(d)

Relationship to other reservations— The provisions of subtitle A of title XXX of the Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1999 (sections 3011–3023 of Public Law 106–65) and of Public Land Order 2568 do not apply to the lands withdrawn and reserved for use by the Secretary under subsection (a). This Act does not apply to any other lands withdrawn for use by the Department of Defense under subtitle A of title XXX of the Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1999.

(e)

Management responsibilities—

(1)

General authority— The Secretary shall manage the lands withdrawn by subsection (a) consistent with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), this section, and other applicable law. The Secretary shall consult with the Secretary concerned in discharging that responsibility.

(2)

Management plan—

(A)

Development— The Secretary, after consulting with the Secretary concerned, shall develop a management plan for the use of the withdrawal. Within 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit the management plan to the Congress and the State of Nevada.

(B)

Priority of Yucca Mountain Project-related issues— Subject to subparagraphs (C) and (D), any use of the withdrawal for activities not associated with the Project is subject to conditions and restrictions that the Secretary considers necessary or desirable to permit the conduct of Project-related activities.

(C)

Department of the Air Force uses— The management plan may provide for the continued use by the Department of the Air Force of the portion of the withdrawal within the Nellis Air Force Base Test and Training Range under terms and conditions on which the Secretary and the Secretary of the Air Force agree concerning Air Force activities.

(D)

Other non-Yucca Mountain Project uses— The management plan shall provide for the maintenance of wildlife habitat and shall provide that the Secretary may permit non-Project-related uses that the Secretary considers appropriate, including domestic livestock grazing and hunting and trapping in accordance with the following requirements:

(i)

Grazing— The Secretary may permit grazing to continue where established before the effective date described in subsection (j)(1), subject to regulations, policies, and practices that the Secretary, after consulting with the Secretary of the Interior, determines to be necessary or appropriate. The management of grazing shall be conducted in accordance with applicable grazing laws and policies, including—

(I)

the Act commonly known as the “Taylor Grazing Act” (43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.);

(II)

title IV of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); and

(III)

the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (43 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.).

(ii)

Hunting and trapping— The Secretary may permit hunting and trapping within the withdrawal where established before the effective date described in subsection (k)(1), except that the Secretary, after consulting with the Secretary of the Interior and the State of Nevada, may designate zones where, and establish periods when, no hunting or trapping is permitted for reasons of public safety, national security, administration, or public use and enjoyment.

(E)

Mining—

(i)

In general— Except as provided in clause (ii), surface or subsurface mining or oil or gas production, including slant drilling from outside the boundaries of the withdrawal, is not permitted at any time on lands on or under the withdrawal. The Secretary of the Interior shall evaluate and adjudicate the validity of all unpatented mining claims on the portion of the withdrawal that, on the date of enactment of this Act, was under the control of the Bureau of Land Management. The Secretary shall provide just compensation for the acquisition of any valid property right.

(ii)

Cind-r-lite Mine— Patented Mining Claim No. 27–83–0002, covering the Cind-R-Lite Mine, shall not be affected by establishment of the withdrawal set forth in subsection (a)(1). In that event, the Secretary shall provide just compensation.

(F)

Limited public access— The management plan may provide for limited public access to the portion of the withdrawal under Bureau of Land Management control on the effective date described in subsection (j)(1). Permitted uses may include continuation of the Nye County Early Warning Drilling Program, utility corridors, and other uses the Secretary, after consulting with the Secretary of the Interior, considers consistent with the purposes of the withdrawal.

(3)

Closure— If the Secretary, after consulting with the Secretary concerned, determines that the health and safety of the public or the common defense and security require the closure of a road, trail, or other portion of the withdrawal, or the airspace above the withdrawal, the Secretary may effect and maintain the closure and shall provide notice of the closure.

(4)

Implementation— The Secretary and the Secretary concerned shall implement the management plan developed under paragraph (2) under terms and conditions on which they agree.

(f)

Immunity— The United States and its departments and agencies shall be held harmless and shall not be liable for damages to persons or property suffered in the course of any mining, mineral leasing, or geothermal leasing activity conducted on the withdrawal.

(g)

Land acquisition— The Secretary may acquire lands and interests in lands within the withdrawal. Those lands and interests in lands may be acquired by donation, purchase, lease, exchange, easement, rights-of-way, or other appropriate methods using donated or appropriated funds. The Secretary of the Interior shall conduct any exchange of lands within the withdrawal for Federal lands outside the withdrawal.

(h)

Material requirements— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal, State, interstate, or local requirement, either substantive or procedural, that is referred to in section 6001(a) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6961(a)) applies with respect to any material—

(1)

as such material is transported to a repository for disposal at such repository; or

(2)

as, or after, such material is disposed of in a repository.

(i)

Definitions—

(1)

Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 definitions— For purposes of this section, the terms disposal, high-level radioactive waste, repository, Secretary, and spent nuclear fuel have the meaning given those terms in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101).

(2)

Other definitions— For purposes of this section—

(A)

the term withdrawal means the geographic area consisting of the land described in subsection (c);

(B)

the term Secretary concerned means the Secretary of the Air Force or the Secretary of the Interior, or both, as appropriate; and

(C)

the term Project means the Yucca Mountain Project.

(j)

Effective date—

(1)

In general— Except as provided in paragraph (2), this section shall take effect on the date on which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues a final decision approving the issuance of a construction authorization for a repository under section 114(d)(1) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(d)) (as so designated by this Act).

(2)

Exceptions— Subsections (c), (e)(2)(A), (h), (i), and (j) shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

Sec. 202 Application procedures and infrastructure activities

(a)

Status report on application— Section 114(c) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(c)) is amended by striking “the date on which such authorization is granted” and inserting “the date on which the Commission issues a final decision approving or disapproving such application”.

(b)

Application procedures and infrastructure activities— Section 114(d) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(d)) is amended—

(1)

by striking “The Commission shall consider” and inserting the following:

“(1) Applications for construction authorization—The Commission shall consider”

(2)

by striking “the expiration of 3 years after the date of the submission of such application” and inserting “30 months after the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019”;

(3)

by striking “70,000 metric tons” each place it appears and inserting “110,000 metric tons”; and

(4)

by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:

“(2) Applications to amend—If the Commission issues a construction authorization for a repository pursuant to paragraph (1) and the Secretary submits an application to amend such authorization, the Commission shall consider the application to amend using expedited, informal procedures, including discovery procedures that minimize the burden on the parties to produce documents. The Commission shall issue a final decision on such application to amend within 1 year after the date of submission of such application, except that the Commission may extend such deadline by not more than 6 months if, not less than 30 days before such deadline, the Commission complies with the reporting requirements established in subsection (e)(2).

“(3) Infrastructure activities

“(A) In general—At any time before or after the Commission issues a final decision approving or disapproving the issuance of a construction authorization for a repository pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary may undertake infrastructure activities that the Secretary considers necessary or appropriate to support construction or operation of a repository at the Yucca Mountain site or transportation to such site of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Infrastructure activities include safety upgrades, site preparation, the construction of a rail line to connect the Yucca Mountain site with the national rail network (including any facilities to facilitate rail operations), and construction, upgrade, acquisition, or operation of electrical grids or facilities, other utilities, communication facilities, access roads, and nonnuclear support facilities.

“(B) Environmental analysis—If the Secretary determines that an environmental analysis is required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 with respect to an infrastructure activity undertaken under this paragraph, the Secretary need not consider alternative actions or a no-action alternative. To the extent any other Federal agency must consider the potential environmental impact of such an infrastructure activity, the agency shall adopt, to the extent practicable, any environmental analysis prepared by the Secretary under this subparagraph without further action. Such adoption satisfies the responsibilities of the adopting agency under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and no further action is required by the agency.

“(C) No grounds for disapproval—The Commission may not disapprove, on the grounds that the Secretary undertook an infrastructure activity under this paragraph—

“(i) the issuance of a construction authorization for a repository pursuant to paragraph (1);

“(ii) a license to receive and possess spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste; or

“(iii) any other action concerning the repository.”

(c)

Connected actions— Section 114(f)(6) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(f)(6)) is amended by striking “or nongeologic alternatives to such site” and inserting “nongeologic alternatives to such site, or an action connected or otherwise related to the repository to the extent the action is undertaken outside the geologic repository operations area and does not require a license from the Commission”.

Sec. 203 Pending repository license application

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to require the Secretary to amend or otherwise modify an application for a construction authorization described in section 114(d) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(d)) pending as of the date of enactment of this Act.

Sec. 204 Limitation on planning, development, or construction of defense waste repository

(a)

Limitation— The Secretary of Energy may not take any action relating to the planning, development, or construction of a defense waste repository until the date on which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues a final decision approving or disapproving the issuance of a construction authorization for a repository under section 114(d)(1) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(d)) (as so designated by this Act).

(b)

Definitions— In this section—

(1)

the terms atomic energy defense activity, high-level radioactive waste, repository, and spent nuclear fuel have the meanings given those terms in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101); and

(2)

the term defense waste repository means the repository for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel derived from the atomic energy defense activities of the Department of Energy, as described in the draft plan of the Department titled “Draft Plan for a Defense Waste Repository” published on December 16, 2016.

Sec. 205 Sense of Congress regarding transportation routes

It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Energy should consider routes for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste transported by or for the Secretary under subtitle A of title I of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10131 et seq.) to the Yucca Mountain site that, to the extent practicable, avoid Las Vegas, Nevada.