Energy and Water Development Appropriation Act, 1988

(Measure passed Senate, amended)

Energy and Water Development Appropriation Act, 1988 - Title I: Department of Defense - Civil - Makes appropriations for FY 1988 for authorized civil functions of the Department of the Army relating to rivers and harbors, flood control, and beach erosion (including projects which involve State and local governmental participation).

Title II: Department of the Interior - Makes appropriations for FY 1988 to the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation for: (1) engineering and economic investigations of Federal reclamation and water conservation projects; (2) construction and rehabilitation projects; (3) soil and moisture conservation projects; (4) operation and maintenance of reclamation projects; (5) loans to irrigation districts for construction of distribution systems on authorized Federal reclamation projects; (6) general administrative expenses in certain Bureau of Reclamation offices; (7) the "Emergency Fund" as authorized by an Act of June 26, 1948; (8) replacement passenger motor vehicles; and (9) recovery of archaeological and paleontological remains in specified areas.

Makes appropriations available to the Department of the Interior for: (1) damaged facilities or equipment belonging to the Department of the Interior; (2) emergency prevention of forest or range fires; and (3) general administrative expenses.

Limits the expenditure of appropriations for administrative expenses of the Central Utah project.

Amends the Reclamation Authorization Act of 1976 to increase the authorization of appropriations for the Oroville-Tonasket Irrigation Project, Washington.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior to use up to a certain sum in FY 1988 for soil conservation studies needed to complete the integration of the Hilltop Irrigation District as a Federal unit of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin program.

Forgives Dickinson, North Dakota, all obligations under a certain contract. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into a new payment contract with such city the terms of which shall entitle Dickinson to water supply benefits provided by the bascule gate project in consideration for the repayment of project costs.

Relieves Minot, North Dakota, of all liability for repayment to the United States of a certain sum associated with the excess capacity of the Minot Pipeline resulting from enactment of the Garrison Diversion Unit Reformulation Act of 1986. Makes such relief retroactive to January 1, 1978.

Title III: Department of Energy - Makes appropriations to the Department of Energy for FY 1988 for: (1) specified energy supply, research, and development activities; (2) uranium supply and enrichment activities; (3) general science and research activities; and (4) nuclear waste disposal activities.

Includes as part of this Act the Nuclear Waste Policy Act Amendments Act of 1987 (as reported to the Senate on September 1, 1987), and declares such Act to be effective as if enacted into law, with the following amendments. Mandates an orderly phase-out, within six months after enactment, of funding for all existing research programs designed to evaluate the suitability of crystalline rock as a potential repository host medium. Specifies disqualifying factors the Secretary must consider with respect to possible future sites in crystalline rock for a nuclear waste repository.

Directs the Secretary of Energy to seek to contract with the National Academy of Sciences for the establishment of an oversight board to evaluate the scientific and technical adequacy of the Secretary's nuclear waste programs. Authorizes appropriations.

Establishes an MRS Review Commission, appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, which shall report to the Congress by January 20, 1989, on the need for a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility as a part of a national nuclear waste management system. Sets forth the method of preparing such report and certain factors to consider. Permits the Secretary of Energy to select a MRS site, even if the MRS Review-Commission recommends against any MRS facility, unless the Congress, within 90 days after submission of the recommendation, passes, and there is enacted into law, a resolution disapproving the deployment of such a facility as part of the national nuclear waste management system. Authorizes appropriations.

Requires the Secretary, or his designee, to value land for leasehold or ownership title for purposes of site characterization and repository development in a manner that addresses the unique geophysical attributes causing such land to be selected as a candidate site for deep geologic disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Requires the Secretary, in acquiring private land for site characterization and repository development, to acquire it only after a characterization plan has been issued, and to minimize the disruption of private use of lands in the vicinity of those acquired. Requires the Secretary to offer any landowner, or his heirs, first right to repurchase any land, previously secured from him but subsequently found unsuitable for site characterization on repository development.

Prohibits the air transportation of plutonium from one foreign nation to another through U.S. territory or air space except in a package certified safe by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Requires the NRC to conduct certain air crash and drop tests before issuing a safety certificate.

Requires any site characterization at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, to include research examining potential earthquake and other related effects on such site of continued nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Requires a certain comprehensive statement of the Secretary to include comparative analysis of the economics of nuclear waste management strategies based on: (1) reprocessing spent fuel as a source of new fuel for light water reactors and the disposal of the resultant nuclear wastes; and (2) direct disposal of spent fuel.

Authorizes appropriations, without fiscal year limitation, for use in the upgrading and construction of road and rail facilities for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste within the State in which a repository is located.

Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to establish an Office of Subseabed Disposal Research within the Office of Energy Research of the Department of Energy, headed by a Director responsible for research, development, and demonstration activities regarding subseabed disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.

Directs the Secretary to establish a university-based Seabed Consortium composed of oceanographic universities and institutions to investigate the technical and institutional feasibility of subseabed disposal. Requires the Consortium to report to the Congress regarding the design, costs, and impacts of a subseabed disposal system. Requires the Director of the Office of Subseabed Disposal Research to report annually to the Congress regarding Office activities. Authorizes appropriations.

Requires the Secretary, within 45 days after passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act Amendments Act of 1987, to report to the Congress on the amount of funds necessary annually over the next five years to: (1) conduct a detailed research program on the subseabed disposal of nuclear waste; (2) assess potential impacts of subseabed disposal on human health and the marine environment; and (3) develop preliminary design for a subseabed disposal system.

Prohibits the use of any funds made available under this Act for restarting the N-Reactor at the Hanford Reservation, Washington/State. Provides funding for the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant.

Directs the Secretary to submit to specified congressional committees by May 1, 1988, an acquisition strategy report for replacement production reactors. Prescribes the general contents of such report.

Makes appropriations to the Department of Energy for FY 1988 for: (1) atomic energy defense activities; (2) departmental administrative expenses; (3) water and electrical power projects of the Alaska Power Administration; (4) specified fish passage facilities of the Bonneville Power Administration; (5) operational and maintenance expenses related to electric power transmission for the Southeastern Power Administration and the Southwestern Power Administration; (6) operational and maintenance expenses of the Western Area Power Administration; (7) salaries and expenses of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; (8) geothermal energy research and development; and (9) Department of Energy general passenger vehicles and security guard expenses.

Prohibits the Secretary from disallowing costs associated with certain informational activities of contractor personnel from the Department of Energy National Laboratories if requested by the Congress or a State legislature. Excludes lobbying from such acceptable activities.

Prohibits the use of funds, with a specified exception, for any study or activity with respect to transferring out of Federal ownership, management, or control any facilities or functions of the uranium supply and enrichment program until specifically authorized by an Act of Congress hereafter enacted.

Prohibits the use of funds by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in order to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity to the Iroquois Gas Transmission System pursuant to a certain expedited application.

Directs FERC to provide the Senate Committee on Appropriations, within three months after enactment of this Act, a report on the policies followed in implementing FERC's responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Authorizes FERC to extend for two years the time period required for commencement of a certain construction project, subject to specified conditions.

Prohibits the expenditure of funds by the Department of Energy or the Department of Justice to prosecute any action or enforce any judgment against any individual corporate shareholder, officer, or employee for restitution in certain cases, except for the actual dollar amount personally received by such individual (plus interest) from the statutory or regulatory violation in question.

Title IV: Independent Agencies - Makes appropriations for: (1) programs authorized by the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965; (2) salaries and expenses of the Delaware River Basin Commission; (3) expenses of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin; (4) Nuclear Regulatory Commission expenses; (5) expenses of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission; and (6) expenses of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Title V: General Provisions - Sets forth guidelines for the expenditure of appropriations under this Act.

Prohibits the use of appropriations earmarked for the Power Marketing Administrations or the Tennessee Valley Authority (including funds authorized for expenditure from the Bonneville Power Administration Fund or the Tennessee Valley Authority Fund) to pay for the procurement of extra high voltage (EHV) power equipment unless contract awards are made for such equipment manufactured in the United States when agencies determine that there are one or more manufacturers of domestic end products offering a product that meets the technical requirements at a price not exceeding 130 percent of the bid or offering price of the most competitive foreign bidder.

Prohibits the use of funds to carry out within the United States or any territory or possession any water development project of the Army Corps of Engineers or the Bureau of Reclamation which uses any service of a foreign country during any period when it is on a certain proscription list of the United States Trade Representative. Specifies circumstances for nonapplication of this prohibition.

Requires the United States Trade Representative, within 30 days after each submission to Congress of certain reports under the Trade Act of 1974, to determine as to each foreign country whether it denies fair and equitable market opportunities for U.S. services, or fair and equitable market opportunities for U.S. services in bidding, for public works projects costing more than $500,000 which are funded by the foreign government or by an entity controlled by it. Requires a proscription list of any countries receiving an affirmative determination.

Directs the Secretary of the Army to transfer title to all land presently leased to the State of Illinois at South Shores State Park, Lake Carlyle, Illinois, for development according to the State Plan of recreational opportunities.

Designates the building at 83 Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina, as the Ernest Frederick Hollings Charleston Judicial Building.