Residual Radioactive Materials Act

(Reported to Senate from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources with amendment, S. Rept. 95-1266)

Residual Radioactive Materials Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy to designate specified locations where uranium has been produced as processing sites. Requires the Secretary, together with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to study whether certain active uranium mill sites should also be covered.

Directs the Secretary to enter into agreements with designated States whereby the Federal Government would pay the entire cost of: (1) assessing the radiation levels of residual radioactive materials from former uranium ore processing sites in such States; (2) limiting the risk of exposure of individuals to such radioactive materials; and (3) acquiring sites. Limits Federal assistance to the direct costs included in the approved remedial plan.

Requires that agreements made by the Secretary and such States include terms providing, among other things, that the Secretary select the appropriate remedial action for limiting the risk of radiation exposure with the State's concurrence, that the States acquire ownership to the land upon which the radioactive materials are located, and that the States reimburse the Federal Government for costs involved in performing such remedial work from any gain the States realize in selling land on which the processing sites were located.

Directs the State to inform any person who purchases a former processing site of the nature and extent of the site's former use.

Stipulates that any action taken by the United States pursuant to this Act does not mean that it assumes any liability for damages resulting from exposure to mill tailings prior to such action.

Authorizes the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to designate the disposal site within the State with the concurrence of the State and the Commission. Directs that ownership of any residual radioactive materials and the disposal site be transferred by the State to the Secretary, unless the States elects to retain ownership and agrees to assume the responsibility for perpetual care.

Permits the Secretary to purchase land or obtain it by donation if it is necessary to consolidate the residual radioactive materials in an environmentally safe manner. Authorizes Secretary of the Interior to make public lands available if it is determined to be in the public interest.

Directs the Secretary of Energy to enter into a similar agreement with the Secretary of the Interior and the Indian Tribes for the assessment of radiation levels and performance of remedial action on lands owned by Indians or held in trust for them. Provides for payment of 100 percent of the costs of such agreement.

Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to have the financial responsibility for the long-term care of residual radioactive materials on Indian lands. Requires the Secretaries of Energy and the Interior to make full use of any available Indian expertise in performing remedial actions and in undertaking perpetual care of any residual radioactive materials.

Requires the Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to prescribe standards to assure that the public health, safety, and environment are not impaired by the remedial action undertaken pursuant to this Act. Provides that information obtained during the course of the remedial action program should be used in subsequent planning for future uranium operations.

Directs the Secretary, the Administrator, and the Commission to encourage public participation in the designation of processing sites. Terminates the Secretary's authority under this Act after eight years. Directs the Secretary to provide annual reports to Congress on the remedial action program, a report on all radioactive sites in the United States, and a report on the hazards of uranium mine wastes.

Establishes a procedure through which private parties may engage in remilling of residual radioactive materials in conjunction with remedial actions.

Directs the Attorney General to study whether any Federal interest was adversely affected by a present or former owner of the specified processing sites, and, if so, to take the appropriate action to recover from such owner all or part of the costs incurred by the United States.