Atomic Energy Act Amendments of 1980

(Reported to House from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce with amendment, H. Rept. 96-1382 (Part I))

Nuclear Waste Policy Act - Title I: Disposal of Transuranic and High-Level Radioactive Waste - Directs the Secretary of Energy, by January 1, 1982, to identify and recommend to the President at least four sites suitable for development as repositories. Defines a repository as any facility for the permanent disposal of transuranic waste, high leval radioactive waste, or both such wastes, whether or not such facility is designed to permit the subsequent recovery of the waste placed in the repository. Directs the Secretary to notify the State Review Board of the State in which a recommended site is located of the basis for such recommendation.

Defines a State Review Board as an entity created under State law which is authorized to: (1) review repository site related activities; (2) be a representative of the State in any repository site related proceeding before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and (3) submit to Congress a request to disapprove repository site construction. Directs members of the Board to represent the general public and the State in any action with respect to a repository site in the State. Directs the Secretary to make grants to State Review Boards in each State with an approved repository site.

Directs the Secretary by June 30, 1981, in consultation with the Council on Environmental Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the United States Geological Survey, to issue guidelines for the recommendation of sites for repositories. Requires the Secretary, after completing site characterization activities, to hold public hearings in the vicinity of any site before recommending the site to the President.

Directs the Secretary, after initially identifying the sites, to continue to screen other sites to determine their suitability for repositories.

Directs the Secretary, before sinking shafts at any site, to submit to the Commission and the State Review Board for review and comment: (1) an environmental assessment of the nonradiological impacts of the site characterization activities; and (2) a plan for site characterization activities to conducted at a site. Directs the Secretary: (1) during site characterization activities, to report to the NRC and the State Review Board; and (2) to conduct necessary tests to provide the necessary data for an application for a construction authorization for a repository and for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

Directs the Secretary, after the public hearings and affirming the determination, to recommend a site to the President. Directs the Secretary to apply to the NRC for a construction authorization for construction of a repository site. Directs the Secretary to provide the State Review Board a copy of the application.

Requires the Secretary to submit to the NRC by January 1, 1986 an application for a construction authorization for the construction of a repository. Requires the NRC to approve or disapprove an application by January 1, 1990, or four years after submission of the application. Directs the Commission, if it approves an application, to notify Congress and the appropriate State Review Board, and to include in such notification the reasons for approval. Provides that if a State Review Board petitions Congress for disapproval of a construction authorization: (1) the NRC must provide Congress certain information; and (2) the repository may not be constructed if Congress passes a concurrent resolution disapproving the construction.

Permits, in accordance with provisions of this Act, judicial review of: (1) actions taken by the Secretary in recommending a site to the President and in connection with site characterization; (2) actions taken by the NRC in granting or denying any construction authorization or operating permit; and (3) actions related to the issuance of an expedited authorization.

Directs any Federal officer or agency taking any action related to site characterization or construction or initial operation of a repository requiring a certificate, right-of-way, permit, lease, or other authorization to issue or grant any such authorization at the earliest practicable date. Directs Federal officers and agencies to expedite actions with respect to the consideration of applications or requests for the issuance or grant of any such authorization.

Directs the Administrator of the EPA, by November 1, 1981, to promulgate generally applicable standards for protection of the general environment from radioactive material. Directs the NRC, by November 1, 1981, to promulgate criteria to apply in reviewing applications for construction authorizations.

Title II: Low-Level Radioactive Waste - Declares it to be the policy of the Federal Government that: (1) each State is responsible for the disposal of non-Federal low-level radioactive waste generated within its borders; and (2) non-Federal low-level radioactive waste can be most safely and efficiently managed on a regional basis.

Directs the Secretary, in order to assist the States in carrying out the above policy, to prepare and submit to Congress and to each State a report which: (1) defines the disposal capacity needed for present and future low-level waste on a regional basis; (2) defines the status of all commercial low-level nuclear waste disposal sites; (3) evaluates the transportation requirements on a regional basis and in comparison with performance of present transportation practices for the shipment of low-level nuclear wastes; and (4) evaluates the capability of the low-level waste disposal facilities owned and operated by the Department of Energy to provide interim storage for commercially generated low-level waste and estimates the costs associated with such interim storage.

Directs the Secretary to determine whether Federal funding is appropriate for 90 percent of the cost of any stabilization, decommissioning, and decontamination action necessary in connection with the uranium mill tailings site owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority at Edgemont, South Dakota. Directs the Secretary to report the results to Congress.