
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC10222]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                    CHAPTER 108--NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY
 
     SUBCHAPTER III--OTHER PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIOACTIVE WASTE
 
Sec. 10222. Nuclear Waste Fund


(a) Contracts

    (1) In the performance of his functions under this chapter, the 
Secretary is authorized to enter into contracts with any person who 
generates or holds title to high-level radioactive waste, or spent 
nuclear fuel, of domestic origin for the acceptance of title, subsequent 
transportation, and disposal of such waste or spent fuel. Such contracts 
shall provide for payment to the Secretary of fees pursuant to 
paragraphs (2) and (3) sufficient to offset expenditures described in 
subsection (d) of this section.
    (2) For electricity generated by a civilian nuclear power reactor 
and sold on or after the date 90 days after January 7, 1983, the fee 
under paragraph (1) shall be equal to 1.0 mil per kilowatt-hour.
    (3) For spent nuclear fuel, or solidified high-level radioactive 
waste derived from spent nuclear fuel, which fuel was used to generate 
electricity in a civilian nuclear power reactor prior to the application 
of the fee under paragraph (2) to such reactor, the Secretary shall, not 
later than 90 days after January 7, 1983, establish a 1 time fee per 
kilogram of heavy metal in spent nuclear fuel, or in solidified high-
level radioactive waste. Such fee shall be in an amount equivalent to an 
average charge of 1.0 mil per kilowatt-hour for electricity generated by 
such spent nuclear fuel, or such solidified high-level waste derived 
therefrom, to be collected from any person delivering such spent nuclear 
fuel or high-level waste, pursuant to section 10143 of this title, to 
the Federal Government. Such fee shall be paid to the Treasury of the 
United States and shall be deposited in the separate fund established by 
subsection (c) of this section.\1\ In paying such a fee, the person 
delivering spent fuel, or solidified high-level radioactive wastes 
derived therefrom, to the Federal Government shall have no further 
financial obligation to the Federal Government for the long-term storage 
and permanent disposal of such spent fuel, or the solidified high-level 
radioactive waste derived therefrom.
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    \1\ See References in Text note below.
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    (4) Not later than 180 days after January 7, 1983, the Secretary 
shall establish procedures for the collection and payment of the fees 
established by paragraph (2) and paragraph (3). The Secretary shall 
annually review the amount of the fees established by paragraphs (2) and 
(3) above to evaluate whether collection of the fee will provide 
sufficient revenues to offset the costs as defined in subsection (d) of 
this section. In the event the Secretary determines that either 
insufficient or excess revenues are being collected, in order to recover 
the costs incurred by the Federal Government that are specified in 
subsection (d) of this section, the Secretary shall propose an 
adjustment to the fee to insure full cost recovery. The Secretary shall 
immediately transmit this proposal for such an adjustment to Congress. 
The adjusted fee proposed by the Secretary shall be effective after a 
period of 90 days of continuous session have elapsed following the 
receipt of such transmittal unless during such 90-day period either 
House of Congress adopts a resolution disapproving the Secretary's 
proposed adjustment in accordance with the procedures set forth for 
congressional review of an energy action under section 6421 of this 
title.
    (5) Contracts entered into under this section shall provide that--
        (A) following commencement of operation of a repository, the 
    Secretary shall take title to the high-level radioactive waste or 
    spent nuclear fuel involved as expeditiously as practicable upon the 
    request of the generator or owner of such waste or spent fuel; and
        (B) in return for the payment of fees established by this 
    section, the Secretary, beginning not later than January 31, 1998, 
    will dispose of the high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear 
    fuel involved as provided in this subchapter.\1\

    (6) The Secretary shall establish in writing criteria setting forth 
the terms and conditions under which such disposal services shall be 
made available.

(b) Advance contracting requirement

    (1)(A) The Commission shall not issue or renew a license to any 
person to use a utilization or production facility under the authority 
of section 2133 or 2134 of this title unless--
        (i) such person has entered into a contract with the Secretary 
    under this section; or
        (ii) the Secretary affirms in writing that such person is 
    actively and in good faith negotiating with the Secretary for a 
    contract under this section.

    (B) The Commission, as it deems necessary or appropriate, may 
require as a precondition to the issuance or renewal of a license under 
section 2133 or 2134 of this title that the applicant for such license 
shall have entered into an agreement with the Secretary for the disposal 
of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel that may result 
from the use of such license.
    (2) Except as provided in paragraph (1), no spent nuclear fuel or 
high-level radioactive waste generated or owned by any person (other 
than a department of the United States referred to in section 101 or 102 
of title 5) may be disposed of by the Secretary in any repository 
constructed under this chapter unless the generator or owner of such 
spent fuel or waste has entered into a contract with the Secretary under 
this section by not later than--
        (A) June 30, 1983; or
        (B) the date on which such generator or owner commences 
    generation of, or takes title to, such spent fuel or waste;

whichever occurs later.
    (3) The rights and duties of a party to a contract entered into 
under this section may be assignable with transfer of title to the spent 
nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste involved.
    (4) No high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel generated 
or owned by any department of the United States referred to in section 
101 or 102 of title 5 may be disposed of by the Secretary in any 
repository constructed under this chapter unless such department 
transfers to the Secretary, for deposit in the Nuclear Waste Fund, 
amounts equivalent to the fees that would be paid to the Secretary under 
the contracts referred to in this section if such waste or spent fuel 
were generated by any other person.

(c) Establishment of Nuclear Waste Fund

    There hereby is established in the Treasury of the United States a 
separate fund, to be known as the Nuclear Waste Fund. The Waste Fund 
shall consist of--
        (1) all receipts, proceeds, and recoveries realized by the 
    Secretary under subsections (a), (b), and (e) of this section, which 
    shall be deposited in the Waste Fund immediately upon their 
    realization;
        (2) any appropriations made by the Congress to the Waste Fund; 
    and
        (3) any unexpended balances available on January 7, 1983, for 
    functions or activities necessary or incident to the disposal of 
    civilian high-level radioactive waste or civilian spent nuclear 
    fuel, which shall automatically be transferred to the Waste Fund on 
    such date.

(d) Use of Waste Fund

    The Secretary may make expenditures from the Waste Fund, subject to 
subsection (e) of this section, only for purposes of radioactive waste 
disposal activities under subchapters I and II of this chapter, 
including--
        (1) the identification, development, licensing, construction, 
    operation, decommissioning, and post-decommissioning maintenance and 
    monitoring of any repository, monitored,\2\ retrievable storage 
    facility \3\ or test and evaluation facility constructed under this 
    chapter;
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    \2\ So in original. The comma probably should not appear.
    \3\ So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma.
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        (2) the conducting of nongeneric research, development, and 
    demonstration activities under this chapter;
        (3) the administrative cost of the radioactive waste disposal 
    program;
        (4) any costs that may be incurred by the Secretary in 
    connection with the transportation, treating, or packaging of spent 
    nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste to be disposed of in a 
    repository, to be stored in a monitored,\2\ retrievable storage site 
    \3\ or to be used in a test and evaluation facility;
        (5) the costs associated with acquisition, design, modification, 
    replacement, operation, and construction of facilities at a 
    repository site, a monitored,\2\ retrievable storage site \3\ or a 
    test and evaluation facility site and necessary or incident to such 
    repository, monitored,\2\ retrievable storage facility \3\ or test 
    and evaluation facility; and
        (6) the provision of assistance to States, units of general 
    local government, and Indian tribes under sections 10136, 10138, and 
    10199 of this title.

No amount may be expended by the Secretary under this subchapter \4\ for 
the construction or expansion of any facility unless such construction 
or expansion is expressly authorized by this or subsequent legislation. 
The Secretary hereby is authorized to construct one repository and one 
test and evaluation facility.
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(e) Administration of Waste Fund

    (1) The Secretary of the Treasury shall hold the Waste Fund and, 
after consultation with the Secretary, annually report to the Congress 
on the financial condition and operations of the Waste Fund during the 
preceding fiscal year.
    (2) The Secretary shall submit the budget of the Waste Fund to the 
Office of Management and Budget triennially along with the budget of the 
Department of Energy submitted at such time in accordance with chapter 
11 of title 31. The budget of the Waste Fund shall consist of the 
estimates made by the Secretary of expenditures from the Waste Fund and 
other relevant financial matters for the succeeding 3 fiscal years, and 
shall be included in the Budget of the United States Government. The 
Secretary may make expenditures from the Waste Fund, subject to 
appropriations which shall remain available until expended. 
Appropriations shall be subject to triennial authorization.
    (3) If the Secretary determines that the Waste Fund contains at any 
time amounts in excess of current needs, the Secretary may request the 
Secretary of the Treasury to invest such amounts, or any portion of such 
amounts as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, in obligations of 
the United States--
        (A) having maturities determined by the Secretary of the 
    Treasury to be appropriate to the needs of the Waste Fund; and
        (B) bearing interest at rates determined to be appropriate by 
    the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the current 
    average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the 
    United States with remaining periods to maturity comparable to the 
    maturities of such investments, except that the interest rate on 
    such investments shall not exceed the average interest rate 
    applicable to existing borrowings.

    (4) Receipts, proceeds, and recoveries realized by the Secretary 
under this section, and expenditures of amounts from the Waste Fund, 
shall be exempt from annual apportionment under the provisions of 
subchapter II of chapter 15 of title 31.
    (5) If at any time the moneys available in the Waste Fund are 
insufficient to enable the Secretary to discharge his responsibilities 
under this subchapter,\5\ the Secretary shall issue to the Secretary of 
the Treasury obligations in such forms and denominations, bearing such 
maturities, and subject to such terms and conditions as may be agreed to 
by the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury. The total of such 
obligations shall not exceed amounts provided in appropriation Acts. 
Redemption of such obligations shall be made by the Secretary from 
moneys available in the Waste Fund. Such obligations shall bear interest 
at a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, which shall be 
not less than a rate determined by taking into consideration the average 
market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States 
of comparable maturities during the month preceding the issuance of the 
obligations under this paragraph. The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
purchase any issued obligations, and for such purpose the Secretary of 
the Treasury is authorized to use as a public debt transaction the 
proceeds from the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of 
title 31, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under such 
Act \5\ are extended to include any purchase of such obligations. The 
Secretary of the Treasury may at any time sell any of the obligations 
acquired by him under this paragraph. All redemptions, purchases, and 
sales by the Secretary of the Treasury of obligations under this 
paragraph shall be treated as public debt transactions of the United 
States.
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    \5\ See References in Text note below.
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    (6) Any appropriations made available to the Waste Fund for any 
purpose described in subsection (d) of this section shall be repaid into 
the general fund of the Treasury, together with interest from the date 
of availability of the appropriations until the date of repayment. Such 
interest shall be paid on the cumulative amount of appropriations 
available to the Waste Fund, less the average undisbursed cash balance 
in the Waste Fund account during the fiscal year involved. The rate of 
such interest shall be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury 
taking into consideration the average market yield during the month 
preceding each fiscal year on outstanding marketable obligations of the 
United States of comparable maturity. Interest payments may be deferred 
with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, but any interest 
payments so deferred shall themselves bear interest.

(Pub. L. 97-425, title III, Sec. 302, Jan. 7, 1983, 96 Stat. 2257.)

                       References in Text

    Subsection (c) of this section, referred to in subsec. (a)(3), was 
in the original ``subsection (c) 126(b)'' and was translated as 
subsection (c) of this section as the probable intent of Congress in 
view of the establishment of the Nuclear Waste Fund by subsec. (c) of 
this section and the absence of a section 126 in Pub. L. 97-425.
    This subchapter, referred to in subsecs. (a)(5)(B), (d), and (e)(5), 
was in the original ``this subtitle'', and was translated as this 
subchapter to reflect the probable intent of Congress because title III 
of Pub. L. 97-425, which enacted this subchapter, does not contain 
subtitles.
    Such Act, referred to in subsec. (e)(5), probably means chapter 31 
of Title 31, Money and Finance.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 2210, 2214, 10101, 10107, 
10138, 10161, 10193, 10194, 10251, 10269 of this title.
