U.S. congressional high-level radioactive waste legislation -- bills that Beyond Nuclear opposes, and supports

Beyond Nuclear opposes these bills:

H.R. 2699, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019 [Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney (Democrat from CA-9), U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (Republican from IL-15), et al.]

[See analyses of and commentary on H.R. 2699, by Robert Halstead, director, State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, from June 2019:

---U.S. House Subcommittee hearing testimony;

---Analysis of and commentary on H.R. 2699];

See this November 20, 2019 post re: passage of H.R. 2699 by the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee, by voice vote. 

See this September 26, 2019 post re: passage of H.R. 2699 by the U.S. House Environment and Climate Subcommittee by voice vote. 

Here is the link to the Subcommittee's own website post re: voice vote passage of H.R. 2699 during mark up, one of 15 bills. Here are the opening remarks by Committee Chairman Pallone (D-NJ) at the subcommittee mark up.

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S. 2917, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019 [Sponsored by U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), and U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND); identical to H.R. 2699].

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H.R. 2995, the Spent Fuel Prioritization Act of 2019 [Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Levin (Democrat from CA-49), et al.].

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H.R. 3136, the Storage and Transportation of Residual and Excess Nuclear Fuel Act of 2019 (a.k.a. the STORE Nuclear Fuel Act) [Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (Democrat from CA-6), et al.].

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See the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing from 6/13/19, re: all three House bills mentioned above (H.R. 2699, H.R. 2995, H.R. 3136), at this link. There you will find the video of the hearing, as well as links to witness introductory remarks and full written testimonies.

See a Beyond Nuclear letter for the record submitted to the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee for the hearing on 6/13/19, expressing opposition to all three bills.

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S. 1234, the Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2019 [Sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Republican from AK), U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (Republican from TN), and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Democrat from CA)].

See the video of the 6/27/19 Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee hearing on this bill, with links to witness introductions and full written testimonies, at this link.

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Beyond Nuclear also opposes funding for the Yucca Mountain, Nevada dump-site, as well as for the New Mexico and Texas consolidated interim storage facilities, in both congressional budget as well as appropriations bills.

The Trump administration roll out for Fiscal Year 2021 budget figures took place on February 10, 2020. It reflected a tweet sent by Trump some days earlier, announcing his administration would not seek any funding for the Yucca dump licensing restart in FY2021. For each of the three previous Fiscal Years, the Trump administration had requested $120 million for Yucca dump licensing restart, but never got any funding, through congressional blocking actions. However, funding for "Interim Waste Management," closely tied to consolidated interim storage proposals, has been passed year after year. In FY2020, the figure was around $25 million. The Trump administration has requested $27.5 million for "Interim Waste Management" in FY2021.

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Beyond Nuclear supports these bills*:

H.R. 1544, the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act/ S. 649, the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act.

[In the U.S. House, sponsored by Dina Titus, Steven Horsford, and Susie Lee, Democrats from Nevada. In the U.S. Senate, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, Democrats from Nevada, and co-sponsored by U.S. Sens.: Cory Booker (Democrat from NJ); Kamala Harris (Democrat from CA); Amy Klobuchar (Democrat from MN); Bernie Sanders (Independent from VT); Elizabeth Warren (Democrat from MA); and Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat from NY)]

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S. 1985, the STRANDED Act of 2019 (a.k.a. the Sensible, Timely Relief for America's Nuclear Districts' Economic Development Act of 2019). [Sponsored by Tammy Duckworth, Democrat from IL, et al.]

H.R. 5608, the STRANDED Act of 2019 [Sponsored by Bradley Scott Schneider, Democrat from IL, et al.; identical to S. 1985, immediately above]

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H.Res. 805, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President and the Secretary of State should ensure that the Government of Canada does not permanently store nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin [Sponsored by Dan Kildee, Democrat from MI, John Moolenar, Republican from MI, et al.; identical to S. Res. 470, immediately below]

S.Res. 470, A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the President and the Secretary of State should ensure that the Government of Canada does not permanently store nuclear waste in the Great Lake Basin [Sponsored by Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, Democrats from MI, et al.; identical to H.Res. 805, immediately above]

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*Please note, Beyond Nuclear's support for these bills would include their passage as stand-alone bills, or as part of broader environmental-, health-, and safety-protection legislation. However, their inclusion as sweeteners in dangerously bad bills, like those listed above that Beyond Nuclear opposes, is unacceptable.

NY State AG: 'Grave concerns' over Indian Point nuclear plant decommissioning [by Holtec]

As reported by the Rockland/Westchester Journal News.

Holtec International has also proposed a consolidated interim storage facility for irradiated nuclear fuel -- such as the highly radioactive wastes at Indian Point nuclear power plant in NY -- targeted at southeastern New Mexico.

Is The Company Poised To Dismantle Indian Point Too Radioactive?

So asks WNYC, regarding Holtec International's proposal to take over the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, upstream of New York City on the Hudson River, in order to dismantle the reactors after they close in the next two years, clean up the severe radioactive contamination, and manage vast quantities of high-level radioactive waste stored on-site there.

As reported by the USA Today Network, many local residents deeply distrust Holtec because of the many skeletons in its closet.

Holtec's Canadian decommissioning partner, SNC-Lavalin, has many skeletons in its closet as well, including the company recently pleading guilty to fraud, being fined $280 million, and placed on a three year probation; a former executive was just convicted of fraud and corruption, and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

How can this consortium be trusted with more than $2 billion in the decommissioning trust fund at Indian Point?

How can Holtec be trusted to safely transport irradiated nuclear fuel from U.S. reactors like Indian Point, across the country, to its proposed consolidated interim storage facility in New Mexico?

How can Holtec be trusted to operate the CISF safely?

Beyond Nuclear is part of a broad coalition actively resisting Holtec's CISF licensing by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Unlikely allies in this fight -- Fasken Oil and Ranch, and Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners -- just filed a major legal motion opposed to Holtec's CISF with the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.

Learn what you can do to help stop Holtec's de facto permanent, surface storage, "parking lot dump" in New Mexico, and the 10,000 Mobile Chernobyls, Dirty Bombs on Wheels, Floating Fukushimas, and Mobile X-ray Machines That Can't Be Turned Off that its opening would launch through most states.

Learn more about centralized storage, Yucca Mountain, and waste transportation, at our website.

Fasken and PBLRO's Motion to Reopen and Motion to Amend Contention Four

(1) FASKEN OIL AND RANCH, LTD AND PERMIAN BASIN LAND AND ROYALTY OWNERS MOTION TO REOPEN THE RECORD FOR PURPOSES OF RECONSIDERING AND ADMITTING AN AMENDED CONTENTION BASED ON NEW INFORMATION PROVIDED BY INTERIM STORAGE PARTNERS IN RESPONSE TO NRC REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION;

(2) FASKEN OIL AND RANCH, LTD AND PERMIAN BASIN LAND AND ROYALTY OWNERS MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND CONTENTION FOUR REGARDING INTERIM STORAGE PARTNER'S NEW DESCRIPTION OF GROUNDWATER LOCATED BELOW THE SITE AND THE POTENTIAL IMPACT THE SITE WILL HAVE ON THE GROUNDWATER;

(3) AFFIDAVIT OF AARON PACHLHOFER.

See three related documents, named above, all dated Jan. 21, 2020, at these NRC links:

ML20021A383

https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML20021A383

Fasken Oil and Ranch, Ltd., and Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners, have intervened against the Interim Storage Partners, LLC, Waste Control Specialists Consolidated Interim Storage Facility, targeted at Andrews County, west Texas.

Amicus Brief from 12 State Attorneys General, in support of MA AG, challening NRC's approval of Holtec takeover at Pilgrim

MEMORANDUM OF LAW FOR THE STATES OF NEW YORK, CONNECTICUT, ILLINOIS, IOWA, MARYLAND, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, NEW JERSEY, NEW MEXICO, OREGON, PENNSYLVANIA, AND VERMONT AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER AND IN OPPOSITION TO THE MOTIONS TO DISMISS

re: COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, Petitioner, v. U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondents, HOLTEC DECOMMISSIONING INTERNATIONAL, LLC, et al., Intervenors

before the UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

See the 48 page Memorandum posted here.

Holtec International has also proposed a consolidated interim storage facility for irradiated nuclear fuel -- such as the highly radioactive wastes at Pilgrim nuclear power plant in MA -- targeted at southeastern New Mexico.