Project Operations
Compliance Regulation Requirements

Three kinds of public laws provide the authority, mission, and resources for the nation's major federal programs: organic, authorizing, and appropriating legislation. Regulations written by federal agencies appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. These control the activities for which the agencies are responsible. Together, these laws and regulations govern the activities of the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (the Project).

Public Law.

Three kinds of public laws provide the authority, mission, and resources for the nation's major federal programs: organic, authorizing, and appropriating legislation. Organic legislation creates and assigns responsibilities to federal agencies. For example, the Atomic Energy Act and its amendments assign to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) the management of the nation's highly radioactive materials. It gives the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) the responsibility for regulating all nuclear materials in civilian use. Additionally, it makes NRC responsible for regulating the handling, storage, and disposal of high-level radioactive waste from defense and civilian uses.

Authorizing legislation creates individual programs and provides initial funding and direction. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 is an example of authorizing legislation.

Appropriating legislation provides annual funding for federal agencies and individual programs enacted by organic and authorizing legislation. In theory, authorizing legislation makes major changes in program direction. In practice, appropriating legislation often leads to changes. Because Congress may cause program changes in its appropriations process, DOE may expect to receive additional direction from Congress from year to year. The direction is part of the annual Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act.

In addition to organic legislation and authorizing legislation, the Project is subject to other laws. Generally, such laws apply to any federal development program, project, or major federal action. Examples are the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The requirements are interrelated. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 requires that DOE find a site, and build, operate, and safely close a repository for highly radioactive materials. The NRC oversees this process. The Administrative Procedure Act requires judicial review of significant federal agency decisions, and decides the relief available to parties opposed to agency actions. Part of the Administrative Procedure Act incorporates provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, which contains three requirements:

1. directs consideration of environmental consequences in decision making,
2. mandates a thorough evaluation of projected consequences, and
3. requires giving the public complete information about the projected consequences before final decisions are made by the agency.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 modified some provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act as it relates to the Project. DOE is not required to prepare an environmental impact statement for site characterization activities. DOE's environmental impact statement for the repository is to be adopted, as much as is practical, by NRC.

Federal Regulations. Regulations written by federal agencies appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. These laws control the activities for which they are responsible.

The Code gives the current version of agencies' regulations. It is divided into 50 titles according to subject matter. These titles are divided into chapters, chapters into parts, and parts into sections. Regulations in the Code are laws that must be followed. While NRC's regulations are the major ones affecting the Project, the pertinent regulations for the Project are:

• 10 CFR subpart A specifies that regulations for work at Yucca Mountain must be consistent with other regulatory acts,
• 10 CFR subpart E stipulates that seismic and subsurface conditions at Yucca Mountain must be determined through studies to establish conditions for siting a repository there,
• 10 CFR part 51 cites environmental protection regulations for NRC licensing, and
• 10 CFR part 72 describes licensing requirements for independent storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

 

Additional Information:
Why Yucca Mountain?	History of nuclear waste program
Who's watching us?	Project Fact Sheets
Project Operations	Transportation
Project Databases	Employment Opportunities

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