S 1071 IS

To designate the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory as the Center of Excellence for Environmental Stewardship of the Department of Energy to provide for the long-term stewardship of Department of Energy land, and establish the Natural Resources Institute within the Center.

May 18 (legislative day, MAY 14), 1999

Mr. CRAPO (for himself and Mr. CRAIG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

To designate the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory as the Center of Excellence for Environmental Stewardship of the Department of Energy to provide for the long-term stewardship of Department of Energy land, and establish the Natural Resources Institute within the Center.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Environmental Stewardship and Natural Resources Act of 1999'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that--

(1) in order to maintain our quality of life, economic growth should--

(A) be balanced with environmental management; and

(B) include collaborative scientific inquiry, technology development, and public policy;

(2) the failure of environmental science data, technology, and knowledge to adequately support long-term policy leads to questions of scientific data quality, credibility, and utility, and results in an atmosphere of adversarial science and conflicting policy;

(3) individuals affected by decisions regarding long-term stewardship have not always been effective in determining the needs for, setting the agenda for, and participating in environmental research and development;

(4) decisions regarding the long-term stewardship can significantly impact a region's economy and its residents' quality of life;

(5) the Department of Energy is just beginning to develop long-term strategies for managing its vast holdings of land;

(6) the Department of Energy environmental management program--

(A) is the largest program in the Department;

(B) must have the scientific capability to support long-term stewardship in order for the Department to manage legacy waste; and

(C) has no national laboratories designated to address the science, research, and developmental needs for long-term stewardship; and

(7) the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, a multiprogrammatic federally funded research and development laboratory, is geographically and technologically positioned to capably address the needs for long-term stewardship.

(b) PURPOSES- The purposes of this Act are--

(1) to designate the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory as the Center of Excellence for Environmental Stewardship of the Department of Energy to provide for the long-term stewardship of Department land;

(2) to establish the Natural Resources Institute within the Center; and

(3) to authorize the Center and Institute--

(A) to provide scientific and technical assistance to the Department in carrying out the environmental missions of the Department;

(B) to perform basic and applied scientific research necessary, and develop methods and technologies, for modeling, detection, characterization, remediation, treatment, and control of contaminants--

(i) in the environment; or

(ii) stored or disposed of as waste;

(C) to serve as a neutral forum to develop scientific solutions for long-term stewardship of Department land;

(D) to coordinate research on and develop--

(i) appropriate and systematic approaches to long-term stewardship; and

(ii) the specific tools and mechanisms necessary to implement approaches--

(I) to support public policy development by facilitating the creation of public-private partnerships necessary to implement systemic approaches to long-term stewardship; and

(II) in cooperation with colleges and universities, to provide education and training regarding long-term stewardship by developing training

programs and educational curricula using modern information systems such as the Internet and video teleconferencing for a wide variety of users, including--

(aa) the public;

(bb) local and regional government;

(cc) industry; and

(dd) colleges and universities; and

(E) to facilitate the creation of commercial enterprises through application of derived use science and technology by involving--

(i) local economic development agencies;

(ii) technology incubators;

(iii) research institutes; and

(iv) the private sector; and

(F) to transfer information and analyses regarding long-term stewardship to persons and organizations to allow informed decisionmaking.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) ATOMIC ENERGY DEFENSE ACTIVITY- The term `atomic energy defense activity' has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101).

(2) CENTER- The term `Center' means the Center of Excellence for Environmental Stewardship of the Department designated under section 4(a).

(3) DEPARTMENT- The term `Department' means the Department of Energy.

(4) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITY-

(A) IN GENERAL- The term `Department of Energy defense nuclear facility' means a site under control or jurisdiction of the Department that is operated for the purpose of conducting an atomic energy defense activity, including--

(i) a production facility, as defined in section 11 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014);

(ii) a utilization facility, as defined in section 11 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014);

(iii) a nuclear waste storage or disposal facility;

(iv) an atomic weapon testing and evaluation facility;

(v) an atomic weapons research and development facility; or

(vi) any facility described in any of clauses (i) through (v) that--

(I) no longer is in operation; and

(II) was operated for the purpose of conducting an atomic energy defense activity.

(B) EXCLUSION- The term `Department of Energy defense nuclear facility' does not include a facility that conducts only civilian nuclear activities, such as technology necessary for the generation of electricity at a nuclear power plant.

(5) INSTITUTE- The term `Institute' means the Natural Resources Institute established under section 5(a).

(6) LONG-TERM STEWARDSHIP- The term `long-term stewardship' means the responsibility to manage all natural and manmade resources in a manner that balances economics, ecological, social, and cultural factors.

(7) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Energy.

SEC. 4. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP.

(a) IN GENERAL- The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory is designated as the Center of Excellence for Environmental Stewardship of the Department.

(b) DUTIES- The Center shall--

(1) develop, test, and demonstrate new and innovative methods and technologies necessary for the implementation of programs by the Department for the long-term stewardship of--

(A) contaminated land;

(B) remediated land that remains contaminated, such as capped landfills or land under which ground water is contaminated; and

(C) uncontaminated land used as a buffer area around a Department of Energy defense nuclear facility;

(2) develop, test, and demonstrate new and innovative methods and technologies for the estimation of Federal liability under section 107(f) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9607(f));

(3) develop and continually update systems engineering methods for analyzing the options and efficiencies for transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of waste at Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities;

(4) conduct basic scientific research into the transport of contaminants in the environment;

(5) develop models and predictive methods for estimating--

(A) the transport of contaminants in various environmental settings; and

(B) the subsequent risk posed by contaminants in the environment to humans and associated ecosystems; and

(6) develop, test, and demonstrate new and innovative technologies for the detection, monitoring, stabilization, and remediation of contaminants in the environment.

(c) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING- The Center shall enter into memoranda of understanding with the heads of appropriate Federal agencies to establish administrative procedures necessary for the Center to--

(1) participate in work for other programs on land of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture; and

(2) solve pressing long-term stewardship problems.

(d) ACQUISITION OF INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES- To assist the Center in carrying out this Act, the Center may acquire from any Federal agency unclassified and nonproprietary information maintained by the agency.

SEC. 5. NATURAL RESOURCES INSTITUTE.

(a) IN GENERAL- Within the Center, there is established a Natural Resources Institute as a pilot demonstration project.

(b) DUTIES- The Institute shall--

(1) serve in a dual capacity as a partner and facilitator in performing the duties described in paragraphs (2) through (5);

(2) initiate and perform multidisciplinary, solution-oriented, focused, and needs-driven research regarding long-term stewardship through--

(A) coordination of research activities to minimize duplication of effort and maximize scientific advancement;

(B) maintenance of meaningful public involvement in the development and implementation of research activities;

(C) performance of research by high-quality scientific experts who are private and public partners of the Institute;

(D) performance of research in and development of understanding of the field of predicting regional ecosystem dynamics;

(E) development of methodologies, technologies, and tools for environmental stewardship; and

(F) development and understanding of the science associated with the long-term stewardship issues associated with Department land;

(3) support formulation and implementation of long-term stewardship public policy through--

(A) consideration of the balance of socioeconomic concerns and quality of life issues with respect to environmental remediation, cost, and schedule concerns; and

(B) involvement of the public with the research and development activities of the Institute;

(4) act as an information resource center by--

(A) serving as a centralized repository for environmental data, data management resources, and analytical tools for Department land;

(B) entering into partnership agreements with private entities and public agencies to access or acquire and maintain regional environmental data sets through--

(i) monitoring data;

(ii) geographical information system coverages;

(iii) satellite data; and

(iv) data from local and regional ecological studies;

(C) providing quick and affordable access to all public databases, such as those maintained by the Federal and State agencies, and, as appropriate, access to private databases developed to support specific models or decisions; and

(D) training personnel to assist the public and researchers in gaining access to information on long-term stewardship; and

(5) provide training--

(A) using colleges and universities to educate the public, future scientists, and educators;

(B) seminars and training assistance for the public; and

(C) collaboration with colleges and universities to provide resources, internships, and research opportunities.

(c) COOPERATION- In carrying out this section, the Institute shall cooperate with--

(1) Federal and State agencies;

(2) colleges and universities;

(3) national laboratories;

(4) the public; and

(5) the private sector.

END