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LOTT AMENDMENT NO. 3615 -- (Senate - June 23, 2000)

status of the relicensing process for civilian nuclear power plants, including current and anticipated applications, and recommendations for improvements in the process, including, but not limited to recommendations for expediting the process and ensuring that relicensing is accomplished in a timely manner. 

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   SEC. 411. NRC HEARING PROCEDURE.

    Section 189(a)(1) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2239(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following--

    ``(C) HEARINGS.--A hearing under this section shall be conducted using informal adjudicatory procedures established under sections 553 and 555 of title 5, United States Code, unless the Commission determines that formal adjudicatory procedures are necessary--

    ``(i) to develop a sufficient record; or

    ``(ii) to achieve fairness.''.

   

   Subtitle C--Development of a National Spent Nuclear Fuel Strategy

   SEC. 415. FINDINGS.

    (a) Prior to permanent closure of the geologic repository in Yucca Mountain , Congress must determine whether the spent fuel in the repository should be treated as waste subject to permanent burial or should be considered an energy resource that is needed to meet future energy requirements;

    (b) Future use of nuclear energy may require construction of a second geologic repository unless Yucca Mountain can safely accommodate additional spent fuel. Improved spent fuel strategies may increase the capacity of Yucca Mountain .

    (c) Prior to construction of any second permanent geologic repository, the nation's current plans for permanent burial of spent fuel should be reevaluated.

   SEC. 416. OFFICE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL RESEARCH.

    (a) ESTABLISHMENT.--There is hereby established an Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research (referred to as the ``Office'' in this section) within the Office of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology of the Department of Energy. The Office shall be headed by the Associate Director, who shall be a member of the Senior Executive Service appointed by the Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, and compensated at a rate determined by applicable law.

    (b) ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR.--The Associate Director of the Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research shall be responsible for carrying out an integrated research, development, and demonstration program on technologies for treatment, recycling, and disposal of high-level nuclear radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, subject to the general supervision of the Secretary. The Associate Director of the Office shall report to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology. The first such Associate Director shall be appointed within 90 days of the enactment of this Act.

    (c) GRANT AND CONTRACT AUTHORITY.--In carrying out his responsibilities under this section, the Secretary may make grants, or enter into contracts, for the purposes of the research projects and activities described in (d)(2).

    (d)(1) DUTIES.--The Associate Director of the Office shall involve national laboratories, universities, the commercial nuclear industry, and other organizations to investigate technologies for the treatment, recycling, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

    (2) The Associate Director of the Office shall:

    (A) develop a research plan to provide recommendations by 2015;

    (B) identify technologies for the treatment, recycling, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste;

    (C) conduct research and development activities on such technologies;

    (D) ensure that all activities include as key objectives minimization of proliferation concerns and risk to health of the general public or site workers, as well as development of cost-effective technologies;

    (E) require research on both reactor- and accelerator-based transmutation systems;

    (F) require research on advanced processing and separations;

    (G) encourage that research efforts include participation of international collaborators;

    (H) be authorized to fund international collaborators when they bring unique capabilities not available in the United States and their host country is unable to provide for their support;

    (I) ensure that research efforts with the Office are coordinated with research on advance fuel cycles and reactors conducted within the Office of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology.

    (e) REPORT.--The Associate Director of the Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research shall annually prepare and submit a report to the Congress on the activities and expenditures of the Office, including the process that has been made to achieve the objectives of paragraph (b).

   

   Subtitle D--Coal Resources

   SEC. 420. COAL GENERATING CAPACITY.

    The Secretary of Energy shall examine existing coal-fired power plants and submit a report to the Congress within six months from the enactment of this Act on the potential of such plants for increased generation and any impediments to achieving such increase. The report shall describe, in detail, options for improving the efficiency of these plants. The report shall include recommendations for a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application to develop economically and environmentally acceptable advanced technologies for current electricity generation facilities using coal as the primary feedstock, including commercial-scale applications of advanced clean coal technologies. The report shall also include an assessment of the costs to develop and demonstrate such technologies and the time required to undertake such development and demonstration.

   SEC. 425. COAL LIQUEFACTION.

    The Secretary of Energy shall provide grants for the refinement and demonstration of new technologies for the conversion of coal to liquids. Such grants shall be for the design and construction of an indirect liquefaction plant capable of production in commercial quantities. There are authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of this section such sums as may be necessary through fiscal year 2004.

   

   TITLE V--ARCTIC COASTAL PLAIN DOMESTIC ENERGY SECURITY ACT OF 2000

   SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE

    This title may be cited as the ``Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Security Act of 2000''.

   SEC. 502. DEFINITIONS.

    When used in this title the term--

    (1) ``Coastal Plain'' means that area identified as such in the map entitled ``Arctic National Wildlife Refuge'', dated August 1980, as referenced in section 1002(b) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 3142(b)(1)) comprising approximately 1,549,000 acres; and

    (2) ``Secretary'', except as otherwise provided, means the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary's designee.

   SEC. 503. LEASING PROGRAM FOR LANDS WITHIN THE COASTAL PLAIN.

    (a) AUTHORIZATION.--The Congress hereby authorizes and directs the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Land Management in consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service and other appropriate Federal offices and agencies, to take such actions as are necessary to establish and implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program that will result in an environmentally sound program for the exploration, development, and production of the oil and gas resources of the Coastal Plain and to administer the provisions of this title through regulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, prohibitions, stipulations, and other provisions that ensure the oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities on the Coastal Plain will result in no significant adverse effect on fish and wildlife, their habitat, subsistence resources, and the environment, and shall require the application of the best commercially available technology for oil and gas exploration, development, and production, on all new exploration, development, and production operations, and whenever practicable, on existing operations, and in a manner to ensure the receipt of fair market value by the public for the mineral resources to be leased.

    (b) REPEAL.--The prohibitions and limitations contained in section 1003 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 3143) are hereby repealed.

    (c) COMPATIBILITY.--Congress hereby determines that the oil and gas leasing program and activities authorized by this section in the Coastal Plain are compatible with the purposes for which the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was established, and that no further findings or decisions are required to implement this determination.

    (d) SOLE AUTHORITY.--This title shall be the sole authority for leasing on the Coastal Plain: Provided, That nothing in this title shall be deemed to expand or limit State and local regulatory authority.

    (e) FEDERAL LAND.--The Coastal Plain shall be considered ``Federal land'' for the purposes of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982.

    (f) SPECIAL AREAS.--The Secretary, after consultation with the State of Alaska, City of Kaktovik, and the North Slope Borough, is authorized to designate up to a total of 45,000 acres of the Coastal Plain as Special Areas and close such areas to leasing if the Secretary determines that these Special Areas are of such unique character and interest so as to require special management and regulatory protection. The Secretary may, however, permit leasing of all or portions of any Special Areas within the Coastal Plain by setting lease terms that limit or condition surface use and occupancy by lessees of such lands but permit the use of horizontal drilling technology from sites on leases located outside the designated Special Areas.

    (g) LIMITATION ON CLOSED AREAS.--The Secretary's sole authority to close lands within the Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing and to exploration, development, and production is that set forth in this title.

    (h) CONVEYANCE.--In order to maximize Federal revenues by removing clouds on title of lands and clarifying land ownership patterns within the Coastal Plain, the Secretary, notwithstanding the provisions of section 1302(h)(2) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3192(h)(2)), is authorized and directed to convey (1) to the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation the surface estate of the lands described in paragraph 2 of the Public Land Order 6959, to the extent necessary to fulfill the Corporation's entitlement under section 12 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1611), and (2) to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation the subsurface estate beneath such surface estate pursuant to the August 9, 1983, agreement between the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and the United States of America.

   SEC. 504. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

    (a) PROMULGATION.--The Secretary shall prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes and 

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provisions of this title, including rules and regulations relating to protection of the fish and wildlife, their habitat, subsistence resources, and the environment of the Coastal Plain. Such rules and regulations shall be promulgated no later than fourteen months after the date of enactment of this title and shall, as of their effective date, apply to all operations conducted under a lease issued or maintained under the provisions of this title and all operations on the Coastal Plain related to the leasing, exploration, development, and production of oil and gas.

    (b) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.--The Secretary shall periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the rules and regulations issued under subsection (a) of this section to reflect any significant biological, environmental, or engineering data which come to the Secretary's attention.

   SEC. 505. ADEQUACY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR'S LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.

    The ``Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement'' (April 1987) on the Coastal Plain prepared pursuant to section 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 3142) and section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) is hereby found by the Congress to be adequate to satisfy the legal and procedural requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 with respect to actions authorized to be taken by the Secretary to develop and promulgate the regulations for the establishment of the leasing program authorized by this title, to conduct the first lease sale and any subsequent lease sale authorized by this title, and to grant rights-of-way and easements to carry out the purposes of this title.

   SEC. 506. LEASE SALES.

    (a) LEASE SALES.--Lands may be leased pursuant to the provisions of this title to any person qualified to obtain a lease for deposits of oil and gas under the Mineral Leasing Act, as amended (30 U.S.C. 181).

    (b) PROCEDURES.--The Secretary shall, by regulation, establish procedures for--

    (1) receipt and consideration of sealed nominations for any area in the Coastal Plain for inclusion in, or exclusion (as provided in subsection (c)) from, a lease sale; and

    (2) public notice of and comment on designation of areas to be included in, or excluded from, a lease sale.

    (c) LEASE SALES ON COASTAL PLAIN.--The Secretary shall, by regulation, provide for lease sales of lands on the Coastal Plain. When lease sales are to be held, they shall occur after the nomination process provided for in subsection (b) of this section. For the first lease sale, the Secretary shall offer for lease those acres receiving the greatest number of nominations, but no less than two hundred thousand acres and no more than three hundred thousand acres shall be offered. If the total acreage nominated is less than two hundred thousand acres, the Secretary shall include in such sale any other acreage which he believes has the highest resource potential, but in no event shall more than three hundred thousand acres of the Coastal Plain be offered in such sale. With respect to subsequent lease sales, the Secretary shall offer for lease no less than two hundred thousand acres of the Coastal Plain. The initial lease sale shall be held within twenty months of the date of enactment of this title. The second lease sale shall be held no later than twenty-four months after the initial sale, with additional sales conducted no later than twelve months thereafter so long as sufficient interest in development exists to warrant, in the Secretary's judgment, the conduct of such sales.

   SEC. 507. GRANT OF LEASES BY THE SECRETARY.

    (a) IN GENERAL.--The Secretary is authorized to grant to the highest responsible qualified bidder by sealed competitive cash bonus bid any lands to be leased on the Coastal Plain upon payment by the lessee of such bonus as may be accepted by the Secretary and of such royalty as may be fixed in the lease, which shall be not less then 12 1/2 per centum in amount or value of the production removed or sold from the lease.

    (b) ANTITRUST REVIEW.--Following each notice of a proposed lease sale and before the acceptance of bids and the issuance of leases based on such bids, the Secretary shall allow the Attorney General, in consultation with the Federal Trade Commission, thirty days to perform an antitrust review of the results of such lease sale on the likely effects the issuance of such leases would have on competition and the Attorney General shall advise the Secretary with respect to such review, including any recommendation for the nonacceptance of any bid or the

   imposition of terms or conditions on any lease, as may be appropriate to prevent any situation inconsistent with the antitrust laws.

    (c) SUBSEQUENT TRANSFERS.--No lease issued under this title may be sold, exchanged, assigned, sublet, or otherwise transferred except with the approval of the Secretary. Prior to any such approval the Secretary shall consult with, and give due consideration to the views of, the Attorney General.

    (d) IMMUNITY.--Nothing in this title shall be deemed to convey to any person, association, corporation, or other business organization immunity from civil or criminal liability, or to create defenses to actions, under any antitrust law.

    (e) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term--

    (1) ``antitrust review'' shall be deemed an ``antitrust investigation'' for the purposes of the Antitrust Civil Process Act (15 U.S.C. 1311); and

    (2) ``antitrust laws'' means those Acts set forth in section 1 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12) as amended.

   SEC. 508. LEASE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

    An oil or gas lease issued pursuant to this title shall--

    (1) be for a tract consisting of a compact area not to exceed five thousand seven hundred sixty acres, or nine surveyed or protracted sections which shall be as compact in form as possible;

    (2) be for an initial period of ten years and shall be extended for so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities from the lease or unit area to which the lease is committed or for so long as drilling or reworking operations, as approved by the Secretary, are conducted on the lease or unit area;

    (3) require the payment of royalty as provided for in section 507 of this title;

    (4) require that exploration activities pursuant to any lease issued or maintained under this title shall be conducted in accordance with an exploration plan or a revision of such plan approved by the Secretary;

    (5) require that all development and production pursuant to a lease issued or maintained pursuant to this title shall be conducted in accordance with development and production plans approved by the Secretary;

    (6) require posting of bond as required by section 509 of this title;

    (7) provide that the Secretary may close, on a seasonal basis, portions of the Coastal Plain to exploratory drilling activities as necessary to protect caribou calving areas and other species of fish and wildlife;

    (8) contain such provisions relating to rental and other fees as the Secretary may prescribe at the time of offering the area for lease;

    (9) provide that the Secretary may direct or assent to the suspension of operations and production under any lease granted under the terms of this title in the interest of conservation of the resource or where there is no available system to transport the resource. If such a suspension is directed or assented to by the Secretary, any payment of rental prescribed by such lease shall be suspended during such period of suspension of operations and production, and the term of the lease shall be extended by adding any such suspension period thereto; 

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