Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 99 Part 2.djvu/748

 99 STAT. 1858 42 USC 2021g.

Science and technology. Transportation. Health. Safety.

Science and technology. Transportation.

42 USC 2021h.

Ante, p. 1842.

PUBLIC LAW 99-240—JAN. 15, 1986

"SEC. 7. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.

"(a) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall, to the extent provided in appropriations Act, provide to those compact regions, host States, and nonmember States detemined by the Secretary to require assistance for purposes of carrying out this Act— "(1) continuing technical assistance to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities under this Act. Such technical assistance shall include, but not be limited to, technical guidelines for site selection, alternative technologies for low-level radioactive waste disposal, volume reduction options, management techniques to reduce low-level waste generation, transportation practices for shipment of low-level wastes, health and safety considerations in the storage, shipment and disposal of low-level radioactive wastes, and establishment of a computerized database to monitor the management of low-level radioactive wastes; and "(2) through the end of fiscal year 1993, financial assistance to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities under this Act. "(b) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Congress on an annual basis a report which (1) summarizes the progress of low-level waste disposal siting and licensing activities within each compact region, (2) reviews the available volume reduction technologies, their applications, effectiveness, and costs on a per unit volume basis, (3) reviews interim storage facility requirements, costs, and usage, (4) summarizes transportation requirements for such wastes on an inter- and intra-regional basis, (5) summarizes the data on the total amount of low-level waste shipped for disposal on a yearly basis, the proportion of such wastes subjected to volume reduction, the average volume reduction attained, and the proportion of wastes stored on an interim basis, and (6) projects the interim storage and final disposal volume requirements anticipated for the following year, on a regional basis. "SEC. 8. ALTERNATIVE DISPOSAL METHODS.

"(a) Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall, in consultation with the States and other interested persons, identify methods for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste other than shallow land burial, and establish and publish technical guidance regarding licensing of facilities that use such methods. "(b) Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, the Commission shall, in consultation with the States and other interested persons, identify and publish all relevant technical information regarding the methods identified pursuant to subsection (a) that a State or compact must provide to the Commission in order to pursue such methods, together with the technical requirements that such facilities must meet, in the judgment of the Commission, if pursued as an alternative to shallow land burial. Such technical information and requirements shall include, but need not be limited to, site suitability, site design, facility operation, disposal site closure, and environmental monitoring, as necessary to meet the performance objectives established by the Commission for a licensed low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. The Commis-

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