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"(A) sites at which ores are processed pri

marily for their source material content, and

"(B) sites used for the disposal of byproduct

material as defined in section 11 e. (2).

"b. Before the promulgation of any rule pursuant to

6 subsection a., the Administrator shall

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"(1) consult with the Commission, and

"(2) provide adequate notice of any rulemaking proceeding and provide opportunity for public hearing.

"c. Any interested person may obtain judicial review of 11 any rule promulgated under subsection a. of this section in 12 the United States court of appeals for the Federal judicial 13 circuit in which such person resides or transacts business 14 only upon petition for review by such person filed within 15 ninety days from the date of such promulgation, or after 16 such date only if such petition is based solely on grounds 17 which arose after such ninetieth day.

18 "d. Nothing in this Act shall affect the authority of the 19 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 20 under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the 21 Commission shall not have authority under this Act to regu22 late any substance or activity subject to the Federal Water 23 Pollution Control Act except to the extent such regulation 24 by the Commission is not inconsistent with regulation of 25 such substance or activity under the Federal Water Pollution

29

1 Control Act. Nothing in this section shall affect any authority 2 of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection

3 Agency under any other provision of this Act or under the 4 Clean Air Act.".

5 (c) The table of contents for chapter 19 of the Atomic 6 Energy Act is amended by inserting the following new item 7 after the item relating to section 274:

8

"Sec. 275. Authority of the Environmental Protection Agency.".

AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION FOR GRANTS

9 SEC. 207. Effective October 1, 1979, there is hereby 10 authorized to be appropriated to the Nuclear Regulatory 11 Commission the sum of $500,000 to be used for making 12 grants to States which have entered into agreements with 13 the Commission under section 274 of the Atomic Energy 14 Act of 1954 to aid in the development of State regulatory 15 programs under such section which implement the provi16 sions of this Act.

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EFFECTIVE DATE

SEC. 208. Except as otherwise provided in section 19 204 (g), the amendments made by this title shall take 20 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. The amend21 ments made by this title shall apply to all licenses issued 22 under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 whether issued be23 fore, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act, 24 except that

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(1) in the case of licenses issued by a State under section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, before the date 3 years after the date of the enactment of

this Act such amendments shall apply only to the extent practicable, and

(2) no license under section 81 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 shall be required for the transfer, receipt, production, manufacture, acquisition, ownership, possession, import or export of byproduct material as defined in section 11 e. (2) of such Act until

the date three years after the enactment of this Act.

CONSOLIDATION OF LICENSES AND PROCEDURES

SEC. 209. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall 14 consolidate, to the maximum extent practicable, licenses 15 and licensing procedures under amendments made by this 16 title with licenses and licensing procedures under other 17 authorities contained in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

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RELATIONSHIP TO TITLE I AUTHORITIES

SEC. 210. Except as provided in sections 103 (c) (7) 20 and 104 (c) (4), no license shall be required under section 21 62 or 81 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 for any ac22 tivity carried out under the authority of title I of this Act.

United States Department of the Interior

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240

JUL 7 1978

Honorable Harley O. Staggers
Chairman, Committee on

Interstate and Foreign Commerce

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D. C. 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

This responds to your request for our views on H.R. 12535, a bill
"To authorize the Secretary of Energy to enter into cooperative
arrangements to contain and to reduce potential radiation exposure
from residual radioactive materials, and for other purposes.

We recommend enactment of the bill.

H.R. 12535 authorizes the Secretary of Energy to provide financial assistance to certain States to aid in the stabilization and control of uranium mill tailings located in and around former uranium ore processing sites. Special provisions in sections 6 and 7 of the bill apply to uranium ore processing operations formerly conducted on the lands of Indian Tribes.

Section 7(a) provides that the Secretary of the Interior, as Trustee
for Indians whose lands are affected, must concur with the Secretary
of Energy's determination of need for and selection of appropriate
remedial action. Section 7 (d) provides that, although the United
States is released from liability related to remedial action
performed pursuant to the bill, such a release does not affect
the responsibilities of the Secretary of the Interior as Trustee
for Indians on whose lands remedial action is performed.

We believe that. H.R. 12535 provides a sound solution to the problems caused by residual radioactive materials in and around uranium mill tailings sites.

The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program.

Sincerely,

Auting Assistant

SECRETARY

US6

FARTMENT

United States Department of the Interior

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240

SEP 15 1978

Honorable Harley O. Staggers

Chairman, Committee on

Interstate and Foreign Commerce

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D. C. 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

This responds to your request for our views on H.R. 13650 as reported
by the Subcommittee on Energy and Power of the House Interstate and
Foreign Commerce Committee, the proposed "Uranium Mill Tailings
Radiation Control Act of 1978."

We do not object to enactment of H.R. 13650 as reported by the
Subcommittee on Energy and Power of the House Interstate and
Foreign Commerce Committee if the bill is amended as suggested
herein.

Title I of H.R. 13650 would authorize the Secretary of Energy to
enter into cooperative agreements with States to perform remedial
action at inactive uranium processing sites. Title II would amend
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to include uranium mill tailings
within the definition of "byproduct material" and would require that
Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses and renewals require that
prior to termination of a license, the licensee comply with
NRC-established decontamination, decomissioning and reclamation
standards and requirements, and that ownership of the byproduct
material be transferred to the United States on termination.

We have the following comments on the provisions of H.R. 13650 as
reported by the Subcommittee on Energy and Power of the House
Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. Section 104 (b) (2) provides
that State acquisition of a site for disposition and stabilization
of residual radioactive materials shall not be required if the
Secretary of Energy, with the concurrence of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, designates a site owned by a Federal agency for such
disposition and stabilization. We believe that section 104(b):(2)
should incorporate the provision in section 106 (a), governing
acquisition of land by the Secretary of Energy, which permits the
Secretary of the Interior to make public lands available to the
Secretary of Energy for disposition of residual radioactive materials
in accordance with other applicable provisions of law. We also suggest
that section 106 (a) (2) be amended to read: "the Secretary of the
Interior may make available public lands administered by him for
such purposes...."