§10243 Duties of Negotiator

Summary

Requires the Negotiator to try to make deals for the United States with the Governor of any State or with the governing body of any Indian tribe where a possible site is located. The Negotiator must try to agree on the terms for hosting a repository or a monitored retrievable storage facility. If state law lets someone else negotiate instead of the Governor, that person counts here. The Negotiator must also talk with any State, local government, or tribe that might be affected and can include terms to address their interests. The Negotiator may ask the Secretary, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or other federal agencies for comments on site suitability, but those agencies do not have to say a site is suitable. Any proposed agreement and the environmental assessment under section 10244(a) must be sent to Congress. Agreements should include financial and institutional terms the parties find reasonable and must protect rights under sections 10136(c), 10137, and 10138(b). A proposed agreement has no legal force unless Congress makes it federal law. States and tribes must follow their own laws to enter an agreement, and a State may reject a proposed agreement by referendum or legislative action. Even with an agreement, the Secretary may build a site only if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other applicable laws (including the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) and title II of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 5841 et seq.)) authorize construction.