§7901 — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

Summary

It requires that uranium mill tailings at active and inactive sites be kept, moved, and handled so people and the environment are protected from radiation risks, including radon gas and other hazards. To do that, it sets up two programs: one to work with States, Indian tribes, and site owners to assess and clean up inactive tailings sites (including reprocessing to get leftover uranium when practical), and one to regulate tailings at active uranium and thorium mills and after they close.

Title 42, §7901

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Congress finds that uranium mill tailings located at active and inactive mill operations may pose a potential and significant radiation health hazard to the public, and that the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare and the regulation of interstate commerce require that every reasonable effort be made to provide for the stabilization, disposal, and control in a safe and environmentally sound manner of such tailings in order to prevent or minimize radon diffusion into the environment and to prevent or minimize other environmental hazards from such tailings.

(b)The purposes of this chapter are to provide—

(1)in cooperation with the interested States, Indian tribes, and the persons who own or control inactive mill tailings sites, a program of assessment and remedial action at such sites, including, where appropriate, the reprocessing of tailings to extract residual uranium and other mineral values where practicable, in order to stabilize and control such tailings in a safe and environmentally sound manner and to minimize or eliminate radiation health hazards to the public, and

(2)a program to regulate mill tailings during uranium or thorium ore processing at active mill operations and after termination of such operations in order to stabilize and control such tailings in a safe and environmentally sound manner and to minimize or eliminate radiation health hazards to the public.

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Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 95–604, Nov. 8, 1978, 92 Stat. 3021, known as the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

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note below and Tables.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

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of 1988 Amendment Pub. L. 100–616, § 1, Nov. 5, 1988, 102 Stat. 3192, provided: “That this Act [amending section 7916 and 7922 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action

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Act of 1988’.”

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Pub. L. 95–604, § 1, Nov. 8, 1978, 92 Stat. 3021, provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter and section 2022, 2113, and 2114 of this title, amending section 2014, 2021, 2111, and 2201 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 2014, 2021, and 2113 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978’.”

§7901 Congressional findings and purposes

Summary

Title 42, §7901

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Editorial Notes

References in Text

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Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

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Amendments

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