§10173 Benefits Agreements

Summary

The Secretary can make a benefits agreement with Nevada about a repository, or with a State or an Indian tribe about a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) site, so the site can accept high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel. A State or tribe may sign only if its attorney general or tribal governing authority (or, if there is no tribal authority, the Secretary of the Interior) certifies they have the legal power to do so. State agreements must be negotiated with affected local governments. Payments and benefits are available only under such an agreement. Any agreement can be changed only if both sides agree, and it can be ended only under section 10173c of this title. The Secretary must offer an agreement to the Governor of Nevada. For an MRS, the offer goes to the tribal governing body if the site is on a reservation, or to the State Governor if it is not, with consultation of affected local governments. Only one repository agreement and one MRS agreement may be in effect at a time. The Secretary’s decisions under this rule cannot be reviewed by a court.