§10247 — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

Summary

Any federal approval to build a nuclear waste repository or a monitored retrievable storage site must be treated as a major federal action that affects the environment under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Secretary must write a final environmental impact statement (EIS) under NEPA and send it with any application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for construction permission. The NRC should, when possible, use that final EIS when it issues a construction authorization and license (see 40 C.F.R. 1506.3). For a Yucca Mountain repository, the NRC does not have to study whether a repository is needed, when it will first be available, other sites besides Yucca Mountain, or nongeologic options. For any other site, the NRC likewise need not study need, timing, or nongeologic options, but must consider Yucca Mountain as an alternative.

Title 42, §10247

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

(a)Issuance of a construction authorization for a repository or monitored retrievable storage facility under section 10245(b) of this title shall be considered a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment for purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

(b)A final environmental impact statement shall be prepared by the Secretary under such Act and shall accompany any application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a construction authorization.

(c)(1)Any such environmental impact statement shall, to the extent practicable, be adopted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in accordance with section 1506.3 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, in connection with the issuance by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of a construction authorization and license for such repository or monitored retrievable storage facility.

(2)(A)In any such statement prepared with respect to a repository to be constructed under this subchapter at the Yucca Mountain site, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission need not consider the need for a repository, the time of initial availability of a repository, alternate sites to the Yucca Mountain site, or nongeologic alternatives to such site.

(B)In any such statement prepared with respect to a repository to be constructed under this subchapter at a site other than the Yucca Mountain site, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission need not consider the need for a repository, the time of initial availability of a repository, or nongeologic alternatives to such site but shall consider the Yucca Mountain site as an alternate to such site in the preparation of such statement.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (b), is Pub. L. 91–190, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 852, which is classified generally to chapter 55 (§ 4321 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 4321 of this title and Tables. Codification Pub. L. 100–202 and Pub. L. 100–203 added identical sections.

§10247 Environmental Impact Statement