HR 2983 · 107th Congress 2001–2003, ended

Price-Anderson Reauthorization Act of 2001

Introduced Oct 2, 2001 Originated House Sponsor Heather Wilson R-NM

Latest action · Nov 29, 2001 Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 240.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedOct 2, 2001
Passed HouseNov 27, 2001
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Price-Anderson Reauthorization Act of 2001 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to extend from 2002 to 2017 the indemnification authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) with respect to certain licensees, Department of Energy (DOE) contractors, and nonprofit educational institutions, respectively.

(Sec. 3) Increases the maximum amount of standard deferred premium that may be assessed a licensee following a nuclear incident.

(Sec. 4) Specifies $10 billion as the aggregate amount by which the Secretary must indemnify DOE contractors above the amount of the financial protection required for each nuclear incident.

(Sec. 5) Increases from $100 million to $500 million the indemnification limits for incidents outside the United States.

(Sec. 6) Sets a deadline for status reports to Congress regarding contractor indemnification and limitation of liability.

(Sec. 7) Requires an inflation adjustment to the indemnification limits at least once every five years.

(Sec. 8) Instructs the NRC to consider a combination of modular reactors at a single site, each of which has between 100,000 and 300,000 electrical kilowatts (but a combined rated capacity of no more than 1.3 million kilowatts), as a single facility having a rated capacity of 100,000 electrical kilowatts or more.

(Sec. 10) Prohibits any Federal contract or other arrangement which would impose liability on the U.S. Government for nuclear accidents occurring in connection with the design, construction, or operation of a production facility or utilization facility in any foreign country whose government has been identified as engaged in State sponsorship of terrorist activities (including certain governments identified by the Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism).

(Sec.11) Instructs the NRC to establish a system to ensure: (1) that specified nuclear materials transferred or received from certain licensees and facilities be accompanied by a manifest describing the type and amount of such materials; (2) each individual transferring or accompanying the transfer of such materials has been subject to a security background check by Federal entities; and (3) such materials are not transferred to or received at a destination other than specified licensed facilities.

(Sec. 12) Instructs the President to study and report to Congress on threats to NRC-licensed facilities and Federal actions taken to address them.

Instructs the NRC to establish an operational safeguards response evaluation program that ensures that the physical protection capability and operational safeguards response for sensitive nuclear facilities shall be tested periodically through NRC approved or designed, observed, and evaluated force-on-force exercises to determine whether the ability to defeat the design basis threat is being maintained.

(Sec. 13) Mandates that the Secretary issue industrial health and safety regulations applicable to contractors and subcontractors at DOE nuclear facilities that: (1) provide worker health and safety protection substantially equivalent to or identical to certain industrial and construction safety regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; and (2) establish civil penalties substantially equivalent to or identical to those applicable to violations of the industrial and construction safety regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

(Sec. 14) Requires the NRC, before entering into an indemnification agreement with respect to a utilization facility, to consult with the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security regarding whether the facility location and design ensure that it provides adequate public health and safety protection if subjected to a terrorist attack.

(Sec. 15) Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a Federal action to recover amounts paid by the Federal Government under an indemnification agreement for public liability resulting from intentional misconduct of any corporate officer, manager, or superintendent of a DOE contractor (or subcontractor or supplier).

(Sec. 16) Repeals the requirement that the Secretary determine by rule whether nonprofit educational institutions should receive automatic remissions of civil monetary penalties for violations of DOE regulations.

Repeals the blanket liability exemption from civil money penalties for violations of DOE safety regulations granted to: (1) the University of Chicago for activities associated with Argonne National Laboratory; (2) The University of California for activities associated with Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; (3) American Telephone and Telegraph Company for activities associated with Sandia National Laboratories; (4) Universities Research Association, Inc. for activities associated with FERMI National Laboratory; (5) Princeton University for activities associated with Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory; (6) the Associated Universities, Inc. for activities associated with the Brookhaven National Laboratory; and (7) Battelle Memorial Institute for activities associated with Pacific Northwest Laboratory.

Subjects certain tax-exempt contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers to such civil penalties, but limited to the amount of any discretionary fee paid to them.

Cosponsors 8

Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Oct 2, 2001.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
R-GA	Charles W. Norwood	Original	Oct 2, 2001
R-KY	Ed Whitfield	Original	Oct 2, 2001
D-CA	Ellen O. Tauscher	Original	Oct 2, 2001
R-IL	Jerry Weller	Original	Oct 2, 2001
R-TX	Joe Barton	Original	Oct 2, 2001
R-NC	Richard Burr	Original	Oct 2, 2001
R-MO	Roy Blunt	Original	Oct 2, 2001
R-NY	Vito Fossella	Original	Oct 2, 2001

Committees 2

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Energy and Commerce Committee	Referred Oct 2, 2001Markup Oct 31, 2001Reported Nov 19, 2001
	Energy Subcommittee	Referred Oct 2, 2001Markup Oct 3, 2001Reported Oct 3, 2001
House	Science, Space, and Technology Committee	Referred Nov 19, 2001Discharged Nov 20, 2001

Actions 18

Everything that happened, newest first.

Nov 29, 2001Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 240.
Nov 28, 2001Received in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
Nov 27, 2001Mr. Barton moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Nov 27, 2001Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H8358-8367)
Nov 27, 2001DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 2983.
Nov 27, 2001Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H8358-8360)
Nov 27, 2001Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Nov 20, 2001Committee on Science discharged.
Nov 20, 2001Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 180.
Nov 19, 2001Reported (Amended) by the Committee on 107-299, Part I.
Nov 19, 2001Referred sequentially to the House Committee on Science for a period ending not later than Nov. 20, 2001 for consideration of such provisions of the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause 1(n), rule X.
Oct 31, 2001Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Oct 31, 2001Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Oct 3, 2001Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Oct 3, 2001Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Oct 2, 2001Introduced in House
Oct 2, 2001Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality.
Oct 2, 2001Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

In the Congressional Record 4

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

Where	In the Record	Members	Date
Extensions	Debate and remarks E2198	Joe Barton R-TX, W. J. (Billy) Tauzin D-LA	Dec 4, 2001
Senate	Debate and remarks S12113	Harry Reid D-NV	Nov 29, 2001
Senate	Debate and remarks S12111, S12112	Harry Reid D-NV	Nov 28, 2001
House	Debate and remarks H8358–H8367Text printed H8358–H8360	Earl Blumenauer D-OR, Edward J. Markey D-MA, Ellen O. Tauscher D-CA, George W. Gekas R-PA, Gil Gutknecht R-MN, Heather Wilson R-NM, Jim Gibbons R-NV, Joe Barton R-TX, John D. Dingell D-MI, Ralph M. Hall R-TX, Roscoe G. Bartlett R-MD, Shelley Berkley D-NV, Ted Strickland D-OH, W. J. (Billy) Tauzin D-LA	Nov 27, 2001

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Committee report

H. Rept. 107-299

Congressional Budget Office cost estimates 2

Nov 15, 2001H.R. 2983, Price-Anderson Reauthorization Act of 2001<p>Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on October 31, 2001</p>
Nov 15, 2001H.R. 2983, Price-Anderson Reauthorization Act of 2001Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on October 31, 2001

Printed hearings 2

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

Number	Hearing	Committee	Held
S. Hrg. 107-999	NUCLEAR PLANT SECURITY156 pages	Environment and Public Works Committee	Jun 5, 2002
S. Hrg. 107-666	PRICE-ANDERSON ACT REAUTHORIZATION192 pages	Environment and Public Works Committee	Jan 23, 2002

Titles 4

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To extend indemnification authority under section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: Price-Anderson Reauthorization Act of 2001
Short Titles as Reported to House: Price-Anderson Reauthorization Act of 2001
Short Titles as Passed House: Price-Anderson Reauthorization Act of 2001

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Energy.

Text 4

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.