Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act

Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn Act to authorize the Secretary of Energy to enter into cooperative agreements with certain States respecting residual radioactive material at existing sites, to provide for the regulation of uranium mill tailings under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)UMTRCA
NicknamesUranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978
Enacted bythe 95th United States Congress
EffectiveNovember 8, 1978
Citations
Public law95-604
Statutes at Large92 Stat. 3021
Codification
Titles amended42 U.S.C.: Public Health and Social Welfare
U.S.C. sections created42 U.S.C. ch. 88 § 7901 et seq.
Legislative history
Major amendments
  • Public Law 97-415, 96 Stat. 2067, subsection (e)(3) (1983)
  • Public Law 100-616, 102 Stat. 3192, subsection (a), section 8(b) (1988)
  • Public Law 102-486, 106 Stat. 2776, subsection (a) (1992)
  • Public Law 104-259, 110 Stat. 3173, subsection (a), subsection (d) (1996)
  • Public Law 106-398, 114 Stat. 1654, subsection (f) (2000)

The Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (1978) is a United States environmental law that amended the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to establish health and environmental standards for the stabilization, restoration, and disposal of uranium mill waste. Title 1 of the Act required the EPA to set environmental protection standards consistent with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, including groundwater protection limits; the Department of Energy to implement EPA standards and provide perpetual care for some sites; and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review cleanups and license sites to states or the DOE for perpetual care.[1] Title 1 established a uranium mill remedial action program jointly funded by the federal government and the state.[2] Title 1 of the Act also designated 22 inactive uranium mill sites for remediation, resulting in the containment of 40 million cubic yards of low-level radioactive material in UMTRCA Title 1 holding cells.[3]

  1. ^ Laws We Use (Summaries):1978 - Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act(42 USC 2022 et seq.), EPA, retrieved December 16, 2012
  2. ^ Fact Sheet on Uranium Mill Tailings, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, retrieved December 16, 2012
  3. ^ Regulatory Framework: UMTRCA Title I Disposal and Processing Sites, U.S. Department of Energy, retrieved December 16, 2012