PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 23, 2007
Nuclear Waste Access to Yucca Act - Withdraws specified lands in Nye County, Nevada, permanently from any form of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, including: (1) the mineral leasing laws; (2) the geothermal leasing laws; (3) materials sales laws; and (4) the mining laws.
Transfers jurisdiction over such lands to the Secretary of Energy.
Reserves use of such lands for certain activities associated with the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Requires the Secretary to manage the lands so withdrawn, and submit to Congress and the state of Nevada a management plan for their use.
Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to direct the Secretary to apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a license to construct and operate facilities to receive and store spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at the Yucca Mountain site.
Authorizes the Secretary to begin construction of connected infrastructure facilities after completion of a final environmental impact statement evaluating the activities involved.
Requires the Secretary to acquire rights-of-way for construction and operation of railroad facilities to transport spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from existing rail systems to the site of surface facilities within the geologic repository operations area for the receipt, handling, packaging, and storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste prior to emplacement.
Revises requirements for new plant contracts.
People & committees
Sen. Domenici, Pete V. [R-NM] · R–NM
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6551-6553)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.37 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.37 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.37 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.37 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.