1. U.S. Code
  2. title 10
  3. subtitle A
  4. part VI
  5. subpart B
  6. chapter 604
  7. subchapter I
  8. § 6175

Collapse to view only § 6175. Accelerated schedule for defense environmental cleanup activities

§ 6171. Defense environmental cleanup account 1
1 So in original. Probably should be “Defense Environmental Cleanup Account”.
(a)Establishment.—There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States for the Department of Energy an account to be known as the “Defense Environmental Cleanup Account” (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Account”).
(b)Amounts in Account.—All sums appropriated to the Department of Energy for defense environmental cleanup at defense nuclear facilities shall be credited to the Account. Such appropriations shall be authorized annually by law. To the extent provided in appropriations Acts, amounts in the Account shall remain available until expended.
(Added Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1386.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6171

§ 6172. Classification of defense environmental cleanup as capital asset projects or operations activities

The Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management, in consultation with other appropriate officials of the Department of Energy, shall establish requirements for the classification of defense environmental cleanup projects as capital asset projects or operations activities.

(Added Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1386.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6172

§ 6173. Requirement to develop future use plans for defense environmental cleanup
(a)Authority to Develop Future Use Plans.—The Secretary of Energy may develop future use plans for any defense nuclear facility at which defense environmental cleanup activities are occurring.
(b)Requirement to Develop Future Use Plans.—The Secretary shall develop a future use plan for each of the following defense nuclear facilities:
(1) Hanford Site, Richland, Washington.
(2) Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina.
(3) Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho.
(c)Citizen Advisory Board.—
(1) At each defense nuclear facility for which the Secretary of Energy intends or is required to develop a future use plan under this section and for which no citizen advisory board has been established, the Secretary shall establish a citizen advisory board.
(2) The Secretary may authorize the manager of a defense nuclear facility for which a future use plan is developed under this section (or, if there is no such manager, an appropriate official of the Department of Energy designated by the Secretary) to pay routine administrative expenses of a citizen advisory board established for that facility. Such payments shall be made from funds available to the Secretary for defense environmental cleanup activities necessary for national security programs.
(d)Requirement to Consult With Citizen Advisory Board.—In developing a future use plan under this section with respect to a defense nuclear facility, the Secretary of Energy shall consult with a citizen advisory board established pursuant to subsection (c) or a similar advisory board already in existence as of September 23, 1996, for such facility, affected local governments (including any local future use redevelopment authorities), and other appropriate State agencies.
(e) 50-year Planning Period.—A future use plan developed under this section shall cover a period of at least 50 years.
(f)Report.—Not later than 60 days after completing development of a final plan for a site listed in subsection (b), the Secretary of Energy shall submit to Congress a report on the plan. The report shall describe the plan and contain such findings and recommendations with respect to the site as the Secretary considers appropriate.
(g)Savings Provisions.—
(1) Nothing in this section, or in a future use plan developed under this section with respect to a defense nuclear facility, shall be construed as requiring any modification to a future use plan with respect to a defense nuclear facility that was developed before September 23, 1996.
(2) Nothing in this section may be construed to affect statutory requirements for a defense environmental cleanup activity or project or to modify or otherwise affect applicable statutory or regulatory defense environmental cleanup requirements, including substantive standards intended to protect public health and the environment, nor shall anything in this section be construed to preempt or impair any local land use planning or zoning authority or State authority.
(Added and amended Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), (d)(2)(B), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1386, 1462.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6173

§ 6174. Future-years defense environmental cleanup plan
(a)In General.—The Secretary of Energy shall submit to Congress each year, at or about the same time that the President’s budget is submitted to Congress for a fiscal year under section 1105(a) of title 31, a future-years defense environmental cleanup plan that—
(1) reflects the estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations included in that budget for the Department of Energy for defense environmental cleanup; and
(2) covers a period that includes the fiscal year for which that budget is submitted and not less than the four succeeding fiscal years.
(b)Elements.—Each future-years defense environmental cleanup plan required by subsection (a) shall contain the following:
(1) A detailed description of the projects and activities relating to defense environmental cleanup to be carried out during the period covered by the plan at the sites specified in subsection (c) and with respect to the activities specified in subsection (d).
(2) A statement of proposed budget authority, estimated expenditures, and proposed appropriations necessary to support such projects and activities.
(3) With respect to each site specified in subsection (c), the following:
(A) A statement of each milestone included in an enforceable agreement governing cleanup and waste remediation for that site for each fiscal year covered by the plan.
(B) For each such milestone, a statement with respect to whether each such milestone will be met in each such fiscal year.
(C) For any milestone that will not be met, an explanation of why the milestone will not be met and the date by which the milestone is expected to be met.
(D) For any milestone that has been missed, renegotiated, or postponed, a statement of the current milestone, the original milestone, and any interim milestones.
(c)Sites Specified.—The sites specified in this subsection are the following:
(1) The Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho.
(2) The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, New Mexico.
(3) The Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina.
(4) The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
(5) The Hanford Site, Richland, Washington.
(6) Any defense closure site of the Department of Energy.
(7) Any site of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
(d)Activities Specified.—The activities specified in this subsection are the following:
(1) Program support.
(2) Program direction.
(3) Safeguards and security.
(4) Technology development and deployment.
(5) Federal contributions to the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund established under section 1801 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2297g).
(Added Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1387.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6174

§ 6175. Accelerated schedule for defense environmental cleanup activities
(a)Accelerated Cleanup.—The Secretary of Energy shall accelerate the schedule for defense environmental cleanup activities and disposition projects for a site at a Department of Energy defense nuclear facility if the Secretary determines that such an accelerated schedule will accelerate the recapitalization, modernization, or replacement of National Nuclear Security Administration facilities supporting the nuclear weapons stockpile, achieve meaningful, long-term cost savings to the Federal Government, or could substantially accelerate the release of land for local reuse without undermining national security objectives.
(b)Consideration of Factors.—In making a determination under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider the following:
(1) The extent to which accelerated cleanup schedules can contribute to a more rapid modernization of National Nuclear Security Administration facilities.
(2) The cost savings achievable by the Federal Government.
(3) The potential for reuse of the site.
(4) The risks that the site poses to local health and safety.
(5) The proximity of the site to populated areas.
(c)Savings Provision.—Nothing in this section may be construed to affect a specific statutory requirement for a specific defense environmental cleanup activity or project or to modify or otherwise affect applicable statutory or regulatory defense environmental cleanup requirements, including substantive standards intended to protect public health and the environment.
(Added Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1388.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6175

§ 6176. Defense environmental cleanup technology program
(a)Establishment of Program.—The Secretary of Energy shall establish and carry out a program of research for the development of technologies useful for—
(1) the reduction of environmental hazards and contamination resulting from defense waste; and
(2) environmental restoration of inactive defense waste disposal sites.
(b)Definitions.—As used in this section:
(1) The term “defense waste” means waste, including radioactive waste, resulting primarily from atomic energy defense activities of the Department of Energy.
(2) The term “inactive defense waste disposal site” means any site (including any facility) under the control or jurisdiction of the Secretary of Energy which is used for the disposal of defense waste and is closed to the disposal of additional defense waste, including any site that is subject to decontamination and decommissioning.
(Added Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1389.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6176

§ 6177. Other programs relating to technology development
(a)Incremental Technology Development Program.—
(1) The Secretary may establish a program, to be known as the “Incremental Technology Development Program”, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the defense environmental cleanup processes of the Office.
(2)
(A) In carrying out the Incremental Technology Development Program, the Secretary shall focus on the continuous improvement of new or available technologies, including—
(i) decontamination chemicals and techniques;
(ii) remote sensing and wireless communication to reduce manpower and laboratory efforts;
(iii) detection, assay, and certification instrumentation; and
(iv) packaging materials, methods, and shipping systems.
(B) The Secretary may include in the Incremental Technology Development Program mission-relevant development, demonstration, and deployment activities unrelated to the focus areas described in subparagraph (A).
(3)
(A) In carrying out the Incremental Technology Development Program, the Secretary shall ensure that site offices of the Office conduct technology development, demonstration, testing, permitting, and deployment of new and emerging technologies to establish a sound technical basis for the selection of technologies for defense environmental cleanup or infrastructure operations.
(B) The Secretary shall collaborate, to the extent practicable, with the heads of other departments and agencies of the Federal Government, the National Laboratories, other Federal laboratories, appropriate State regulators and agencies, and the Department of Labor in the development, demonstration, testing, permitting, and deployment of new technologies under the Incremental Technology Development Program.
(4)
(A) In carrying out the Incremental Technology Development Program, the Secretary may enter into agreements with nongovernmental entities for technology development, demonstration, testing, permitting, and deployment projects to improve technologies in accordance with paragraph (2).
(B) The Secretary shall select projects under subparagraph (A) through a rigorous process that involves—
(i) transparent and open competition; and
(ii) a review process that, if practicable, is conducted in an independent manner consistent with Department guidance on selecting and funding public-private partnerships.
(C) The Federal share of the costs of the development, demonstration, testing, permitting, and deployment of new technologies carried out under this paragraph shall be not more than 70 percent.
(D) Not later than 120 days before the date on which the Secretary enters into the first agreement under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall provide to the congressional defense committees a briefing on the process of selecting and funding efforts within the Incremental Technology Development Program, including with respect to the plans of the Secretary to ensure a scientifically rigorous process that minimizes potential conflicts of interest.
(b)High-Impact Technology Development Program.—
(1) The Secretary shall establish a program, to be known as the “High-Impact Technology Development Program”, under which the Secretary shall enter into agreements with nongovernmental entities for projects that pursue technologies that, with respect to the mission—
(A) holistically address difficult challenges;
(B) hold the promise of breakthrough improvements; or
(C) align existing or in-use technologies with difficult challenges.
(2) The Secretary may include as areas of focus for a project carried out under the High-Impact Technology Development Program the following:
(A) Developing and demonstrating improved methods for source and plume characterization and monitoring, with an emphasis on—
(i) real-time field acquisition; and
(ii) the use of indicator species analyses with advanced contaminant transport models to enable better understanding of contaminant migration.
(B) Developing and determining the limits of performance for remediation technologies and integrated remedial systems that prevent migration of contaminants, including by producing associated guidance and design manuals for technologies that could be widely used across the complex.
(C) Demonstrating advanced monitoring approaches that use multiple lines of evidence for monitoring long-term performance of—
(i) remediation systems; and
(ii) noninvasive near-field monitoring techniques.
(D) Developing and demonstrating methods to characterize the physical and chemical attributes of waste that control behavior, with an emphasis on—
(i) rapid and nondestructive examination and assay techniques; and
(ii) methods to determine radio-nuclide, heavy metals, and organic constituents.
(E) Demonstrating the technical basis for determining when enhanced or natural attenuation is an appropriate approach for remediation of complex sites.
(F) Developing and demonstrating innovative methods to achieve real-time and, if practicable, in situ characterization data for tank waste and process streams that could be useful for all phases of the waste management program, including improving the accuracy and representativeness of characterization data for residual waste in tanks and ancillary equipment.
(G) Adapting existing waste treatment technologies or demonstrating new waste treatment technologies at the pilot plant scale using real wastes or realistic surrogates—
(i) to address engineering adaptations;
(ii) to ensure compliance with waste treatment standards and other applicable requirements under Federal and State law and any existing agreements or consent decrees to which the Department is a party; and
(iii) to enable successful deployment at full-scale and in support of operations.
(H) Developing and demonstrating rapid testing protocols that—
(i) are accepted by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department, and the scientific community;
(ii) can be used to measure long-term waste form performance under realistic disposal environments;
(iii) can determine whether a stabilized waste is suitable for disposal; and
(iv) reduce the need for extensive, time-consuming, and costly analyses on every batch of waste prior to disposal.
(I) Developing and demonstrating direct stabilization technologies to provide waste forms for disposing of elemental mercury.
(J) Developing and demonstrating innovative and effective retrieval methods for removal of waste residual materials from tanks and ancillary equipment, including mobile retrieval equipment or methods capable of immediately removing waste from leaking tanks, and connecting pipelines.
(3)
(A) The Secretary shall select projects to be carried out under the High-Impact Technology Development Program through a rigorous process that involves—
(i) transparent and open competition; and
(ii) a review process that, if practicable, is conducted in an independent manner consistent with Department guidance on selecting and funding public-private partnerships.
(B) Not later than 120 days before the date on which the Secretary enters into the first agreement under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide to the congressional defense committees a briefing on the process of selecting and funding efforts within the High-Impact Technology Development Program, including with respect to the plans of the Secretary to ensure a scientifically rigorous process that minimizes potential conflicts of interest.
(c)Environmental Management University Program.—
(1) The Secretary shall establish a program, to be known as the “Environmental Management University Program”, to—
(A) engage faculty, post-doctoral fellows or researchers, and graduate students of institutions of higher education on subjects relating to the mission to show a clear path for students for employment within the environmental management enterprise;
(B) provide institutions of higher education and the Department access to advances in engineering and science;
(C) clearly identify to institutions of higher education the tools necessary to enter into the environmental management field professionally; and
(D) encourage current employees of the Department to pursue advanced degrees.
(2) The Secretary may include as areas of focus for a grant made under the Environmental Management University Program the following:
(A) The atomic- and molecular-scale chemistries of waste processing.
(B) Contaminant immobilization in engineered and natural systems.
(C) Developing innovative materials, with an emphasis on nanomaterials or biomaterials, that could enable sequestration of challenging hazardous or radioactive constituents such as technetium and iodine.
(D) Elucidating and exploiting complex speciation and reactivity far from equilibrium.
(E) Understanding and controlling chemical and physical processes at interfaces.
(F) Harnessing physical and chemical processes to revolutionize separations.
(G) Tailoring waste forms for contaminants in harsh chemical environments.
(H) Predicting and understanding subsurface system behavior and response to perturbations.
(3) In carrying out the Environmental Management University Program, the Secretary may make individual research grants to faculty, post-doctoral fellows or researchers, and graduate students of institutions of higher education for three-year research projects, with an option for an extension of one additional two-year period.
(4) In carrying out the Environmental Management University Program, the Secretary may make research grants for strategic partnerships among scientists, faculty, post-doctoral fellows or researchers, and graduate students of institutions of higher education for three-year research projects.
(5) In carrying out the Environmental Management University Program, the Secretary may establish a summer internship program for undergraduates of institutions of higher education to work on projects relating to environmental management.
(6) In carrying out the Environmental Management University Program, the Secretary may hold workshops with the Office of Environmental Management, the Office of Science, and members of academia and industry concerning environmental management challenges and solutions.
(d)Definitions.—In this section:
(1) The term “complex” means all sites managed in whole or in part by the Office.
(2) The term “Department” means the Department of Energy.
(3) The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(4) The term “mission” means the mission of the Office.
(5) The term “National Laboratory” has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
(6) The term “Office” means the Office of Environmental Management of the Department.
(7) The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
(Added and amended Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), (d)(2), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1389, 1462.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6177

§ 6178. Report on defense environmental cleanup expenditures

Each year, at the same time the President submits to Congress the budget for a fiscal year (pursuant to section 1105 of title 31), the Secretary of Energy shall submit to Congress a report on how the defense environmental cleanup funds of the Department of Energy were expended during the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year during which the budget is submitted. The report shall include details on expenditures by operations office, installation, budget category, and activity. The report also shall include any schedule changes or modifications to planned activities for the fiscal year in which the budget is submitted.

(Added Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1393.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6178

§ 6179. Public participation in planning for defense environmental cleanup

The Secretary of Energy shall consult with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Attorney General, Governors and attorneys general of affected States, appropriate representatives of affected Indian tribes, and interested members of the public in any planning conducted by the Secretary for defense environmental cleanup activities at Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities.

(Added Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1393.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6179

§ 6180. Policy of Department of Energy regarding future defense environmental management matters
(a)Policy Required.—
(1) Commencing not later than October 1, 2005, the Secretary of Energy shall have in effect a policy for carrying out future defense environmental management matters of the Department of Energy. The policy shall specify each officer within the Department with responsibilities for carrying out that policy and, for each such officer, the nature and extent of those responsibilities.
(2) In paragraph (1), the term “future defense environmental management matter” means any environmental cleanup project, decontamination and decommissioning project, waste management project, or related activity that arises out of the activities of the Department in carrying out programs necessary for national security and is to be commenced after November 24, 2003. However, such term does not include any such project or activity the responsibility for which has been assigned, as of November 24, 2003, to the Environmental Management program of the Department.
(b)Reflection in Budget.—For fiscal year 2006 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary shall ensure that the budget justification materials submitted to Congress in support of the Department of Energy budget for such fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31) reflect the policy required by subsection (a).
(c)Consultation.—The Secretary shall carry out this section in consultation with the Administrator for Nuclear Security and the Under Secretary of Energy for Energy, Science, and Environment.1
1 So in original.
(d)Report.—The Secretary shall include with the budget justification materials submitted to Congress in support of the Department of Energy budget for fiscal year 2005 (as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31) a report on the policy that the Secretary plans to have in effect under subsection (a) as of October 1, 2005. The report shall specify the officers and responsibilities referred to in subsection (a).
(Added and amended Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), (d)(2)(B), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1394, 1462.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6180

§ 6181. Estimation of costs of meeting defense environmental cleanup milestones required by consent orders
The Secretary of Energy shall include in the budget justification materials submitted to Congress in support of the Department of Energy budget for each fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31) a report on the cost, for that fiscal year and the four fiscal years following that fiscal year, of meeting milestones required by a consent order at each defense nuclear facility at which defense environmental cleanup activities are occurring. The report shall include, for each such facility—
(1) a specification of the cost of meeting such milestones during that fiscal year; and
(2) an estimate of the cost of meeting such milestones during the four fiscal years following that fiscal year.
(Added Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1394.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6181

§ 6182. Public statement of environmental liabilities

Each year, at the same time that the Department of Energy submits its annual financial report under section 3516 of title 31, the Secretary of Energy shall make available to the public a statement of environmental liabilities, as calculated for the most recent audited financial statement of the Department under section 3515 of that title, for each defense nuclear facility at which defense environmental cleanup activities are occurring.

(Added Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1395.)

CITE AS: 10 USC 6182