The following are documents related to the Price-Anderson Act. All of the documents listed here are in Portable Document Format (PDF). Adobe Acrobat(R) Reader is needed to view and print the PDF files.

• Memorandum (pdf) - of September 24, 1997 approving formation of Price-Anderson Act Task Force
• Charter (pdf) - Price-Anderson Act Task Force, attached to Memorandum of September 24, 1997
• Members and Alternates - List of members and alternates appointed to Task Force from DOE programs
• Notice of Inquiry - Published in Federal Register on December 31, 1997 in Volume 62 of the Federal Register at pages 68272 through 68278.  Consistent with DOE's public participation policy (DOE P 1210.1), the Price-Anderson Act Task Force prepared a Notice of Inquiry to seek comments from the public on whether provisions of the Price-Anderson Act should be continued, modified or eliminated.  The Notice sets forth (1) a summary of the Price-Anderson Act and (2) a list of issues that might be addressed in the DOE report to Congress.

Comments:  Send 5 written copies of public comments or reply comments to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, GC-52, 1000 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, DC 20585.  If possible, a copy should also be e-mailed to paa.notice@hq.doe.gov.

In preparing additional comments, the following language in bold was added with respect to questions 21 and 22.

21. Is there a need to clarify what tort law applies with respect to a nuclear incident in the United States territorial sea?  Should the applicable tort law be based on state tort law?
    
    At present, the PAA refers to state tort law as the basis for liability claims. However, state tort law may only apply to incidents that occur within state boundaries.  In 1989 the President extended the territorial sea of the United States to 12 nautical miles in breadth.  State boundaries generally remained at three miles, as they are defined under the Submerged Lands Act.  This leaves open the question of which law applies beyond the boundaries of states in the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the high seas.

22. Should the definition of nuclear incident be modified to include all occurrences in the United States exclusive economic zone?  What would be the effects, if any, on the shipment of nuclear material in the United States exclusive economic zone if such a modification were or were not made?  What would be the effects, if any, on the response to an incident involving nuclear material in the United States exclusive economic zone if such a modification were or were not made?
    
    If the PAA were expanded through a revision of the definition of nuclear incident to cover the EEZ it might affect coverage of damages under other federal laws, such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response and Liability Act (CERCLA).  This could also affect coverage for such matters as response actions and environmental clean-up currently covered by laws such as CERCLA.  In such a case it is not clear what law would apply since state laws may only apply within state boundaries and any system to extend state law coverage would be difficult, could lead to a lack of uniformity and, therefore, would have to be given careful consideration.  An alternative might be to specifically apply relevant federal laws, such as CERCLA, to incidents that occur beyond state boundaries.  In such a case it would be necessary to make sure that federal tort law was sufficiently comprehensive to cover all types of torts, including private actions.

Comments Posted Online - Comments received on the Notice of Inquiry are converted to electronic versions and posted online. Hard copies of the comments also may be examined between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Reading Room, Room 1E-190, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-6020.

Revised:  2000-02-07