42 U.S.C. § 7942 — Designation by Secretary as processing sites for subchapter I purposes

(a) Designation and cooperative agreement. Within 90 days of getting the Commission's study and recommendations from section 7941, the Secretary^* may designate one or both of the two named sites as a "processing site" under subchapter I — but only if the Commission's study found that the state^* or Commission cannot adequately regulate and control the material there. This designation can happen even though sections 7911(6)(A) and 7925(a) would normally limit it.

After making that designation, the Secretary may sign a cooperative agreement with New Mexico to do remedial (cleanup) work under subchapter I. That agreement covers only the leftover radioactive material at the site that came from uranium sold to a federal agency before January 1, 1971, under a contract with that agency — not other radioactive material at the site.

Any such designation, along with the Secretary's cost estimate for the cleanup, must go to three congressional committees: the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

(b) Waiting period. A designation cannot take effect until 120 calendar days have passed after those committees receive it. Days when either chamber of Congress is in a break of more than three days do not count toward that 120 days.

(c) Rest of subchapter I applies. Except for what subsection (a) specifically says differently, any cleanup work at a site designated under this section follows all the normal rules of subchapter I — including how its funding is authorized under section 7922(b).