Establishment of the network of national laboratories for environmental management and stewardship

(a) Establishment The Secretary shall establish a steering committee to be known as the Network of National Laboratories for Environmental Management and Stewardship. (b) Purpose The Network shall advance the scientific and technical expertise of the National Laboratory system in support of the environmental cleanup mission of the Office of Environmental Management and the long-term surveillance and maintenance mission of the Office of Legacy Management through support for research, development, demonstration, and deployment of treatment technologies, disposal methods, and other capabilities— (1) to minimize the impact of environmental contamination and risks to public health and the environment from radioactive and hazardous waste and materials from defense-related nuclear activities; (2) to lower lifecycle cleanup costs for sites; (3) to accelerate cleanup schedules or reduce the timeframe of site decommissioning; and (4) to address high-priority technical challenges in cleanup operations, or otherwise improve the effectiveness and safety of cleanup methods. (c) Duties At the direction of the Assistant Secretary and the Director, the Network and its participants shall— (1) leverage National Laboratory partnerships to develop alternate treatment technologies, disposal methods, strategies, and other capabilities to assist in the cleanup and long-term management of sites, in order to improve the cost, timeframe, effectiveness, and safety of cleanup methods; (2) identify and coordinate technical support resources and capabilities to address emergent events associated with environmental cleanup and long-term monitoring of sites and facilitate the deployment of viable alternative treatment technologies, disposal methods, and other capabilities; (3) conduct scalable performance testing, evaluation, verification, and validation of alternate treatment technologies, disposal methods, and other capabilities to demonstrate the potential cost, safety, and performance benefits of such capabilities in comparison to those currently deployed in support of the environmental cleanup mission of the Department; (4) leverage relevant infrastructure at the Core National Laboratories, including the recently constructed Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative facility; (5) conduct independent programmatic and technical reviews of plans or activities of the Department at the national or site level, including assessments of technology performance and alignment with respect to the programmatic priorities of the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Legacy Management; (6) collaborate with the contractors and staff of the Department, other Federal agencies, academia, industry, and other relevant entities to ensure best practices are being exchanged and to identify opportunities for technology transfer; (7) provide scientific and technical analysis to the Department and to stakeholders, as directed by the Department, regarding environmental cleanup, waste disposal, and long-term stewardship policy options and issues; (8) provide an integrated science and technology perspective to support near- and long-term strategic planning for the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Legacy Management at sites, including conducting analyses of alternative technologies and treatment methods and providing input on their insertion into the cleanup mission; (9) coordinate and serve through the Corporate Lab as a liaison among the Department and contractors of the Department and the National Laboratories with capabilities relating to the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Legacy Management that have been developed and supported across all of the program offices of the Department; (10) provide technical expertise to inform contract decisions and language, research and development investments of the Department, and technical feasibility of contractor proposals consistent with all appropriate and applicable compliance requirements to mitigate potential conflicts of interest; (11) assist the Department in developing and maintaining career pathway training opportunities in environmental remediation science, with a focus on engaging historically underserved or marginalized populations; and (12) other duties as determined by the Assistant Secretary and the Director. (d) Membership The Network shall be comprised of a representative from— (1) each Core National Laboratory; (2) each of the other National Laboratories with stewarded competencies for research activities associated with the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Legacy Management, including the Argonne National Laboratory, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; and (3) other National Laboratories or entities at the request of the Assistant Secretary or the Director. (e) Leadership and responsibilities (1) Composition The leadership of the Network shall be composed of— (A) a liaison from the Office of Environmental Management, designated by the Assistant Secretary, who shall be responsible for National Laboratory stewardship, coordination of resources, and guidance and oversight of the Network regarding the needs of the Office of Environmental Management; (B) a liaison from the Office of Legacy Management, designated by the Director, who shall work directly with the Director and members of the Network to fulfill the needs of the Office of Legacy Management; (C) an Executive Director, who shall— (i) be affiliated with the Corporate Lab and appointed by the Network Chair and Network Co-Chair; and (ii) work on behalf of all National Laboratories to coordinate the day-to-day needs of the Network; (D) an official representative from each Core National Laboratory, who shall be designated by the respective Laboratory Director or Chief Research Officer, and who shall be responsible for coordinating and procuring the full complement of capabilities and resources from the relevant National Laboratory in order to fulfill its obligations with respect to the Network; and (E) ad hoc representatives, who are Federal Government employees or employees of the management and operating contractors of the National Laboratories, and who may be— (i) representatives of other National Laboratories, as needed based on the work undertaken by the Network; or (ii) additional representatives from the Core National Laboratories, as needed and subject to the approval of the Network Chair and Network Co-Chair, with concurrence of the liaisons of the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Legacy Management. (2) Network chair and Network co-chair (A) Network Chair The Laboratory Director for the Savannah River National Laboratory shall— (i) serve as Network Chair; (ii) report to the Assistant Secretary and the Director; and (iii) ensure the overall effectiveness and coordination of the Network. (B) Network Co-Chair The Network Co-Chair shall work with the Network Chair to ensure the overall effectiveness of the Network and shall rotate annually among the Directors and Deputy Directors of the Core National Laboratories. (f) Participation of nonmembers (1) Engagement The Network may engage stakeholders, such as industry experts, educators, nonprofit stakeholders, and advisory groups, for the purpose of receiving mission-relevant information from such stakeholders. (2) Limitations on participation The Network shall prevent the regular and systematic participation of stakeholders at meetings of the Network, unless otherwise authorized by this Act. (3) Limitations on nonmember input The engagement of nonmembers shall be limited to the provision of individual advice and recommendations, unless otherwise authorized by this Act. (g) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary and the Director, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes a summary of— (1) the major activities of the Network during the prior year; (2) the major science and technology efforts of the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Legacy Management during the prior year; and (3) the state of technology adoption and alignment across the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Legacy Management. (h) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary— (1) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and each fiscal year thereafter to support the development and implementation of activities specified under subsection (c); and (2) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and each fiscal year thereafter to support the operation and coordination of the Network. (i) Other environmental cleanup challenges The Secretary, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary and the Director, may enter into an agreement with any Federal agency to utilize the capabilities of the Network to address radiological hazards and environmental contamination challenges at locations where the Office of Environmental Management and Office of Legacy Management do not have primary cleanup responsibilities, if and only if the agreement— (1) is subject to the availability of the existing appropriations of the Department, except for those authorized in subsection (h), and to the extent possible leverages existing appropriations and resources from the Federal agency with which the agreement is made; (2) does not utilize resources made available to support the cleanup missions of the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Legacy Management; and (3) does not utilize the capabilities of the Network in a manner that would prevent or otherwise limit the Network from fulfilling responsibilities specified in subsection (c). (j) Inapplicability of federal advisory committee act Chapter 10 of title 5 (commonly referred to as the Federal Advisory Committee Act), shall not apply with respect to the Network or the activities of the Network.