Department of Energy Civilian Programs 1980 Authorization Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Science and Technology.
Department of Energy Civilian Programs 1980 Authorization Act - Title I: Research and Development - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1980 for operating expenses and capital investment for fossil fuel programs related to gas, petroleum and enhanced gas recovery. Authorizes appropriations for specified fossil energy construction projects related to coal. Authorizes appropriations for operating expenses and capital investment for energy supply research and development programs and specified projects related to solar energy, biomass energy, nuclear fission, magnetic fusion, geothermal energy, low head hydroelectric power, environmental protection, basic research, and electric energy systems and storage. Authorizes appropriations for operating expenses and capital investment for specified conservation research and development programs. Authorizes appropriations for operating expenses and capital investment for specified general science and research programs and projects. Authorizes appropriations for operating expenses and capital investment for the uranium enrichment process development program. Authorizes appropriations for expenses of the Geothermal Resources Development Fund. Title II: Regulatory and Related Functions - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1980 for expenses of the Economic Regulatory Administration, the Office of Hearings and Appeals, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Energy Information Administration and the Strategic Petroleum program. Title III: Commercialization and Related Activities - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1980 for expenses for specified fossil energy, renewable resources, and conservation commercialization programs and related activities. Title IV: Power Marketing, Federal Leasing and Other Activities - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1980 for the Alaska Power Administration, the Southeastern Power Administration, the Southwestern Power Administration, and the Western Area Power Administration. Authorizes appropriations for specified Federal leasing and fuel data gathering and analysis programs. Title V: Nuclear Assessment, Spent Fuel Disposition, Operations and Decontamination and Decommissioning - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1980 for uranium resource assessment operating expenses and capital investment. Authorizes appropriations for spent fuel disposition and decontamination and decommissioning programs. Directs the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study regarding the temporary storage of fuel withdrawn from licensed nuclear reactors and specified foreign nuclear reactors and authorizes the Secretary to select and acquire sites for such storage, and to design such facilities as appropriate for such sites. Authorizes the appropriation of up to $5,000,000 for such purposes. Sets forth the components of such study, and imposes specified reporting and public hearing requirements upon the Secretary relating to such study and site selection. Directs the Secretary to investigate whether Federal funding is appropriate for the cost of stabilization, decommissioning, and decontamination of the uranium mill tailings site owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, and located at Edgemont, South Dakota. Title VI: Other Renewable Resources and Conservation Activities - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1980 for expenses for other renewable resources and conservation activities programs. Title VII: Other Departmental Activities - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1980 for operating expenses and capital investment for specified uranium enrichment activities programs and projects. Authorizes appropriations for operating expenses and capital investment for the commercial waste management program. Authorizes appropriations for operating expenses and capital investment for specified Department of Energy administrative activities programs and projects. Title VIII: Provisions Regarding Use of Funds - Prohibits the use of appropriated funds for any program in excess of the amount actually authorized for that program in this Act and any reprogramming that decreases certain authorizations by more than five percent, unless the Congress is notified and a 30-day waiting period expires. Sets forth limitations on the use of amounts appropriated pursuant to this Act regarding management support services and unexpended balances. Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to allow the Department to use certain revenues received from uranium enrichment services, when permitted in an annual appropriation Act. Limits the use of such revenues to the payment of the costs incurred in providing the services. Requires that all monies, other than enrichment revenues and certain other receipts, collected by the Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in fiscal year 1980 and thereafter shall be deposited into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. Requires that the Secretary submit to the Congress an annual report concerning enrichment service revenues. Permits the Department to use operating funds for construction purposes and to transfer funds to other agencies to perform work for the Department. Allows authorizations in this Act for construction line item projects to remain effective without fiscal year limitation through fiscal year 1982. Authorizes appropriations to pay for automatic pay increases. Limits the Department's travel expenses. Prohibits the Department from using funds appropriated under this Act for renovation, furnishing, or repair of facilities to provide temporary or permanent space for personnel relocated as a result of the establishment of the Department. Limits the use of funds available for direct and indirect purchases of gasoline in amounts in excess of 80 percent of the amount purchased by the Department in fiscal year 1980. Exempts from the provisions of this Act authorization for appropriations in any other law for fiscal year 1980 for any military application of nuclear energy, for research and development in support of the armed forces, or for the common defense and security of the United States. Title IX: Extension of Mandatory Crude Oil Price Control Authority - Extends the provisions of the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973 relating to Federal controls on oil pricing. Sets as the expiration date of the authority to issue regulations or orders or to enforce such regulations or orders September 30, 1981.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 30, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 30, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Science and Technology.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
BOB ECKHARDT (D-TX) introduced it on April 30, 1979, and 6 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 6 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 30, 1979, 17347 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17347 days ago, on April 30, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers