Sponsors (2)
The bill lets the Cheney disposal cell remain in use until it's full—reducing relocation costs and avoiding rushed closures—but at the cost of prolonged local exposure risks, potential additional taxpayer expenses, and less legal certainty for community planning.
Residents and local communities near the Cheney disposal cell: continued centralized disposal of uranium mill residuals at the engineered Cheney cell until it reaches design capacity, avoiding interim relocations and the risks of a rushed or incomplete closure.
Taxpayers and energy utilities: keeping disposal in a single engineered facility reduces operational disruption and can lower costs compared with relocating material to another site.
Nearby residents and local communities: extending authorization prolongs transportation and handling of radioactive waste, increasing long‑term health and safety risks associated with exposure and accidents.
Taxpayers: allowing operation beyond the statutory date may shift cleanup timelines and require additional monitoring or remediation, increasing costs borne by taxpayers.
Local governments and residents: removing the statutory closure deadline reduces legal certainty and complicates long‑term land‑use and safety planning for communities near the site.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Removes the Sept. 30, 2031 cutoff so the Cheney disposal cell in Mesa County, CO may accept radioactive residual and byproduct material until filled to design capacity.
Introduced March 5, 2026 by Jeff Hurd · Last progress March 5, 2026
Removes the September 30, 2031 calendar cutoff that otherwise limited operations at the Cheney disposal cell in Mesa County, Colorado, so the cell may continue to receive and dispose of residual radioactive and byproduct material until it is filled to its designed capacity. The change does not alter the design-capacity limit or add new funding, it only eliminates the statutory date-based end point for disposal operations.