PUBLIC LAW 100-456—SEPT. 29, 1988
102 STAT. 2073
programs administered by agencies other than the Department of Defense in order to assist the State of Washington and local communities near Hanford Reservation, Washington, in planning community adjustments required by the closure of the N Reactor. SEC. 1433. REVIEW OF WASTE ISOLATION PILOT PLANT IN NEW MEXICO
(a) CONTRACT REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Energy shall enter into a contract with the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (hereafter in this section referred to as the "Institute") to conduct independent reviews and evaluations of the design, construction, and operations of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico (hereafter in this section referred to as the "WIPP") as they relate to the protection of the public health and safety and the environment. The contract shall be for a period of one year, beginning on March 31, 1989, and shall be renewable for four additional one-year periods with the consent of the Institute and subject to the authorization and appropriation of funds for such purpose. (b) CONTENT OF CONTRACT.—A contract entered into under subsection (a) shall require the following: (1) The President of the Institute shall appoint a Director and Deputy Director, who shall be scientists of national eminence in the field of nuclear waste disposal, shall be free from any biases related to the activities of the WIPP, and shall be widely known for their integrity and scientific expertise. The Director shall carry out the work under the contract through a group known as the Environmental Evaluation Group and shall report directly to the President of the Institute. (2) The Director shall appoint staff. The professional staff shall consist of scientists and engineers of recognized integrity and scientific expertise who represent scientific and engineering disciplines needed for a thorough review of the WIPP, including such disciplines as geology, hydrology, health physics, environmental engineering, probability risk analysis, mining engineering, and radiation chemistry. The disciplines represented in the staff shall change as may be necessary to meet changed needs in carrying out the contract for expertise in any certain scientific or engineering discipline. Scientists employed under the contract shall have qualifications and experience equivalent to the qualifications and experience required for scientists employed by the Federal Government in grades GS-13 through GS-16. (3) Scientists employed under the contract shall have an appropriate support staff (4) The Director and Deputy Director shall each be appointed for a term of 5 years, subject to contract renewal, and may be removed only for misconduct or incompetence. The staff shall be appointed for such terms as the Director considers appropriate. (5) The rates of pay of professional staff and the procedures for increasing the rates of pay of professional staff shall be equivalent to those rates and procedures provided for the General Schedule pay system under chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code. The fringe benefits available to the professional staff of the Institute shall also be available to professional staff under the contract. (6) To the maximum extent practicable, preference in the hiring of staff for the Environmental Evaluation Group shall be given to persons involved in the scientific evaluation group for WIPP immediately before the date of the enactment of this Act.
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