A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the President and the Secretary of State should ensure that the Government of Canada does not permanently store nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin.

III 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 117 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President and the Secretary of State should ensure that the Government of Canada does not perma- nently store nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 22, 2023 Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. PETERS, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. BROWN) sub- mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President and the Secretary of State should ensure that the Govern- ment of Canada does not permanently store nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin. Whereas the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin are precious public natural resources shared by the Great Lakes States and the Provinces of Canada; Whereas, since 1909, the United States and Canada have worked to maintain and improve the water quality of the Great Lakes through water quality agreements; Whereas more than 40,000,000 individuals in Canada and the United States depend on the fresh water from the Great Lakes for drinking water; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR117.IS SR117 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •SRES 117 IS Whereas the Government of Canada is proposing to build a permanent deep geological repository for high-level nu- clear waste in the Great Lakes Basin; Whereas the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Canada is examining building a permanent deep geologi- cal repository for nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin, less than 40 miles from Lake Huron in South Bruce, Ontario, Canada; Whereas nuclear waste is highly toxic and can take tens of thousands of years to decompose to safe levels; Whereas a spill of nuclear waste into the Great Lakes, in- cluding during transit to a permanent deep geological re- pository for nuclear waste, could have lasting and se- verely adverse environmental, health, and economic im- pacts on the Great Lakes and the individuals who depend on the Great Lakes for their livelihoods; Whereas more than 232 State, Tribal, county, and local gov- ernments have passed resolutions in opposition to the for- merly proposed nuclear waste repository of Ontario Power Generation; Whereas Tribes and First Nations’ citizens have a strong spiritual and cultural connection to the Great Lakes; Whereas the Saugeen Ojibway Nation exercised its Aboriginal and treaty rights by voting against Ontario Power Gen- eration building a permanent nuclear waste repository in Kincardine, Ontario; Whereas the protection of the Great Lakes is fundamental to treaty rights; and Whereas, during the 1980s, when the Department of Energy was studying potential sites for a permanent nuclear waste repository in the United States in accordance with VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR117.IS SR117 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •SRES 117 IS the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), the Government of Canada expressed concern with locating a permanent nuclear waste repository with- in shared water basins of the 2 countries: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 1 (1) the Government of Canada should not allow 2 a permanent nuclear waste repository to be built 3 within the Great Lakes Basin; 4 (2) the President and the Secretary of State 5 should take appropriate action to work with the Gov- 6 ernment of Canada to prevent a permanent nuclear 7 waste repository from being built within the Great 8 Lakes Basin; and 9 (3) the President and the Secretary of State 10 should work together with their counterparts in the 11 Government of Canada on a solution for the long- 12 term storage of nuclear waste that— 13 (A) is safe and responsible; and 14 (B) does not pose a threat to the Great 15 Lakes. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR117.IS SR117 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB