AUTHORIZATIONS FOR ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE AND MISCELLANEOUS PAYMENTS.

SEC. 3191. AUTHORIZATIONS FOR ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE AND MISCELLANEOUS PAYMENTS. (a) Authorization Amendment.— Section 15(a) of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act (106 Stat. 4791) is amended— (1) in the subsection caption, by striking “15-Year” and inserting “14-Year”; and (2) by striking “15 fiscal years beginning with the fiscal year in which the transport of transuranic waste to WIPP is initiated” and inserting “14 fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1998”. (b) Requirement for Separate Authorizations.— Such section 15(a) is further amended by adding at the end the following: “The authorization of appropriations for funds for payments to the State under the preceding sentence shall be separate from any authorization of appropriations of funds for WIPP.”. (c) Fiscal Year 1997 Funding.— Of the amount authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Energy by section 3102(b), $20,000,000 shall be available for the purpose of a payment by the Secretary of Energy to the State of New Mexico for road improvements in connection with the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.