Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB791 Compare Versions

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1	1	83R25740 SLB-D
2	2	By: Seliger S.B. No. 791
3	3	(Darby, Lewis, Hilderbran, Guerra, Villalba)
4	4	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 791: No.
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the regulation of low-level radioactive waste disposal
10	10	facilities and radioactive substances.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subsection (d), Section 401.052, Health and
13	13	Safety Code, as amended by Chapters 580 (H.B. 1678) and 1067 (H.B.
14	14	1567), Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, is
15	15	reenacted and amended to read as follows:
16	16	(d) Fees assessed under this section:
17	17	(1) may not exceed $10 per cubic foot of shipped
18	18	low-level radioactive waste;
19	19	(2) shall be collected by the department and deposited
20	20	to the credit of the perpetual care account;
21	21	(3) shall be used [exclusively] by the department for
22	22	emergency planning for and response to transportation accidents
23	23	involving low-level radioactive waste, including first responder
24	24	training in counties through which transportation routes are
25	25	designated in accordance with Subsection (a); and
26	26	(4) may not be collected on waste disposed of at a
27	27	federal facility waste disposal facility [shall be suspended when
28	28	the amount of fees collected reaches $500,000, except that if the
29	29	balance of fees collected is reduced to $350,000 or less, the
30	30	assessments shall be reinstituted to bring the balance of fees
31	31	collected to $500,000].
32	32	SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 401.109, Health and
33	33	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
34	34	(a) The department or commission may require a holder of a
35	35	license issued by the agency to provide security acceptable to the
36	36	agency to assure performance of the license holder's obligations
37	37	under this chapter. The department [or commission] shall deposit
38	38	security provided to the department under this section to the
39	39	credit of the perpetual care account. The department [or
40	40	commission] by rule shall provide that any evidence of security
41	41	must be made payable to the credit of the perpetual care account.
42	42	The commission shall deposit security provided to the commission
43	43	under this section to the credit of the environmental radiation and
44	44	perpetual care account. The commission shall provide that security
45	45	must be made payable to the credit of the environmental radiation
46	46	and perpetual care account.
47	47	SECTION 3. Section 401.152, Health and Safety Code, is
48	48	amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to
49	49	read as follows:
50	50	(b) The department [agency] shall use the security provided
51	51	by the license holder to pay the costs of actions that are taken or
52	52	that are to be taken under this section. The department [agency]
53	53	shall send to the comptroller a copy of its order together with
54	54	necessary written requests authorizing the comptroller to:
55	55	(1) enforce security supplied by the license holder;
56	56	(2) convert an amount of security into cash, as
57	57	necessary; and
58	58	(3) disburse from the security in the radiation and
59	59	perpetual care account the amount necessary to pay the costs.
60	60	(c) The commission shall use the security provided by the
61	61	license holder to pay the costs of actions taken or to be taken
62	62	under this section. The commission shall send to the comptroller a
63	63	copy of its order together with necessary written requests
64	64	authorizing the comptroller to:
65	65	(1) enforce security supplied by the license holder;
66	66	(2) convert an amount of security to cash, as
67	67	necessary; and
68	68	(3) disburse from the security in the environmental
69	69	radiation and perpetual care account the amount necessary to pay
70	70	the costs.
71	71	SECTION 4. Section 401.207, Health and Safety Code, is
72	72	amended by adding Subsections (d-1), (d-2), and (e-1) and amending
73	73	Subsections (e) and (h) to read as follows:
74	74	(d-1) Beginning September 1, 2015, the compact waste
75	75	disposal facility license holder may accept nonparty compact waste
76	76	for disposal at the facility only if the waste has been
77	77	volume-reduced, if eligible, by at least a factor of three. The
78	78	commission by rule shall establish requirements for ensuring that
79	79	low-level radioactive waste has been volume-reduced in a manner
80	80	consistent with this subchapter. Before establishing requirements
81	81	for volume reduction of low-level radioactive waste streams, the
82	82	commission must first determine that there are at least two
83	83	unaffiliated companies in operation in the United States
84	84	marketplace that offer low-level radioactive waste volume
85	85	reduction for each stream. This subsection does not apply to Class B
86	86	or Class C resins.
87	87	(d-2) If volume reduction of a low-level radioactive waste
88	88	stream would result in a change of waste classification to a class
89	89	higher than Class C, the requirements of Subsection (d-1) do not
90	90	apply.
91	91	(e) The compact waste disposal facility license holder may
92	92	not enter into a contract for the disposal of nonparty low-level
93	93	radioactive waste that has been designated as Class A low-level
94	94	radioactive waste under 10 C.F.R. Section 61.55 and commission rule
95	95	unless the waste is containerized. The compact waste disposal
96	96	facility license holder may dispose of:
97	97	(1) not more than the greater of:
98	98	(A) 1.167 million curies of nonparty compact
99	99	waste; or
100	100	(B) an amount of nonparty compact waste equal to
101	101	30 percent of the initial licensed capacity of the facility; and
102	102	(2) not more than 275,000 curies of nonparty compact
103	103	waste in any fiscal year [accept more than 50,000 total cubic feet
104	104	of nonparty compact waste annually. The compact waste disposal
105	105	facility license holder may not accept more than 120,000 curies of
106	106	nonparty compact waste annually, except that in the first year the
107	107	license holder may accept 220,000 curies].
108	108	(e-1) The legislature by general law may establish revised
109	109	limits under Subsection (e) after considering the results of the
110	110	study under Section 401.208.
111	111	(h) A surcharge collected under Subsection (g) shall be
112	112	deposited to the credit of the environmental radiation and
113	113	perpetual care account [low-level radioactive waste fund].
114	114	SECTION 5. Section 401.208, Health and Safety Code, is
115	115	amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (f) to
116	116	read as follows:
117	117	(c) Not later than December 1, 2016 [2012], the commission
118	118	shall submit a final report of the results of the study to the
119	119	standing committees of the senate and the house of representatives
120	120	with jurisdiction over the disposal of low-level radioactive waste.
121	121	(f) The commission, through the agency's internal audit,
122	122	shall conduct random audits of shipments to the site to ensure that
123	123	volumes, waste contents, and classifications are represented
124	124	accurately. The commission shall report these findings to the
125	125	legislature in the biennial report.
126	126	SECTION 6. Section 401.218, Health and Safety Code, is
127	127	amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
128	128	(d) The commission's executive director may adjust,
129	129	correct, or otherwise modify license condition 143 on completion of
130	130	an annual performance assessment. A modification by the executive
131	131	director to a license regarding a waste form, type, or stream must
132	132	be based on a site-specific performance assessment and objectives
133	133	as defined by commission rule and must be processed as a minor
134	134	amendment.
135	135	SECTION 7. Section 401.2456, Health and Safety Code, is
136	136	amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (f) and
137	137	(g) to read as follows:
138	138	(b) Rates and contract terms negotiated under this section
139	139	are subject to review and approval by the commission's executive
140	140	director to ensure they meet all of the requirements of this section
141	141	and the rules of the commission.
142	142	(f) The commission shall adopt rules governing the review
143	143	and approval by the commission's executive director of contract
144	144	terms negotiated under this section.
145	145	(g) A person affected by an action under this section may
146	146	seek judicial review under Subchapter I, Chapter 5, Water Code.
147	147	SECTION 8. Subsection (e), Section 401.249, Health and
148	148	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
149	149	(e) The commission may transfer money from the low-level
150	150	radioactive waste fund to the environmental radiation and perpetual
151	151	care account to make payments required by the commission under
152	152	Section 401.303.
153	153	SECTION 9. Subsection (d), Section 401.301, Health and
154	154	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
155	155	(d) The commission and department shall [may] require that
156	156	each person who holds a specific license issued by the agency pay to
157	157	the agency an additional five percent of the appropriate fee set
158	158	under Subsection (b). Fees collected by the department under this
159	159	subsection shall be deposited to the credit of the perpetual care
160	160	account. Fees collected by the commission under this subsection
161	161	shall be deposited to the environmental radiation and perpetual
162	162	care account. The fees are not refundable. The holder of a specific
163	163	license authorizing the extraction, processing, or concentration
164	164	of uranium or thorium from ore is not required to pay the additional
165	165	fee described by this subsection before the beginning of operations
166	166	under the license.
167	167	SECTION 10. Subsection (g), Section 401.303, Health and
168	168	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
169	169	(g) If a license holder satisfies the obligations under this
170	170	chapter, the issuing agency shall have the comptroller promptly
171	171	refund to the license holder from the perpetual care account or the
172	172	environmental radiation and perpetual care account, as applicable,
173	173	the excess of the amount of all payments made by the license holder
174	174	to the issuing agency and the investment earnings of those payments
175	175	over the amount determined to be required for the continuing
176	176	maintenance and surveillance of land, buildings, and radioactive
177	177	material conveyed to the state.
178	178	SECTION 11. Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g),
179	179	Section 401.305, Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as
180	180	follows:
181	181	(b) The department [and commission each] shall deposit to
182	182	the credit of the perpetual care account money and security it
183	183	receives [they receive] under this chapter, including an
184	184	administrative penalty collected by the department under Sections
185	185	401.384-401.390 but excluding fees collected under Sections
186	186	401.301(a)-(c) and 401.302. Interest earned on money in the
187	187	perpetual care account shall be credited to the perpetual care
188	188	account.
189	189	(c) Money and security in the perpetual care account may be
190	190	administered by the department [or commission] only for storage,
191	191	maintenance, and distribution of mammography medical records or the
192	192	decontamination, decommissioning, stabilization, reclamation,
193	193	maintenance, surveillance, control, storage, and disposal of
194	194	radioactive substances for the protection of the public health and
195	195	safety and the environment under this chapter and for refunds under
196	196	Section 401.303.
197	197	(d) Money and security in the perpetual care account may not
198	198	be used for normal operating expenses of the department [or
199	199	commission].
200	200	(e) The department [or commission] may use money in the
201	201	perpetual care account to pay for measures:
202	202	(1) to prevent or mitigate the adverse effects of
203	203	abandonment of radioactive substances, default on a lawful
204	204	obligation, insolvency, or other inability by the holder of a
205	205	license issued by the department [or commission] to meet the
206	206	requirements of this chapter or of department [or commission]
207	207	rules;
208	208	(2) to assure the protection of the public health and
209	209	safety and the environment from the adverse effects of ionizing
210	210	radiation; and
211	211	(3) to protect the health and safety of mammography
212	212	patients by assuring mammography medical records are made available
213	213	to affected patients.
214	214	(f) The department [or commission] may provide, by the terms
215	215	of a contract or lease entered into between the department [or
216	216	commission] and any person, by the terms of a mammography
217	217	certification issued by the department [or commission] to any
218	218	person, or by the terms of a license issued to any person, for the
219	219	storage, maintenance, and distribution of mammography medical
220	220	records. The department [or commission] may provide, by the terms
221	221	of a contract or lease entered into between the department [or
222	222	commission] and any person or by the terms of a license issued by
223	223	the department [or commission] to any person, for the
224	224	decontamination, closure, decommissioning, reclamation,
225	225	surveillance, or other care of a site or facility subject to
226	226	department [or commission] jurisdiction under this chapter as
227	227	needed to carry out the purpose of this chapter.
228	228	(g) The existence of the perpetual care account does not
229	229	make the department [or commission] liable for the costs of
230	230	storage, maintenance, and distribution of mammography medical
231	231	records arising from a mammography certification holder's failure
232	232	to store, maintain, and make available mammography medical records
233	233	or for the costs of decontamination, transfer, transportation,
234	234	reclamation, surveillance, or disposal of radioactive substances
235	235	arising from a license holder's abandonment of radioactive
236	236	substances, default on a lawful obligation, insolvency, or
237	237	inability to meet the requirements of this chapter or of department
238	238	[or commission] rules.
239	239	SECTION 12. Subchapter H, Chapter 401, Health and Safety
240	240	Code, is amended by adding Sections 401.306 and 401.307 to read as
241	241	follows:
242	242	Sec. 401.306. ENVIRONMENTAL RADIATION AND PERPETUAL CARE
243	243	ACCOUNT. (a) The environmental radiation and perpetual care
244	244	account is an account in the general revenue fund.
245	245	(b) The commission shall deposit to the credit of the
246	246	environmental radiation and perpetual care account money and
247	247	security it receives under this chapter, including fees collected
248	248	under Section 401.301(d).
249	249	(c) Money and security in the environmental radiation and
250	250	perpetual care account may be administered by the commission only
251	251	for the decontamination, decommissioning, stabilization,
252	252	reclamation, maintenance, surveillance, control, storage, and
253	253	disposal of radioactive substances for the protection of the public
254	254	health and safety and the environment under this chapter and for
255	255	refunds under Section 401.303.
256	256	(d) Money and security in the environmental radiation and
257	257	perpetual care account may not be used for normal operating
258	258	expenses of the commission.
259	259	(e) The commission may use money in the environmental
260	260	radiation and perpetual care account to pay for measures:
261	261	(1) to prevent or mitigate the adverse effects of
262	262	abandonment of radioactive substances, default on a lawful
263	263	obligation, insolvency, or other inability by the holder of a
264	264	license issued by the commission to meet the requirements of this
265	265	chapter or of commission rules; and
266	266	(2) to ensure the protection of the public health and
267	267	safety and the environment.
268	268	(f) The commission may provide, by the terms of a contract
269	269	or lease entered into between the commission and any person, or by
270	270	the terms of a license issued to any person, for the
271	271	decontamination, closure, decommissioning, reclamation,
272	272	surveillance, or other care of a site or facility subject to
273	273	commission jurisdiction under this chapter as needed to carry out
274	274	the purposes of this chapter.
275	275	(g) The existence of the environmental radiation and
276	276	perpetual care account does not make the commission liable for the
277	277	costs of decontamination, transfer, transportation, reclamation,
278	278	surveillance, or disposal of radioactive substances arising from a
279	279	license holder's abandonment of radioactive substances, default on
280	280	a lawful obligation, insolvency, or inability to meet the
281	281	requirements of this chapter or of commission rules.
282	282	Sec. 401.307. PERPETUAL CARE ACCOUNT AND ENVIRONMENTAL
283	283	RADIATION AND PERPETUAL CARE ACCOUNT CAPS. (a) The fees imposed
284	284	under Sections 401.052(d) and 401.301(d) are suspended when the sum
285	285	of the balances of the perpetual care account and the environmental
286	286	radiation and perpetual care account reaches $25 million. The fees
287	287	are reinstated when the sum of the balances of the perpetual care
288	288	account and the environmental radiation and perpetual care account
289	289	falls to $12.5 million or less.
290	290	(b) The surcharge collected under Section 401.207(g) is
291	291	collected without regard to the balances of the perpetual care
292	292	account and the environmental radiation and perpetual care account.
293	293	(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a fee imposed by the
294	294	commission under Section 401.301(d) on the holder of a license
295	295	authorizing the extraction, processing, or concentration of
296	296	uranium or thorium from ore is suspended when the amount in the
297	297	environmental radiation and perpetual care account attributable to
298	298	those fees reaches $2 million. If the amount in that account
299	299	attributable to those fees is reduced to $1.5 million or less, the
300	300	fee is reinstated until the amount reaches $2 million.
301	301	(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a fee imposed under
302	302	Section 401.052(d) is suspended from imposition against a party
303	303	state compact waste generator when the amount in the perpetual care
304	304	account attributable to those fees reaches $500,000. If the amount
305	305	in that account attributable to those fees is reduced to $350,000 or
306	306	less, the fee is reinstated until the amount reaches $500,000.
307	307	(e) This section does not affect the liability of a
308	308	generator for a transportation accident.
309	309	SECTION 13. The following sections of the Health and Safety
310	310	Code are repealed:
311	311	(1) Subsection (h), Section 401.245;
312	312	(2) Subsection (b), Section 401.2455;
313	313	(3) Subsection (e), Section 401.301; and
314	314	(4) Section 403.0052.
315	315	SECTION 14. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
316	316	date of this Act, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
317	317	shall adopt rules to implement Subsection (d-1), Section 401.207,
318	318	and Subsection (d), Section 401.218, Health and Safety Code, as
319	319	added by this Act.
320	320	(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
321	321	Act but not later than the first anniversary of the effective date
322	322	of this Act, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall
323	323	adopt rules to implement Subsection (b), Section 401.2456, Health
324	324	and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, and Subsection (f), Section
325	325	401.2456, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
326	326	(c) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
327	327	Act but not later than January 1, 2014, the Texas Commission on
328	328	Environmental Quality and the Department of State Health Services
329	329	shall update the portion of the memorandum of understanding between
330	330	the two agencies under Section 401.069, Health and Safety Code,
331	331	that governs each agency's role regarding the regulation and
332	332	oversight of radioactive materials and sources of radiation.
333	333	SECTION 15. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
334	334	to a contract for the disposal of compact waste or nonparty compact
335	335	waste that is signed on or after the effective date of this Act. A
336	336	contract signed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
337	337	the law in effect on the date the contract was signed, and the
338	338	former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
339	339	SECTION 16. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.