By: Landgraf (Senate Sponsor - Seliger) H.B. No. 2662
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2017;
May 8, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
Resources & Economic Development; May 17, 2017, reported
adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following
vote: Yeas 9, Nays 2; May 17, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2662 By: Seliger
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact
waste disposal facility; reducing a surcharge; eliminating a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) Section 401.207(g), Health and Safety Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(g) The commission shall assess a surcharge for the disposal
of nonparty compact waste at the compact waste disposal
facility. The surcharge is 10 [20] percent of the total contracted
rate under Section 401.2456 and must be assessed in addition to the
total contracted rate under that section.
(b) Effective September 1, 2019, Section 401.207(g), Health
and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(g) The commission shall assess a surcharge for the disposal
of nonparty compact waste at the compact waste disposal
facility. The surcharge is 20 percent of the total contracted rate
under Section 401.2456 and must be assessed in addition to the total
contracted rate under that section.
SECTION 2. Section 401.208, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding
Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a) At least once every four years, the [The] commission
shall conduct a study on the available volume and curie capacity of
the compact waste disposal facility for the disposal of party state
compact waste and nonparty compact waste.
(a-1) In order to conduct the study under this section, the
commission may require a generator of low-level radioactive waste
to provide annually:
(1) information reasonably necessary to evaluate the
adequacy of the capacity of the compact waste disposal facility as
accurately as possible, including the amount in volume and curies
that the generator intends to export or dispose of at a facility
other than the compact waste disposal facility;
(2) the amount in volume and curies of low-level
radioactive waste that was stored on-site at the generator's
facility in the preceding year; and
(3) the length of time waste was stored at the
generator's facility.
(c) The [Not later than December 1, 2016, the] commission
shall submit a final report of the results of the study to the
standing committees of the senate and the house of representatives
with jurisdiction over the disposal of low-level radioactive waste.
(e) The commission may conduct a study described by
Subsection (a) at any time [after December 1, 2012,] if the
commission determines that a study is necessary.
SECTION 3. (a) Section 401.2445, Health and Safety Code, is
repealed.
(b) Effective September 1, 2019, Subchapter F, Chapter 401,
Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 401.2445 to
read as follows:
Sec. 401.2445. STATE FEE. The compact waste disposal
facility license holder each quarter shall transfer to the state
general revenue fund five percent of the gross receipts from:
(1) compact waste received at the compact waste
disposal facility; and
(2) any federal facility waste received at a federal
facility waste disposal facility licensed under Section 401.216.
SECTION 4. Chapter 403, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 403.0056 to read as follows:
Sec. 403.0056. ASSESSMENT OF COMPACT FACILITY BY
LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE. (a) In this section, "compact
facility" has the meaning assigned by the Texas Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact.
(b) A legislative oversight committee is created for the
purpose of assessing the compact facility.
(c) The committee is composed of the following members:
(1) the chair of the House Committee on Environmental
Regulation;
(2) a member of the house of representatives who
represents the county in which the compact facility is located;
(3) a member of the house of representatives appointed
by the speaker of the house of representatives;
(4) the chair of the Senate Committee on Natural
Resources and Economic Development;
(5) a member of the senate who represents the county in
which the compact facility is located;
(6) a member of the senate appointed by the lieutenant
governor;
(7) the chair of the commission; and
(8) a person appointed by each nonhost party state as
provided by the laws of that state.
(d) The chair of the House Committee on Environmental
Regulation and the chair of the Senate Committee on Natural
Resources and Economic Development shall serve as co-chairs.
(e) An appointed member of the committee serves at the
pleasure of the appointing official.
(f) The committee shall consider and make recommendations
regarding:
(1) the annual fixed costs incurred by the operator of
the compact facility;
(2) the party state compact waste disposal fees
established in rule by the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality in accordance with Section 401.245;
(3) the contract review process as carried out by the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality;
(4) the relationship between the state, party state
generators, and operator as it relates to the operation of the
compact facility;
(5) the contingency plan required under the Texas
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact;
(6) the need for and effects of fees and surcharges
assessed for disposal of waste in the compact facility, including
the fees and surcharges assessed under the following sections:
(A) Section 401.052(b)(5);
(B) Section 401.207(g);
(C) Section 401.245; and
(D) Section 401.246(a)(6);
(7) the cost of a state-run compact facility and the
effect a state-run facility would have on rates and generators in
compact states; and
(8) any other matters the committee determines are
relevant to the compact facility and oversight of the compact
facility.
(g) The committee may request reports and other information
from the commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality as necessary to carry out this section.
(h) Not later than December 1, 2018, the committee shall
submit a final report of the results of the assessment to the
committees of the senate and the house of representatives with
jurisdiction over the disposal of low-level radioactive waste.
(i) The committee is abolished and this section expires
December 31, 2018.
SECTION 5. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
shall submit the first report required under Section 401.208,
Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, not later than
December 1, 2020.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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