By: Seliger S.B. No. 1137
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact
waste disposal facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 401.053, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 401.053. CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR LOW-LEVEL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE. The department shall use the [may establish a]
classification system for low-level radioactive waste that is
established by the federal commission [based on radiological,
chemical, and biological characteristics and on physical state] so
that low-level radioactive waste can be managed safely and
compatibly.
SECTION 2. Section 401.207, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (e), and (e-2) and adding
Subsection (1) to read as follows:
(e) The compact waste disposal facility license holder may
not collect a fee under this section or enter into a contract for
the disposal of nonparty low-level radioactive waste that has been
designated as Class A low-level radioactive waste under 10 C.F.R.
Section 61.55 and commission rule unless the waste is
containerized. The compact waste disposal facility license holder
may, before September 1, 2027, collect a fee for and dispose of
nonparty compact radioactive waste in an amount not to exceed:
(1) 2.75 million curies; or
(2) an amount greater than the amount under
Subdivision (1) as specified by the license holder if the Texas
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission determines
that the license holder has shown good cause for the greater amount,
considering:
(A) the existing limits in the facility license,
including radioactivity and volume limits in curies and cubic feet;
(B) the as-built disposal capacity available in
the facility to party state generators;
(C) any expansion of the facility's disposal
capacity that is actively under construction;
(D) the potential effects of the proposed limit
increase on the performance assessment of the facility;
(E) the potential effects of the proposed limit
increase on the health and safety of the employees; and
(F) any other factor considered relevant by the
Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission[:
[(1) not more than the greater of:
[(A) 1.167 million curies of nonparty compact
waste; or
[(B) an amount of nonparty compact waste equal to
30 percent of the initial licensed capacity of the facility; and
[(2) not more than 275,000 curies of nonparty compact
waste in any fiscal year].
(e-2) The commission's executive director, on completion of
a [the] study under Section 401.208, may prohibit the license holder
from accepting any additional nonparty compact waste if the
commission determines from the study that the capacity of the
facility will be limited, regardless of whether the limit under
Subsection (e)[(f)] has been reached.
(1) This section does not restrict or alter the authority of
the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission
under this chapter or Chapter 403 to approve the importation of
nonparty compact waste to this state.
SECTION 3. Sections 401.208(a), (c), and (e), Health and
Safety Code, are amended 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.
(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 4. Section 401.216(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) [The commission may license the compact waste disposal
facility license holder to dispose of federal facility waste.] The
commission may license federal facility waste disposal only at a
separate and distinct facility that is operated exclusively for the
disposal of federal facility waste and that is adjacent to the
compact waste disposal facility.
SECTION 5. Chapter 403, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 403.0056 to read as follows:
Sec. 403.0056. COMPACT FACILITY CAPACITY. (a) In this
section, "compact facility," "generator," "operator," and "party
state" have the meanings assigned by Section 2.01, Texas Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact (Section 403.006 of this code).
(b) The operator shall reserve disposal capacity in the
amounts of four million cubic feet and three million curies for
party state compact waste. The reserved capacity and curies are
immediately set aside for party sate compact waste. The commission
and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall ensure
that:
(1) the reservation is maintained until the completion
of decommissioning of all of the nuclear electric generation
facilities in the party states; and
(2) 20 percent of the volume and curie capacity
reserved for party states is allotted to compact waste generated in
Vermont.
(c) For the purposes of operator licensing decisions based
on storage capacity, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
shall consider the disposal capacity reserved for party state
compact waster under Subsection (b) as disposed.
(d) When the compact facility reaches 90 percent of its
as-built disposal capacity as measured by volume or curie, the
operator shall discontinue accepting waste from nonparty states
until:
(1) construction is completed on a new disposal cell
that provides a least an additional one million cubic feet of
airspace capacity, as certified and stamped by an individual
licensed as an engineer under Chapter 1001, Occupations Code; or
(2) the operator executes a performance bond or other
instrument of financial assurance determined to be acceptable by
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that is conditioned
on the completion of a new disposal cell at the compact facility.
SECTION 6. The following sections of the Health and Safety
Code are repealed:
(1) Section 401.005;
(3) Sections 401.207(d-1), (d-2), (d-3), and (f);
(4) Sections 401.216(b), (c), and (e); and
(5) Section 401.2455.
SECTION 7. 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 8. 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.