Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2692 Latest Draft

Bill / Comm Sub Version Filed 04/07/2021

                            87R16656 SLB-D
 By: Landgraf H.B. No. 2692
 Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2692:
 By:  Dominguez C.S.H.B. No. 2692


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to the regulation of radioactive waste; reducing a
 surcharge; reducing a fee.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Section 401.205, Health and Safety Code, is
 amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
 (a-1)  In this subsection, "high-level radioactive waste"
 has the meaning assigned by 42 U.S.C. Section 10101(12) and "spent
 nuclear fuel" has the meaning assigned by 42 U.S.C. Section
 10101(23). With the exception of storage at the site of currently
 or formerly operating nuclear power reactors and currently or
 formerly operating nuclear research and test reactors located on
 university campuses, a person, including the compact waste disposal
 facility license holder, may not dispose of or store high-level
 radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel in this state.
 SECTION 2.  Subchapter F, Chapter 401, Health and Safety
 Code, is amended by adding Sections 401.2065 and 401.2066 to read as
 follows:
 Sec. 401.2065.  RESERVED CAPACITY FOR PARTY STATE WASTE.
 (a) The following are reserved for the exclusive use of party state
 compact waste disposal in the compact waste disposal facility:
 (1)  the greater of:
 (A)  three million total cubic feet; or
 (B)  the required volume identified by the
 commission under Section 401.208; and
 (2)  the greater of:
 (A)  two million total curies; or
 (B)  the required curie capacity identified by the
 commission under Section 401.208.
 (b)  Of the reserved volume and curie capacity described by
 Subsection (a):
 (1)  80 percent is reserved for compact waste generated
 in the host state; and
 (2)  20 percent is reserved for compact waste generated
 in nonhost party states.
 Sec. 401.2066.  CORRECTION FOR DECAY IN DETERMINING
 CAPACITY. The commission shall correct for radioactive decay in
 determining licensed disposal curie capacity in a compact waste
 disposal facility under this subchapter.
 SECTION 3.  Sections 401.207(e-2) and (g), Health and Safety
 Code, are amended to read as follows:
 (e-2)  The commission's executive director, on completion of
 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 capacity
 required [limit] under Section 401.2065 is available [Subsection
 (f) has been reached].
 (g)  The commission shall assess a surcharge for the disposal
 of nonparty compact waste at the compact waste disposal facility.
 The surcharge is five [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 4.  Subchapter F, Chapter 401, Health and Safety
 Code, is amended by adding Section 401.2075 to read as follows:
 Sec. 401.2075.  LIMITATION ON NONPARTY COMPACT WASTE. (a)
 The compact waste disposal facility license holder may accept
 nonparty compact waste at the facility only if:
 (1)  the waste is authorized by the compact commission;
 and
 (2)  the facility has not less than three years' worth
 of constructed capacity based on the average amount of party state
 compact waste disposed in the compact waste disposal facility in
 the preceding five years.
 (b)  If the compact waste disposal facility does not have
 sufficient constructed capacity as described by Subsection (a), in
 order to be permitted to accept nonparty compact waste, the compact
 waste disposal facility license holder must:
 (1)  add constructed capacity sufficient to meet the
 requirements of Subsection (a); or
 (2)  file and have approved by the commission a bond
 acceptable to the commission conditioned on the construction of
 additional constructed capacity sufficient to meet the
 requirements of Subsection (a).
 (c)  If a utility operating a nuclear electric generation
 facility in a party state has notified the federal commission that
 the facility will be decommissioned, and the time-phased
 decommissioning schedule and the Post-Shutdown Decommissioning
 Activities Report indicate that low-level radioactive waste is to
 be disposed of at the compact waste disposal facility, the compact
 waste disposal facility license holder must have constructed
 adequate disposal capacity at the time of the disposal of waste from
 the decommissioning.
 (d)  The compact waste disposal facility license holder must
 obtain an amendment to the facility operating license to increase
 the allowable curie capacity by two million curies when the compact
 waste disposal facility has reached 80 percent of the total curies
 for which the facility is licensed.
 SECTION 5.  Section 401.215, Health and Safety Code, is
 amended to read as follows:
 Sec. 401.215.  ACCEPTANCE OF LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE.
 Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter [Subject to
 limitations provided by Sections 401.207 and 401.248], the compact
 waste disposal facility shall accept for disposal all compact waste
 that is presented to it and that is properly processed and packaged.
 SECTION 6.  Section 401.2445, Health and Safety Code, is
 amended 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 7.  Section 401.2456(b), Health and Safety Code, is
 amended to read as follows:
 (b)  Rates and contract terms negotiated under this section
 are subject to periodic review [and approval] by the commission's
 executive director to ensure that the compact waste facility
 license holder's contracted rates and terms do not have a
 long-term, adverse effect on the cumulative surcharges paid to the
 host state and the host county [they meet all of the requirements of
 this section].
 SECTION 8.  Subchapter F, Chapter 401, Health and Safety
 Code, is amended by adding Section 401.2465 to read as follows:
 Sec. 401.2465.  WASTE DISPOSAL FEE COMPARISON. (a)  The
 compact waste disposal facility license holder shall conduct an
 annual comparison of party state and nonparty state compact waste
 disposal fees. The comparison must include:
 (1)  an average party state disposal fee calculated by
 dividing the total invoiced party state compact waste disposal fees
 by the total volume of party state compact waste disposed; and
 (2)  an average nonparty state disposal fee calculated
 by dividing the total invoiced nonparty state compact waste
 disposal fees by the total volume of nonparty state compact waste
 disposed.
 (b)  If the average party state disposal fee exceeds the
 average nonparty state disposal fee, the compact waste disposal
 facility license holder must issue a rebate for the preceding
 year's fees to the party state generators in an amount sufficient to
 reduce the average party state disposal fee after the rebate to $1
 less than the average nonparty state disposal fee.
 (c)  The compact waste disposal facility license holder
 shall allocate the rebate issued under Subsection (b) according to
 the fractional amount of the total compact waste disposal fees paid
 by each generator based on the compact waste disposal facility
 license holder's records for the preceding year.
 (d)  Not more often than once per year, on written request of
 a utility operating a nuclear electric generation facility in a
 party state, the compact waste disposal facility license holder
 shall:
 (1)  retain an independent auditor, who must be
 approved by the compact waste disposal facility license holder and
 the utility making the request, to evaluate the computation of the
 average compact waste disposal fee and rebate described by this
 section; and
 (2)  not later than the 30th day after the date the
 license holder receives the final audit report, make a copy of the
 report available to the requesting utility, the governor, the
 lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
 and each standing committee of the legislature with jurisdiction
 over environmental matters.
 SECTION 9.  The following provisions of the Health and
 Safety Code are repealed:
 (1)  Sections 401.207(d-1), (d-2), (d-3), (e), (e-1),
 (f), and (h-1); and
 (2)  Sections 401.2456(c), (d), and (e).
 SECTION 10.  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, 2021.