2011S0610-2 03/09/11
	By: Seliger, Hinojosa	S.B. No. 1504

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the disposal of nonparty compact low-level radioactive
	waste at the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact
	waste disposal facility.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 401, Health and Safety
	Code, is amended by adding Section 401.208 to read as follows:
	Sec. 401.208.  LIMITATIONS ON NONPARTY COMPACT WASTE.
	(a)  In this section:
	(1)  "Compact" means the compact under Section 403.006.
	(2)  "Nonparty compact waste" means low-level
	radioactive waste accepted from a state other than a party state as
	authorized by Section 3.05(6) of the compact.
	(b)  The compact waste disposal facility license holder may
	not accept for disposal at the compact waste disposal facility
	nonparty compact waste that:
	(1)  originated or was generated outside the United
	States; or
	(2)  does not meet the waste characteristics and waste
	forms for disposal applicable to other compact waste as set forth by
	the commission in the compact waste disposal facility license.
	(c)  The compact waste disposal facility license holder may
	not accept:
	(1)  more than 20,000 total cubic feet of nonparty
	compact waste annually, of which not more than 9,000 cubic feet may
	be Class B and C low-level radioactive waste, as defined by Section
	401.218; or
	(2)  a volume of nonparty compact waste that would
	exceed 30 percent of the total volume and radioactivity of the host
	state's compact waste that is projected by the commission to be
	accepted by the facility.
	(d)  The volume of waste under Subsection (c) does not affect
	the volume of waste to be accepted by the facility from nonhost
	party states.
	(e)  The commission shall assess a surcharge for the disposal
	of nonparty compact waste at the compact waste disposal facility.
	The surcharge is:
	(1)  $1,000 per cubic foot; and
	(2)  $500 per curie.
	(f)  A surcharge collected under Subsection (e) shall be
	deposited to the credit of the low-level radioactive waste fund as
	established under Section 401.249.
	SECTION 2.  Section 401.245, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection
	(g) to read as follows:
	(a)  A compact waste disposal facility license holder who
	receives low-level radioactive waste for disposal pursuant to the
	Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact established
	under Chapter 403 shall have collected a waste disposal fee, in an
	amount established by commission rule, to be paid by each person who
	delivers low-level radioactive waste to the compact waste disposal
	facility for disposal.
	(b)  The commission by rule shall adopt and periodically
	revise compact waste disposal fees according to a schedule that is
	based on the projected annual volume of low-level radioactive waste
	received, the relative hazard presented by each type of low-level
	radioactive waste that is generated by the users of radioactive
	materials, and the costs identified in Section 401.246.  The
	commission shall adopt fees for all compact waste, including
	nonparty compact waste as defined by Section 401.208.
	(g)  The commission may not establish and may not permit the
	compact waste disposal facility license holder to establish a
	compact waste disposal fee before the commission by rule
	establishes the fees required by Subsection (a), and no waste may be
	accepted by the compact waste disposal facility until the
	commission has established the fees required by Subsection (a).
	SECTION 3.  Subsection (b), Section 401.248, Health and
	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(b)  The state may enter into compacts with another state or
	several states for the disposal in this state of low-level
	radioactive waste only if the compact:
	(1)  limits the total volume of all low-level
	radioactive waste to be disposed of in this state from the other
	party state or party states to 20 percent of the annual average of
	low-level radioactive waste that the governor projects will be
	produced in this state from the years 1995 through 2045;
	(2)  gives this state full administrative control over
	management and operation of the compact waste disposal facility;
	(3)  requires the other state or states to join this
	state in any legal action necessary to prevent states that are not
	members of the compact from disposing of low-level radioactive
	waste at the compact waste disposal facility;
	(4)  allows this state to charge a fee for the disposal
	of low-level radioactive waste at the compact waste disposal
	facility;
	(5)  requires the other state or states to join in any
	legal action involving liability from the compact waste disposal
	facility;
	(6)  requires the other state or states to share the
	full cost of constructing the compact waste disposal facility;
	(7)  allows this state to regulate, in accordance with
	federal law, the means and routes of transportation of the
	low-level radioactive waste in this state;
	(8)  requires the other state or states to pay for
	community assistance projects selected by the host county in an
	amount not less than $1 million or 10 percent of the amount
	contributed by the other state or states;
	(9)  is agreed to by the Texas Legislature, the
	legislature of the other state or states, and the United States
	Congress; and
	(10)  complies with all applicable federal law.
	SECTION 4.  Section 401.250, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 401.250.  PAYMENTS BY PARTY
	STATES.  (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Act of
	the legislature or the executive branch, or any other agreement,
	the initial payment of $12.5 million due from each nonhost party
	state under Section 5.01 of the compact established under Section
	403.006 is due not later than November 1, 2003.  In accordance with
	Section 7.01 of the compact, the host state establishes the
	following terms and conditions for a state to become a party state
	to the compact after January 1, 2011:
	(1)  the state must make an initial payment of half of
	the total amount due to the host state under Subsection (b) and
	Section 5.01(b) of the compact on the later of September 1, 2011, or
	the date the state becomes a party state; and
	(2)  the state must pay the remainder of the amount owed
	on the later of the date of the opening of the compact waste
	disposal facility or the date the facility first accepts waste from
	the state.
	(b)  Each state that becomes a party state:
	(1)  after January 1, 2011, and before September 1,
	2015, shall contribute a total of $40 million to the host state,
	including the initial payment under Subsection (a)(1); and
	(2)  on or after September 1, 2015, and before
	September 1, 2020, shall contribute $60 million to the host state,
	including the initial payment under Subsection (a)(1).
	(c)  The requirements of this section apply to a state that
	becomes a party state after January 1, 2011, regardless of whether
	the state had previously been a party to the compact.  A state that
	has withdrawn as a party state shall pay the previously committed
	fee of $25 million in addition to the fees set in Subsection (b).
	(d)  A payment made under this section may not be refunded,
	even if a party state withdraws from the compact.
	(e)  This section prevails over any other law or agreement in
	conflict or inconsistent with this section.
	SECTION 5.  In accordance with Section 4.04(5) of the Texas
	Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Contract, the Texas
	Commission on Environmental Quality shall conduct, not later than
	September 1, 2012, a study regarding low-level radioactive waste
	generated by both party and nonparty states to the compact that
	includes a projection of the volume and radioactivity of the waste.
	The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission
	shall use this study to anticipate future capacity of the site.  The
	Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall submit the results
	of the study to the appropriate committees of the legislature not
	later than January 1, 2013.
	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, 2011.