By: Landgraf H.B. No. 2662
 
 
 
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.