By: Zaffirini, Rosson S.B. No. 1127
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to rules adopted by the Texas Board of Health regarding
1-2 the transportation and routing of radioactive material and waste.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 401.052, Health and Safety Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 401.052. RULES <AND GUIDELINES> FOR TRANSPORTATION AND
1-7 ROUTING. (a) The board shall adopt rules <and guidelines> that
1-8 provide for transportation and routing of radioactive material and
1-9 waste in this state.
1-10 (b) Rules adopted under this section for radioactive waste
1-11 shall:
1-12 (1) to the extent practicable, be compatible with
1-13 United States Department of Transportation and United States
1-14 Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations relating to the
1-15 transportation of radioactive waste;
1-16 (2) require each shipper and transporter of
1-17 radioactive waste to adopt an emergency plan approved by the
1-18 department for responding to transportation accidents;
1-19 (3) require the notification and reporting of
1-20 accidents to the department and to local emergency planning
1-21 committees in the county where the accident occurs;
1-22 (4) require each shipper to adopt a quality control
1-23 program approved by the department to verify that shipping
2-1 containers are suitable for shipment to a licensed disposal
2-2 facility; and
2-3 (5) assess a fee on shippers for shipments to a Texas
2-4 low-level radioactive waste disposal facility of radioactive waste
2-5 originating in Texas or out of state.
2-6 (c) In promulgating rules under this section, the board
2-7 shall consult with the advisory board and the Texas Natural
2-8 Resource Conservation Commission.
2-9 (d)(1) Fees assessed under this section shall:
2-10 (A) not exceed $10 per cubic foot of shipped
2-11 radioactive waste;
2-12 (B) be collected by the authority and deposited
2-13 to the credit of the radiation and perpetual care fund; and
2-14 (C) be used exclusively by the department for
2-15 emergency planning for and response to transportation accidents
2-16 involving radioactive waste.
2-17 (2) Fee assessments under this section shall be
2-18 suspended when the amount of fees collected reaches $500,000,
2-19 except that if the balance of fees collected is reduced to $350,000
2-20 or less, the assessments shall be reinstituted to bring the balance
2-21 of fees collected to $500,000.
2-22 (e) In this section:
2-23 (1) "Shipper" means a person who generates low-level
2-24 radioactive waste and ships or arranges with others to ship the
2-25 waste to a disposal site.
3-1 (2) "Authority" means the Texas Low-level Radioactive
3-2 Waste Disposal Authority.
3-3 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
3-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-8 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-9 passage, and it is so enacted.