By:  Zaffirini                                        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 for responding to
   1-18  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 to verify that shipping containers are suitable for
    2-1  shipment to a licensed disposal facility; and
    2-2              (5)  assess a fee on shippers for shipments to a Texas
    2-3  low-level radioactive waste disposal facility of radioactive waste
    2-4  originating in Texas or out of state.
    2-5        (c)  In promulgating rules under this section, the board
    2-6  shall consult with the advisory board and the Texas Natural
    2-7  Resource Conservation Commission.
    2-8        (d)(1)  Fees assessed under Subsection (b)(5) shall be based
    2-9  on:
   2-10                    (A)  the relative degree of the radiological and
   2-11  nonradiological hazards posed by a waste classification
   2-12  considering, among other factors, the half-life of the radioactive
   2-13  waste;
   2-14                    (B)  the distance within the state that each
   2-15  shipment travels; and
   2-16                    (C)  the level of radioactivity of and the volume
   2-17  of radioactive waste contained in each shipment.
   2-18              (2)  The fees shall be deposited in the state treasury
   2-19  to the credit of the low-level waste fund and shall be used
   2-20  exclusively for impact assistance under Section 402.251.
   2-21        (e)  In this section, "shipper" means a person who generates
   2-22  low-level radioactive waste and ships or arranges with others to
   2-23  ship the waste to a disposal site.
   2-24        SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-25  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-1  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-2  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-3  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
    3-4  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
    3-5  passage, and it is so enacted.