86R11222 SLB-F

By: Landgraf H.B. No. 2269

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the operations of 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 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; and

(B) the required volume identified by the commission under Section 401.208; and

(2) the greater of:

(A) two million total curies; and

(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 2. Sections 401.207(d) and (g), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:

(d) The compact waste disposal facility license holder may not accept for disposal at the compact waste disposal facility nonparty compact waste that does not meet the waste characteristics and waste forms for disposal applicable to compact waste as set forth by the commission in the compact waste disposal facility license. Before the license holder may accept nonparty compact waste for disposal, the commission must certify [through a written evaluation] that the waste is authorized for disposal under the license. If the disposal is not authorized under the license, the commission must inform the license holder of the license amendments necessary to authorize the disposal.

(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 3. 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 preceding five years, not including:

(A) low-level radioactive waste from decommissioned nuclear electric generation facilities;

(B) oversized low-level radioactive waste components; or

(C) low-level radioactive waste from nonrecurring events.

(b) If a 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);

(2) file and have approved by the commission a performance bond acceptable to the commission conditioned on the construction of additional constructed capacity sufficient to meet the requirements of Subsection (a); or

(3) take an alternative action approved by a majority of the nuclear electric generation utilities operating in the party states.

(c) If a party state has notified the federal commission that a nuclear electric generation facility located in the state 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 4. 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:

(1) must include:

(A) the total invoiced compact waste disposal fees;

(B) the total volume of compact waste disposed; and

(C) an average disposal fee calculated by dividing the total invoiced compact waste disposal fees by the total volume of compact waste disposed; and

(2) may not include information regarding disposal fees or disposal volume for:

(A) low-level radioactive waste from decommissioned nuclear electric generation facilities;

(B) oversized low-level radioactive waste components; or

(C) low-level radioactive waste from nonrecurring events.

(b) If the average compact waste disposal fee charged to party state generators exceeds the average compact waste disposal fee charged to nonparty state generators, 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 compact waste disposal fee charged to party state generators after the rebate to $1 less than the average compact waste disposal fee charged to nonparty state generators.

(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) On written request of a nuclear electric generation utility operating 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 90th day after the date the license holder receives the final audit report, make a copy of the report available to the requesting utility.

SECTION 5. Sections 401.271(a) and (b), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) A holder of a license issued by the commission under this chapter that authorizes the disposal of a radioactive substance from other persons shall remit each quarter an amount equal to five [10] percent of the license holder's gross receipts received from disposal operations under the [a] license [issued under this chapter that occur after the effective date of the Act enacting this section as follows:

[(1) five percent shall be remitted to the comptroller for deposit to the credit of the general revenue fund; and

[(2) five percent shall be remitted] to the host county in accordance with Sections 401.244(b) and (d).

(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to [compact waste or federal facility waste as defined by Section 401.2005 or] industrial solid waste as defined by Section 361.003.

SECTION 6. The following provisions of the Health and Safety Code are repealed:

(1) Section 401.202(c);

(2) Sections 401.207(d-1), (d-2), (d-3), (e), (e-1), (e-2), (f), and (h-1);

(3) Section 401.241(b);

(4) Section 401.2445; and

(5) Sections 401.2456(b), (c), (d), and (e).

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.