ML20052H026
| ML20052H026 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 04/07/1982 |
| From: | Bunting J NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | Martin J NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| References | |
| REF-WM-6 NUDOCS 8205190278 | |
| Download: ML20052H026 (3) | |
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MEMORANDDM FOR: John B. Martin, Director s
Division of Waste Management s\\
j REC 2iVED FROM:
Joseph 0. Bunting, Chief Licensing Process and Integration Branch
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SUBJECT:
STATUS OF LOW-LEVEL WASTE COMPACTS
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Per your request, we have consulted with staff of the Office of St 4
p Programs (0SP) to prepare the following status report on interstate w
regional efforts to develop low _ level waste compacts. This report represents an update on events since the state officials representing each region gave their progress reports on compact development late last February at the National Governors Association (NGA) winter meeting.
Copies of reports on this meeting by both OSP and my staff are attached for your reference. OSP staff reports no changes in the status of the Midwest or Northeast compact efforts since then; both are expecting to h>:va draft compact legislation ready for introduction to their prospective member state legislatures next year.
It is very difficult to predict the future of any of these compacts, but it is probably safe to say at this point that the earliest any one of them could be enacted into federal law would be sometime in 1983. The greatest state activity has been from the regions that would be served by currently operating facilities: the Northwest and Southeast.
(For a list of prospective member states in each region, see last page of this l
report.)
The Northwest Compact has made most progress in state legislation to date, but its deadline for the beginning of regional authority to exclude out-of-region wastes is July, 1983 -- not the 1986 deadline provided in l
the Low-level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980 (LLRWPA), which Congress is likely to insist be observed in all compact legislation.
Thus, even the compact with the most state legislation behind it is likely to be sent back to the member states for amendment, which could not be enacted before their 1983 legislative sessions.
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None of the other regions has the requisite state legislation to l
introduce a compact to Congress. The Southeastern region is closest, DIST:
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-with three state legislatures having approved the compact, but the compact requires three states to enact it and appropriate a $25,000 fee before it can go into effect. At this late date in the 1982 session, it is doubtful that the Southeastern region will be able to get both the legislation and the needed appropriations from any prospective member states.
This analysis assumes that Congress'will take every available step to expedite the compact ratification process, but it should be pointed out
'that there is still some uncertainty about how Congress will treat the states' compact legislation when it is introduced. As noted in our staff report on the NGA meeting, Congress probably would act on the first compact to be introduced instead of waiting until several have accumulated to consider them comparatively, but no decisions have been made yet. Nor have decisions been made on whether Congress will condition the effectiveness of its consent on the adoption of desired amendments to the compact by prospective member states. This would enable the compacts to become effective upon state enactment of the amendments, obviating a return to Congress for reconsideration.
Northwest:
Hawaii has introduced the same legislation enacted by Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, and copies of the legislation have been sent to some members of these states' Congressional delegations, but the compact' has not been formally introduced.
Even if it were, Senate Energy Committee Chairman McClure of Idaho, a key figure for Congressional ratification, probably will not act on it until he receives a report due shortly from the Department of Energy on the likelihood that states will have compacts in place and facilities operating by the January 1,1986 deadline for banning importation of wastes generated outside each compact region.
Southeast Compact legislation has been sent to the desks of the Governors of Florida, Georgia, and Virginia, and bills have been introduced in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The Virginia legislature has also approved legislation for membership in the Mid-Atlantic compact, however. Even if all three states with pending legislation decide to join the Southeast compact, their legislatures will have to appropriate the $25,000 fee before the compact can go into effect, and this will have to await the 1983 session.
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409.52/RDM/82/04/06/0 Central States Compact legislation is awaiting the Governor's signature in Kansas, and has been introduced in Iowa and Missouri. Enactment in any other states but Kansas this year is considered unlikely.
Mid-Atlantic States Only Virginia has legislation pending, and it has yet to decide if it will join the Southeast or Mid-Atlantic compacts. The propowd legislation may well be redrafted, and no other states have planned to introduce bills until the 1983 session.
Midwest Although draft compact legislation was to be introduced in at least some of the states in the region this year for discussion purposes, no bills have yet been introduced to our knowledge or OSP's.
In any case, state representatives are still planning to meet in July to hammer out a final version of a compact bill to be introduced for enactment in 1983.
Northeast Although neither final plans nor model legislation has been developed yet, there has been some indication that the nine Northeastern states might subdivide into two compact groups, one for the six New England states, and one for New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
In any case, the 1983 legislative session would be the earliest time for legislative action, and some states will also have to repeal laws banning radioactive waste disposal within their borders.
Rocky Mountain Legislation was introduced in Colorado and New Paxico, but. the latter bill was pulled from the agenda of the short legislative budget session for lack of time.
No other bills have been incroduced so far this year.
Joseph 0. Bunting, Jr., Chief Licensing Process and i
Integration Branch-DIST:
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