ML20217E002
| ML20217E002 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/20/1998 |
| From: | Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Snowe O SENATE |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9803300356 | |
| Download: ML20217E002 (2) | |
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. g#k.'\. UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g -
WASHINGTON, D C. 20086-0001
.,m. March 20, 1998 CHARMAN The Honorable Olympia J.'Snowe United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Snowe:
' s in response to the request from your staff, here are the views of the Nuclear Regulatory.
Commission (NRC) on two proposed amendments to S. 270, a bill to provide the consent of Congress to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLW) Disposal Compact. The proposed amendments would add two new conditions to the conditions of consent to the compact: (1) that no LLW may be brought into Texas for disposal at a compact facility from any State other than Maine or Vermont (referred to below as the " exclusion" amendment); and (2) that "the compact not be implemented . . . in any way that disonminates against any community (through disparate treatment or disparate impact) by reason of the composition of the community in terms of race, color, national origin, or income level" (referred to below as the " discrimination clause"). These amendments raise some significant questions of concem to the NRC.
First, no other Congressional compact ratification legislation has included such conditions to Congress' consent. Maldng the Congressional consent for this compact oifferent from that for other compacts would create an asymmetrical system and could lead to conflicts among regions. In the past, Congress has set a high prionty on establishing a consistent set of rules under which the interstate compact system for LLW disposal would operate.
With respect to the exclusion condition, while the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980 and the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 authorL e compact States to exclude LLW from outside their compact region, the tenns of doing so are left to the States. This is consistent with the intent of these ctatutes to make LLW disposal the
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i responsibility of the States and to leave the implementation of that responsibility largely to the States' discretion. Thus, the addition of the exclusion condition to the compact would deprive the party States of the ability to make their own choices as to how to handle this important area.
In addition, restriction on importation of LLW into Texas to waste coming from Maine or 4
Vermont could prevent other compacts (or non-compact States) from ceia .cting with the L Texas compact for disposal of their waste (such as has occurred between the Rocky Mountain and Northwest compacts).' This type of arrangement with existing LLW disposal facilities may well become a preferred economical method of LLW disposal. It is also important to note that the exclusion condition may hamper NRC emergency access to the Texas facility pursuant to section 6 of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985.
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2 With respect to the discrimination clause, the Commission supports the general objectives of efforts to address discrimination involving " race, color, national origin, or income levul."
However, it is unclear how a condition containing broad language of the type contained in the proposed amendment would be applied in a specific case involving a compact. This lack of clarity is likely to create confusion and uncertainty for all parties involved, and could lead to costly, time-consuming litigation. Including such a provision in binding legislation may have broad significance.for the affected States and other parties and would appear to warrant extensive Congressional review of its implications.
In light of the above, the NRC opposes the approval of amendments to S. 270 that would incorporate the exclusion condition or an undefined discrimination clause into the Texas compact bill.
Sincerely, Q
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