GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 507*

Short Title:  Low-Level Rad. Waste Amends.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representative Kerr.
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Referred to:  Environment.
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April 1, 1991

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY TO THE NORTH CAROLINA LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY FOR COMPENSATING LANDOWNERS FOR LOSS OF VALUE IN PROPERTY DIRECTLY RESULTING FROM THE SITING OR OPERATION OF A LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITY AND TO AMEND CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF CHAPTER 104G OF THE GENERAL STATUTES RELATING TO TAXES SO AS TO INCREASE THE BENEFITS AVAILABLE TO THE HOST COUNTY OF A LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITY.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section. 1.  G.S. 104G-6(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	To carry out the purposes of this Chapter, the Authority:
(1)	Shall site, design, construct, and operate a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility exclusively for the wastes generated within the State or within the region pursuant to the Southeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact, G.S. 104F-1;
(2)	Shall establish, consistent with the rules of the Commission, rules specifying the criteria and procedures for characterizing and evaluating alternative locations for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility;
(3)	May employ consultants and contractors to provide services including site selection, design, construction, operation, closure and perpetual care of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility, necessary, desirable or convenient to effectuate the purposes of this Chapter, and to fix and pay their compensation;
(4)	May acquire by deed, purchase, lease, contract, gift, devise, condemnation or otherwise, any real or personal property, structures, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, and other interests in land which is necessary and convenient for the construction or operation of low-level radioactive waste facilities, upon such terms and conditions as it deems advisable, and to lease, sell, or dispose of the same in such manner as may be necessary or desirable to carry out the objects and purposes of this Chapter;
(5)	May exercise the powers of a body corporate, including the power to sue and be sued, and may adopt and use a common seal and alter the same as may be deemed expedient;
(6)	May make all necessary contracts and arrangements with other officials or agencies in this and other states, including compact commissions, for any of the purposes of this Chapter;
(7)	Shall establish an office for the transaction of its business at such place or places as, in the opinion of the Authority, shall be advisable or necessary in carrying out the purposes of this Chapter;
(8)	May create and operate any divisions it deems necessary or useful;
(9)	Shall pay all costs of the formation and organization of the Authority, and incident to its administration and operation, and may pay all other costs necessary in carrying out the purposes of this Chapter;
(10)	Shall develop and implement schedules of fees and other charges, including user charges, penalties, and surcharges, applicable to the use and operation of low-level radioactive waste facilities under its control;
(11)	Shall develop and use procedures for determining the design, technology, operational features, and post-closure requirements of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility;
(12)	Shall reimburse, or assure that the licensee reimburses, the various State agencies or departments for the actual administrative costs of licensing, training of inspection and enforcement personnel, inspection, and enforcement which those agencies incur as a result of the establishment, operation, and closure of low-level radioactive waste facilities pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter;
(13)	May apply for, accept, and expend loans and grants of money from any federal or State agency or any political subdivision thereof, from a compact commission, or from any other public or private source for any of the purposes authorized by this Chapter, and to give any evidences of indebtedness as may be required.  Except as may hereafter be authorized by the General Assembly, no indebtedness of any kind incurred or created by the Authority shall constitute an indebtedness of the State or any of its political subdivisions, and no such indebtedness shall involve or be secured by the faith, credit, or taxing power of the State or any of its political subdivisions.  At no time may the total outstanding indebtedness of the Authority, excluding bond indebtedness, exceed a total of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) without prior approval of the Governor, after receiving the advice of the Advisory Budget Commission;
(14)	May issue revenue bonds from time to time pursuant to The State and Local Government Revenue Bond Act, Article 5 of Chapter 159 of the General Statutes, and such bonds may be sold at public or private sale pursuant to G.S. 159-123;
(15)	Shall, if it elects to issue bonds, select and retain, subject to approval of the Local Government Commission, financial consultants, underwriters, and bond attorneys to assist with the issuance of such bonds and to pay for services rendered;
(16)	May pledge revenues from low-level radioactive waste facilities to the benefit of bondholders, or for other purposes necessary to secure financing;
(17)	Shall make such plans, surveys, studies, and investigations as may be necessary or desirable with respect to the acquisition, development, and use of real property and the design, construction, operation, closure, and long-term care of low-level radioactive waste facilities;
(18)	Shall receive all field data, charts, maps, tracings, laboratory test data, soil and rock samples, and such other records as the Authority deems appropriate, collected or produced by its employees, contractors, or consultants pursuant to siting, operating, or closing of low-level radioactive waste facilities.  All such data and materials shall become the property of the State and shall not be disposed of except in accordance with G.S. 132-3 except that soil and rock samples may be subjected to tests and reduced in volume for purposes of storage in a manner approved by the Authority.  The Authority may enter into agreements with other State agencies for the purpose of storage and preservation of data and materials;
(19)	Shall procure and keep in force adequate insurance or otherwise provide for the adequate protection to indemnify and save harmless it and its officers, agents, employees, adjoining property owners, or the general public against loss or liability resulting from any act or omission by or on behalf of the Authority, and for the protection of its property;
(20)	May adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business and prescribe rules, regulations and policies in connection with the performance of its functions and duties;
(21)	Shall do anything else necessary for the siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, closure and long-term care of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility not otherwise prohibited by law; 
(22)	Shall periodically review the current and projected availability and adequacy of facilities for the management of low-level radioactive waste, determine whether any facilities for the management of such wastes are required in addition to the disposal facility operated pursuant to this Chapter, and make appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly; and
(23)	Shall adopt rules specifying the criteria and procedures for compensating any property owner for any loss in value of property directly resulting from the siting or operation of a low-level radioactive waste facility."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 104G-18 reads as rewritten:
"§ 104G-18.  Taxes; other compensation to the State and local governments.
(a)	A low-level radioactive waste disposal facility shall be exempt from ad valorem property taxes; provided however, that the Authority shall, in lieu of property taxes pay to any governmental body authorized to levy property taxes the amount which would be assessed as taxes on real and personal property of a facility if such facility were otherwise subject to valuation and assessment by local taxing unit.  In addition, the Authority shall reimburse the city or county for the loss of ad valorem property tax revenues from property that is immediately adjacent to the property upon which the facility is located and which is shown to have diminished in value as the direct result of the siting and operation of the facility.  Such payments in lieu of taxes shall be due and shall bear interest if unpaid, as in the cases of taxes on other property.  Payments in lieu of taxes made hereunder shall be treated in the same manner as taxes for purposes of all procedural and substantive provisions of law.  Administrative buildings, associated land and other real and personal property owned by the Authority and not located at a disposal facility shall be exempt from property taxes as provided in G.S. 105-278.1.
(b)	Except as authorized in G.S. 153A-152.1, G.S. 160A-211.1 and Chapter 104G of the General Statutes, no city or county may impose any tax, assessment or levy of any kind or description upon the Authority or the operator of the Authority's low-level radioactive waste disposal facility.  All laws, ordinances or portions thereof to the contrary are hereby invalidated and are of no effect.
(c)	
(d)	The Authority shall collect and deposit with the State Treasurer a tax on the gross receipts of a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in the amount of six percent (6%) to be paid on a quarterly basis to the county in which the facility is located.  In the event that the facility is located in more than one county, the proceeds of the gross receipts tax shall be divided equally among all the counties in which the facility is located."
Sec. 3.  Sections 1 and 3 of this act are effective upon ratification.  Section 2 of this act becomes effective 1 January 1993.