GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	1 

SENATE BILL 779

Short Title:  Delay Low-Level Site Pending Investigation.      	(Public)
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: Senators Conder, Albertson, Gulley, Gunter, Hunt, Lee, Parnell, Plyler, Marshall, Sands, Walker, Warren; Ballance, Smith, and Shaw.
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Environment and Natural Resources.
─────────────────────────────────────── 

April 8, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO DELAY THE SITING PROCESS UNDER CHAPTER 104G OF THE NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL STATUTES BY THE NORTH CAROLINA LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY UNTIL AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR REPORTS TO THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE ON THE STATUS OF LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE.
Whereas, the United States Congress passed the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980 which authorized interstate compact membership and authorized the exclusion of waste generated from outside the compact; and
Whereas, the federal government established a policy that each state is responsible for providing for the availability of capacity of low-level radioactive waste generated within its borders, and that such waste can be managed most efficiently on a regional basis; and
Whereas, the policy of the federal government in 1980 envisioned the development of between 12 and 15 regional sites for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste; and
Whereas, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act was amended in 1985 to provide that any state that did not arrange for the disposal of its in-state low-level radioactive waste generators by a specified date would have to take title to the waste and assume liability for any damages that ensue; and
Whereas, in 1992 the United States Supreme Court invalidated the "take title" provision in the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act, thus providing no incentive for states to secure low-level radioactive waste disposal for their generators; and
Whereas, states in other compacts have failed to proceed in good faith in the siting of low-level radioactive waste facilities to the extent that North Carolina may be one of the only states capable of siting a low-level radioactive waste facility in this century; and
Whereas, the amount of low-level radioactive waste generated in the country has sharply declined and estimates of capacity have been substantially reduced to the extent that if a low-level radioactive waste facility were sited at full capacity under the Southeast Compact (32,000,000 cubic feet), that facility could provide enough capacity for the entire country; and
Whereas, George Miller, a distinguished member of the North Carolina House of Representatives and member of the Southeast Compact, has recently proposed that a Legislative Committee hire an independent investigator to review the status of the disposal of low-level radioactive waste, including recent court decisions and capacity issues; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  The North Carolina Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority shall cease to site a low-level radioactive waste facility under Chapter 104G of the North Carolina General Statutes until the Joint Select Committee on Low-Level Radioactive Waste has completed its investigation of the status of the disposal of low-level radioactive waste.
Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification.