AN ACT Relating to liability requirements for nuclear operations; amending RCW 81.80.190; adding new sections to chapter 70.98 RCW; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. An owner or operator of a commercial low-level radioactive materials treatment, storage, or disposal facility shall indemnify and hold the state harmless from all claims, suits, losses, damages, or expenses on account of injuries to persons and property arising or growing out of the treatment, storage, or disposal of radioactive materials and any related activities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. An owner or operator of a commercial low-level radioactive materials treatment, storage, or disposal facility, shall have and maintain insurance coverage for bodily injury and property damage to third parties caused by or arising from any operations of the facility or group of facilities. The owner or operator shall have and maintain liability coverage in the amount of at least ten million dollars, exclusive of legal defense costs. All or part of the liability coverage may be demonstrated by meeting a financial test established by the department of ecology.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Any person who generates or packages commercial low-level radioactive materials for treatment, storage, or disposal in the state shall be required to provide to the state a compliance certificate that shall be signed by an authorized representative of the generator or packager and shall warrant to the state that the materials shipment was inspected within forty-eight hours before shipment and conforms in all respects to both federal and state requirements for shipment, transportation, and disposal. The certification shall accompany each shipment of materials shipped to the disposal facility. The generator or packager shall indemnify and hold the state harmless from all claims, suits, losses, damages, or expenses on account of injuries to persons and property, arising or growing out of any packaging, handling, shipping, and transporting of radioactive materials, any related activities, and any failure of the generator or packager to comply with the inspection and conformity requirements of this section.

(2) Any broker shipping or transporting commercial low-level radioactive materials into the state for disposal from the broker's warehouse facility, or any other independent intermediate point or facility, shall be required to conduct an external visual and dose-rate inspection of the packaged materials within forty-eight hours before shipment or transport, and shall be required to certify to the state that the inspections have been conducted and revealed no items of noncompliance with applicable laws and rules. The certification shall accompany each shipment of materials shipped to the disposal facility, and shall indemnify and hold the state harmless from claims, suits, damages, or expenses on account of injuries to or death of persons and property, arising or growing out of any packaging, handling, shipping, and transporting of radioactive materials, any related activities, and any failure of the broker to comply with the inspection and conformity requirements of this section. Broker shall mean, for the purpose of this section, any person who acts as an agency or intermediary for a generator or packager or another person, but it shall not include a carrier whose sole function is to transport low-level materials, a generator or packager of low-level materials, or a low-level radioactive materials disposal site operator.

(3) Any carrier, as defined by the United States department of transportation regulations, transporting commercial low-level radioactive materials into the state for disposal at the disposal facility shall give at least four hours but not more than forty-eight hours advance notice in writing to the state of the intended movement of a shipment within, or the arrival from without the state, of low-level radioactive materials. The carrier shall be required to certify to the state that the transportation vehicle is properly placarded and secured for transport and that shipping papers are as required by the United States department of transportation, and all other applicable rules and orders have been properly executed and delivered to the carrier. Carrier certification shall accompany each load of waste transported to the disposal facility.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Any person required by section 3 (1), (2), and (3) of this act to indemnify and hold the state harmless shall have and maintain liability insurance coverage for bodily injury and property damage to third parties caused by or arising from any packaging, handling, shipping, and transporting of radioactive materials and any related activities. The person shall have and maintain liability coverage in the amount of at least five million dollars per occurrence, exclusive of legal defense costs. All or part of the liability coverage requirement may be satisfied by meeting a financial liability test established by the department of ecology.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The director of the department of ecology shall adopt rules to:

(1) Establish a financial test that may be used to demonstrate financial responsibility pursuant to section 2 or 4 of this act. The financial test shall provide the state and its citizens with a level of financial protection at least as great as would be provided by liability insurance. The test shall be established by December 31, 1986.

(2) Periodically review the potential for bodily injury and property damage in the transportation, packaging, treatment, storage, and disposal of low-level radioactive materials. If the director finds the potential for damages is different from the liability requirements in sections 2 and 4 of this act the director shall adopt rules setting the liability requirements at a level sufficient to protect the state and its citizens. The director shall complete the first review and report the findings to the legislature by December 1, 1987. Every five years thereafter, the director shall conduct a new review and report the findings to the legislature.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The radiation control agency shall not issue a radioactive materials license, a site use permit, or other license or permit to any person required to maintain liability coverage unless the applicant for the license or permit has indemnified and held the state harmless as required in sections 1 and 3 of this act, and has demonstrated the ability to meet the liability requirements of this chapter. The agency shall revoke the license or permit of any person who fails to demonstrate liability coverage as required by this chapter.

(2) The radiation control agency shall require:

(a) That any person required to maintain liability coverage shall maintain with the agency current copies of any insurance policies, certificates of insurance, or other documents used to demonstrate financial responsibility;

(b) That the agency be notified of any changes in insurance coverage or financial condition; and

Sec. 7. Section 81.80.190, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 and RCW 81.80.190 are each amended to read as follows:

The commission shall in the granting of permits to "common carriers" and "contract carriers" under this chapter require such carriers to either procure and file liability and property damage insurance from a company licensed to write such insurance in the state of Washington, or deposit such security, for such limits of liability and upon such terms and conditions as the commission shall determine to be necessary for the reasonable protection of the public against damage and injury for which such carrier may be liable by reason of the operation of any motor vehicle.

In fixing the amount of said insurance policy or policies, or deposit of security, the commission shall give due consideration to the character and amount of traffic and the number of persons affected and the degree of danger which the proposed operation involves.

If the commission is notified of the cancellation, revocation, or any other changes in the required insurance or security of a common carrier or contract carrier with a permit to transport radioactive or hazardous materials, the commission shall immediately notify the state radiation control agency of the change.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 6 of this act are each added to chapter 70.98 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.