AN ACT Relating to the Washington waste recovery authority; adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 41.06 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.21C RCW; adding a new section to chapter 80.50 RCW; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that one of the more pressing problems facing the state is the safe and healthful storage of spent nuclear fuel. The Hanford Reservation was chosen in 1942 as one of ten sites in America at which one of the component parts of the atomic bomb would be produced. As a residual of the defense effort, there are one hundred forty-nine single shell tanks containing spent nuclear fuel at Hanford. Some of the spent fuel has been stabilized. Some of the waste is in a form described as a layer of sludge, a layer of salts, and a surficant layer.

The Congress, in its wisdom, decided in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 that all spent nuclear fuel produced by the operation of civilian nuclear reactors would be stored in deep geologic repositories. Hanford is one of the five sites under consideration for characterization. The President will select three of the five sites for final characterization some time in the spring of 1986. In the event Hanford is chosen as one of the three sites, the United States department of energy will expend another five hundred million dollars on the study to determine which site is most suitable.

The legislature further finds that the United States department of energy has a full scale calcination plant at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. This plant processes all of the spent nuclear fuel produced by all of the nuclear powered ships of the United States Navy. The actinides separated from the spent fuel are stored in large stainless steel tanks in the basement of the building. The other minerals produced in the process have made possible the production of technical ceramics.

Technical ceramics are a group of solids stronger than steel, almost as hard as diamonds and impervious to furnace-like temperatures. They bid for a larger role in everything from ceramic turbine powered automobiles, batteries, fuel cells, cutting tools and integrated circuits.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) In order for the state to take advantage of the spent nuclear fuel stored within the borders of the state, the Washington waste recovery authority is created.

(2) The authority shall be governed by a board of directors consisting of the governor and four persons who are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor. The governor shall serve as the chairman of the authority.

(3) The waste recovery authority shall consist of the following divisions:

(a) A nuclear waste recovery division;

(b) A coal liquefication division;

(d) A research division.

(4) The authority may hire staff and contract for services as it deems necessary to carry out its duties and responsibilities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The Washington waste recovery administration shall:

(1) Negotiate with the United States department of energy for the right to process the spent nuclear fuel stored at Hanford;

(2) Contract for the construction of a calcination plant, to be located on the land leased from the United States department of energy;

(3) Contract for the processing of the spent nuclear fuel now held in water storage at the nuclear reactors owned by the investor-owned utilities on the west coast and in the southwest;

(4) Contract for the production of cesium 137 and for the fabrication of cesium capsules for the sterilization of the effluent of primary sewage treatment plants located in the state of Washington, particularly those which discharge into Puget Sound;

(5) Contract for the processing of the spent nuclear fuel produced by the Washington public power supply system;

(6) Engage in research to determine the feasibility of constructing small skid-mounted metallic fueled breeder reactors;

(7) Contract for the construction and operation of a plant or plants for the liquefication of coal located on state lands;

(8) Conduct research at the graduate center at Richland or through contracts with publicly owned corporations on the economic disposition of the fractions of the processed spent nuclear fuel; and

(9) Conduct research in cooperation with the federal government.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The Washington waste recovery administration, through its nuclear breeder reactor division, shall, if feasible, design and contract for the construction of metallic fueled breeder reactors to be located in third world developing nations of the Pacific Rim, to be operated on a fee basis by the authority.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The Washington waste recovery authority may issue revenue bonds to fund revenue-generating facilities which it is authorized to provide or operate. Whenever revenue bonds are to be issued, the board of directors shall create or have created a special fund or funds from which, along with any reserves created pursuant to RCW 39.44.140, the principal and interest on such revenue bonds shall exclusively be payable. The board may obligate the authority to set aside and pay into the special fund or funds a fixed proportion or a fixed amount of the revenues from the projects or facilities, and all related additions, that are funded by the revenue bonds. This amount or proportion shall be a lien and charge against these revenues, subject only to operating and maintenance expenses. The board shall have due regard for the cost of operation and maintenance of the projects or facilities, or additions, that are funded by the revenue bonds, and shall not set aside into the special fund or funds a greater amount or proportion of the revenues that in its judgment will be available over and above the cost of maintenance and operation and the amount or proportion, if any, of the revenue so previously pledged. The board may also provide that revenue bonds payable out of the same source or sources of revenue may later be issued on a parity with any revenue bonds being issued and sold.

(2) Revenue bonds issued pursuant to this section shall not be an indebtedness of the authority, and the interest and principal on the bonds shall only be payable from the revenues lawfully pledged to meet the principal and interest requirements and any reserves created pursuant to RCW 39.44.140. The owner or bearer of a revenue bond or any interest coupon issued pursuant to this section shall not have any claim against the authority arising from the bond or coupon except for payment from the revenues lawfully pledged to meet the principal and interest requirements and any reserves created pursuant to RCW 39.44.140. The substance of the limitations included in this subsection shall be plainly printed, written, or engraved on each bond issued pursuant to this section.

(3) Revenue bonds with a maturity in excess of thirty years shall not be issued. The board shall by resolution determine for each revenue bond issue, the amount, date, form, terms, conditions, denominations, maximum fixed or variable interest rate or rates, maturity or maturities, redemption rights, registration privileges, manner of execution, manner of sale, callable provisions, if any, and covenants including the refunding of existing revenue bonds. Facsimile signatures may be used on the bonds and any coupons. Refunding revenue bonds may be issued in the same manner as revenue bonds are issued.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) All revenue received by the Washington waste recovery authority in excess of its needs shall be deposited in the waste recovery account which is hereby created in the state treasury.

(2) One-fourth of the moneys in the account shall be distributed to all taxing districts of the state, as defined in RCW 84.04.120, in the same ratio as property taxes are distributed to the taxing districts in the year of distribution. Each year, property tax levies in the taxing district shall be reduced by the amount received by the district under this subsection during the previous year. In the event there are any moneys remaining from this one-fourth fraction in any one year those moneys shall be accumulated as reserves for distribution in future years.

(3) One-fourth of the moneys in the account shall be appropriated to fund permanent endowments of the state institutions of higher education specified in this section including institutions in the community college system. The moneys shall be allocated as follows:

(a) One-fourth to the University of Washington;

(b) One-fourth to Washington State University;

(d) One-fourth to the community college system.

(4) One-fourth of the moneys in the account shall be reserved for the construction of a coal liquefication plant or plants and for research about the development of a metallic breeder reactor.

(5) One-fourth of the moneys in the account shall be reserved for the conduct of research in cooperation with agencies of the federal government.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 41.06 RCW to read as follows:

This chapter does not apply to employees of the Washington waste recovery authority.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 43.21C RCW to read as follows:

This chapter does not apply to actions taken by the Washington waste recovery authority.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 80.50 RCW to read as follows:

This chapter does not apply to actions taken by the Washington waste recovery authority.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. 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. 11. 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.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 6 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.