5756 S Not Adopt 3/20/91

The director of ecology shall, in addition to the powers and duties otherwise imposed by law, have the following special powers and duties:

(1) To fulfill the responsibilities of the state under the lease between the state of Washington and the federal government executed September 10, 1964, covering one thousand acres of land lying within the Hanford reservation near Richland, Washington. The department of ecology may sublease to private or public entities all or a portion of the land for specific purposes or activities which are determined, after public hearing, to be in agreement with the terms of the lease and in the best interests of the citizens of the state consistent with any criteria that may be developed as a requirement by the legislature;

(2) To assume the responsibilities of the state under the perpetual care agreement between the state of Washington and the federal government executed July 29, 1965 and the sublease between the state of Washington and the site operator of the Hanford low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. In order to finance perpetual surveillance and maintenance under the agreement and ensure site closure under the sublease, the department of ecology shall impose and collect fees from parties holding radioactive materials for waste management purposes. The fees shall be established by rule adopted under chapter 34.05 RCW and shall be an amount determined by the department of ecology to be necessary to defray the estimated liability of the state. Such fees shall reflect equity between the disposal facilities of this and other states. All such fees, when received by the department of ecology, shall be transmitted to the state treasurer, who shall act as custodian. The perpetual maintenance fund is created in the state treasury. The treasurer shall place the money in a special fund which may be designated the "perpetual maintenance fund." The perpetual maintenance fund shall be comprised of a site closure account and a perpetual surveillance and maintenance account. The site closure account shall be exclusively available to reimburse, to the extent that moneys are available in the account, the site operator for its costs plus a reasonable profit as agreed by the operator and the state, or to reimburse the state licensing agency and any agencies under contract to the state licensing agency for their costs in final closure and decommissioning of the Hanford low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. If a balance remains in the account after satisfactory performance of closure and decommissioning, this balance shall be transferred to the perpetual surveillance and maintenance account. The perpetual surveillance and maintenance account shall be used exclusively by the state to meet post-closure surveillance and maintenance costs, or for otherwise satisfying surveillance and maintenance obligations. Appropriations are required to permit expenditures and payment of obligations from the site closure account and the perpetual surveillance and maintenance account. Moneys which on July 23, 1989, are in the perpetual maintenance account shall be transferred to the perpetual surveillance and maintenance account. All moneys currently administered by the department of ecology for closure of the Hanford low-level radioactive waste disposal facility shall be transferred to the site closure account within the perpetual maintenance fund. All future moneys, including interest, contributed to the perpetual maintenance fund shall be directed to the site closure account until December 31, 1992. Thereafter receipts shall be directed to the perpetual maintenance fund as specified by the department. Moneys in the perpetual maintenance fund shall be invested by the state investment board in the same manner as other state moneys. Any interest accruing as a result of investment shall accrue to the perpetual maintenance fund. Additional moneys specifically appropriated by the legislature or received from any public or private source may be placed in the perpetual maintenance fund;

(3) To collect after January 1, 1993, as an added charge on each cubic foot of waste disposed at any facility in the state a surcharge of seven dollars. The surcharge shall be made specifically on the generator of the waste and shall not be considered applicable in any way to the low-level site operator's disposal activities. Five dollars of the surcharge shall be deposited in the fund created in section 17 of this act and two dollars of the surcharge shall be remitted monthly to a county in which a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility is located.

(4) To assure maintenance of such insurance coverage by state licensees, lessees, or sublessees as will adequately, in the opinion of the director, protect the citizens of the state against nuclear accidents or incidents that may occur on privately or state-controlled nuclear facilities;

((~~(4)~~)) (5) To institute a user permit system and issue site use permits, consistent with regulatory practices, for generators, packagers, or brokers using the Hanford low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. The costs of administering the user permit system shall be borne by the applicants for site use permits. The site use permit fee shall be set at a level that is sufficient to fund completely the executive and legislative participation in activities related to the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management; and

((~~(5)~~)) (6) To make application for or otherwise pursue any federal funds to which the state may be eligible, through the federal resource conservation and recovery act or any other federal programs, for the management, treatment or disposal, and any remedial actions, of wastes that are both radioactive and hazardous at all Hanford low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities; and

((~~(6)~~)) (7) To develop contingency plans for duties and options for the department and other state agencies related to the Hanford low-level radioactive waste disposal facility based on various projections of annual levels of waste disposal. These plans shall include an analysis of expected revenue to the state in various taxes and funds related to low-level radioactive waste disposal and the resulting implications that any increase or decrease in revenue may have on state agency duties or responsibilities. The initial set of plans shall be completed by October 1, 1989, and shall be updated annually. The department shall report annually on the plans and on the balances in the site closure and perpetual surveillance accounts to the energy and utilities committees of the senate and the house of representatives.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. A new section is added to chapter 43.200 RCW to read as follows:

There is established the radioactive waste disposal host area economic development account in the state treasury. All payments received under RCW 43.200.080(3) shall be deposited in the account. Moneys in the account shall be transferred monthly to the regional revolving loan fund of an economic development district which is a component of any local government conference authorized by RCW 36.64.080 that included the county or city in which a low-level radioactive waste disposal site is located. Moneys in the account may be spent without legislative appropriation. Expenditures of these moneys shall conform to applicable federal law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. Sections 1, 2, and 4 through 13 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 81 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 19. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and section 15 shall take effect immediately and remaining sections shall take effect July 1, 1991."