15 days after receiving notification from the appropriate authority under subsection (f). (h) LIMITATIONS.-No State shall be required to provide emergency or reciprocal access to any regional disposal facility within its borders for low-level radioactive waste not meeting criteria established by the license or license agreement of such facility, or in excess of the approved capacity of such facility, or to delay the closing of any such facility pursuant to plans established before receiving a request for emergency or reciprocal access. No State shall, during any 12-month period, be required to provide emergency or reciprocal access to any regional disposal facility within its borders for more than 20 percent of the total volume of low-level radioactive waste accepted for disposal at such facility during the previous calendar year. (i) VOLUME REDUCTION AND SURCHARGES.-Any low-level radioactive waste delivered for disposal under this section shall be reduced in volume to the maximum extent practicable and shall be subject to surcharges established in this Act. (j) DEDUCTION FROM ALLOCATION.—Any volume of low-level radioactive waste granted emergency or reciprocal access under this section, if generated by any commercial nuclear power reactor, shall be deducted from the low-level radioactive waste volume allocable under section 5(c). (k) AGREEMENT STATES.—Any agreement under section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2021) shall not be applicable to the determinations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under this section. [42 U.S.C. 2021f] SEC. 7. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY. (a) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.-The Secretary shall, to the extent provided in appropriations Act, provide to those compact regions, host States, and nonmember States detemined 1 by the Secretary to require assistance for purposes of carrying out this Act (1) continuing technical assistance to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities under this Act. Such technical assistance shall include, but not be limited to, technical guidelines for site selection, alternative technologies for low-level radioactive waste disposal, volume reduction options, management techniques to reduce low-level waste generation, transportation practices for shipment of low-level wastes, health and safety considerations in the storage, shipment and disposal of lowlevel radioactive wastes, and establishment of a computerized data-base to monitor the management of low-level radioactive wastes; and (2) through the end of fiscal year 1993, financial assistance to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities under this Act. (b) REPORTS.-The Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Congress on an annual basis a report which (1) summarizes the progress of low-level waste disposal siting and licensing activities within each compact region, (2) reviews the available volume reduc 1 So in original. Probably should be "determined”. tion technologies, their applications, effectiveness, and costs on a per unit volume basis, (3) reviews interim storage facility requirements, costs, and usage, (4) summarizes transportation requirements for such wastes on an inter- and intra-regional basis, (5) summarizes the data on the total amount of low-level waste shipped for disposal on a yearly basis, the proportion of such wastes subjected to volume reduction, the average volume reduction attained, and the proportion of wastes stored on an interim basis, and (6) projects the interim storage and final disposal volume requirements anticipated for the following year, on a regional basis. [42 U.S.C. 2021g] SEC. 8. ALTERNATIVE DISPOSAL METHODS. (a)1 Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, 2 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall, in consultation with the States and other interested persons, identify methods for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste other than shallow land burial, and establish and publish technical guidance regarding licensing of facilities that use such methods. (b)1 Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, 2 the Commission shall, in consultation with the States and other interested persons, identify and publish all relevant technical information regarding the methods identified pursuant to subsection (a) that a State or compact must provide to the Commission in order to pursue such methods, together with the technical requirements that such facilities must meet, in the judgment of the Commission, if pursued as an alternative to shallow land burial. Such technical information and requirements shall include, but need not be limited to, site suitability, site design, facility operation, disposal site closure, and environmental monitoring, as necessary to meet the performance objectives established by the Commission for a licensed low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. The Commission shall specify and publish such requirements in a manner and form deemed appropriate by the Commission. [42 U.S.C. 2021h] SEC. 9. LICENSING REVIEW AND APPROVAL. In order to ensure the timely development of new low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or, as appropriate, agreement States, shall consider an application for a disposal facility license in accordance with the laws applicable to such application, except that the Commission and the agreement state 3 shall (1) not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, 2 establish procedures and develop the technical capability for processing applications for such licenses; 1 Subsection heading missing in original. (2) to the extent practicable, complete all activities associated with the review and processing of any application for such a license (except for public hearings) no later than 15 months after the date of receipt of such application; and (3) to the extent practicable, consolidate all required technical and environmental reviews and public hearings. [42 U.S.C. 2021i] SEC. 10. RADIOACTIVE WASTE BELOW REGULATORY CONCERN. (a) 1 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, 2 the Commission shall establish standards and procedures, pursuant to existing authority, and develop the technical capability for considering and acting upon petitions to exempt specific radioactive waste streams from regulation by the Commission due to the presence of radionuclides in such waste streams in sufficiently low concentrations or quantities as to be below regulatory concern. (b) 1 The standards and procedures established by the Commission pursuant to subsection (a) shall set forth all information required to be submitted to the Commission by licensees in support of such petitions, including, but not limited to (1) a detailed description of the waste materials, including their origin, chemical composition, physical state, volume, and mass; and (2) the concentration or contamination levels, half-lives, and identities of the radionuclides present. Such standards and procedures shall provide that, upon receipt of a petition to exempt a specific radioactive waste stream from regulation by the Commission, the Commission shall determine in an expeditious manner whether the concentration or quantity of radionuclides present in such waste stream requires regulation by the Commission in order to protect the public health and safety. Where the Commission determines that regulation of a radioactive waste stream is not necessary to protect the public health and safety, the Commission shall take such steps as may be necessary, in an expeditious manner, to exempt the disposal of such radioactive waste from regulation by the Commission. [42 U.S.C. 2021j] 1 Subsection heading missing in original. |