Print

The Vermont Statutes Online



Title

10

:
Conservation and Development






Chapter

161

:
DISPOSAL OF LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE











 

§

7020. State regulation; responsibilities and authority

(a) The agency,

after public comment and after consultation with the public service board and

the department of public service, shall by rule establish the siting

requirements, the screening and certification procedures and criteria, the

separation, recoverability and facility design standards, and the draft license

review procedures and standards. These rules must at least include the minimum

requirements of sections 7021, 7022, 7023 and 7024 of this title and be

sufficient to protect the environment and the public health for the hazardous

life of materials likely to be deposited in the disposal facility. The agency

shall by rule establish procedures and requirements for public comment under

this chapter. The agency shall also by rule establish procedures and

requirements for reports and manifests from generators of low-level radioactive

waste concerning the quantities, concentrations, characteristics, expected

generation rates, packaging, storage conditions and any other information

reasonably necessary for the agency and the authority to carry out their

responsibilities.

(b) The public

service board shall:

(1) approve the

service fees and disposal fees set by the authority under sections 7011(4)(K),

7012(p) and 7013(e) of this title;

(2) utilize

procedures substantially similar to the rate-setting procedures in chapter 5 of

Title 30, including the procedures for temporary rates in section 226 of that

chapter but not including the time limits of section 227 of that chapter;

(3) review and

approve, during any fee approval proceeding, an amount for:

(A) expenses

expected prior to the end of the operating life of Vermont Yankee, except

construction costs;

(B) expenses,

including ongoing capital costs, expected after the end of the operating life

of Vermont Yankee;

(C) costs of the

permanent disposal of the long-lived waste; and

(D) construction

costs; and

(4) determine,

after public hearing, adequate financial assurance requirements to be specified

as a condition for approval of fees under this subsection.

(c) The

department of public service shall appear in all proceedings before the public

service board under this chapter and represent the interests of the people of

the state. The department of public service shall review and may present

testimony on any issue, including the service or disposal fees, the costs of

permanent disposal of the long-lived waste, the financial assurance

requirements and the relationship of these fees, costs and requirements to the

costs of decommissioning the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station.

(d) Rules

adopted under this section must be at least as stringent as applicable federal

standards, performance objectives and requirements.

(e) No officers,

departments, boards, agencies, divisions and commissions of the state may

render any services to the authority that would compromise their ability to

perform their regulatory functions under this chapter, but they shall cooperate

with and provide any information available to them as may be requested by the

authority for the performance of its responsibilities if otherwise allowed by

law.

(f) The agency

of natural resources, the public service board and the department of public

service may allocate to the authority the portion of the expenses incurred by

them, including expenses from the use of additional personnel and regular

employees, for all actions and proceedings authorized by this chapter. At least

quarterly, the agency and the department of public service shall send to the authority

detailed statements showing the money expended, and the authority shall pay

those statements out of the low-level radioactive waste fund. (Added 1989, No.

296 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. June 29, 1990.)