Texas Vermont Compact: Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management & Regulations

1. Leigh Ing, Executive Director Presented at: Low-Level Waste Forum San Francisco, CA April 2018

2. Presentation Overview • About our Compact • Imports and Exports • Fillable Forms – We’ve Automated Our Process • Reporting • Legislation in Texas • The Management Rule • Workshops

3. Low-Level Radioactive Waste Federal Compacts http://www.nrc.gov/waste/llw-disposal/licensing/compacts.html

4. The Texas Vermont Compact • In law, the Compact Commission is named as the “Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission” • In spite of the name, our compact includes the very important state of VERMONT. • In spite of the name, we are not a State of Texas agency. • The TLLRWDCC is a “legal entity separate and distinct from the party states…” • The TLLRWDCC must comply with its federal compact law.

5. What the TLLRWDCC Does • The Compact protects the capacity of the Compact Facility for Texas and Vermont generators. • The Compact law allows the import of waste from all 50 states for management or disposal. (Keep in mind some compacts require export authorization.) • For 36 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the Compact Facility is the only facility able to accept their Class B and C low-level radioactive waste.

6. What Our Compact Does – Imports and Exports • For imports, the Commission has developed an approach based on: • A policy to ensure maximum disposal of allowed Curies. • The need for flexibility and transparency based on the regulatory and industry hurdles generators/brokers encounter. • A need for a fair and unbiased allocation of Curie availability. • The Commission supports exports for good cause.

7. What Our Compact Does Not Do • The Compact does not own or operate the Compact Facility; it is owned by State of Texas, operated by WCS. • The Compact does not set surcharges or charge fees of any type. • The Compact does not determine licensing requirements nor license the facility. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) licenses the Compact Facility and approves waste streams.

8. Outside Commission’s Purview • High Level Waste • Transuranic Waste • Greater Than Class C Waste • Spent Fuel Storage • NORM or TENORM • Site Operations at the Compact Waste Facility (TCEQ) • Waste Shipments (TCEQ & DSHS)

9. Forms and Automation • The rules require the Commission’s Import Application Form be used. It is now a fillable form on our web-site. • Our Export Application Form is also now a fillable form on our web-site. • Our Generator Authorization Form is also available on our web-site.

10. Annual Reporting and Disposal Numbers • Annual Reports are available at: http://www.tllrwdcc.org/reports-more/ • The 2017 Annual Report includes: • Listing of import agreements, volume and curies • Listing of export agreements • Fees generated • Disposal numbers in volume and curies for imported Waste and in-compact waste are available at: http://www.tllrwdcc.org/reports-more/

11. HB2662 – Texas Legislative Oversight Committee • HB 2662 was passed by the Texas Legislature in May of 2017 • Establishes legislative oversight committee to assess the Compact Facility. • Includes membership of key senate and house leaders, the Chair of the Compact Commission and a representative of Vermont. • The committee will consider and potentially make recommendations on the following: • Fixed costs, party state fees and the contract review process • Relationship between the state, party state generators, and the operator • Contingency planning • The need and effects of fees and surcharges currently assessed. • Other matters the committee determines are relevant to the Compact facility. • The Oversight Committee will be abolished December 2018.

12. The Rule for Management of Low-Level Waste • Commissioner Morris chairs the committee to draft and finalize rules for management of low-level radioactive waste in our Compact. • After long and diligent effort, these rules were published as final in the Texas Register on March 23, 2018. • The Commission very much appreciates the input from stakeholders. • The management rule does not have applicability in Vermont. • The rule does not require pre-authorization prior to import for management, but a general authorization is required.

13. What the Rule for Management Includes – • Applies to entities that accept waste for management that has been shipped into Texas on an NRC Form 540 or 541. • The rule includes semi-annual reporting requirements relating to the generator, the waste activity and volume, and how the waste is managed . • Any entity in Texas wishing to accept low-level radioactive waste as applicable under this rule must be authorized by entering into an agreement with the Compact Commission.

14. Compact Commission Workshops • Under our law, the Compact is required to “….make available to the party states, and to the public, information concerning low-level radioactive management needs, technologies and problems.” • The Compact conducted a workshop for Generators in Vermont in 2016. • The Compact conducted a second workshop for Generators in Texas in November 2017. • The Compact is considering a workshop geared toward out-of-compact generators that may wish to use the disposal facility.

15. The Texas Compact Commissioners • Chair, Brandon Hurley- TX • Vice-Chair, John Salsman– TX • Peter Bradford – VT • Judge Richard Dolgener - TX • Linda Morris – TX • Richard Saudek – VT • Clint Weber – TX • Robert C. Wilson - TX • Jane O’Meara Sanders – VT Alternate

16. http://www.tllrwdcc.org/ Leigh Ing, Executive Director : 512-217-8045 Andrew Tachovsky, Deputy Executive Director: 512-791-7576 leigh.ing@tllrwdcc.org or andrew.tachovsky@tllrwdcc.org