MINUTES
(Verified
with meeting transcript)
In
compliance with Commission Bylaws and Rules, a meeting notice announcing the
date, time, location and agenda availability was mailed to the interested
public May 22, 2006.
The
Annual Meeting of the Central Interstate LLRW Commission was held Wednesday,
June 21, 2006, to take necessary action on reports, meeting minutes,
export applications, export fee schedule (Rule 1), meeting requirements
(By-Laws), financial consultant contract, commissioner expenses, restrictions
of retained settlement funds, deferred siting, office logistics, administrative
budget, election of Chairman for fiscal year 2006-2007, and all other business
to come before the Commission.
The Chair
called the meeting to order at approximately 9:05 a.m. and roll was
called. Responding to the roll call
was: Oklahoma Commissioner,
Also
present were Arkansas Alternate Commissioner, Bernie Bevill; Administrator,
Rita Houskie; Secretary, Terry Davis, the court reporter, and interested
members of the public.
No
members of the public spoke during the public comment period.
Motion (Resolution
1) by
Motion passed 4-0
Motion (Resolution
1) by
Motion passed 4-0
The Chair
introduced the next agenda item. She
indicated that
Motion (Resolution 2)
by
Motion passed 4-0
The
Commission received an oral report from the Commission Administrator. The Administrator reported that an additional
$10 million had been disbursed to the six major generators.
The
Commission received an oral report from Outside Legal Counsel. Legal Counsel reported that the
The Chair
introduced the next agenda item that dealt with export applications. The Chair asked for more information on the
non-federal generator export application that had not been received in the
Executive Office in time to be placed on the agenda. The Administrator indicated that the waste
from this generator had made it all the way to EnergySolutions (formerly Envirocare) before the situation of no export
authorization had been caught, and that it would serve the Commission well to
allow action on this application to avoid the need for an emergency meeting. There were no objections to the addition of
the generator’s application from the Commissioners.
Motion (Resolution 3) by
Motion passed 4-0
Motion (Resolution
4) by Louisiana, second by Kansas to
approve the non-federal export applications, pending receipt of original
application and fees, for Graphic Packaging International, Regional Radiation
Consultants, and Terrebonne General Medical Center.
Motion passed 4-0
The next
item on the agenda was introduced with a statement by the Chair. She indicated that discussions and actions
had been taken at previous meetings on the future direction of the Commission
and that the following prepared Resolution formalized those issues. The Oklahoma Commissioner moved (Resolution 5) to adopt the Resolution as written and the Louisiana
Commissioner gave it a second.
RESOLUTION
Restatement of deferred pursuit of
development of a disposal facility
WHEREAS
the Central Interstate Compact Commission (the “Commission”) has the continuing
statutory obligation and authority pursuant to Federal law to manage the
disposal of low-level radioactive waste generated within the compact member
states; and
WHEREAS
in furtherance of such obligation the Commission pursued in good faith the
licensing of a disposal facility for its low level radioactive waste to be
sited in its member-state Nebraska.
Ultimately the license application was denied and questions surrounding
the application were addressed through federal litigation. The Commission prevailed in the lawsuit and
was awarded the costs associated with its lengthy effort to obtain a license,
as well as the pre and post judgment interest on those costs; and
WHEREAS
member-state
WHEREAS
the Commission has reviewed its responsibilities, obligations and alternatives
under the Compact, consulted with and surveyed both the major generators of
low-level wastes within the Compact Region as well as the small generators, and
has determined that:
1) The total volume of low-level wastes
generated in the Compact Region has significantly decreased due to the
completion of decommissioning activities, various compaction techniques and a
reduction in use of radioactive procedures,
2) Availability of commercial low-level
radioactive waste disposal sites throughout the
3) A recent General Accounting Office’s
report (June 2004 – GAO-04-604) determined that most generators can store small
volumes of Class B and C waste on site without imposing health or safety risks,
4) The federal government is currently
reviewing the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1985, as amended and
such review could alter the current obligations of the Commission,
5) The Compact Region’s generators
currently do not support the renewal of licensing activity by the Compact for
the reasons stated above; and
WHEAREAS
the Commission will continue to meet its statutory obligations to manage the
Compact’s waste, will remain alert to opportunities and alternatives for
management
of
its waste, and will maintain its readiness to respond to the needs of the
generators of low-level radioactive waste within the Compact.
THEREFORE,
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED that the Commission will defer active efforts to site,
develop or operate a disposal facility within the Compact Region until such
time as it determines that the needs of the low-level radioactive waste
generators in the Compact Region and the public’s interest, health and safety
justify pursuit of such a facility.
*
Motion
passed4-0
The agenda item relating to
restrictions of the retained settlement funds was tabled to the next meeting in
June 2007 due to ongoing litigation of said funds by agreement of the
Commissioners.
Motion (Resolution 6)
by
Motion
passed 4-0
The next item on the agenda
referred to a change to Commission By-Law Article IV (E) (1) relating to
required commission meetings. The Chair
indicated that the change would reduce the required meetings to one a year, that
being the annual meeting. The Oklahoma
Commissioner questioned the definition of the term ‘meeting,’ asking if that
meant ‘in-person.’ The Chair and Legal
Counsel’s responses to her question were “yes.”
Motion (Resolution 7)
by
(E)
Meetings
of the Commission
(1)
The
Commission shall have an Annual Meeting once a year in the host state; meet
once a year by invitation by a member state of the Compact, on a rotating
basis; and shall also meet upon the call of the Chairman, by petition of a
majority of the membership or upon the call of a host state member.
The Annual Meeting shall include:
(a)
Review
and approval of the Commission budget;
(b)
Review
of the project budget;
(c)
Election
of Officers.
The Kansas Commissioner
expressed concern that the host state reference had only been stricken
once. The Administrator explained that
striking only the first host state reference leaves open the possible need for
a host state should the compact environment change.
Motion
passed 4-0
The Commissioners chose not
to act on the agenda item regarding commissioner expense (Resolution 8).
Motion (Resolution 9) by
Motion
passed 4-0
The Chair mentioned the next
agenda item regarding the location of the office and the amount of work yet to
be done. No further discussion came
forth.
The Chair called on the
Administrator to present the administrative budget agenda item.
Motion (Resolution
10) by Oklahoma, second by Louisiana to
approve the proposed budget for fiscal year 2006-2007 and to use rebate
interest in the funding of the administrative costs of the Commission.
Motion
passed 4-0
The Chair nominated the
Oklahoma Commissioner as candidate for chairman for the coming fiscal year.
Motion (Resolution 11) by
Motion
passed 3-0
The Commissioners discussed
dates for the next meeting. A meeting
date for the next annual meeting was tentatively set for June 20, 2007 with the
location to be announced. A telephone
meeting date was tentatively set for July 20, 2006 to review export
applications for the new fiscal year.
Motion by
Motion
passed 4-0
The Chair called for a break
at approximately 10: 34 a.m. before entering into executive session.
The Chair called the meeting
back to order at approximately 11:35 a.m. and announced that no business had
been conducted during the executive session.
Motion by
Motion
passed by acclamation.
The meeting was adjourned at
11:35 a.m.