The Commission's developer, US Ecology, Inc., (USE) submitted a license application for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility near the Village of Butte in Boyd County in July, 1990. The application was submitted to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Control (now known as Environmental Quality and referenced as NDEQ) and the Nebraska Department of Health (now known as Health and Human Services and referenced as NHHS).
The application was deemed complete for technical review by the State of Nebraska in December 1991. After several years of review, in May 1995, US Ecology submitted to the State its responses to the fourth and final round of the state's technical comments.
In June 1995, US Ecology submitted its eighth revision to the Safety Analysis Report (SAR). On July 26, 1995, the LLRW Program indicated that it would take approximately one year to conduct its final review activities and confirmed that no more technical information would be accepted from the applicant unless it was requested by the reviewers. State evaluations and future decisions are to be based on this final product.
During 1995 and early 1996, the State did not issue a licensing public review schedule or commit to a binding licensing review schedule. Compact law, as well as individual laws in four of the five member states (Kansas law will be in force upon issuance of the license or permit to operate the disposal facility), charges the Commission to "require the Host State to process all applications for permits and licenses required for the development and operation of any regional facility or facilities within a reasonable period from the time that a completed application is submitted."
The Facility Review Committee for the project drafted a technical review schedule that was in compliance with the respective federal and state laws and regulations. This draft schedule was adopted by the Commissioners at their January 18, 1996, Mid-Year Meeting. At the Spring Quarterly Meeting on March 27, 1996, the Commissioners voted to reaffirm their schedule. At the Annual Meeting of the Commission on June 26, 1996, the Commissioners rescinded the Commission's technical review schedule and unanimously approved setting a Special Commission Meeting on August 27, 1996, for the purpose of "... developing and determining a reasonable schedule for the completion of the processing of the pending application for a license for the Compact's regional low-level radioactive waste disposal facility."
At public information meetings conducted by the NDEQ and the NHHS on August 19 and 21, 1996, the state released information which called for the issuance of a Draft Safety Evaluation Report (DSER) and a Draft Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) in October, 1997. This information was provided to the Commission along with other materials and comments received by the Commission when the Commission conducted its special meeting on August 27th.
At the September 30th meeting, the Commissioners approved a motion that established a time frame between December 14, 1996, and January 14, 1997, as the scheduled date for receipt of the DSER and DEIA and a draft license decision from the LLRW Program. They also approved a motion that there be a single consolidated comprehensive public comment period and public hearing process on the draft documents and draft license decision. On November 27, 1996, the State of Nebraska filed suit against the Commission regarding state compliance with the Commission's two motions.
In October 1997, the State released their Draft Safety Evaluation Report (DSER) and the Draft Environmental Impact Analysis (DEIA). Of the 152 evaluation areas, the reviewers found US Ecology's application and technical materials acceptable in 123 cases and unacceptable in only 29 instances. In the area of safety assessment, the state conducted their own Independent Performance Assessment for which the results indicated annual doses less than the regulatory limits. The state additionally indicated in the draft evaluation documents that the proposed facility would result in impacts to several environmental resources. However, the state's draft environmental impact analysis indicated all potential adverse environmental impacts can be mitigated except for sociocultural impacts. The draft documents indicated that these impacts are expected to decline during the period of facility operation, assuming the facility operates without radiological accidents. The draft license decision was not released with the draft evaluation documents.
The release of the draft evaluation documents started the 90 day public comment period ending with a public hearing on the evaluation documents. The public hearings were held in early February, 1998 in Naper, Nebraska and in Butte, Nebraska (the host community).
The interested public and the Commission's developer participated in the public comment period and the public hearing. US Ecology said the state's finding of 29 unacceptable areas provided clear guidance for future US Ecology work on fully resolving all regulatory concerns for the successful licensing of the llrw disposal facility. The 123 acceptable findings were also reviewed by US Ecology to confirm their technical sufficiency.
US Ecology continued to conduct environmental sampling and monitoring in anticipation of the release of the state reviewer's responses to the public comments they received and materials and testimony received during the February public hearing. The state is expected to release that information to the public in the summer of 1998. That release of information will be in the form of a revised Safety Evaluation Report and Environmental Impact Analysis. The state will also release its proposed license decision (draft license with license conditions or intent to deny the license). The release of these state documents will start the next 90 day public comment period and will conclude with a public hearing on the proposed license decision.