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Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.4608 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:20000215 Primary Sponsor:Lourie All Sponsors:Lourie, Hosey, Seithel, J. Smith, Harris, Quinn, Allen, Bales, G. Brown, T. Brown, Campsen, Cato, Clyburn, Cooper, Davenport, Haskins, Jennings, Kennedy, Law, Lucas, Maddox, McGee, Sandifer, Scott, Simrill, Trotter, J.M. Neal, Emory Drafted Document Number:l:\council\bills\nbd\11682ac00.doc Companion Bill Number:1129 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Com 20 HANR Subject:Atlantic Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Implementation Act, Hazardous and Nuclear Waste History Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ ______________________________________ _______ ____________ House 20000215 Co-Sponsor added (Rule 5.2) by Rep. J.M. Neal Emory House 20000215 Introduced, read first time, 20 HANR referred to Committee Versions of This Bill
TO ENACT THE "ATLANTIC INTERSTATE LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE COMPACT IMPLEMENTATION ACT" INCLUDING PROVISIONS TO AMEND TITLE 48, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 46, SO AS TO PROVIDE A STATUTORY BASIS FOR SOUTH CAROLINA'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE ATLANTIC LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE COMPACT; TO SPECIFY CONDITIONS PRECEDENT TO SOUTH CAROLINA'S MEMBERSHIP; TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT PROCEDURES AND POLICIES NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE STATE OBJECTIVES WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPACT, INCLUDING STATE APPROVAL OF DISPOSAL RATES AND PROCEDURES FOR IDENTIFYING ALLOWABLE OPERATING COSTS SO AS TO DETERMINE REVENUES DUE TO THE STATE FOR LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL; TO PROVIDE DIRECTIVES FOR APPOINTING THE STATE'S COMMISSIONERS TO THE COMPACT COMMISSION AND GUIDING THE COMMISSIONERS ON STATE POLICIES; AND TO INCORPORATE BY REFERENCE THE NORTHEAST INTERSTATE LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT COMPACT; TO AMEND SECTION 13-7-30, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO VARIOUS DUTIES OF THE BUDGET AND CONTROL BOARD INCLUDING DUTIES PERTAINING TO ASSESSMENTS, SURCHARGES, AND PENALTY CHARGES ON NONSITED WASTE RECEIVED AT THE REGIONAL DISPOSAL FACILITY SO AS TO DELETE THESE PROVISIONS; TO PROVIDE FOR INTERIM DISPOSAL RATES OF LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSED AT ANY REGIONAL FACILITY IN THIS STATE; AND TO REPEAL CHAPTER 48, TITLE 48 RELATING TO THE MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL OF LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE.
Whereas, the Atlantic Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact (Atlantic Compact), currently consisting of the States of Connecticut and New Jersey, was created in response to a federal law that encourages states to form interstate compacts for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste and allows them to restrict the amount of out-of-state waste received; and
Whereas, the Atlantic Compact has proposed that South Carolina become a member of the compact in order to achieve certain objectives important to both the current member states and to South Carolina; and
Whereas, membership by South Carolina in the Atlantic Compact will empower the State to control access to the state's low-level radioactive waste disposal facility located in Barnwell County by waste generators outside the compact region. Now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 48 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 48-46-10. This chapter may be cited as the 'Atlantic Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Implementation Act'.
Section 48-46-20. The purpose of this act is to establish South Carolina as a member of the Atlantic Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact, known in federal statute as the 'Northeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact' and to authorize and direct specific processes and procedures that are necessary to implement South Carolina's responsibilities in the compact.
Section 48-46-30. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires a different construction:
(1) 'Allowable costs' means costs to a disposal site operator of operating a regional disposal facility. These costs are limited to costs determined by standard accounting practices and regulatory findings to be associated with facility operations.
(2) 'Atlantic Compact' means the Northeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact.
(3) 'Atlantic Compact Commission' or 'commission' means the governing body of the Atlantic Compact, consisting of voting members appointed by the governors of Connecticut, New Jersey, and South Carolina.
(4) 'Board' means the South Carolina Budget and Control Board.
(5) 'Disposal rates' means the price paid by customers of a regional disposal facility for disposal of waste, including any price schedule or breakdown of the price into discrete elements or cost components.
(6) 'Facility operator' means a public or private organization, corporation, or agency that operates a regional disposal facility in South Carolina.
(7) 'Generators' means persons, organizations, institutions, private corporations, and government agencies that produce Class A, B, and C radioactive waste.
(8) 'Price schedule' means disposal rates.
(9) 'PSC' means the South Carolina Public Service Commission.
(10) 'Receipts' means the total amount of money collected by the site operator for waste disposal over a given period of time.
(11) 'Regional disposal facility' means a disposal facility that has been designated or accepted by the Atlantic Compact Commission as a regional disposal facility.
(12) 'Regional generators' means waste generators who produce waste within the Atlantic Compact region, whether or not this waste is sent to facilities outside the Atlantic Compact region for purposes of consolidation, treatment, or processing prior to shipment for disposal at a regional disposal facility.
(13) 'Regional waste' means waste generated within a member state of the Atlantic Compact. Consistent with the regulatory position of the Department of Health and Environmental Control, Bureau of Radiological Health, dated May 1, 1986, some waste byproducts shipped for disposal that are derived from wastes generated within the Atlantic Compact region, such as residues from recycling, processing, compacting, incineration, collection, and brokering facilities located outside the Atlantic Compact region may also be considered regional waste.
(14) 'Site operator' means a facility operator.
(15) 'Waste' means Class A, B, or C low-level radioactive waste, as defined in Title I of Public Law 99-240 and Department of Health and Environmental Control Regulation 61-63, 7.2.22, that is eligible for acceptance for disposal at a regional disposal facility.
Section 48-46-40. (A)(1) The board shall approve disposal rates for low-level radioactive waste disposed at any regional disposal facility located within the State. Disposal rates established by the board must be sufficient to reimburse the site operator for its costs of operating the facility and for its operating margin, as determined under subsection (B)(3).
(2) Within thirty days of enactment of this chapter, the PSC shall develop and provide to the board a uniform schedule of disposal rates that approximate the rates charged to regional generators at the end of calendar year 1999. Within fourteen days of receipt of the uniform schedule of disposal rates from the PSC, the board shall adopt a rate schedule for regional generators containing rates that are equal to or less than rates provided in the uniform schedule of disposal rates provided by the PSC. The initial disposal rates approved under this paragraph become effective on the first day of the first full fiscal quarter following their approval by the board.
(3) In March of each subsequent year, the PSC shall adjust the maximum uniform rate schedule based on the most recent changes in the Producer Price Index as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or a successor index. After publication of the annual adjusted maximum uniform rate schedule, the board shall consider the latest annual adjusted maximum uniform rate schedule as the basis for determining the maximum rates which may be charged to regional generators. The board may also approve adjustments to disposal rates applicable to regional waste generators in response to petitions filed by the Atlantic Compact Commission. Adjustments in response to these petitions may be approved so as to change the rate design or otherwise change the relative proportion of the various elements or components of the disposal rate, if concurred upon by the Atlantic Compact Commission and the board.
(4)(a) To the extent authorized by the Atlantic Compact Commission, the board on behalf of the State of South Carolina may enter into agreements with any person in the United States or its territories or any interstate compact, state, U.S. territory, or U.S. Department of Defense military installation abroad for the importation of waste into the region for purposes of disposal at regional disposal facilities within South Carolina. To the extent that South Carolina is authorized by the Atlantic Compact Commission to enter into these agreements for importation of waste, no waste from outside the Atlantic Compact region may be disposed at regional disposal facilities within South Carolina without approval from the board.
(b) The board may approve special disposal rates applicable to nonregional generators. These rates must be applicable for a period of time specified by the board. In approving special disposal rates applicable to nonregional generators, the board may consider demand for disposal capacity, the characteristics of the waste, the potential for generating revenue for the State, and other relevant factors.
(c) Absent action by the board under this section to establish special disposal rates for nonregional generators, rates applicable to these generators must be equal to the rates approved by the board for regional generators.
(d) If the board approves special disposal rates for nonregional generators that are less than rates approved for regional generators, the board shall immediately revise rates paid by regional generators so that they are equal to the rates applicable to nonregional generators.
(B)(1) Effective upon the implementation of initial disposal rates by the board under Section 48-46-40(A), the PSC is authorized and directed to identify allowable costs for operating a regional low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in South Carolina.
(2) In identifying the allowable costs for operating a regional disposal facility, the PSC shall:
(a) prescribe a system of accounts, using generally accepted accounting principles, for disposal site operators, using as a starting point the existing system used by site operators;
(b) audit the books of site operators;
(c) obtain all necessary books and records from site operators;
(d) assess penalties against disposal site operators if the PSC determines that they have failed to comply with regulations pursuant to this section; and
(e) require periodic reports from site operators that provide information and data to the PSC and parties to these proceedings.
(3) Allowable costs include the costs of those activities necessary for:
(a) the receipt of waste;
(b) the construction of disposal trenches, vaults, and overpacks;
(c) construction and maintenance of necessary physical facilities;
(d) the purchase or amortization of necessary equipment;
(e) purchase of supplies that are consumed in support of waste disposal activities;
(f) accounting and billing for waste disposal;
(g) creating and maintaining records related to disposed waste;
(h) site monitoring required by the State of South Carolina, other than site monitoring costs paid for by the closure or long-term institutional control accounts;
(i) regulatory compliance;
(j) taxes other than income taxes;
(k) licensing and permitting fees; and
(l) operating margin.
Allowable costs do not include the costs of activities associated with lobbying and public relations, clean-up and remediation activities caused by errors or accidents in violation of laws, regulations, or the facility operating license or permits, activities of the site operator not directly in support of waste disposal, and other costs determined by the PSC to be unallowable.
(4) An operator of a regional disposal facility in South Carolina is authorized to charge an operating margin of twenty-nine percent. The operating margin for a given period must be determined by multiplying twenty-nine percent by the total amount of allowable costs as determined in paragraph (2), excluding allowable costs for taxes and licensing and permitting fees paid to governmental entities.
(5) The site operator shall prepare and file with the PSC a Least Cost Operating Plan. The plan must be filed within forty-five days of enactment of this chapter and must be revised annually. The plan shall include information concerning anticipated operations over the next ten years and shall evaluate all options for future staffing and operation of the site to ensure least cost operation, including information related to the possible interim suspension of operations in accordance with subsection (B)(6).
(6) If the site operator projects that the volume of waste to be disposed during a forthcoming period of time does not appear sufficient to generate receipts that will be adequate to reimburse the site operator for its costs of operating the facility and its operating margin, the site operator shall propose to the Atlantic Compact Commission plans including, but not necessarily limited to, a proposal for discontinuing acceptance of waste until such time as there is sufficient waste to cover operating costs and its operating margin. Any such proposal must be approved by the Department of Health and Environmental Control with respect to safety and environmental protection. During an interim period approved by the Atlantic Compact Commission, the site operator must be reimbursed by the board from the extended care maintenance fund for expenses associated with maintenance of the facility grounds, buildings, and equipment and for ongoing monitoring of the site, after a determination by the PSC that these expenditures are reasonable and necessary and a determination by the Department of Health and Environmental Control that expenditures from the fund would not result in the failure of the facility to meet financial assurance requirements under applicable regulations and license conditions. The PSC may promulgate regulations and policies necessary to execute the provisions of this paragraph. Notwithstanding any disbursements from the extended care maintenance fund in accordance with this paragraph, the board shall continue to ensure, in accordance with Section 13-7-30, that the fund remains adequate to defray the costs for future custodial maintenance of the site.
(7) The PSC may use any standard, formula, method, or theory of valuation reasonably calculated to arrive at the objective of identifying allowable costs associated with waste disposal. The PSC may consider standards, precedents, findings, and decisions in other jurisdictions that regulate allowable costs for radioactive waste disposal.
(8) In all proceedings held pursuant to this section, the board shall participate as a party representing the interests of the State of South Carolina. Representatives from the Department of Health and Environmental Control shall participate in proceedings where necessary to determine or define the activities that a site operator must conduct in order to comply with the regulations and license conditions imposed by the department. The PSC shall identify other parties to the proceedings in accordance with its procedures. Parties to these proceedings shall have access to all records and information reasonably necessary to establish and defend positions on all issues relevant to the proceedings.
(9) In all respects in which the PSC has power and authority under this chapter, applications and complaints may be made and filed with it, process issued, hearings held, opinions, orders, and decisions made and filed, petitions for rehearing filed and acted upon, and petitions for review to any higher court of competent jurisdiction filed therewith, appeals filed with the appellate courts of this State, considered and disposed of by these courts in the manner, under the conditions, and subject to the limitations, and with the effect specified in this title for public service companies generally.
(10) At any time, the commission or an interested person may file a complaint against a site operator alleging that allowable costs identified pursuant to this chapter are not in conformity with the directives of this chapter or the directives of the PSC or that the site operator is otherwise not acting in conformity with the requirements of this chapter or directives of the PSC. Upon filing of the complaint, the PSC shall cause a copy of the complaint to be served upon the site operator. The complaining party has the burden of proving that allowable costs or the actions of the site operator do not conform. The hearing shall conform to the rules of practice and procedure of the commission for other complaint cases.
(11) The PSC shall encourage alternate forms of dispute resolution including, but not limited to, mediation or arbitration to resolve disputes between a site operator and any other person regarding matters covered by this chapter.
(C) The operator of a regional disposal facility shall submit the following to the South Carolina Department of Revenue within thirty days following the end of each quarter:
(1) a report detailing actual revenues received in the previous fiscal quarter and allowable costs incurred for operation of the disposal facility; and
(2) a check made payable to the South Carolina Department of Revenue for an amount that is the difference between total revenues received and allowable costs incurred plus its operating margin.
(D) Revenues received pursuant to item (2) of subsection (C) must be allocated as follows:
(1) The South Carolina State Treasurer shall distribute the first five hundred thousand dollars received for waste disposed during a fiscal quarter to the governing body of Barnwell County for distribution to each of the parties to and beneficiaries of the order of the United States District Court in C.A. No. 1:90-2912-6 on the same schedule of allocation as is established within that order for the distribution of 'payments in lieu of taxes' paid by the United States Department of Energy.
(2) All revenues in excess of five hundred thousand dollars received from waste disposed during the previous quarter must be deposited in a fund called the 'Nuclear Waste Disposal Receipts Distribution Fund'. Any South Carolina waste generator whose disposal fees contributed to the fund during the previous quarter may submit a request for a rebate of 33.33 percent of the funds paid by the generator during the previous quarter for disposal of waste at a regional disposal facility. These requests along with invoices or other supporting material must be submitted in writing with thirty days of the end of the quarter. For this purpose, disposal fees paid by the generator must exclude any fees paid pursuant to Section 48-46-60(B) for compact administration and fees paid pursuant to Section 48-46-60(C) for reimbursement of the PSC and the board for administrative expenses under this chapter. Upon validation of the request and supporting documentation by the State Treasurer, the State Treasurer shall issue a rebate of the applicable funds to qualified waste generators within sixty days after the end of the quarter. If funds in the Nuclear Waste Disposal Receipts Distribution Fund are insufficient to provide a rebate of 33.33 percent to each generator, then each generator's rebate must be reduced in proportion to the amount of funds in the account for the applicable quarter.
(3) All revenues remaining the Nuclear Waste Disposal Receipts Distribution Fund after issuance of rebates to generators pursuant to item (2) must be deposited in the general fund.
Section 48-46-50. (A) The Governor shall appoint two commissioners to the Atlantic Compact, and may appoint up to two alternate commissioners. Alternate commissioners may participate in meetings of the Atlantic Compact Commission in lieu of and upon the request of a South Carolina commissioner. Technical representatives from the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the board, the PSC, and other state agencies may participate in relevant portions of meetings of the Atlantic Compact Commission upon the request of a commissioner, alternate commissioner, or staff of the commission.
(B) South Carolina Commissioners or alternate commissioners to the Atlantic Compact Commission may not vote affirmatively on any motion to admit new member states to the compact unless that state volunteers to host a regional disposal facility.
(C.) Commissioners or alternate commissioners to the Atlantic Compact Commission may not vote to approve a regional management plan or any other plan or policy that allows for acceptance at the Barnwell regional disposal facility of more than a total of 800,000 cubic feet of waste from Connecticut and New Jersey.
Section 48-46-60. (A) South Carolina's membership in the Atlantic Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact pursuant to this chapter is effective July 1, 2000, if by that date the Governor certifies to the General Assembly that the Atlantic Compact Commission has taken each of the following actions:
(1) Adopted a binding regulation or policy in accordance with Article VII(e) of the Atlantic Compact declaring South Carolina eligible to become a member of the compact.
(2) Adopted a binding regulation or policy in accordance with Article IV(11) of the Atlantic Compact authorizing a host state to enter into agreements with any person for the importation of waste into the region for purposes of disposal, to the extent that these agreements do not preclude the disposal facility from accepting all regional waste that can reasonably be projected to require disposal at the regional disposal facility.
(3) Adopted a binding regulation or policy allowing all regional generators, at the generator's discretion, to ship waste to disposal facilities located outside the Atlantic Compact region.
(4) Authorized South Carolina to proceed with plans to establish disposal rates for low-level radioactive waste disposal in a manner consistent with the procedures described in this chapter.
(5) Adopted a binding regulation or policy officially designating South Carolina as a volunteer host state for the region's disposal facility, contingent upon South Carolina's membership in the compact, in accordance with section V.b.1 of the Atlantic Compact, thereby authorizing the following compensation and incentives to South Carolina:
(a) agreement, as evidenced in a policy or regulation, that the commission will issue a payment of twelve million dollars to the State of South Carolina. Before issuing the twelve million dollar payment, the commission will deduct and retain from this amount seventy thousand dollars, which will be credited as full payment of South Carolina's membership dues in the Compact. The remainder of the twelve million dollar payment must be credited to an account in the State Treasurer's office, separate and distinct from the fund, styled 'Barnwell Economic Development Fund'. This fund, and earnings on this fund which must be credited to the fund, may only be expended for purposes of economic development in the Barnwell County area including, but not limited to, projects of the Barnwell County Economic Development Corporation and projects of the Tri-County alliance which includes Barnwell, Bamberg, and Allendale Counties. Economic development includes, but is not limited to, industrial recruitment, infrastructure construction, improvement, and expansion, and public facilities construction, improvement, and expansion. Funds may only be expended upon approval of the governing body of Barnwell County and may not be used for county operating costs;
(b) adopted a binding regulation or policy, consistent with the regional management plan developed pursuant to Article V(a) of the Atlantic Compact, limiting Connecticut and New Jersey to the use of not more than 800,000 cubic feet of disposal capacity at the regional disposal facility located in Barnwell County, South Carolina, and also ensuring that up to 800,000 cubic feet of disposal capacity remains available for use by Connecticut and New Jersey unless this estimate of need is later revised downward by unanimous consent of the commission;
(c) agreement, as evidenced in a policy or regulation, that the commission headquarters and office will be relocated to South Carolina within six months of South Carolina's membership; and
(d) agreement, as evidenced in a policy or regulation, that the commission will, to the extent practicable, hold most of its meetings in the host state for the regional disposal facility.
(B) In addition to fees assessed pursuant to Section 48-46-40, the board shall impose a commission surcharge per unit of waste received at any regional disposal facility located within the State in accordance with Article V.f.4 of the Atlantic Compact. The site operator shall collect and remit these fees to the board in accordance with the board's directions.
(C) The board and the PSC shall provide the required staff and may add additional permanent or temporary staff or contract for services, if necessary, to administer new responsibilities assigned under this chapter. The compensation, costs, and expenses incurred incident to administering these responsibilities may be paid through a surcharge on waste disposed at regional disposal facilities within the State. To cover these costs the board shall impose a surcharge per unit of waste received at any regional disposal facility located within the State. A site operator shall collect and remit these fees to the board in accordance with the board's directions.
Section 48-46-70. The Northeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact, P.L. 99-240, Section 227, 99 Stat. 1909 (1985), is hereby incorporated by reference.
Section 48-46-80. Pursuant to Section 48-2-10 et. seq., the Department of Health and Environmental Control may adjust the radioactive materials license fee for Low-Level Radioactive Waste Shallow Land Disposal in Regulation 61-30 in an amount that will offset changes to its annual operating budget caused by projected increases or decreases in the number of permittees expected to pay fees for Radioactive Waste Transport Permits under the same regulation for shipment of low-level radioactive waste for disposal within the State.
Section 48-46-90. (A) In accordance with Section 13-7-30, the State Budget and Control Board, or its designee, is responsible for extended custody and maintenance of the Barnwell site following closure and license transfer from the facility operator. The Department of Health and Environmental Control is responsible for continued site monitoring.
(B) Nothing in this section may be construed to alter or diminish the existing statutory authority of the Department of Health and Environmental Control to regulate activities involving radioactive materials and radioactive wastes."
SECTION 2. Section 13-7-30 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 70A, Part II, Act 501 of 1992, is further amended to read:
"Section 13-7-30. For purposes of this article, the State Budget and Control Board, hereinafter in this section referred to as the board, is designated as the agency of the State which shall have the following powers and duties that are in accord with its already established responsibilities for custody of state properties, and for the management of all state sinking funds, insurance, and analogous fiscal matters that are relevant to state properties:
(1) Expend state funds in order to acquire, develop, and operate land and facilities. This acquisition may be by lease, dedication, purchase, or other arrangements. However, the state's functions under the authority of this paragraph are limited to the specific purposes of this article.
(2) Lease, sublease, or sell real and personal properties to public or private bodies.
(3) Assure the maintenance of insurance coverage by state licensees, lessees, or sublessees as will in the opinion of the board protect the citizens of the State against nuclear incident that may occur on state-controlled atomic energy facilities.
(4) Assume responsibility for extended custody and maintenance of radioactive materials held for custodial purposes at any publicly or privately operated facility located within the State, in the event the parties operating these facilities abandon their responsibility, and whenever the federal government or any agency of the federal government has not assumed the responsibility.
In order to finance such extended custody and maintenance as the board may undertake, the board may collect fees from private or public parties holding radioactive materials for custodial purposes. These fees must be sufficient in each individual case to defray the estimated cost of the board's custodial management activities for that individual case. The fees collected for such custodial management activities shall also be sufficient to provide additional funds for the purchase of insurance which shall be purchased for the protection of the State and the general public for the period such radioactive material considering its isotope and curie content together with other factors may present a possible danger to the general public in the event of migration or dispersal of such radioactivity. All such fees, when received by the board, must be transmitted to the State Treasurer. The Treasurer must place the money in a special account, in the nature of a revolving trust fund, which may be designated 'extended care maintenance fund', to be disbursed on authorization of the board. Monies in the extended care maintenance funds must be invested by the board in the manner as other state monies. However, any interest accruing as a result of investment must accrue to this extended care maintenance fund. The extended care maintenance fund must be used exclusively for maintenance costs or for otherwise satisfying custodial and maintenance obligations.
(5) Enter into an agreement with the federal government or any of its authorized agencies to assume extended maintenance of lands donated, leased, or purchased from the federal government or any of its authorized agencies and used for development of atomic energy resources or as custodial site for radioactive material.
(6) In accordance with SECTION 48-47-100 (2), impose, collect, and disburse special fees or surcharges on all users of any regional low-level radioactive waste disposal facility to provide for annual funding of the Southeast Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact Commission.
(7)(a) The State Budget and Control Board shall assess surcharges and penalty surcharges on nonsited waste received at the regional disposal facility. The surcharges are imposed to the maximum extent permitted by SECTION 5(d)(1) of Public Law 99-240 unless a lesser amount is authorized upon recommendation of the Budget and Control Board and upon approval of the General Assembly by Joint Resolution. The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall notify the operator whenever a generator is to be assessed a penalty surcharge or whenever the assessment of a penalty surcharge is to be terminated.
(b) For the purposes of this item:
(1) "Sited region" means a Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact region established under Public Law 96-573 in which there is located one of the following regional disposal facilities: Barnwell, in the State of South Carolina; Richland, in the State of Washington; or Beatty, in the State of Nevada.
(2) "Regional disposal facility" means the nonfederal low-level radioactive waste disposal facility located in Barnwell County, South Carolina.
(3) "Surcharge" means the per cubic foot charge authorized by SECTION 5(d)(1) of Public Law 99-240.
(4) "Penalty surcharge" means the additional per cubic foot charge required by SECTION 5(e)(2) of Public Law 99-240.
(5) "Surcharge funds" means those funds collected by the operator in payment for the surcharges and penalty surcharges assessed as provided herein.
(6) "Operator" means the person who operates the regional disposal facility.
(7) The definitions contained in Chapter 47 of Title 48 are applicable to this section.
(8) "Nonsited waste" means waste generated outside the sited regions, as provided in SECTION 5 of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, Public Law 99-240.
(c) On the fifteenth day of each month, the operator shall remit to the Budget and Control Board an amount equal to the per cubic foot surcharge for each cubic foot of nonsited waste received by the operator as of the first day of the preceding month. On the last day of each month, the operator shall remit to the Budget and Control Board an amount equal to the per cubic foot surcharge for each cubic foot of nonsited waste received by the operator as of the fifteenth day of the preceding month.
On the fifteenth and last day of each month, the operator shall report to the department of Health and Environmental Control any generator who fails to reimburse the operator, within sixty days of receipt of the waste at the site, for the surcharge funds paid by the operator. Any generator who fails to pay the surcharge funds within such sixty-day period is denied access to the site. Access is reinstated upon satisfaction of the following conditions: (1) certification by the department that all outstanding surcharges and penalty surcharges have been paid; and (2) prepayment of surcharges for all future deliveries to the site.
(d) The State Treasurer on a monthly basis shall remit to the United States Secretary of Energy twenty-five percent of the surcharge funds collected as required by SECTION 5(d)(2)(A) of Public Law 99-240 as the Treasurer in conjunction with the United States Department of Energy shall determine. No portion of any penalty surcharges may be remitted to the United States Secretary of Energy.
(e) Of the remaining balance from the surcharge after the allocation provided in subitem (d), together with all penalty surcharges, the Treasurer shall remit ten percent of the balance to the governing body of Barnwell County; provided, that in no event shall the Treasurer remit more than two million, five hundred thousand dollars a fiscal year to the governing body of Barnwell County pursuant to this section. All funds thereafter not otherwise allocated by law must be deposited in the general reserve fund of the State. If the amount deposited exceeds the amount necessary to fund the general reserve fund of the State on a fiscal year basis, then such funds must be deposited in the general fund of the State.
(f) Upon enactment of this item, the State Treasurer shall transfer to the Secretary of Energy of the United States twenty-five percent of the ten dollars a cubic foot fee collected by the operator since March 1, 1986, pursuant to the direction of the State Budget and Control Board. The remaining portion of such fees previously collected must be deposited to the general fund of the State.
(g) The Budget and Control Board and the operator shall furnish the Department of Health and Environmental Control with all necessary information required by the department to monitor and enforce the compliance provisions of Public Law 99-240."
SECTION 3. Until implementation of initial disposal rates approved by the Public Service Commission for low-level radioactive waste disposed of at any regional disposal facility located within the State under Section 48-46-40, of the 1976 Code as added by Section 1 of this act, the provisions of Section 48-48-140 remain in effect, except that the twenty-four million dollar annual amount targeted for the Higher Education Scholarship Grants must be pro-rated in proportion to the number of quarters during the fiscal year that the provision is in effect.
SECTION 4. Except as provided for in Section 3, Title 48, Chapter 48 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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