New Mexico’s state Senate Conservation Committee adjourned Tuesday without debating proposed legislation that would create a “radioactive waste consultation task force,” but the body is set to reconvene Thursday to tackle the issue.
The bill is one of 14 on the committee’s schedule this week. The body voted on only two of those 14 measures Tuesday but plans to take up the rad waste bill, introduced last week by State Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D), first thing on Thursday.
If the bill passes the committee, it will need to get through both chambers of the legislature and be signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) to become law.
If signed, the proposed measure would create an interagency task force of state officials to negotiate with the federal government on waste storage siting and licensing in New Mexico. The task force members would review possible effects of such sites on surrounding areas and communities, and could commission state investigations into these effects.
Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working on an environmental impact review for the proposed Holtec International consolidated interim storage facility in southeastern New Mexico. The review, a necessary precursor for an NRC license, won’t be completed until the summer, the commission has said.
