The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is scheduled to vote July 1 whether to approve the reduction in a charge for disposal of radioactive waste at a state-owned facility operated by Waste Control Specialists.
The rulemaking would amend the Texas Administrative Code’s section on low-level radioactive waste disposal fees, specifically reducing the curie inventory charge from $0.40 per millicurie (mCi) to $0.05 per millicurie. That would be applied to waste shipped to the Compact Waste Facility managed by Waste Control Specialists at its disposal property in Andrews County.
The TCEQ executive director has “determined that the reduction in the mCi is appropriate at this time,” according to the state agency.
The set amount is the highest curie inventory charge for generators from the member states of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact and the lowest charge for waste from all other states. Texas and Vermont are the only members to the compact, but more than 30 additional states can ship low-level waste to the facility.
Waste Control Specialists requested the charge reduction to offset increases in other charges in order to help the facility remain competitive. The Texas Legislature in 2017 passed legislation that reduced certain disposal charges and fees at the Compact Waste Facility, but those measures expired on Sept. 1, 2019. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last year vetoed legislation that would have extended the rebates until Sept. 1, 2021.
If approved by the three-member commission, the rulemaking would take effect on July 23.
Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists operates one of four licensed commercial facilities in the United States for disposal of low-level waste. It has looked for options to raise the Compact Waste Facility out of the red. Representatives of several regional low-level waste disposal compacts are also considering potential means of assistance.