TEXAS RULE REVIEW SEES DELAY

Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
1/24/2014

The Texas Compact Commission rule review experienced a delay this month after a meeting with stakeholders to discuss possible changes was pushed back due to scheduling conflicts, according to Compact Chairman Bob Wilson during the Commission’s public meeting last week. Wilson had previously said that this meeting—originally scheduled for early January—would be the final step before the Commission would release a draft of its findings. “We had originally been planning a meeting for early January with brokers and processers in Tennessee, and the meeting had to be canceled because two of the people necessary to be invited could not make it,” Wilson said.

The Commission’s rule review is meant to be a comprehensive evaluation of its rules, including whether or not changes are needed to its import/export application process, whether fees should be charged, and whether outstanding violations should matter in the process, among other things. The meeting that was delayed was meant to include industry stakeholders into the process to include their perspective in the evaluation. The meeting has been rescheduled for April, Wilson said during the meeting.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working to continue navigating the management of Greater than Class C (GTCC) waste through recent rulemaking, Commissioner Matthew Marzano said Wednesday here.

The NRC Commissioner opened up the third and final day of the Nuclear Cleanup Workshop with a keynote address focused on the agency in the cleanup sector. The rulemaking, published in the Federal Register on July 1, proposes a framework for land disposal of low-level radioactive waste by allowing disposal facilities to manage a broader range of nuclear materials. It also aims to create a pathway for the disposal of GTCC radioactive waste, which is a type of waste with a higher concentration of radionuclides than other low-level waste types.

As part of the rulemaking, NRC will maintain authority over GTCC radioactive waste disposal. However, Marzano said the public has had questions about whether NRC Agreement States or the NRC itself should have that authority.

While Marzano did not answer the question on which entity should license facilities that handle GTCC waste, he said the public comment period in this accelerated rulemaking process is important in helping the agency figure out which direction it should go in the final rule.

“We need to get those comments,” Marzano said. “We need to understand where the proposed rule isn’t enough, and if that is not the best solution, to have the justification for why we need to make a pivot in the final.”

Many public comments have said that the rulemaking could cause conflict between the states and federal agencies.

NRC Agreement States legally assumed authority from the agency to manage Class A, B and C low-level waste at disposal facilities. With the NRC assuming licensing authority over GTCC waste, organizations like the Nuclear Innovation Alliance said separating GTCC waste management from the other low-level waste streams at the same facility could cause inconsistent regulatory authority between the state and NRC.

In This Issue

More on This Topic

Popular

In This Issue

More on This Topic

Popular