[ Search ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
91_HB0549
LRB9102350ACtm
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Low-Level Radioactive Waste
2 Management Act by changing Section 10.2.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Low-Level Radioactive Waste
6 Management Act is amended by changing Section 10.2 as
7 follows:
8 (420 ILCS 20/10.2) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 241-10.2)
9 Sec. 10.2. Creation of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Task
10 Group; adoption of criteria; selection of site for
11 characterization.
12 (a) There is hereby created the Low-Level Radioactive
13 Waste Task Group consisting of the Directors of the
14 Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Natural
15 Resources, and the Department of Nuclear Safety (or their
16 designees) and 6 additional members designated by the
17 Governor. The 6 additional members shall:
18 (1) be confirmed by the Senate; and
19 (2) receive compensation of $300 per day for their
20 services on the Task Group unless they are officers or
21 employees of the State, in which case they shall receive
22 no additional compensation.
23 Four of the additional members shall have expertise in
24 the field of geology, hydrogeology, or hydrology. Of the 2
25 remaining additional members, one shall be a member of the
26 public with experience in environmental matters and one shall
27 have at least 5 years experience in local government. The
28 Directors of the Environmental Protection Agency, the
29 Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of
30 Nuclear Safety (or their designees) shall receive no
31 additional compensation for their service on the Task Group.
-2- LRB9102350ACtm
1 All members of the Task Group shall be compensated for their
2 expenses. The Governor shall designate the chairperson
3 chairman of the Task Group. Upon adoption of the criteria
4 under subsection (b) of this Section, the Directors of the
5 Department of Nuclear Safety and the Environmental Protection
6 Agency shall be replaced on the Task Group by members
7 designated by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The
8 members designated to replace the Directors of the Department
9 of Nuclear Safety and the Environmental Protection Agency
10 shall have such expertise as the Governor may determine. The
11 members of the Task Group shall be members until they resign,
12 are replaced by the Governor, or the Task Group is abolished.
13 Except as provided in this Act, the Task Group shall be
14 subject to the Open Meetings Act and the Illinois
15 Administrative Procedure Act. Any action required to be
16 taken by the Task Group under this Act shall be taken by a
17 majority vote of its members. An identical vote by 5 members
18 of the Task Group shall constitute a majority vote.
19 (b) To protect the public health, safety and welfare,
20 the Task Group shall develop proposed criteria for selection
21 of a site for a regional disposal facility. Principal
22 criteria shall relate to the geographic, geologic,
23 seismologic, tectonic, hydrologic, and other scientific
24 conditions best suited for a regional disposal facility.
25 Supplemental criteria may relate to land use (including (i)
26 the location of existing underground mines and (ii) the
27 exclusion of State parks, State conservation areas, and other
28 State owned lands identified by the Task Group), economics,
29 transportation, meteorology, and any other matter identified
30 by the Task Group as relating to desirable conditions for a
31 regional disposal facility. All of the criteria shall be as
32 specific as possible.
33 The chairperson chairman of the Task Group shall publish
34 a notice of availability of the proposed criteria in the
-3- LRB9102350ACtm
1 State newspaper, make copies of the proposed criteria
2 available without charge to the public, and hold public
3 hearings to receive comments on the proposed criteria.
4 Written comments on the proposed criteria may be submitted to
5 the chairperson chairman of the Task Group within a time
6 period to be determined by the Task Group. Upon completion
7 of the review of timely submitted comments on the proposed
8 criteria, the Task Group shall adopt criteria for selection
9 of a site for a radiation disposal facility. Adoption of the
10 criteria is not subject to the Illinois Administrative
11 Procedure Act. The chairperson chairman of the Task Group
12 shall provide copies of the criteria to the Governor, the
13 President and Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker and
14 Minority Leader of the House, and all county boards in the
15 State of Illinois and shall make copies of the criteria
16 available without charge to the public.
17 (c) Upon adoption of the criteria, the Director of
18 Natural Resources shall direct the Scientific Surveys to
19 screen the State of Illinois. By September 30, 1997, the
20 Scientific Surveys shall (i) complete a Statewide screening
21 of the State using available information and the Surveys'
22 geography-based information system to produce individual and
23 composite maps showing the application of individual
24 criteria; (ii) complete the evaluation of all land
25 volunteered before the effective date of this amendatory Act
26 of 1997 to determine whether any of the volunteered land
27 appears likely to satisfy the criteria; (iii) document the
28 results of the screening and volunteer site evaluations in a
29 written report and submit the report to the chairperson
30 chairman of the Task Group and to the Director; and (iv)
31 transmit to the Task Group and to the Department, in a form
32 specified by the Task Group and the Department, all
33 information and documents assembled by the Scientific Surveys
34 in performing the obligations of the Scientific Surveys under
-4- LRB9102350ACtm
1 this Act. Upon completion of the screening and volunteer
2 site evaluation process, the Director of the Department of
3 Natural Resources shall be replaced on the Task Group by a
4 member appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate.
5 The member appointed to replace the Director of the
6 Department of Natural Resources shall have expertise that the
7 Governor determines to be appropriate.
8 (c-3) Within 24 months after the submittal of the report
9 and documents by the Scientific Surveys under subsection (c)
10 of this Section, the Department, in consultation with the
11 Task Group, generators, and any interested counties and
12 municipalities and after holding 3 public hearings throughout
13 the State, shall prepare a report regarding, at a minimum,
14 the impact and ramifications, if any, of the following
15 factors and circumstances on the siting, design, licensure,
16 development, construction, operation, closure, and
17 post-closure care of a regional disposal facility:
18 (1) the federal, state, and regional programs for
19 the siting, development, and operation of disposal
20 facilities for low-level radioactive wastes and the
21 nature, extent, and likelihood of any legislative or
22 administrative changes to those programs;
23 (2) the impacts of restrictions and surcharges on
24 disposal of low-level radioactive waste at commercial
25 disposal facilities outside the State of Illinois;
26 (3) the current and most reliable projections
27 regarding the costs of the siting, design, development,
28 construction, operation, closure, decommissioning, and
29 post-closure care of a regional disposal facility;
30 (4) the current and most reliable estimates of the
31 total volume of low-level radioactive waste that will be
32 disposed at a regional disposal facility in Illinois and
33 the projected annual volume amounts;
34 (5) the nature and extent of the available, if any,
-5- LRB9102350ACtm
1 storage and disposal facilities outside the region of the
2 Compact for storage and disposal of low-level radioactive
3 waste generated from within the region of the Compact;
4 and
5 (6) the development and implementation of a
6 voluntary site selection process in which land may be
7 volunteered for the regional disposal facility jointly by
8 landowners and (i) the municipality in which the land is
9 located, (ii) every municipality within 1 1/2 miles of
10 the land if the land is not within a municipality, or
11 (iii) the county or counties in which the land is located
12 if the land is not within a municipality and not within 1
13 1/2 miles of a municipality. The Director shall provide
14 copies of the report to the Governor, the President and
15 Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Speaker and
16 Minority Leader of the House. The Director shall also
17 publish a notice of availability of the report in the
18 State newspaper and make copies of the report available
19 without charge to the public.
20 (c-5) Following submittal of the report pursuant to
21 subsection (c-3) of this Section, the Department shall adopt
22 rules establishing a site selection process for the regional
23 disposal facility. The site selection process established by
24 rule under this subsection shall require the contractor
25 selected by the Department pursuant to Sections 5 and 10 of
26 this Act to propose one site to the Task Group for approval
27 under subsections (d) through (i) of this Section and shall
28 also, at a minimum, require the following:
29 (1) A comprehensive and open process under which
30 the land for sites recommended and proposed by the
31 contractor under subsection (e) of this Section shall be
32 volunteered lands as provided in this Section. Land may
33 be volunteered for the regional disposal facility jointly
34 by landowners and (i) the municipality in which the land
-6- LRB9102350ACtm
1 is located, (ii) every municipality with 1 1/2 miles of
2 the land if the land is not within a municipality, or
3 (iii) the county or counties in which the land is located
4 if the land is not within a municipality and not within 1
5 1/2 miles of a municipality.
6 (2) Utilization of the State screening and
7 volunteer site evaluation report prepared by the
8 Scientific Surveys under subsection (c) of this Section
9 for the purpose of determining whether proposed sites
10 appear likely to satisfy the site selection criteria.
11 (3) Coordination of the site selection process with
12 the projected annual and total volume of low-level
13 radioactive waste to be disposed at the regional disposal
14 facility as identified in the report prepared under
15 subsection (c-3) of this Section.
16 (4) No proposed site shall be selected as the site
17 for the regional disposal facility unless it satisfies
18 the site selection criteria established by the Task Group
19 under subsection (b) of this Section.
20 (d) The contractor selected by the Department under
21 Sections 5 and 10 of this Act shall conduct evaluations,
22 including possible intrusive field investigations, of the
23 sites and locations identified under the site selection
24 process established under subsection (c-5) of this Section.
25 (e) Upon completion of the site evaluations, the
26 contractor selected by the Department shall identify one site
27 of at least 640 acres that appears promising for development
28 of the regional disposal facility in compliance with the site
29 selection criteria established by the Task Group pursuant to
30 subsection (b) of this Section. The contractor may conduct
31 any other evaluation of the site identified under this
32 subsection that the contractor deems appropriate to determine
33 whether the site satisfies the criteria adopted under
34 subsection (b) of this Section. Upon completion of the
-7- LRB9102350ACtm
1 evaluations under this subsection, the contractor shall
2 prepare and submit to the Department a report on the
3 evaluation of the identified site, including a recommendation
4 as to whether the identified site should be further
5 considered for selection as a site for the regional disposal
6 facility. A site so recommended for further consideration is
7 hereinafter referred to as a "proposed site".
8 (f) A report completed under subsection (e) of this
9 Section that recommends a proposed site shall also be
10 submitted to the chairperson chairman of the Task Group.
11 Within 45 days following receipt of a report, the chairperson
12 chairman of the Task Group shall publish in newspapers of
13 general circulation in the county or counties in which a
14 proposed site is located a notice of the availability of the
15 report and a notice of a public meeting. The chairperson
16 chairman of the Task Group shall also, within the 45-day
17 period, provide copies of the report and the notice to the
18 Governor, the President and Minority Leader of the Senate,
19 the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House, members of the
20 General Assembly from the legislative district or districts
21 in which a proposed site is located, the county board or
22 boards of the county or counties containing a proposed site,
23 and each city, village, and incorporated town within a 5 mile
24 radius of a proposed site. The chairman of the Task Group
25 shall make copies of the report available without charge to
26 the public.
27 (g) The chairperson chairman of the Task Group shall
28 convene at least one public meeting on each proposed site.
29 At the public meeting or meetings, the contractor selected by
30 the Department shall present the results of the evaluation of
31 the proposed site. The Task Group shall receive such other
32 written and oral information about the proposed site that may
33 be submitted at the meeting. Following the meeting, the Task
34 Group shall decide whether the proposed site satisfies the
-8- LRB9102350ACtm
1 criteria adopted under subsection (b) of this Section. If
2 the Task Group determines that the proposed site does not
3 satisfy the criteria, the Department may require a contractor
4 to submit a further report pursuant to subsection (e) of this
5 Section proposing another site from the locations identified
6 under the site selection process established pursuant to
7 subsection (c-5) of this Section as likely to satisfy the
8 criteria. Following notice and distribution of the report as
9 required by subsection (f) of this Section, the new proposed
10 site shall be the subject of a public meeting under this
11 subsection. The contractor selected by the Department shall
12 propose additional sites, and the Task Group shall conduct
13 additional public meetings, until the Task Group has approved
14 a proposed site recommended by a contractor as satisfying the
15 criteria adopted under subsection (b) of this Section. In
16 the event that the Task Group does not approve any of the
17 proposed sites recommended by the contractor under this
18 subsection as satisfying the criteria adopted under
19 subsection (b) of this Section, the Task Group shall
20 immediately suspend all work and the Department shall prepare
21 a study containing, at a minimum, the Department's
22 recommendations regarding the viability of the site selection
23 process established pursuant to this Act, based on the
24 factors and circumstances specified in items (1) through (6)
25 of subsection (c-3) of Section 10.2. The Department shall
26 provide copies of the study to the Governor, the President
27 and Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Speaker and
28 Minority Leader of the House. The Department shall also
29 publish a notice of availability of the study in the State
30 newspaper and make copies of the report available without
31 charge to the public.
32 (h) (Blank).
33 (i) Upon the Task Group's decision that a proposed site
34 satisfies the criteria adopted under subsection (b) of this
-9- LRB9102350ACtm
1 Section, the contractor shall proceed with the
2 characterization and licensure of the proposed site under
3 Section 10.3 of this Act and the Task Group shall immediately
4 suspend all work, except as otherwise specifically required
5 in subsection (b) of Section 10.3 of this Act.
6 (Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96; 89-479, eff. 6-18-96;
7 90-29, eff. 6-26-97.)