BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 891
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 26, 2002
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 25, 2002
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2002
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 18, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 22, 2002
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kuehl
FEBRUARY 22, 2002
An act to amend Section 114980 of, and to add Section 115000. to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to radioactive waste. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 2065, Kuehl. Radioactive waste.
(1) Existing law, the Radiation Control Law, designates the State Department of Health Services as the agency responsible for the
regulation of radiation control in the state, and imposes various duties on the department in connection with that designation,
including developing programs for evaluating the health and safety hazards associated with using sources of ionizing radiation,
licensing and regulating byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials, and adopting regulations relating to the control of
sources of ionizing radiation. Existing law also requires the department to collect and disseminate information relating to the
control of sources of ionizing radiation, as specified. A violation of the Radiation Control Law is a crime.
This bill would require the department to establish reporting procedures through a public hearing process for low-level radioactive
waste (LLRW) and would require generators of LLRW to annually report specified information to the department, thereby imposing a
state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The bill would require the department to maintain a file of all LLRW transferred
for disposal to a licensed LLRW disposal facility during the reporting period and a file on each generator's LLRW stored. The
department would be required to prepare a report, including an annual set of tables summarizing data collected from the generators of
LLRW. The bill would prohibit the department from making the report available to the public and would exclude the report from the
operation of the California Public Records Act.
Under existing law, the fees, penalties, interest earned, and fines imposed under the Radiation Control Law and for the regulation
of nuclear medicine and radiologic technology are deposited in the Radiation Control Fund in the State Treasury and the department is
authorized to expend the money in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the costs related to the enforcement of that law
and for certain provisions regulating radiologic technology and nuclear medicine.
This bill would specify that the money in the fund is also available for expenditure by the department to implement the
requirements of the bill.
The bill would require the department to implement the bill only to the extent that funding is appropriated for that purpose.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 114980 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
114980. The Radiation Control Fund is hereby created as a special fund in the State Treasury. All moneys, including fees, penalties,
interest earned, and fines collected under Sections 107100, 107160, 115045, 115065, and 115080, and the regulations adopted pursuant to
those sections, shall be deposited in the Radiation Control Fund to cover the costs related to the enforcement of this chapter,
including, but not limited to, implementation of Section 115000, Article 6 (commencing with Section 107150) of Chapter 4 of Part 1,
and the Radiologic Technology Act (Section 27), and shall be available for expenditure by the department only upon appropriation
by the Legislature. In addition to any moneys collected by, or on behalf of, the department for deposit in the Radiation Control Fund,
all interest earned by the Radiation Control Fund shall be deposited in the Radiation Control Fund.
SEC. 2. Section 115000.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
115000.1. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) "Generate" means to produce or cause the production of, or to engage in an activity which otherwise results in the creation or
increase in the volume of, low-level radioactive waste.
(2) (A) "Generator" means any person who, by his or her actions, or by the actions of his or her agent, employee, or independent
contractor, generates low-level radioactive waste in the state.
(B) For purposes of this section, a person who provides for or arranges for the collection, transportation, treatment, storage, or
disposal of low-level radioactive waste generated by others is a generator only to the extent that his or her actions, or the actions
of his or her agent, employee, or independent contractor, generate low-level radioactive waste.
(3) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity, including any state, interstate, federal, or
municipal governmental entity.
(4) "Waste" means material that is not in use and is no longer useful.
(5) "Generator category" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:
(A) Nuclear powerplants.
(B) Reactor vendors or designers
(C) Government.
(D) Medicine.
(E) Academia.
(F) Aerospace.
(G) Military.
(H) Research.
(I) Industrial gauges.
(J) Manufacturing.
(6) "Low-level radioactive waste" or "LLRW" has the same meaning as defined in Article 2 of the Southwestern Low-Level Radioactive
Waste Disposal Compact, as set forth in Section 115255.
(7) "Class" means the class of low-level radioactive waste. "Class A", "class B", and "class C" waste are those classes defined
in Section 61.55 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(8) "Licensed LLRW disposal facility" means any of the three disposal facilities located at Barnwell, South Carolina; Clive, Utah;
or Richland, Washington, that exist on January 1, 2003.
(b) The department shall, for the protection of public health and safety maintain a file of each manifest from each generator of LLRW
that is sent to a disposal facility or to a facility subject to the Southwestern Low-level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact, as set
forth in Article 17 (commencing with Section 115250).
(c) The department shall, for the protection of public health and safety, maintain a file of all LLRW transferred for disposal to a
licensed LLRW disposal facility during the reporting period, either directly or through a broker or agent, which shall meet all of the
following conditions:
(1) Specify the category of generator, class, quantity by activity, and volume of LLRW, including an estimate of the peak and
average quantities in storage, along with the identity of the generator, and the chemical and physical characteristics of that
waste, including its half-life, properties, or constituents, and radionuclides present at, or above, the minimum labeling
requirements, with their respective concentrations and amounts of radioactivity.
(2) Be updated annually, at minimum, to ensure an accurate and timely depiction of radioactive waste in the state.
(3) Include all of the following information in the file:
(A) The total volume, volume by class, and activity by radionuclide and class.
(B) The types and specifications of individual containers used and the number of each type transferred for disposal.
(C) The maximum surface radiation exposure level on any single container of LLRW transferred, the number of disposal containers that
exceed 200 mR/hour, and the volume, class, and activity by radionuclide.
(D) The identification of each licensed LLRW disposal facility to which LLRW was transferred, either directly or through a broker or
agent, and the volume and activity by class of LLRW transferred by each broker to each licensed LLRW disposal facility.
(E) The identification of all brokers or agents to which LLRW was transferred and the volume and activity by class of the generator's
LLRW transferred by each such broker or agent to each licensed LLRW disposal facility.
(F) The weight of source material by its type. For purposes of this paragraph, "type" includes, but is not limited to, natural
uranium, depleted uranium, or thorium.
(G) The total number of grams of special nuclear material by radionuclide, and the maximum number of grams of special nuclear
material in any single shipment by radionuclide.
(H) As complete a description as practicable of the principal chemical and physical form of the LLRW by volume and radionuclide,
including the identification of any known hazardous properties, other than its radioactive property.
(I) For solidified or sorbed liquids, the nature of the liquid, the solidifying or sorbing agent used, and the final volume.
(J) For LLRW containing more than 0.1 percent by weight chelating agents, the identification of the chelating agent, the volume and
weight of the LLRW and the weight percentage of chelating agent.
(K) For LLRW that was treated, either by the generator or its agent or independent contractor, in preparation for transfer to a
licensed LLRW disposal facility described in paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) for the purpose of reducing its volume or activity by
any method including reduction by storage for decay, or for the purpose of changing its physical or chemical characteristics in a
manner other than by solidification or sorption of liquids, the file shall include a description of the treatment process.
(L) The volume, volume by class, and activity by radionuclide and class of that LLRW, if any, that the generator is holding at the end
of the annual reporting period because the generator knows or has reason to believe that LLRW will not be accepted for disposal at any
of the licensed LLRW disposal facilities. The file shall include a description of this LLRW.
(d) The department shall maintain a file on each generator's LLRW stored, including specific radionuclides, total volume, volume by
class, total activity, and activity by radionuclide and class of LLRW stored for decay and stored for later transfer, including the
periods of time for both types of storage.
(e) (1) The department shall prepare an annual report, including a set of tables summarizing data collected from the activities and
maintenance of files specified in subdivisions (c) and (d) to the department. These annual data tables shall contain information that
summarizes and categorizes, by category, and if applicable, subcategory, of generator and location by county and identity of
generator, the nature, characteristics and the total volume, volume by class, total activity and activity by radionuclide and class of
LLRW generated, disposed of, treated, transferred, stored for later transfer, and stored for decay during each calendar year.
(2) The department shall note, in the set of tables prepared pursuant to paragraph (1), any generator for which data are lacking.
(f) The department shall make the information described in subdivisions (c) and (d) available to the public in a format that
aggregates the information by county. The department shall not make public the identity and location of any site where LLRW is stored or
used. The department may combine information from multiple counties if necessary to protect public security. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law the department shall not make the report prepared pursuant to subdivision (e) available to the public, and the report is not subject to the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250)) of Division 6 of Title 1 of the Government Code.
(g) The department may make the information described in subdivisions (c) and (d) available upon request to any Member of the
Legislature. No Member of the Legislature may disclose the identity or location of any site where LLRW is stored or used to any member of
the general public.
(h) To meet the requirements of this section, each generator shall submit to the department the information included in Forms 540, 541,
and 542, and any successor forms, of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, for each LLRW shipment. In addition, for purposes of
subparagraph (L) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (c) and subdivision (d), each generator shall annually complete and submit to the
department the information included on Forms 540, 541, and 542, and any successor forms, of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that
describe the LLRW stored and shipped by the generator.
SEC. 3. The department shall implement Section 115000.1 of the Health and Safety Code, only to the extent that funding is
appropriated for that purpose.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
Madeline Felkins Hotsheets News SB 2065/Senator Kuehl: CHAPTERED 26 September, 2002