§ 29-0701. Financial requirements for low-level radioactive waste

disposal facilities.

1. Within eighteen months after the effective date of this section,
the commissioner shall promulgate regulations applicable to facilities
for the permanent disposal of low-level radioactive waste which identify
financial requirements to be included as conditions in permits for
facilities for the management of low-level radioactive waste. Such
conditions shall provide for the remediation of failures during
operation and after facility closure, for facility closure, and for
pre-closure and post-closure facility monitoring and maintenance. Such
regulations shall:

a. Reflect due consideration of the sizes and locations of affected
facilities, the natures and volume of low-level radioactive waste
involved, the types of facilities and the degrees and durations of risk
to human health or the environment.

b. Provide for the establishment, administration, terms and conditions
of the following methods or instruments to be used as alternatives or in
combinations, in order to achieve non-duplicative coverage of the
financial assurance requirements mandated by this section:

(i) Trust funds.

(ii) Surety or performance bonds.

(iii)Letters of credit.

(iv) Liability insurance or annuities.

(v) Guarantees provided by corporate or other legal or financial
affiliates of the facility owner or operator.

c. Establish the duration of such financial requirements.

2. Any owner or operator of such a facility for the management of
low-level radioactive waste may request a modification of any of the
financial requirements established pursuant to subdivision one of this
section. A modification may be granted in the discretion of the
department if such financial requirements are found to be unnecessary or
inappropriate, consistent with the public interest and the purposes of
this section and supported by written findings setting forth the reasons
for the modification. Such a modification request shall be considered a
request for modification of the permit for the facility. In no case
shall a modification granted pursuant to this subdivision eliminate or
reduce the minimum requirements established in subdivision four of this
section.

3. In addition to the financial requirements established pursuant to
subdivision one of this section, any permits for such facilities for the
management of low-level radioactive waste issued by the department may,
if it is determined that adequate protection of the public so requires,
include conditions related to any or all of the following, including
responsibility for the costs thereof:

a. On-site environmental monitors whose function shall be to monitor
compliance with permit conditions. The commissioner may promulgate
regulations regarding the use of such monitors.

b. Site safety plans whereby the permittee shall establish, with the
cooperation of local government officials, a community and project
safety plan, including but not limited to an accident response based on
a worst-case condition, on-site and off-site, a personnel training
program, provisions for coordination with local emergency services and
regular training exercises. Any such plan shall be subject to the
approval of the department.

4. Any permits for such facilities for the management of low-level
radioactive waste issued by the department shall require the owner or
operator to provide, at a minimum, one of the methods or instruments of
financial assurance provided for in paragraph b of subdivision one of
this section. Such methods or instruments shall be designed to insure
proper facility closure, based on the estimates approved pursuant to
section 29-0703 of this title, and coverage of personal injury and
property damage to third parties caused by the operation of such
facility. Such methods or instruments shall from time to time be
reviewed and updated, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the
department, to insure their continued adequacy for the purposes of this
section.