The Utah House of Representatives this week passed legislation that would reduce radioactive waste disposal fees paid by EnergySolutions by more than $1.7 million annually.
The bill from Rep. John Knotwell (R) would cut the flat fee paid by radioactive waste disposal facilities in the state by the amount they paid in taxes in the prior year. Following the 61-11 House vote Monday, the measure has been introduced in the state Senate.
For the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years, that bill would provide an annual $1,724,000 fee break for EnergySolutions, which operates the sole low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal facility in Utah, near the unincorporated community of Clive. The company has in the last 16 years effectively paid an “existence tax” of $300 million in addition to property and other taxes, Knotwell told the Salt Lake Tribune. He said reducing the fee would increase EnergySolutions’ competitiveness in the marketplace for LLRW disposal.
“If HB169 passes it would reduce up to $1.7m in annual oversight fees which in no way impacts or reduces oversight of the disposal facility by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality,” EnergySolutions said in a statement Wednesday. “HB169 does not reduce annual taxes paid by EnergySolutions, which go directly to the Utah education fund. EnergySolutions is in an increasingly competitive marketplace and this fee reduction allows EnergySolutions to remain competitive and an industry leader.”
EnergySolutions in 2017 contributed the most of any one entity to state lawmakers in Utah, the Tribune reported. That $67,700 total encompassed $6,000 for Knotwell.
The company operates two of the four low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Along with EnergySolutions’ sites in Clive and Barnwell, S.C., Waste Control Specialists offers LLRW disposal at its waste complex in West Texas and US Ecology operates a disposal facility at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state.
The state of Texas over the last year has also moved to reduce disposal fees charged by Waste Control Specialists in hopes of boosting its business. Holding company Valhi Inc. in January sold the Dallas-based business to private equity firm J.F. Lehman.
