Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last week vetoed legislation that would have given Waste Control Specialists a two-year break on certain charges and fees for its radioactive waste disposal operations.
“Senate Bill 1804 was a laudable effort to address domestic violence, until someone slipped in an ill-considered giveaway to a radioactive waste disposal facility,” Abbott said in a June 5 veto statement. “Unfortunately, the bill author’s good idea about domestic violence has been dragged down by a bad idea about radioactive waste.”
That “someone” was Rep. Alfonso Nevárez (D), who on May 22 attached two amendments to the legislation that previously had no relation to radioactive waste issues. The Texas Legislature approved the underlying bill, sending it to Abbott on May 26.
If approved, the amendments would have delayed, from Sept. 1, 2019, to Sept. 1, 2021, the date of enactment of two updates to the Texas Health and Safety Code. One update directed the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission to assess a 10 percent surcharge of the total contracted rate for waste from non-party states to the compact facility. The other placed a 5 percent fee on gross receipts from compact waste disposed of at the Compact Waste Facility, along with federal waste sent to a federal waste facility.
Texas is the owner and license holder for the Compact Waste Facility, operated by Waste Control Specialists on its Andrews County property.
“We’re of course disappointed to learn of the Governor’s objections, as this amendment continued current law, previously enacted and signed into law by the governor, and ensures that costs associated with disposal of waste from cancer treatments, x-rays and other essential human health activities are not burdened with additional taxation,” Waste Control Specialists said Wednesday.
The company said noted that a committee with members from both chambers of the Texas Legislature late last year issued a report backing the delay in surcharges in order for for the Compact Waste Facility to compete with similar sites in other states.
The vetoed bill’s primary intention was to require that bond information about domestic violence offenders be entered into a statewide data repository. The original legislation from state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R) had no opposition in the Texas House nor Senate, according to several news reports.
In late May, Nevárez told the Texas Tribune he was trying to help a significant job creator in the state.
“I did this out in the open — I did it on the House floor. I told them the amendment’s about economic competitiveness, and everyone at their desk can read their amendment. Anyone could have gotten up and asked me a question. Nobody wanted to. I can only assume they’re uninterested in it or they’re fine with it,” he said. “There’s nothing untoward about putting an amendment on a bill that has nothing to do with one thing or another at this time of session — everyone’s looking for a ride.”
Texas is one of two members, with Vermont, to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact. However, 34 other states can ship their waste, including contaminated medical and industrial materials, to the site for disposal at higher fees. Waste Control Specialists also operates a separate facility on its property for low-level and mixed-low-level radioactive waste from the federal government.
The Dallas-based company has operated at a loss since being established in 2012. After losing millions of dollars on the business, holding company Valhi Inc. sold it to private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Co. in January 2018.
Two bills written specifically to give Waste Control Specialists a financial break passed out of committee in this legislative session but never got floor votes. The sponsors, Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R) and Sen. Kel Seliger (R), both represent Andrews County.
