The members of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Wednesday unanimously approved the next steps in revising state regulations to reduce one charge for disposal of low-level radioactive waste in a state-owned facility operated by Waste Control Specialists.
The vote by the three-member panel sets up publication and a hearing on the amendment to the section of the Texas Administrative Code with rules on radioactive substances.
If eventually approved by the commission, the curie inventory charge for the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact facility would be cut from $0.40 per millicurie (1/1000th of a curie) to $0.05 per millicurie.
That would be the maximum rate paid by waste generators in the members of the compact (Texas and Vermont) and the minimum rate paid for waste from any other state. Waste Control Specialists (WCS) hopes the charge reduction will help spur business for the disposal operation.
None of the commissioners indicated opposition to the proposal from WCS, though Commissioner Bobby Janecka expressed concerns about the transparency of the rulemaking.
“Because it was initiated by the executive director, rather than initiated as a full rate application, I think that there’s a bit of a gap in terms of public transparency, or the ability to see the executive director’s review,” he said during Wednesday’s meeting, which was conducted by teleconference amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’ll observe that, having reviewed the particular backup materials in this item, I remain confident … that executive director staff did find this rate as proposed to be fair, just, reasonable, and sufficient to maintain the financial viability of the compact waste disposal facility.”
Waste Control Specialists is the licensee and operator for the facility, with the state licensor and owner. The Commission on Environmental Quality is the regulator.
Texas regulations allow the licensee or low-level waste generators within the compact to request a contested rate case before the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The new rate, though, would still then have to be formalized in a rulemaking like one now underway for the curie inventory charge.
“When there is good cause and no known opposition from the party-state generators to a proposed rate change, the most cost-effective and expeditious path is rulemaking,” a TCEQ spokesman said by email Thursday. “Both paths provide the same opportunity for public participation during the rulemaking process.”
Janecka worked at TCEQ as manager of the Radioactive Materials Division before being appointed to the commission last September by Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
In a statement Thursday to RadWaste Monitor, Janecka said he could not discuss the matter further while the rulemaking is open for public comment.
The rulemaking is scheduled for publication in the Texas Register on April 24, followed by a hearing tentatively set for May 18. Based on that schedule, public comment would be accepted through May 26, with adoption of the rule on July 1.
The Compact Waste Facility is one of four waste disposal facilities operated by Waste Control Specialists on its nearly 1,400-acre complex in Andrews County, along the border with New Mexico. It is the only one not owned by the Dallas-based company. It accepts Class A, B, and C low-level wastes from Texas, Vermont, and 34 other states that are not members of a separate regional waste-disposal compact.
The curie inventory charge is among several charges and fees for disposal in the Compact Waste Facility. The state and Andrews County receive a portion of revenue from its operation.
