Senate OKs Class B, C waste ban
Hurt feelings engendered by the legislative battles were set aside, said the sponsor of a competing bill.
The Senate OK'd SB24, introduced by Sen. Curtis S. Bramble, R-Provo. Passage by the Legislature and approval by the governor seemed assured during a dramatic press conference Tuesday.
At that time, the new owners of Envirocare of Utah, the only commercial facility in the state licensed for storing low-level nuclear waste, publicly withdrew the company's application to accept the hotter B and C waste and called for passage of the ban. Earlier, legislators expressed fears that Envirocare could sue should such a bill become law while the application was pending.
At the same meeting, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., leaders of the Senate and House representing both parties and new Envirocare CEO Steve Creamer strongly supported a ban.
When the bill came to a vote, senators supported it and sent it to the House for action. The vote in the upper chamber was 26 for, none against and three absent.
Class A waste — the material Envirocare has been disposing of for 17 years at its site near Clive, Tooele County — is largely contaminated soil, concrete and other material. It has the lowest radioactivity of low-level waste. Classes B and C, which now would be banned, are also considered low-level but more radioactive than A.
Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake — whose bill to ban B and C waste, SB166, was mooted by Bramble's measure — noted that she started working on a ban years ago, when "it seemed improbable" that the Legislature would approve it.
Now it looks as if the ban will be passed, she said. But she is going to watch that the language in SB24 is not softened later in the legislative session, Arent added.
"Some of my friends are upset that the bill I worked on will not be the instrument of this ban," she told fellow senators. She was disappointed when the Legislature's Hazardous Waste Regulation and Tax Policy Task Force rejected the outright ban, she added.
"But today is not the day to nurse hurt feelings," Arent added. "It's a time to celebrate doing the right thing for the people of the state of Utah."
Originally, Bramble's bill embodied only the task force recommendations on tightening tax rules, mandating more regulatory oversight and assurances concerning closure of facilities. But Tuesday, after Arent had filed her bill, Bramble's SB24 was amended to include the ban.
Arent said many people have asked her to compare the two measures. The language from her bill is in the Bramble substitute bill, she said.
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