§ 28-31 — Nuclear safety emergency preparedness: Account; program; plan.

Connecticut § 28-31

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 28: Civil Preparedness and Emergency Services
• Ch. 518b: Nuclear Preparedness

Text

(a) The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall establish a nuclear safety emergency preparedness account, which shall be a separate, nonlapsing account within the General Fund, and which shall be financed through assessments of all Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensees that own or operate nuclear power generating facilities in the state. The authority shall initially assess the licensees for a total of two million dollars. The authority may assess licensees for such amounts as necessary for the purposes of the account, provided the balance in the account at the end of the fiscal year may not exceed three hundred thousand dollars. The authority shall annually assess the licensees, upon the request of the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, for funding to support annual expenses of five staff positions in the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and three staff positions in the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. Personnel shall be assigned to said staff positions solely for the purposes of the program established pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. Federal reimbursements and grants obtained in support of the nuclear safety emergency preparedness program shall be paid into the General Fund and credited to the account. The authority shall develop an equitable method of assessing the licensees for their reasonable pro rata share of such assessments. All such assessments shall be included as operating expenses of the licensees for purposes of rate-making. All moneys within the account shall be invested by the State Treasurer in accordance with established investment practices and all interest earned by such investments shall be returned to the account. (b) Moneys in the account shall be expended by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, in conjunction with the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, only to support the activities of a nuclear safety emergency preparedness program and only in accordance with the plan approved by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management under subsection (c) of this section. The program shall include, but not necessarily be limited to: (1) Development of a detailed fixed facility nuclear emergency response plan for areas surrounding each nuclear electrical generation facility and each away-from-reactor spent fuel storage facility, (2) annual training of state and local emergency response personnel, (3) development of accident scenarios and exercising of fixed facility nuclear emergency response plans, (4) provision of specialized response equipment necessary to accomplish this task, (5) support for the operations and personal services costs of the radiological instrument maintenance and calibration facility, as necessary to replace any reduction in current federal funding, and (6) any other measures as may be required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Moneys in the account shall be distributed as follows to carry out the purposes of the program: The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection may expend not more than twenty-five per cent of the proceeds of the maximum annual assessment for administrative functions incident to the program. The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection may expend such additional funds as are necessary to assure and maintain emergency operations center capabilities and specialized response equipment necessary to implement the fixed facility nuclear emergency response plans. The remaining moneys in the account may be allocated to other state agencies and used to reimburse municipalities for costs incurred in the purchase and maintenance of equipment and for services rendered in carrying out the purposes of the program. (c) Not later than May first, annually, the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, in consultation with the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, shall submit to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management a plan for carrying out the purposes of the nuclear safety emergency preparedness program during the next state fiscal year. The plan shall include proposed itemized expenditures and measures for the program. The secretary shall review the plan and, not later than June first, annually, approve the plan if it conforms to the provisions of this section. (d) All moneys within the nuclear safety emergency preparedness account may be expended only in accordance with the provisions of this section. (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority may allow an additional assessment of the licensees to supplement the initial assessment of such licensees if either the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security disapproves or informs, in writing, the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection that it is likely to disapprove the nuclear safety emergency preparedness plan and additional funds are or would be needed to conform the plan to acceptable standards.

Legislative History

(P.A. 81-409, S. 1, 2; P.A. 84-85; P.A. 86-312, S. 12, 21; P.A. 88-135, S. 9; P.A. 89-241; P.A. 91-326, S. 3, 4; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-12, S. 9, 10; P.A. 98-226, S. 1; P.A. 99-190, S. 7, 9; P.A. 04-219, S. 23; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3, S. 23; P.A. 09-27, S. 2; P.A. 11-51, S. 134; 11-80, S. 1.) History: P.A. 84-85 amended Subsec. (c) to require plan to be based on fiscal year rather than calendar year; P.A. 86-312 changed emergency preparedness “fund” to a separate nonlapsing “account” within the general fund and amended Subsec. (b) to increase percentage of annual assessment proceeds director may expend to carry out his responsibilities from 10% to 25%; P.A. 88-135 substituted office of “emergency management” for office of “civil preparedness” in Subsecs. (b), (c) and (e); P.A. 89-241 amended Subsec. (a) to eliminate requirement that department annually assess licensees for a total of $20,000 and to provide when account balance falls below $300,000, department may assess licensees for necessary amounts provided balance may not exceed $300,000 and department may assess licensees for special nonrecurring expenses for a total not to exceed $100,000, and amended Subsec. (b) to authorize director to expend not more than 25% of proceeds of maximum annual assessment for administrative functions incident to program and to expend additional funds as necessary to maintain emergency operations center capabilities and specialized response equipment; P.A. 91-326 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for an annual assessment of Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensees operating nuclear power generating facilities for funding to support certain staff positions in the department of environmental protection and the office of emergency management; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-12 amended Subsec. (a) to increase from three to five the number of staff positions in department of environmental protection to be funded from annual assessment, to eliminate reference to radiation and noise control division and to make changes for statutory consistency; P.A. 98-226 transferred responsibility for the program from the director of the Office of Emergency Management to the Commissioner of Public Safety, amended Subsec. (a) by changing the permanent cap on the account to a cap at the end of the fiscal year, eliminating assessments for nonrecurring expenses, and adding one additional staff position, amended Subsec. (b) by including program support for the radiological instrument maintenance and calibration facility, and amended Subsec. (c) by requiring that program measures be included in the annual program plan (Revisor's note: A reference in Subsec. (b) to “director of the Commissioner of Public Safety” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Public Safety”); P.A. 99-190 substituted “Adjutant General of the Military Department” for “Commissioner of Public Safety” and “Military Department” for “Department of Public Safety”, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 04-219 amended Subsec. (e) to substitute Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for director of the Office of Emergency Management, effective January 1, 2005; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3 amended Subsecs. (a), (b), (c) and (e) to substitute Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for Adjutant General of the Military Department and Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for Military Department and to make technical changes, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 09-27 amended Subsec. (c) to change date of plan submission from November 1 to May 1, annually, and date for secretary's review from December 1 to June 1, annually; pursuant to P.A. 11-51, “Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security” and “Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection” and “Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection”, respectively, effective July 1, 2011; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Department of Public Utility Control”, “department”, “Department of Environmental Protection” and “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Public Utilities Regulatory Authority”, “authority”, “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection” and “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection”, respectively, effective July 1, 2011.