§ 13-29-1-3 — The commission

Indiana § 13-29-1-3

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 29: INTERSTATE COMPACTS
• Ch. 1: Midwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive

Text

ARTICLE III. THE COMMISSION
a. There is created the Midwest Interstate Low-Level Radioactive
Waste Commission. The Commission consists of one voting member
from each party state. The Governor of each party state shall notify the
Commission in writing of its member and any alternates. An alternate
may act on behalf of the member only in that member's absence. The
method for selection and the expenses of each Commission member
shall be the responsibility of the member's respective state.
b. Each Commission member is entitled to one vote. Except as
otherwise specifically provided in this compact, an action of the
Commission is binding if a majority of the total membership casts its
vote in the affirmative. A party state may direct its member or alternate
member of the Commission how to vote or not vote on matters before
the Commission.
c. The Commission shall elect annually from among its members a
chairperson. The Commission shall adopt and publish, in convenient
form, bylaws and policies which are not inconsistent with this compact,
including procedures for the use of binding arbitration under Article
VI(o) of this compact and procedures which substantially conform with
the provisions of the Federal Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.
ss. 500 to 559) in regard to notice, conduct and recording of meetings;
access by the public to records; provision of information to the public;
conduct of adjudicatory hearings; and issuance of decisions.
d. The Commission shall meet at least once annually and shall also
meet upon the call of the chairperson or any other Commission
member.
e. All meetings of the Commission shall be open to the public with
reasonable advance notice. The Commission may, by majority vote,
close a meeting to the public for the purpose of considering sensitive
personnel or legal strategy matters. However, all Commission actions
and decisions shall be made in open meetings and appropriately
recorded.
f. The Commission may establish advisory committees for the
purpose of advising the Commission on any matters pertaining to waste
management.
g. The office of the Commission shall be in a party state. The
Commission may appoint or contract for and compensate such limited
staff necessary to carry out its duties and functions. The staff shall have
the responsibilities and authority delegated to it by the Commission in
its bylaws. The staff shall serve at the Commission's pleasure with the
exception that staff hired as the result of securing federal funds shall be
hired and governed under applicable federal statutes and regulations.
In selecting any staff, the Commission shall assure that the staff has
adequate experience and formal training to carry out the functions
assigned to it by the Commission.
h. The Commission may do any or all of the following:
1. Appear as an intervenor or party in interest before any court of
law or any federal, state or local agency, board or commission in
any matter related to waste management. In order to represent its
views, the Commission may arrange for any expert testimony,
reports, evidence or other participation.
2. Review any emergency closing of a compact facility, determine
the appropriateness of that closing, and take whatever lawful
actions are necessary to ensure that the interests of the region are
protected.
3. Take any action which is appropriate and necessary to perform
its duties and functions as provided in this compact.
4. Approve the disposal of naturally occurring and accelerator
produced radioactive material at a compact facility. The
Commission shall not approve the acceptance of such material
without first making an explicit determination of the effect of the
new waste stream on the compact facility's maximum capacity.
Such approval requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the
Commission, including the affirmative vote of the member from
the host state of the compact facility that would accept the
material for disposal. Any such host state may, at any time,
rescind its vote granting the approval and, thereafter, additional
naturally occurring and accelerator produced radioactive material
shall not be disposed of at a compact facility unless the disposal
is again approved. All provisions of this compact apply to the
disposal of naturally occurring and accelerator produced
radioactive material that has been approved for disposal at a
compact waste facility pursuant to Article III(h)(4) of this
compact.
5. Enter into contracts in order to perform its duties and functions
as provided in this compact.
6. When approved by the Commission, with the member from
each host state in which an affected compact facility is operating
or being developed or constructed voting in the affirmative, enter
into agreements to do any of the following:
a. Import for disposal within the region, waste generated
outside the region.
b. Export for disposal outside the region, waste generated inside
the region.
c. Dispose of waste generated within the region at a facility
within the region that is not a compact facility.
7. Authorize a host state to permanently close a compact facility
located within its borders earlier than otherwise would be
required by Article VI(i) of this compact. Such a closing requires
the affirmative vote of a majority of the Commission, including
the affirmative vote of the member from the state in which the
affected compact facility is located.
i. The Commission shall do all of the following:
1. Submit an annual report to, and otherwise communicate with,
the governors and the appropriate officers of the legislative bodies
of the party states regarding the activities of the Commission.
2. Adopt and amend, by a two-thirds vote of the membership, in
accordance with the procedures and criteria developed pursuant
to Article IV of this compact a regional disposal plan which
designates host states for the establishment of needed compact
facilities.
3. Adopt an annual budget.
4. Establish and implement a procedure for determining the
capacity of a compact facility. The capacity of a compact facility
shall be established as soon as reasonably practical after the host
state of the facility is designated and shall not be changed
thereafter without the consent of the host state. The capacity of a
compact facility shall be based on the projected volume,
radioactive characteristics, or both, of the waste to be disposed of
at the facility during the period set forth in Article VI(i) of this
compact.
5. Provide a host state with funds necessary to pay reasonable
development expenses incurred by the host state after it is
designated to host a compact facility.
6. Establish and implement procedures for making payments from
the remedial action fund provided for in Article III(p) of this
compact.
7. Establish and implement procedures to investigate any
complaint joined in by two or more party states regarding another
party state's performance of its obligations under this compact.
8. Adopt policies promoting source reduction and the
environmentally sound treatment of waste in order to minimize
the amount of waste to be disposed of at compact facilities.
9. Establish and implement procedures for obtaining information
from generators regarding the volume and characteristics of waste
projected to be disposed of at compact facilities and regarding
generator activities with respect to source reduction, recycling,
and treatment of waste.
10. Prepare annual reports regarding the volume and
characteristics of waste projected to be disposed of at compact
facilities.
j. Funding for the Commission shall be provided as follows:
1. When no compact facility is operating, the Commission may
assess fees to be collected from generators of waste in the region.
The fees shall be reasonable and equitable. The Commission shall
establish and implement procedures for assessing and collecting
the fees. The procedures may allow the assessing of fees against
less than all generators of waste in the region; provided that if
fees are assessed against less than all generators of waste in the
region, generators paying the fees shall be reimbursed the amount
of the fees, with reasonable interest, out of the revenues of
operating compact facilities.
2. When a compact facility is operating, funding for the
Commission shall be provided through a surcharge collected by
the host state as part of the fee system provided for in Article
VI(j) of this compact. The surcharge to be collected by the host
state shall be determined by the Commission and shall be
reasonable and equitable.
3. In the aggregate, the fees or surcharges, as the case may be,
shall be no more than is necessary to:
a. cover the annual budget of the Commission;
b. provide a host state with the funds necessary to pay
reasonable development expenses incurred by the host state
after it is designated to host a compact facility;
c. provide moneys for deposit in the remedial action fund
established pursuant to Article III(p) of this compact; and
d. provide moneys to be added to an inadequately funded
long-term care fund as provided in Article VI(o) of this
compact.
k. Financial statements of the Commission shall be prepared
according to generally accepted accounting principles. The
Commission shall contract with an independent certified public
accountant to annually audit its financial statements and to submit an
audit report to the Commission. The audit report shall be made a part
of the annual report of the Commission required by Article III of this
compact.
l. The Commission may accept for any of its purposes and functions
and may utilize and dispose of any donations, grants of money,
equipment, supplies, materials and services from any state or the
United States (or any subdivision or agency thereof) or interstate
agency, or from any institution, person, firm, or corporation. The
nature, amount and condition, if any, attendant upon any donation or
grant accepted or received by the Commission together with the
identity of the donor, grantor or lender, shall be detailed in the annual
report of the Commission.
m. The Commission is a legal entity separate and distinct from the
party states. Members of the Commission and its employees are not
personally liable for actions taken by them in their official capacity.
The Commission is not liable or otherwise responsible for any costs,
expenses, or liabilities resulting from the development, construction,
operation, regulation, closing, or long-term care of any compact facility
or any noncompact facility made available to the region by any contract
or agreement entered into by the Commission under Article III(h)(6) of
this compact. Nothing in Article III(m) of this compact relieves the
Commission of its obligations under Article III of this compact or
under contracts to which it is a party. Any liabilities of the Commission
are not liabilities of the party states.
n. Final decisions of the Commission shall be made, and shall be
subject to judicial review, in accordance with all of the following
conditions:
1. Every final decision shall be made at an open meeting of the
Commission. Before making a final decision, the Commission
shall provide an opportunity for public comment on the matter to
be decided. Each final decision shall be reduced to writing and
shall set forth the Commission's reasons for making the decision.
2. Before making a final decision, the Commission may conduct
an adjudicatory hearing on the proposed decision.
3. Judicial review of a final decision shall be initiated by filing a
petition in the United States district court for the district in which
the person seeking the review resides or in which the
Commission's office is located not later than sixty days after
issuance of the Commission's written decision. Concurrently with
filing the petition for review with the court, the petitioner shall
serve a copy of the petition on the Commission. Within five days
after receiving a copy of the petition, the Commission shall mail
a copy of it to each party state and to all other persons who have
notified the Commission of their desire to receive copies of such
petitions. Any failure of the Commission to so mail copies of the
petition does not affect the jurisdiction of the reviewing court.
Except as otherwise provided in Article III(n)(3) of this compact,
standing to obtain judicial review of final decisions of the
Commission and the form and scope of the review are subject to
and governed by 5 U.S.C.A. 706.
4. If a party state seeks judicial review of a final decision of the
Commission that does any of the following, the facts shall be
subject to trial de novo by the reviewing court unless trial de novo
of the facts is affirmatively waived in writing by the party state:
a. Imposes financial penalties on a party state.
b. Suspends the right of a party state to have waste generated
within its borders disposed of at a compact facility or at a
noncompact facility made available to the region by an
agreement entered into by the Commission under Article
III(h)(6) of this compact.
c. Terminates the designation of a party state as a host state.
d. Revokes the membership of a party state in this compact.
e. Establishes the amounts of money that a party state that has
withdrawn from this compact or had its membership in this
compact revoked is required to pay under Article VIII(e) of this
compact.
Any such trial de novo of the facts shall be governed by the
federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the federal Rules of
Evidence.
5. Preliminary, procedural, or intermediate actions by the
Commission that precede a final decision are subject to review
only in conjunction with review of the final decision.
6. Except as provided in Article III(n)(5) of this compact, actions
of the Commission that are not final decisions are not subject to
judicial review.
o. Unless approved by a majority of the Commission, with the
member from each host state in which an affected compact facility is
operating or is being developed or constructed voting in the
affirmative, no person shall do any of the following:
1. Import waste generated outside the region for management
within the region.
2. Export waste generated within the region for disposal outside
the region.
3. Manage waste generated outside the region at a facility within
the region.
4. Dispose of waste generated within the region at a facility within
the region that is not a compact facility.
p. The Commission shall establish a remedial action fund to pay the
costs of reasonable remedial actions taken by a party state if an event
results from the development, construction, operation, closing, or
long-term care of a compact facility that poses a threat to human health,
safety, or welfare or to the environment. The amount of the remedial
action fund shall be adequate to pay the costs of all reasonably
foreseeable remedial actions. A party state shall notify the Commission
as soon as reasonably practical after the occurrence of any event that
may require the party state to take a remedial action. The failure of a
party state to so notify the Commission does not limit the rights of the
party state under Article III(p) of this compact.
If the moneys in the remedial action fund are inadequate to pay the
costs of reasonable remedial actions, the amount of the deficiency is a
liability with respect to which generators shall provide indemnification
under Article VII(g) of this compact. Generators who provide the
required indemnification have the rights of contribution provided in
Article VII(g) of this compact. Article III(p) of this compact applies to
any remedial action taken by a party state regardless of whether the
party state takes the remedial action on its own initiative or because it
is required to do so by a court or regulatory agency of competent
jurisdiction.
q. If the Commission makes payment from the remedial action fund
provided for in Article III(p) of this compact, the Commission is
entitled to obtain reimbursement under applicable rules of law from
any person who is responsible for the event giving rise to the remedial
action. Such reimbursement may be obtained from a party state only if
the event giving rise to the remedial action resulted from the activities
of that party state as a generator of waste.
r. If this compact is dissolved, all moneys held by the Commission
shall be used first to pay for any ongoing or reasonably anticipated
remedial actions. Any remaining moneys shall be distributed in a fair
and equitable manner to those party states that have operating or closed
compact facilities within their borders and shall be added to the
long-term care funds maintained by those party states.
[Pre-1996 Recodification Citation: 13-5-9-3.]

Legislative History

As added by P.L.1-1996, SEC.19. Amended by P.L.131-1996, SEC.4.