§ 23-19.9-2. Definitions.
As used in this compact, unless the context clearly requires a different construction:
(1) "Adjudicatory proceeding� means the Commission process of formulating an order;
(2) "Closure� means the permanent termination of waste acceptance at a facility, including
closure prior to its scheduled closing date, and the implementation of a closure plan;
(3) "Commission� means the Rhode Island-Massachusetts Interstate Low-Level Radioactive
Waste Management Commission established in § 23-19.9-5;
(4) "Commission action� means the whole or a part of a Commission rule, order, sanction,
relief of the equivalent or denial thereof, or failure to act;
(5) "Custodial agency� means the agency of the state or federal government designated
to act on behalf of the government owner of a regional facility during the facility's
institutional control period;
(6) "Disposal� means the isolation of low-level waste from the biosphere inhabited by
human beings and their food chains;
(7) "Executive session� means any meeting or part of a meeting of the Commission or a
committee of the Commission that is closed to certain persons for deliberation on
certain matters;
(8) "Facility� means a parcel of land, together with the structures, equipment and improvement
on the parcel of land or appurtenant to it, which is being developed, is used, or
has been used for the treatment, storage or disposal of low-level waste;
(9) "Generator� means a person who produces or treats low-level waste in the region, but
does not include persons who only provide a service by arranging for the collection,
transportation, treatment, storage or disposal of low-level waste generated outside
the region;
(10) "High-level waste� means:
(i) The highly radioactive material resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel,
including liquid waste produced directly in reprocessing and any solid material derived
from liquid waste that contains fission products in sufficient concentration; and
(ii) Any other highly radioactive material determined by the federal government as requiring
permanent isolation;
(11) "Host state� means a party state in which a regional facility is located or being
developed;
(12) "Institutional control� means the continued observation, monitoring, and care of a
regional facility following transfer of the facility's license from the operator to
the custodial agency;
(13) "Interim storage� means the temporary storage of low-level waste in the event that
no licensed facility is available for its treatment or disposal in the region during
any time this compact is in effect;
(14) "Intervenor to an adjudicatory proceeding� means any party state or agency or political
subdivision of any party state or agency, or not less than 50 other persons residing
within the region, who petition for status as a party to an adjudicatory proceeding
in which damage to the environment, the public's health or safety or economic damage,
injury or financial integrity might be an issue;
(15) "Low-level waste� means radioactive waste that:
(i) Is neither high-level waste nor transuranic waste, nor spent nuclear fuel, nor by-product
material as defined in § 11(e)(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. § 2014(e); and
(ii) Is classified by the federal government as low-level waste, consistent with existing
law; but does not include waste which remains a federal responsibility, including
waste generated as a result of atomic energy defense activities of the federal government,
as defined in the Policy Act, or federal research and development activities;
(16) "Management� means the generation, storage, packaging, treatment, transportation,
and disposal, where applicable, of low-level waste;
(17) "Order� means a Commission action of particular applicability that determines the
legal rights, duties, privileges, immunities or other legal interests of one or more
specific states or persons. The term includes, but is not limited to, the following
Commission actions:
(i) Determination of whether or not a state is eligible for admission to the Compact;
(ii) Determination of compliance of a party state with the conditions and requirements
of the Compact;
(iii) Designation of host states;
(iv) Revocation of a party state's membership in the Compact; and
(v) Imposition of sanctions against a party state;
(18) "Party state� means any state that is a signatory party in good standing to this compact;
(19) "Party to an adjudicatory proceeding� means:
(i) Any person whose rights, duties or privileges are to be determined through formulation
of an order;
(ii) Any other person who, as a matter of right or by any provision of this compact, is
entitled to fully participate in the proceeding and who, upon notice as required in
subsection (l) of § 23-19.9-5 makes appearance; and
(iii) Any intervenor to the adjudicatory proceeding;
(20) "Person� means an individual, corporation, business enterprise, unincorporated association
or other legal entity, either public or private, and its legal successors; and any
party state or agency or political subdivision of any party state or agency;
(21) "Policy Actâ€� means the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2021b et seq.;
(22) "Post-closure observation and maintenance� means the active monitoring and maintenance
of a facility which has been closed in accordance with its license site closure plan,
and in compliance with other applicable regulatory requirements in preparation for
transfer of the facility's license from the operator to the custodial agency;
(23) "Public document� means a document which shall be available for inspection by any
person during normal business hours at the office of the Commission or by other mutually
agreed arrangement;
(24) "Region� means the entire geographic area of the party states;
(25) "Regional facility� means a facility that is being or has been developed pursuant
to § 23-19.9-6;
(26) "Rule� means each Commission statement of general applicability that implements, interprets,
or prescribes law or policy, or describes the organization, procedure, or practice
requirements of the Commission. The term includes the amendment or repeal of a prior
rule, but does not include:
(i) Statements concerning only the internal management of the Commission and not affecting
private rights or procedures available to the public; or
(ii) Intra-Commission memoranda;
(27) "Source reduction� means reducing the volume or radioactivity of low-level waste by:
(i) Avoiding unnecessary contamination of items during the use of radioactive materials;
(ii) Carefully segregating radioactive waste from non-radioactive trash; or
(iii) Substituting non-radioactive isotopes or radioisotopes with shorter half-lives in
certain procedures;
(28) "State� means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands or any other territory subject to the laws of the
United States;
(29) "Storage� means the holding of low-level waste for treatment or disposal;
(30) "Storage for decay� means a procedure in which certain low-level wastes with relatively
short half-lives are held for natural radioactive decay in compliance with applicable
federal and state regulations;
(31) "Substantial evidence� means any evidence that a reasonable mind might accept as adequate
to support a conclusion;
(32) "Temporary closure� means the nonpermanent termination of low-level waste acceptance
at a facility prior to its scheduled closing date;
(33) "Transuranic waste� means waste material containing radionuclides with an atomic number
greater than ninety-two (92) that are excluded from near surface disposal as determined
by the federal government;
(34) "Treatment� means any method, technique, or process, including storage for decay,
designed to change the physical, radioactive, chemical or biological characteristics
or composition of low-level waste in order to render low-level waste safer for management,
amenable for recovery, convertible to another usable material or reduced in volume;
(35) "Volume reduction� means treatment of low-level waste in order to reduce the physical
dimensions of the waste and the space required for disposal.