N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 29-0303: Duties of the commission

* § 29-0303. Duties of the commission.

1. The commission shall immediately commence the preparation of a

siting and disposal method selection which shall, upon certification by

the department, be the site or sites and method or methods for permanent

disposal facilities which shall be constructed or operated by the energy

research and development authority pursuant to section eighteen hundred

fifty-four-c of the public authorities law.

2. The commission shall evaluate all reasonable alternative disposal

methods including but not limited to deep vertical shaft mined disposal

and above ground monitored retrievable disposal and issue a report

providing full documentation of its evaluation of all disposal methods

it has considered, and selecting and justifying a tentative preferred

disposal method and any method-specific site selection criteria. After

opportunity for review and comment by the citizen advisory committee and

an independent technical and scientific evaluation panel established

pursuant to subdivision eleven of this section, the commission shall

issue a report and draft a generic, non-site specific, environmental

impact statement selecting and justifying a preferred disposal method

and any related method-specific site selection criteria. The commission

shall select as its preferred disposal method that method which is

projected best to meet applicable regulatory criteria and performance

objectives and maintain exposure to the general public as low as

reasonably achievable, taking into account engineering and economic

feasibility compared to other available disposal methods. The preferred

disposal method and accompanying draft generic environmental impact

statement shall be submitted to the department as an application for

decision. The standards and procedures by which the department shall

administer the commission's application are set forth in subdivision

four of section 70-0117 of this chapter and implementing regulations.

Consistent with the department's decision on preferred disposal method

or methods, the commission shall proceed to select the site or sites for

permanent disposal facilities in accordance with subdivisions five

through eight of this section.

3. The commission shall issue a report concerning all lands excluded

from consideration for siting permanent disposal facilities, which

report shall include information sufficient to permit full independent

review and evaluation by the citizen advisory committee and by an

independent technical and scientific evaluation panel, established

pursuant to subdivision eleven of this section, of the basis for such

exclusion.

4. The commission shall also make available for full independent

review and evaluation by the citizen advisory committee and by an

independent technical and scientific evaluation panel, established

pursuant to subdivision eleven of this section, the reports and other

documents which serve as the basis for or otherwise provide its detailed

explanation or justification for its decisions made prior to September

first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, to select or narrow the range of

alternatives it was considering for sites for permanent disposal

facilities.

5. Upon completing the preparation of its site and final disposal

method selection, the commission shall submit its application for

certification of this selection by the department pursuant to section

29-0105 of this article. The commission shall simultaneously deliver a

copy of its draft environmental impact statement and application to the

governor, the legislature, the chairman of the energy research and

development authority, the citizen advisory committee and the county

government of each county within which was located any portion of a site

for which the commission conducted detailed characterization studies.

6. The site and disposal method selection and the application for

certification, together with the department's certification thereof,

shall be considered a single action for purposes of article eight of

this chapter and judicial review. The commission shall prepare a draft

environmental impact statement to accompany its application for

certification, the scope of which must be approved by the department.

For purposes of satisfying the requirements of article eight of this

chapter, the department shall be the lead agency. The commission shall

recommend a site specific mitigation program as part of the

environmental impact statement that will serve as an additional measure

to offset adverse economic, social, and environmental impacts and serve

as a form of compensation to the affected area.

7. The commission's site and disposal method selection shall identify

a site or sites and appropriate disposal method or methods for permanent

disposal facilities. Such site or sites shall not include the western

New York nuclear service center. The commission shall take into account

the following factors in the selection of the permanent disposal

facility site or sites and disposal method or methods:

a. the nature and probability of the impacts on public health and

safety, including predictable adverse effects from:

(i) accidents during transportation of low-level radioactive waste to

such facilities;

(ii) contamination of ground or surface water by leaching and runoff

from such facilities; and

(iii) fires or explosions from improper storage or disposal of

volatile, combustible, or potentially explosive materials, if any, which

may compose a portion of the low-level radioactive waste to be delivered

to such facilities;

b. the nature of the probable environmental impacts, including the

predictable adverse effects on the natural environment and ecology,

scenic, historic, agricultural, cultural, and recreational values, water

and air quality, and wildlife;

c. the potential for avoidance or mitigation of harm from the

unanticipated release of low-level radioactive waste or contaminated

materials;

d. the ability for retrieval or recovery of such waste;

e. differences in the density of population in the vicinity of the

potential sites;

f. the adequacy of routes and means for transportation of low-level

radioactive waste to such facilities;

g. the nature of the probable impact of such facilities on local

governmental units within which such facilities would be located; and

h. the comparative economic implications, including those resulting

from engineering considerations, of the potential site or sites and

disposal methods for such facilities.

8. The commission shall select one site for a permanent disposal

facility after consideration of all relevant public health and safety,

environmental and economic factors, provided, however, that an

additional site may be selected if the commission finds that the use of

an additional site presents specific advantages with respect to such

factors. To the extent the commission determines that different disposal

methods are appropriate for different categories of low-level

radioactive waste with differing physical or chemical characteristics,

the commission may select more than one disposal method to be utilized

at each particular site, specifying the particular disposal methods to

be utilized at such site for particular categories of such waste;

provided that utilization of the disposal methods selected at the site

selected shall be capable of meeting or exceeding applicable

requirements of state and federal regulations. The site or sites

selected shall be of sufficient capacity to provide for disposal, using

the selected disposal methods, of all low-level radioactive waste

estimated by the commission to be generated in New York and to require

disposal at low-level radioactive waste management facilities for a

period of at least thirty years.

9. In performing its duties, the commission shall hold periodic

meetings which shall be publicly noticed pursuant to article seven of

the public officers law.

10. Whenever the commission makes a decision to:

(i) select, or narrow the range of alternatives it is considering for,

disposal methods or sites for permanent disposal facilities,

(ii) establish the plans for pre-characterizing or characterizing, or

otherwise gathering site-specific data for, candidate sites for

permanent disposal facilities, or

(iii) project the types, quantities, or activity levels of low-level

radioactive wastes which might be disposed of at permanent disposal

facilities,

it shall promptly issue a report or other document which serves as the

basis for or otherwise provides its detailed explanation or

justification for that decision. Such report or other document shall

include information sufficient to permit full independent review and

evaluation by the department, the citizen advisory committee and by an

independent technical and scientific evaluation panel, established

pursuant to subdivision eleven of this section, of the nature, sources,

and quality of any specific data relied upon, the nature of assumptions

made, and the specific analytical methods, procedures, or techniques

employed, including modelling and calculations performed, and any other

information and analyses upon which the commission would intend to rely

in justifying its decisions to any reviewing body. The report shall be

made available to the public upon request. The commission shall

simultaneously have published in the state register, and send to any

person who has requested to be placed on the commission's mailing list,

notice of availability of that report or other document and provide a

copy of the report or other document to the governor, the speaker of the

assembly, the majority leader of the senate, the minority leader of the

assembly, the minority leader of the senate, the citizen advisory

committee, and any independent technical and scientific evaluation panel

established pursuant to subdivision eleven of this section.

11. Pursuant to contract, the department of health shall arrange to

have one or more independent panels of technical and scientific experts

review and evaluate the commission's decision and report on its

selection of a tentative preferred disposal method and decisions and

report on lands excluded from consideration for siting permanent

disposal facilities, issued in accordance with subdivisions two and

three of this section, and each other decision made and related report

issued by the commission pursuant to subdivision four or ten of this

section. For each such commission decision and report, the independent

technical and scientific evaluation panel or panels shall assess the

nature, sources and quality of any specific data the commission relied

upon, the nature of assumptions made, and the specific analytical

methods, procedures or techniques employed, including modelling and

calculations performed, and any other information and analyses relied

upon for the commission's decision. The department of health may engage

more than one panel to assess a commission decision and report, in order

to provide for complete coverage of those matters in the review and

evaluation of that decision and report. Upon completion of each such

review and evaluation, any independent technical and scientific

evaluation panel shall provide a written report containing its findings,

conclusions and recommendations to the commission, the citizen advisory

committee, the department of health and the department of environmental

conservation.

12. Whenever the commission receives written comments or a report from

the citizen advisory committee or any independent technical and

scientific evaluation panel established pursuant to subdivision eleven

of this section, it shall provide a detailed written response, within a

reasonable time, addressing the points made in the comments or report.

Upon receipt of any such report the commission shall cause it to be made

available to the public upon request and submitted to the governor, the

majority leader of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority

leader of the senate and the minority leader of the assembly. Notice of

such report shall be published by the commission in the state register

and sent to any person who has requested to be placed on the

commission's mailing list.

* NB Commission existence pursuant to § 29-0309