[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of York County 1-25-1995 as Ord. No.
95-7. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "York County Low-Level Radioactive
Waste (LLRW) Ordinance."
The purposes of this chapter shall be to:
A.
Protect the health, safety and general welfare of all citizens of
the county by preventing exposure to airborne radioactive substances
and to radioactive substances in all other media.
B.
Preserve the natural environmental qualities of all the land, flora
and fauna within the county.
C.
Promote the sustainable economic well-being of the county by preservation
of agriculture and agriculture-related activities.
D.
Promote the sustainable economic well-being of the county by preservation
of camping, hunting, fishing and other recreational opportunities
necessary to tourism.
E.
Preserve the values of a healthy environment for this and future
generations.
F.
Protect against the infliction of psychological or emotional stress
on county residents from the fear of exposure to radiation.
This chapter shall be liberally interpreted to give priority to the purposes stated in § 89-2 over such considerations as economics, especially the economics of the nuclear industry, or efficiency or scheduling factors at any level of government.
This chapter is adopted pursuant to the authority granted to
the county by all relevant state and federal laws, including but not
limited to the following:
A.
The Pennsylvania Constitution, Article I, Section 27.
B.
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Code and County Code.
C.
The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Act, Act of February 9,
1988, P.L. 31, Act No. 12, 35 P.S. § 7130.101 et seq., as
amended.
D.
Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act, Act of January 8, 1960, P.L.
2119 (1959), 35 P.S. § 4001 et seq., as amended.
E.
The Appalachian States Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Act of
1985, 35 P.S. § 7125.1 et seq.
G.
The Clean Air Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq.
(especially §§ 7416 and 7422).
H.
The Energy Policy Act of 1992.
I.
The United States Pollution Prevention Act (1991).
J.
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 4321
to 4370a.
The following terms shall have the meanings defined in this
section wherever they are used in this chapter:
A facility, above grade level, constructed with triple dedicated,
engineered barriers, isolating the contents from the biosphere.
The portion of the waste site that is controlled by the licensee
and that lies under the waste units and between the waste units and
the site boundary.
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia.
The first sealed, leakproof, solid enclosure which encompasses
the radioactive waste and which may include a means for controlled
bleeding of gaseous decay products into another container.
The isolation of radioactive waste substances and radiation
from the biosphere by means of engineered barriers and waste site
design.
The County of York.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources or
any successor agency.
An individual who is, or shall become, a permanent resident
of the county, whose full compensation shall be reimbursed to the
county by the operator. The basic minimum qualifications for employment
shall include the highest appropriate formal training and experience
available, and he shall remain current and abreast of issues and information
affecting the disposal of nuclear waste.
All information regarding origin, contents, transport and
other relevant data for all low-level radioactive waste and mixed
wastes at the facility.
Fill, grout or other material which is placed in void spaces
between radioactive waste containers or waste modules within the waste
unit to provide structural strength against subsidence or collapse.
The amount of time it takes for the LLRW to decay to levels
such that unrestricted use of the waste could not result in exposure
to total radioactive levels higher than the radioactivity measured
at the site prior to its use for storage.
An individual, appointed by and reporting to the County Commissioners
to perform inspections of all activities at the waste facility, as
provided under Section 318 of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal
Act.[1] The inspector's full compensation shall be reimbursed
in full to the county by the operator.
The period of time during which active surveillance, monitoring
and care are maintained and which shall extend to 30 years after the
estimated hazardous life of the waste.
The engineered design feature which eliminates the inflow
or outflow of solid, liquid or gaseous material by any means, including
selective absorption, adsorption or ion exchange, except into a container
through a control valve.
The Pennsylvania Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Act
of February 9, 1988, P.L. 31, 35 P.S. § 7130.101 et seq.,
as amended.
Radioactive waste, as defined in Section 11(e)(2) of the
Atomic Energy Act, codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 2014(e)(2),
or in the LLRW Act or the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Regional
Facility Act, Act of July 11, 1990, Act. No. 107, 35 P.S. § 7131.101
et seq., as amended.
Low-level radioactive waste that either contains hazardous
waste listed in the Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 261, Subpart
D, or exhibits any of the hazardous characteristics in 40 CFR 261,
Subpart C.
A ten-mile radius from the perimeter of the waste site.
Includes, but is not limited to, a public library containing
historical and current information related to low-level radioactive
waste, preservation of the environment, protection of the people,
flora and fauna and all matters related to the health, safety and
welfare of the county. It shall include copies of all required records
and facility records as defined herein. "Public access" shall include
whatever other measures of disseminating information to the public
as shall, from time to time, be deemed necessary by the County Commissioners
on advice from the Environmental Control Officer and/or the Environmental
Advisory Council. All matters related to the establishment, operation
and/or maintenance of "public access to information" shall be determined
by the county and shall be at the sole expense of the operator.
Independent, daily water well, surface water, soil, gas and
oil well, plant and continuous air sampling, as well as human and
animal surveys or tests as shall be requested by any individual or
health professional and recommended by the Environmental Advisory
Council. Such "required records" shall be made regarding the waste
facility, waste site and ten-mile monitoring area. Copies shall be
kept at the respective offices of the affected municipality(ies) and
the County Planning Department, as well as being available through
the public access to information. Any costs associated with such "required
records" shall be borne by the operator.
A threat of injury by violating any federal or Pennsylvania
environmental quality standard or contaminating groundwater, surface
water, flora, fauna or air so as to pose an immediate hazard to human
health by exposure to any substance that causes injury, including,
but not limited to, genetic injury, long latency cancer, immunodeficiency
disorders or endocrine disorders, or that causes the death of fish
or wildlife or that may cause the extinction or threaten the viability
of any endangered or threatened species or species of concern, or
that contributes to an accumulation of radioactive substances in fish
or wildlife or that may disrupt a food chain in an ecosystem.
The three leakproof structures, container, waste module and
waste unit, each of which is independently required to ensure the
isolation of radioactive waste from the biosphere for the hazardous
life of the waste.
The area where radioactive waste is stored, including the
site and all improvements thereon (including engineered units, buildings,
laboratories and ancillary structures), but not including the buffer
zone.
The property on which the waste facility is located, including
the buffer zone.
The outer, leakproof, engineered structure containing the
waste modules, which in turn contain the waste containers.
The testing of piezometer wells drilled at appropriate distances
around the perimeter of the waste facility, as well as the testing
of all public and private water wells within three miles of the boundary
of the waste site.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 7130.318.
A.
The County Commissioners shall appoint an Environmental Control Officer,
who shall have the authority and whose duties shall be:
(1)
To receive and to review all applications required under this chapter
and to make recommendations to the Environmental Advisory Council
regarding the action to be taken thereon.
(2)
To assure that the operator of any waste facility, that may be licensed
under this chapter, fully complies with all the provisions herein.
(3)
To initiate and to prosecute all legal actions required to enforce
this chapter.
(4)
Periodically to review the information available to the public to
assure that the information contained therein is current and relevant
to the needs of the county.
(5)
To conduct regular and periodic inspections, including unannounced
inspections, to assure compliance with all the provisions of this
chapter.
(6)
To enter onto the waste facility on demand and to have immediate
and unrestricted access to any part of said facility and its records
to assure compliance with this chapter.
(7)
To receive all fees and surcharges payable by the operator of the
facility to the county and to review all reports relating to the same;
to collect all such fees which may become delinquent; and to collect
all penalties assessed by the county.
(9)
Such other duties as may be, from time to time, imposed by the county.
B.
The Environmental Control Officer may also serve as an inspector.
The county shall appoint two inspectors, who shall have the
authority and whose duties shall be to perform inspections of all
activities at the waste facility under a written agreement with the
Department. The inspectors shall have the right of independent access
to inspect any and all records and activities at the site and to carry
out joint inspections with the Department. The inspectors shall report
their findings to the Environmental Control Officer.
There is hereby created an Environmental Advisory Council, consisting
of not more than seven residents of the county, who shall have the
authority and whose duties shall be:
A.
To review all applications required under this chapter, together
with the Environmental Control Officer, and to make recommendations
thereon to the County Commissioners.
B.
To conduct a study on behalf of the county of any potentially suitable
sites in any application and to apply for funding of said study and
to expend the funds so provided for all necessary technical assistance,
subject to approval of the County Commissioners, as provided in Section
318(a) of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Act.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 7130.318(a).
C.
To conduct an evaluation of each license application, to make application
for funding of such study and to expend the funds so provided for
all necessary technical assistance, subject to the approval of the
County Commissioners, and to prepare and propose to the county findings
regarding said applications for inclusion in licensing proceedings
by the Department, as provided in Section 318(a) of the Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Disposal Act.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 7130.318(a).
D.
To counsel and assist the Environmental Control Officer and the inspectors
in the performance of their duties.
E.
To study and make recommendations to the county for the adoption
of ordinances and regulations necessary for the protection of the
county, its land, flora and fauna and the health of its residents.
F.
To exercise such powers as would be otherwise granted to any Environmental
Advisory Council, established pursuant to the Act of December 21,
1973, P.L. 425, Act No. 148, 53 P.S. § 11501 et seq., as
amended.
A.
The operator of a waste facility shall establish and levy a surcharge,
at a rate determined, from time to time, by resolution of the county,
for all waste disposed at the facility.
B.
On or before the 10th day of each month, the operator shall pay to
the county all of the surcharges collected during the preceding calendar
month. Each payment shall be accompanied by a report, in a form approved
by the county, of the date, exact source, amount, radiological content
and surcharge for each deposit of LLRW and its placement within the
facility.
C.
The county shall arrange an independent audit of the financial records
of the facility, paid for by the operator.
D.
The operator shall be financially responsible for all uncollected
charges and surcharges.
A.
All fees collected pursuant to § 89-9F of this chapter shall be deposited into an account, designated "LLRW Special Account," and shall be used for the following purposes:
(1)
All fees, expenses and other costs of administering this chapter.
(2)
Compensation and expenses of the Environmental Control Officer, the
inspectors and other county employees insofar as their duties relate
to the administration of this chapter.
(3)
Expenses of the Environmental Advisory Council and its members.
(4)
A reasonable fee for administration of this account.
B.
The funds held in the LLRW Special Account shall not be available
for payment of any costs associated with abatement of any public nuisances
or radiation damage created by operation of the LLRW facility nor
for payment of any penalties incurred by the operator for any reason.
C.
This account shall be under the control and management of the County
Commissioners.
No waste facility shall be constructed within the county without
first obtaining a siting permit under this chapter.
A.
An application for a siting permit shall be made on a form provided
by the county. The application shall be submitted at the same time
as the applicant submits its potentially suitable sites application
to the Environmental Quality Board under Section 307 of the LLRW Act.[1] The application shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable
application fee of $1,000,000. The application fee shall be deposited
by the county to a special account and shall be used solely for the
purposes of administering this chapter, including application completeness
and presiting studies, but shall not be the sole source of income
for the administration thereof.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 7130.307.
B.
An application for a siting permit under this chapter shall contain
the following documentation:
(1)
A site plan, identifying the location and function of all structures
on the waste site, including engineering drawings and specifications
of each structure.
(2)
Proof of ownership of the site, or a contract conveying rights to
the site, by the owner.
(3)
A property survey of the site by a registered, licensed surveyor
showing contours of five-foot intervals, description of perimeter
land use and zoning within a two-mile radius of the site and proximity
to any structure or other feature, such as a stream or well, within
1,000 feet of the waste site.
(4)
All necessary licenses and permits from state and federal agencies,
along with the associated application materials submitted to those
agencies.
(5)
A proposed emergency control and evacuation procedure plan, subject
to such amendments and additions as the county may designate after
public hearing.
(6)
An environmental impact study, as defined in the National Environmental
Policy Act, Section 102(2)(c), 42 U.S.C. § 4332, which shall
also include, but not be limited to, consideration of the following:
site-specific soil analysis on a fifty-foot grid, core sample to bedrock;
leachate analysis; titles, easements and dedications; oil, gas and
mineral rights; hydrology of the site, groundwater and aquifers; fauna,
habitat and migratory survey, with proof that no species of concern
are present on the site; storage of fuel; security police, fire and
medical qualifications; a radiation background study based on monthly
sampling data for three years prior to the date of application; meteorology,
topology and predicted deposition patterns of airborne pollution;
and assessment of risk of experiencing one fatality per 1,000,000
population attributable to the facility, which must include calculations
of maximum concentrations of contamination under emergency conditions,
such as a worst case accident scenario or the failure of an air pollution
control unit.
(7)
Baseline health studies of the entire population of the county and
of affected municipalities, whether or not within the county or the
state, within 10 miles of any site boundary (including buffers), which
shall have been conducted for three years immediately prior to the
date of application. All data, while protecting the names and identifications
of individuals, shall be made available free of charge to the County
Commissioners, the Planning Commission, the Environmental Advisory
Council, the Environmental Control Officer and to each medical facility
serving the affected area. Summaries of data, so written as to preserve
the privacy of the individuals surveyed, shall be made available free
of charge upon request to any resident of the county or the affected
area. The health studies shall include data of a nature found to be
significant by states and countries dealing with low-level radiation
contamination, e.g., the Belarus government in studying the aftermath
of the Chernobyl accident.
(8)
An evaluation of the quantity and nature of all wastes proposed to
be stored at the facility, including the chemical and physical forms,
specific isotopes, number of curies and half-lives.
(9)
An evaluation of the applicant's financial qualifications, its
affiliated companies and its compliance history, including that of
its affiliated companies.
(10)
As soon as it is available, the site characterization by the
Department of Environmental Resources, showing with specificity how
the site has been shown to satisfy state criteria as written into
the LLRW Act and relevant Department of Environmental Resources regulations.
A.
The siting permit application shall be submitted to the Environmental
Control Officer (ECO), who shall review the same to determine whether
the application contains all of the necessary documents and the application
fee. The ECO is authorized to use part or all of the application fee
to hire engineers and other experts to review the application for
safety and compliance, to determine whether the environmental impact
study has thoroughly considered all criteria set forth and to make
other determinations deemed important to the completeness of the application.
If the application is not deemed complete, the ECO shall return the
application to the applicant with a written notification of its deficiencies.
If the application is complete, the ECO shall refer the application
to the Environmental Advisory Council, with copies to the County Commissioners,
the County Planning Commission, the Solid Waste Coordinator, the Solid
Waste Authority, the Conservation District, the Director of the County
Emergency Management Agency, the Communications Control Officer and
the Public Information Service.
B.
After review and study of the application, the Environmental Advisory
Council shall submit its findings and recommendations to the County
Commissioners. All other agencies named above may submit their findings
to the Commissioners.
C.
The Commissioners shall give due consideration to all comments submitted
by the various agencies, and especially by the Environmental Advisory
Council, but shall not be bound thereby.
D.
The Environmental Advisory Council and the County Commissioners shall
hold a series of at least three public hearings, over a period of
at least 60 days, throughout the county on each application. At least
one hearing shall be held in each affected municipality. The applicant
shall appear at all such public hearings and shall answer all reasonable
inquiries made by the Environmental Advisory Council, the County Commissioners
or members of the public present at any of said hearings. The Environmental
Advisory Council shall, and any citizen or citizen group may, provide
independent expert witnesses and other testimony for these hearings.
The hearings shall be recorded and transcribed.
E.
The County Commissioners shall take action on the application within
60 days after the decision on the potentially suitable sites application
is made by the Environmental Quality Board (EQB), unless there remain
unresolved issues. Any unresolved issues shall be brought by the county
first to the EQB, then to a court of proper jurisdiction for resolution.
The minimum site requirements for any facility shall be as follows:
A.
The site shall have geological characteristics such that all applicable state and federal emissions requirements may be met without the use of dedicated engineered barriers, other than the entrance described in § 89-18B of this chapter.
B.
There shall be no active, inactive or abandoned water, gas, oil or
brine wells or other man-made underground structures within two miles
of the periphery of the site, including the buffer areas.
C.
Surface features at the site shall be designated to direct water
drainage away from waste units at velocities and gradients which will
not result in erosion. No water shall drain from the waste site to
any off-site location or into any aquifer without first being collected
in an appropriate holding facility and there tested and shown to be
free from radiation and hazardous contaminants.
D.
No waste site shall be located in recharge zones for sources of public
or private drinking water, the headwaters of any waterway, any currently
designated or previously designated wetlands, floodplains or tidal
coastal zone or in the habitat for any threatened or endangered species
(wildlife or vegetation) or species of special concern. The National
Wetlands Inventory Maps from the United States Department of the Interior
shall be used as a guide to wetlands locations for the sake of this
chapter.
F.
No waste site shall be located in any area disqualified by law or
regulation.
No waste facility shall be constructed or operated within the
county unless an operating permit is first obtained and the nonrefundable
application fee paid pursuant to this chapter.
When an operator submits a license application to the Department,
the operator shall simultaneously make application to the county for
an operating permit under this chapter. The application shall be on
a form provided by the county and shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable
application fee of $1,000,000. The application shall be accompanied
by a complete copy of the license application filed with the Department.
The application shall set out the chemical and physical forms, specific
isotopes, half-life and number of curies of each substance expected
to be present in any radioactive air emissions, along with the appropriate
formulas for calculating the weight equivalent to one curie, and the
number of millirems associated with potential exposures to one curie
of each substance. The application fee shall be deposited by the county
into a separate account and shall be used solely for purposes of administration
of this chapter.
A.
The application for the operating permit shall be filed with the Environmental Control Officer (ECO). The ECO shall review the application to determine whether it is complete and in full compliance with this chapter. If it is not complete, the ECO shall return the application to the operator with written notification of its deficiencies. If the application is complete, the ECO shall refer the document as specified in § 89-13A of this chapter and shall advertise an open public comment period in a local newspaper of county-wide circulation.
B.
The Environmental Advisory Council shall evaluate the application
and prepare and submit to the County Commissioners its findings and
recommendations thereon.
C.
Upon receipt of the findings and recommendations of the Environmental
Advisory Council, the County Commissioners shall further review the
application and prepare and submit their findings and recommendations
to the Department for inclusion in the licensing procedure.
D.
As part of their deliberations, the Commissioners shall advertise
and hold at least three public hearings throughout the county over
a period of at least 60 days. The Environmental Advisory Council and
the operator shall attend all such hearings, and the operator shall
provide such documentation and expert witnesses as may be necessary
to fully answer all reasonable inquiries put forth therein by any
member of any agency or of the public.
Every facility, subject to this chapter, shall meet the following
minimum design requirements:
A.
The waste facility shall be designed for zero release of radioactivity
and shall not permit liquid or gaseous infiltration through any engineered
cover, bottom, side or entrance.
B.
The waste facility shall be an above-grade facility, mounded with
earth and capped for tornado protection, with a sealed entrance permitting
access so that leaking containers can be easily and safely located
and removed or repaired.
C.
No containers or waste modules are to be covered by any type of material
that could cause loss of integrity of the containers or the waste
modules if recovery of the waste is undertaken.
Every waste facility subject to this chapter shall be operated
in conformance with each of the following standards:
A.
No radioactive emissions into the outdoor atmosphere from any waste unit shall be permitted. Each waste container and module shall be monitored so as to minimize the possibility of any radioactivity from escaping and so as to allow retrieval and removal of any leaking container prior to radioactive emissions escaping to the atmosphere, as in § 89-18 of this chapter.
B.
The waste facility shall be designed and operated to achieve containment
for the hazardous life of the waste. Prior to construction, the waste
facility design shall be modeled and analyzed to demonstrate that
its performance and its interaction with the environment at the waste
site will conform to the requirements of this chapter. The facility
design shall demonstrate complete radioactive containment, maintained
for any maximum disruptive event, external or internal.
C.
The waste facility design and operation shall be upgraded from time
to time as safer technologies are devised and demonstrated to the
satisfaction of the county. The county may hire consultants to investigate
said technologies at the expense of the operator.
D.
The operator shall perform active and passive monitoring which shall
detect any releases of radioactivity from the waste containers or
the waste modules into the waste units to ensure that there shall
be no releases from the waste units into the buffer zone during the
entire institutional control period. The operator shall provide the
Environmental Control Officer with continuous verification of its
performance of these monitoring requirements.
E.
The waste facility shall accept only waste with physical and chemical
properties for which it was designed and which it is capable of containing
in isolation for the entire hazardous life of the waste as defined
herein. All facility records shall be retained for the institutional
control period. Complete copies of all facility records shall be forwarded
to the ECO no later than the 10th of each month for the previous month
and immediately on request of the ECO.
F.
All classes of waste shall be segregated unless they were mixed as
they were generated. Classes of wastes A, B and C and mixed wastes,
as defined in 10 CFR 61.55 (1989), shall be contained for their full,
hazardous lives. No waste greater than Class C shall be accepted even
though it may have been diluted to a lower level of radioactivity.
G.
No radioactive materials generated outside the Appalachian compact
states and not designated as waste, prior to shipment into Pennsylvania
or other compact states, but thereafter declared to be waste, shall
be disposed of or stored in the county. No waste, generated outside
the United States, shall be disposed of or stored in the county, even
if the company generating the waste has its corporate headquarters,
is incorporated, has offices or receives such waste at its facilities
or through a port of entry in one of the Appalachian compact states.
H.
In the event that radioactive substances from the waste facility
contaminate an area outside the waste site, the operator shall notify
the Environmental Control Officer or any inspector and the Emergency
Management Agency and shall promptly clean up all contamination and
restore all such contaminated areas to their preexisting and uncontaminated
state.
I.
No LLRW facility shall accept waste for more than 30 years. No additional
radioactive waste shall be stored, disposed of or treated anywhere
in the county after that thirty-year period.
J.
Routine operations of the waste facility shall be conducted solely
between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Mondays through Fridays,
excluding any legal holidays recognized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
K.
No waste shall be accepted at the facility except during the hours
of routine operations.
L.
The waste facility shall, at all times, be operated in strict compliance
with all applicable laws and regulations of all federal, state and
local agencies having jurisdiction over the site, the operator or
the activities at the site by the operator.
Any waste facility subject to this chapter shall comply with
the following minimum standards:
A.
No radioactive substance or waste generated by any government agency
or pursuant to a federal or state government contract or license,
nor as defined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Section
11(e)(92) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, codified as amended at
42 U.S.C. § 2014(e)(2) in the Low-Level Radioactive Waste
Policy Act Amendment of 1985 and in effect as of January 1, 1986,
or in the LLRW Act, nor any substance that may be redefined as being
within an expanded exemption, as below regulatory concern (BRC) or
otherwise deregulated by the NRC or any other federal agency, shall
be received for treatment, recycled, incinerated, deposited in any
sewer or be accepted in any waste facility or in any other place in
the county, except in an LLRW facility holding an operating permit
under this chapter and having adequate safeguards to prevent the release
of radioactive substances into the air, as defined herein.
B.
No operator shall cause or permit the direct or indirect release
of radioactive substances into the air, whether in gaseous, particulate,
mist, vapor or other form, or through any pathway, except in compliance
with air pollution control standards included in the operating permit
obtained under this chapter.
C.
No operating permit may be granted under this chapter where the Environmental
Advisory Council determines that radioactive air emissions are expected
to exceed zero in the worst-case scenario nor where any radioactive
emissions are expected routinely.
The operator shall develop, maintain and yearly upgrade a plan
for responding to all anticipated emergency events which might occur
at the facility and in connection with transport connected therewith.
The operator shall provide the Environmental Control Officer, the
County Emergency Management Agency, the Emergency Management Coordinators
for the affected municipalities, each fire company in the county and
the Communications Control Office with copies of the plan and all
amendments, updates and revisions thereto. The operator shall provide
funds to the Emergency Management Agency for specialized training
in emergency response and equipment for use of emergency response
teams.
On or before the 10th of each month, the operator shall provide
the Environmental Control Officer with a list of the names and business
addresses of all persons, firms or corporations who or which provided
transportation of wastes to the facility the previous month, including
a copy of all manifests. The Environmental Control Officer may request,
and the operator shall provide, such information on a more frequent
basis as the Environmental Control Officer deems necessary. Copies
of such reports shall be provided to the Emergency Management Agency
and the County Solid Waste Coordinator.
All required records and facility records shall be available
to the ECO and the inspectors at all times. The operator shall provide
reasonable assistance in locating, identifying and reviewing all information
contained in any such records.
The operator shall provide and maintain continuously in effect
a policy of general liability insurance, including liability for personal
injury or property damage resulting from any release of radioactivity
or other hazards into any part of the environment, in the minimum
amount of $100,000,000 per occurrence. The county shall be identified
as a party to be notified of any cancellation, expiration or change
in said policy. The operator shall provide the Environmental Control
Officer with proof of renewal at least 30 days prior to renewal.
A.
At the time of making application for a siting permit under this
chapter, the applicant shall submit a bond in a form and with security
approved by the county in the amount of $2,000,000 as guaranty of
reimbursement by the applicant of all reasonable expenses incurred
by the county to evaluate the potentially suitable sites application
and the application for the siting permit, as provided under Section
318(a) of the LLRW Act,[1] to the extent that such expenses are not funded by the
Department.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 7130.318(a).
B.
At the time of the application for an operating permit, the applicant
shall submit a bond, in a form and with security approved by the county,
in the principal sum of $3,000,000 as guaranty of reimbursement of
all reasonable expenses incurred by the county to conduct an independent
evaluation of the license application under Section 318(b) of the
LLRW Act[2] and the operating permit application under this chapter,
to the extent that the funds are not made available by the Department.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 7130.318(b).
The applicant shall reimburse the county in full for all reasonable
expenses, including engineering and consultant fees, attorney's
fees and all out-of-pocket expenses, incurred by the county to perform
the studies and evaluations provided under this chapter and under
Section 318 of the LLRW Act[1] within 30 days after submission of a requisition.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 7130.318.
No permit required under this chapter shall be issued until
all requisitions have been paid in full by the applicant.
The operator shall, upon issuance of the operating permit and
before beginning operations at the facility, submit in a form, with
security, and of an amount acceptable to the county, a performance
bond to assure the county of the proper operation and closure of the
facility and of compliance with this chapter. This bond shall be in
addition to any bond or other security demanded under any state or
federal law, regulation or agency. The county shall be named as a
party to be notified should the bond be in any manner in jeopardy,
whether through the activities of the operator, the bonding company
or of any governmental entity.
A.
Any person, owner or operator who or which violates or causes a violation
of any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction in
a summary proceeding, be liable for a penalty of not more than $1,000
for each separate offense and, in default thereof, shall be imprisoned
for a term of not more than 90 days. Each day of a continuing violation
shall be considered a separate offense. Each type of violation shall
be considered a separate offense.
B.
Any person whose violation is of a nature that it may pose a significant
threat as defined herein shall be liable for a penalty of not less
than $1,000 nor more than $25,000 for each separate offense. Each
day of a continuing violation shall be considered a separate offense.
C.
Any person who knowingly fails to report any release of radioactivity
or radioactive materials or who knowingly and willfully fails to remedy
any violation that may pose a significant threat as defined herein
may, in addition to the above civil penalties, be liable for criminal
prosecution commensurate to the risk of harm to the public and to
the environment. These penalties may include imprisonment of any responsible
employee or agent of the operator.
The violation of any of the provisions of this chapter relating
to the emission of pollutants into the environment surrounding the
facility shall be considered a public nuisance per se. The operator
shall abate such nuisance immediately and shall report it to the Environmental
Control Officer. If the Environmental Control Officer or any inspector
finds such a nuisance and it has not been reported by the operator,
it shall be considered a major violation of this chapter.
In addition to any other remedies provided under this chapter
or any state or federal law or by action of any state or federal agency,
the county shall have the right to pursue injunctive relief to halt
and abate any release of pollutants from the facility, to mitigate
any damages therefrom and to clean up the same. In the alternative,
the county may halt, abate and clean up the release and be reimbursed
by the operator for the same.
By applying for a permit under this chapter, the applicant agrees
to reimburse the county in full for all reasonable costs of litigation,
including, but not limited to, investigative costs, attorneys'
fees and experts' fees, incurred by the county in the successful
prosecution of any legal remedy provided under this chapter.
If the operator is delinquent in the payment of any surcharges
for a period of 30 days or if the operator is in default of any other
provision of this chapter, after notice and reasonable opportunity
to cure said default, the Environmental Control Officer or the county
may revoke the operating permit.
A.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit the right of
private citizens of the commonwealth to pursue any civil action against
the operator in the manner provided by law.
B.
In any successful action to enforce provisions of this chapter, the
court may award reasonable, attorneys' fees and other litigation
costs to any citizen or citizens' group in addition to any other
relief awarded.
