1.2relating to nuclear waste; creating the Minnesota Nuclear Waste Storage
1.3Commission; requiring fees paid by Minnesota ratepayers for permanent storage
1.4of high-level radioactive waste to be remitted to the commissioner of homeland
1.5security and emergency management; modifying nuclear waste escrow account;
1.6appropriating money;amending Laws 1997, chapter 201, section 1; proposing
1.7coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 116C.
1.8BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.9    Section 1. [116C.7781] DEFINITIONS.
1.10For the purposes of sections 116C.7781 to 116C.7783:
1.11(1) "high-level radioactive waste" has the meaning given in section 116C.71,
1.12subdivision 2f;
1.13(2) "commission" means the Minnesota Nuclear Waste Storage Commission; and
1.14(3) "host community" means the Prairie Island Indian Community in Minnesota, the
1.15city of Red Wing, or the city of Monticello.
1.16EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

1.17    Sec. 2. [116C.7783] MINNESOTA NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE
1.18COMMISSION.
1.19    Subdivision 1. Establishment. (a) The Minnesota Nuclear Waste Storage
1.20Commission is established under the Office of Emergency Preparedness, Response and
1.21Recovery in the Department of Health to carry out the duties specified in subdivision 2.
1.22(b) The commission consists of ten members:
1.23(1) the commissioner of homeland security and emergency management, or the
1.24commissioner's designee;
2.1(2) the commissioner of commerce, or the commissioner's designee;
2.2(3) the commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency, or the commissioner's
2.3designee;
2.4(4) the commissioner of natural resources, or the commissioner's designee;
2.5(5) the director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery in
2.6the Department of Health, or the director's designee;
2.7(6) one representative each from the cities of Monticello and Red Wing, appointed
2.8by their respective mayors;
2.9(7) one representative from the Prairie Island Indian Community, appointed by
2.10the community's tribal council;
2.11(8) one representative who is not a legislator, appointed by the speaker of the
2.12house; and
2.13(9) one representative who is not a legislator, appointed by the president of the senate.
2.14(c) The commission shall elect two co-chairs from among its members, at least one
2.15of whom must be a representative from a host community.
2.16(d) Members of the commission shall serve a term of four years and may be
2.17reappointed for any successive number of terms.
2.18(e) The Department of Health shall provide the commission with office space and
2.19staff and administrative services.
2.20    Subd. 2. Duties. (a) The commission shall develop a strategy for long-term storage
2.21of high-level radioactive waste from nuclear generating plants operating in Minnesota.
2.22The commission shall, by January 15, 2012, and every three years thereafter, prepare a
2.23storage plan that addresses, at a minimum, the following issues:
2.24(1) management and security of high-level radioactive waste storage;
2.25(2) continuous monitoring of the performance of the storage casks and facility;
2.26(3) continuous monitoring of the environment surrounding the storage facility,
2.27including air, surface water, groundwater, soil, and vegetation;
2.28(4) monitoring the health of residents of nearby communities;
2.29(5) maintenance and periodic replacement of casks, as recommended by the federal
2.30Nuclear Regulatory Commission and industry standards; and
2.31(6) identification of any additional technologies or equipment that reduce the
2.32toxicity or volume of stored high-level radioactive waste or that contribute to its safe and
2.33efficient handling.
2.34(b) The commission may fund programs, projects, studies, and plans that address,
2.35at a minimum, the long-term high-level radioactive waste storage issues specified in
3.1paragraph (a) and may purchase and install equipment to monitor the environmental
3.2impacts of storage.
3.3(c) The commission shall recognize the special risks, responsibilities, and financial
3.4burdens imposed by the presence of high-level radioactive waste storage facilities on host
3.5communities and shall ensure that host communities are adequately funded to provide
3.6public safety and other necessary services, including fire and police protection, emergency
3.7medical response, and other emergency operations, so long as high-level radioactive
3.8waste is stored at those facilities.
3.9(d) The commission shall annually transfer 75 percent of the amount it receives from
3.10the nuclear waste escrow account established in section 3 in equal proportion to the host
3.11communities for the services specified in paragraph (c), unless the host communities agree
3.12to an alternative allocation. The funds transferred to the host communities are:
3.13(1) to supplement, not substitute for, funds available under section 12.14 or remitted
3.14as local tax payments by a person owning a nuclear generating plant; and
3.15(2) not to be considered in calculating utility valuation transition aid under section
3.16477A.16.
3.17    Subd. 3. Staff. The commission may hire staff and contract with consultants to
3.18carry out the duties specified in subdivision 2.
3.19    Subd. 4. Expiration. This section expires when the federal government removes all
3.20high-level radioactive waste stored in Minnesota for transport and disposal in a permanent
3.21storage facility.
3.22EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

3.23    Sec. 3. Laws 1997, chapter 201, section 1, is amended to read:
3.24    Section 1. NUCLEAR WASTE ESCROW ACCOUNT.
3.25    Subdivision 1. Remittance of proceeds. (a) Beginning July 1, 1997 2010, the
3.26public utilities commission may shall direct persons in Minnesota that are generating or
3.27holding title to high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel and that are subject to
3.28the fee specified under United States Code, title 42, section 10222, to remit the proceeds
3.29of that fee to the commissioner of public service homeland security and emergency
3.30management. The commissioner shall place all revenues collected from this fee into an
3.31interest-bearing escrow the account established in subdivision 2, subject to paragraph (b).
3.32The commissioner shall release the funds in the escrow account to the secretary of the
3.33federal Department of Energy upon a showing by the secretary that a federal repository
3.34for the long-term storage and permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level
3.35radioactive waste is operating and currently accepting such materials.
4.1    This section is intended to enable the state of Minnesota to adopt or implement
4.2any appropriate relief granted by a court of competent jurisdiction for the United States
4.3Department of Energy breach of its obligations to dispose of commercial spent nuclear
4.4fuel not later than January 31, 1998.
4.5(b) A person remitting the proceeds of the fee described in paragraph (a) to the
4.6commissioner of homeland security and emergency management shall continue doing so
4.7until all nuclear generating plants located in this state that are owned by the person cease
4.8to generate electricity from nuclear fuel or until federal action releases the person that
4.9owns a nuclear power plant from financial obligations under United States Code, title
4.1042, section 10222, whichever occurs first.
4.11    Subd. 2. Creation of account; appropriations. (a) The nuclear waste escrow
4.12account is created and shall be administered according to this subdivision. The
4.13commissioner of homeland security and emergency management must deposit proceeds
4.14from the fee specified in subdivision 1 in the account. Any interest earned on the account
4.15must be credited to the account. Money from other sources may be credited to the account.
4.16Money deposited in the account that is not appropriated does not cancel to the general
4.17fund, but remains in the account.
4.18(b) Until June 30, 2034, 50 percent of the money in the account is annually
4.19appropriated to the commissioner of homeland security and emergency management for
4.20transfer to the Minnesota Nuclear Waste Storage Commission.
4.21(c) Fifty percent of the annual revenues deposited in the account must remain in the
4.22account and may not be appropriated until the nuclear generating plants that produced the
4.23waste have been fully decommissioned.
4.24(d) If high-level radioactive waste continues to be stored in Minnesota after
4.25the nuclear generating plant that generated it begins decommissioning, any unspent
4.26decommissioning revenues accrued for the purpose of maintaining, cooling, or storing
4.27high-level radioactive waste must be transferred to the Minnesota Nuclear Waste Storage
4.28Commission.
4.29EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

4.30    Sec. 4. REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION.
4.31The revisor shall codify Laws 1997, chapter 201, section 1, as Minnesota Statutes,
4.32section 116C.7782.