HF 2784

as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to public utilities; modifying provisions 
  1.3             relating to dry cask storage of nuclear waste; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 116C.771; 
  1.5             116C.772, by adding a subdivision; 116C.773; 116C.776; 
  1.6             116C.777; and 116C.778; repealing Minnesota Statutes 
  1.7             1994, sections 116C.779; and 116C.80. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116C.771, is 
  1.10  amended to read: 
  1.11     116C.771 [ADDITIONAL CASK LIMITATIONS.] 
  1.12     (a) Five casks may be filled and used at Prairie Island on 
  1.13  May 11, 1994.  
  1.14     (b) An additional four casks may be filled and used at 
  1.15  Prairie Island if the environmental quality board determines 
  1.16  that, by December 31, 1996, the public utility operating the 
  1.17  Prairie Island plant has filed a license application with the 
  1.18  United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a spent nuclear 
  1.19  fuel storage facility off of Prairie Island in Goodhue county, 
  1.20  is continuing to make a good faith effort to implement the site, 
  1.21  and has constructed, contracted for construction and operation, 
  1.22  or purchased installed capacity of 100 megawatts of wind power 
  1.23  in addition to wind power under construction or contract on the 
  1.24  effective date of this section. 
  1.25     (c)(1) An additional eight casks may be filled and placed 
  1.26  at Prairie Island if the legislature has not revoked the 
  2.1   authorization under clause (2) or the public utility has 
  2.2   satisfied the wind power and biomass mandate requirements in 
  2.3   sections 216B.2423, subdivision 1, clause (1), and 216B.2424, 
  2.4   clause (1), and the alternative site in Goodhue county is 
  2.5   operational or under construction.  (2) If the site is not under 
  2.6   construction or operational or the.  If these wind and biomass 
  2.7   mandates are not satisfied, the legislature may revoke the 
  2.8   authorization for the additional eight casks by a law enacted 
  2.9   prior to June 1, 1999. 
  2.10     (d) Except as provided under paragraph (e), dry cask 
  2.11  storage capacity for high-level nuclear waste within the state 
  2.12  may not be increased beyond the casks authorized by section 
  2.13  116C.77 or their equivalent storage capacity. 
  2.14     (e) This section does not prohibit a public utility from 
  2.15  applying for or the public utilities commission from granting a 
  2.16  certificate of need for dry cask storage to accommodate the 
  2.17  decommissioning of a nuclear power plant within this state. 
  2.18     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116C.772, is 
  2.19  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.20     Subd. 6.  [AGREEMENT WITH INDIAN COMMUNITY.] The public 
  2.21  utility agrees to pay to the Prairie Island Indian Community, a 
  2.22  federally recognized Indian tribe, an amount equal to the real 
  2.23  and personal property taxes that would have accrued from the 
  2.24  storage facility site on Prairie Island as long as the casks 
  2.25  remain on Prairie Island.  The public utility agrees to acquire 
  2.26  and convey to the Prairie Island Indian Community, a federally 
  2.27  recognized Indian tribe, land in the state of Minnesota for 
  2.28  placement in trust.  In addition to this payment and conveyance, 
  2.29  the public utility shall enter into an agreement with the 
  2.30  Prairie Island tribal council to compensate the tribe for 
  2.31  nuclear storage on Prairie Island. 
  2.32     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116C.773, is 
  2.33  amended to read: 
  2.34     116C.773 [CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT.] 
  2.35     The authorization for dry casks contained in section 
  2.36  116C.77 is not effective until the governor, on behalf of the 
  3.1   state, the Prairie Island Indian Community Council, on behalf of 
  3.2   the Prairie Island Indian Community, a federally recognized 
  3.3   Indian tribe, and the public utility operating the Prairie 
  3.4   Island nuclear plant enter into an agreement binding the parties 
  3.5   to the terms of sections 116C.771 and 116C.772 and the mandate 
  3.6   for 200 megawatts of wind power and 75 megawatts of biomass 
  3.7   required by December 31, 2002, in sections 216B.2423, 
  3.8   subdivision 1, and 216B.2424.  The Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal 
  3.9   Council at Prairie Island is an intended third-party beneficiary 
  3.10  of this agreement and has standing to enforce the agreement This 
  3.11  contractual agreement rescinds and supersedes the contractual 
  3.12  agreement entered into on May 20, 1994, between the state and 
  3.13  the public utility operating the Prairie Island nuclear plant.  
  3.14  All other existing agreements between the Prairie Island Indian 
  3.15  Community, a federally recognized Indian tribe, and the state 
  3.16  shall remain unchanged, and the sovereign status of the tribe 
  3.17  shall remain unchanged and unaffected.  
  3.18     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116C.776, is 
  3.19  amended to read: 
  3.20     116C.776 [ALTERNATIVE CASK TECHNOLOGY FOR SPENT FUEL 
  3.21  STORAGE.] 
  3.22     If the public utilities commission determines that casks or 
  3.23  other containers that allow for transportation as well as 
  3.24  storage of spent nuclear fuel exist and are economically 
  3.25  feasible for storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel 
  3.26  generated by the Prairie Island nuclear power generating plant, 
  3.27  the commission shall order their use to replace use of the casks 
  3.28  that are only usable for storage, but not transportation.  If 
  3.29  the commission orders use of dual-purpose casks under this 
  3.30  section, it must authorize use of a number of dual-purpose casks 
  3.31  that provides the same total storage capacity that is authorized 
  3.32  under sections 116C.77 to 116C.779 116C.778; provided, that the 
  3.33  total cask storage capacity permitted under sections 116C.77 to 
  3.34  116C.779 116C.778 may not exceed the capacity of the TN-40 casks 
  3.35  authorized under section 116C.77. 
  3.36     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116C.777, is 
  4.1   amended to read: 
  4.2      116C.777 [SITE.] 
  4.3      The spent fuel contents of dry casks located on Prairie 
  4.4   Island must be moved immediately upon the availability of 
  4.5   another site for storage of the spent fuel that is not located 
  4.6   Prairie Island. 
  4.7      Notwithstanding section 273.13, subdivisions 24 and 31, 
  4.8   spent nuclear fuel storage facilities are exempt from all real 
  4.9   and personal property taxes. 
  4.10     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116C.778, is 
  4.11  amended to read: 
  4.12     116C.778 [RERACKING.] 
  4.13     The spent fuel storage pool at Prairie Island may be 
  4.14  reracked a third time.  The reracking does not require 
  4.15  legislative authorization but is subject to other applicable 
  4.16  state review.  The additional storage capacity added by the 
  4.17  third reracking and utilized when added to the total storage 
  4.18  capacity of dry cask storage utilized, cannot exceed the total 
  4.19  capacity of 17 TN-40 casks subject only to United States Nuclear 
  4.20  Regulatory Commission approval. 
  4.21     Sec. 7.  [REPEALER.] 
  4.22     Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 116C.779; and 116C.80, 
  4.23  are repealed. 
  4.24     Sec. 8.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.25     This act is effective on the date that a notice is 
  4.26  published in the State Register stating that the parties 
  4.27  described in section 2 have entered into an agreement, provided 
  4.28  that the agreement is reached by August 1, 1996, and the parties 
  4.29  publish the notice no later than September 15, 1996.