February 4, 2006

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Huntsman-Opposed N-Waste Bill Advances
By Joe Bauman and Lisa Riley Roche
Deseret Morning News
February 1, 2006

The Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that would strip the governor of his unilateral power to block the establishment or expansion of hazardous waste disposal facilities, including those that handle low-level radioactive waste.

But some senators indicated it may not pass the crucial third reading or final vote.

One of these was Majority Leader Peter Knudson, R-Brigham City, who said he wants the issue sent to an interim committee for further study — a suggestion that was made during Tuesday's debate by Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, and that Knudson said is gaining momentum.

Sen. Howard A. Stephenson, R-Draper, the bill's sponsor, said he was unaware of any attempt to send his bill to interim. He said he believes the bill will pass.

SB70 would allow the Legislature to override, by a two-thirds vote in both houses, a decision by the governor against changes in a disposal operation or the creation of a new landfill.

But the bill would not affect high-level nuclear waste, such as the spent fuel rods that Private Fuel Storage wants to store in Skull Valley, Tooele County; the governor would retain an absolute veto in such cases.

Mike Mower, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s deputy chief of staff, would only say, "We're confident the interests of the people of Utah will be served in the end."

Dianne R. Nielson, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental

Quality, said she was disappointed in the preliminary 21-5 vote.

"The existing balance in the statute serves the state well. These are important decisions, and I think we've been well represented" in the present system, which requires the approval of both the Legislature and governor, she said.

Jason Groenewold, director of the anti-nuclear Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, called upon Utahns to contact Stephenson hold him "responsible by asking him to drop SB70 and maintain the governor's role in protecting the health and well-being of Utahns."

Before the bill gained preliminary approval, Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, successfully sponsored an amendment that would exempt any application currently in the system. Only new permit applications, filed after the bill takes effect in July 2007, would be under the new rule.

McCoy said his purpose was to show that Stephenson was not in the pocket of a particular group. Critics had claimed that Stephenson was acting on behalf of Envirocare of Utah, which had sought to double its operations in Tooele County and which has now said it is holding off on those plans.

"I have no problem with the amendment because my intention was to restore our two-thirds veto capacity of the Legislature, as established in the Constitution," said Stephenson. He has adamantly denied that he was attempting to help Envirocare.

"Nuclear waste disposal is a unique issue, and it deserves a unique approval process," said Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake. Dangerous waste is "where we have the least room for error."

The material will be in Utah "for generations to come," she said. "It deserves a higher standard of approval."

Following the session, Groenewold was not convinced that McCoy's amendment would prevent Envirocare's expansion. Nothing in it, he said, keeps the company from restarting the approval process after July 2007.

Last week Huntsman said he didn't believe the bill would pass. He called it an area where it is appropriate that "the governor has unilateral rights to jettison those kinds of ideas" because "we're about the only elected official in the state who can protect the sovereignty, the image and the reputation of this entity called Utah. If we don't do it, nobody else will."

E-mail: bau@desnews.com; lisa@desnews.com