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Keep Legislature in waste loop
Feb 08, 2007
Last year, Sen. Howard A. Stephenson, R-Draper, attempted to reduce the governor's authority over radioactive waste by allowing the Legislature to override vetoes of waste dump permits. That measure failed. Now Sen. Darrin Peterson, R-Nephi, is trying to do the same thing by other means: Cut the Legislature out of the approval process for dump expansion. His Senate Bill 155 would allow state regulators -- read unelected bureaucrats -- to approve the expansion of a waste dump. For example, EnergySolutions could expand as long as the company did not go beyond the original square-mile footprint of the former Envirocare dump. EnergySolutions is currently seeking approval to expand by increasing its height to 85 feet instead of the current 45-foot limit. The move would allow the company to nearly double the amount of waste stored on the site and, if Peterson's bill passes, to do it without the approval of the Legislature. The bill simplifies the process for EnergySolutions, which had one expansion plan scuttled when Gov. Huntsman announced he would reject it. But it does a disservice to Utahns by taking their elected representatives out of the loop. Has anyone forgotten how Larry Anderson, the former head of the state Division of Radiation Control, accepted $600,000 from former Envirocare owner Khosorow Semnani? The money purportedly was for Anderson's help in getting permits to operate. Anderson wound up in jail on tax evasion charges while Semnani paid $100,000 for failing to report the payments on his tax forms. Peterson's bill would allow history to repeat itself. Legislative approval may be a cumbersome process, but at least it's a process.
The legislation railroad The Utah State Legislature's list of bills is starting to resemble a railroad yard. Boxcars are everywhere. A boxcar is a blank bill. It has a number and a vague title, but it contains no text. The boxcar is essentially a place holder that lawmakers can use if they need to introduce a bill after the filing deadline. The boxcar is introduced and then amended to include the desired text. Sometimes, a boxcar is a great idea. For example, an issue requiring immediate legislative action could arise during the session's last days, and the boxcar would allow lawmakers to address it. But boxcars are also a mild abuse of the public, it seems to us. They prevent full debate since there's no legal language to discuss. The title provides only a vague idea of what the sponsor might be intending to do. If a real bill does take shape late in the session -- when the time for committee hearings has passed -- public comment is effectively squelched. The Legislature's Web page lists more than 40 boxcars, although a review of the House of Representatives bill list shows that 70 bills were introduced without text, including a bill titled "Commercial Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility -- Repeal of Perpetual Care Requirements" filed by Rep. James Gowans, D-Tooele. EnergySolutions, which operates a low-level radioactive waste dump in Gowans's district, has asked the company be excused from contributing $400,000 a year to the fund, even though it has millions to buy naming rights for the former Delta Center. Such issues should be introduced in an orderly manner that allows the public to weigh in, rather than railroaded via boxcar. |
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