How Can the Public Participate in Decisions by Ohio's Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Development Authority?

RER-70

Audeen W. Fentiman
Pamela K. Longmire
Ronald B. Meyers

The function of the Ohio Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Development Authority is to oversee the siting, development and operation of a regional low-level radioactive waste disposal facility for the Midwest Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission. Decisions of the Authority are made by a 12-member Board of Directors which was appointed in October of 1995. After a host community for the disposal facility is identified, two additional Board members will be appointed from that community. All decisions by the Board must be made in public meetings, and members of the public can speak at the meetings. In addition, the state statute that establishes the Authority requires that the Board hold a public hearing before making each of fifteen of its most important decisions. At the hearings, any person may submit written or oral comments. The Board shall use information obtained at each hearing to assist in making its decision.

The public hearings will be held in Columbus prior to proposing or selecting potential sites for the disposal facility. After potential sites have been identified, hearings will be held near the sites. This fact sheet lists the fifteen decisions requiring public hearings and describes the process by which the public will be notified of the hearings.

Decisions Requiring Public Hearings

The fifteen decisions by the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Development Authority requiring public hearings are listed in Table 1 (overleaf). The topics to be addressed at the hearings are briefly summarized in the following paragraphs, and the section of the state statute that discusses each decision is listed. If the approximate time a decision is to be made is specified in state statute, that time is noted.

1. Statewide Public Information and Involvement Program
   The Board of Directors must establish a statewide Public Information and Involvement Program and a public document repository in Columbus and in each community where a potential site is being characterized. Information to be kept on file must include minutes of the Board of Directors' meetings and all contractor and Board documents related to site screening; siting; facility design, construction, and operation; institutional control; and long-term care plans. (Section 3747.06 (A)(5))

2. Selection or Replacement of Contractors
   The Board of Directors must select a contractor (or contractors) by September 1996. The contractor(s) will develop, construct, and operate the low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. (Section 3747.06 (A)(6))

3. Facility Design
   The Board of Directors must approve a facility design and any necessary revisions to the facility design. The facility must be constructed above grade and designed to ensure that the release of radiation to the environment does not exceed Federal or State requirements and is as low as reasonably achievable. (Section 3747.06 (A)(7), Section 3747.07 (A)(2))

4. Statewide Screening Process
   By March 1997, the Board of Directors must implement (or ask for revisions in) a Statewide Screening Process prepared by the contractor with assistance of the Board. The Statewide Screening Process document explains the method by which the contractor will apply Exclusionary and Preference Siting Criteria to identify potential sites for the low-level waste disposal facility. (Section 3747.06 (A)(8))

5. Site Characterization
   By September 1998, the Board of Directors must approve, for detailed site study and characterization, at least three potentially suitable disposal sites from among the sites recommended by the contractor. (Section 3747.06 (A)(11))

6. Intervenor Funding Program
   Under this program, the Authority will pay a portion of the reasonable costs of expert witnesses, attorney's fees, and litigation expenses incurred by persons who participate as intervenors in any adjudicatory hearing before the License Review Board. (Section 3747.09)

7. Site Selection for Licensure
   The site of the low-level waste disposal facility must be selected from the characterized sites by June 2000. (Section 3747.06 (A)(12))

8. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Programs
   The Board of Directors must establish quality assurance and quality control programs for all phases of development, siting, construction, operation, closure, institutional control, and long-term care of the facility. (Section 3747.06 (A)(14))

9. Waste Acceptance Criteria
   A waste acceptance agreement form must be developed by the contractor and approved by the Board of Directors. This form will constitute an agreement between the contractor and each generator who intends to ship low-level waste to the disposal facility. (Sections 3747.06 (A)(21), 3747.13, 3747.17)

10. Opening of a Closed Facility
    If a disposal facility has been closed for emergency purposes, the Board must hold a hearing before reopening it. (Section 3747.08 (A)(10))

11. Institutional Controls
    A plan must be developed to ensure that no one accidentally enters a closed facility. The plan will be proposed by the contractor and must be approved by the Board. (Section 3747.06 (A)(19))

12. Long-Term Care
    Long-term care means those activities taken by a host state, after a facility is permanently closed, to ensure the protection of air, land, and water resources and the public health and safety. The contractor must submit the Long-Term Care Plan to the Board for approval. The plan must provide for a minimum of five hundred years of care. (Section 3747.06 (A)(19))

13. Termination of Institutional Controls
    The Board must approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove the termination of institutional controls for the disposal facility. (Section 3747.08 (A)(13))

14. Termination of Long-Term Care
    The Board must approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove the termination of long-term care for the disposal facility and provide reasons for that decision. (Section 3747.06 (A)(24))

15. Corrective Action at a Facility
    In the event of a failure at a facility that results in a release of radiation in excess of prescribed limits, the Board must approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove a program to correct the failure and contain and remediate any contamination caused by the release. (Section 3747.06 (A)(25))

Public Notification of Hearings

At least thirty days before a public hearing, the Executive Director of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Development Authority is required to publish notice of the meeting in newspapers in at least 12 Ohio cities with the goal of reaching as many of the state's citizens as possible. In addition, a notice will be published in the newspaper in the community in which the hearing will be held. The notice will give the date, time, and location of the hearing and a description of the subject to be discussed.

Hearings on Rules

Section 3747.07 of the Ohio Revised Code requires that the Ohio Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Development Authority establish rules governing its activities. Section 119 of the Ohio Revised Code requires that hearings be held before these rules are adopted. Hearings on rules are in addition to the public hearings described in this fact sheet. Information on public hearings on rules will be provided in another document.

For More Information

Information on public participation in decisions by the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Development Authority is available from the Authority's offices. The address is:

100 Old West Wilson Bridge Road,
Suite 214
Worthington, Ohio 43085

The telephone numbers are:

Voice: (614) 644-2776 and 1-800-540-LLRW (5579)
FAX: (614) 644-2256

The Authority has recently established a home page on the Internet. The address is:

http://www.state.oh.us/ollrwfda/

The Authority's e-mail address is:

melissa.herby@llrwfda.state.oh.us

If you would like to read more about public participation in decisions by the Ohio Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Development Authority, the document listed below may be helpful.

Ohio Revised Code, Sections 3747.08, 3747.09, and 3747.11(B)

Author Notes:

Dr. Audeen W. Fentiman is an Associate Professor in Nuclear Engineering at The Ohio State University. Pamela K. Longmire is a Graduate Research Associate in Nuclear Engineering. Ronald B. Meyers is a Graduate Research Associate, Ohio State University Extension.