For purposes of this article, the State Fiscal Accountability Authority, hereinafter in this section referred to as the board, is designated as the agency of the State which shall have the following powers and duties that are in accord with its already established responsibilities for custody of state properties, and for the management of all state sinking funds, insurance, and analogous fiscal matters that are relevant to state properties:

1. (1) expend state funds in order to acquire, develop, and operate land and facilities. This acquisition may be by lease, dedication, purchase, or other arrangements. However, the state's functions under the authority of this section are limited to the specific purposes of this article;
2. (2) lease, sublease, or sell real and personal properties to public or private bodies;
3. (3) assure the maintenance of insurance coverage by state licensees, lessees, or sublessees as will in the opinion of the board protect the citizens of the State against nuclear incident that may occur on state-controlled atomic energy facilities;

4. (4) assume responsibility for extended custody and maintenance of radioactive materials held for custodial purposes at any publicly or privately operated facility located within the State, in the event the parties operating these facilities abandon their responsibility, or when the license for the facility is ultimately transferred to an agency of the State, and whenever the federal government or any agency of the federal government has not assumed the responsibility.

   In order to finance such extended custody and maintenance as the board may undertake, the board may collect fees from private or public parties holding radioactive materials for custodial purposes. These fees must be sufficient in each individual case to defray the estimated cost of the board's custodial management activities for that individual case. The fees collected for such custodial management activities shall also be sufficient to provide additional funds for the purchase of insurance which shall be purchased for the protection of the State and the general public for the period such radioactive material considering its isotope and curie content together with other factors may present a possible danger to the general public in the event of migration or dispersal of such radioactivity. All such fees, when received by the board, must be transmitted to the State Treasurer. The Treasurer must place the money in a special account, in the nature of a revolving trust fund, which may be designated "extended care maintenance fund", to be disbursed on authorization of the board. Monies in the extended care maintenance funds must be invested by the board in the manner as other state monies. However, any interest accruing as a result of investment must accrue to this extended care maintenance fund. Except as authorized in Section 48-46-40(B)(7)(b) and (D)(2), the extended care maintenance fund must be used exclusively for custodial, surveillance, and maintenance costs during the period of institutional control and during any post-closure and observation period specified by the Department of Health and Environmental Control, and for activities associated with closure of the site. Funds from the extended care maintenance fund shall not be used for site closure activities or for custodial, surveillance, and maintenance performed during the post-closure observation period until all funds in the decommissioning trust account are exhausted.

5. (5) Enter into an agreement with the federal government or any of its authorized agencies to assume extended maintenance of lands donated, leased, or purchased from the federal government or any of its authorized agencies and used for development of atomic energy resources or as custodial site for radioactive material.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 1-400.13; 1967 (55) 305; 1982, Act No. 452, Section 2, eff June 9, 1982; 1986 Act No. 540, Part II, Section 15A, effective June 18, 1986, and became law without the Governor's signature; 1992 Act No. 501, Part II Section 70A, eff June 16, 1992; 2000 Act No. 357, Section 3, eff June 6, 2000; 2014 Act No. 121 (S.22), Pt V, Section 7.Y.2, eff July 1, 2015.

Editor's Note

2000 Act No. 357, Section 4, provides as follows:

"The provisions of this act are to be liberally construed to effectuate its purpose. If any provisions of this act shall be determined to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be severable from the remaining portions of this chapter and shall not invalidate the remaining provisions of this chapter, which shall continue in full force and effect. If any provision of this act shall be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be in conflict with any other provision of this act, and particularly the provisions of the Northeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact, P.L. 99-240, Section 227, 99 Stat. 1909 (1985), the provisions of the compact shall govern."

Effect of Amendment

The 1982 amendment deleted from items (1) and (2) provisions predicating Board action on its belief that they will foster development of the state's economic potential in the atomic energy field; substituted throughout the section references to "extended custody and maintenance," "extended maintenance," and "extended care maintenance fund" for the former "perpetual custody and maintenance," "perpetual maintenance," and "perpetual maintenance fund;" added the present third sentence to the second paragraph of item (4); added subsection (6); and made other minor changes in wording.

The 1986 amendment added item (7).

The 1992 amendment, in item (7)(e), in the first sentence added all that part following the semicolon, in the second sentence added "not otherwise allocated by law", and added the third sentence.

The 2000 amendment substituted "section" for "paragraph" in paragraph (1), added "or when the license for the facility is ultimately transferred to an agency of the State," in the first paragraph and rewrote the second paragraph of paragraph (4), and deleted paragraphs (6) and (7) relating to assessment of surcharges and penalty surcharges.

2014 Act No. 121, Section 7.Y.2, in the first undesignated paragraph, substituted "Fiscal Accountability Authority" for "Budget and Control Board".