This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
U.S. Reps. Jim Matheson and Jason Chaffetz of Utah are once again moving to outlaw imports of foreign radioactive waste to the United States. The bi-partisan bill passed the House in the last Congress, during a period when EnergySolutions Inc., the Salt Lake City nuclear waste company, was seeking to bring low-level radioactive waste from mothballed nuclear-power plants in Italy.
And, although EnergySolutions has withdrawn that request, the lawmakers say the Radioactive Import Deterrence (RID) Act is still necessary because the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations allow importation if the disposal site has the appropriate license.
"Utah is not the place for the world's radioactive garbage," said Matheson, a Democrat, who said there is limited disposal space for U.S.-generated low-level radioactive waste. "I see no good reason, as public policy, to allow other countries to dump their waste here."
Chaffetz, a Republican, called himself "a proud co-sponsor" of HR617.
"I do not want Utah to become a dumping ground for the rest of the world," he said. "The majority of Utahns agree."
Utah's third member of the House of Representatives, GOP Rep. Rob Bishop, was absent for the House vote on the RID Act in the last Congress. A Utah–based lobbyist for the radioactive waste company after he retired as speaker of the Utah House and before his election to the U.S. House, Bishop has said imports are a states' rights issue and don't require federal regulation.
The Senate has not acted on the bill previously, and it is uncertain whether it will in the current Congress.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has not publicly stated his views on the bill; and new U.S. Sen. Mike Lee was an attorney representing EnergySolutions in its legal fight to win the right to import foreign waste.