Against a ban

Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo

Sen. Ron Allen, D-Stansbury Park

Sen. Beverly Evans, R-Altamont

Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City

Rep. David Hogue, R-Riverton

Rep. Eli Anderson, D-Tremonton

Rep. Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan

Rep. Craig Frank, R-Pleasant Grove

For a ban

Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Murray (sponsor)

Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights

Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan

Rep. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George

Rep. Pat Jones, D-Holladay

Rep. Susan Lawrence, R-East Millcreek

Rep. Joe Murray, R-Ogden

Rep. Roger Barrus, R-Centerville

A last-ditch attempt to recommend banning a certain type of radioactive waste from Utah died Tuesday at the final meeting of a legislative task force charged with reviewing state law on hazardous waste regulation and taxation.

Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Murray, crafted the proposal that would have prevented any entity in the state - so far, limited to Envirocare of Utah - from accepting so-called class B and C radioactive waste while also forbidding the waste from being known as "low-level." It lost by a single vote. Had it passed, the committee would have sent it to lawmakers for further action.

Sen. Curtis Bramble, the Provo Republican whose legislation established the Hazardous Waste Regulation and Tax Policy Task Force and who served as its co-chairman, said an overt ban isn't needed because state law now says no company can accept B and C waste without express permission from both the Legislature and the governor.

"Our position today is it's banned. It's illegal," said Bramble. An outright ban could be unconstitutional, he said.

But the committee's legislative counsel, Robert Rees, said there was no constitutional problem with a ban. And critics testifying at Tuesday's hearing said the committee, by refusing to endorse Arent's proposal, left the door open to Envirocare.

Others professed bewilderment that lawmakers haven't already banned hotter waste, given residents' opposition.

"That is your central failure in your report and the work you've done today," said Salt Lake County resident Mary Draper.

Provo resident Jim O'Neal said the task force's recommendation was a weak watchdog.

"It doesn't bark. It doesn't whimper. It will never bite," he said.

The task force, which has been meeting for two years, approved a draft report on radioactive waste issues and forwarded to the Legislature a proposed bill to set up new oversight regulations for Envirocare.

The Tooele County disposal site accepts about 98 percent of the nation's class A low-level radioactive waste. Class A waste, the least radioactive but most abundant form of nuclear waste, is the only type now permitted in Utah. B and C waste can be thousands of times more radioactive, and includes some material from nuclear power plants.

Envirocare has received a permit from the state Division of Radiation Control to receive higher-level B and C waste that expires in June 2006. Tim Barney, Envirocare senior vice president, said after Tuesday's hearing that the company "has no plans" to pursue renewal of the permit.

A Tribune poll in January showed 86 percent of Utahns oppose higher levels of waste coming into the state. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Scott Matheson Jr., the two major candidates for governor, oppose allowing hotter waste into the state.

"The public should demand that Envirocare terminate its license to dump higher level waste in Utah," said Jason Groenewold, Healthy Environment Alliance spokesman. "The good thing is we have two gubernatorial candidates willing to lead on this issue. It doesn't look like the Legislature is willing to."

The task force recommended that the state Solid and Hazardous Waste Control Board every five years review whether enough money is being set aside to manage the Envirocare site in the centuries after it closes.

The draft report also recommended increased fines for violating state law on hazardous waste and new rules for the disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxic compounds used in electrical equipment. It also recommends elimination of a tax exemption on mixed wastes.

The panel approved language in its report declaring that low-level radioactive waste operations in the state "pose a lower risk than many other chemical and mining facilities that currently operate in the state." But it decided not to draft legislation governing ownership of the site during the "perpetual care" time period, which begins 100 years after the site is cleaned up and padlocked.