If Tuesday's preliminary vote in the Senate is a reliable indication, EnergySolutions will have a freer hand in disposing of low-level radioactive waste on the section of land it presently uses.

SB155, designed to remove oversight by the governor and Legislature on a disposal site in Tooele County the company owns, blazed through the second-reading vote by 23-6, advancing to the third and final reading.

The change would not remove oversight by state officials.

Speaking for EnergySolutions and its operations plans, Sen. Darin Peterson, R-Nephi, said, "Every time they have tried to change, they have been opposed by one group or another, and they have never lost one of those challenges. Never."

There should be a point where the company can go forward without as much hassle, according to Peterson. EnergySolutions is performing a service, said Peterson, sponsor of SB155. "They have proven themselves to be good partners."

Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, said he was not speaking to impugn the corporate reputation of Energy Solutions. "What I'm trying to do here is to think about the public policy behind what is a significantly important material to many of the people of the state of Utah," McCoy said. Many do not want to leave decisions about the material "in the hands of a group of bureaucrats."

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, said regulators will continue to process change requests; that's what was intended when the law was amended in the past. SB155 merely restores language that should have been in the law all along, he said. It is "critical to once and for all resolve legislative intent," Bramble added.

"The same arguments are made by the same groups year after year after year," he said. "We made it clear that anything other than A waste (the least radioactive waste) was not welcome in this state."

"I think the Legislature should keep some skin in this game," said McCoy. He said officials charged with oversight "absolutely have a role in the process," and they are the experts. "What I have a problem with is absenting ourselves and the governor and the county from a role in that process."

McCoy expressed surprise at the idea that the Legislature did not mean the language now in the law.

"I'm not quite sure if in fact the legislative intent all along has been to not have the governor and the Legislature and the county involved in the decisionmaking process," he said. It's more responsible to have that extra oversight, he said.

Sen. Fred Fife, D-Salt Lake, noted that he was a member of the committee that sent the bill to the Senate with unanimous support. "I've struggled since" about his vote, he said.

"There's an overriding concern by the public, so it's a policy concern as well. I have to make these comments because I'm changing my vote in support of the bill to opposition."

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