A bevy of environmental issues on agenda

Nuclear waste, federal rules that some fear could block road access, keeping an eye on Dugway Proving Ground, a resolution against atomic bomb testing in Nevada — all are among environmental issues the Legislature faces when the session begins Monday.

By far the most contentious involves the long-running debate over importing low-level B and C radioactive waste. Currently only one facility in the state, Envirocare of Utah, disposes of nuclear waste and it handles Class A material, which is less toxic.

Activists have campaigned for an outright ban on B and C waste. Recently, a legislative task force concluded that a ban might have unwanted legal repercussions. Instead, the group supported present regulations that require separate authorization from Utah's Department of Environmental Quality, the Legislature and the governor before such waste can be imported.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has made it plain he is opposed to B and C waste and will not approve it.

But Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake, is pushing a bill that would do away with the three-level process by declaring Utah will not accept B and C material. The measure, titled "Prohibition Against Class B and C Low-level Radioactive Waste," is not yet assigned a number.

It would specify that Utah has "a clear policy opposed to accepting B and C waste and would not even begin that licensure process," she said. Bringing such a license proposal before regulators is time-consuming, she said.

Even though Envirocare has been through the regulatory process, she said, other companies could seek such a license too.

In December, Charles Judd, president of Cedar Mountain Environmental Inc. — which has interest in property near the Envirocare site in Tooele County — said his company might seek to dispose of B and C waste.

"This bill would say there will not be any B and C waste," Arent said. "The public strongly supports this bill. . . . I think most legislators don't support B and C waste."

Any potential resumption of nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site is the target of a resolution sponsored by Rep. Michael E. Noel, R-Kanab.

"The concern I have is they may, in fact, think about doing some underground testing," he said. The resolution would inform Utah's congressional delegation that people of this state do not want nuclear testing carried out to the west.

"We're still seeing the effects of nuclear testing. People are still seeing the cancers that occur as a direct result of those tests, so we want to make sure that that doesn't happen anymore."