Radioactive Issues
The new owners of Envirocare announced that the company would give up its quest to receive hotter levels of radioactive waste. Yesterday I wrote about the value of legislative study and committee work. Though I doubt you’ll read it anywhere else, Envirocare’s announcement is a tribute to legislative study and committee work.
Envirocare’s permit application to receive B and C waste had been pending for some time, needing legislative and gubernatorial approval. The company argued that the public would accept the hotter waste, if only they knew the facts. Opponents argued that the public would not accept the hotter waste. Along with other issues, a legislative task force studied that issue. Along with Senator Curt Bramble, I had the privilege of co-chairing the waste policy task force.
After the facts were laid out and examined by the task force, it turned out the opponents were right; the public will not accept hotter radioactive waste. Duh, many might say. But that is not the end of the story. The task force’s examination made it clear to all parties, including Envirocare, that neither the public nor the legislature would accept hotter waste. Envirocare then adjusted its practices and planning to meet that clear reality. This was an important step in cleanly bringing the issue to finality.
With a permit pending – one having been previously approved on the technical merits by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality – Envirocare did have some investment-backed expectations and, therefore, some legal rights to a certain process. Changing the law mid-stream in that permitting process (by outright banning B and C waste) might have created a legal cause of action, thereby entitling Envirocare to some money damages. But, because the legislative process gave Envirocare a clearer view of its future prospects, it made the decision to abandon its quest for hotter waste without litigation and the public expense and angst that would have resulted.
These last 2 years, the task force and its individual members were pilloried for being too quick to act, too slow to act, too close to Envirocare, too close to Envirocare’s adversaries, going too far and not going far enough. But the members dug in and did their work. As a result, the public won this one.
Envirocare’s permit application to receive B and C waste had been pending for some time, needing legislative and gubernatorial approval. The company argued that the public would accept the hotter waste, if only they knew the facts. Opponents argued that the public would not accept the hotter waste. Along with other issues, a legislative task force studied that issue. Along with Senator Curt Bramble, I had the privilege of co-chairing the waste policy task force.
After the facts were laid out and examined by the task force, it turned out the opponents were right; the public will not accept hotter radioactive waste. Duh, many might say. But that is not the end of the story. The task force’s examination made it clear to all parties, including Envirocare, that neither the public nor the legislature would accept hotter waste. Envirocare then adjusted its practices and planning to meet that clear reality. This was an important step in cleanly bringing the issue to finality.
With a permit pending – one having been previously approved on the technical merits by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality – Envirocare did have some investment-backed expectations and, therefore, some legal rights to a certain process. Changing the law mid-stream in that permitting process (by outright banning B and C waste) might have created a legal cause of action, thereby entitling Envirocare to some money damages. But, because the legislative process gave Envirocare a clearer view of its future prospects, it made the decision to abandon its quest for hotter waste without litigation and the public expense and angst that would have resulted.
These last 2 years, the task force and its individual members were pilloried for being too quick to act, too slow to act, too close to Envirocare, too close to Envirocare’s adversaries, going too far and not going far enough. But the members dug in and did their work. As a result, the public won this one.
posted by steve u. at 2/02/2005
Subscribe
0 Comments:
<< Home