Utah House passes substitute bill allowing DEQ site-specific review for depleted uranium waste; 51-20

The Utah House on Feb. 12 passed the second substitute of House Bill 220, a measure that directs the Department of Environmental Quality to classify certain radioactive waste at the time it is accepted and to use site-specific, science-based performance assessments to evaluate whether depleted uranium may be disposed at Utah facilities. The bill passed on final passage 51-20 and will be transmitted to the Senate.

Sponsor Representative Brad Albrecht (Representative Albrecht) told the chamber the substitute answers a policy question asked by DEQ after years of review of a request from Energy Solutions to dispose of depleted uranium. "The main policy question is when do we classify waste? The answer this bill provides is that waste is classified at the time of acceptance," Albrecht said, and described the substitute as advancing "a science based site specific waste acceptance model." According to Albrecht, the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control in DEQ will participate in site…