Sec. 28-31. Nuclear safety emergency preparedness. Account. Program.
Sec. 28-31. Nuclear safety emergency preparedness. Account. Program. (a)
The Department of Public Utility Control shall establish a nuclear safety emergency
preparedness account, which shall be a separate, nonlapsing account within the General
Fund, and which shall be financed through assessments of all Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensees that own or operate nuclear power generating facilities in the state.
The department shall initially assess the licensees for a total of two million dollars. The
department may assess licensees for such amounts as necessary for the purposes of the
account, provided the balance in the account at the end of the fiscal year may not exceed
three hundred thousand dollars. The department shall annually assess the licensees, upon
the request of the Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security,
for funding to support annual expenses of five staff positions in the Department of
Environmental Protection and three staff positions in the Department of Emergency
Management and Homeland Security. Personnel shall be assigned to said staff positions
solely for the purposes of the program established pursuant to subsection (b) of this
section. Federal reimbursements and grants obtained in support of the nuclear safety
emergency preparedness program shall be paid into the General Fund and credited to
the account. The department shall develop an equitable method of assessing the licensees
for their reasonable pro-rata share of such assessments. All such assessments shall be
included as operating expenses of the licensees for purposes of rate-making. All moneys
within the account shall be invested by the State Treasurer in accordance with established
investment practices and all interest earned by such investments shall be returned to the
account.
(b) Moneys in the account shall be expended by the Commissioner of Emergency
Management and Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, only to support the activities of a nuclear safety emergency preparedness program and only in accordance with the plan approved by the Secretary of
the Office of Policy and Management under subsection (c) of this section. The program
shall include, but not necessarily be limited to: (1) Development of a detailed fixed
facility nuclear emergency response plan for areas surrounding each nuclear electrical
generation facility and each away-from-reactor spent fuel storage facility, (2) annual
training of state and local emergency response personnel, (3) development of accident
scenarios and exercising of fixed facility nuclear emergency response plans, (4) provision of specialized response equipment necessary to accomplish this task, (5) support
for the operations and personal services costs of the radiological instrument maintenance
and calibration facility, as necessary to replace any reduction in current federal funding,
and (6) any other measures as may be required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
and the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States Department of
Homeland Security. Moneys in the account shall be distributed as follows to carry out the
purposes of the program: The Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland
Security may expend not more than twenty-five per cent of the proceeds of the maximum
annual assessment for administrative functions incident to the program. The Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security may expend such additional
funds as are necessary to assure and maintain emergency operations center capabilities
and specialized response equipment necessary to implement the fixed facility nuclear
emergency response plans. The remaining moneys in the account may be allocated to
other state agencies and used to reimburse municipalities for costs incurred in the purchase and maintenance of equipment and for services rendered in carrying out the purposes of the program.
(c) Not later than November first, annually, the Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, shall submit to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management
a plan for carrying out the purposes of the nuclear safety emergency preparedness program during the next state fiscal year. The plan shall include proposed itemized expenditures and measures for the program. The secretary shall review the plan and, not later
than December first, annually, approve the plan if it conforms to the provisions of this
section.
(d) All moneys within the nuclear safety emergency preparedness account may be
expended only in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the Department
of Public Utility Control may allow an additional assessment of the licensees to supplement the initial assessment of such licensees if either the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States Department of
Homeland Security disapproves or informs, in writing, the Commissioner of Emergency
Management and Homeland Security that it is likely to disapprove the nuclear safety
emergency preparedness plan and additional funds are or would be needed to conform
the plan to acceptable standards.
(P.A. 81-409, S. 1, 2; P.A. 84-85; P.A. 86-312, S. 12, 21; P.A. 88-135, S. 9; P.A. 89-241; P.A. 91-326, S. 3, 4; May
Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-12, S. 9, 10; P.A. 98-226, S. 1; P.A. 99-190, S. 7, 9; P.A. 04-219, S. 23; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3, S. 23.)
History: P.A. 84-85 amended Subsec. (c) to require plan to be based on fiscal year rather than calendar year; P.A. 86-312 changed emergency preparedness "fund" to a separate nonlapsing "account" within the general fund and amended
Subsec. (b) to increase percentage of annual assessment proceeds director may expend to carry out his responsibilities
from 10% to 25%; P.A. 88-135 substituted office of "emergency management" for office of "civil preparedness" in Subsecs.
(b), (c) and (e); P.A. 89-241 amended Subsec. (a) to eliminate requirement that department annually assess licensees for
a total of $20,000 and to provide when account balance falls below $300,000, department may assess licensees for necessary
amounts provided balance may not exceed $300,000 and department may assess licensees for special nonrecurring expenses
for a total not to exceed $100,000, and amended Subsec. (b) to authorize director to expend not more than 25% of proceeds
of maximum annual assessment for administrative functions incident to program and to expend additional funds as necessary
to maintain emergency operations center capabilities and specialized response equipment; P.A. 91-326 amended Subsec.
(a) to provide for an annual assessment of Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensees operating nuclear power generating
facilities for funding to support certain staff positions in the department of environmental protection and the office of
emergency management; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-12 amended Subsec. (a) to increase from three to five the number of staff
positions in department of environmental protection to be funded from annual assessment, to eliminate reference to radiation
and noise control division and to make changes for statutory consistency; P.A. 98-226 transferred responsibility for the
program from the director of the Office of Emergency Management to the Commissioner of Public Safety, amended Subsec.
(a) by changing the permanent cap on the account to a cap at the end of the fiscal year, eliminating assessments for
nonrecurring expenses, and adding one additional staff position, amended Subsec. (b) by including program support for
the radiological instrument maintenance and calibration facility, and amended Subsec. (c) by requiring that program measures be included in the annual program plan (Revisor's note: A reference in Subsec. (b) to "director of the Commissioner
of Public Safety" was changed editorially by the Revisors to "Commissioner of Public Safety"); P.A. 99-190 substituted
"Adjutant General of the Military Department" for "Commissioner of Public Safety" and "Military Department" for "Department of Public Safety", effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 04-219 amended Subsec. (e) to substitute Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for director of the Office of Emergency Management, effective January 1,
2005; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3 amended Subsecs. (a), (b), (c) and (e) to substitute Commissioner of Emergency Management
and Homeland Security for Adjutant General of the Military Department and Department of Emergency Management and
Homeland Security for Military Department and to make technical changes, effective July 1, 2005.