125-F:11 Surety Requirement. –
I. For licensed activities involving low-level radioactive waste, the department through its program shall, and for other classes of licensed activity, the department, through its program, may adopt by rule standards and procedures to ensure that the licensees shall provide an adequate surety or other financial arrangement to permit the completion of all requirements established by the department through its program for the decontamination, decommissioning, closure, and reclamation of sites, structures, and equipment used in conjunction with such licensed activity.
II. All sureties under paragraph I which are forfeited shall be paid to the department for deposit by the state treasurer in the radiation long-term care fund, established by RSA 6:12, I(b)(20). All moneys in this fund are hereby continually appropriated and may be expended by the department as necessary to complete such requirements on which licensees have defaulted. Moneys in the fund shall not be used for normal operating expenses of the program or any other component of the department.
III. For licensed activities which will require surveillance or control after the licensed activity ceases, the department, through its program, shall adopt by rule, standards and procedures to ensure that the licensee, before termination of the license, shall make available such funding arrangements as necessary to provide for long-term site surveillance and control.
IV. All funds collected from licensees under paragraph III shall be paid to the department for deposit by the state treasurer in the radiation long-term care fund, established by RSA 6:12, I(b)(20). All funds accrued as interest on moneys deposited in this fund are hereby continually appropriated and may be expended by the department for the continuing long-term surveillance, maintenance and other care of facilities from which such funds are collected as necessary for the protection of the public health, safety, and environment. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, if title to and custody of any radioactive material and its disposal site are transferred to the United States upon termination of any license but for which funds had been collected for such long-term care, the collected funds and interest accrued thereon shall be transferred to the United States; provided, however, that such funds do not include moneys held in surety where no default has occurred and a reclamation for other bonded activity has been performed.
V. The sureties or financial arrangements and funds required by paragraphs I and III shall be established in amounts sufficient to ensure compliance with standards, if any, established by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission or successor thereto pertaining to reclamation and long-term site surveillance and control of such facilities and sites.
VI. In order to provide for the proper care and surveillance of sites subject to paragraph III, the state may acquire by gift or transfer from another government agency or private person, any land or appurtenances necessary to fulfill the purposes of this section. Any such gift or transfer is subject to approval and acceptance by the state in accordance with RSA 4:8.
VII. All lands, buildings, and ground acquired by the state under paragraph VI shall be owned in fee simple absolute by the state and dedicated in perpetuity to the purpose of this section. All radioactive material received at the site and located therein, at the time of acquisition of ownership by the state or thereafter, shall become the property of the state.
VIII. The department, through its program, may enter into contracts, agreements, leases, or licenses with any person, including another state agency, to provide for the decontamination, decommissioning, reclamation, surveillance, or other care of a site subject to this section, as necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
IX. If a person licensed by any state or federal agency other than by the program desires to transfer a site to the state in accordance with RSA 4:8 for the purpose of administering or providing perpetual care, a lump sum deposit shall be made to the radiation long-term care fund. The amount of the deposit shall be determined by the program, taking into account the factors stated in paragraphs III and V of this section.