19.1 Preamble

The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act was enacted to make states responsible for the disposal of commercial low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) and to allow states to form compacts for LLRW disposal at regional facilities to be located within each compact.

The Governors have long recognized that states possess the technical and administrative capacity to manage low-level waste. More than two decades after the 1985 amendments to the act, the states and their compacts still require, to varying degrees, the cooperation and technical assistance of the federal government as the states seek to carry out their responsibilities under the act.

19.2 Recommendations

The Governors urge that as states present compacts, and amendments to existing compacts, for the disposal of LLRW to Congress, Congress and the President should support prompt ratification of those compacts. Additionally, Congress should exercise restraint with respect to imposing its own views on the management of compacts.The Governors support the continuation of funding by the U.S. Department of Energy for the Manifest Information Management System (MIMS), which has proven essential in tracking the nation's radioactive waste. Sufficient funding should be provided to improve the database and ensure accuracy of the quantity and location of the nation's waste.

Time limited (effective Winter Meeting 2008–Winter Meeting 2010).
Adopted Winter Meeting 1997; revised Winter Meeting 1999, Winter Meeting 2000, and Winter Meeting 2002; reaffirmed Winter Meeting 2004; revised Winter Meeting 2006 and Winter Meeting 2008.