ARTICLE II. DEFINITIONS

     a. “care” means the continued observation of a facility after closing for the purposes of detecting a need for maintenance, ensuring environmental safety, and determining compliance with applicable licensure and regulatory requirements and including the correction of problems which are detected as a result of that observation.

     b. “close”, “closed”, or “closing” means that the compact facility with respect to which any of those terms is used has ceased to accept waste for disposal. “Permanently closed” means that the compact facility with respect to which the term is used has ceased to accept waste because it has operated for twenty years or a longer period of time as authorized by Article VI(i) of this compact, its capacity has been reached, the Commission has authorized it to close pursuant to Article III(h)(7) of this compact, the host state of such facility has withdrawn from the compact or had its membership revoked, or this compact has been dissolved.

     c. “commission” means the Midwest Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission.

     d. “compact facility” means a waste disposal facility that is located within the region and that is established by a party state pursuant to the designation of that state as a host state by the Commission.

     e. “development” includes the characterization of potential sites for a waste disposal facility, siting of such a facility, licensing of such a facility, and other actions taken by a host state prior to the commencement of construction of such a facility to fulfill its obligations as a host state.

     f. “disposal,” with regard to low-level radioactive waste, means the permanent isolation of that waste in accordance with the requirements established by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the licensing agreement state.

     g. “disposal plan” means the plan adopted by the Commission for the disposal of waste within the region.

     h. “facility” means a parcel of land or site, together with the structures, equipment and improvements on or appurtenant to the land or site, which is or has been used for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste, which is being developed for that purpose, or upon which the construction of improvements or installation of equipment is occurring for that purpose.

     i. “final decision” means a final action of the Commission determining the legal rights, duties, or privileges of any person. “Final decision” does not include preliminary, procedural, or intermediate actions by the Commission, actions regulating the internal administration of the Commission, or actions of the Commission to enter into or refrain from entering into contracts or agreements with vendors to provide goods or services to the Commission.

     j. “generator” means a person who first produces low-level radioactive waste, including, without limitation, any person who does so in the course of or incident to manufacturing, power generation, processing, waste treatment, waste storage, medical diagnosis and treatment, research, or other industrial or commercial activity. If the person who first produced an item or quantity of waste cannot be identified, “generator” means the person first possessing the waste who can be identified.

     k. “host state” means any state which is designated by the Commission to host a compact facility or has hosted a compact facility.

     l. “long-term care” means those activities taken by a host state after a compact facility is permanently closed to ensure the protection of air, land, and water resources and the health and safety of all people who may be affected by the facility.

     m. “low-level radioactive waste” or “waste” means radioactive waste that is not classified as high-level radioactive waste and that is class A, B, or C low-level radioactive waste as defined in 10 C.F.R. § 61.55, as that section existed on January 26, 1983. “Low-level radioactive waste” or “waste” does not include any such radioactive waste that is owned or generated by the United States Department of Energy; by the United States Navy as a result of the decommissioning of its vessels; or as a result of any research, development, testing, or production of any atomic weapon.

     n. “operates”, “operational”, or “operating” means that the compact facility with respect to which any of those terms is used accepts waste for disposal.

     o. “party state” means any eligible state that enacts this compact into law, pays any eligibility fee established by the Commission, and has not withdrawn from this compact or had its membership in this compact revoked, provided that a state that has withdrawn from this compact or had its membership revoked again becomes a party state if it is readmitted to membership in this compact pursuant to Article VIII(a) of this compact. “Party state” includes any host state. “Party state” also includes any statutorily created administrative departments, agencies, or instrumentalities of a party state, but does not include municipal corporations, regional or local units of government, or other political subdivisions of a party state that are responsible for governmental activities on less than a statewide basis.

     p. “person” means any individual, corporation, association, business enterprise, or other legal entity either public or private and any legal successor, representative, agent, or agency of that individual, corporation, association, business enterprise, or other legal entity. “Person” also includes the United States, states, political subdivisions of states, and any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States or a state.

     q. “region” means the area of the party states.

     r. “site” means the geographic location of a facility.

     s. “state” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands or any other territorial possession of the United States.

     t. “storage” means the temporary holding of waste.

     u. “treatment” means any method, technique or process, including storage for radioactive decay, designed to change the physical, chemical or biological characteristics or composition of any waste in order to render the waste safer for transport or management, amenable to recovery, convertible to another usable material or reduced in volume.

     v. “waste management”, “manage waste”, “management of waste”, “management”, or “managed” means the storage, treatment, or disposal of waste.

[Pre-1996 Recodification Citation: 13-5-9-2.]

As added by P.L.1-1996, SEC.19. Amended by P.L.131-1996, SEC.3.