Revised Bylaws for the Committee for the Northwest Interstate Compact On Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management
I. Purpose and Function
The Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management was created by its party states and ratified by Congress pursuant to federal law. (See 99 Stats. 1860-1863.) Article V of the Compact creates and constitutes the Compact Committee. As a general matter, the Committee is charged with considering matters relating to the management of low-level radioactive waste in the party states, including review and comment on regulations adopted by the party states. The Compact authorizes the Committee to enter into arrangements with states, Provinces, individual generators, or regional Compact entities outside the region for access to facilities in the region on such terms and conditions as the Committee may deem appropriate, subject to requirements set forth in the Compact.
II. Committee Composition and Membership
The party states of the Northwest Interstate Compact on low-level Radioactive Waste are the states of Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The governor of each state shall designate one official of that state as the person responsible for administration of the Compact. The officials so designated shall together comprise and constitute the Compact committee. The governor of each party state may designate an alternate to serve when the regular representative is unavailable.
III. Duties of the Chair
The chair of the Committee shall be the Committee member from the State of Washington. The chair shall ordinarily preside at all committee meetings, but may from time to time designate another person to preside when the chair is absent or unavailable. If, during any meeting or any portion of a meeting, the chair is absent and fails to designate any person to preside, those members present and constituting a quorum may select a temporary chair to serve until the chair is ready to preside. The chair may appoint subcommittees with the concurrence of the Committee. To the extent consistent with the Compact and with the policies approved by the Committee, the chair is authorized to represent the Committee in official proceedings, to sign and send correspondence on behalf of the Committee, to sign contracts on behalf of the Committee when authorized to do so by Committee action, and to work with the designated Committee staff in carrying out the administrative duties of the Committee.
IV. Committee Duties
The Committee shall:
A. Monitor the status of the Compact.
B. Review the low-level radioactive waste regulations of the party states.
C. Periodically review the requirements of the Compact and report to the governor and legislature of each party state concerning matters of importance.
D. Establish policy through the adoption of resolutions and motions, and through agreements with other compacts and states.
E. Review Compact proposals formulated in other regions and comment on the impact of those compacts in the northwest region.
F. Advise or consult with any party state in interpreting the Compact and its impact.
G. Provide guidance on disposal practices of any of the states in the region which host low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities.
H. Approve requests in accordance with Article V of the Compact for the shipment of waste to the Northwest Compact region from other regions and individual states, on such terms as are set forth in the Compact.
I. Advise party states on funding or other assistance which states.
J. Establish its own internal rules and procedures as may be necessary.
K. Authorize the chair and/or the staff to sign agreements and correspondence on behalf of the Compact.
L. Serve as liaison among the party states, and between the northwest region and other compacts, regions, and governments concerning low-level radioactive waste.
V. Meetings
A. The Committee shall meet at least once in each calendar year, and at such additional times as the Committee may determine. The Chair, in consultation with the Committee, shall designate the times and locations of its regular and special meetings, and may authorize the staff to make detailed arrangements for the conduct of meetings.
B. The requirements for the conduct of Committee meetings shall be established in a policy adopted by the Committee for that purpose and revised from time to time as necessary.
C. Robert’s Rules of Order shall be used for the conduct of Committee business, except as otherwise provided for under the Compact, under these bylaws, or under Committee resolutions.
VI. Quorum/Voting
A. To conduct Committee business, a majority of the committee members (or their properly designated alternates) must be present. Informality in the conduct of a meeting shall not be the basis of a challenge to any action taken if a majority agree on the nature of the action taken.
B. Each state shall cast one vote on all motions and other business coming before the Committee. The vote of a state shall be cast by the state’s representative on the Committees if present, unless the governor of the state has designated another person to cast the state’s vote.
C. The chair shall be entitled to vote on all motions and other business coming before the Committee.
D. Unless the Compact specifies otherwise: 1) Resolutions of the Committee will be adopted by the affirmative vote of two thirds of the members present and constituting a quorum; 2) Committee approval to enter into an arrangement, as specified in Article V of the Compact, will be by the affirmative vote of two thirds of all members, including the affirmative vote of the member of any party state in which a facility affected by the arrangement is located; and 3) For all other actions of the Committee, an action may be taken by a majority vote of those members present and constituting a quorum, however, the Committee shall not adopt or change policies or undertake legal obligations without the affirmative vote of at least four members.
VII. Agenda
The chair and the Committee staff will develop the agenda for each meeting, such agenda to be distributed to all Committee members in advance of the meeting. At any regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee, the agenda may be revised to include discussion and action on any matter which may lawfully come before the committee.
VIII. Committee Staff
The State of Washington will supply staff services to the Compact Committee. Other party states may supply incidental staff services to the Committee, to the extent consistent with the Compact and with the laws of those states.
IX. Interpretation of Bylaws – Conflict with Compact
These bylaws will be liberally construed to carry out the assigned functions of the Committee, without respect to technical formal requirements. These bylaws are not intended to supersede the Compact or any federal or state law.
April 24, 1995