ND SB2156

Amends definitions in North Dakota Century Code Chapter 23-20.2 regarding underground disposal facilities, underground storage and retrieval facilities, and waste materials including spent nuclear fuels and radioactive material.

Requires permits from the Industrial Commission for testing, exploration, excavating, drilling, boring, or construction of underground storage and retrieval facilities or waste disposal facilities, with permit fees not to exceed $1,000 and application requirements including detailed descriptions of materials, mechanical construction, subsurface geology, monitoring systems, and reclamation programs.

Requires concurrent resolution approval from the legislative assembly before any high-level radioactive waste material brought into North Dakota can be deposited in the state or before any testing or exploration for such facilities can be conducted; allows counties to regulate size, scope, and location but not preclude disposal if legislatively approved.

Directs the legislative management during the 2017-18 interim to study state and local regulation of high-level radioactive waste disposal, consistency with federal regulations, special session mechanisms for legislative approval, potential legislative veto authority over executive branch decisions, and feasibility of developing new statutes and regulations.