The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management
(OCRWM) executes cooperative agreements with national,
regional, State and Tribal organizations whose
interests include spent nuclear fuel and high-level
radioactive waste transportation.
The agreements typically cover a 5-year period, with funding provided annually, subject to Congressional appropriations.
Cooperative agreements have facilitated two-way communications and collaboration between OCRWM and transportation stakeholders, and have enabled a wider audience to learn about and participate in the OCRWM program. Currently, OCRWM has cooperative agreements with the following organizations:
- Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA)
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is an organization of federal, state, and provincial government agencies and representatives from private industry dedicated to improving commercial vehicle safety. Through a cooperative agreement with OCRWM, CVSA will review its existing Level VI inspection program for radioactive shipments, train inspectors and shippers, and expand public outreach to inform stakeholders and other interested parties of the objectives of the Level VI Inspection Program.
- National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) is a non-profit organization whose members include the governmental agencies that are engaged in the regulation of utilities and carriers in the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. NARUC’s Nuclear Waste Program Office (NWPO) was formed pursuant to a cooperative agreement with DOE to inform and represent the nation’s public utility commissioners on issues related to nuclear waste policy, at both the national and local levels.
- National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
The National Conference of State Legislatures is a bipartisan organization dedicated to serving the lawmakers and staffs of the nation’s 50 states, its commwealths and territories. The cooperative agreement between OCRWM and NCSL facilitates communication about civilian radioactive waste management and transportation issues among DOE, state legislators, state officials and legislative staff.
The Council of State Governments/Eastern Regional Conference (CSG/ERC)
Ten northeastern states are represented by CSG/ERC (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont), as well as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Provinces of Québec and Nova Scotia.
The CSG/ERC, through its Northeast High-Level Radioactive Waste Transportation Project, has helped DOE identify and analyze issues pertaining to the transportation of high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel from commercial nuclear power generators in the Northeast.
The Council of State Governments-Midwestern Office (CSG-MW)
Twelve states are represented by CSG-MW (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin). The Midwestern High-Level Radioactive Waste Committee provides a mechanism for two-way communications between CSG-MW's member states and DOE concerning regional issues related to the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
Southern States Energy Board (SSEB)
The SSEB is a public nonprofit interstate compact agency that serves as the regional energy and environmental representative for the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, as well as the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The SSEB’s Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee provides DOE a regional perspective for the study of a broad range of institutional, legal and technical issues relevant to the transportation of spent nuclear fuel, transuranic and high-level radioactive waste.
Western Interstate Energy Board (WIEB)
The Western Interstate Energy Board is the regional interstate compact for twelve western states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). The state of Hawaii and the western Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan are associate members.
WIEB’s High-Level Radioactive Waste Committee, which consists of nuclear waste transportation experts from governor’s policy offices, state energy, public safety, and environmental agencies, works toward development of a safe and publicly acceptable system for transporting spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.
