KANSAS DHE CHANGES WASTE DEFINITION

SB 124 authorizes the Secretary of Health and Environment to adopt rules and regulations on the land-spreading of solid waste generated by drilling oil and gas wells. The bill requires the seller of any property where land-spreading has occurred within the previous three years to disclose the land-spreading to any potential purchaser of the property prior to closing. The bill allows for the disposal of waste containing low concentration of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically-enhanced NORM (TENORM) by underground burial. Currently, the underground burial of all low-level radioactive waste is prohibited. The bill also updates the definition of “by-product material” with the language specified by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and replaces a reference to a Board that no longer exists with a reference to the Secretary of Health and Environment.