Comment: How come the public comments is not listed?
Coal and Energy Commission
December 3, 2009
The Virginia Commission on Coal and Energy met in Richmond. Chairman Terry G. Kilgore welcomed the members and called the meeting to order.
Subcommittee Update
Delegate R. Lee Ware provided the full commission with an update of the activities of the Uranium Mining Subcommittee, which was created by the Coal & Energy Commission by motion on November 6, 2008.
Since that meeting just over a year ago, the subcommittee met four times to develop and finalize a scope for the study that would be used to execute the contract with the National Academy of Sciences or, more specifically, with the National Research Council (NRC), which is under the same umbrella organization as the National Academy of Sciences.
Delegate Ware reports that the public comment at each meeting was robust, extensive, and thoughtful. After receiving public comment, the scope of study was finalized and adopted by the subcommittee at the meeting on May 21, 2009. The Governing Board Executive Committee of the NRC met on November 11, 2009, to review the scope and determine whether the study would be accepted. As a result of that meeting, the NRC has asked for clarification on several issues.
First, it is critical that NRC maintain its independence in carrying out the study. The request to perform the study emanates from the Coal and Energy Commission—which would be considered the study sponsor, notwithstanding that funding for the study might be provided by a for-profit entity, and that the signatory for the study would be the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech, acting as an agent for the Commonwealth.
Second, the NRC is committed to providing a completely objective, high-quality scientific assessment of the issues. To that end, any funding must be guaranteed as fully available throughout the course of the contract term and there should be no contingencies save the production of deliverables under the contract. The NRC committee undertaking the study would seek information from all interested parties, but would operate with complete independence from Virginia Uranium and from the study’s sponsor, the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Finally, the NRC would like to amend or delete the last item in the scope of study. The amendment would limit that item to a nontechnical summary of the report for public education and outreach purposes. It should also be noted by the Commission that, while the study would provide independent, expert advice to inform decisions about the future of uranium mining, the study would not make recommendations about whether or not uranium mining should be permitted, nor would the study include site-specific assessments. If the NRC were to accept the modifications and enter into the contract to perform the study, Delegate Ware anticipated that the next step of the subcommittee would be to hold public hearings to determine the scope of the socio-economic study and the entity best suited to perform that study.
Members of the Uranium Mining Subcommittee unanimously voted to accept the scope as recommended by the NRC. Delegate Ware hopes that the socio-economic study could take place contemporaneously with the study by the NRC. The Commission thought that staff might prepare an informal query to determine which institutions might be interested in performing the socio-economic study.
Public Comment
The Commission received public comment expressing concern about the treatment of communities living around mining operations and dust exposure, particularly at the hands of Canadian mining corporations.
Chairman:
The Hon. Terry Kilgore
For information, contact:
Ellen Porter, DLS Staff
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Division of Legislative Services; Legislative Record 2009
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Read more:
http://dls.state.va.us/pubs/legisrec/2009/CEC2.htm
