Relating to the disposal or storage of high-level radioactive waste.
CriticalImmediate action required
High Cost
Effective:2025-06-20
Enforcing Agencies
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
01
Compliance Analysis
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date: June 20, 2025 (Immediate effect due to supermajority vote).
Compliance Deadline: June 20, 2025. All pending applications for off-site high-level waste storage facilities are legally void as of this date.
Agency Rulemaking: No new rulemaking is required to implement the ban. The TCEQ is statutorily barred from processing applications immediately. Expect immediate denial letters for pending TPDES or construction permits related to CIS facilities.
Immediate Action Plan
1.Freeze Logistics: Halt all plans for transporting high-level waste to any facility in Texas other than the site of generation.
2.Revise Financials: Update Decommissioning Trust Fund calculations to account for the loss of the CIS disposal option.
3.Secure Inventory: Verify that all high-level radioactive waste is currently located within the licensed boundary of the generation facility.
4.Monitor Litigation: Direct outside counsel to monitor federal court dockets for immediate challenges regarding Federal Preemption; be prepared to pivot if an injunction is granted.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
Force Majeure Activation: Legal teams must review Master Service Agreements (MSAs) with logistics providers and storage vendors (e.g., Waste Control Specialists). This legislation constitutes a "Change in Law" that likely triggers termination clauses for off-site transport or storage contracts.
Vendor Cancellation: Cancel contingent contracts for rail or heavy-haul transport of high-level waste destined for Texas CIS facilities.
Hiring/Training
Shift to Stewardship: Personnel planning must shift from "transport readiness" to "long-term on-site stewardship." Generators require increased staffing for Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) security, radiation monitoring, and dry cask aging management.
Security Clearances: Ensure security personnel at generation sites maintain valid clearances for an expanded, indefinite storage timeline.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Asset Retirement Obligations (AROs): Finance departments must recalculate AROs. The assumption of off-loading waste to a third party is no longer valid. Liabilities must reflect indefinite on-site management costs.
Permit Withdrawal: Developers of CIS facilities must formally withdraw pending permit applications with TCEQ to avoid an "Administrative Denial" entering the permanent compliance record.
Fees & Costs
Sunk Costs: Capital expenditures related to the licensing of centralized storage facilities in Texas are now stranded assets.
On-Site Storage Costs: Generators must budget for the construction of additional dry cask storage pads and associated security infrastructure at the reactor site.
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
Federal Preemption Conflict: The Atomic Energy Act generally gives the federal government (NRC) supremacy over nuclear materials. HB4112 attempts to bypass this by using state water/construction permitting authority to block facilities. Business Logic: While litigation is guaranteed, you must operate under the assumption that the Texas ban is valid until a federal court issues an injunction. Do not ignore the state law anticipating a federal overturn.
"Site of Origin" Definition: The law does not explicitly address waste transfers between two sites owned by the same operator (e.g., moving waste from Comanche Peak Unit 1 to Unit 2). However, the strict "site of origin" language implies any movement across property lines is prohibited.
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The 87th Legislature, Second Called Session, 2021, enacted H.B. 7 which prohibited the disposal and storage of high-level radioactive waste in Texas, with exceptions for on-site storage and disposal at the site of currently or formerly operating nuclear power reactors and university-operated nuclear research and test reactors. The bill author seeks to revise those statutory provisions through C.S.H.B. 4112 by explicitly clarifying that all past, currently operational, and future nuclear power reactors and university-operated nuclear research and test reactors are exempt from the restrictions on high-level radioactive waste storage and disposal.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 4112 amends the Health & Safety Code to expand the prohibition against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) under the authority given to the TCEQ under the federal Clean Water Act issuing a general construction permit or approving a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan under specified Water Code provisions or issuing a permit under the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program under specified Water Code provisions for the construction or operation of a facility that is licensed for the applicable storage of high‑level radioactive waste by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by also prohibiting the TCEQ from, under such authority, issuing an aforementioned permit or approving an aforementioned plan for the construction or operation of a facility that is licensed for the applicable disposal of such waste by that federal commission. The bill, with respect to the exception from this prohibition for a permit for a facility located at the site of nuclear power reactors and nuclear research and test reactors operated by a university, does the following:
·removes the specification that the reactors be currently or formerly operating; and
·specifies that such a facility includes a facility that stores high-level radioactive waste.
C.S.H.B. 4112, with respect to the exception from the prohibition against a person disposing of or storing high-level radioactive waste in Texas for the storage at the site of nuclear power reactors and nuclear research and test reactors operated by a university, removes the specification that the reactors be currently or formerly operating.
C.S.H.B. 4112 requires high-level radioactive waste stored at a facility excepted from both of the aforementioned prohibitions to originate from the nuclear power reactors or nuclear research and test reactors located at the site at which the waste is stored.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2025.
COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 4112 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
The substitute includes provisions absent from the introduced requiring high-level radioactive waste stored at a facility located at the site of nuclear power reactors and nuclear research and test reactors operated by a university excepted from certain prohibitions to originate from the nuclear power reactors or nuclear research and test reactors located at the site at which the waste is stored.
Whereas the introduced, with respect to the exception from the prohibition against the TCEQ relating to a permit for a facility located at the site of nuclear power reactors and nuclear research and test reactors operated by a university, specified that such a facility is a storage facility, the substitute instead specifies that such a facility includes a facility that stores high-level radioactive waste.
HB4112 institutes a statutory ban on Consolidated Interim Storage (CIS) of high-level radioactive waste in Texas by stripping the TCEQ of its authority to issue necessary construction and water permits for off-site storage facilities. This legislation forces commercial nuclear generators to retain all high-level waste at the site of origin indefinitely, effectively cancelling any commercial plans for third-party waste disposal within the state. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: June 20, 2025 (Immediate effect due to supermajority vote).
Q
Who authored HB4112?
HB4112 was authored by Texas Representative Brooks Landgraf during the Regular Session.
Q
When was HB4112 signed into law?
HB4112 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce HB4112?
HB4112 is enforced by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Q
How urgent is compliance with HB4112?
The compliance urgency for HB4112 is rated as "critical". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of HB4112?
The cost impact of HB4112 is estimated as "high". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does HB4112 address?
HB4112 addresses topics including environment and environment--hazardous, toxic & nuclear waste.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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