(a)  The department shall deposit all money received from a financial surety provided pursuant to Section 115091 in the Financial Surety Account, which is hereby created in the Radiation Control Fund.

(b)  Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the money in the Financial Surety Account is hereby continuously appropriated to the department for expenditure only for the decontamination, decommissioning, reclamation, and disposal of radioactive materials, and for long-term maintenance and surveillance for the protection of the public health and safety and the environment, in accordance with subdivision (e), with regard to the facility or operations of the licensee who provided the financial surety.

(c)  The department may not expend the money in the Financial Surety Account for normal operating expenses of the department.

(d)  The department shall, by regulation, establish a procedure whereby a licensee may be refunded the amount of the financial surety provided by the licensee in excess of any amounts expended by the department and any amounts that are required to be retained to cover the costs of long-term maintenance and surveillance pursuant to subdivision (b), with regard to that licensee’s facility or operations. The regulations shall specify that the refund may be received only after the department has determined that the licensee has fully satisfied all of its obligations under its license, and all other obligations which the regulations require to be satisfied before the licensee may receive a refund.

(e)  If the department finds that a radioactive materials licensee is unable to, or is unwilling to, conduct any decontamination, decommissioning, reclamation, disposal, or long-term maintenance and surveillance that may be necessary, the department shall issue an order directing any action and corrective measures it finds necessary to protect the public health and safety and the environment. The department may undertake, or contract for the undertaking of, any actions or corrective measures which the licensee fails to satisfactorily complete, and may expend the amount of the financial surety provided by the licensee to pay the costs of those actions and corrective measures.

(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1023, Sec. 338. Effective September 29, 1996.)