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§ 30197.5. Criteria Relating to Use of Financial Tests and Self-Guarantee for Providing Reasona...

17 CA ADC § 30197.5Barclays Official California Code of Regulations

Barclays California Code of Regulations
Title 17. Public Health
Division 1. State Department of Health Services (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 5. Sanitation (Environmental) (Refs & Annos)
Subchapter 4. Radiation
Group 2. Licensing of Radioactive Materials
Article 4. Licenses
17 CCR § 30197.5
§ 30197.5. Criteria Relating to Use of Financial Tests and Self-Guarantee for Providing Reasonable Surety of Funds for Decommissioning by Commercial Companies That Have No Outstanding Rated Bonds.
(a) An applicant or licensee may provide reasonable assurance of the availability of funds for decommissioning based on furnishing its own guarantee that funds will be available for decommissioning costs by demonstrating the company passes the financial test specified in subsection (b), and provided the self-guarantee contains the terms specified in subsection (e).
(b) To pass the financial test, a company shall meet all of the following. For purposes of applying the criteria, tangible net worth must be calculated to exclude all intangible assets and the net book value of the nuclear facility and site, and total net worth, which may include intangible assets, must be calculated to exclude the net book value and goodwill of the nuclear facility and site:
(1) Tangible net worth of at least $21 million, and total net worth of at least 10 times the amount of decommissioning funds being assured by a self-guarantee for all decommissioning activities for which the company is responsible as self-guaranteeing licensee and as parent-guarantor for the total of all nuclear facilities or parts thereof (or the prescribed amount if certification is used pursuant to sections 30197(b)(2), 30197.1(b)(2), or 30197.2(b)(2), as applicable);
(2) Assets located in the United States amounting to at least 90 percent of total assets or at least 10 times the total current decommissioning cost estimate (or the prescribed amount if certification is used pursuant to sections 30197(b)(2), 30197.1(b)(2), or 30197.2(b)(2), as applicable) for all decommissioning activities for which the company is responsible as self-guaranteeing licensee and as parent-guarantor; and
(3) A ratio of cash flow divided by total liabilities greater than 0.15 and a ratio of total liabilities divided by total net worth less than 1.5.
(c) The company's independent certified public accountant must have compared the data used by the company in the financial test, which is required to be derived from the independently audited year-end financial statements for the latest fiscal year, with the amounts in such financial statement. The accountant must evaluate the company's off-balance sheet transactions and provide an opinion on whether those transactions could materially adversely affect the company's ability to pay for decommissioning costs. In connection with the auditing procedure, the licensee must inform the Department within 90 days of any matters coming to the auditor's attention which cause the auditor to believe that the data specified in the financial test should be adjusted and that the company no longer passes the test.
(d) After the initial financial test, the company must annually pass the tests specified in subsection (b) and provide documentation of its continued eligibility to use the self-guarantee to the Department within 90 days after the close of each succeeding fiscal year. If the licensee no longer meets the requirements of subsection (b), the licensee shall send notice to the Department of intent to establish an alternative financial surety as specified in section 30195.1. The notice shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year for which the year-end financial data show that the licensee no longer meets the financial test requirements. The licensee shall provide an alternative financial surety within 120 days after the end of such fiscal year.
(e) The terms of a self-guarantee which an applicant or licensee furnishes shall provide that:
(1) The guarantee shall remain in force unless the licensee sends notice of cancellation by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the Department. Cancellation may not occur until an alternative financial surety is in place;
(2) The licensee shall provide an alternative financial surety pursuant to section 30195.1 within 90 days following receipt by the Department of a notice of cancellation of the guarantee;
(3) The guarantee and financial test provisions shall remain in effect until the Department has terminated the license or until another financial surety acceptable to the Department has been put in effect by the licensee;
(4) The applicant or licensee shall provide to the Department a written guarantee (a written commitment by a corporate officer) which states that the licensee will fund and carry out the required decommissioning activities or, upon issuance of an order by the Department, the licensee will fund the standby trust or the Financial Surety Account within the Radiation Control Fund administered by the Department pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 115092 in the amount of the current cost estimates for decommissioning;
(5) A standby trust or the Financial Surety Account within the Radiation Control Fund administered by the Department pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 115092 must be established for decommissioning costs before the self-guarantee agreement is submitted. The trustee and trust must be acceptable to the Department. An acceptable trustee includes an appropriate State or Federal Government agency or an entity which has the authority to act as a trustee and whose trust operations are regulated and examined by a Federal or State agency. The Department will have the right to change the trustee. An acceptable trust shall meet the regulatory criteria established in this section that governs the issuance of the license for which the guarantor has accepted the obligation to pay for decommissioning costs;
(6) The guarantor must agree that if the guarantor admits in writing its inability to pay its debts generally, or makes a general assignment for the benefit of creditors, or any proceeding is instituted by or against the guarantor seeking to adjudicate it as bankrupt or insolvent, or seeking dissolution, liquidation, winding-up, reorganization, arrangement, adjustment, protection, relief or composition of it or its debts under any law relating to bankruptcy, insolvency, or reorganization or relief of debtors, or seeking the entry of an order for relief or the appointment of a receiver, trustee, custodian, or other similar official for the guarantor or for any substantial part of its property, or the guarantor takes any action to authorize or effect any of the actions stated in this paragraph, then the Department may:
(A) Declare that the financial surety guaranteed by the self-guarantee agreement is immediately due and payable to the standby trust or to the Financial Surety Account within the Radiation Control Fund administered by the Department pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 115092, without prior demand or any other notice of any kind, both of which are expressly waived by guarantor; and
(B) Exercise any and all of its other rights under applicable law; and
(7) The guarantor must notify the Department, in writing, immediately following the occurrence of any event listed in paragraph (6), and must include a description of the event, including major creditors, the amounts involved, and the actions taken to assure that the amount of funds guaranteed by the self-guarantee agreement for decommissioning will be transferred as soon as possible to the standby trust or to the Financial Surety Account within the Radiation Control Fund administered by the Department pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 115092.

Credits

Note: Authority cited: Sections 115000, 115091 and 131200, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 114965, 114970, 115060, 115091, 115092, 115235, 131050, 131051 and 131052, Health and Safety Code.
History
1. New section filed 2-26-2019; operative 4-1-2019 (Register 2019, No. 9).
This database is current through 4/26/24 Register 2024, No. 17.
Cal. Admin. Code tit. 17, § 30197.5, 17 CA ADC § 30197.5
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