First-in-the-nation tax on spent nuclear fuel aimed at helping Indian Point communities

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed first-in-the-nation legislation giving the communities around Indian Point the ability to collect taxes on the spent nuclear fuel that will be left behind when the power plant shuts down in April.

The legislation was being pushed by the village of Buchanan, the town of Cortlandt and the Hendrick Hudson school district as a potential revenue source when the $32 million they receive from an annual PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) agreement with Indian Point’s owner runs out.

Signed last week, the bill was introduced by Democrats Pete Harckham in the state Senate and Sandra Galef in the Assembly. It designates spent nuclear fuel stored in reactor cooling pools and steel-and-cement containers as real property that can be assessed.

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“The PILOT payments will be reduced as the reactors shut down and the years go by,” Harckham said. “But this is still real property that they’ll be able to assess and tax. They’ll have another revenue stream to help keep them whole as they navigate through this process.”

Buchanan faces annual losses of $3.5 million, half its budget.

“It’s a win for the community,” Buchanan Mayor Theresa Knickerbocker said. “It will help with the real impacts that come with the closure of a nuclear power plant but we need to remember that it’s not a long-term fix. This spent fuel can be moved off the property eventually.”

The owner of the property would be responsible for the tax payments. Entergy, Indian Point’s longtime and current owner, has a pending deal to sell the 240-acre property and its reactors to Holtec International, a New Jersey firm that specializes in decommissioning and dismantling nuclear power plants.

The company plans to use more than $2 billion accumulated in Indian Point’s decommissioning trust funds to pay for a project it estimates could take up to 15 years.

Holtec hopes to send Indian Point’s spent fuel to an interim repository for nuclear waste it wants to develop in New Mexico. That plan is awaiting approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and faces several hurdles, including opposition from New Mexico’s governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.

It’s unclear how much the municipalities and schools could recoup assessing spent fuel, but it will be significantly less than they currently receive. A Holtec spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Harckham said New Jersey is considering a similar measure to assist communities hurt by the shutdown of a nuclear power plant.

More laws to help

Cuomo signed two other Indian Point bills. One allows plants that once generated power to enter into PILOT agreements with towns and schools. Another requires that Indian Point employees that work on the decommissioning be paid no less than the prevailing wage in nearby communities.

The governor also called on the state Public Service Commission to create a decommissioning oversight board for Indian Point that would include local officials, environmental groups, labor representatives and scientists.

And he amended the state’s Public Service Law to make it clear that the Public Service Commission has the authority to oversee nuclear power plants after a shutdown.

“The state must retain its oversight to ensure that nuclear facilities are shut down and decommissioned, and the sites restored, safely and thoroughly,” Cuomo wrote.

Hendrick Hudson School superintendent Joseph Hochreiter said the taxes on spent fuel will help the district weather budget shortfalls in the coming years.

“Our school community has worked tirelessly to maintain academic excellence and affordability,” Hochreiter said. “We are hopeful that the anticipated increased revenue from the spent fuel will allow us to maintain and expand our programs.”