Radioactive Materials Shipment Fee

House Bill 683, which was passed by the Missouri General Assembly and signed by Governor Nixon on July 1, 2009, became effective Aug. 28, 2009. One of the transportation related changes contained in this bill was establishment of a fee for shipments of radioactive materials in or through the State of Missouri. The fees may be used by the Departments of Natural Resources, Health and Senior Services and Public Safety for purposes related to escorts; inspections, security planning; coordination of emergency response capability; education and training of state, county and local emergency responders; purchase and maintenance of necessary equipment; environmental radiation monitoring; oversight of any environmental remediation necessary as a result of an incident involving a shipment of radioactive material and administrative costs incurred by the agencies. Missouri joins six other Midwestern states that have such fees in place: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio. A summary of the other Midwestern fees can be found at http://www.csgmidwest.org/Fees.htm.

Fees should be received by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, P.O. Box 477, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 prior to the shipment entering the state. 

• For high-level shipments, highway route controlled quantity (HRCQ) shipments, spent nuclear fuel or transuranic material shipments, notification and fee payment should be received at least seven (7) days prior to the shipment entering the state.
• Fees may be paid by either credit card or check. To pay by check, please email the notification form to DNR and mail a copy of the form with your check to the address listed above. To pay by credit card, please do not write the card number on the form. Instead, please contact Melanie West in the DNR Accounting Program at 573-751-1151. The department can accept Master Card, VISA and Discover credit cards.
• Once the notification form is received by DNR, a receipt will be emailed to the sender so that the driver will have paperwork to show that the department has been notified of the shipment, and if payment has been made, this will be indicated as well.
• While the statute specifies the shipper is ultimately responsible for payment of the fee, carriers may accept responsibility for the fee on behalf of their clients.
• The statute also authorizes the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to accept annual payment of fees, but implementation of this feature is on hold until regulations can be established regarding annual payments.

Shipments by radioactive material brokers that pick up materials at several points, both within and/or outside of Missouri, are considered one shipment until they have reached their final destination and unloaded.

Each truck is considered a separate shipment under the statute, even if more than one truck is traveling together.

Each train is considered one shipment, no matter how many cars of material are included in the train.

The fee does not apply to shipments by common carrier (ex.: Fed-Ex, UPS, etc.).

Exemptions – a number of exemptions are included in the statute:

• HRCQ shipments of thirty (30) miles or less within Missouri.
• Sealed sources meeting the definition of low level waste in the statute.
• Low level waste shipped less than or equal to fifty (50) miles from the point of origin.
• Low level waste with a half-life less than or equal to one hundred twenty (120) days.
• Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) approved for landfill disposal by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
• Shipments by state-funded universities in Missouri are exempt from the fee, but will be billed directly for escort costs.
• Shipment of high-level, transuranic, HRCQ, spent nuclear fuel or low level waste by the military is exempt from the fee (ex.: spent nuclear fuel from submarines, shipped with military escort).

For questions related to the type of shipment proposed, and whether the shipment is subject to the radioactive materials shipment fee, please contact Jane Beetem at 573-522-2401 or jane.beetem@dnr.mo.gov.

• 780- Missouri Radioactive Materials Shipment Notification and Fee Payment Form
• Radioactive Materials Shipment Fee fact sheet PUB
• http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills091/biltxt/truly/HB0683T.HTM
  (Search for “radioactive” to find applicable text.)