Section 7130.302 - Powers and duties of the Environmental Quality Board(a) Rules and regulations.-- The Environmental Quality Board, exercising authority under section 1920-A of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L. 177, No. 175), known as The Administrative Code of 1929, shall have the power and its duty shall be to adopt regulations developed by the department for the implementation of this act. These regulations shall include, but are not limited to: generation, transportation, handling, separation, minimization, treatment and disposal of low-level radioactive waste; permit and license fees, standards and procedures; facility siting, including standards and siting regulations for new low-level waste incinerators and compactors and for the regional facility; facility design; manifest and reporting requirements; facility operational management; financial responsibility assurance; public participation; host and affected municipality benefits and guarantees; monitoring and inspection; compliance and enforcement; and any other regulatory requirements the department finds necessary or appropriate for the protection of the public health and the environment from low-level radioactive wastes, provided that the provisions of any siting regulations adopted under this section shall not apply to any commercial compactor facility which obtained a license from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorizing operation pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act prior to the effective date of this act.(b) Site selection.--(1) In addition to the authority to adopt regulations under this act, the Environmental Quality Board shall make the preliminary determination as to whether three proposed potentially suitable sites satisfy the applicable siting regulations.(2) The effect of the board's preliminary approval of a site is to approve a potentially suitable site for further study. This preliminary approval assures access for further study of the site, in accordance with section 307(f), and public participation, especially by the potential host municipality during the evaluation and study of a potentially suitable site.(3) The board's preliminary site approval is not a final action regarding the potentially suitable site. The board's preliminary approval is appealable only to the extent the owner of the land which constitutes the site can demonstrate immediate and present damages from further study activity to be undertaken on the site. The final determination as to whether the potentially suitable site meets the siting regulations shall be made by the secretary after the further studies are completed, as part of the license application decision.(c) Procedure.--The board shall establish procedures, including appropriate public participation, governing the preliminary site approval process. The public participation process shall include at least one public information meeting and one public hearing held by the board in each potential host municipality and an opportunity for comment on the public record. The host municipality and host county shall have a minimum of 180 days from the receipt of funds under section 318(a) to offer comments during the public participation process established under this section.(d) Technical assistance.--(1) The board may contract for the services of an independent consultant to assist the board in its review of all matters relating to the evaluation and preliminary approval of the sites proposed and submitted to the board by the operator-licensee designate under the provisions of section 307.(2) The consultant shall be selected through a request-for-proposal process. The proposal shall include sufficient information to evaluate the consultant's expertise, competence and qualifications for assisting in the evaluation of the proposed sites.(3) No consultant shall have a direct financial interest in any industry which generates low-level radioactive waste, any low-level radioactive waste regional facility or any associated industry, nor shall they have acted as a consultant to the department in any matter involving low-level radioactive waste within five years from the date of this act. Any consultant which may have a potential conflict of interest as described in the act of July 19, 1957 (P.L. 1017, No. 451), known as the State Adverse Interest Act, the act of October 4, 1978 (P.L. 883, No. 170), referred to as the Public Official and Employee Ethics Law, or other applicable statute or executive order shall reveal and explain the potential conflict as part of the request-for-proposal process.1988, Feb. 9, P.L. 31, No. 12, § 302, imd. effective.