The Commission shall evaluate a petition to become an eligible party state on the basis of the following conditions and criteria:

(a) To be eligible for Compact membership, a state must agree that it will be the voluntary host state upon admission to the Compact and will continue to be the voluntary host state for a least that period of time until all currently licensed nuclear power stations within the region have been fully decommissioned and their licenses (including any licenses for storage of spent nuclear fuel under 10 CFR Part 72) have been terminated.

(b) To be eligible for Compact membership, a state must agree that, so long as the petitioning state remains within the Compact, it will be the sole host state.

(c) To be eligible for Compact membership, a state must warrant the availability of a regional disposal facility that will accommodate 800,000 cubic feet of waste from generators located within the borders of the existing party states.

(d) To be eligible for Compact membership, a state must agree to establish a uniform fee schedule for waste disposal at the regional disposal facility that shall apply to all generators within the region. That uniform fee schedule, including all surcharges (except new surcharges imposed pursuant to Article V.f.3. of the Compact), shall not exceed the average fees that generators within the existing party states paid for disposal at the Barnwell, South Carolina, facility at the end of calendar year 1999, adjusted annually based on an acceptable inflation index.

(e) To be eligible for Compact membership, a state must agree with the existing states that regional generators shall be permitted to process or dispose of waste at sites outside the Compact boundaries based solely on the judgment and discretion of each regional generator.

(f) To be eligible for Compact membership, a state must agree with the existing states that the Commission may authorize importation of waste from non-regional generators for the purpose of disposal only if the host state approves and such importation does not jeopardize the warranted availability of 800,000 cubic feet of disposal capacity for waste produced by generators within the existing party states. A new party state must agree that regional generators shall not pay higher fees than non-regional generators and that all books and records related to the establishment or collection of fees shall be available for Commission review.

(g) To be eligible for Compact membership, in addition to the express limitations on non-host state and Commission liability provided in the Compact, a state must agree to indemnify the Commission or the existing party states for any damages incurred solely because of the new state's membership in the Compact and for any damages associated with any injury to persons or property during the institutional control period as a result of the radioactive waste and waste management operations of any regional facility. The petitioning state must agree that this indemnification obligation will survive the termination of the petitioning state's membership in the Compact.

(h) To be eligible for Compact membership, a state must agree that any incentive payments made by the existing party states as an inducement for a state to join the Compact will be returned to the existing party states, with interest, on a pro rata basis if, for any reason, the regional disposal facility ceases to be available to generators in the existing party states for a period of more than six months (other than periods that have been expressly approved and authorized by the Commission) or is unavailable for disposal of 800,000 cubic feet of waste from generators within the borders of the existing states. In the event of such unavailability, the new party state must agree to return the incentive payments based on the following schedule:

(1) 75% of the incentive payment if the regional facility becomes unavailable prior to January 1, 2002;

(2) 50% of the incentive payment if the regional facility becomes unavailable on or after January 1, 2002, and prior to January 1, 2004;

(3) 30% of the incentive payment if the regional facility becomes unavailable on or after January 1, 2004, and prior to January 1, 2006;

(4) 20% of the incentive payment if the regional facility becomes unavailable on or after January 1, 2006, and prior to January 1, 2009;

(5) 10% of the incentive payment if the regional facility becomes unavailable on or after January 1, 2009, and prior to the time when all currently licensed nuclear power stations within the region have been fully decommissioned and their licenses (including any licenses for storage of spent nuclear fuel under 10 CFR Part 72) have been terminated.

(i) To be eligible for Compact membership, a state must agree with the existing states that once a new party state has been admitted to membership in the Compact pursuant to the rules in this part, declaration of any other state as an eligible party state will require the unanimous consent of all members of the Commission.