Agenda Date:  May 30, 2001
Item Numbers:  2A and 2B

Dockets:  UR-010623 and UR-010706

Company Name: US Ecology, Inc. 

Staff:   Layne Demas, Regulatory Services Division
   Ken Hua, Regulatory Service Division
Penny Hansen, Public Involvement Coordinator

Recommendation:

Take no action on the LSN request in Docket UR-010706.  

Issue a Complaint and Order Suspending the filings in Dockets UR-010623 and 
UR-010706.

Discussion:

On April 30, 2001, US Ecology, Inc., (Ecology) filed for a general rate 
increase in Docket UR-010623 with an effective date of June 1, 2001.  Ecology 
failed to file a complete tariff so on May 10, 2001, Ecology filed the rest of 
the tariff with a request for LSN treatment to be effective June 1, 2001, in 
Docket UR-010706.  

Ecology’s last general rate filing was approved in 1995 in Docket UR-950619.  
The final rates and rate design were a culmination of a long collaborative 
process that began in 1994.  A stipulation as to rate design and other 
ratemaking issues was reached by the collaborative group and approved by the 
Commission in the Fifth Supplemental Order in Docket UR-950619.  Finally, a 
settlement agreement was reached to iron out the last remaining issues.  This 
was approved by the Commission in the sixth supplemental order of the same 
docket.  The end result of the whole process was a complete overhaul of the 
rate design, increased rates to be effective January 1, 1996, and annual 
projections of expected LLRW (low-level-radioactive waste) for the four 
subsequent years.  Based on these annual projections, the rates are adjusted 
effective each January 1st to achieve the approved revenue requirement.  

The rate increase approved in Docket UR-010484 effective January 1, 2001, was 
the last of the rate adjustments under the 1995 agreement.  The rates proposed 
for January 1, 2002, and the five years following are subject to a new review 
by Commission Staff.  Staff is still in the process of  conducting this review 
of Ecology’s books and records for the test period ended December 31, 2000.  At 
the present time, Ecology has not demonstrated that the proposed rates are 
fair, just, reasonable, and sufficient.

Staff recommends the Commission take no action on the LSN request in Docket 
UR-010623 and issue a Complaint and Order Suspending the filings in Dockets 
UR-010623 and UR-010706.