• • • ;.tnents' IsiSLR plan dfaws fire House panel hearing ,....ERALD. 1 79 a year were allowed to gather signa- tures. Here are the key elements of the support for the proposal. Clements plan: i" If the proposal calls for the ex- Persons pushing an I&R propos- penditure of money, it would be sub- al would have to pay a $100 filing fee mitted to the state comptroller for fLs- - designed to cut down on "frivolous cal analysis. The secretary of state ideas" --and submit their proposal to would be responsible for standardiz- the attorney general for drafting as- ing the petition form. sistanee. Although the attorney gen- eral would make sure proposed statu- tory changes were not unconstitution- al, he would not have "veto" power over the language. Signatures of registered voters equal to 15 per cent of the turnout of the last gubernatorial race would be required for citizen-initiated constitu- tional amendments. For statutory changes, 10 per cent would be re- quired. (There were 2.3 million votes cast in the 1978 race for governor. During the first five years after That would mean 345,000 signatures its passage, an I&R proposal could would be required for constitutional only be revised or deleted by two- changes, and 230,000 for statutory thirds vote of the legislature, if it changes.) could be shown that the proposal has Signatures must he gathered an undesirable effect. within 180 days from at least 190 of iLHOUN the 254 counties to insure widespread tier Gov. William P. Cle- give and referendum ;al outlined at a House hearing in Dallas Fri- amediate fire from the Inv and others in a that testified. itee chairman Ray Kel- aville, said Clements ap- I "changed his position" WI proposal he wants the legislature in a spe- because the draft was cave" than any of the ied in the last session of e. which fretted the sub- arnbers and some of the testified was a require- titions to place an initia- sndum before the state's be gathered within 180 !nor promised us a work- W-and referendum pro- is not workable," said chairman of the Taxpav- ion of Fort Worth and ! his organization favors rie state constitution to oters initiative and refer- But he said it would be ta obtain the signatures WO registered voters — ate number that would o call a vote under Dc- - during the specified The legislature would then have the opportunity to pass the proposal into law without submitting it to the voters, offer an alternative, or refuse to act on it. If the legislature approves an al- ternative, it would be submitted to the voters along the citizen-initiated proposal. The proposal receiving the highest number of votes would be- come law. DALLAS TIMES HERALD Waste shipments anger Clements os3wo° By SARALEE TIEDE DEC 1 19 ton have been temporarily closed Au ureau AUSTIN -- Gov. William P. Cle- ments Jr. said Friday he wants to im- mediately halt out-of-state shipments 'Ace to have the gover- of nuclear waste to Texas' Pelican Is- itatives out with me get- land storage site. es on petitions, because "That's nonsense," the plainspoken I don't know anything governor said after learning that the uff told the subcommit- Todd Research and Technical Division ring details of the Cie- site .near Galveston accepts waste al. from *at least two nuclear power it took him and several plants in California. "Gov. (Edmund) t a year to gather 20,000 Brown, can take care of his own registered voters on pe- \.__waste " for an I&R amendment, The site, located 19 feet above sea lented before a Senate level, has 11,579 barrels of nuclear the last legislative ses- waste producing about 2.800 curies of I most of the 23 states radioactivity. About 80 per cent of ...... limit on gathering signa- iitiative and referendum that came from other states, plant manager Charles Hathaway told the Senate NatuLd _Resources Committee Carlyle Smith, D-Grand hursdayr. carried an I&R bill in -- le last session, Said per- wtitions to initiate stat- tutional changes should le months to a year to ' res. the fact that I&R advo- t in agreement on how ment should be worded hard case harder" and Clements' plan would 31 session. as said he will call a spa- n either March or Sep- i80 to take up an I&R ig with a police wiretap chef. His 1978 campaign .ained an I&R plank but a to gather the required ite in either the House the regular session to )sal. a legislative analyst on ff, emphasized that the in was incomplete. He iernent was not "not set :iut added that verifica- could arise if more than Clements admitted he wasn't sure whether he could legally call a halt to the shipments, but said his staff is trying to determine exactly how much of the waste is not from Texas and how the site operates. "But I say stop it and let somebody find out what the law says later," added. ialveston City Council has asked Todd to stop accepting new waste shipments. The site's inventory has been increasing because nuclear disposal sites in Nevada and Washing- Sen. A. R. "Babe" Schwartz. Galveston, chairman chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, said "no one would quarrel" with Cle- ments' decision if it proved Constitu- tional to stop the shipments. The problem. he said, is that it is unfair for Texas to cut off its storage site to other states while sending waste to federal disposal sites in Washington and Nevada. He said the Legislature is studying the entire nu- clear waste disposal problem. Hathaway said the wastes stored at Pelican Island are of very low radio- activity — "much of it would be be- low controllable levels" — and the site could accommodate 150.000 drums without posing a hazard. However, Schwartz said the storage site is vulnerable to a hurricane that could spread contamination across the region's soil and water. "A hurricane is not hypothetical," Schwartz said. "It is a circumstance that has occurred in the recent past and will in the future. And when it does those drums will be in Chambers County and Anahuac and Lufkin." Clements said on a Thursday night television program he was satisfied with the operation of the site and its regulation by the State Health De- partment. At his Friday news confer- ence he said he was not aware at that time that much of the waste came from other states. Rep. Hill says he'll run for Amarillo prosecutor na WORTH S.T. fiLiV 3-0 - MARILLO ( AP) —State Rep. Danny Hill announced y he will be a candidate for district attorney in ter and Armstrong counties, the post currently held b embattled prosecutor Torn Curtis. • said during his formal announcement the admin. • tion of justice in the two counties has gone from .• rly and fair" to an "atrnosphe re of fear, suspicion, • ility and political warfare." 1111141.03