TITLE V—SANITATION & HEALTH
CHAPTER 9—ARCATA NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE ZONE ACT
(Ord. 1124, eff. 9/15/1989; Ord. 1179, eff. 9/20/1991; Ord. 1299, eff. 3/04/2000; Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
Sec. 5900 Name. (Ord. 1179, eff. 9/20/1991; Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
This ordinance shall be known as the "Arcata Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Act."
Sec. 5901 Finding and Purpose. (Ord. 1179, eff. 9/20/1991; Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
The people of Arcata find that the presence of nuclear weapons facilities within Arcata is in direct conflict with the maintenance of the community’s public health, safety, and economic well-being.
Accordingly, the purpose of this ordinance is to establish the City of Arcata as a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in which work on nuclear weapons, and the storage or transportation of nuclear weapons is prohibited or appropriately restricted.
This ordinance’s further purpose is to minimize the City of Arcata’s contracts for and purchases of the products and services of nuclear weapons contractors, and to phase out investments of public funds in nuclear weapons contractors, within the constraints of state and federal law.
Sec. 5902 Definitions. (Ord. 1299, eff. 3/04/2000; Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
The following words and terms shall, for the purposes of this Ordinance, have the specified meanings:
(a) "Nuclear weapon" is any material or device having the potential for the explosive release of energy from radioactive nuclei; including any computer program, mechanism or system, or the transportation, deployment, guidance, launching, propulsion, detonation or delivery of nuclear weapons(s).
(b) "Nuclear weapons work" is any production, testing, evaluation, storage, possession, maintenance, development, evaluation of, or research on, nuclear weapons; or the parts or components of nuclear weapons; or any contract to engage in such activity; or any operation, management or administration of such activity.
(c) "Weapons-related nuclear waste" is a radioactive material which is the by-product of the production of nuclear weapons. All radioactive material has the potential for use as a weapon.
(d) "Person" is any natural person, business or corporation, institution, laboratory, financial institution, association or other entity.
(e) "Nuclear weapons contractor" is any person engaged in nuclear weapons work, either directly or due to its status as an affiliate of any other person(s) so engaged, or who has caused any other person to engage in nuclear weapons work.
(f) "Public funds" are all monies, grants, funds or other assets received and/or managed by, or that are otherwise under the control of the City of Arcata, and any notes, bonds, securities, certificates of indebtedness or other fiscal obligations issued by the City of Arcata.
(g) "Product" is, but is not necessarily limited in its meaning to, any good, commodity, computer program, material, supply, vehicle, machinery, and/or equipment, or any service.
(h) "Product of a nuclear weapons contractor" is any product manufactured, produced, grown, obtained from or provided by a nuclear weapons contractor, or to which further work or material manufactured, produced or grown by a nuclear weapons contractor is added such that a substantial transformation of the product is affected.
(i) "Affiliate" is any person who directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the other specified person.
(j) "Contract" is any written agreement or purchase order made on behalf of or by the City of Arcata or any of its agencies or employees, or by the City of Arcata on behalf of any other person, to receive or supply, or any actual receipt or supply of any funds, products, or other consideration, tangible or intangible, having any value.
"List of Nuclear Weapons Contractors" is a publicly accessible list, and shall be used to screen contracts to ensure their compliance with this Chapter and to assist in the identification of nuclear free contract sources. The List of Nuclear Weapons Contractors shall be composed of the most current information available, including reports of contracts with federal agencies known to let contracts of nuclear weapons work (specifically including the Departments of Defense and Energy), information obtained from other jurisdictions with nuclear free contracting requirements, and such other information, as the City Manager, or his/her designee, or the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone and Peace Committee may consider useful and complying with the requirements of said act.
Sec. 5903 Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Work. (Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
No person shall, within the City of Arcata, knowingly engage in nuclear weapons work.
Sec. 5904 Nuclear Weapons Free Zone and Peace Committee.
(Ord. 1179, eff. 9/20/1991; Ord. 1367, eff. 11/18/2008)
The Arcata City Council shall appoint a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone and Peace Committee.
Sec. 5905 Prohibition of Transportation. (Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
The transportation of nuclear weapons and weapons-related nuclear wastes is prohibited on all roadways which are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the City of Arcata.
Sec. 5906 Nuclear Weapons Free Contracts. (Ord. 1179, eff. 9/20/1991; Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
A. Prohibited Contracts: The City of Arcata shall not, except as provided by Sub-section E of this ordinance, enter into any contract either with a nuclear weapons contractor or for any product of a nuclear weapons contractor. However, nothing in this Section shall be construed to:
i) Bar a contract until and unless the affected nuclear weapons contractor has been placed on the list of nuclear weapons contractors specified in Sub-section D of this Section; or
ii) Prohibit contracts for amounts less than five hundred dollars ($500.00) or to any other matters not specifically delineated within this Section.
B. Review of Contracts:
i) Utilizing the List of Nuclear Weapons Contractors, and such other information as may be available, the City Manager, or his/her designee, shall undertake a comprehensive review of such contracts in order to determine their compliance with the requirements of this Section.
ii) Commencing with the first full calendar month after the effective date of this Section, the City Manager, or his/her designee, shall, no later than ten (10) working days after the first day of each month, identify all contracts having a value of five hundred dollars ($500) or more that were entered into during the previous month and identify the producer’s(s’) or manufacturer’s(s’) origin with respect to each contract.
iii) If, following his/her review under the foregoing provisions of this Sub-section, the City Manager makes a preliminary finding that the City either has or might in the future enter into a contract for the product of a nuclear weapons contractor, the City Manager shall immediately notify the affected nuclear weapons contractor(s) as to such preliminary finding and the specific basis therefor, and as to their right to an administrative appeal under the provision of Sub-section C of this Section.
C. Nuclear Weapons Contractor Appeals: Any person notified under the provision of Paragraph B iii) of this Section may, within forty (40) days following such notification, file a written appeal with the City Manager for the purpose of contesting the preliminary finding. Failure on the part of said person to appeal the preliminary finding within said forty (40) day period shall result in forfeiture of that person’s right to contest the preliminary finding. Following the receipt of any such appeal, the City Manager, or his/her designee, shall reconsider his/her preliminary finding and make a final determination of nuclear weapons contractor status not later than ninety (90) days after the date of notification of the preliminary finding.
D. Determination of Nuclear Weapons Contractor Status:
i) So long as any person remains on the list of nuclear weapons contractors maintained by the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone and Peace Committee, the City of Arcata shall, except as provided in Sub-section E of this Section, make no contract with that person or for any product of that person.
ii) A person shall be identified as a nuclear weapons contractor and placed on the list of nuclear weapons contractors following either:
a) A failure by any such person identified as a nuclear weapons contractor in a preliminary finding of the City Manager, or his/her designee, to file a written appeal under the provision of Sub-section C of this Section; or
b) A final determination by the City Manager that the evidence presented in such appeal supported the preliminary finding.
iii) Each person added to the list of nuclear weapons contractors shall be immediately informed in writing of such addition and the reasons therefor, and of their right to provide the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone and Peace Committee with evidence that may subsequently support said person’s removal from the list of nuclear weapons contractors.
iv) A person may be removed from the list of nuclear weapons contractors only if the Committee finds that the person has divested itself of all connection with nuclear weapons work such that it is no longer a nuclear weapons contractor.
E. Findings of No Reasonable Alternative:
i) The City Manager may, by means of making findings of no reasonable alternative, make exceptions to the prohibition of Sub-section A of this Section. Such a finding of no reasonable alternative may be made after it shall have been found that:
a) A good faith effort has been made to comply with the requirements of this Section and in particular to identify and utilize non-nuclear-related sources for contracts;
b) The specifications, if any, have been written so as to maximize the utilization of alternatives.
c) A thorough survey of the List of Nuclear Weapons Contractors has been made by City Manager of all available alternatives to the proposed contract, and that no such alternative is capable of meeting the contract specifications within the specified five percent (5%) cost differential. City staff shall specify at least three (3) alternatives that have been considered and rejected, and the precise reasons, therefor, of where fewer than three (3) alternatives are found to be available, what efforts have been made to identify alternatives.
d) The cost of utilizing any alternative source for the proposed contract would increase the cost of the proposed contract by more than five percent (5%). Said five percent (5%) cost differential shall not, however, as required and defined by relevant State law, apply to "public project" contracts for amounts of more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), except that the City shall, where appropriate, as allowed by State law, contract separately for the "supplies and materials" portion of such contracts where such separate contracting will result in more complete compliance with the intent of this Section.
ii) The City Manager shall provide the Committee with a monthly list of contracts for which a finding of no reasonable alternative was made.
Sec. 5907 Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Sign.
(Ord. 1179, eff. 9/20/1991; Ord. 1299, eff. 3/4/2000; Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
The City shall place and maintain window decals reading "NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE ZONE" at the entrance to City Hall and appropriate signage at other public places.
Sec. 5908 Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Commemoration Day.
(Ord. 1179, eff. 9/20/1991; Ord. 1299, eff. 3/4/2000; Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Commemoration Day shall be observed within the City of Arcata during the week of August 6th of each year.
Sec. 5909 Exclusions. (Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
Nothing in this Ordinance shall be construed to prohibit or restrict the following:
i) Any activity not specifically described in this Ordinance;
ii) The development or application of nuclear medicine;
iii) The manufacture or use of commercial products containing small amounts of radioactive materials such as smoke detectors, light emitting watches and clocks, or gauges, the purpose of which is not to work toward the development of nuclear weapons;
iv) Basic unclassified research or arms control research; or
v) Direct activities of the federal and state government to which any application of this Ordinance is preempted by existing law.
Sec. 5910 Enforcement. ( Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
Each violation of this ordinance shall be punishable as a misdemeanor. Each day of violation shall be deemed a separate violation.
Alternatively, at the direction of the City Council, the City Attorney shall file an action in a court of appropriate jurisdiction to enjoin any violation of this ordinance.
Sec. 5911 Severability Clause. (Ord. 1367, eff. 1/18/2008)
If any section, sub-section, paragraph, sentence, or word of this ordinance shall be held to be invalid, either on its face or as applied, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the other sections, sub-sections, paragraphs, sentences and words of this Ordinance, and the applications thereof; and to that end the sections, sub-sections, paragraphs, sentences and words of this Ordinance shall be deemed to be severable.