260.558.  Radioactive waste investigation fund created, purpose, use of moneys — limitation on transfers. — 1.  There is hereby created in the state treasury the "Radioactive Waste Investigation Fund".  The state treasurer shall be custodian of the fund. In accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180, the state treasurer may approve disbursements.  The fund shall be a dedicated fund and, upon appropriation, moneys in the fund shall be used solely by the department of natural resources to investigate concerns of exposure to radioactive waste.  Upon written request by a local governing body expressing concerns of radioactive waste contamination in a specified area within its jurisdiction, the department of natural resources shall use moneys in the radioactive waste investigation fund to develop and conduct an investigation, using sound scientific methods, for the specified area of concern.  The request by a local governing body shall include a specified area of concern and any supporting documentation related to the concern.  The department shall prioritize requests in the order in which they are received, except that the department may give priority to requests that are in close proximity to federally designated sites where radioactive contaminants are known or reasonably expected to exist.  The investigation shall be performed by applicable federal or state agencies or by a qualified contractor selected by the department through a competitive bidding process.  In conducting an investigation under this section, the department shall work with the applicable government agency or approved contractor, as well as local officials, to develop a sampling and analysis plan to determine if radioactive contaminants in the area of concern exceed federal standards for remedial action due to contamination.  Within a residential area, this plan may include dust samples collected inside residential homes only after obtaining permission from the homeowners.  The samples shall be analyzed for the isotopes necessary to correlate the samples with the suspected contamination, as described in the sampling and analysis plan.  Within forty-five days of receiving the final sampling results, the department shall report the results to the attorney general and the local governing body that requested the investigation and make the finalized report and testing results publicly available on the department's website.

  2.  The transfer to the fund shall not exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars per fiscal year.  Investigation costs expended from this fund shall not exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars per fiscal year.  Any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall revert to the credit of the hazardous waste fund.

  3.  The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as other funds are invested.  Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund.