In the case of Yucca Mountain, a number of proposals were floated to give concessions to the State of Nevada in return for cooperation. There was a proposal put forward a couple decades ago to allow storage in exchange for returning unused Federal land to State control. ~85% of Nevada (and increasing) is Federally controlled. This creates significant economic problems for Nevada due to the practical restrictions on growth and land use. Most of this land has no Federal purpose and is not actively managed, it is simply under Federal control and subject to their whims that change with each administration, creating a sparse patchwork of private property the use of which effectively requires Federal permission.

This proposal was flatly rejected by the Federal government, even though it would have come at no cost (indeed, it would have saved money by reducing administration costs of land they have no purpose for in any case). Generally speaking, the Federal government has been unwilling to grant any concessions to States for taking the nuclear waste.