A senior U.S. Army official on Wednesday struggled to explain the reasoning for the Trump administration’s plan to return management of a nuclear cleanup program from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Department of Energy.
“I really think that DOE wanted that program back, and I can’t answer why on that,” R.D. James, assistant Army secretary for civil works, said during a budget hearing before the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee.
Panel Ranking Member Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) noted that Congress removed the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) from the Energy Department more than two decades ago because it was not satisfied with its management.
“I just find it very bizarre. I haven’t had any complaints about how the program is being run now, how the Army Corps of Engineers is running it. My Dad said when something isn’t broken don’t try to fix it,” Simpson told James.
The Trump administration’s fiscal 2020 budget proposal calls for shifting management of FUSRAP, and its full budget, from the Army Corps to DOE’s Office of Legacy Management. However, the department would pay the Army branch “on a reimbursable basis” to continue performing on-site remediation activities.
“Consolidating cleanup programs under a single agency will allow DOE to consider the full range of cleanup responsibilities in prioritizing work each fiscal year,” the Energy Department said in its fiscal 2020 budget in brief.
James, who oversees policy and management of all Army Corps Civil Works operations, said there was thought that moving FUSRAP to DOE could create an opportunity for increased program funding. The Energy Department is seeking $141 million for the program in the budget year that begins Oct. 1, down from the current $150 million appropriation.
The Energy Department by deadline Thursday had not responded to queries for further explanation of the purpose and function of the planned program transfer. There was also no immediate word from the Army Corps.
The DOE-precursor Atomic Energy Commission established FUSRAP in 1974 to identify, study, and remediate properties left with radioactive contamination from nuclear weapons and energy operations from the 1940s to 1960s.
Congress transferred the program to the Army Corps in 1997 “because we weren’t happy with what DOE was doing,” Simpson said during the hearing, without elaborating.
As of the 2018 program update, there were 23 active FUSRAP remediation sites in 10 states: Connecticut, Iowa, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
A 1999 memorandum of understanding between the two agencies gave the Energy Department authority over finding additional sites eligible for the program, along with responsibility for 25 properties that had already been remediated and those that would be cleaned up later.
The Department of Energy still manages a much larger nuclear-weapon cleanup program under its Office of Environmental Management, which this year received $7.2 billion for work on 16 retired and active facilities around the nation. All remediated sites, including those under FUSRAP, are placed under the care of the Office of Legacy Management.
Simpson appeared skeptical of having DOE pay the Army Corps to essentially continue doing the work it provides now at the FUSRAP sites.
“DOE doesn’t really do cleanup, they hire contractors to do cleanup,” he said. “So we’re going to put the program under them and then hire them to do what you do now? And is that more effective?”
“Yes, and I don’t know,” James responded. “Yes, we’re going to do that, and time will tell whether it’s more effective.”
The House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee writes the first draft of the lower-chamber’s funding bill for DOE and the Army Corps. The panel continues to review the FUSRAP transfer proposal, a spokesperson for Chairman Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said Thursday.
The Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee as of Thursday had not scheduled a hearing on the Army Corps of Engineers budget.
The issue did not come up this week during Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s two appearances on Capitol Hill to discuss his agency’s latest spending plan.
