The Trump administration this week again proposed transferring management of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to the Department of Energy.
The plan is laid out in fiscal 2021 budget documents for both entities, employing similar language to that used last year in the White House’s first attempt to return the program to the Energy Department after more than two decades. Congress ultimately blocked that effort in appropriations legislation passed in December for the current fiscal 2020.
“The Army Corps would continue to perform cleanup of FUSRAP sites on a reimbursable basis with DOE,” according to a USACE press release. “This proposal would enable DOE to consider a broader range of federal cleanup efforts in prioritizing work each year, thereby increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of Federal cleanup efforts. For these reasons, no funds are included in the Army’s Civil Works Budget for FUSRAP.”
FUSRAP provides environmental remediation of properties contaminated into the 1960s by nuclear-weapon and power operations under the Manhattan Engineer District and Atomic Energy Commission. There were 23 active sites in 10 states as of fiscal 2019, which ended on Sept. 30 of last year, according to the latest program update.
The Energy Department is requesting $150 million for FUSRAP in the upcoming fiscal 2021, according to the agency budget in brief issued Monday. The program would be administered under DOE’s Office of Legacy Management, which already provides long-term monitoring of FUSRAP sites once cleanup is complete.
“Similar to the approach the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and USACE executes the Superfunds program, this alignment will enhance LM and USACE’s partnership and lead to operational efficiencies required for more complex FUSRAP sites,” the budget in brief says.
The Energy Department managed FUSRAP from its inception in 1974 until October 1997, when Congress shifted the program to the Army Corps. The program received $200 million from Capitol Hill in this year’s budget.
