The House Appropriations Committee wants the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study what impact an Energy Department order on oversight by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has on public and worker safety at nuclear weapons sites.
The panel is concerned that DOE Order 140.1, enacted in May 2018, effectively restricts the DNFSB’s ability to “carry out its congressionally-mandated responsibilities,” according to the energy and water subcommittee report, which accompanies the energy and water and related agencies funding bill. House Appropriations passed the bill Tuesday.
The report calls upon the comptroller general, who directs the GAO, to also evaluate whether the order prevents DNFSB access to information it needs to evaluate the safety of Energy Department nuclear facilities.
Further, the panel directed DOE to enter into a memorandum of understanding governing access to pre-decisional information. The Energy Department has questioned how much access the safety board needs to discussions prior to final decisions on safety and health at the sites.
No deadline is set for GAO to issue its report.
Among other things, Order 140.1 says DOE contractors need permission from the agency to interact with DNFSB representatives. The order also gives the Energy Department authority to restrict access to certain meetings and information.
“The Department continues to assert that the Order will not change its relationship with the DNFSB; a plain reading of the Order contradicts this,” the panel said in the bill report.
DNFSB Chairman Bruce Hamilton has urged Order 140.1 be revised to eliminate language “allowing the department to determine where we look.” The Energy Department has said the order helps the agency “speak with one voice” to the DNFSB. The DOE says, in practice, very little is changing.
The DNFSB has no formal regulatory power over DOE, but it may make official recommendations, putting the onus on the secretary of energy to publicly agree or disagree.
