Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
1/10/2014
With a change in the works for the head of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, industry officials have begun to speculate what a new Committee Chair could mean for nuclear waste issues. Although not yet official, there is heavy expectation Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who has been heavily involved in nuclear waste issues during his tenure, will take over the Chairmanship of the Finance Committee now that Finance Chair Max Baucus (D-Mo.) has been nominated to serve as Ambassador to China. With Wyden’s departure as Energy Chair, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) would then be next in line to take over the Energy Committee. “She decidedly has a very positive voting record on nuclear issues, both nuclear waste issues and nuclear development,” an industry official told RW Monitor this week. “She has strongly supported the industry being from an energy production state, and she has Entergy home base in her state. The industry I think would be very pleased to see her in that position.”
ome have suggested that Landrieu’s oil and gas base will drive the committee agenda once she becomes chair. “With oil and gas and refineries and chemical processing plants being a vital interest in Louisiana, is the focus on the energy [committee] going to turn on oil and gas imports?” a former DOE official said this week. One industry official noted that Landrieu may be even more focused on oil and gas issues facing re-election this fall. “She’s from an oil and gas state, and she has a very tough election coming up,” the official said. In Louisiana, the Senate election occurs via an open primary in which the top two winners from the primary, regardless of party affiliation, face off in a run-off in November. Because of the openness of the election, Landrieu will have to pander to both sides to win re-election, meaning a greater focus on oil and gas, an industry insider said.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee declined to comment this week on when any change in the chairmanship could occur. “Senator Wyden is Chairman of the Energy Committee and Senator Baucus is Chairman of the Finance Committee. If that changes then we will have something to say about it,” a committee spokesman said.
What Will be the Future of S-1240?
The looming leadership change in the Energy Committee also raise the question: What happens now with the “Nuclear Waste Administration Act” bill? Wyden helped co-write the bill, which would create a new independent agency to handle the nation’s high level radioactive waste as well as create a consent-based siting approach for interim storage. Both Wyden and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the ranking member on the Energy committee, co-authored the bill drawing from some of the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. Wyden plans to markup the bill this month after running out of time last month to get it done, but it remains to be seen if his departure as Chair will impact its ultimate progress. “I don’t think Wyden’s leaving affects it much,” an industry official said. “I think if it does, it could cut either way. It could lessen its chances or they could try to get it out of committee before he leaves. You have to recognize, though, that the congressional calendar is only about 100 days until now and the election. The bill is not likely to see any floor action.”
Another industry official said, “If he wants to try moving something out of his committee, he could do that,” adding, “I think what will happen is that they will keep scheduling the markup and pushing it back. The reality of it is that it’s not quite ready.”
