Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Sen.-elect Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) on Friday called on three top Democratic lawmakers to ensure the upcoming federal appropriations bill does not provide a cent for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility.
There have been rumors, but no confirmation, that the budget bill needed to keep a number of federal agencies open past Friday could include money for the long-stalled repository in Nye County, Nev.
“As the Senate works with the House to craft an FY19 Appropriations Omnibus, we respectfully ask you to oppose any efforts and funding requests to restart the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project in our home state of Nevada. Considering the FYI 9 Energy & Water Appropriations bill has already been signed into law, we see no reason to include funding for Yucca Mountain in an omnibus package,” Masto and Rosen wrote in their letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.); Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Dianne Feinstein, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee.
Cortez Masto and Rosen noted the broad-based opposition to Yucca Mountain in their state, from Nevada’s political leadership, labor unions, and environmental groups.
Earlier in the week, Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) sent a similar message to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and the top members from each party on the lower chamber’s Appropriations Committee.
Nevada politicians won another victory against shipping nuclear waste into their state in September when President Donald Trump signed a fiscal 2019 “minibus” appropriations bill that zeroed out requests from the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission for money to resume licensing for Yucca Mountain. While those agencies now have their full-year appropriations through Sept. 30, the continuing resolution funding the Homeland Security Department and other agencies expires on Dec. 7.
