The chairman of a House panel with jurisdiction over the Energy Department met with Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Wednesday, less than a week after requesting an investigation into whether DOE’s Office of Environmental Management is spending money efficiently.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who holds the gavel on the House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee, was one of four Republican lawmakers in the lower chamber who asked the Government Accountability Office to look into spending at the Environmental Management office (EM), which now has an annual budget of about $6-billion.
In a March 31 letter printed on committee stationary, Upton and his GOP colleagues echoed remarks Perry made in his Jan. 19 confirmation hearing, asking the GAO to investigate whether DOE’s nuclear cleanup projects are managed efficiently, and whether the programs should be put under the same administrative microscope as EM’s big construction projects.
“[W]e seek to understand whether EM [Environmental Management] is adequately assessing the performance of its cleanup projects and managing the majority of its annual budget as effectively and efficiently as possible,” Reps. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), chairman and vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote in the letter.
Upton and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), the latter the chairman of the panel’s environment subcommittee, also signed the letter. A copy of the missive was delivered to the ranking Democrats on each panel.
In his confirmation hearing, Perry suggested that cleanup budget shortfalls at DOE’s Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio, might be “an issue of execution, of good management.” At the hearing, the former Texas governor repeatedly touted his administrative credentials and ability to establish crack management teams as qualifications to lead DOE and EM.
Spokespersons for EM and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, did not reply to requests for comment this week. An Upton spokesman did not reply to a query about whether the congressman discussed his concerns about the Environmental Management office with Perry this week.
Under a 2010 order by the Barack Obama administration, DOE requires major construction projects — such as facilities needed to treat millions of gallons of liquid radioactive waste in South Carolina and Washington state — to pass through a strict regimen of headquarters-led reviews and milestones before, during, and after construction.
In their letter, the GOP lawmakers asked the GAO to assess whether whether day-to-day nuclear cleanup operations could be subject to a similar process, including independent reviews. The congressmen did not set a deadline for congressional auditors to complete their work.
Meanwhile, at least one other House lawmaker with a stake in DOE’s Cold War cleanup operation scored a meeting with Perry this week.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), a member of the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee and chairman of the House Nuclear Ceanup Caucus, spoke with Perry on Wednesday, the representative of Tennessee’s 3rd District told attendees of a Capitol Hill reception that night.
“It’s our duty to the American people to get these sites cleaned up,” said Fleischmann, whose district includes the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and surrounding DOE facilities. “I can speak for myself as an appropriator and vice chairman of the [Appropriations] energy and water subcommittee, my commitment is steadfast to see that we get these legacy sites cleaned up.”
