A Department of Energy budget bill that is working its way through the Senate would prohibit the independent federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) from reorganizing its small bureaucracy without Congress’ permission.
The prohibition against reorganization unless “specifically authorized by law” is part of the fiscal 2020 energy and water development spending bill that got mired in partisan gridlock this week in a Senate, postponing debate by the full chamber at least until next week. If the bill becomes law as written, it would mark the second consecutive year that Congress has blocked a plan to cut the DNFSB workforce by about 20%, from roughly 100 staffers to around 80.
“The Committee remains concerned with the implementation of Order 140.1, Interface with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board [DNFSB], and the potential impacts on the ability of the DNFSB to carry out its Congressionally-mandated responsibilities,” the Appropriation Committee said in the report that accompanies the fiscal 2020 bill. As a result, the Energy Department is instructed to “collaborate” with DNFSB to address the board’s concerns.
The committee’s nearly $49 billion energy and water bill would provide $31 million for the DNFSB, which is flat with the current budget year that ends Sept. 30.
The administration proposed slightly more than $29 million for the board. The House, in legislation passed in June, also recommended $31 million.
Created by Congress in 1987, DNFSB monitors health and safety at current and former Department of Energy nuclear-weapon sites, except for nuclear navy sites. The board in 2018 approved a major reorganization proposed by current DNFSB Chairman Bruce Hamilton.
Hamilton proposed cutting DNFSB staff in Washington by about half and establishing new board field offices in Albuquerque and Las Vegas to provide more comprehensive coverage of sites, including: the Sandia National Laboratories and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, both in New Mexico; the Nevada National Security Site about 100 miles Northwest of Las Vegas; the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California; and the Idaho National Laboratory.
“In recent years, the Department of Energy has changed its processes, procedures and organization, and we have been slow to adapt,” Hamilton said last year.
Congress has sensed less urgency than Hamilton. The proposed reorganization and Department of Energy Order 140.1 — a DOE-authored set of restrictions on DNFSB access to nuclear weapons facilities and personnel — sparked congressional concern about the board’s ability to carry out its mission. New Mexico’s Senate delegation, Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) have repeatedly inserted language into authorization and appropriations bills to curb any changes to DNFSB without more congressional oversight.
