The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s energy subcommittee is scheduled next Tuesday to consider legislation to reauthorize Energy Department cleanup at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York.
The West Valley Reauthorization Act, H.R. 1138, passed the full House of Representatives by voice vote on March 5. The legislation from Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) has now cleared the House two years in a row. But the clock ran out on the last Congress in early January before the measure could pass the Senate.
This time, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources panel will consider possible amendments to the West Valley bill during the same session in which it has scheduled reviews of 10 other bills.
The measure reauthorizes West Valley funding at $75 million per year through fiscal 2026. That is in line with historic appropriation levels and should ensure the environmental work stays on schedule, Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) said on the House floor just prior to the March vote. The proposed authorization is equal to the enacted funding for fiscal 2019 and the fiscal 2020 figures sought by the Trump administration and the House.
The bill also directs the Government Accountability Office to prepare a report within 18 months on radioactive waste at the site, detailing the types of waste, disposal options, and costs associated with those options.
The legislation does not tackle the long-running dispute between the Energy Department and New York state on whether waste at West Valley should be classified as commercial or defense-related, and thus who bears the cost of disposal.
The subcommittee hearing is set for 10 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. The hearing will be webcast.
