The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the nomination of Anne Marie White to be assistant secretary of energy for environmental management.
The panel has scheduled a 10 a.m. business meeting to consider four Trump administration nominations, including White and Melissa F. Burnison as assistant secretary of energy for congressional and intergovernmental affairs.
If they get the thumbs-up in committee, both nominees would then have to wait on floor votes from the full Senate.
White would take over leadership of the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management, which receives about $6.5 billion annually for cleanup of the agency’s defense nuclear complex.
White and Burnison both testified before the committee on Jan. 18. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said during the hearing he would “withhold” White’s confirmation until DOE agrees to discontinue its uranium barter program, which helps fund environmental remediation of the Portsmouth Site in Ohio.
Whether Barrasso’s stance is a serious threat to the White nomination remains unclear. The lawmaker’s spokesperson could not be reached Thursday.
“He’s held up people before,” one industry observer, who asked not to be identified, said of Barrasso on Thursday. In 2014, Barrasso placed a hold on the nomination of Monica Regalbuto for the same “EM-1” position over the uranium barter issue.
“He’s got a lot of uranium miners in his state,” another industry source said Thursday.
Any Barrasso hold would not prevent a committee vote, but could hold up action by the full Senate. The impact of his move would depend upon how long it stays in place, the second source said.
The source said to expect the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold its own hearing on the EM-1 nominee, as it did previously with Regalbuto.
White, an energy industry consultant, founded Bastet Technical Services LLC and has worked for decades within the nuclear cleanup sector, with a focus on project and program management. She has worked as a consultant at several sites within the DOE EM complex.
Burnison heads federal government affairs for the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry lobbying group. She has also worked as a congressional staffer and at the Department of Energy.
During Tuesday’s business meeting, the committee is also scheduled to consider two Interior Department nominees.
Changes Continue at Office of Environmental Management
While the White nomination winds its way through the Senate, some leadership changes are occurring at the Office of Environmental Management.
Before the end of 2017, James Owendoff ceased being the acting EM-1 because time ran out on that status. A similar situation occurred in November when two acting officials at DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration saw the expiration of their temporary appointments.
Owendoff, a longtime DOE hand, had been acting assistant secretary since late June. He remains principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental management and “is running the show” until White is confirmed, the second industry source said.
Owendoff announced in a Thursday email that another DOE veteran, Dae Chung, is now the acting EM associate principal deputy assistant secretary (APDAS) for field operations. “Dae will oversee EM nuclear operations; construction; environmental restoration and other mission activities,” Owendoff said in the email, obtained by Weapons Complex Monitor.
Stacy Charboneau has been the associate principal deputy assistant role for field operations since 2016. She had a long stint as manager of DOE’s Richland Operations Office at the Hanford Site.
The second industry source said Thursday Charboneau could be retiring or leaving the agency, but that could not be confirmed by press time.
In addition to management experience in the corporate world, Chung has previously served as principal deputy assistant secretary for EM and the principal DOE deputy chief for nuclear safety. Last September, Owendoff assigned Chung to lead a new special projects office; he said in the Thursday email Chung will continue to focus upon the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant project at the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash.
DOE EM could not be reached for additional comment at deadline.
