March 17, 2014

STATE OFFICIALS URGE BOOST FOR DOE CLEANUP FUNDS IN FY14

By ExchangeMonitor

A group of state environmental agency directors is calling on Congress to provide additional funding for the Department of Energy’s cleanup efforts in Fiscal Year 2014. In a letter sent to lawmakers earlier this week, the officials urged that Congress provide approximately $5.9 billion for DOE’s defense environmental cleanup activities and non-defense cleanup activities. In contrast, DOE’s FY14 budget request calls for $5.53 billion for defense and non-defense cleanup work; while House appropriators and Senate appropriators have backed funding levels of $5.25 billion and $5.38 billion respectively. “As we approach the next fiscal year, we are very concerned that the cleanup program will face debilitating problems as a result of continuing lower budget appropriations,” the state officials wrote.

The officials went on to write, “Plans to initiate pump-and-treat systems to remediate contamination of certain groundwater resources could be delayed indefinitely. Continued low budgets could also delay indefinitely the decontamination and demolition of nuclear weapons complex facilities determined to be obsolete. This would create additional out-year costs to be borne by the federal government as these facilities must be safeguarded until decontamination and demolition can be properly undertaken. Funds spent on cleanup now are likely to save future costs by more than double; the longer these facilities remain contaminated, the more it will ultimately cost for the federal government to maintain, safeguard, and remediate them.”

The state officials also warned that lower DOE cleanup budgets could hurt their ability to provide effective oversight. “Additional cuts could further curtail the frequency of contamination sampling and jeopardize the states’ ability to provide quality assurance of DOE cleanup activities. Without stronger budgets, regulators are facing the prospect of forced layoffs of state oversight workers. Further cuts might also result in more contractor layoffs,” the state officials wrote. The letter was signed by Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Commissioner Robert Martineau; TDEC Deputy Commissioner Shari Meghreblian; Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Administrator Colleen Cripps; Kentucky Division of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bruce Scott; Washington State Department of Ecology Director Maia Bellon; New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens; California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary for Environmental Protection Matthew Rodriquez; Idaho Department of Environmental Quality Director Curt Fransen; and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Director of Environmental Affairs Elizabeth Dieck.

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