The Trump administration is proposing to shift management of cleanup of more than 20 radioactively contaminated former nuclear sites from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers back to the Department of Energy.
The Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) would be placed into the portfolio of DOE’s Office of Legacy Management, accounting for nearly all of its $144 million proposed funding increase for the federal budget year beginning Oct. 1.
No money for the program would be left at the Army Corps. Under an agreement with the Energy Department, it would still lead the on-site environmental remediation work “on a reimbursable basis.”
“Consolidating cleanup programs under a single agency will allow DOE to consider the full range of cleanup responsibilities in prioritizing work each fiscal year,” the Energy Department said on March 15 in its budget-in-brief for fiscal 2020.
Established in 1974 by the Energy Department, FUSRAP identifies, evaluates, and remediates sites that were radioactively contaminated from the 1940s to 1960s by nuclear-weapon and energy operations of the Manhattan Engineer District and Atomic Energy Commission.
Congress moved the program to the Army Corps in a 1998 appropriations bill. The Army sustained cleanup operations that were underway at that time and picked up new work at locations selected by Congress or referred by the Energy Department.
There are 23 active FUSRAP remediation sites in 10 states, according to the latest annual program update: Connecticut, Iowa, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Cleanup is handled by contractors such as Jacobs Field Services North America.
In a statement Wednesday, a DOE official lauded progress in FUSRAP cleanup operations, but said the work that remains is both more complex and more expensive. The official suggested that makes Legacy Management a better home for the program going forward.
“These complex sites can be remediated in a cost-effective manner by shortening the duration, eliminating multiple mobilizations, and improving project planning through consistent funding streams provided by this proposal,” the official said. “The project teams would remain the same under this proposal, and would further advance the long-standing relationship between the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ensure cost effective accomplishment of the FUSRAP mission.”
FUSRAP would receive $141 million in fiscal 2020, if Congress approves the DOE funding proposal. That would be down from $150 million appropriated for this year at the Army Corps but up from the fiscal 2018 appropriation of $139 million.
Ultimately, Congress will set the allocation, starting with bills from the House and Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittees.
“The FUSRAP program serves an important need for communities across the country, which is why Congress provided robust funding above the Administration’s FY19 request” of $120 million, Griffin Anderson, spokesman for House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee Chairman Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), said by email Thursday. “The Energy and Water Subcommittee will closely review the proposal as it writes the Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations Bill.”
The transfer raises a number of questions that have not yet been answered, one issue observer said Wednesday. These include: What is the justification for returning the program to DOE; what exactly does “reimbursable basis” mean; and would the Army Corps be required to comply with Energy Department procedures even while it carries out the remediation programs.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be good or bad, but I have a number of questions,” the source said.
The Office of Legacy Management is already tasked with long-term monitoring and surveillance of federal nuclear facilities after remediation is complete, including those cleaned under FUSRAP and DOE’s Environmental Management program. Seven FUSRAP sites have been returned from the Army Corps to Legacy Management.
The new DOE budget proposal would increase the Legacy Management budget from its current $158.9 million to just over $303 million.
“Legacy Management will continue to keep the promises made to our Cold War communities and former workers, optimizing every dollar entrusted to us to meet our mission. In 16 years we have gone from 33 sites to almost 100 sites into stewardship to protect human health and the environment. Our collaboration with the USACE is one of the best partnerships in the federal government,” office Director Carmelo Melendez said Tuesday in a press release.
