WC Monitor
1/9/2014
IN THE WHITE HOUSE
The Obama Administration will release its Fiscal Year 2016 budget request on time on Feb. 2, the Associated Press reported this week. The first Monday in February is the deadline for the annual budget release, a date the Obama Administration has missed frequently in the past.
IN CONGRESS
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is in line to be the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, which has some oversight of the Department of Energy’s cleanup program, WC Monitor has learned. Sessions served as the ranking member of the panel for the last four years and the top Republican on the panel eight of the last 10 years—he temporarily turned over the reins to Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) from 2009 to 2011. Sessions is known as a budget hawk, but he has supported increased funding to modernize the nation’s nuclear deterrent, though he has pressed for finding a way to do so prudently. With the defeat of Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) in the November elections, the top Democratic spot on the subcommittee will be held by Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), according to Congressional aides.
Donna Shahbaz is taking over as the majority clerk of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, replacing Rob Blair, who is leaving the panel for the same spot on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Shahbaz has served as the clerk of the Military Construction/Veterans Affairs Subcommittee since 2012, and has worked for the House Appropriations Committee since 2007. Blair follows Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), who shifted to the top spot on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee two years ago after helming the Energy and Water panel. Blair was the Republican clerk on Energy and Water since 2008, taking the majority spot in 2011 when the GOP took control of the House.
IN DOE
The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Operations Office has named Michael Mikolanis Assistant Manager for Infrastructure and Environmental Stewardship, starting Jan. 11. He replaces assistant manager Karen Guevara, while most recently Angelica Adams has been the acting assistant manager. Mikolanis currently serves as DOE-SR’s Chief Engineer. “Mr. Mikolanis has nearly 30 years of engineering and field management experience associated with the design, construction, startup, operation and decommissioning of both government and commercial nuclear facilities,” DOE-SR Manager Dave Moody said in a message to employees this week.
The Department of Energy last week awarded a $2.5 million task order to Sage Energy Trading, LLC, to supply natural gas to the Portsmouth site. The award to a woman-owned small business is under a one-year firm fixed unit rate task order.
IN THE INDUSTRY
Jay Rhoderick, a former senior official in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, has joined the consulting firm Longenecker & Associates as a Senior Associate, effective Jan. 5. Rhoderick retired from federal service at the beginning of this month, with his last position in EM having been Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tank Waste and Nuclear Materials, where he helped oversee EM’s efforts to address high-level waste and nuclear materials at sites such as Hanford and Savannah River. In a release, L&A President John Longenecker said, “Jay is an outstanding manager, who I’ve known for 30 years. We are honored to have him join the Longenecker & Associates team.
Anne Smith, former communications chief at Safety and Ecology Corp. and Perma-Fix Environmental, has joined URS-CH2M Oak Ridge as communications and community programs manager. Her appointment is effective Jan. 5. UCOR is the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge cleanup manager. According to the announcement, Smith has more than 13 years of experience in the field. She holds degrees from the University of Tennessee, including a masters in business administration.
