March 17, 2014

AFTER BIPARTISAN EFFORT BREAKS DOWN, BINGAMAN SUBMITS NUKE WASTE LEGISLATION SOLO

By ExchangeMonitor

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) yesterday introduced legislation aimed at implementing the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future’s recommendations. Though Bingaman had been working with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to craft bipartisan legislation, a draft of which was obtained by RW Monitor in June, the lawmakers "were unable to agree on how to do that," Bingaman said in a release. “Nonetheless, we agreed that I should introduce legislation and that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources should hold a hearing on it in September,” Bingaman said in a statement yesterday. The proposed law, the Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2012, is similar to the draft version in that it would establish a new nuclear waste management organization to take over the responsibly of siting, licensing, constructing, and operating geologic repository and interim storage facilities. It would also require the full support of local and state governments in siting nuclear waste storage projects.

Murkowski, Feinstein, and Alexander said in a response yesterday that Bingaman’s bill "makes substantial progress," but their chief concern with the bill is that it requires Congressional approval of the location for a new geologic repository before spent nuclear fuel can be moved to a consolidated storage facility. That "could delay progress for decades," the lawmakers said in a statement. "We remain committed to finding a better solution. In the meantime, the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a pilot program for consolidated storage facilities that can move forward as soon as Congress finishes its work on the appropriations bills." Bingaman said yesterday, “I recognize, of course, that the bill will not become law this year. But my hope is to obtain testimony on it and to build a legislative record that might serve as the foundation for further consideration and ultimate enactment in the next Congress.”

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