Budget & Policy

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 As the Air Force is downsizing, $500 million will reinvigorate Global Strike Command’s Future Years Defense Program, and the command will bring in more than 1,100 people during the next several years as part of its Force Improvement Program (FIP), officials said this week. Officials announced the FIP in August […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/19/2014 The House of Representatives passed an energy package late this week that comprised of several pieces of legislation, includes a measure to block the Environmental Protection Agency from creating or enforcing carbon emissions standards for new (NSPS) and existing coal-fired power plants. The bill states that the EPA “may […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 With work on the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Authorization Act pushed back until after the November Congressional elections, House and Senate Armed Services Committee members began meeting this week for “pre-conference” talks, but Senate authorizers were absent when House members of the Strategic Forces subcommittee gather for discussions. According to […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/19/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency is extending by 45 days the public comment period for its proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants. The public comment period was initially set to run for 120 days, to Oct. 16, but now will end on Dec. 1, acting EPA Assistant […]

Kenneth Fletcher and Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Science has given more autonomy to national laboratories from headquarters on management and budget decisions, a DOE official this week told a panel tasked with reviewing the labs. The Congressionally-mandated Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories pressed […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) have formally established a bipartisan Senate National Laboratory Caucus aimed at rallying funding and policy support for the Department of Energy’s 17 institutions. The senators gathered with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and directors or representatives from each of the 17 laboratories Sept. […]

NNSA Asks DOE IG to Investigate Case of Fired LANL Nonprolif. Expert NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz is asking the Department of Energy’s Inspector General to look into whether a Los Alamos National Laboratory nonproliferation expert was fired based on an the publication of a pro-nuclear abolition article. DOE has […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/19/2014 The Senate this week confirmed two new members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, bringing the NRC back to its full five-member contingent. Steven Burns previously worked for the NRC, rising to General Counsel under then-Chairman Gregory Jaczko, but left in 2012 for a position with the Nuclear Energy Agency. […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/19/2014 Congress wrapped up work this week on a stop-gap measure intended to fund the government at the start of Fiscal Year 2015 that did not include an ‘anomaly’ sought by the Department of Energy to implement upgrades at the Fort St. Vrain fuel storage facility in Colorado. DOE had […]

GHG Monitor 9/19/2014 IN INDUSTRY A group of 160 environmental prize winners this week called on foundations and philanthropists to disinvest in fossil fuels and instead devote their endowments to climate mitigation efforts. The “Environmental Laureates’ Declaration on Climate Change,” which was published early this week in the form of a full page advertisement in […]

The House of Representatives voted 319-108 late yesterday to approve a Continuing Resolution to continue to fund government programs at the start of Fiscal Year 2015 in the absence of completed individual appropriations bills. The Senate is expected to follow suit and approve the measure as early as today. The CR would fund most Department […]

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said this week that the production of 12 Ohio-class submarine replacements could drain the Navy’s shipbuilding budget for longer than a decade. Officials have publicly announced the Ohio replacement as a priority, and a recent Center for Strategic Budget Analysis report estimated the Ohio replacement as the second most expensive current […]

The Congressional advisory panel on the governance of the nuclear security enterprise is close to completing its work, co-chairman Norm Augustine said in a recent interview with NS&D Monitor, but it’s unclear when the report will be released. Speaking on the sidelines of a National Lab Day event Tuesday, Augustine said it’s still being determined […]

With work on the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Authorization Act pushed back until after the November Congressional elections, House and Senate Armed Services Committee members have begun meeting for “pre-conference” talks, but Senate authorizers will be absent today when House members of the Strategic Forces subcommittee gather for discussions. According to Congressional aides, Senate authorizers […]

The Senate yesterday confirmed two Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominees, bringing the Commission back to its full five-member operating status. The nominees, Steven Burns and Jeffrey Baran, moved quickly to an approval vote, a process that has come to a standstill for most other nominees. The vote fell mostly along party lines, but Republican Sens. James Inhofe (Okla.) […]

House lawmakers are expected to vote today on the Continuing Resolution set to fund government programs at the start of Fiscal Year 2015 after beginning debate on the measure yesterday. The CR would fund most Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration programs at annualized Fiscal Year 2014 levels through Dec. 11. It also […]

Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) have formally established a bipartisan Senate National Laboratory Caucus aimed at rallying funding and policy support for the Department of Energy’s 17 institutions. The Senators gathered with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and directors or representatives from each of the 17 laboratories yesterday to showcase the latest innovations […]

House lawmakers are expected to vote today on the Continuing Resolution set to fund government programs at the start of Fiscal Year 2015 after beginning debate on the measure yesterday. The CR would fund most Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration programs at annualized Fiscal Year 2014 levels through Dec. 11. It also […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is moving to give more autonomy to national laboratories from headquarters on management and budget decisions, a DOE official yesterday told a panel tasked with reviewing the labs. The Congressionally-mandated Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories at a meeting in Alexandria, Va., yesterday pressed […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is moving to give more autonomy to national laboratories from headquarters on management and budget decisions, a DOE official yesterday told the panel tasked with reviewing the labs. The Congressionally-mandated Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories at a meeting in Alexandria, Va. yesterday probed […]

Just two weeks before the potential start of a ‘cold standby’ for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project, the National Nuclear Security Administration has not announced what plans for the project are at the start of the new fiscal year Oct. 1. “Until Congress gives us either a [Continuing Resolution] or a bill with […]

Deputy Energy Sec. Nominee Clears Senate Energy Panel Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/12/2014 Monica Regalbuto’s nomination to serve as the next Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management appears to have hit a roadblock in the Senate because of one lawmaker’s concerns over DOE’s uranium transfer policies. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (R) has placed a hold […]

Measure Contains Provisions to Address Funding Issues at Portsmouth, WIPP Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/12/2014 House lawmakers this week unveiled a stop-gap funding measure to continue to fund the federal government at the start of Fiscal Year 2015 beginning Oct. 1, but pushed back action on the bill until next week due a last-minute request […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/12/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency’s new proposed carbon emission guidelines for existing coal-fired power plants are continuing to come under question at the state level, with a group of 15 governors expressing concern in a letter to President Barack Obama this week and a group of state regulators expressing concern […]

Mike Nartker GHG Monitor 9/12/2014 Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall—the Obama Administration’s choice to serve as the new No. 2 official in DOE—this week joined the lengthy list of DOE nominees awaiting full confirmation by the Senate. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved Sherwood-Randall’s nomination to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of Energy by a […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/12/2014 A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Penn State University says that less stringent regulations for new fossil fuel power plants would be more effective at stimulating investment into carbon capture technologies than currently proposed regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency. The study, which was published […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/12/2014 Cenex Harvest States (CHS) announced late last week that it will go ahead with a $3 billion nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing plant to be built in Spiritwood, N.D with or without a sought-after loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. The CHS project would convert natural gas into ammonia for […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/12/2014 Speaking at the groundbreaking of the NRG Energy W.A. Parish Petra Nova carbon capture and storage project late last week, NRG CEO David Crane said the company may develop future projects employing the technology. "I think the success of the project will be demonstrated very quickly and enable us […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/12/2014 The price tag on the Kemper County Energy Facility has increased again, this time by roughly $29 million, bringing the total cost of the first-of-its-kind project to $5.6 billion, according to a filing by Mississippi Power with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. The reason for the latest […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/12/2014 As Occidental Petroleum moves forward with plans to spin off its California operations, it remains unclear if SCS Energy has continued with attempts to develop an agreement to sell captured carbon dioxide from the Hydrogen Energy California project for use in enhanced oil recovery in the Elk Hills oil […]