Budget & Policy

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 Congressional appropriators have largely wrapped up work on the Energy and Water portion of a planned omnibus spending bill for the remainder of the fiscal year, but there is growing sentiment among Capitol Hill aides that a short-term Continuing Resolution will be necessary to give lawmakers time to iron out […]

The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee is looking to mark up its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 energy spending bill next week. The panel has scheduled a hearing June 17 beginning at 10 a.m. to consider the measure.  

The House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee yesterday reported out its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 energy spending bill after a relatively brief markup with no amendments offered. For the Department of Energy’s cleanup program, the bill would provide a total of approximately $4.801 billion in defense environmental cleanup funds, approximately $527 million below […]

New National Nuclear Security Administration Frank Klotz said yesterday that he “categorically rejects” the interim findings of a Congressionally mandated panel on governance of the nuclear enterprise that concluded the creation of the semi-autonomous agency was a “failed experiment.” Speaking at the Energy Facility Contractors Group meeting in Washington, D.C., Klotz said the conclusion was […]

The Department of Defense has underestimated the amount of money it will cost to modernize its nuclear forces over the next 10 years, according to a Government Accountability Office report that echoes similar findings about the NNSA. In December, the GAO highlighted shortcomings with NNSA budget estimates, noting that the costs of a new cruise […]

The Department of Defense has underestimated the amount of money it will cost to modernize its nuclear forces over the next 10 years, according to a Government Accountability Office report that echoes similar findings about the NNSA. In December, the GAO highlighted shortcomings with NNSA budget estimates, noting that the costs of a new cruise […]

House appropriators continued to support Yucca Mountain as the solution to the nation’s high-level waste problem by dolling out over $200 million to the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to move forward with the process to construct a repository there, according to the fiscal year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill released […]

Lawmakers on the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee are set to recommend a slight $111 million cut to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program in its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act, though the $8.20 billion provided for the program represents a $423.2 million increase over FY 2014 […]

DOE: Maintenance Issues Contractor’s Responsibility Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/28/2014 With last month’s truck fire at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant raising concerns over the state of maintenance activities at the facility, the Department of Energy said this week that any maintenance issues were the responsibility of the site’s managing contractor while state and local […]

WC Monitor 3/28/2014 James Schlesinger, who served as the first Secretary of Energy, passed away this week at the age of 85. According to reports, Schlesinger died due to complications of pneumonia. Schlesinger was named in 1971 to chair the Atomic Energy Commission, and was tapped by President Jimmy Carter to serve as the first […]

WC Monitor 3/28/2014 IN CONGRESS The Congressional appropriations process may go faster this year than in previous years, according to House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). The Appropriations Committee is making an effort to hasten the pace of its effort to try and complete spending bills by the beginning of Fiscal […]

The House panel’s draft spending bill would also oppose efforts by the Department to put the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication facility into “cold standby” in FY’15. The legislation specifies that MOX funding “may be made available only for construction and program support activities for such Project,” according to the bill language. It also provides a […]

House appropriators are proposing to have the Department of Energy use surplus National Nuclear Security Administration pension funds to help cover the cost of getting the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant back in operation after a radiological release occurred earlier this year. The House version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill would […]

The House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, marking the official start of this summer’s energy and water appropriations process. Lawmakers on the subcommittee will have a little less funding to work with this year after the […]

The Department of Energy’s 2014 Small Business Conference takes place this week from Tuesday through Thursday in Tampa, Fla. Speakers include John Hale, DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Director, Kevin Knobloch, DOE Chief of Staff in the Office of the Secretary and U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy Chief Counsel Winslow […]

The 2014 Energy Facility Contractors Group Executive Council Meeting will run from Tuesday through Thursday this week in Washington, DC, at the Department of Energy’s Forrestal Building. Tuesday speakers include Paul Bosco, Director of DOE’s Office of Acquisition & Project Management and a panel of DOE site office managers, including Geoffrey Beausoleil of Sandia, Johnny […]

Questions Come as Congress Prepares Appropriations Bills  Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/6/2014 The Department of Energy has yet to formally ask Congress for additional funds to help reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, leading to questions from lawmakers and Hill staff as preparations for Fiscal Year 2015 appropriations bills move forward. DOE asked for $220.5 […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/6/2014 Funding for the Department of Energy’s defense environmental cleanup activities would be authorized at a level largely matching DOE’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request under the Senate version of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, details of which were made public this week. The Senate bill would authorize a […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 6/6/2014 The Department of Energy would be required to continue construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility until it completes an assessment of alternatives under the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, details of which were released this week. DOE currently plans […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/6/2014 If all states reach carbon emission reduction targets laid out for them in the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed emissions guidelines released early this week, the resulting total nation-wide reduction is estimated to be 30 percent below 2005 levels. The long-awaited rule sets targets for each state as a total […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/6/2014 Proposed regulations released by the Environmental Protection Agency this week setting carbon emission reduction targets for each state would drive innovation, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in announcing the rules, though it remains unclear how much the new regulations will drive the development of technologies such as carbon capture […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/6/2014 Officials in all states are mulling over the proposed emissions guidelines for existing fossil fuel fired power plants released this week by the Environmental Protection Agency. Those who have already enacted their own measures to reduce carbon emissions have expressed confidence (though in some cases cautious) over their ability […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/6/2014 Researchers at Rice University have developed a new material that has the potential to remove carbon from natural gas at wellheads. The material has the potential to drastically decrease the cost of carbon capture, Rice Professor James Tour said in a Rice University press release. The material, a nanoporous […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 6/6/2014 Between 14 and 17 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide could potentially be stored in southwestern Wyoming, according to results of a study sponsored by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) released this week. The study concluded that the Wyoming Rock Springs Uplift geologic feature has the “ideal geologic […]

David Huizenga to Return to NNSA Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/07/2014 After more than two-and-a-half years, the Obama Administration is moving to officially fill the position of Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management, late this week nominating Monica Regalbuto from DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. WC Monitor first reported in November that Regalbuto was the […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 3/07/2014 Spending at Department of Energy cleanup sites is proposed to be cut under the Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request in part because some work is being completed, the director of the Office of Management and Budget said at a Senate Budget Committee hearing held this week. But Committee […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/07/2014 The Senate Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight is set to hold a hearing early next week on the safety culture at Hanford and whether workers there can raise safety concerns without fear of retaliation. The hearing appears to have been prompted by the recent decision of URS, a major […]

Hanford Targeted For Significant Funding Cut Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/04/2014 The Department of Energy is seeking a total of approximately $5.6 billion for the Office of Environmental Management in its Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, the initial details of which were released today. DOE’s FY15 request for EM is largely in line with what […]