The Energy Department has renewed a five-year grant worth roughly $7 million to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to familiarize state lawmakers and tribal governments with radioactive waste cleanup issues around the nuclear complex.
The DOE Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center announced the grant on Monday. The funding is designed to help state lawmakers understand the practices of the department’s Offices of Environmental Management, Indian Energy, Nuclear Energy, and Legacy Management.
Potential topics include storage, transportation, and disposal of waste; future use of nuclear defense and national laboratory sites; and worker retraining after cleanup is finished. The cooperative agreement is also meant to school DOE officials on local concerns.
The announcement did not say specifically how the funds are to be used.
Founded in 1975, NCSL is an umbrella advocacy group for state legislatures and their staffs. It was formed out of three smaller organizations. According to its website, the NCSL provides legislatures with “the tools, information and resources to craft the best solutions to difficult problems.”