EM STILL WORKING OUT PLANS FOR BUDGET WINDFALL

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is still deciding how to spend the windfall for most cleanup sites in the spending bill that passed Congress earlier this month, which included about $200 million more for EM than asked for in the Fiscal Year 2014 budget request. After financial uncertainties last year caused furloughs, layoffs and delays in projects across the complex, EM officials are undertaking a focused planning effort for how to allocate the funds, which they hope to wrap up by early February, WC Monitor has learned. Most cleanup sites received a plus-up in the omnibus appropriations bill, including Savannah River at $46 million more than the FY ‘14 request, Idaho at $22 million more than the request, Hanford, at $19 million more and Oak Ridge at $17 million more.