The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would receive no additional funding for cleaning up certain old nuclear sites during fiscal 2027, according to the Energy & Water Development bill advanced by the House Appropriations Committee last week.
“This appropriation funds the cleanup of certain low-level radio active materials and mixed wastes located at sites contaminated as a result of the nation’s early efforts to develop atomic weapons,” according to the bill report. But “the committee recommends no new funding for Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).”
FUSRAP was set up in 1974 to identify and if necessary clean up or control sites contaminated as a result of the Manhattan Engineer District or early Atomic Energy Commission activities.
Congress enacted $75 million for the FUSRAP program in fiscal 2026. A couple of years earlier, the FUSRAP funding level was $200 million. During a hearing last week some House Appropriation Democrats blasted the zeroing-out of FUSRAP.
“The committee understands that the Corps will carry over into fiscal year 2027 significant unobligated funds sufficient to make appropriate progress on all active FUSRAP sites,” according to the report.
“The committee also notes the recent cost recovery efforts which have provided additional funds to active FUSRAP sites,” according to the report.
The proposed cut is part of the “difficult decisions” the committee must make, according to the report. As such, the panel expects the Corps to make “expeditious progress within available funds from prior years and cost recovery efforts.”
The Army Corps should prioritize sites nearing completion, according to the report. “The committee is aware that the Corps is … planning to complete and release the Record of Decision in fiscal year 2027 for the former Sylvania nuclear fuel site at Hicksville, New York.”
The Appropriations Committee also encouraged the Corps to work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fully encompass and address all on-site and off-site groundwater contamination related to the former Sylvania nuclear fuel site.