Lawmakers unveiled late yesterday an omnibus funding measure for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2015 that would provide a total of approximately $260 million more than what the Obama Administration had requested for the Department of Energy’s cleanup program for this fiscal year. For defense environmental cleanup, which covers most major DOE cleanup sites, the bill would provide approximately $5.01 billion, along with a new payment of $463 million to the federal uranium enrichment D&D fund, which helps cover cleanup costs at the Oak Ridge, Paducah and Portsmouth sites. In its FY 2015 budget request, DOE had sought a total of approximately $5.23 billion in defense environmental cleanup funding, including $463 million as a payment into the uranium enrichment D&D fund,
For non-defense environmental cleanup, the FY15 omnibus measure would provide a total of $246 million, an increase of $20 million from DOE’s request. For cleanup work funded through the uranium enrichment D&D fund, the omnibus bill would provide a total of $625 million, an increase of $95 million from the Administration’s request. The federal government is currently being funded at FY 2014 levels through a Continuing Resolution set to expire Dec. 11.
