Funding for environment cleanup work at the Hanford and Portsmouth sites could be boosted above the Department of Energy’s request under the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which underwent a subcommittee markup yesterday. While detailed site-level funding in the bill has not been released yet, subcommittee Chair Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) told reporters yesterday that those sites could see increases. “Some of the plus-up I suspect is going to go toward Hanford, the Waste Treatment Plant and the Richland office,” he said. “Members from Washington are very concerned about that, as they should be.”
The top line funding level in the House bill for DOE defense environmental cleanup activities, covering most DOE Office of Environmental Management Sites, stands at approximately $5.056 billion, largely matching DOE’s request. However DOE’s FY’16 budget request cut cleanup funds at Richland by $124 million below enacted levels while boosting Hanford’s Office of River Protection by $127 million. Washington lawmakers have strongly questioned DOE’s cuts to the Richland office.
For uranium enrichment D&D activities, which covers work at the Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge sites—the House bill would provide a total of approximately $625 million, $83 million more than the Department’s request. While Portsmouth’s funding from the D&D fund was cut by $48.6 million in the DOE request, the plus up in the House bill provides additional funding “above the request to sustain ongoing cleanup levels at Portsmouth,” Simpson said at yesterday’s markup. Members of Ohio’s Congressional delegation have pushed against the proposed cuts, citing the potential for layoffs.
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