While the House Appropriations Committee proposes to spend less in fiscal 2027 for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site than in fiscal 2026, or what was requested by the White House, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said there is still enough to meet cleanup milestones.
During a committee markup, Newhouse, the longtime incumbent who represents Washington’s 4th congressional district which includes Hanford, defended the proposed $2.8-billion funding level for what he described as “the largest environmental cleanup project on the planet.”
“Difficult decisions” must be made in this fiscal climate, said Newhouse, the longtime incumbent who is not seeking re-election.
The White House requested $2.9 billion for Hanford, $320 million less than last year’s congressional funding level. Overall, the House Appropriations Energy & Water Development bill would fund DOE’s Office of Environmental Management at $7.7 billion, less than the $8.2 billion sought by the White House and the $8.5-billion enacted for fiscal 2026.
The bill passed 34-25 Wednesday evening. Next stop for the legislation would be consideration by the full House of Representatives, sometime after next week’s Memorial Day break.
Defense Environmental Cleanup, which takes up the lion’s share of the EM budget, would receive $6.6 billion, according to the text of the bill. By comparison, the White House has requested $7.2 billion for Defense Environmental Cleanup.
The Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund would receive $821 million under the House Appropriations proposal. Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup would receive $322 million.
The proposed Environmental Management funding would be $863 million less than fiscal 2026, a 10% reduction, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and the ranking Democrat on the full committee.
“Let me talk a little about the Hanford Site which was brought up earlier,” Newhouse said. Over the past 12 years, Hanford’s budget has increased by 46%. “I just want to take a second and thank this committee and Congress for their continued commitment to getting this work done.”
The House Appropriation bill would return Hanford funding to fiscal 2023 levels, “which at the time was a record investment in cleanup,” Newhouse said.
Importantly, the bill also supports the work, started in October, of turning some of Hanford’s less radioactive liquid tank waste into a glass form at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), Newhouse said. The glass-making is being done at WTP’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Facilities.
The Appropriations Committee bill provides partial funding for WTP’s High-Level Waste Vitrification Facility tin order to reach 90% design completion by October 2027. The bill does not provide additional construction funding at this time, according to the bill report.
The bill does include money for repacking and certificate of Hanford transuranic waste, which would eventually be shipped to DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.