The governors of Washington and Oregon have asked lawmakers not to endorse recommendations in a new congressionally mandated report analyzing how effectively the Department of Energy identifies risk at defense nuclear cleanup sites and executes plans to address risk nationwide. “The report fails at this task by instead focusing primarily on ways to reduce costs rather than reducing risks to public health and safety,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in a letter signed late last week. It was addressed to leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittees. The report was prepared by a panel organized by the leader of the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation at the request of DOE. The report said there are inconsistencies among sites in decision-making that are skewing risk-informed prioritization and allocation of increasingly scarce resources for cleanup.
The recommendations in the report, “A Review of the Use of Risk-Informed Management in the Cleanup Program for Former Defense Nuclear Sites,” call into question state regulatory authority, according to the letter. “Recommendations within this report – if implemented – would fundamentally alter and substantially abrogate state authority,” the governors said. The report calls for establishing a standing task force to assist the Department of Energy in setting cleanup priorities, allocating resources, and creating flexibility in milestones, which would exclude states from critical decision-making, the letter said. The report recommends Congress pass legislation removing the option of consent decrees for resolving enforcement of project milestones and creating a dispute settlement body that would make binding decisions, subject to an opportunity for review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
