The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced legislation that would prohibit any large reorganization of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) unless “specifically authorized by law.”
The language was place in the fiscal 2020 energy and water development spending bill that is now due to be considered by the full Senate. If the restriction holds up, it would mark the second consecutive year that Congress has blocked a plan to cut the DNFSB workforce by about 20%, from roughly 100 staffers to 80.
The independent federal board that monitors health and safety at current and former Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear-weapon sites unveiled the planned overhaul in August 2018. The shakeup would cut DNFSB staffing in Washington, D.C., by about half and establish new field offices in Albuquerque and Las Vegas to provide more comprehensive coverage of the Sandia National Laboratories and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, both in New Mexico; the Nevada National Security Site; the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California; and the Idaho National Laboratory.
“In recent years, the Department of Energy has changed its processes, procedures and organization, and we have been slow to adapt,” DNFSB Chairman Bruce Hamilton said at the time.
But the reorganization, together with Energy Department Order 140.1, which would restrict DNFSB access at nuclear sites, sparked congressional concern about the board’s ability to carry out its mission.
“The Committee remains concerned with the implementation of Order 140.1, Interface with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board [DNFSB], and the potential impacts on the ability of the DNFSB to carry out its Congressionally-mandated responsibilities,” the Appropriation Committee said in the report that accompanies the fiscal 2020 bill. As a result, the Energy Department is instructed to “collaborate” with DNFSB to address the board’s concerns.
The committee’s nearly $49 billion energy and water bill would provide $31 million for the DNFSB, which is flat with the current budget year that ends Sept. 30.
The administration proposed slightly more than $29 million for the board. The House, in legislation passed in June, also recommended $31 million.
