SENATE NUCLEAR WASTE BILL MARKUP DELAYED AGAIN

The markup of the “Nuclear Waste Administration Act” bill that currently resides in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has been delayed once again after the sponsors of the bill sent the proposed legislation to the Congressional Budget Office for additional scoring. Committee Chairman Ron Wyden had expressed a desire to mark the bill up in January, but the recent federal court decision to reduce the Nuclear Waste Fund fee to zero may affect the budgetary analysis of the bill. “The goal was to do it in January,” a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee spokesman said. “Earlier this month, Wyden and the other sponsors of the bill asked CBO to score the legislation, particularly in light of the Waste Fee court decision from last year to find out how that court decision would impact the bill’s scoring if the Waste Fee is no longer in play. They are waiting for an answer from CBO before going ahead with a markup of the bill.” There is no timeline for when the CBO will come back with its analysis so potential future dates for the markup remain unclear, the spokesman said.