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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spending Bill Would Reduce Cleanup Funds At Hanford, Elsewhere House-Senate Panel Compromises Only Slightly On Budget Cuts

H. Josef Hebert Associated Press

House and Senate conferees agreed Wednesday to add $56 million to clean up radioactive wastes at federal weapons facilities, but the $5.5 billion cleanup budget still was less than what the Energy Department says it needs.

The money was part of a $19.3 billion spending bill for this fiscal year that was approved by lawmakers and now awaits final action by both the House and Senate.

The bill would impose sharp reductions in spending for solar and renewable energy programs and energy conservation programs, although in most cases slightly more money was being provided than originally approved by the House.

The energy and water spending bill would provide about $275 million for solar and renewable energy programs, $122 million less than being spent this year.

The lawmakers wrangled for hours over whether to increase the department’s nuclear weapons cleanup and environmental restoration program. The House originally had agreed to spend $5.2 billion but then agreed to raise it to $5.5 billion.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., then sought another $126 million, arguing that cleanup efforts at the Hanford reservation in her state might be jeopardized. “We have (radioactive waste) tanks leaking toward our rivers,” she pleaded.

But Rep. John Myers, R-Ind., head of the House conferees, said the House would not budge beyond the $5.5 billion cleanup spending limit, arguing too much money already is being wasted because of mismanagement. When the added request was cut to $56 million, the House agreed.

The Energy Department had sought $6 billion for cleanup at weapons facilities with much of the money going for projects at the Hanford reservation and the Savannah River facility in South Carolina. The program is part of a long-term effort to contain and clean wastes left from decades of nuclear weapons production.

While cutting nuclear cleanup, the conferees approved $2 billion, an increase of $250 million, for other nuclear weapons programs, particularly those aimed at assuring the nuclear stockpile is operational and safe.

Despite pressure to cut most programs, lawmakers still managed to protect some of their regional projects.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the conference chairman, won approval for $10 million for a scientific exchange program benefiting the University of New Mexico.

Reps. Frank Riggs, R-Calif., and Vic Fazio, pushed successfully to boost the initial spending for a $1 billion laser research facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in their state. They won $37.4 million in design and development funds for the facility which eventually will be used to test nuclear weapons performance without the need for actual bomb tests.

The legislation also ignored a plea from the White House that Army Corps of Engineers projects be confined to those that meet federal interests. The bill funds water projects in almost every state.

The conferees also:

Deleted from the legislation language that would have exempted the Animas-LaPlata water project in Colorado from major environmental laws.

Agreed to provide $244 million for fusion energy research, $30 million less than the administration had wanted.

Agreed to spend $30 million to continue a program to improve safety at Russian nuclear power reactors. The House had wanted to scuttle the program.

Restore $3.9 million the House had deleted to encourage North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Rejected a proposal to site a temporary nuclear waste storage site in Nevada, but voted $400 million for overall civilian waste management including work on whether a permanent underground waste repository might be built in Nevada.