Senate to act on nuke waste bill

Tuesday, June 2, 1998 | 9:40 a.m.

Although Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., on Monday declared temporary nuclear waste storage dead in Nevada, the state's two senators are prepared for a renewed battle on the bill today.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has called for a cloture vote late this afternoon on the issue. This could set into motion the Senate's legislation on temporary nuclear storage.

The Senate vote, scheduled for after 3 p.m. Las Vegas time, would force a vote on the bill if three-fifths -- or 60 -- senators agree. This would also halt a planned filibuster by Nevada Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, both D-Nev. Lott insisted earlier Monday that the Senate would act this week on temporary storage of nuclear waste, calling it "the most important environmental legislation this year."

But Ensign announced at a news conference Monday that House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., has promised him the temporary-storage bill won't come up in the House this year, although that body has approved a bill for storing wastes at the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The Senate's version of the bill does not specify a storage site.

Gingrich on Monday was traveling back to Washington, D.C. from the Middle East. Repeated calls to his staff were not returned.

Reid said Gingrich promised Ensign to stop temporary storage in the House because it will die in the Senate tonight. "I think (Gingrich) has done this because there is a cloture vote over here, and the cloture will not be invoked," he said.

Reid warned Nevadans that the battle in Congress isn't over. The House, he noted, has passed measures on the issue twice, both this year and last.

"We should have learned a long time ago that when nuclear waste is declared dead by Newt Gingrich, it's not," Reid said. "Promises are one thing, but we have the president's veto, and we have the votes to sustain the veto."

Ensign said there had been intense negotiations with Gingrich over the interim nuclear waste bill before the House recessed May 22. It wasn't until Monday morning that the speaker reassured him, the congressman said. Ensign, who is challenging Reid for his Senate seat, said, "The speaker knows I will stand up to him when I know he is wrong and will support him when he is right."

"Today is a great day for the state of Nevada," Ensign said at his Las Vegas office, "and we are announcing today the nuclear waste storage bill is dead, no matter what happens in the Senate."

President Clinton has vowed to veto any temporary storage of highly radioactive waste in Nevada while studies continue for a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said the fight against temporary nuclear waste storage was the No. 1 priority. "Killing the nuclear waste bill in the House is a testament to the hard work and determination shown by the entire Nevada delegation in opposing it," he said.

Gov. Bob Miller hailed Monday's developments as a victory for Nevada. "I credit our congressional delegates in both the Senate and the House," he said.

The executive director of the environmental group Citizen Alert said he was elated with the news. "Fantastic," Rick Nielsen said. "Every temporary victory is a victory nonetheless."

But Nielsen said Ensign's announcement was premature. "It may just be a pre-emptive political announcement before the Senate's cloture vote," he said.

Mark Preston of States News Service contributed to this story.