House committee delays action on storing nuke waste

Mark D. Preston

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1999 | 11:33 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada gained more time in its fight to keep high-level nuclear waste from entering its borders today, after a House committee decided to delay action on a bill that would force the state to temporarily become the nation's steward of the radioactive material.

The House Resources Committee was scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to release the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1999 to the House floor for a full vote.

But Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., a member of the resources committee, successfully lobbied House Resources Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, to delay the hearing to allow committee members more time to weigh the pros and cons of the legislation.

"I think any delay we get in terms of the process is a victory for us," Gibbons said. "We just felt this thing was moving way too fast."

The bill would require the Nevada Test Site to begin accepting nuclear waste on an interim basis starting June 30, 2003. By 2010, the legislation calls for the nuclear waste to be permanently stored at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Gibbons said Young has not yet determined when the House Resources Committee will consider the legislation. The same bill also sits in the House Commerce Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Gibbons was prepared to offer up to eight amendments Wednesday to try to weaken or dismantle the bill as it is now drafted.

Gibbons said he hoped the amendments would derail the efforts of the bill's principle sponsor, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and more than 70 other House members who support storing the nuclear waste in Nevada.

"We are prepared to fight this bill tooth and nail all the way to the end," Gibbons said.

Before Young agreed to delay the hearing, Upton's spokesman, Dave Woodruff, predicted that the bill could reach the House floor within a few weeks.

The bill has support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, many of whom have nuclear power plants in their districts.

The nuclear power industry is intensely lobbying for the bill, arguing that the federal government has collected more than $15 billion from utility rate-payers since 1983 but has failed to meet its 1998 legal obligation of managing the spent fuel.

A preliminary list of Gibbons' amendments ranged from prohibiting the nuclear waste from being transported through or near areas protected by the federal government, such as monuments and parks, to requiring the governor of a state to provide consent for the waste to be moved through that state.

Meanwhile, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., is working with a national women's organization that lobbies against nuclear proliferation to help educate congresswomen about the dangers associated with the legislation.

House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., had planned to submit a letter to the House Resources Committee on Wednesday asking it to delay the vote until more time is provided for the legislation to be debated, said Richard Urey, Berkley's chief of staff.