Editorial: Don’t gut oversight of the EPA

Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999 | 10:19 a.m.

Faced with a veto threat by President Clinton, Congress earlier this year abandoned a plan that would have made Nevada a so-called "temporary" repository for high-level nuclear waste. What some members of Congress wanted to do was bypass the Department of Energy's investigation to determine whether Yucca Mountain in Nevada should be the permanent resting place for 77,000 tons of nuclear waste. The victory was critical for this state, because the fact of the matter is that if nuclear waste had been sent here it would never have left. But nuclear power lobbyists and their friends in Congress haven't conceded. Instead they're shifting their focus back to the issue of permanent disposal.

What they are seeking is the weakening of health and safety standards that have been proposed for Yucca Mountain. Instead of having the Environmental Protection Agency set radiation standards, some in the Senate believe the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should establish the safety parameters. At first glance many may wonder why this would be a cause for concern. After all, they're both federal regulatory agencies entrusted with watching out for the public's interest. But the reality is that the NRC too often appears to be an advocate for the nuclear power lobby, while the EPA is genuinely concerned about protecting the environment. As evidence, the EPA is recommending stricter radiation standards for air and ground water contamination than the NRC is proposing.

The nuclear power lobby is so worried about the EPA that Nuclear Energy Institute President Robert W. Bishop wrote a letter July 20 to the White House's Office of Management and Budget saying that a permanent nuclear waste repository would be jeopardized if the EPA's stringent standards were used, because it would cost too much to build a repository to meet them. In the past the EPA and the DOE have opposed the transfer of authority to the NRC, but so far the White House has not indicated whether it will veto legislation doing this.

Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., and former Gov. Bob Miller met with Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday to express their concerns. Gore is a key player in this, especially since on other environmental issues the vice president has persuaded the administration of the need to protect the environment -- even when powerful interest groups opposed such steps. The Clinton administration has been a friend of Nevada regarding efforts to unfairly store nuclear waste here. The president, once again, should send an unmistakable message that he will veto nuclear power industry-backed efforts to soften environmental standards at Yucca Mountain, including any legislation that undermines the EPA's authority.