Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004 | 8:41 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Nevada has threatened to sue the Energy Department if it does not allocate an additional $4 million for the state's work on the Yucca Mountain project.
Because of recent problems in receiving federal money as required by law, the state sent the department a detailed budget and a plan it wants to follow to avoid future conflict. If the department does not respond by March 15, the state assumes it will not give the state the money it is entitled and "will promptly seek a judicial remedy," Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects wrote in a letter to the department Monday.
The $1 million Congress appropriated for this year is clearly lower than the $5 million the state has received in the past "at the very time that Nevada's needs for financial assistance for the impending NRC proceeding are at their most critical juncture," Loux wrote in a letter sent Monday to Margaret Chu, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management that oversees the Yucca Project.
The state needs the additional money to work on scientific analyses and other activities related to the upcoming Nuclear Regulatory Commission license application set to be submitted by the department at the end of the year.
Congress approved the money in a spending bill passed last year, but the administration did not originally request any funds for the state, which violates the law, Nevada officials say.
Language in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1992, which guides the department's plan to permanently store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, requires the department get federal money to work on its own research into the project.
"The law is clear, however, and DOE has recognized that the secretary has a legal duty to make grants from the Nuclear Waste Fund to Nevada that are needed for Nevada's participation in the NRC licensing proceedings even if Congress has enacted no appropriation for such funding or Nevada's needs exceed the appropriations," Loux wrote. "Nevada will clearly need funds from the Nuclear Waste Fund that exceed this year's appropriations."
To establish a "transparent, settled regimen," Nevada will send the department a budget every year and asked that the Energy Secretary establish a line of credit or grant the state can use during the year beyond what Congress approves.
The new two-step process aims to "ensure that Nevada's participation in licensing is not effectively undermined by lack of essential funds," Loux wrote.
Loux noted that the additional $4 million needed does not exceed what the state has been give in the past, but the state might need more money as the licensing process goes forward.
"They are trying to get this project off budget so it will be hard for them to oppose this," Loux said.
Gov. Kenny Guinn sent a letter to Abraham in last February expressing his "extreme concern and surprise" over the administration's decision to eliminate state funding and in its request also reminded the department of the law requiring payment to the state to "foster public confidence in the integrity of the proposed repository."
Then in December, Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval threatened more legal action against the administration if it did not restore funding.
Loux said state did not sue in that instance because the department requested $9.5 million to go to Nevada -- $7 million for the counties and local government and $2.5 million for the state for its oversight responsibilities for 2005 -- but would take legal action now because the law says the state can get funds regardless of what Congress approves.
The department has not responded to Guinn or Sandoval, which Loux characterized as "a rather extraordinary silence given the numerous state comity and state provisions in the (law) and the stature of requesters, which generally entitled them to a modicum of official respect."
The state has three other legal complaints pending against the department in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Oral arguments took place Jan. 14 and state lawyers expect a decision sometime this spring.
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