Proposal on Yucca’s budget gives little relief

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, June 3, 2004 | 10:08 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Funding levels set in the House Wednesday will not offer much relief for the Yucca Mountain project's looming budget crunch.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., proposed a $27.99 billion limit for the Energy and Water spending bill, which funds the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage project, the Nevada Test Site and other programs for fiscal 2005, which begins Oct. 1.

Young's proposal represents a $50 million increase from the administration's request, but the allocations are not official until they are approved by a majority of the House Appropriations Committee members. A meeting of the committee is expected to take place next week.

Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, who heads the House Appropriations subcommittee that creates the Yucca budget, has repeatedly said he will most likely only be able to fund the program at $131 million in his bill, a $749 million decrease from the administration's request.

The administration wanted $880 million for the project, but could only get $749 million of it through a budget policy change that has not passed yet.

Hobson had not yet seen or discussed the allocation as of Wednesday evening, his spokeswoman said.

Hobson has said in the past, however, that the bill will be tight because of a $600 million shortfall in funding for Army Corps of Engineers projects that somehow needs to be made up.

The Senate is expected come up with its own spending limit for the appropriations bills later this month.