Reauthorizing West Valley Demonstration Project

Floor Speech

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Mr. TONKO. 1138.

Mr. Speaker, last September, the House approved an identical bill, H.R. 2389, in the 115th Congress, by a voice vote.

Unfortunately, that bill did not move in the Senate. Today, we will reconsider H.R. 1138, which has been reintroduced by my New York colleague and friend, Mr. Reed.

The Western New York Nuclear Service Center in West Valley, New York, has been the center of disputes and legislative actions since the 1980s. This site is a difficult reminder that we are still dealing with the consequences of our Nation's entry into the atomic age.

While the site is owned by New York State, between 1966 and 1972 it was operated by a private business to reprocess spent nuclear fuel primarily provided by the Federal Government. Those reprocessing activities ended decades ago, but high-level waste and transuranic waste continue to be stored at the site.

A cost-sharing agreement for the site's remediation has been resolved, but disposal of the waste remains a point of contention.

Since 1986, DOE has classified the waste as commercial rather than waste deriving from atomic energy defense activities.

Under this classification, DOE believes that the cost for disposal of the wastes should be borne by the State of New York. New York State believes that since 60 percent of the material sent to West Valley was from facilities that conducted defense activities, and 80 percent of the reprocessed plutonium shipped out of West Valley was sent to defense facilities, it should be categorized as defense-related waste.

This classification disagreement has major consequences for how the waste can be disposed of and who will be responsible for covering the costs. While I would prefer more certainty in clarifying the wastes' classification, this legislation puts us on a path towards solving this issue by requiring a GAO report on the origins of and disposal pathways, including cost estimates.

In addition, the bill reauthorizes the West Valley Demonstration Project at $75 million annually for 7 years. This funding level is in line with historic appropriations levels and will ensure the cleanup will continue on schedule.

This bill may not resolve the decades-old dispute between New York and the Department of Energy. It does address funding for the remediation of the site and attempts to move the ball forward to ensure that wastes are disposed of properly and, most importantly, fairly.

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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, West Valley, as an issue, has been there for a long time. It is good to know that we are moving the ball forward.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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