Hearing of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee - Fiscal Year 2005 Budgets

Federal News Service

HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: FISCAL YEAR 2005 BUDGETS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S OFFICE OF SCIENCE; OFFICE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AND OFFICE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

CHAIRED BY: SENATOR PETE DOMENICI (R-NM)

LOCATION: 138 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

WITNESSES:

DAVID GARMAN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, OFFICE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY;

RAYMOND L. ORBACH, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF SCIENCE;

WILLIAM D. MAGWOOD IV, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

BODY:
SEN. MURRAY: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your tremendous work on this committee over the years and your leadership in many directions. I just have a couple of questions for Dr. Orbach today.

Dr. Orbach, you know the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, PNNL, in my state it's one of the Department of Energy's multi-program laboratories and it is under your stewardship as director of science. PNNL is a very valuable asset to the state of Washington and it's going to be an enduring asset to the tri-cities' community after Hanford cleanup is completed. I think you know there's been considerable concern over the schedule for the cleaning up of the 300 area and the replacement of the many facilities that currently house approximately 1,000 staff at PNNL.

That space, I think it's 700,000 square feet, represents a third of PNNL's total laboratory space. The tri-party agreement required cleanup of the Columbia River corridor, including that 300 area, by 2018. As I understand it, current proposed cleanup contracts assume a 2012 or a six year earlier completion date. That would require those 1,000 PNNL employees to exit the 300 area facility by 2007. This budget, the FY '05 budget, has no funding for replacement facilities in the 300 area and I see no scenario where new facilities can be in place by Fiscal Year '07.

I notice in your written testimony you talk a great deal about facilities and infrastructure and planning, but I don't see any plan from you or DOE on how those facilities at PNNL are going to be replaced. As the owner PNNL, Mr. Orbach, what are you doing to lead the effort in the department to seek an aggressive program to replace those facilities at PNNL, which is your laboratory?

MR. ORBACH: Thank you, Senator, for the question. We are as concerned as you over the 1,000 staff members who have been so productive for our country. I have visited PNNL often and it is a magnificent laboratory. And your assessment of its future is mine as well, and also the community's. We have put together some funding from our own budget from '03, from FY '04, and there is funds in the FY '05 budget which we believe can help in this process, but it will require a reprogramming. And so I hope you will help us in the reprogramming request.

SEN. MURRAY: Well, would you report a reprogramming in the FY '04 budget?

MR. ORBACH: Yes.

SEN. MURRAY: You do? Okay.

MR. ORBACH: We will require it for '03, '04 and '05.

SEN. DOMENICI: Haven't yet.

SEN. MURRAY: No.

SEN. DOMENICI: Did you ask them if they had?

SEN. MURRAY: I was about to. I will.

SEN. DOMENICI: Good.

(Laughter.)

MR. ORBACH: And I want to say also we're working very closely with the contractor Battelle to work together to provide the facilities for the staff who will be displaced from the 300 area. Our target date is October '07, which as we understand it would be the latest that the Office of Environmental Management could begin the cleanup in order to satisfy the river corridor agreement that it has by 2012. And we believe that by working with Battelle, we can achieve the facilities that are required to house the staff. They will be new facilities, they will be more efficient facilities and in the long run we hope that this will be a very positive outcome for the laboratory.

SEN. MURRAY: We need to get a reprogramming request from you as soon as possible then to get this going, because in order to replace your facility there we're going to have to have some planning in place fairly quickly.

And, Mr. Chairman, I really am concerned about DOE's initial inability to coordinate its cleanup and its science programs, and I think we have to be very concerned about DOE's planning process for both the labs and the cleanup sites. I know that the secretary's office has become engaged in this matter, and I've personally spoken with Mr. McSlarrow, and I appreciate the secretary and Mr. McSlarrow's involvement. I wish it hadn't risen to that level, but I do think we need direction from you, reprogramming requests, and to get this going because 2007 is not that far off when we're talking about an entire facility-or large facility there that needs to be-we need to know where we're going with that, so we want to hear more from you.

MR. ORBACH: You're absolutely right, Senator. And I have just met with Dr. Len Peters, the director at PNNL, and we've talked about the need to get moving quickly in order to begin the planning and construction phase. It's my view that if we start now, that we can in fact meet that October '07 date.

SEN. MURRAY: When do we expect to see the reprogramming request from you?

MR. ORBACH: We need to process it through the department, and I'm hopeful that we can get it to you within a month.

SEN. MURRAY: Okay. All right.

Well, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I have some other questions. I will submit them for the record and --

SEN. DOMENICI: Okay.

SEN. MURRAY: -- look forward to working with you.

SEN. DOMENICI: Do you understand if we get that-unless there's something I'm not aware of-we'll hurry up. It comes to me and my friend in the House and we'll try to --

SEN. MURRAY: I appreciate that very much.

SEN. DOMENICI: Try to hurry it up.

MR. ORBACH: Thank you.

SEN. MURRAY: Thank you.