[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 158 (Tuesday, September 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H8794-H8795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            REAUTHORIZING WEST VALLEY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

  Mr. McKINLEY. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2389) to reauthorize the West Valley demonstration project, 
and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2389

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. WEST VALLEY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

       (a) Reauthorization.--Section 3(a) of the West Valley 
     Demonstration Project Act (Public Law 96-368; 42 U.S.C. 2021a 
     note) is amended by striking ``$5,000,000 for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 1981'' and inserting ``$75,000,000 for 
     each of fiscal years 2019 through 2025''.
       (b) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit 
     to Congress a report that describes--
       (1) the volumes, origins, and types of radioactive waste at 
     the Western New York Service Center in West Valley, New York;
       (2) what options have been identified for disposal of each 
     such type of radioactive waste;
       (3) what is known about the costs of, and timeframes for, 
     each such option;
       (4) the benefits and challenges of each such option, 
     according to the State of New York and the Department of 
     Energy; and
       (5) as of the date of enactment of this Act--
       (A) how much has been spent on the disposal of radioactive 
     waste associated with the demonstration project prescribed by 
     section 2(a) of the West Valley Demonstration Project Act; 
     and
       (B) what volumes and types of radioactive waste have been 
     disposed of from the Western New York Service Center.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
West Virginia (Mr. McKinley) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Pallone) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West Virginia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. McKINLEY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and insert extraneous material in the Record on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from West Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McKINLEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, H.R. 2389 is a bill to reauthorize the West Valley 
demonstration project, which was introduced in May of 2017 by our New 
York colleague,  Tom Reed.
  The bipartisan legislation moved through the Energy and Commerce 
Committee by regular order, including legislative hearings and markups, 
as part of our broad nuclear waste management agenda. It was reported 
to the full committee, with a bipartisan amendment, by a voice vote.
  Let me thank the ranking member of the Subcommittee on the 
Environment, Mr. Tonko, for working closely with us on this 
legislation.
  H.R. 2389, as amended, authorizes appropriations to support the 
Department of Energy's environmental remediation at its West Valley 
cleanup site in New York through 2025. It also directs a study to help 
Congress determine the final disposition of the radioactive waste that 
DOE is cleaning up at the site.
  H.R. 2389 also continues the work of this Congress to address the 
Federal Government's obligation for treatment and disposal of the 
legacy waste produced during the Cold War and through the Federal 
Government's early efforts to develop a civilian nuclear energy 
industry.
  The Department of Energy has successfully remediated 92 sites of this 
waste, but the most technologically challenging projects remain in 
place at 17 locations, one of which is the West Valley site.
  In 1980, Congress passed the West Valley demonstration project to 
direct DOE to address legacy environmental issues and authorized the 
appropriations, however, only through fiscal year 1981. The project has 
not been reauthorized since that time, despite Congress funding DOE's 
work at the site for the past 37 years. H.R. 2389 corrects this 
situation and provides a path to answering important questions 
concerning waste disposition and ensures spending at the site is 
subject to an active authorization.
  I urge all Members to support this important legislation, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2389, which reauthorizes the 
West Valley demonstration project.
  The Western New York Service Center in West Valley, New York, has a 
unique history. The site is owned by New York State, but from 1966 to 
1972 it was operated by a private business to reprocess spent nuclear 
fuel primarily provided by the Federal Government. Those reprocessing 
activities ended

[[Page H8795]]

decades ago, but high-level and transuranic waste continued to be 
stored at the site.

                              {time}  1600

  While a cost-sharing agreement between New York State and the 
Department of Energy has been resolved for the site's remediation, the 
ultimate disposal of the waste remains a point of contention. There 
have been ongoing disputes and legislative actions spanning from the 
1980s through today, with DOE and New York State continuing to disagree 
over who should be responsible for paying for waste disposal. This 
disagreement has major consequences for how the waste can be disposed 
of and who will be responsible for covering the disposal costs.
  H.R. 2389 would require a report by the Government Accountability 
Office, or GAO, to help clarify the origins of and disposal pathways 
for the waste, including cost estimates. The bill also reauthorizes the 
West Valley demonstration project at $75 million annually for 7 years, 
and this funding level is identical to the amount appropriated in 
fiscal year 2018 and will help ensure the cleanup continues on 
schedule.
  While this bill does not settle the decades-old dispute between New 
York and DOE, it takes positive steps towards the site's remediation 
and attempts to move the ball forward to ensure that wastes are 
disposed of properly.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank Representative Tonko, the ranking 
member of the committee's Environment Subcommittee, for his work on 
this bill, and commend both him and the bill's sponsor for their 
efforts.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important 
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McKINLEY. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Reed).
  Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the 
pending legislation before our body.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to take a moment to thank the gentleman 
from West Virginia as well as my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle for their support and their articulation of the legislation and 
the need for this legislation. I would, in particular, like to thank my 
good colleague Paul Tonko from New York, on the other side of the 
aisle, for working with us in a bipartisan way to get this legislation 
to reauthorize the West Valley Nuclear Site Reauthorization Act into 
law.
  Madam Speaker, this legislation will provide clarity, additional 
steps that we can take, and give clarity to our area of New York that 
is impacted by this nuclear waste site, the folks who are working there 
on a day-in, day-out basis.
  I have been to this site, Madam Speaker, multiple times. I have met 
with the managers of this site; I have met with the employees of this 
site; and they have worked tirelessly over the years to clean up this 
nuclear waste and this threat to our environment and to our 
communities, and I applaud their efforts.
  Madam Speaker, I can attest to, firsthand, seeing the fruits of the 
work that have been done over the years that they have tended to West 
Valley and the surrounding community in order to address the threat 
from nuclear waste that exists there.
  As we go forward, many years are still ahead of us in regard to the 
efforts to clean up that nuclear waste legacy that is located in our 
district in West Valley, New York. This legislation will give us 
clarity as to a future path that will be followed in order for us to 
continue the successful work there.
  Madam Speaker, I encourage all Members to join us in supporting this 
legislation that will do great work to make sure that our environment 
is protected and that the legacy obligations of us as a government are 
attended to for a local community that is dealing with this issue.
  Madam Speaker, to the Department of Energy and all the folks who work 
there, we say thank you.
  I would like to thank, in particular, not only the Energy and 
Commerce Committee members, their staffs, but also the folks in our 
local community, such as Town of Ashford Supervisor Charles Davis and 
the local citizens task force that spent hours, upon days, upon years 
attending to this issue in their unwavering support in standing with us 
as we move forward on this legislation.
  Madam Speaker, to West Valley Deputy General Manager Scott Anderson: 
Keep up the good work, and together we will clean up this site once and 
for all.
  Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I would just ask support from my 
colleagues to pass this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  September 25, 2018, on page H8795, the following appeared: Madam 
Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to support this legislation. 
Madam Speaker, I would just ask support from my colleagues to pass 
this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: Madam Speaker, I 
ask all my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. PALLONE. 
Madam Speaker, I would just ask support from my colleagues to pass 
this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 

  Mr. McKINLEY. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. McKinley) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2389, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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