Pro-Yucca dump congressional advocates pat themselves on the back

• Ripon Advance - Shimkus, Upton, Walden commend House committee passage of nuclear waste disposal bill - By Ripon Advance News Service

Tellingly, U.S. Representatives Shimkus (R-IL) and Walden (R-OR) have announced they will not seek re-election after the current congressional session. Yucca dump opponents from coast to coast say good riddance, after years and even decades of environmental injustice, environmental racism, radioactive racism, and violation of the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley with the Western Shoshone Indian Nation, the supreme law of the land, equal in stature to the U.S. Constitution itself! That is what the Yucca dump they have been and still are pushing represents! Shimkus, Upton (R-MI), and Walden have led these despicable efforts.

And Upton is one of the nuclear power industry's best friends in Congress. See the following Beyond Nuclear exposés on Upton:

• Individual Contributions to Rep. Upton Associated with the Nuclear Industry
  October, 2010 update based on Federal Election Commission data
• Rep. Upton's Campaign Contributions from Nuclear Industry Related PACs
  October, 2010 update based on Federal Election Commission data
• Fred Upton, One of the Nuclear Industry's Best Friends in Congress
  2 page summary, updated 10/10/10
• Fred Upton, One of the Nuclear Industry's Best Friends in Congress
  22 page report, with citations, 2008

Beyond Nuclear and dozens of other organizations also called Upton on his hypocrisy. In H.R. 2699, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019, Upton (as well as Democrat Debbie Dingell from Michigan), say that high-level radioactive waste has no place near the Great Lakes, vis-a-vis long-term or permanent storage or disposal there. But Upton has been fine with long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste on the Great Lakes shores, ever since taking office in 1986. He has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for high-level radioactive waste generation, and long-term storage, not only at the three reactors in his own s.w. MI congressional district (Palisades, Cook Units 1 and 2), but at reactors beyond, nationwide, including on the Great Lakes shoreline, as well as just upstream and upwind.

See that letter here:

Beyond Nuclear, and 25 allied organizations from the U.S. and Canada, called out Dingell's and Upton's hypocrisy in an open letter sent to Great Lakes members of the U.S. Congress, during earlier consideration of very similar legislation (H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017 and 2018, during the last congressional session). See the Dec. 20, 2017 coalition letter here; see the Jan. 4, 2018 press release here.

U.S. congressional high-level radioactive waste legislation -- bills that Beyond Nuclear opposes, and supports

Beyond Nuclear opposes these bills:

H.R. 2699, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019 [Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney (Democrat from CA-9), U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (Republican from IL-15), et al.]

[See analyses of and commentary on H.R. 2699, by Robert Halstead, director, State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, from June 2019:

---U.S. House Subcommittee hearing testimony;

---Analysis of and commentary on H.R. 2699];

See this November 20, 2019 post re: passage of H.R. 2699 by the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee, by voice vote. 

See this September 26, 2019 post re: passage of H.R. 2699 by the U.S. House Environment and Climate Subcommittee by voice vote. 

Here is the link to the Subcommittee's own website post re: voice vote passage of H.R. 2699 during mark up, one of 15 bills. Here are the opening remarks by Committee Chairman Pallone (D-NJ) at the subcommittee mark up.

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S. 2917, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019 [Sponsored by U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), and U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND); identical to H.R. 2699].

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H.R. 2995, the Spent Fuel Prioritization Act of 2019 [Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Levin (Democrat from CA-49), et al.].

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H.R. 3136, the Storage and Transportation of Residual and Excess Nuclear Fuel Act of 2019 (a.k.a. the STORE Nuclear Fuel Act) [Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (Democrat from CA-6), et al.].

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See the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing from 6/13/19, re: all three House bills mentioned above (H.R. 2699, H.R. 2995, H.R. 3136), at this link. There you will find the video of the hearing, as well as links to witness introductory remarks and full written testimonies.

See a Beyond Nuclear letter for the record submitted to the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee for the hearing on 6/13/19, expressing opposition to all three bills.

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S. 1234, the Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2019 [Sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Republican from AK), U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (Republican from TN), and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Democrat from CA)].

See the video of the 6/27/19 Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee hearing on this bill, with links to witness introductions and full written testimonies, at this link.

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Beyond Nuclear also opposes funding for the Yucca Mountain, Nevada dump-site, as well as for the New Mexico and Texas consolidated interim storage facilities, in both congressional budget as well as appropriations bills. The Trump administration roll out for Fiscal Year 2021 budget figures is scheduled for February 10, 2020.

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Beyond Nuclear supports these bills*:

H.R. 1544, the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act/ S. 649, the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act.

[In the U.S. House, sponsored by Dina Titus, Steven Horsford, and Susie Lee, Democrats from Nevada. In the U.S. Senate, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, Democrats from Nevada, and co-sponsored by U.S. Sens.: Cory Booker (Democrat from NJ); Kamala Harris (Democrat from CA); Amy Klobuchar (Democrat from MN); Bernie Sanders (Independent from VT); Elizabeth Warren (Democrat from MA); and Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat from NY)]

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S. 1985, the STRANDED Act of 2019 (a.k.a. the Sensible, Timely Relief for America's Nuclear Districts' Economic Development Act of 2019). [Sponsored by Tammy Duckworth, Democrat from IL, et al.]

H.R. 5608, the STRANDED Act of 2019 [Sponsored by Bradley Scott Schneider, Democrat from IL, et al.; identical to S. 1985, immediately above]

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H.Res. 805, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President and the Secretary of State should ensure that the Government of Canada does not permanently store nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin [Sponsored by Dan Kildee, Democrat from MI, John Moolenar, Republican from MI, et al.; identical to S. Res. 470, immediately below]

S.Res. 470, A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the President and the Secretary of State should ensure that the Government of Canada does not permanently store nuclear waste in the Great Lake Basin [Sponsored by Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, Democrats from MI, et al.; identical to H.Res. 805, immediately above]

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*Please note, Beyond Nuclear's support for these bills would include their passage as stand-alone bills, or as part of broader environmental-, health-, and safety-protection legislation. However, their inclusion as sweeteners in dangerously bad bills, like those listed above that Beyond Nuclear opposes, is unacceptable.

NUCLEAR WASTE: Panel approves Yucca bill with bipartisan support

As reported by E&E. (The full article is behind a pay wall, but free trial subscriptions are available.)

The article reports:

The Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bipartisan bill yesterday afternoon that would attempt to break the nation's nuclear waste disposal logjam through a two-tiered approach that involves the controversial Yucca Mountain site in Nevada.

...Among the committee members no longer backing the bill, Rep. Doris Matsui (D- Calif.), who co-sponsored the proposal last year, warned the path for the legislation this year would be vastly different than previous votes.

"The Yucca Mountain project has been stalled for years," Matsui said. "I do not see the point of advancing a bill that faces obvious and possibly endless obstacles before it can be finalized."

Matsui offered and withdrew a substitute amendment to enter her nuclear waste bill, H.R. 3136, to authorize interim storage without the Yucca language.

Those sentiments were also echoed by Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), who voted against the bill for fear that a proposed interim site in his state — opposed by him and New Mexico's governor — could turn into a de facto long-term storage site without a workable permanent disposal site.

"This is not an interim storage bill, this is a permanent storage bill," Luján said.

U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee passes H.R. 2699 by voice vote

H.R. 2699, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019, was passed by the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee on Wed., Nov. 20, by voice vote. That is, there is no roll call record as to how each U.S. Representative voted. Voice votes are usually applied only to non-controversial matters, such as naming a post office.

This dangerously bad high-level radioactive waste legislation should be among the most controversial bills Congress addresses. H.R. 2699 aims to open one or more dumps in the Southwest -- so-called consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs), targeted at New Mexico and/or Texas, as well as a permanent burial dump at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, on Western Shoshone Indian land. If any one of these dumps open, large-scale shipments of high-risk irradiated nuclear fuel, by road, rail, and/or waterway, would travel through most states, past the homes of millions of Americans.

Considering their targeting for the nuke waste dumps, this bill could be called the Screw Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas bill. (The 1987 amendments to the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which singled out Nevada for the country's nuke waste dump, was most commonly dubbed the Screw Nevada bill.) But when it comes to the high-risk transportation impacts, we all live in Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas!

See the self-congratulatory press release by the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee chairman, Frank Pallone Jr. (Democrat-New Jersey), here.

H.R. 2699 is sponsored by CA Democrat Jerry McNerney. A co-sponsor is John Shimkus (Republican-IL), who sponsored very similar legislation, H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018, in the last congressional session. (H.R. 3053 passed the U.S. House on May 10, 2018, but was never taken up by the U.S. Senate.) There are currently 25 co-sponsors of H.R. 2699. See them listed here.

Note that an amendment was also passed by voice vote, that "conveys the Sense of Congress that neither the United States nor Canada should allow permanent or long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel or other radioactive waste near the Great Lakes." The amendment was introduced by two Michigan U.S. Representatives, Debbie Dingell (Democrat) and Fred Upton (Republican).

While this amendment appears reasonable on its face, it is also hypocritical. It only addresses the permanent or long term storage of irradiated nuclear fuel near the Great Lakes, but makes no mention of its generation there in the first place. In fact, both Dingell and Upton are long time proponents of atomic reactors on the Great Lakes shoreline. Upton has not had his constituents' backs regarding high-risk dry cask storage at Palisades in southwest Michigan, which began 26 years ago.

Beyond Nuclear, and 25 allied organizations from the U.S. and Canada, called out Dingell's and Upton's hypocrisy in an open letter sent to Great Lakes members of the U.S. Congress, during earlier consideration of very similar legislation (H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017 and 2018, during the last congressional session). See the Dec. 20, 2017 coalition letter here; see the Jan. 4, 2018 press release here.

What can you do? Contact your U.S. Representative, and urge opposition to this dangerously bad bill, H.R. 2699!

You can also contact both your U.S. Senators. Urge them to oppose H.R. 2699, and its Senate companion bill. Unlike the last congressional session, the U.S. Senate has already taken up H.R. 2699. The Senate has not assigned a bill number for the legislation, but on May 1, 2019, S._______, a Discussion Draft of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019, was taken up by the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's chairman, John Barrasso (Republican-WY).

(See Senate side update, posted below.)

You can also reach your Congress Members' D.C. offices by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Update on November 21, 2019 by admin

Shortly after the bill advanced out of the E&C panel, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso introduced similar legislation in the upper chamber.

Update on November 21, 2019 by admin

See analyses of and commentary on H.R. 2699, by Robert Halstead, director, State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, from June 2019:

---U.S. House Subcommittee hearing testimony;

---Analysis of and commentary on H.R. 2699.

Yucca bill advanced by panel not likely to see House floor

As reported by the Nevada Independent.