Yucca Mountain News Clips - Thursday, September 23, 2004

Yucca Mountain News Clips
Thursday, September 23, 2004
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Las Vegas SUN
September 23, 2004

Editorial: Oversight of Yucca is in jeopardy

The federal money that the state of Nevada has been receiving for the oversight of the Yucca Mountain project has been dwindling away in recent years. Last year the state had sought $5 million from Congress, but it was given only $1 million. On Tuesday the state experienced another setback, as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- the federal agency that will decide on the Energy Department's application to build a nuclear waste dump in Nevada -- rejected the state's request for a $13.75 million grant. The state wanted the money to perform oversight work, such as $2 million to analyze the dump's performance and $1.8 million for further studies of how nuclear waste containers could corrode inside a repository. The latter issue -- the potential corrosion of the containers -- continues to vex scientists and offers enough uncertainty, we believe, to doom the pr oject.

The federal government -- whether it's Congress or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- should be providing Nevada with the necessary funding to carry out proper oversight of the Yucca Mountain project. The federal government's shortcuts and failures to look out on the behalf of Nevadans are legion with respect to determining whether Yucca Mountain can safely store nuclear waste. Just this summer the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government's proposed radiation standard for Yucca Mountain didn't meet the legal requirements to protect public safety, a legal blow to the project that ultimately could prevent nuclear waste from ever coming here. We're not optimistic, though, that Congress will step up and provide us with the money to be the watchdog on Yucca Mountain that the federal government has been unwilling to be. It's essential th en that Gov. Kenny Guinn and the next session of the Nevada Legislature set aside enough state funds to provide the needed ! oversight of one of the gravest threats to Nevada's future.

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Las Vegas SUN
September 23, 2004

Letter: Sandoval missed chance on Yucca

Who said the following?

"Nevada has recently enjoyed important legal victories, but it is incumbent upon everyone in the fight against Yucca Mountain to remain steadfast in our commitment to work together and prove to the world that the project poses unacceptable risks. The final battle over Yucca, at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, will prove that a safe repository cannot be built in the porous volcanic rock that constitutes Yucca Mountain. If the project has not collapsed by then, this final battle will expose it for being the ill-considered project that it is."

If you said Brian Sandoval, Nevada's attorney general, in his Sept. 12 article in the Sun headlined, "Yucca project to fail regardless of politics," you would be right.

But why, then, did Sandoval not take advantage of his speaking opportunity at the Republican National Convention to express these convictions?

He had the opportunity to tell the delegates how wrong the party's platform and president are. He let us down. One has to question Sandoval's commitment to ending this deadly project. Is he merely playing politics while protecting his political flank here in Nevada and in the White House?

There is only one way to ensure we are kept safe from Yucca. Choose the presidential candidate who is committed to ending this deadly project.

Richard Miller

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Las Vegas SUN
September 23, 2004

Letter: Eject Bush to stop nuke dump

The Yucca Mountain project is being forced on us because billions of dollars have already been spent studying the site over the last 20 years and the clock is ticking on temporary storage facilities. Additionally, the Bush administration is for ramping up the nuclear power industry in this country and therefore needs a permanent storage solution.

These are not good enough reasons to build a permanent nuclear waste storage facility in a seismically active area. Every Nevadan should look at the U.S. Geological Service's Web page (http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latest.htm) and see the real-time seismic activity in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain. The toxicity level of the waste slated for this site is in the "immediately fatal" category. Scientists, engineers and our own legislators are gravely concerned about the risk to our state, but our president is not. He doesn't consult nonpartisan experts on these matters; he gets his decision-making information from loyalist ideologues committed to his version of the conservative agenda.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, for example, author of the recommendation the president used to approve the Yucca Mountain project, is neither a scientist nor an engineer. He is a conservative lawyer who has spent 10 years of his career as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

If we give the Bush administration another opportunity to force its pro-nuclear agenda, no doubt the consequences will be disastrous for Nevada.

Marg Dillon
Reno

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Las Vegas Review-Journal
September 23, 2004

Bush reversing gains, actor says

Redford criticizes environmental record

By Keith Rogers
Review-Journal

Actor-director Robert Redford on Wednesday attacked the Bush administration's track record on the environment, telling a crowd of more than 200 that protecting the nation's land, air and water should be a bipartisan priority not weakened by self-serving political leadership.

"I'm hoping we're moving to that day when the environment is above politics. It's your environment," Redford, 67, said at the Rainbow Library amphitheater.

His speech capped those by a panel of speakers featuring Martha Marks, president of Republicans for Environmental Protection; Grace Potorti of the Nevada Conservation League; state Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas; and Greg Wetstone, executive director of the nonprofit Environmental Accountability Fund, the event's sponsor.

Redford, a conservationist for some 30 years who helped shape the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act, accused Bush and his advisers of eroding the laws through policies that allow the oil and gas industries and coal-fired power companies to delay compliance at the expense of public health and the environment.

The administration, he said, has lost the bipartisan support that led to compromises and the creation of environmental laws.

"God forbid that we should ever let things slide where we lose that balance," he said.

He criticized President Bush's effort to forge ahead with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project despite legal concerns over the radiation protection standard and despite advice from scientists to seek other solutions for disposing of the nation's most deadly waste.

"When you narrow it down to specifics like Yucca Mountain and Yucca flat, you've got to be kidding," he said. "The consequence is toxic, and it's toxicity that's not going to go away overnight."

In his speech and in an interview before it, he never mentioned Bush's opponent, Democrat John Kerry.

He said he did not come to Las Vegas on behalf of the Kerry campaign but said he is voting Democrat while also supporting "a lot of Republicans."

In the interview, he said the most crucial environmental issue the nation faces is the current administration with "its attitudes and policies that it's trying to jam down our throats," not the least of which is its plan to entomb nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"Nevada is a great microcosm of the problem because you have a situation endemic throughout the country and the West. But what makes it particularly acute is it contains such enormous health hazard issues for not only this generation but many more," said Redford.

Redford questioned a poll conducted last week for the Review-Journal that found 1 percent of the voters think the environment will be most influential in their voting decision.

"I've found more than not people are concerned about the environment. I think the environment is a bigger issue than the media in general and the polls have shown," he said.

Marks said Redford is "absolutely right" about Bush's policies on the environment.

"It's a sad thing because our party has a long and proud history of conservation and environmental protection that's getting flushed down the toilet," she said.

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Las Vegas Review-Journal

September 23, 2004

Correction

A story about the Yucca Mountain Project in Wednesday's Review-Journal said the state of Nevada may ask Clark County to contribute $150,000 for ongoing research. In fact, the amount is $130,000, and it was specified in a contract that received final approval by state officials on Sept. 13

The Review-Journal corrects mistakes. Errors should be brought to the newspaper's attention by calling 383-0264.

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Reno Gazette-Journal

Application for nuclear waste grant is rejected

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Nevada has been turned down for a $13.75 million nuclear waste grant, potentially threatening the state´s legal and science campaigns against the Yucca Mountain Project.

After learning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had rejected the application, the state´s nuclear waste manager said Tuesday he might seek $1 million in supplemental funds from the state Board of Examiners and the Legislature later this year to stay afloat.

“I guess we´re going to sit tight and see what happens and then make a decision whether to go to the Legislature or not,’ said Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. “We can limp along here for now. We´re probably OK until November or December.’

Loux said the impact is difficult to measure because the Energy Department also is facing uncertainties due to a budget impasse in Congress and a legal ruling this summer that invalidated a key radiation safety standard.

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Nevada Appeal
September 23, 2004

Nevada loses nuclear waste grant

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS - Nevada has been turned down for a $13.75 million nuclear waste grant, potentially threatening the state's legal and science campaigns against the Yucca Mountain Project.

After learning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had rejected the application, the state's nuclear waste manager said Tuesday he may seek $1 million in supplemental funds from the state Board of Examiners and the Legislature later this year to stay afloat.

"I guess we're going to sit tight and see what happens, and then make a decision whether to go to the Legislature or not," said Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. "We can limp along here for now. We're probably OK until November or December."

DOE delays on the Yucca project could buy time for the state until Congress acts or federal courts hear a pending lawsuit that seeks additional government funding, Loux said.

The financial setback comes when the state needs additional money the most. It has increased spending on lawyers, technical experts and research to prepare for Yucca Mountain license hearings before the NRC.

State officials had projected they would spend about $10 million a year for the next four years or more to mount an aggressive challenge.

The state recently renewed a $6 million contract with Egan, Fitzpatrick, Malsch & Cynkar, of McLean, Va., to represent the state during Yucca licensing, an amount that also funds major technical consultants.

To finance its repository research, Nevada has relied on an appropriation from Congress each year. But lawmakers allocated only $1 million for 2004, about 80 percent less than the state requested.

No money has yet been set aside for 2005.

The NRC turned down Nevada's grant request in a 43-page opinion issued Thursday that was received by the state Tuesday.

The agency said federal laws restricted its ability to give Nevada the money it sought. Even if the request could be honored, the grant would have forced cutbacks in other programs, it said.

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KLAS
September 22, 2004

DOE Imposes "New" Yucca Rules

Brian Allen, Reporter

Clark County is crying foul as the Department of Energy imposes new rules concerning the Yucca Mountain project. County leaders say they didn't see this coming. For the last 20 years, the DOE has provided Clark County with millions of dollars: money to be used to prepare for the Yucca Mountain project. But now 20 years later, the DOE is cracking down on exactly what that money can be used for; triggering a "new" war of words.

County leaders want to know why such a dramatic change and why now? "I believe the Department of Energy would rather have a smoother license application process." Irene Navis is the county's Yucca coordinator and was blindsided by the changes.

Change number one: the county can't use it's DOE money to prepare and file paperwork as part of the repository's licensing process; leaving the county on the outside looking in without a voice as the process continues. "We're relegated to just the average public citizen who wants to understand what's happening after the fact or maybe they read it in the newspaper."

Change number two: the county can't use its DOE money to study nuclear waste transportation. County officials can attend DOE transportation meetings but can't offer opinions or analysis. "All of those impacts related to property values, public safety, impacts to government services that has always been the context under which we have been studying transportation."

Clark County Commission Chairman Chip Maxfield sent a letter to the DOE saying he has "significant areas of concern", that the changes are "an attempt to marginalize" the county's role in Yucca Mountain, and doing so would impact the "health and safety of Nevada residents."

Yucca opponents, like Judy Treichel, say the DOE isn't playing fair. "If they had a good site it should be able to stand up to any sort of scrutiny. It should be able to answer all the hard questions and it should be able to follow every single rule."

The Department of Energy says these changes really aren't changes at all. The rules have always been on the books but never enforced. We asked Alan Benson with the DOE in Las Vegas, if the rules weren't enforced in the past why are they being enforced now? Benson says -- because they are the rules.

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KLAS
September 22, 2004

Robert Redford Speaks at Rainbow Library

Adrian Arambulo, Reporter

Movie star and director Robert Redford was in Las Vegas Wednesday speaking out against President Bush. Redford, a liberal conservationist, joined Democrats and Republicans who disapprove of the President's environmental policies.

About two hundred people showed up for this gathering put together by the Environmental Accountability Fund and Nevada Conservation League. Robert Redford was on a panel that addressed the crowd for about an hour.

"When I'm President of the United States, I'll tell you about Yucca Mountain -- not on my watch," Senator John Kerry stated.

The environment, more specifically Yucca Mountain, will be crucial in determining which one of the presidential candidates carries the state. "Our President is clearly of privilege who was brought forth by oil and gas companies. What do you expect," Redford said.

Actor Robert Redford, a longtime environmentalist, joined Nevada Democrats and some Republicans at Rainbow Library to criticize President Bush's environmental policies. "This is your state, your right. The consequences is gigantic effects because it's toxic. The consequences is toxic, toxicity that won't go away tomorrow night."

President Bush stands firm that plans for Yucca Mountain will move forward -- saying he trusts years of research. "I have listened as well to your Governor, Senator Ensign, and the Congressmen, your fine Attorney General. They didn't agree with my decision and I understand that."

Political ads supporting Bush say Kerry voted in favor of Yucca Mountain seven times over the years. "John Kerry voted for the "Screw Nevada Bill" -- which was the original bill to bring a nuclear repository site here. And his record is not exactly clean either," said Brian Scroggins, with the Clark County Republican Party.

State Democrats say Kerry voted for that "Screw Nevada Bill" in order to have research conducted to see if building a waste site here would be feasible. Nevada Democrats say when it has mattered most Kerry has stood with them.

Redford also pushed for the crowd to push for the advancement of wind, solar, and hybrid car technology. He has sat on the National Resource Defense Council for years and says it will take Democrats and Republicans working together to make sure our environment survives.

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Daily Kos
September 23, 2004

Is Bush Just Going To Write Off Nevada?

by PSoTD

- Because the latest DOE effort is surely going to tick off government officials and citizens alike with regards to Yucca Mountain:

From KLAS TV:

- Anyone know of the cases where the rules have not been enforced under the Bush Administration?

Michigan Daily
September 23, 2004

Bush, Kerry surprisingly similar on energy policies

By Justin Miller

For all of the differences the presidential candidates have, their stances on many energy policies are quite similar. Each campaign says the key difference lies primarily in the leadership qualities of their candidates.

“John Kerry understands the problems that we face today, oil prices are rising, gas and energy prices are rising. Bush has refused to act because he´s in the pockets of the oil industry and the nuclear industry. In not showing leadership, he´s financially burdening Americans and making us less safe,’ said Rodell Mollineau, Michigan spokesman for the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

But Mike Catanzaro, who works in the policy division of the Bush-Cheney campaign, said Kerry has the wrong energy policy and failed to show up for a vote on the Bush energy bill, which included a provision to drill in the Alaskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

“When push came to shove, it had a number of provisions on conservation in it and he chose not to show up,’ Catanzaro said.

While each campaign claims its candidate is the better leader, both Bush and Kerry outline many similar environmental programs.

Both candidates, for example, want to expand the infrastructure to transport natural gas and use natural gas resources in the Gulf of Mexico, without drilling off the shore of Florida.

Bush and Kerry share even closer similarities in their plans for renewable fuels. They would requiring the United States to use five billion gallons of ethanol or biodiesel in motor fuels by 2012.

“John Kerry and John Edwards want to make sure that the cars of the future are made in America by the (United Auto Workers) and the auto industry. They´re going to provide $10 billion dollars to rebuild their plants, to build plants,’ said Anyone in the market for a fuel-efficient vehicle under Bush´s plan would receive a $4,000 tax credit to help purchase the car. In addition, Bush would continue his five-year, $1.7 initiative to spur the development of hydrogen fuel cells. Kerry would create a “Hydrogen Institute’ to develop a “new hydrogen economy’ by 2020.

When the candidates are not discussing how to produce energy, they are promoting conservation.

Kerry says he wants to help reduce the electric bill by 20 percent for the federal government, hospitals, universities, homes and corporations by 2020.

The Bush plan does not emphasize a timeline so much as it does proposals.

“There are over 100 recommendations in the National Energy Policy that deal with energy conservation. Low income households will be helped to “weatherize’ their homes to help reduce their energy costs,’ Catanzaro said.

When Bush and Kerry talk about creating energy, not just conserving it, they agree that “clean coal’ technology should be used, while Bush goes a step-farther — endorsing the resurrection of nuclear power.

Bush and Kerry differ on the way to make such technology cheaper. Kerry would spend $10 billion to help companies build clean coal plants. Bush would devote a fifth of the money to the same ends, but try to create a market solution to draw the coal industry into making changes.

More controversial than clean coal technology is the possible resurrection of nuclear power plants in the U.S.

Currently 20 percent of all U.S. electricity comes from nuclear power. In France that number is as 78 percent. New nuclear power stations are expensive because of the high cost of licensing, certification and inspection for each plant.

“The Department of Energy is working pretty intensively on trying to streamline the certification process. (The Nuclear Regulatory Commission) will still have a strong role in overseeing safety in nuclear power plants,’ Catanzaro said.

Technology changes over the years have led the Bush administration to believe some of the regulations are outmoded.

“What (the NRC) is looking at is a new design for plants. It´s a smaller plant that we believe should not be subjected to the old regulatory processes of the past. We believe we can continue to maintain safety over time,’ Catanzaro added.

The Kerry energy plan is ambivalent on nuclear energy, saying only that “Nuclear power can play an essential role in providing affordable energy while reducing the risk of climate change. However, key challenges such as nuclear waste disposal, nuclear nonproliferation, and plant security must be met.’

Support for new plants rose to 42 percent in a 2001 ABC News/Washington Post poll — twice the approval rating they had among Americans in 1986, the year of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred.

“One of the biggest things is getting Yucca Mountain up. We can do this in an environmentally safe manner,’ Catanzaro said.

The current proposal by Bush would place the nuclear waste stored on the land of the 104 U.S. nuclear power stations inside Yucca Mountain, Nev.

In the 2000 both Vice President Al Gore and Bush made no effort at trying to block the Yucca repository.

However, Kerry has continued his opposition to the Yucca repository, banding together with both senators from Nevada to vote against the 2002 bill.

In 1987, Kerry blocked the Yucca project when it first came up in Congress.

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Las Vegas SUN
September 22, 2004

Rural counties weigh nuke benefits

By Stephen Curran
Las Vegas SUN

CALIENTE -- An Energy Department-funded oversight committee on Tuesday reviewed a plan passed by the Lincoln County Commission to gauge residents' feelings on the proposed railroad line to Yucca Mountain.

The plan, passed Monday, lets the Central Nevada Community Protection Planning Working Group hire a consulting group made up of two former teachers.

The consultants will conduct studies on possible socioeconomic fallout from the project, members of the Joint City/County Impact Alleviation Committee said at the meeting at Caliente City Hall.

The joint committee was formed in 1984 to study the potential long-term effects of the proposed nuclear waste dump.

The working group includes members of the Caliente City Council and the Nye, Esmeralda and Lincoln county commissions. It was formed earlier this year to allow the governments to coordinate their dealings with the Energy Department.

The state is continuing to sue the government to stop the project at Yucca Mountain, which is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. State leaders and officials in Las Vegas have pledged to fight the dump.

In the rural areas, though, there has been some support of the project. Many leaders see it as a way to bring jobs and money into their counties.

Vaughn Higbee, a school superintendent-turned-consultant, said his group, L&H Associates, has interviewed about eight landowners and ranchers living along the proposed 319-mile rail route from Caliente to Yucca Mountain.

That route would be expected to carry thousands of tons of nuclear waste.

Higbee formed the consulting group with former school principal Larry Lytle, also a native Lincoln County resident.

Both men touted their roots in the area as qualifications for the position.

"I'm from the northern part of the county and Larry (Lytle) is from the south," Higbee said. "Between the two of us, there aren't a whole lot of people we don't know."

The studies are part of a slate of Energy Department activities, which include public "open house" tours of the proposed site and town hall-style meetings throughout the three counties that would be home to the railroad.

The working group, which uses federal money for Yucca Mountain oversight, came under fire in April after a Pahrump newspaper reporter and two local citizens were asked to leave a meeting, which members of the group said was closed to the public.

Lawyers for the attorney general's office, responding to a complaint by the Nevada Press Association, were reviewing Tuesday whether or not the group broke the state's open-meeting laws, Tom Sargent, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said.

No date has been set for the working group's next meeting.

Bryan Elkins, director of community development for the City of Caliente and member of the joint city-county committee, said the agencies will continue planning for the proposed dump even though the project's future could be jeopardized by a federal court ruling this summer that said the Environmental Protection Agency's 10,000-year radiation standard falls short of a stricter standard suggested by the National Academy of Sciences.

"There's a lot of uncertainty around the project," he told the committee.

The efforts come as the department works to complete its license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which must approve plans for the dump.

The Energy Department plans to submit the application by the end of the year to meet its goal of opening the dump by 2010.

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Las Vegas SUN
September 22, 2004

Redford decries Bush's environmental policies in Vegas visit

By Christina Almeida
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Bush administration is "intentionally blind" to the needs of the environment and has rolled back years of advances in improving air and water quality, actor and activist Robert Redford said Wednesday.

"Sadly, the erosion that's occurred is disastrous, frightening and dangerous," Redford said.

Speaking at an event sponsored by the Environmental Accountability Fund, Redford said he is insulted when President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney tout their status as Westerners.

"I take particular offense as a Westerner when I see all the swagger and all the strutting. .... And I think, `What do they know about the West?'" said Redford, who has homes in California and Utah. "It's synthetic. It's fake."

America needs more bipartisanship efforts, Redford said recalling the 1970s when he worked to help pass the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

"Remember the old days when we all fought tooth and nail, but we worked together to come to some sort of solution that could be bipartisan?" Redford said. "God forbid we could ever let things slide, that we lose that balance and we end up with something that could be divisive, totalitarian, mean, narrow. That's where we are now."

Bush campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt dismissed Redford's claims, and said Bush has proposed a number of policies beneficial to the environment.

"Robert Redford should stick to film making rather than making inaccurate claims," Schmitt said. "Our air and water are cleaner and clearer under this administration."

Schmitt pointed to Bush's proposal to reduce mercury emissions from power plants by 70 percent by 2008 and his budget, which includes $1.4 billion for Superfund cleanups. She also said Bush's 2005 budget for the National Parks Service was the largest in history.

"President Bush's sound, competent policies reflect his commitment to preserving and protecting the environment for future generations," she said.

But during his speech to about 200 people at the Rainbow Library, Redford accused Bush of placing special interests above those of the public.

"It seems like the '50s. This is Cold War thinking," Redford said. "Our president clearly is someone who is privileged and brought forth by a relationship with oil and gas. What do you expect?"

Redford also cited a recent federal appeals court ruling that the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository authorized by the Bush administration doesn't go far enough to protect people from potential radiation.

"They're still marching the course (toward opening the repository)," Redford said. "It's the wrong course."

Redford said he was saddened that the open space and resources he enjoyed as a youth are vanishing.

"The world is getting smaller real fast, and these resources are shrinking real fast," Redford said. "Somebody better move and move fast because these guys not only don't get it, they don't want to get it."

The Environmental Accountability Fund is a political action committee tied to the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund. It plans to air advertisements, send out mailings and put up billboards to highlight Bush's environmental policies and their effects on state and local communities.

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On the Net:

Natural Resources Defense Council: http://www.nrdc.org/

Bush campaign: http://www.georgewbush.com

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Pahrump Valley Times
September 22, 2004

Nevadans urge DOE to rescind Yucca spending guidelines

By Steve Tetreault
PVT Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Federal lawmakers on Thursday called on Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to rescind new guidelines that some Nevada counties complain are hindering their involvement in the Yucca Mountain Project.

If Abraham does not comply, the next step could be legislation in Congress to overturn the new rules. Or perhaps yet another lawsuit against the Energy Department, according to aides to Nevada lawmakers.

Five Nevadans in Congress asked Abraham in a letter to explain new DOE guidelines for how counties can spend federal money they are given each year through the Yucca program.

Ten counties have divided $4 million this year. Subject to certain restrictions, the money can be spent to assess how the proposed nuclear waste repository will affect county residents.

Guidelines for 2005 that were given to counties on Aug. 27 include new limits on spending for "transportation activities," including commenting on DOE's proposal to build a railroad from Caliente across rural Nevada to the repository site in Nye County.

Also, counties would be unable to spend federal money to load their research into a Yucca Mountain licensing database, an initial step to participate in Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearings, according to Nevada officials.

Energy Department officials said they were interpreting federal law. But Nevadans say the new guidelines interpret the law more strictly than in the past, when spending to participate in licensing and transportation were permitted.

"It seems to me the timing is really suspicious," said Abby Johnson, a nuclear waste consultant to Eureka County. "At a time when transportation planning on the part of DOE is actually starting to occur, when we are actually looking at ground impact from the construction of a rail line, they would find suddenly there is no basis for affected local governments to participate in those activities.

"I just have to wonder if this is a way to marginalize the counties," Johnson said.

The DOE guidelines contained some positives for the counties.

Counties holding unspent funds at the end of a fiscal year can carry it over into the new year, the department said. Also, counties can keep any interest accrued on federal aid, as long as it is spent on approved Yucca Mountain activities.

Nye County commissioner Candice Trummel said the DOE rules were mixed as far as their impact. She said she doubted Nye would pursue any complaints about them.

"There were positives as far as Nye County was concerned, and the negatives are things we can work around," Trummel said. Unlike Clark County and some other rural counties, Nye County participates in cooperative agreements with the Energy Department that provide funding to carry out specific Yucca activities.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to wait for an Abraham response before deciding whether to introduce legislation to reverse the guidelines, a spokeswoman said.

Other Nevada lawmakers have begun research to determine if legal action might be warranted, congressional officials said.

The letter to Abraham was signed by Reid, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, both R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley

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Pahrump Valley Times
September 22, 2004

County leaders look to enhance revenue

By Phillip Gomez and Doug McMurdo
PVT

Elected officials and Nye County department heads sat down last week for the first time to consider each other's separate budgets in an effort to look critically at overall county spending.

At the same time, officials are looking for ways to raise revenue as a backup plan in the event that federal PETT dollars the county receives for the Yucca Mountain project go away.

Payments Equal to Taxes, PETT, is funding the government awards Nye County for the tax value of the mountain. The federal government cannot be taxed, hence the term.

Election-year politics have added a degree of urgency to the county budget debate. President Bush supports the project, Democratic challenger John Kerry has claimed he would not allow Yucca Mountain to become a national repository for high-level nuclear waste generated by power companies and defense projects. The waste is currently being stored at dozens of sites in 39 states.

One of the revenue enhancement suggestions was to levy a new countywide licensing tax on businesses.

Assistant Sheriff Johanna Cody made the suggestion when it came her turn to speak in the "show-and-tell" exercise.

Every county in Nevada except Nye has such a tax, Cody said, and it is a good way for the county "to keep track of county businesses." The town of Pahrump licenses businesses, but not Nye County. If such a licensing requirement were put into place, she said, the sheriff's office would be the logical enforcer, just as deputies now check up on and enforce liquor licenses of vendors serving alcoholic beverages.

The county doesn't have a database to identify all the businesses and their locations within Nye County's borders, Cody said.

Commissioner Patricia Cox questioned Cody about her proposal and said she would research the matter. Commission Chairman Henry Neth and Commissioner Candice Trummell made no comment.

As a synergistic strategy to bring down rising governmental costs, department heads are being asked to take responsibility for the "whole" greater than its parts.

"Lets all work on this together because it's all our game," said budget director Charlie Rodewald, who chairs the meetings with Michael Maher, the county manager.

Since 66 to 70 percent of the county's general fund budget - which does not include the budgets of individual county departments - is comprised of salaries, the rhetorical question was: "How do you maintain the level of services and not have the people to do it?" Rodewald said.

Nye County borrowed $4.4 million from its PETT fund this year to pay for ordinary county services. So far, Congress has appropriated only $131 million this year to fund the program run by the Department of Energy, when officials had asked for close to $1 billion.

"That wouldn't even pay for close-down costs," said Commissioner Trummell of the dicey politics over the nuclear storage site in a volatile election season. She added that PETT money paid $3 million to allow the county to run its senior nutrition program this year.

Consequently, the county is looking hard to find resources to replace the PETT fund, should the county be cut off from enjoying the benefits of its supply.

"How come my payroll is almost $1 million higher than last year?" asked an apparently astonished Public Works Director Samson Yao. "I don't have an answer for that. We have to adjust. The only way to adjust is to take a look at staff," said Rodewald, his only response an intriguing question.

Yao's staff of 46 cost the county $2.8 million. With staff overtime and the department's legions of summer road workers, the annual total payroll cost rises to $3.48 million. However, public works does not receive its budget money from the general fund. Fuel prices motorists pay at gas stations in Nye County pay for public works salaries and equipment, as well as for roadwork.

Other departments, like the treasurer and assessor offices, were under budget so far this year.

The sheriff's office, which came under fire in a previous budget meeting, was there in force, with each sector chief lining one whole side of the table square.

In her report of expenses, Cody said it was difficult to predict costs for various functions and benefits of the office, such as juvenile detention, reimbursement of officers for college course work and lump sum vacation payments for retirees. When you have to suddenly pay $30,000 to a retiring officer "it screws up your budget," she said. "Some of them have been there longer than dirt."

In other functional areas the sheriff's office was losing money in maintaining responsibility for inmates sentenced to state prison, but kept in the county detention facility for up to a year. However, inmates are now charged booking fees and for medical care they might need while in the county's care, Cody said.

From April through August of this year the sheriff collected $11,347 in fees from inmates, she said.

Juvenile detention costs have also been partly offset by billing parents of those who can pay. In the past year over half of such costs, or $24,000, has been collected from responsible parents.

The costs are incurred in transporting juveniles to barrack facilities in Hawthorne in Mineral County, and in Douglas County, both more than 250 miles from Pahrump, Cody said.

"There is huge revenue in housing juveniles," Cody said.

Judge Tina Brisebill reported that for the period from July through mid-September she had 862 new criminal cases in her court and disposed of 1,396 cases. The approximate cost per case for processing was $125, she said.

By far, the largest number of defendants charged were misdemeanor traffic violators, who out-numbered other defendants 7-1. Brisebill said the numbers reflected the ease with which citizens have access to Pahrump's court system.

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Pahrump Valley Times
September 22, 2004

Letter: Yucca rip-off

Regarding the Yucca Mountain Project, please consider the following:

Why was the project begun? The answer is because the nation had and has nuclear waste that must be safely disposed or stored. How was Nevada selected? It was by vote of Congress.

Nevada politicians and businesses have sought every dollar possible from the American taxpayers out of this project, for 15 years or more. Remember Bullfrog County?

How many more billions of dollars will be required, and how much additional time, to reach this same stage of development in some other location?

What happens if terrorists attack the current storage locations in the interim? What will be the horrendous cost in lives and property?

Won't Nevada bear some of the responsibility? The time to have rejected it was long ago, before greedily grasping the money for all of these years.

Mr. McMurdo, could you please publish an audit showing how much taxpayer money has been spent on the Yucca Mountain Project, detailing how it has been spent? And, who have been the recipients? Thank you.

Mrs. Wanda Blohm

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State of Nevada
Agency for Nuclear Projects
www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/
nwpo@nuc.state.nv.us
775-687-3744
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