U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR), John Shimkus (R-IL), and Fred Upton (R-MI) commended the release of a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommending how the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) should handle its hazardous waste cleanup efforts.
“This report makes clear that DOE must incorporate risk-informed decision-making in order to strengthen its cleanup program to protect communities and taxpayer dollars,” said Rep. Walden, ranking member of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee; Rep. Shimkus, ranking member of the committee’s Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee; and Rep. Upton, ranking member of the Energy Subcommittee, in a joint statement.
“As was our goal in requesting this report last Congress, GAO outlines steps DOE can take to more efficiently and effectively tackle these environmental challenges,” the lawmakers said, adding that “bolstering DOE’s ability to protect communities from hazardous and contaminated sites has long been a priority for the Energy and Commerce Committee.”
The members also said that U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who this week announced that he’s leaving the Trump administration on Dec. 1, has made improving cleanup missions a top priority at DOE.
“Secretary Perry’s leadership has put DOE on a better footing to tackle this national challenge, and that momentum must continue,” according to the GOP members. “We encourage DOE to implement the recommendations in this report to build on that progress.”
GAO made two recommendations in its report: that DOE revise the 2017 cleanup policy for its Office of Environmental Management (EM) to establish how EM should apply the essential elements of a risk-informed decision-making framework into its current decision-making requirements and guidance, and that the Energy Secretary should direct DOE’s EM in the development of a program management plan to incorporate those essential elements.
DOE agreed with both recommendations, according to the GAO report.