Pete Domenici: “The Agency believes that the amended H.R. 1663 is a sound bill and makes critical improvements over its antecedent. As…”

“The Agency believes that the amended H.R. 1663 is a sound bill and makes critical improvements over its antecedent. As you are aware, the Skeen bill, as originally proposed, severely limited EPA's regulatory oversight of WIPP and, we believe, did not provide adequate protection of human health and the environment. Mr. Schaefer's amendments retain EPA as the independent regulator of the WIPP, eliminates extraneous requirements, and leaves intact the provisions of the 1992 WIPP Land Withdrawal Act (LWA) that require EPA to certify whether the WIPP facility will comply with the disposal regulations in accordance with public rule-making procedures. I do not think it can be any clearer that the EPA wholeheartedly supports this amendment. In summary, the amendment is almost identical to language agreed to by DOE and EPA. That agreed-upon language was reported by the House Commerce Committee on April 25 and was recently reported by the House National Security Committee. The legislation would: Delete the authorization included in the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act to conduct tests underground at WIPP using transuranic waste.”