Steve Largent: “I rise in support of H.R. 2641 to make technical corrections to title X of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. This…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 2641 to make technical corrections to title X of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. This legislation is a clean reauthorization that extends the program of annual reimbursements for 5 more years to clean up uranium and thorium mill tailings sites by extending these reimbursements for 5 more years. It eliminates the requirement for DOE to place into escrow sufficient funds to cover estimated post-2002 cleanup costs, and it changes the date when the Secretary must determine whether any excess funds remain from 2005 until 2008. H.R. 2641 is a bipartisan bill reported out unanimously by the Committee on Commerce. The bill is supported by the Department of Energy, by industry, and by the PACE union which represents workers at the gaseous diffusion plants. H.R. 2641 will keep the industry licensees focused on completing their cleanup work and will keep DOE focused on reimbursing its fair share of the cleanup costs.”