Floyd Spence: “The conferees were particularly aware of and therefore careful to avoid changes in law that could inadvertently result…”

“The conferees were particularly aware of and therefore careful to avoid changes in law that could inadvertently result in changes to existing environmental clean-up efforts. For this reason, the conference report contains a number of provisions specifically designed to make it clear that the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration will not only be subject to all existing environmental laws, regulations, and related requirements, but that the legislation would also not result in any reversal of existing environmental policies or practices within DOE. As Senator Warner and I stated in our September 14 letter to the National Governors Association and the National Association of Attorneys General, which had been submitted for the Record, and I quote, ``We clearly intend that all existing regulations, orders, agreements, permits, court orders, or nonsubstantive requirements that presently apply to the programs in question continue to apply subsequent to the enactment and effective date.'' Therefore, it was the clear intent and action of the conferees to not in any way supersede, diminish, or set aside existing waivers of sovereign immunity agreements between DOE and the States.”