Funding bill sidetracked in the House

摘要

The house energy and Commerce Committee on June 24 approved legislation—known as H.R. 3981—that would have provided $576 million for the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. The legislation was not inserted into the House's energy and water bill, however, because of intense opposition from Yucca opponents in the House. Instead, supporters moved the bill to a House-Senate conference committee, which, as of July 8, had yet to consider it as part of energy and water legislation. The amount approved in H.R. 3981 was shy of the $749 million the DOE said was needed in fiscal year 2005 to keep the Yucca project moving forward. The committee reduced the legislation's funding by $173 million—to the $576 million amount—because of budgetary reasons, according to reports.