In a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson joined 21 of his House colleagues in requesting additional funding for the Department of Energy’s Environment Management Program. The Environmental Management Program typically includes roughly $500 million in funding for cleanup activities at the Idaho National Laboratory. 

In part, the letter stated:

“Under the accelerated cleanup initiative, funding for Environmental Management Cleanup peaked at S7.3 billion in Fiscal Year2005. Despite successful closure of several small sites, however, the shift of funding from closed sites to the larger sites like Hanford, Idaho, Oak Ridge and Savannah River did not happen. In fact, the budget for the Environmental  Management program has dropped over $l billion in just three years - falling from $6.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2006 to $5.5 billion in the Fiscal Year 2009 request submitted by President  Bush last month.

“Under this reduced budget, cleanup would ultimately take longer and cost taxpayers more. By delaying cleanup, reduced budgets mean greater environmental and safety risks and cause the layoff of hundreds of skilled workers.

“The successful closure of small sites, like Rocky Flats and Mound, has proven that increased budgets can lead to substantial cleanup progress and achievements through smart, prudent management of funding and cleanup resources. These lessons should be applied to the remaining sites across our nation so that cleanup momentum and progress can continue”

The letter was signed by the following Members of Congress: Doc Hastings (R-WA), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Gresham Barrett (R-SC), Zach Wamp (R-TN), Norm Dicks (D-WA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Tom Udall (D-NM), Adam Smith (D-WA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Charlie Wilson (D-OH), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Rick Larsen (D-WA),  David Wu (D-OR), Jay Inslee (D-WA), John Dunchan, Jr. (R-TN), Steve Pearce (R-NM), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Jean Schmidt (R-OH), Greg Walden (R-OR), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Heather Wilson (R-NM), Bob Inglis (R-SC).