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EPA NOMINEES SNARLED IN SENATE
Lawmaker delays confirmations until Yucca Mountain standards are issued
CHERYL HOGUE
A nevada senator is holding up confirmation of President George W. Bush's nominees for upper management positions at EPA until the agency issues radiation standards for nuclear waste to be stored at Yucca Mountain.
The proposed Yucca Mountain repository, located about 90 miles outside of Las Vegas, would hold some 70,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear waste. EPA is to set radiation release standards for the site, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is to determine whether Yucca Mountain will meet those benchmarks.
EPA, under the Clinton Administration, sent draft standards for Yucca Mountain to the White House Office of Management & Budget just before President Bush was inaugurated. They are undergoing review and possible revision before they are issued.
Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), a foe of the Yucca Mountain repository, says he is concerned that NRC and the Energy Department "are attempting to weaken the provisions of the EPA standards" during the White House review. So until the standards are issued, Reid is using a legislative maneuver known as a "hold" to prevent a Senate vote to confirm Bush's EPA nominees.
Two EPA nominees currently are caught in this bind: Stephen L. Johnson, selected to become assistant administrator for prevention, pesticides, and toxic substances, and Jeffrey R. Holmstead, Bush's pick for assistant administrator for air and radiation.
However, Reid agreed not to delay the vote on Bush's nominee for the number two EPA slot. On May 24, the Senate confirmed Linda J. Fisher, formerly vice president of governmental affairs for Monsanto, as EPA deputy administrator.
Reid also has placed a hold on the nomination of James L. Connaughton to the President's Council on Environmental Quality.
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