Rocky Flats Minerals Acquisition Act

Mr. Speaker, the House-passed version of the legislation, this conference report is not perfect. But it is not so bad as to require opposition, and does provide funding for many important purposes. Therefore, I will vote for it.

The conference report includes a number of items of particular importance to Colorado.

In particular, I am very pleased that it includes funding for the final stages of work connected with the cleanup of Rocky Flats.

Once home to a nuclear weapons factory, Rocky Flats is located just 15 miles from downtown Denver. At one time it was the location of large quantities of nuclear materials and other hazardous substances--and because of its proximity to our state's major metropolitan area, timely and effective cleanup and closure of the site has been a matter of top priority for all Coloradans.

Just last month, the overall contractor for the cleanup, Kaiser-Hill, announced that their work was done. The Department of Energy must still confirm that, and there still must be a formal decision by state and federal regulators. But those who knew Rocky Flats as it was can hardly recognize the site as it is today.

The cleanup of Rocky Flats is a major achievement for which we can all be proud. I want to especially note the efforts of the workers and their dedication not only the security of this country, but their dedication to performing a safe and extensive demolition and decommissioning.

This was very complicated and difficult work involving dangerous and toxic materials. The

fact that it was done decades ahead of predictions and at a cost vastly less than expected is a testament to all those involved, and I think we have an obligation to make sure that workers' benefits are carried forward and that they are properly compensated for work-related health problems.

Getting to this day has been long and difficult. But the Colorado congressional delegation worked hand-in-glove with the local communities, DOE, and the contractors to work through the obstacles and I think lessons learned at Rocky Flats can be applied to the cleanup challenges at other nuclear-weapons sites.

I look forward to the next major chapter--transfer of most of the Rocky Flats site to the Interior Department for management as a National Wildlife Refuge. But getting that chapter properly written will require some additional steps, notably including the acquisition of mineral rights at Rocky Flats that are now in non-Federal ownership.

To facilitate that acquisition, I have introduced legislation (H.R. 4181) to authorize DOE to expend funds to acquire some or all of the minerals, including $10 million from its appropriation for fiscal year 2006. The bill also provides that DOE's expenditure of $10 million for that purpose (or, under certain circumstances, an appropriate payment to specified Federal and State officials for acquisition of Rocky Flats minerals or for habitat restoration at Rocky Flats) will satisfy certain claims the State of Colorado might bring for natural resources damages resulting from past discharges of hazardous substances at or from Rocky Flats).

The bill also would give the Interior Department two additional methods (either instead of or in addition to purchase for cash) for completing such acquisitions--namely: by giving ``credits'' that could be used instead of cash to pay for oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf; and/or by allowing federal lands or minerals anywhere in the country to be exchanged for the Rocky Flats minerals (under current law, such exchanges can only occur within the same state--Colorado lands/minerals for other Colorado lands/minerals).

Other parts of the conference report are also important for Colorado, including the funding for several Bureau of Reclamation projects in our State, including the Colorado-Big Thompson and the Fryingpan-Arkansas projects as well as the ongoing construction of the Animas-La Plata project.

Similarly, the conference report provides needed funds for operation and maintenance of a number of reservoirs operated by the Army's Corps of Engineers as well as for other Corps activities in Colorado, including aquatic restoration work involving Goose Creek and Lower Boulder Creek.

I am very glad to note that the bill will provide funds for completing construction of the new science and technology facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

I find it highly ironic, however, that the new NREL facility comes at the expense of the very renewable energy research and development programs that would be conducted within it. It's conceivable that we'll have new buildings but nothing to fill them with--no scientists or other NREL personnel, since many of them will lose their jobs due to deep cuts in program funding.

As co-chair of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus in the House, I have worked for years to increase--or at a minimum, hold steady--funding for DOE's renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development programs.

Given the finite supply and high prices of fossil fuels and increasing global demand, investing in clean energy is more important than ever. DOE's renewable energy programs are vital to our Nation's interests, helping provide strategies and tools to address the environmental challenges we will face in the coming decades. These programs are also helping to reduce our reliance on oil imports, thereby strengthening our national security, and also creating hundreds of new domestic businesses, supporting thousands of American jobs, and opening new international markets for American goods and services.

But for our investment in these technologies to payoff, our efforts must be sustained over the long term. This conference report does not do that.

Though some of the renewable energy accounts are increased from FY05 levels, it is an illusion. The EERE accounts are earmarked so heavily that there is little left of the core programs.

While the biomass line is up slightly from FY05, fully 53 percent of the FY06 funds are earmarked. Wind is slightly reduced from FY05 levels, but this is after repeated cuts--11 percent in just three years. Factoring in earmarks makes the situation even worse. The bill earmarks fully a third of the funds appropriated for wind energy for Member projects. Solar energy funding is down from FY05 levels, and also earmarked--17 percent of the total goes to Member projects.

I am concerned that year by year, DOE's renewable energy and energy efficiency programs seem to be losing--through gradual cuts, shifts of more EERE dollars to hydrogen and fuel cells and out of core renewables technologies, and earmarks.

These cuts will only increase U.S. vulnerability to energy supply disruptions, worsen fuel price volatility, and cause higher energy prices overall unnecessarily, and are especially ill-advised at a time when the need for a secure, domestic energy supply is so crucial.

So, Mr. Speaker, while I regret that they could not adequately address all our needs, in Colorado or elsewhere, I appreciate what the conferees have done and urge the House to pass this important conference report.