To reauthorize the West Valley demonstration project, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the pending legislation before our body.

Madam Speaker, I would like to take a moment to thank the gentleman from West Virginia as well as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for their support and their articulation of the legislation and the need for this legislation. I would, in particular, like to thank my good colleague Paul Tonko from New York, on the other side of the aisle, for working with us in a bipartisan way to get this legislation to reauthorize the West Valley Nuclear Site Reauthorization Act into law.

Madam Speaker, this legislation will provide clarity, additional steps that we can take, and give clarity to our area of New York that is impacted by this nuclear waste site, the folks who are working there on a day-in, day-out basis.

I have been to this site, Madam Speaker, multiple times. I have met with the managers of this site; I have met with the employees of this site; and they have worked tirelessly over the years to clean up this nuclear waste and this threat to our environment and to our communities, and I applaud their efforts.

Madam Speaker, I can attest to, firsthand, seeing the fruits of the work that have been done over the years that they have tended to West Valley and the surrounding community in order to address the threat from nuclear waste that exists there.

As we go forward, many years are still ahead of us in regard to the efforts to clean up that nuclear waste legacy that is located in our district in West Valley, New York. This legislation will give us clarity as to a future path that will be followed in order for us to continue the successful work there.

Madam Speaker, I encourage all Members to join us in supporting this legislation that will do great work to make sure that our environment is protected and that the legacy obligations of us as a government are attended to for a local community that is dealing with this issue.

Madam Speaker, to the Department of Energy and all the folks who work there, we say thank you.

I would like to thank, in particular, not only the Energy and Commerce Committee members, their staffs, but also the folks in our local community, such as Town of Ashford Supervisor Charles Davis and the local citizens task force that spent hours, upon days, upon years attending to this issue in their unwavering support in standing with us as we move forward on this legislation.

Madam Speaker, to West Valley Deputy General Manager Scott Anderson: Keep up the good work, and together we will clean up this site once and for all.

Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2389) to reauthorize the West Valley demonstration project, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material in the Record on the bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 2389 is a bill to reauthorize the West Valley demonstration project, which was introduced in May of 2017 by our New York colleague, Tom Reed.

The bipartisan legislation moved through the Energy and Commerce Committee by regular order, including legislative hearings and markups, as part of our broad nuclear waste management agenda. It was reported to the full committee, with a bipartisan amendment, by a voice vote.

Let me thank the ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Environment, Mr. Tonko, for working closely with us on this legislation.

H.R. 2389, as amended, authorizes appropriations to support the Department of Energy's environmental remediation at its West Valley cleanup site in New York through 2025. It also directs a study to help Congress determine the final disposition of the radioactive waste that DOE is cleaning up at the site.

H.R. 2389 also continues the work of this Congress to address the Federal Government's obligation for treatment and disposal of the legacy waste produced during the Cold War and through the Federal Government's early efforts to develop a civilian nuclear energy industry.

The Department of Energy has successfully remediated 92 sites of this waste, but the most technologically challenging projects remain in place at 17 locations, one of which is the West Valley site.

In 1980, Congress passed the West Valley demonstration project to direct DOE to address legacy environmental issues and authorized the appropriations, however, only through fiscal year 1981. The project has not been reauthorized since that time, despite Congress funding DOE's work at the site for the past 37 years. H.R. 2389 corrects this situation and provides a path to answering important questions concerning waste disposition and ensures spending at the site is subject to an active authorization.

I urge all Members to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed).

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2389, which reauthorizes the West Valley demonstration project.

The Western New York Service Center in West Valley, New York, has a unique history. The site is owned by New York State, but from 1966 to 1972 it was operated by a private business to reprocess spent nuclear fuel primarily provided by the Federal Government. Those reprocessing activities ended

decades ago, but high-level and transuranic waste continued to be stored at the site.

While a cost-sharing agreement between New York State and the Department of Energy has been resolved for the site's remediation, the ultimate disposal of the waste remains a point of contention. There have been ongoing disputes and legislative actions spanning from the 1980s through today, with DOE and New York State continuing to disagree over who should be responsible for paying for waste disposal. This disagreement has major consequences for how the waste can be disposed of and who will be responsible for covering the disposal costs.

H.R. 2389 would require a report by the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, to help clarify the origins of and disposal pathways for the waste, including cost estimates. The bill also reauthorizes the West Valley demonstration project at $75 million annually for 7 years, and this funding level is identical to the amount appropriated in fiscal year 2018 and will help ensure the cleanup continues on schedule.

While this bill does not settle the decades-old dispute between New York and DOE, it takes positive steps towards the site's remediation and attempts to move the ball forward to ensure that wastes are disposed of properly.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank Representative Tonko, the ranking member of the committee's Environment Subcommittee, for his work on this bill, and commend both him and the bill's sponsor for their efforts.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would just ask support from my colleagues to pass this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.