President Bill Clinton has promised to veto S. 1271 and similar legislation "in its current form" if it passes the Congress.
In a strongly-worded message, Clinton said he will refuse to sign any legislation that would establish an "interim" radioactive waste dump in Nevada before the Department of Energy determines whether Yucca Mountain is suitable for more-permanent storage.
Clinton's veto message expressed sharp concern that S. 1271 and its House counterpart, HR 1020, would be exempted from major environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Clinton also objected to the bill's overriding of EPA's authority to set radiation standards for Yucca Mountain and an interim dump.
In a separate statement, the EPA itself took vigorous exception to S. 1271, stating that its radiation standards of 100 millirems/year are too high, do not "protect public health," and are "inconsistent with scientific findings."
Clinton's statement came shortly before a Senate vote on S. 1271, scheduled, perhaps inadvertently, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. Perhaps because of that, or because of fear of a planned filibuster by Nevada Senators Bryan and Reid, or perhaps because of a letter NIRS put together, signed by 83 different organizations and accompanied by 30,000 petition signatures, Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole pulled the bill from the floor.
At Monitor presstime, rumors were circulating that a vote might be held shortly after Memorial Day. However, Dole's surprise announcement that he is leaving the Senate by mid-June places the Senate's floor schedule in turmoil.
With Dole gone, for example, it makes it far more likely that a vote on the bill will actually occur: Dole need not worry about repercussions from Nevada--which Clinton won in 1992--if the vote occurs after he leaves.
On the other hand, it seems likely--though certainly not definite--that the Republican leadership would wait for Dole to leave before bringing the bill to a vote. That way, Dole could say he had nothing to do with it, and would not have to vote on it.
Although Nevada has only three electoral votes, it is considered a hotly-contested state in an election many observers believe will be quite close--despite what public opinion polls say now. And there is no doubt that the high-level waste issue is a central issue in the state.
Filibuster planned
But another reason Dole has been reluctant to bring S. 1271 to the Senate floor is that he knows how to count votes.
Senators Richard Bryan and Harry Reid plan to filibuster the bill, and have attained the active support of at least a few other Democratic Senators.
To break a filibuster requires 60 votes, and, so far, Dole has not been convinced that those in favor of S. 1271 have the necessary 60 votes to "invoke cloture," or stop the filibuster.
It is fair to say that counts on both sides show that a "cloture" vote--to end a filibuster--would be very close.
Moreover, it would take 2/3 of the Senate, or 67 votes, to override a Presidential veto, and it may be that Dole has not wanted to bring up the bill unless it were at least possible for an override vote to be successful.
On the House side, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in a recent speech at a Nevada fundraiser, said HR 1020 will not come to the House floor until and unless the Senate passes the measure.
Amendments
A number of possible amendments are expected if the bill does reach the Senate floor.
For example, Sen. Bennett Johnston (D-La.) is expected to offer amendments to address Clinton's concerns about the bill--particularly about establishing an "interim" dump before a permanent one is in place. Johnston did this in Senate Energy Committee consideration of the bill, but was overridden by another amendment by Committee Chairman Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska). In the end, Johnston could not even bring himself to vote for the bill, and abstained.
Amendments are also expected to delete a section of the bill which allows for reprocessing of nuclear waste, and Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) apparently plans to introduce an amendment which would keep liability for the waste with the nuclear utilities, rather than taxpayers.
Other amendment are likely as well. Because environmental groups are uniformly insistent that the entire bill is flawed and must be rejected, they have not focused, and do not plan to work on, individual amendments. Rather, environmental groups are gearing up to support the Bryan-Reid filibuster. Although it's just a procedural issue, the vote on the filibuster will be the key vote on the bill.
Radioactive Chlorine at Yucca Mountain
Meanwhile, in another blow to dump proponents, radioactive chlorine-36 has been found by Los Alamos scientists deep below Yucca Mountain.
The element was found some 600 feet below the surface, in an area which is supposed to be unreachable by outside elements for 1,000 years. Yet the chlorine could only have come from above-ground nuclear weapons tests conducted less than 50 years ago.
According to Department of Energy guidelines, the Yucca Mountain site will have to be disqualified if it is found that groundwater will travel through the repository within 1,000 years.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
So what does all this mean for environmental activists?
First, let's not sit on our laurels, the battle is far from over.
S. 1271 could still come up for a vote, as soon as early June. Failing that, it could come up as an amendment to another biill--a budget bill, for example, which President Clinton might feel he has to sign.
It is vital to keep up the pressure. The Senate is certainly hearing from the nuclear industry. Apart from spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on newspaper ads, the nuclear industry is also attempting to mount its own "grassroots" campaign in favor of S. 1271. They are getting utility employees, nuclear engineering professors, and others to write letters in support of the bill. In many cases, Senators are hearing as much or more from nuclear advocates as from environmental activists.
So, if you haven't yet written to your Senators (Washington DC, 20510), sit down and do so now. If you haven't yet convinced a friend to write or call, this is the time. While you're at it, call President Clinton (202-456-1111) and thank him for his veto message on S. 1271 and urge him to veto it no matter what amendments might be passed, especially if the bill still overrides basic environmental laws such as NEPA and the Clean Air Act.. It is bad legislation, pure and simple.
If you haven't yet sent in your Don't Waste America petitions, we're still collecting them, and there's still a little time or collect more signatures.
If you haven't written a letter to the editor, why wait? Or call your favorite (or most hated) radio talk show.
In short, the object is to organize, organize, organize, and to help bring this issue the attention it deserves. This is one bill that cannot withstand the light of day, so the more public scrutiny it receives, the less likely it is to be enacted.