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Budgeting for a clean future in Oak Ridge

Posted at 11:02 am April 7, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Karen-Thompson-DOE-Cleanup-Budget-Development-March-2016-1

Karen Thompson, OREM’s branch chief for Planning and Baseline Management Branch, spoke to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board at its March 9, 2016, meeting on developing the FY 2018 budget. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board)

 

By Ashley Huff

Developing a budget for the massive cleanup efforts undertaken by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, requires advanced planning and careful prioritization of the program’s near-term and long-term goals. DOE’s vision for a clean future largely depends upon funding designated for the Oak Ridge site by Congress each fiscal year.

Appropriations for Oak Ridge cleanup comprise only a part of the overall budget for DOE’s EM Program, which includes a number of additional sites also dealing with the lingering inheritances of the Manhattan Project. The Oak Ridge site has traditionally fared well both in the president’s request and in the actual appropriations determined by Congress. OREM experienced a $36 million increase in its enacted budget for Fiscal Year 2014, meaning the site received $36 million above what the president even requested for the Oak Ridge cleanup mission. In FY 2015, the site received $46 million above the president’s request. For the current year, OREM welcomed a generous “plus-up” from Congress. Appropriations for FY 2016 were $102 million above President Obama’s request for the program.

“The additional funding of $102 million above the president’s request for FY 2016 has allowed OREM to accelerate progress on spending priorities already well established,” said Karen Thompson, OREM’s branch chief for Planning and Baseline Management Branch, who spoke to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board at its March 9 meeting on developing the FY 2018 budget. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha 4, appropriations, Ashley Huff, budget, cleanup, Congress, Dave Adler, demolition, East Tennessee Technology Park, K-27, Karen Thompson, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge cleanup, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, OREM, ORSSAB, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex

Opinion: Fleischmann comments on passage of government funding bill

Posted at 10:46 pm September 17, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Letters Leave a Comment

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

By U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a critical continuing resolution which will keep the government open until the end of the fiscal year and maintain funding for significant government operations.

“Today, I am happy to announce that the House of Representatives has passed a responsible and fiscally sound funding measure, which will prevent a government shutdown,” U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann said directly after passage. “By crafting a clean continuing resolution that maintains current funding levels, we have provided the American people and crucial parts of our government, such as the armed forces, with needed certainty. However, I am disappointed that the Democrat-controlled Senate could not manage to undertake its constitutional responsibility and pass a single appropriations bill. It is imperative that Congress returns to regular order and eliminates the need for these constant stopgap measures.”

In addition to keeping the government open, the bill also included the McKeon Amendment. This provides authorization for the president’s request to arm and train carefully vetted factions within the Syrian opposition in order to combat ISIS while providing for congressional oversight.

Chuck Fleischmann represents Tennessee’s District 3, which includes Oak Ridge, in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Filed Under: Federal, Government, Opinion Tagged With: appropriations, armed forces, Chuck Fleischmann, continuing resolution, government funding, House of Representatives, ISIS, McKeon Amendment, Senate, Syria

Federal spending bill includes money for Y-12 water plant, reduces UPF spending

Posted at 9:22 pm January 22, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Y-12 Water Treatment Plant Announcement

In May 2013, state and federal officials announce a plant to treat mercury-contaminated water at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Pictured from left are Mark Whitney, Robert Martineau, Lamar Alexander, Dave Huizenga, and Stan Meiburg.

The $1 trillion federal spending bill passed by Congress last week provides money for a water treatment plant that would help reduce mercury contamination in Oak Ridge, and it includes less money for the Uranium Processing Facility than President Obama had requested, Sen. Lamar Alexander said Thursday.

The U.S. Senate approved the spending bill in a 72-26 vote after the House passed it 359-67. Alexander and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann voted for it, while Sen. Bob Corker voted against it. All are Tennessee Republicans, and Fleischmann’s district includes Oak Ridge.

Alexander said the spending bill provides $16 million less than Obama had requested in his budget for the UPF, a multi-billion-dollar building that would replace old buildings at the Y-12 National Security Complex as part of a years-long effort to update the 811-acre site, consolidate operations, and cut the plant’s high-security “footprint” from 150 acres to 15. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, Government, Slider, Top Stories, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: appropriations, Bob Corker, Chickamauga Lock, Chuck Fleischmann, Congress, East Fork Poplar Creek, Energy and Water, entitlements, environmental management, federal spending bill, government shutdown, House, Lamar Alexander, Mark Whitney, mercury contamination, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Office, Oak Ridge Reservation, President Obama, spending, Tennessee River, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Senate, UPF, uranium, uranium processing facility, water treatment plant, Y-12 National Security Complex, Y-12 water plant

Great Smoky Mountains National Park open again

Posted at 12:45 pm October 18, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Cades Cove in the Fall

Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is pictured above in the fall of 2010.

Information from WYSH Radio

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officially reopened on Thursday, Oct. 17, under federal funding.

The park had been closed for the first two weeks of October during the peak fall tourist season due to a lapse in Congressional appropriations.

The park and its facilities had originally reopened to the public on Wednesday, Oct. 16, due to the donation of funds from the states of Tennessee and North Carolina, who worked in partnership with Blount and Sevier counties. Their funding would have allowed the park to stay open for five days. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: appropriations, Blount County, Congress, Dale Ditmanson, funding, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, Sevier County, Smokies, Tennessee, WYSH Radio

Federal contractors, agencies consider shutdowns, furloughs as funding dispute drags on

Posted at 10:42 am October 9, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Joe L. Evins Federal Building

The U.S. Department of Energy will soon start shutting down nonessential operations, resulting in employee and contractor furloughs, unless Congress passes a spending bill. Pictured above is DOE’s Oak Ridge Office at the Joe L. Evins Federal Building.

Furloughs possible at DOE, UCOR, other federal contractors; some SAIC employees on leave

The government shutdown is now in its second week, and the U.S. Department of Energy could start shutting down nonessential operations soon—resulting in employee and contractor furloughs—unless Congress quickly approves a spending bill, officials said Tuesday.

Federal contractors with operations in Oak Ridge are also considering possible shutdowns and furloughs because congressional Democrats and Republicans have failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill to keep the government operating in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

In a Tuesday message to employees, UCOR President Leo Sain said the company, the government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, has not been told to shut down yet. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Federal, Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Affordable Care Act, American Centrifuge, appropriations, Babcock and Wilcox Co., Barack Obama, centrifuges, Congress, contractors, debt limit, Democrats, DOE, employees, fiscal year, funding dispute, furloughs, government shutdown, individual mandate, Lauren Darson, Leo Sain, medical device tax, nonessential operations, Obamacare, Paul Jacobson, Republicans, SAIC, shutdown, spending, spending bill, subcontractor, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium enrichment, uranium fuel, USEC

ORNL prepares for possible temporary shutdown, unpaid furloughs

Posted at 10:08 pm October 7, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Central Campus

Officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, pictured above, are preparing for a possible temporary shutdown and unpaid furloughs in case Congress is unable to pass a federal spending bill. (Courtesy Oak Ridge National Laboratory/U.S. Dept. of Energy)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has enough funding to continue operating through this month and into November, but officials are preparing for a possible temporary shutdown and unpaid furloughs, Director Thom Mason told employees Monday.

The potential shutdown of ORNL would be triggered by Congress’ failure to pass a spending bill in the fiscal year that began Tuesday, Oct. 1. The federal government has already partially shut down, and the Y-12 National Security Complex started an “orderly shutdown” Monday.

Before the Sept. 30 end of the last fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Energy had told federal employees to continue reporting for work in the new fiscal year unless there is a lapse in appropriations and all available money is spent. And Mason told employees of UT-Battelle, which manages the lab, to report to work starting Oct. 1, even if the government shut down, because ORNL had enough funding to continue operating. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Affordable Care Act, appropriations, Barack Obama, carryover funds, Congress, Democrats, federal employees, federal shutdown, fiscal year, furloughs, health care law, House, individual mandate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Obamacare, ORNL, Republicans, Senate, shutdown, spending, Thom Mason, U.S. Department of Energy, unpaid furloughs, UT-Battelle, Y-12 National Security Complex

With shutdown looming, DOE expects to keep operating for now

Posted at 12:45 pm September 30, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

U.S. Department of Energy Forrestal Building

With a potential government shutdown looming, U.S. Department of Energy employees are expected to continue working unless there is a lapse in appropriations and all available money is spent. Pictured above is DOE’s Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy DOE)

Although a federal government shutdown is looming, the U.S. Department of Energy expects federal employees to continue reporting for work unless there is a lapse in appropriations and all available money is spent.

“Each component of DOE will continue to operate until prior year balances for funding of federal employees is exhausted,” DOE said in a guide posted on its website. “Their operations under those circumstances will be somewhat modified. For example, travel will generally be curtailed. DOE has some limited transfer and reprogramming authority, which may enable DOE to extend the number of days of funding available in some limited cases.”

The guide said operations will stop once prior-year balances have been spent at most DOE facilities. There would be exceptions for functions related to the safety of human life and protection of property. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: appropriations, Barack Obama, Congress, Democrats, DOE, federal employees, funding, furloughs, government shutdown, health care law, House, medical isotope, National Nuclear Security Administration, naval reactors, non-proliferation, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Republicans, Senate, shutdown, Thom Mason, U.S. Department of Energy, UT-Battelle

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Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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