House GOP Block Effort to Restore Health and Safety Protections and Oversight at Nuclear Weapons Facilities
WASHINGTON – House Republicans rejected consideration of an amendment last night to the defense authorization bill to restore important health and safety protections for workers and residents who live near nuclear weapons facilities operated by the Department of Energy.
The amendment, offered by Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.), Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), would remove provisions of the Defense Authorization Act (HR 4310) that weaken a number of worker and public safety protections that government contractors at nuclear weapons facilities must follow.
“I am deeply disappointed that House Republicans are intent on dramatically reducing safety protections at nuclear weapons facilities,” said Rep. Miller. “If this bill were to become law, fewer protections mean more human costs for both workers who handle these dangerous materials and families who live near these operations. Self-policing by the government contractors who run these ultra-hazardous facilities only invites unnecessary danger.”
The Defense Authorization bill being considered by the House of Representatives weakens numerous safety protections that government contractors must follow today.
- The bill strips the current system of time-tested worker protections based on clear, concise, non-negotiable requirements that holds contractors accountable for safety.
- It strips the Secretary of Energy of oversight and enforcement authority and turns much of the safety oversight over to contractors to police themselves.
- It mandates new standards that downgrade workplace safety to the bare minimum established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for the average workplace, despite the unique risks at Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites.
- Nuclear weapons workers would lose the right to stop work when they encounter unsafe conditions.
- Contractors would be allowed to use obsolete chemical exposure limits, rather than updated exposure limits developed in 2005.
- The bill erects roadblocks limiting the ability of the sole watchdog agency, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, to ensure adequate protection of public and worker safety.
- Rep. Miller and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) sent a letter to the Armed Services Committee last week outlining the dangers of reducing safety protections at the nation’s nuclear labs. Read the letter here.
The Obama administration issued a statement of administration policy earlier this week opposing the effort to reduce safety protections at Department of Energy nuclear weapons facilities.
More than 30 citizens groups living near these facilities, Cold War-era nuclear workers and current workers at every Department of Energy facility have raised concerns or objections to the bill.
Miller spoke on the floor today against the legislation. Watch it here.
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