Because the latest DOE effort is surely going to tick off government officials and citizens alike with regards to Yucca Mountain:
From KLAS TV:
Clark County is crying foul as the Department of Energy imposes new rules concerning the Yucca Mountain project. County leaders say they didn't see this coming. For the last 20 years, the DOE has provided Clark County with millions of dollars: money to be used to prepare for the Yucca Mountain project. But now 20 years later, the DOE is cracking down on exactly what that money can be used for; triggering a "new" war of words.
More after the break.
County leaders want to know why such a dramatic change and why now? "I believe the Department of Energy would rather have a smoother license application process." Irene Navis is the county's Yucca coordinator and was blindsided by the changes.
Change number one: the county can't use it's DOE money to prepare and file paperwork as part of the repository's licensing process; leaving the county on the outside looking in without a voice as the process continues. "We're relegated to just the average public citizen who wants to understand what's happening after the fact or maybe they read it in the newspaper."
Change number two: the county can't use its DOE money to study nuclear waste transportation. County officials can attend DOE transportation meetings but can't offer opinions or analysis. "All of those impacts related to property values, public safety, impacts to government services that has always been the context under which we have been studying transportation."
Clark County Commission Chairman Chip Maxfield sent a letter to the DOE saying he has "significant areas of concern", that the changes are "an attempt to marginalize" the county's role in Yucca Mountain, and doing so would impact the "health and safety of Nevada residents."
Yucca opponents, like Judy Treichel, say the DOE isn't playing fair. "If they had a good site it should be able to stand up to any sort of scrutiny. It should be able to answer all the hard questions and it should be able to follow every single rule."
The Department of Energy says these changes really aren't changes at all. The rules have always been on the books but never enforced. We asked Alan Benson with the DOE in Las Vegas, if the rules weren't enforced in the past why are they being enforced now? Benson says -- because they are the rules.
Anyone know of the cases where the rules have not been enforced under the Bush Administration?