Thursday, May 29, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Counties accused of misusing federal Yucca Mountain funds

DOE auditors say money cannot be used on lobbying, lawsuits or to seek allies against site

WASHINGTON -- Three Nevada counties misspent $3.3 million in federal money as they monitored the government's bid to bury nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, inspectors said in a report released Wednesday.

Auditors for the Energy Department inspector general concluded money was improperly spent on lobbying, lawsuit research, and other activities not allowed for local governments given funds to oversee the Yucca Mountain Project.

The examiners challenged expenditures that included using Yucca oversight money to pay consultants on unrelated projects and to lobby for repository benefits.

A 14-page audit sent to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham challenged $2.08 million in Nye County spending for 2001 and 2002, and $1.13 million spent by Lincoln County. The audit also questioned $132,296 spent by Clark County.

Penalties could force rural Lincoln and Nye counties to shut down projects that measure the impact the proposed nuclear waste repository will have on residents, officials said.

"If they want their money back that they've given us, unless the county funds us out of general funds, we'd shut the doors," said Les Bradshaw, Nye County director of natural resources and federal facilities.

Officials from the counties defended their spending and said they plan to protest.

"We went through to link every expenditure over the two years to one of the allowable uses," said Caliente Mayor Kevin Phillips of Lincoln County.

Irene Navis, head of the Clark County nuclear waste planning division, said auditors disregarded explanations for charges they disallowed.

"There are some inaccuracies in this report," she said.

Energy Department managers will make final decisions on what expenses to disallow and whether the counties will be required to make reimbursements or have future payments reduced. DOE-county meetings are set for next month.

"The unauthorized expenditures will be recovered, or that amount will be withheld from future direct payments," Margaret Chu, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, said in a memo attached to the audit.

Nine Nevada counties and Inyo County in California have received Yucca Mountain payments for 15 years, dividing $12 million in 2001 and 2002. Congress last year directed DOE to examine how they were spending the money.

Anticipating audit results, DOE already has withheld $1 million from Nye County and $400,000 from Lincoln County, about half of what each projected to receive this year for Yucca Mountain oversight.

Navis said $132,296 has been withheld from Clark County, a small part of its $1.8 million allocation this year.

Chu asked DOE lawyers for an opinion on proper use of county surpluses and accrued interest after auditors challenged the counties' practice of carrying over excess funding and keeping interest gained on that money.

Henry Neth, Nye County Commission chairman, said county spending corresponded to annual work plans approved by the Energy Department. But auditors criticized Yucca Mountain Project managers, saying they "had not sufficiently monitored" the counties.

Federal law allows the state and county governments to spend grant money to monitor DOE site work, to communicate with residents and the secretary of energy, to evaluate repository impact, and to form requests for impact aid. They cannot spend on lobbying, lawsuits or to seek allies against the project.

The inspectors challenged $865,000 Lincoln County spent on consultants who they said researched potential lawsuits and conducted other work beyond assessing the repository's impact.

The inspector general questioned Nye County's use of federal money to form a "community protection plan." Although the plan focuses on the repository's community impact, it also was used to lobby for a county research center and federal land transfers, auditors said.

Auditors challenged Clark County spending to meet with Yucca opponent groups in Washington and for the city of Las Vegas to research lawsuits and build relationships with other cities along potential nuclear waste routes to Nevada.