Nuclear projects chief steps down

Nevada's Nuclear Projects Commission accepted the resignation Monday of Bob Loux, the man who for 23 years led the state's charge against federal plans to bury nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain and whose career now ends marred by controversy over unauthorized pay raises.

The seven-member commission, led by former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, decided unanimously to accept Loux's resignation and allowed him to continue to serve as executive director of the State Nuclear Projects Agency until his replacement is chosen by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

That process is expected to take at least six weeks.

"It's clear to me now this issue of my employment and other related issues have become too big of a distraction to the overall effort," Loux, 59, said as he apologized to the commission and to the public for giving himself and other agency staffers unauthorized pay increases of up to 16 percent.

"I think it's appropriate at this point in time that I do step down from this position," he said.

Bryan acknowledged that Loux, the agency's only executive director since it was created by state lawmakers in 1985, had "ably advised four governors." He also said Loux has steered the state's effort against the planned high-level nuclear waste repository, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, to a crucial point. The Department of Energy's plans are now entering a lengthy licensing review by nuclear regulators.

But, Bryan said, Loux's unauthorized pay raises to himself and his staff were "an indefensible lapse of judgment."

"Obviously the actions that you've taken with respect to your own pay are things that have been greatly troubling to all of us," Bryan said.

Loux has admitted that last year he gave his entire staff, including himself, salaries that exceeded what was authorized by Legislature. He told the commission he thought he had the latitude to do so because of a state employee classification created when Kenny Guinn was governor in 1999. Essentially, he said, he redistributed money to himself and his staff that would have been paid to an employee who left.

Loux contended the agency never exceeded the budget or salaries allowed by the governor's chart.

But he sought permission a few weeks ago from the Interim Finance Committee to transfer money from the agency's current budget to cover $500,000 he had overspent last year. The request included $72,000 for additional retirement and benefit expenses for himself and his staff that had not been factored in when he increased salaries beyond legal limits.

Upon learning that, Gibbons called for Loux's resignation. The governor then sent a letter Thursday to Bryan and other commission members that said he had ordered that the salaries in question be corrected to the approved amounts and asked that the Department of Personnel obtain repayment of the excess salaries.

"This action will ensure that the general fund is reimbursed for any salary overpayments and will also ensure that any retirement benefits to employees of the Agency for Nuclear Projects are based on the correct salary levels," Gibbons wrote.

Gibbons' chief of staff, Josh Hicks, said Monday that Loux's salary has been rolled back to the 2006 budgeted amount of $104,497. Loux's retirement will be based on a percentage of his three highest pay years, excluding the unauthorized salary increases.

"We're still in the process of ironing everything out," Hicks said, referring to an audit Gibbons ordered. It will "determine how far back overpayments go; then we'll determine any corrective action."

In a statement, Gibbons said the commission's action to accept Loux's resignation "sends a strong message that fiscal accountability must be maintained."

Before Bryan called for a vote to accept Loux's resignation with the condition that he serve until his successor is hired, he said, "This is a sad day for all of us."

After the meeting, Bryan said he had many conversations with Loux after the salary issue surfaced. "He recognized in light of the public outcry that existed that he needed to submit his resignation. He used the term, 'stepping down,' and we accepted his offer."

Commissioner Steven Molasky was absent during the meeting at the Las Vegas City Council chambers. Commissioner Joan Lambert participated by telephone.

In public comments, several people praised Loux's service but a couple of his critics, including Stuart Waymire, said that Loux, who holds a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Nevada, Reno, did not have credentials for the job.

"There must be at least a thousand people in Nevada who have better expertise than Bob Loux," Waymire said.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.