Panel criticizes DOE's plan to create new agency

The Energy Department's plan for creating a congressionally mandated nuclear oversight agency violates the law, a House panel said Friday.

Members of the House Armed Services Committee panel criticized Energy Secretary Bill Richardson for not directly following the provisions of last year's Defense Authorization Act that called for the creation of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

In particular, lawmakers chided Richardson for filling positions called for in the legislation with current DOE officials, a practice the panel dubbed "dual hatting."

DOE's plan "appears to reflect continued opposition by senior DOE leadership to the fundamental reforms approved by Congress," the panel said in an assessment of DOE's Jan. 7 plan for creating NNSA.

"The plan overemphasizes DOE control over the NNSA, undermines the semi-autonomy of the NNSA and would violate key provisions" of the NNSA's enacting legislation, the report said.

When President Clinton signed the NNSA legislation in October, he initiated the dual hatting technique by ordering Richardson to act as director of the new agency. Following an uproar on Capitol Hill, DOE's Jan. 7 plan said a search committee had been appointed to locate an administrator.

"We are moving forward with the implementation plan and expect the NNSA to be up and running on March 1 as required by law," Richardson said in a statement Friday. "We are making progress in finding an administrator as my high level search team has already identified several highly qualified candidates."

The panel said the implementation plan doesn't clear up many of the problems that led Congress to establish the NNSA, including hazy lines of authority throughout DOE and the need to bring in outside personnel with new skills.

In a dissenting view from the rest of the panel, Rep. John M. Spratt, Jr., D-S.C., said Congress needs to reconsider whether the legislation creating NNSA is well-written.

"This structure creates more redundancy," Spratt said. "Should DOE now hire additional legal counsel, additional legislative liaison personnel, or additional environmental compliance officers?"