Cedar Mountain OK dents nuclear plans
Congress approved the new wilderness area in the Defense Authorization Bill last month after stressful weeks of negotiations by the Utah congressional delegation to keep it in the bill. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, authored the provision last year creating the wilderness to protect the Utah Test and Training Range, where military pilots train, and to stop Private Fuel Storage from building a railroad to its proposed nuclear-waste site in Tooele County.
"I'm proud of our delegation and governor who worked together at every level to finally get this done," Bishop said. "The key support we had from congressional leadership and outside groups also cannot be overlooked. This was a good team effort and good policy, and I appreciate the president signing it into law."
The wilderness designation was not in the Senate version of the bill and some senators, including Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., did not want to include it. But the White House sent negotiators to talk with the opponents and a final meeting with Bishop, Hatch and Ensign convinced the Nevada senator to be on Utah's side.
Bishop's Chief of Staff Scott Parker said the final law "represents the single largest legislative victory against efforts to bring nuclear waste to Utah's west desert."
But the delegation acknowledges that this does not stop the PFS plan outright, but it does change its overall idea.
Private Fuel Storage can still use a trucking transportation plan, although it prefers the rail route. Its license application included both transportation options. PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin has said that it would be safer to move waste on a train in an isolated area rather than on trucks but it will still use that option if needed. With the legislative portion over, the Bureau of Land Management's work on the newly designated land begins.
It will now take several months and about a dozen people to get everything in order.
"It's fairly labor-intensive," said Laura Williams, a spokeswoman for Utah's BLM office in Salt Lake City. Employees at BLM headquarters will study the exact wording.
"The verbiage is extremely important," Williams said. "Every wilderness area is a little different."
BLM will draw an official map and hang signs showing what areas are protected in the new area. Williams said some of it has been used by off-road vehicles in the past so BLM will have to conduct an education program to teach people which places are now off limits.
The agency also will create a management plan, defining what it needs to be done to protect the land according to the law. Williams said this will include studying wildlife and other natural elements to ensure the area "remains in as natural a state as possible."
E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com
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