TIM WALSH CONFIRMED AS ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR DOE-EM
On the evening of October 7, the Senate confirmed Timothy John Walsh of Colorado as Assistant Secretary (EM-1) of the Department of Environmental Management Office (DOE-EM). This is the first time in over 6 years since we have had a Senate confirmed Assistant Secretary in the position. ECA has always advocated for a political nominee in the role as it allows tough decisions to be reviewed and made in this role.
As ECA stated in its July letter to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and Senate Armed Services Committee supporting the nomination, "ECA supports the nomination of Mr. Walsh, who would be the first political appointee in over six years to lead the EM program. ECA believes that EM should be led by a political appointee to enable the difficult decision-making that the program requires to evolve and best serve the U.S. taxpayers and the host communities. Congress and President set up the EM program to have a political leader to ensure that the leader of the program would go through the Senate confirmation process and be directly accountable to the President, the Secretary, and Congress."
Click here to read the full letter.
As discussed in ECA's transition paper, Ensuring Long-Term Success: Recommendations for the Next Administration on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Mission, while EM has made substantial progress in cleaning up sites over the past 35 years, decades of work remain to be completed. The program faces substantial challenges that can threaten continued success in areas such as workforce development, waste disposal capacity and sustained relationships with local communities.
Click here to read the full paper.
Further, the communities are excited about the opportunities the new Assistant Secretary Walsh can bring to the role. The nuclear industry continues to expand in our communities and the coordination with EM and NE at DOE will be a key to the United States role in new nuclear development.