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Sen. Orrin Hatch urges Utah lawmakers to oppose Skull Valley nuclear storage plan and discusses federal education issues
Summary
During a Committee of the Whole, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch warned that a proposed spent-fuel storage site at Skull Valley threatens local training ranges and public safety, urged public comments to the BLM (deadline May 8), and answered lawmakers on education and federal mandates.
The Utah House resolved into the Committee of the Whole to hear U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch on Feb. 23. Hatch described the proposed private spent-nuclear-fuel storage plan for Skull Valley as a threat to the Utah Test and Training Range and Hill Air Force Base and urged a statewide response and public comment to the Bureau of Land Management.
"Skull Valley is a threat to the Utah test and training range, therefore, a threat to Hill Air Force Base," Hatch told the chamber, noting thousands of supersonic flights and a history of crashes in the area. He urged legislators and citizens to submit comments to the BLM during the 90-day reopening of the public-comment period and gave May 8 as the deadline for comments.
Hatch said the Department of Energy and the Interior had taken steps — including reopening the comment period — that could halt the proposal. He asked the legislature to consider a joint resolution and for statewide organization to coordinate opposition.
Members then questioned Hatch about national education policy and federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind. Hatch said he supported the law initially to address problems in education but acknowledged concerns about federal mandates and said he and others would press federal officials to give states more discretion.
The senator also took questions about ports, trade, and Social Security and expressed broader concern about partisan dysfunction in Congress compared with the bipartisan work he observed in the Utah Legislature.
Senator Hatch’s visit included a call for legislative and public action on the Skull Valley issue and an offer to work with the state on federal education and trade topics.
