Utah trying all angles to bar PFS

WASHINGTON — Rep. Rob Bishop is fond of saying he still has some arrows left in his quiver when it comes to keeping spent nuclear fuel out of Tooele County

But the collective quiver of the Utah congressional delegation is running out of arrows. Even members of the delegation — while putting on brave faces and talking tough — are starting to quiver nervously at the very real prospect that Private Fuel Storage's proposed facility on Goshute tribal lands in Skull Valley could actually happen.

"We are willing to try almost anything at this point" to stop PFS, says Bishop, R-Utah, "but our options are limited. We are kind of flailing around right now."

With the Nuclear Regulatory Commission set to rule soon on a license, Bishop will reintroduce legislation to declare Bureau of Land Management lands around the PFS site as wilderness, thereby blocking the construction of a rail spur needed to transport the waste to the site.

But even he says it is a long shot, given Senate rules that allow a single member to hold up any legislation. And there is little optimism that senators who opposed the bill last year have had any change of heart.

"It might be a little too late for a legislative approach anyway," Bishop said.

"Time is really running short," agreed Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

And that may be why the delegation, along with Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., have quietly shifted their focus from overt legislation to some behind-the-scenes discussions with executive branch officials who could be in a position to short-circuit the project even if it were granted an NRC license.

Interior appeal

The state's best hope might actually lie not on the outside chance the NRC would deny a license but with the Department of Interior, parent agency for both the BLM and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Three arrows remain in that quiver.

The BLM, headed by Kathleen Clarke, a former Utah Department of Natural Resources director, must still approve a rail spur across BLM lands. And even if Clarke were required to step back from the decision, her influence could be critical.

And there is quiet optimism that the BIA could simply reject the lease agreement between PFS and the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes. (The BIA, however, has already granted its preliminary approval.) Leadership of the small Utah band not only is in dispute, but a flurry of indictments and lawsuits has made governance difficult.

"If the BIA looks at the chaos, there is a reasonable expectation that it could say there are legal questions as to who is really in charge and reject the lease," Bishop said.