WASHINGTON — Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. left the nation's capital Tuesday "hopeful and optimistic" that the legislative attempt to block nuclear waste from coming to Utah will move forward, his general counsel Mike Lee said.

Huntsman spent two days in Washington, D.C., meeting with senators and House members working on the National Defense Authorization Bill and the state's own congressional delegation. The bill contains a provision by Rep. Bob Bishop, R-Utah, that would create 100,000 acres of wilderness area that would block a potential railroad route to the proposed Private Fuel Storage nuclear waste site on the Goshute Indian Reservation.

Lee said the matter is still in play right now, but he would likely know more by the end of the week. He did not want to speculate on the overall status of the language after Huntsman's visit but said the governor is an effective lobbyist for the state.

"It's uncertain who the real enemies of the proposal are," Lee said. "Over the next 48 hours it will become clearer of what will happen. The lobbying effort has not stopped."

Lee said the Air Force told lawmakers Tuesday that it supported the provision. If passed, the wilderness area designation would protect Cedar Mountains, near the Utah Test and Training Range, the Defense Department's largest training range used by pilots at Hill Air Force Base.

Former Utah Rep. Jim Hansen, a Republican, tried to get the language passed before he left office but failed to do so. Lee said this time is different because of the Air Force's support, along with a flip in position by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and environmental groups, who opposed the idea in the past.

Private Fuel Storage spokeswoman Sue Martin said the final language of the wilderness area designation would need to be examined before its exact impact would be known.

Martin said the site's license application, which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved, allowed for a rail route to be built as well as using heavy-haul trucks to bring waste in from the road versus building a rail line.

If approved, the designated wilderness area would block a rail line from being built but may not have much effect on a truck shipping plan because the road already exists.

"That's my impression," Martin said. "We'd have to look at it more closely."

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