SENATE BILL REPORT

                  SJM 8026

                    As of January 29, 1996

Brief Description:  Requesting a change of boundaries at Hanford.

Sponsors:  Senator Hochstatter.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Energy, Telecommunications & Utilities:  1/29/96.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, TELECOMMUNICATIONS & UTILITIES

Staff:  Phil Moeller (786-7445)

Background:  The Hanford Reservation in Eastern Washington was created by the federal government during World War II as a secure location for the production of nuclear weapons material.  National security required that the site was large, secure, and included large buffer zones.  Landowners were compensated for the land taken by the federal government.  Hanford had the nuclear materials mission and was a production site through 1988.  The existing mission of the site is environmental restoration.

One of the large buffer zones is north of the Columbia River and is called the "Wahluke Slope."  This area holds potential for significant agricultural development, wildlife areas, and recreational use.

Summary of Bill:  The President, the Director of the United States Department of Energy, and congressional leaders are asked to reduce the present boundaries of the Hanford control zone and that the Wahluke Slope land be transferred to the counties in which it is located for the purposes of agricultural use and wildlife and recreational areas.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.