12. Department of Energy and Related Commissions · Notable · Needs Congress
Revisit the Hanford Tri-Party Agreement regulatory framework
Printed page 396 12. Department of Energy and Related Commissions
“Revisit the Hanford cleanup’s regulatory framework. … DOE and EPA need to work more closely to coordinate their responses to claims made under the TPA and work more aggressively for changes, including congressional action if necessary, to achieve workable cleanup goals.”
What has happened
- Attempted
DOE moved to change the regulatory framework rather than work inside it: the Hanford Field Office submitted two permit modification requests to Washington State Ecology, the state regulator under the Tri-Party Agreement, seeking a fully regulated path from tank-side treatment to grouting and out-of-state disposal, and set a public meeting for 26 August 2026. Nothing has changed yet: the requests are pending, the Tri-Party Agreement milestones stand, and no congressional action was sought.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
Requires-Congress ask in its second limb — including congressional action if necessary — but the Quote’s primary ask is that DOE and EPA work more aggressively for changes to the framework. The permit route runs through the state rather than EPA; no EPA-facing action was found.
EM’s op-ed of 23 June 2026 frames the obstacle as regulatory morass and says the strategy is already supported by state and federal regulators at the site, which is the closest thing to a Tri-Party position on the record.
- Action
- other
- Object
- Hanford Tri-Party Agreement (TPA)
- ID
- 1002