Department of Energy: Programs and Reorganization Proposals (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Oct. 28, 1999 |
| Report Number |
RL30307 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Carl E. Behrens and Richard Rowberg, Resources, Science, and Industry Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Created in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s, the Department of Energy (DOE) survived
an
attempt to dismantle it early in the Reagan Administration, and another in the 104th Congress. Now
the agency is again the subject of reorganization legislation, this time because of concern about the
security of its nuclear weapons program. An amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act for
FY2000 ( H.R. 1555 ) was adopted by the Senate to create the Agency for Nuclear
Stewardship within DOE. The head of that agency would report directly and only to the Secretary
of Energy. The agency would have responsibility for all defense related activities within DOE and
be responsible for all DOE facilities in which defense related programs are the sole or primary
activity. A similar initiative, creating a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) within
DOE, was included by a House-Senate Conference Committee on the FY2000 Department of
Defense Authorization bill ( S. 1059 ), reported August 5, 1999. That bill, including the
provision creating NNSA, was signed into law October 5 ( P.L. 106-65 ), but the Administration
indicated dissatisfaction with some of its provisions and asked the Congress to modify them.
This report, a revision of an earlier CRS review of DOE programs, consists of an introductory
discussion of the agency and its mission as a whole, and a description of its major programs as
independent entities. Many of DOE's original energy-related missions have disappeared or changed
radically. In addition, with the end of the Cold War, DOE's nuclear weapons-related programs, almost
two-thirds of the total budget, are undergoing modification. However, regardless of the outcome of
the debate on DOE's future, many of its present functions will continue in one location or another.
In presenting DOE's present structure and a detailed description of its individual programs, the
report analyzes the effect of the proposed legislation on the nuclear weapons program. In addition,
it addresses two primary issues: the effect of restructuring on the original mission of the department
-- enhancing national energy security in the face of dangerous interruptions in oil imports in the 1970s
-- and its effect on DOE's energy R&D, basic research and environmental restoration programs.
