Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today said more time is needed for the public to thoroughly review changes proposed at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The Department of Energy has issued a draft Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS) to analyze the impact of a White House proposal that would make changes to the country’s nuclear weapons complex. The public comment period for the draft SPEIS closes next month.

In a letter to Thomas D’Agostino, Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Bingaman asked that the deadline for comment be extended to July from April.

“President Bush’s proposal to make change to the country’s nuclear weapons complex deserves further public scrutiny. It makes sense to give local residents adequate time to understand the impact of such changes and to express their thoughts and concerns,” Bingaman said.

Bingaman wrote the letter to D’Agostino in response to concerns about the length of the comment period raised by Santa Clara Pueblo Governor Michael Chavarris and other local residents.