Udall: Extend Comment Period on Lanl Bid
UDALL: EXTEND COMMENT PERIOD ON LANL BID
January 4, 2005
Representative Sends Letter to DOE
WASHINGTON - Prompted by requests from his constituents, U.S. Representative Tom Udall, D-N.M., Tuesday urged the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Adminstration to extend the comment period on the draft release of the Request for Proposal for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
In a letter to Tyler Przybylek, General Counsel of NNSA, Udall argued that with so much of the comment period deadline falling in December, state officials and LANL employees and retirees have not had adequate time to scrutinize the proposal.
"I am requesting that the comment period be extended to help alleviate the concerns of thousands of LANL employees and retirees," Udall said. "The month of December contains holidays, a two-week school vacation and a mandatory week away from the lab. With the current deadline looming on Friday, I believe there needs to be more time."
LANL is located in Udall's Third Congressional District.
A copy of Udall's letter follows:
Dear Mr. Przybylek,
Allow me to offer my highest regards to you for your hard and diligent work throughout the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Management and Operating Contract Competition process. I recognize the difficulties and tremendous constraints imposed on you by both the scale and time frame necessitated by such an important and urgent undertaking.
It is precisely the tremendous importance of this competition that has prompted me to write you to request an extension of the time period for public comment. It is my understanding that the public comment period extended from December 1, 2004, through January 7, 2005. Not only is a comment period of only five weeks for such a major change for the LANL community very short at any time of the year, it is even further abbreviated when held over the holiday season.
In order to ensure that everyone who will be affected by the outcome of this competition feels they have had every opportunity to participate in this process and that their voices and opinions have been taken into account, I strongly urge you and your committee to extend the public comment period to allow adequate time for complete review and discussion by all interested parties, including New Mexico state officials, LANL employees and retirees, and the general public.
Thank you very much and please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Very truly yours,
Tom Udall
Member of Congress
http://www.tomudall.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=9936