Chairman Quinn and members of the subcommittee, my name is Kevin Phillips and I am Mayor of the City of Caliente. Although the following comments have not been solicited, I am providing them in the belief that they lend an important perspective regarding the Caliente Rail Corridor that will otherwise not be available to the subcommittee. I ask that the following comments be included in the hearing record for the March 5, 2004 House Subcommittee on Railroads field hearing.

I note that no representatives of local governments potentially impacted by the Caliente Rail Corridor (Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties and the City of Caliente) have been invited to participate in the March 5 field hearing. In my opinion, the impact of this omission is compounded by the fact that representatives of Clark County have been asked to address the subcommittee even though the Caliente Rail Corridor does not cross any of Clark County.

It appears apparent that the State of Nevada and Clark County will use the hearing to seek to prevent or impede the Department of Energy (DOE) from moving forward in a timely manner to address transportation modal and routing decisions. Given the numerous options available to DOE to move spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste through Nevada to the Yucca Mountain site, I do not believe that causing delays in DOE’s transportation decision-making is an effective tool for blocking licensing, construction and operation of the repository.

I am of the strong opinion that delays by DOE in making mode and routing choices for transportation through Nevada will have adverse consequences on the management of related risks. Indeed, if the State of Nevada and Clark County are successful in causing delays, then 11th hour mode and routing decisions will preclude opportunities for affected local governments to work cooperatively with DOE to plan a safe transportation system. In addition, last minute transportation decisions will prevent timely identification and implementation of effective measures to mitigate transportation risks, including emergency first response and emergency medical training and equipment, among other options.