States participation in areas of accident and emergency preparedness related to department of energy (DOE) waste isolation pilot plant (wipp) shipments

The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management awarded a $2.42 million Cooperative Agreement to Southern States Energy Board on November 1, 2025, under the Transport of Transuranic Wastes to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: States and Tribal Concerns, Proposed Solutions program (CFDA 81.106) to prepare for the continued safe transport of transuranic waste from Department of Energy facilities in the eastern United States to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant operated by the Carlsbad Field Office. The award runs through October 31, 2030, with place of performance in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

Southern States Energy Board, a nonprofit based in Norcross, Georgia, serves as a liaison between state and tribal governments and federal agencies on intergovernmental energy and environmental coordination. The program enlists cooperation among tribal governments and Southern, Western, and Midwest state governments along WIPP shipping corridors in developing plans and procedures for safe transuranic waste transportation.

Southern States Energy Board distributed sub-awards to ten state emergency management and environmental agencies across the WIPP corridor: Alabama Emergency Management Agency, SC Emergency Management Division, South Carolina Department of Public Health, Alabama Department of Public Health, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Texas State Energy Conservation Office, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, South Carolina Department of Public Safety, and Louisiana Homeland Security & Emergency. Each sub-recipient prepares for the continued safe transport of transuranic waste from DOE eastern facilities to WIPP.