Nye County will settle for a $250,000 increase in payment equal to taxes from the U.S. Department of Energy for the land value of Yucca Mountain, increasing the total payment to $11.5 million in the president's 2008-2009 fiscal year budget beginning Oct. 1.

Nye County had requested much larger PETT payments in the next five-year agreement with the DOE, ranging from $23 million in 2009 up to $29 million by 2013. The five-year renewal of the agreement has yet to be finalized.

The DOE had offered Nye County commissioners $250,000 annual increases in PETT payments, but commissioners turned down the offer last July. That five-year agreement would gradually increase PETT payments to Nye County to $12.5 million by 2013.

County commissioners saw the need to take action after the PETT funding was inserted as a line item into the president's budget. Gary Hollis, the Nye County Commission liaison on nuclear waste, said the language should be stricken.

But Darrell Lacy, Nye County nuclear waste repository office director, said, "My recommendation on this is that we first try to reach a new five-year agreement with the Department of Energy prior to taking it out of the budget language. That protects us in the funding levels if we can't reach an agreement with the Department of Energy on a contractual basis."

Rick Spees, Nye County's lobbyist in Washington, D.C., said while there is some concern over PETT funding being in the budget, he also advised against removing it without a new five-year agreement with the DOE, particularly with a new administration taking office next January.

Nye County pays Spees' firm, Akerman Senterfitt, $17,500 per month for representation in Congress.

Congress cut the Yucca Mountain budget for this fiscal year by $108 million, from $494.5 million to $386.5 million. President Bush's budget requested $494.7 million for the coming year.

"If we don't have a new agreement, then we are totally at the mercy of the new department to give us whatever number they want next year, and if Congress reduces the (Yucca Mountain) budget to $200 million, we could be at a very small number," Spees said.

Commissioners voted to ask Spees to delete a reference in the line item to the percentage of the budget Nye County would receive in PETT payments -- 4.6 percent -- but leave in the amount.

"If Congress supersedes us by changing the numbers, there's nothing we can do about it. So we don't want PETT in the president's budget," Spees said.

Commissioner Joni Eastley said she had assurances the DOE would support removing the PETT funding from the president's budget. At that point Hollis advised he didn't want to reveal the county's negotiation tactics in open session.

The president's budget concurs with a request by the 10 counties surrounding Yucca Mountain, including Nye County, for $9 million in oversight funds. Nye County will receive the largest chunk of that money, $3 million.

Nye County uses PETT funds for paving roads, construction of county facilities, buying equipment and a number of other projects.

Commissioner Butch Borasky participated in the discussion by teleconference from Washington, D.C. Borasky presented Spees with the county's request for congressional earmarks during the coming year. Those requests must be submitted by the end of this month.

Nye County wants $2 million in congressional earmarks for a flood control project in Pahrump, probably in Wheeler Wash, as the top priority.

That's followed by a request for funding a Central Nevada Emergency Services Center in Tonopah that would be used to train crews in mine rescue, fighting wild fires and combatting chemical spills.

Funding for a community college, an Amargosa Valley senior center and upgrading the technical capability of the Amargosa Valley and Beatty clinics for telemedicine will also be requested.