“The issue is still alive,” said Rep. Rob Bishop. “As long as there are still days in this session there are still cards left to play.”

Bishop's bill, which seeks to establish a wilderness area in Utah's west desert, and in the process block a rail line needed to deliver waste to the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation, was quietly tacked onto an innocuous package of land bills this week.

The measure is the best option left to block the waste from coming to the state, since key senators objected to including the provision in a defense spending bill passed Friday.

It is unclear when the Senate might consider the package of bills sent to them by the House. Congressional leaders are moving quickly to try to finish work and return home before the election. There are plans to return following the election, but with a limited agenda.

The sprawling range is used by the Air Force for training missions and missile tests. Storing the nuclear waste so near the range could severely limit its usefulness, Bishop said, because of the risk a stray missile or plane could smash into the casks containing the waste and release radiation.

Losing the range would hurt the state's case when the Defense Department begins its upcoming round of base closures. Wilderness status would prevent the BLM from licensing a rail line across the land.