The measure is expected to clear the House this week. But its fate will once again be decided in the Senate, where it has failed twice before.

Bishop seeks to prevent a group of nuclear power companies, Private Fuel Storage, from storing 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel on the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indian reservation, arguing it would limit the use of the Air Force's vast Utah Test and Training Range.

To stop the nuclear waste site, Bishop's proposal creates the 100,000-acre Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area near the Skull Valley reservation. The wilderness designation would block construction of a rail line intended to deliver the nuclear waste to the reservation.

The wilderness area is habitat for mule deer, antelope, coyote and other wildlife.

Bishop late last week quietly had the measure tacked on to legislation that authorizes spending levels for the Pentagon. The bill is scheduled for a vote in the House on Wednesday.

"It's something that Rob has worked on since his first day here and he's not going to stop until it gets done," said Bishop's chief of staff, Scott Parker. "We've tried to send it over in the best-possible format, and we think that's included in a major authorization bill that is a must-pass this year."

But Private Fuel Storage spokeswoman Sue Martin said Bishop's bill misses its mark.

"It doesn't prevent the project," she said. "Our alternative is to truck the transportation casks down Skull Valley road from a rail junction at approximately I-80. But building the rail line is a whole lot better for the people of Utah. It's less interference with road traffic."

Former Rep. James Hansen slipped the testing range provision into the Defense Authorization bill in 2001, but environmentalists said the wilderness provisions were flawed and helped defeat the measure.

Bishop worked with environmentalists to resolve concerns and passed the bill through the House last year, although it was again blocked in the Senate.

"I think it's a good wilderness bill for essentially everyone in Utah," said Peter Downing, the Washington representative for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. " It preserves land that deserves to be protected. It's good for Hill Air Force Base and I think protects people from the storage of nuclear waste."

The state has argued that the jet traffic and munitions testing on the range poses an excessive risk that a jet might slam into the casks and release radiation or nuclear waste. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board rejected the state's initial objection. An appeal is pending.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was a key opponent of the Cedar Mountain bill in the past, but his spokeswoman said the senator would have to review the bill before deciding if he would oppose it again.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said last month that he supports the Cedar Mountain bill, but he doubts it will pass the Senate. "There are a variety of senators who opposed it for a variety of reasons," he said.