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June 18, 2009
SUMMARY: 2010 INTERIOR AND THE ENVIRONMENT APPROPRIATIONS
AS AMENDED BY THE FULL COMMITTEE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – "On June 18th, the House Appropriations Committee approved the bill we passed last week in my Subcommittee. I am proud of the progress we have made in this bill at improving the visitor experience in our National Parks, which have declined in the past decade, as well as our wildlife refuge areas. In addition we are increasing the resources available from the EPA to help local communities improve their drinking water and wastewater systems, meeting the goals of the Clean Water Act. In this budget we are also taking a major step forward on addressing the pollution impacts in the nation’s major water bodies, including the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. I am pleased that the bill our Subcommittee has approved includes $50 million for restoration projects in Puget Sound, placing our region’s cleanup effort on a par with the federal government’s participation in the Chesapeake Bay program. Following is a summary of the bill’s provisions. The Committee’s complete report will be available soon, and I will post a link to it as soon as it is published."
Bill Total
2009 enacted: $27.6 billion
President’s request: $32.3 billion
Committee mark: $32.3 billion
KEY INVESTMENTS
Environmental Protection Agency: $10.46 billion, $23 million below the President’s request and $2.83 billion above 2009, to protect our nation’s air, clean its waters and restore its lands.
- Clean Drinking Water & Wastewater: $3.9 billion to help over 1500 communities improve their drinking water and wastewater systems. This includes: $2.3 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to ensure our nation’s waters meet the goals of the Clean Water Act; $1.4 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to protect public health by improving drinking water systems; and $160 million for direct grants to communities for water infrastructure. A portion of the State Revolving Funds will be available as subsidized loans, and 20 percent of each State Revolving Fund will be available for green infrastructure, water or energy improvements, or other environmentally innovative projects. It is estimated that these funds will create as many as 40,000 new construction jobs.
- Great Bodies of Water: $667 million, $89 million above the President’s request and $507 million above 2009, to protect the nation’s great water bodies including the Great Lakes, Puget Sound, and the Chesapeake Bay. Includes $475 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which will involve the coordination and collaboration of 16 Federal agencies, the States of the Great Lakes Region, local government, and citizens groups in an effort to restore the source of 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water.
- Cleaning Up Hazardous Waste and Toxic Sites: $1.5 billion, equal to the President’s request and $3 million above 2009, to clean up dangerous toxic waste including $605 million for the Superfund to clean up hazardous substances at over 1,500 of the nation’s worst toxic waste sites; $113 million to inspect and clean up underground toxic spills; and $100 million for evaluation and cleanup of Brownfields former industrial and commercial sites to make problem properties ready for development
and productive community use.
- Enforcement: $601 million, equal to the President’s request and $34 million above 2009, for effective criminal and civil enforcement, and to fund additional staff to allow EPA to meet its statutory requirement to have 200 criminal investigators.
- Protecting our Children from Toxins in the Environment: $5 million to allow the EPA to fully fund four new centers of excellence to study the impact to children from toxins and chemicals in the environment and to expand EPA in-house research in this area. These funds are in addition to the request for $3.3 million to continue the Agency’s initiative to monitor the air around schools.
Climate Change: $420 million, $24 million above the President’s request and $189 million above 2009, for programs to address global climate change. This includes:
- $28 million to implement the Energy Independence and Security Act, including $21 million to meet its requirement that the US produce 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022, and $7 million for carbon sequestration research (evaluating geological and biological potential and processes) at the US Geological Survey.
- $50 million for EPA’s Energy Star program which saves consumers $14 billion a year in energy costs by letting them know appliances’ energy efficiency.
- $10 million for new grants at EPA to encourage local communities to find ways to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
- $17 million to continue development of a Greenhouse Gas Registry, a first step in controlling greenhouse gasses.
- $67 million for priority climate change research at the US Geological Survey, an increase of $22 million over 2009.
- $32 million total for climate change research at the Forest Service, an increase of $5 million over 2009.
- $15 million as requested for the National Global Warming and Wildlife Science Center at the US Geological Survey for wildlife adaptation to climate change.
- $58 million to promote the development of renewable clean energy sources on Federal lands and waters.
Native Americans and Alaska Natives
Empower Native American communities: The Committee provides $6.8 billion, $654 million above the 2009 level and $39 million above the request, with an emphasis on improving health care, tribal law enforcement and education. As in previous years, the Committee provides funding and direction on the specific issues of domestic violence and substance abuse in Indian country, which are at epidemic levels. These joint BIA and IHS efforts, coordinated with funding and direction provided in the Commerce-Justice- Science appropriations bill, provide more Tribal law enforcement officers, new and upgraded detention centers, improved Tribal courts, and increased access to health programs in order to fight domestic violence and substance abuse.
Indian Health Service: $4.0 billion, $18 million above the President’s request and $471 million above 2009, to support Tribal self-governance and improve the quality and availability of critical health care services for Native Americans.
Bureau of Indian Affairs: $2.6 billion, $22 million above the President’s request and $183 million above 2009, for law enforcement officers, teachers, and jobs programs that will strengthen Native communities. Indian education receives over $80 million in increases over the enacted level, of which $50 million is to forward fund Tribal colleges so they can better plan for the academic year. Another $33 million is invested in BIA law enforcement to strengthen police programs, detention center operations, and Tribal courts.
Wildland Fire: $3.66 billion, $669 million above 2009 and $165 million above the President’s request, for efforts to prevent and fight wildfires at the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior, including hazardous fuels reduction projects, State and volunteer fire assistance activities, and forest health projects.
- Includes $357 million for the new wildfire suppression contingency reserve accounts, as requested;
- Increases hazardous fuels projects by $91 million, or 17 percent over the request;
- Increases overall wildfire suppression funding by $526 million, or 40 percent over 2009.
National Parks: $2.7 billion, $27 million above the President’s request and $198 million above 2009, including funds for the 10-year initiative to upgrade national parks before the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016, and $25 million for the new Park Partnership Project Grants Program.
National Wildlife Refuge System: $503 million, $20 million above the President’s request and $40 million above 2009, to provide critically needed staff, implement climate change strategies, and improve conservation efforts.
US Forest Service (non-fire): $2.77 billion, $62 million above the President’s request and $154 million above 2009, including $100 million for the Legacy Road and Trail Remediation program to protect streams and water systems from damaged forest roads. Increases the Forest Legacy Land Conservation Program by $26.7 million above 2009, for a total of $76 million.
National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities: $340 million, $17 million above the President’s request and $30 million above 2009; providing $170 million for the National Endowment for the Arts and $170 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities to preserve and encourage America’s arts and
cultural heritage.
Smithsonian: $774 million, $15 million above the President’s request and $43 million above 2009, to support the world’s largest museum complex; the increase above the request maintains level funding for efforts to reduce the backlog of deferred maintenance. The Committee bill includes $20 million, as requested, for
planning and design of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture to be built on the National Mall.
SIGNIFICANT CUTS
The bill contains over $320 million in program terminations, reductions and other savings from the fiscal year 2009 level and over $300 million from the budget request. Included in this amount is a $142 million rescission from EPA prior-year STAG account funds, based on an Inspector General report of unliquidated
obligations and $18 million in reductions from a number of requested increases for EPA administrative functions. The bill terminates $28 million for a new initiative in Federal aid in wildlife restoration program due to concerns about implementation of the program.
OTHER IMPORTANT POLICY ITEMS
Coal leases on BLM land: Language is included which disallows coal lease purchasers to pay bonus bids over 5 years. This language requires coal purchasers to make bonus payments in the same manner as all Federal oil and natural gas purchasers. This language provides a $207 million scoring credit because bonus payments will be made in one year rather than spread over five.
MMS Ultra-Deepwater Research Fund deferral: Language is included that defers $50 million in funding from oil and gas receipts that were a part of the 2005 Energy Policy Act of 2005. The ultra deepwater fund provides $50 million annually for research for recovering oil and gas from ultra-deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico. This funding directly benefits large oil companies. This language was not included in the request but was in the House-passed bill for FY 2008.
MMS Outer Continental Shelf inspection fee: Language is included, as requested, to implement a new fee for inspections of offshore oil and gas facilities. This nominal fee ($2,000 to $6,000 per facility per year), will provide $10 million to partially offset the cost of the inspection program.
MMS State Royalty Revenue Sharing: Language is included, as in previous years that takes 2 percent of the Federal royalties from oil, gas, and mineral extraction ($49 million) and uses the scoring credit to partially offset the cost of administering the program. This provision was not included in the request.
Office of Surface Mining, Emergency Remediation Grants: The Committee agrees with the request to eliminate the emergency coal remediation grants ($12.8 million) for mine lands. Under the Surface Mining Regulation and Control Act amendments of 2006, States received mandatory funding for these needs. There are sufficient carryover balances for the States to transition their programs to the mandatory funding.
Wildfire suppression contingency accounts: The bill includes $357 million in non-emergency contingency funding as requested. The bill provides $526 million, or a 40 percent increase, for all wildfire suppression accounts.
Davis-Bacon*: The bill includes language that applies Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements to the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.
Greenhouse Gas Registry*: The bill includes language that prohibits EPA from including emissions from manure management systems in the mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.
Biological Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions*: The bill includes language that prohibits EPA from promulgating a regulation to require Clean Air Act permits for emissions from biological processes associated with livestock production.
Guantanamo Detainees*: No funds may be used to release detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the Unites States territories of Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. No funds may be used to transfer
detainees to these territories until two months after the President submits a detailed plan regarding the proposed disposition of detainees. Detainees from Guantanamo may not be transferred or released to the freely associated States, including the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands,
and the Republic of Palau unless the President submits information about the transfers 30 days prior to such transfer.
*Adopted in Full Committee
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