CRS Report: ‘Energy and Water Development – FY2018 Appropriations’.
Summary The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps); the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Central Utah Project (CUP); the Department of Energy (DOE); the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); and several other independent agencies.
The House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY2018 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill with a manager’s amendment by voice vote on July 12, 2017, with total funding of $37.64 billion without scorekeeping adjustments—$809 million below FY2017 and $3.45 billion above the Administration request (H.R.
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development approved its version of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill by voice vote on July 18, 2017, with total funding of $38.4 billion.
The Trump Administration requested reductions of 17.2% for the Corps and 14.3% for Reclamation for FY2018.
Those cuts were largely rejected by the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee.
The House committee voted to continue those programs at the FY2017 funding level.
Under the FY2018 budget request, appropriations for DOE research and development on energy efficiency and renewable energy (EERE), nuclear energy, and fossil energy would be cut by a total of 53.7%.
The Trump Administration proposes to eliminate funds for new research projects by ARPA-E, and terminate the program after currently funded projects are completed.
The ARPA-E termination was approved by the House committee.