FY14 Budget released today
After more than two months of delay, the FY2014 budget was released today. The funding levels for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were fairly similar to what we saw last year. Overall, the Corps budget continues in a downward trend, with $4.7 billion included for the agency in the Administration's FY2014 proposal. This is $100 million less than the Corps received in FY2012.
The Administration's budget increases the total amount of expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) to $890M, a level that is slightly higher than in previous budgets. For the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF), the Administration proposes a new annual vessel fee to increase revenues and help fund future capital investments on the inland system. The budget proposal notes that amounts collected would reflect actual costs incurred, and would therefore allow any cost savings to translate over time into lower fees. Details will be forthcoming on this proposal.
The Administration is requesting $200 million for the Corps regulatory program. This represents a slight increase of $4 million from the FY2012 request and is $7 million more than what was appropriated in FY2012. PNWA applauds increased funding for this account. The Corps regulatory program is critical in the Northwest as it is used for processing permits for navigation and environmental restoration projects in our region.
The budget request proposed a decrease in funding for the Construction (CG) and General Investigations (GI) programs. Despite the proposed decrease, several critical Northwest projects fared well in these accounts. In Construction, highlights include funding to prepare for eventual Willamette River deepening, a new start for the major rehabilitation of the Columbia River jetties, and ecosystem restoration in the Duwamish & Green River Basin. For Investigations, highlights include funding for a new Reconnaissance study for the Port of Seattle's proposed deepening project. PNWA is very pleased with these proposed spending levels given the overall reduction in funding for these accounts.
The national Operations & Maintenance (O&M) budget, a significant account for Northwest projects, is proposed to receive $2.588B, a small increase when compared to the Administration's FY2012 and FY2013 budgets. One major win for the Northwest in this account was funding for overdue maintenance dredging on the Snake River.
The FY2014 budget reflects the Administration's continued focus on the "highest performing projects". High-tonnage projects on the Columbia Snake River System, Oregon coast and Puget Sound received the most robust funding in the region.
Shallow draft or "low use" waterways were again a noticeable omission in the budget, with nearly all of our small projects in the Northwest completely zeroed out. When earmarks were available as a tool, this could be addressed on an individual project basis in the appropriations process. With the ban on earmarks, Congress provided additional national pots of funding in FY2012, with directions for the Corps to develop work plans on how to spend the extra monies. Congress supported this effort again in their FY2013 bills. However, with the continuing resolution passed for the remainder of the year, these additional monies were not designated for any specific type of project. In FY2014, PNWA will again be advocating for additional funding pots for which our projects may compete.
Following are the proposed funding levels in the budget for PNWA-supported projects.
Operations & Maintenance - Deep Draft
Columbia & Lower Willamette below Vancouver & Portland (C&LW), OR/WA - $34,517,000
Columbia River at the Mouth (MCR), OR/WA - $18,217,000
Columbia River between Vancouver & The Dalles, OR/WA - $878,000
Coos Bay (Port of Coos Bay), OR - $6,069,000
Yaquina Bay & Harbor (Port of Newport), OR - $2,000,000
Skipanon Channel (Port of Astoria), OR - 0
Lake Washington Ship Canal, WA - $9,416,000
Seattle Harbor, WA - $110,000
Tacoma Harbor, WA - $1,894,000
Grays Harbor, WA - $9,965,000
Humboldt Harbor & Bay (Port of Humboldt Bay, CA) - $2,730,000
Operations & Maintenance - Shallow Draft
Columbia River at Baker Bay (Port of Ilwaco) - 0
Columbia River b/t Chinook & Sand Island (Port of Chinook) - 0
Siuslaw River (Port of Siuslaw) - $32,000
Yaquina River (Port of Toledo) - 0
Swinomish Channel (Port of Skagit County) - 0
Tillamook Bay & Bar (Port of Garibaldi) - 0
Umpqua River (Port of Umpqua) - 0
Willamette River at Willamette Falls, OR - $60,000
Operations & Maintenance - Inland Locks
Bonneville Lock & Dam - $7,477,000
The Dalles Lock & Dam - $3,150,000
John Day Lock & Dam - $4,502,000
McNary Lock & Dam - $6,909,000
Ice Harbor Lock & Dam - $4,574,000
Lower Monumental Lock & Dam - $2,480,000
Little Goose Lock & Dam - $2,710,000
Lower Granite Lock & Dam - $9,621,000
Construction (CG)
Columbia River Fish Mitigation (CRFM) - $104,903,000 (3,500,000 from O&M account)
Lower Columbia River ecosystem restoration, OR/WA - $7,080,000
Columbia River Channel Improvements, OR & WA - $250,000
MCR Jetties Major Rehab (new start) - $1,000,000
Mt. St. Helens sediment control - $260,000
Duwamish & Green River basin ecosystem restoration - $8,500,000
General Investigations (GI)
Seattle Harbor channel deepening study (new start) - $100,000
Elliott Bay Seawall, WA study (Port of Seattle) - 0
Humboldt Bay shoal management feasibility study - 0
Willamette River environmental dredging - 0
Port of Camas-Washougal, WA - 0
Puyallup River flood damage reduction study - $148,000
FY2013 update:
In late March, President Obama signed a Continuing Resolution (CR) which funds the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends September 30th. Approval of the CR ensures that the federal agencies receive funding for the next six months, although in most cases at reduced levels when compared to the FY2013 budget and the House and Senate bills.
In the CR, the Corps is funded at FY2012 levels and is subject to a 5% sequestration cut for the year (approximately $250 million). This cut is applied to all of the agency's accounts, including O&M. The Corps is currently developing their FY2013 work plan, and project-specific funding for navigation infrastructure will not be known until this work plan is approved by the Assistant Secretary of the Army and the Administration. This process is expected to be complete by late April. PNWA continues to monitor the process and will send project-specific funding information once it is made public.
In February, PNWA staff met with the Corps' Portland, Walla Walla, Seattle, and San Francisco Districts to fully understand their capability levels for all of our supported projects. The capability level is the Corps estimate for the most that it could obligate efficiently during that fiscal year. We will be meeting with them again in the coming weeks, to ensure that we have an updated understanding of those levels. PNWA will also continue to track the development of the FY2013 work plan and the FY2014 appropriations process, and will send updated information as we receive it.
For more information, please contact Heather Stebbings or Kristin Meira.
