House Appropriations Committee releases FY2014 Energy & Water Appropriations Bill

The House legislation proposes to fund the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at $4.9 billion. While this is $50 million more than we saw in the FY2014 PBUD, it is $104 million less than FY2013 enacted levels and continues the downward trend in funding for the agency. The Committee notes that their bill prioritizes activities that will have the most immediate impact on job creation and the economy. It includes $1 billion in funding from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, an increase of over $100 million than what we saw proposed by the President. While this is not the full spending of receipts for which PNWA has been advocating, this is a significant and welcome step in the right direction.

The Committee also made small changes to the Administration's budget request for each of the main Corps accounts. Operations and Maintenance (O&M) was funded at $2.682 billion, a $70 million increase from the PBUD. Construction funds were decreased by $224 million to $1.34 billion, and General Investigations (studies) was decreased from $116 million in the PBUD to $90 million. The Corps Regulatory program also saw a slight decrease of $7 million from the PBUD, for a total of $193 million in the House bill.

The Department of Energy (DOE) and Bureau of Reclamation also saw funding levels well below those enacted in FY2013. The DOE portion of the bill, which cuts agency funding by $1.4 billion below FY2013 enacted levels, prioritizes programs based on the ability to encourage economic growth and energy independence.   The Bureau of Reclamation is funded at $956 million, $104 million below enacted FY2013 levels, with priority given to programs that help manage, develop and protect water resources in the western states.

The bill, which does not include funding tables for Corps projects, was marked up by the House Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee yesterday. Project funding levels and additional agency guidance will be available once the report language is released and the bill heads to the full House Appropriations Committee. Currently, there has been no schedule announced for this next step.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up their version of the FY2014 Energy & Water Development bill next week. In a typical year, once each chamber finishes their bill, the two versions would be "conferenced" and a single, compromise bill sent to the President's desk for his signature. This year, however, a steep $91 billion difference between House and Senate budget allocations is already triggering rumors of another year-long continuing resolution (CR) for FY2014. PNWA will continue to monitor the appropriations process and will provide additional information as it is available, including specific impacts to our supported Northwest water resources projects.