Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee marked up the FY16 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The bill totals $35.4 billion, which is $1.2 billion above the FY15 enacted level, and $633 million below the President’s FY16 budget request. The Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is funded at $5.6 billion, which is $147 million above the FY15 enacted level, and $865 million above the President’s FY16 budget request. The Bureau of Reclamation is funded at $1.1 billion, which is $35 million below FY15 enacted levels, and $1 million below the President’s FY16 request.
The bill contains report language that prohibits the Corps from using any funds to implement the Principles and Guidelines, prohibits the Corps from using any funds to implement Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS), and expresses the Committee’s concerns above the Federal Flood Risk Management Standards. The White House has issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) on the House FY16 Energy and Water bill in which the Director of the Office of Management and Budget expresses the President’s “serious reservations” with the House bill. The SAP specifically sites concerns above cuts to the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, and “highly problematic ideological riders” such as prohibiting the Administration from implementing the WOTUS rule.