The federal authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) expired on September 30, 2015. This is the first time in the program’s 50 year history that Congress has allowed its authorization to expire, and program supporters and detractors have already begun messaging possible impacts to the program.
Supporters of the conservation program worry that without an official authorization the LWCF programs will go unfunded when Congress settles on funding priorities later this year. Program detractors, however, believe the program is in need of reform, but acknowledge the programs will most likely still receive funding through the annual appropriations process. The programs are currently being funded at $300 million while the government is being funded by a Continuing Resolution that lasts until December 11, 2015.
At the center of the funding dispute is a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that claims the fund still has a surplus of approximately $20 billion. In total, since 1965, CRS reports the fund has received $37 billion from fees on offshore oil and gas drilling projects. However, while the fund may have a large surplus on paper, Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, believes that money has been spent. Prior to expiration of the program, the LWCF was authorized to collect $900 million in fees, but Congressional appropriators routinely only appropriated $300 million for the fund’s programs, while allowing the difference to be spent on general fund purposes. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), has insisted nothing will change with the program’s funding. While the programs funding seems to be safe for now, the future of the program remains in doubt.