Corps Fares Well, DOE Cleanup Less So, in Appropriations
Congressional appropriators are recommending increases for the Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works program in early action on the agency’s fiscal year 2019 spending bill. But the Dept. of Energy’s environmental cleanup program may be in line for flat funding, at best.
The House Appropriations Committee on May 16 approved a 2019 bill funding energy and water programs that included $7.3 billion for Corps civil works. That total is up 7% from the 2018 enacted level. The measure was nearing floor action at ENR press time.
The Senate Appropriations Committee’s version of the 2019 energy-water bill, which the panel cleared on May 24, allots $6.9 billion for Corps civil works, a hike of $100 million, or about 1%, from 2018.
Within the civil works totals, the House committee allotted $2.3 billion for construction, $162 million more than the Senate panel provided. This year’s funding is slightly less than $2.1 billion. For Corps operation and maintenance, House appropriators included $3.8 billion; the Senate panel had $3.7 billion. Both proposals are above 2018’s $3.6 billion.
The energy-water appropriations bills were tougher on DOE’s defense environmental cleanup account, which funds remediation at former nuclear weapons facilities. Senate appropriators froze DOE cleanup at 2018’s level of just below $6 billion. The house panel cut the program by $229 million, or 4%.
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