MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The Bush Administration's FY2005 budget request, released February 2, 2004, budgeted Energy and Water Development Programs at $27.94 billion, compared to $27.26 billion appropriated for the same programs for FY2004. On June 16 the House Appropriations Committee reported its bill with $27.99 billion, and the House passed it June 25. The House and Senate both approved a conference report (H.Rept. 108-792) on H.R. 4818 on November 20, containing FY2005 appropriations for previously unpassed bills, including Energy and Water Development. H.R. 4818 was forwarded to the President December 6 and signed December 8 (P.L. 108-447). Previous Releases: /NLE/CRSreports/04Jul/RL32307.pdf

Abstract: The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill includes funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), most of the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of independent agencies. The Bush Administration requested $27.94 billion for these programs for FY2005, compared with $27.26 billion appropriated for FY2004 (P.L. 108-137, and rescissions included in P.L. 108-199). On June 16 the House Appropriations Committee reported out its bill (H.R. 4614) with $27.99 billion, and the bill passed the House on June 25. The Senate did not report out a separate Energy and Water Appropriations bill, and funding for these programs of $28.49 billion was included as Division C of the omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 4818, P.L. 108-447).

Key issues involving these programs included:

• funding and progress of major water/ecosystem restoration initiatives such as Florida Everglades and California ¨Bay-Delta¨ (CALFED);
• funding for the proposed national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada;
• funding for developing a new nuclear warhead, the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator and for a ?Modern Pit Facility? to build nuclear weapons components; and
• plans to reduce the time necessary to prepare the Nevada Test Site to resume nuclear weapons testing.

Funding for the Yucca Mountain project was a major issue that prevented passage of a stand-alone bill, and the possibility of a year-long continuing resolution for Energy and Water programs was widely discussed. However, appropriators agreed in the omnibus bill to fund the project at the same level as in FY2004. Part of the funding for Yucca Mountain came from the controversial Nuclear Earth Penetrator and pit facility and the upgrading of the Nevada Test Site, which were cut from the budget.

This report will be updated as events warrant. [read report]

Topics: Energy, Water