Mark Holt and Corrie E. Clark authored this CRS report (updated 25 March 2021): Energy and Water Development: FY2021 Appropriations.
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Summary
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill provides funding for civil works projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Central Utah Project (CUP); the Department of Energy (DOE); the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC); and several other independent agencies. DOE typically accounts for about 80% of the bill’s funding.Overall Funding Totals
President Trump submitted his FY2021 budget proposal to Congress on February 10, 2020. The budget requests for agencies included in the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill totaled $42.559 billion, including budget offsets. This was $5.764 billion (12%) below the FY2020 enacted Energy and Water Development total of $48.324 billion, not including supplemental appropriations. The House Appropriations Committee approved its FY2021 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill July 13, 2020 (H.R. 7613, H.Rept. 116-449). The Energy and Water bill was included as Division C in the second FY2021 consolidated appropriations bill (H.R. 7617), passed by the House July 31, 2020. The House-passed bill would have provided total non-emergency energy and water development funding of $49.601 billion, including offsets. This was $1.278 billion (3%) above the FY2020 enacted level and $7.042 billion (17%) above the request. The Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee released a draft FY2021 Energy and Water bill and explanatory statement on November 10, 2020 (https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/committee-releases-fy21-bills-in-effort-to-advance-process-produce-bipartisan-results), which included $51.864 billion for Energy and Water Development programs—$9.305 billion above the budget request and $3.540 billion above the FY2020 enacted appropriation, excluding emergency appropriations. FY2021 Energy and Water Development funding was enacted by Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), signed by the President on December 27, 2020. The enacted Energy and Water appropriations totaled $49.525 billion, $1.201 billion (2%) above the FY2020 enacted level, excluding emergency appropriations and scorekeeping adjustments.
Emergency Funding
Title VI of the House-passed bill included $44.05 billion in emergency FY2021 funding—nearly doubling the bill’s total appropriations to $93.651 billion. These “additional infrastructure investments” were intended “to support the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic,” according to the House Appropriations Committee report. USACE was to receive $17.0 billion, Reclamation $3.0 billion, and DOE $24.050 billion. Neither the draft Senate bill nor the enacted measure included additional emergency appropriations for Energy and Water Development programs as passed by the House.Major Issues
Major Energy and Water Development provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, included the establishment of a national uranium reserve (at half the requested amount), funding for renewable energy grid integration and storage, funding for artificial intelligence and quantum information science initiatives, a nearly 25% increase in nuclear weapons activities, and the first funding for the Southwest Border Regional Commission. Trump Administration proposals to limit funding for water projects, reduce energy R&D funding, eliminate weatherization grants for low-income households, and end DOE loan and loan guarantee programs were not adopted.Introduction and Overview
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill includes funding for civil works projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), in Title I; the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Central Utah Project (CUP), in Title II; the Department of Energy (DOE), in Title III; and a number of independent agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), in Title IV. Figure 1 compares the major components of the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill from FY2020 through FY2021.
Notes: FY2021 DOE request total does not include asset sales and certain other offsets. Enacted amounts do not include subsequent emergency supplemental appropriations. CUP = Central Utah Project Completion Account. FY2021 House levels exclude emergency appropriations and certain offsets.
President Trump submitted his FY2021 budget request to Congress on February 10, 2020. The budget requests for agencies included in the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill totaled $42.559 billion, including budget offsets. This was $5.764 billion (12%) below the FY2020 enacted Energy and Water Development total of $48.324 billion, not including supplemental appropriations. The House Appropriations Committee approved its FY2021
Energy and Water Development appropriations bill July 13, 2020 (H.R. 7613, H.Rept. 116-449). The Energy and Water bill was included as Division C in the second FY2021 consolidated appropriations bill (H.R. 7617), passed by the House on July 31, 2020. The House-passed bill would have provided total non-emergency energy and water development funding of $49.601 billion, including offsets. This is $1.278 billion (3%) above the FY2020 enacted level and $7.042 billion (17%) above the request. In addition, the House bill included $44.050 billion in emergency FY2021 energy and water appropriations (described below), for a total of $93.651 billion.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby released draft bills and explanatory statements for all 12 regular FY2021 appropriations bills on November 10, 2020, but no subcommittee or committee markups were held. The release of the draft bills was intended to further negotiations on annual appropriations between the House and the Senate.2 (Hereinafter, the draft of the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill and explanatory statement are referred to as “the Senate Appropriations Committee majority draft bill” and “Senate Appropriations Committee majority draft explanatory statement.”) The committee majority’s draft bill and explanatory statement for Energy and Water Development appropriations would have provided a total of $51.864 billion, including offsets, according to the comparative statement of new budget authority that is in the explanatory statement. This is $3.540 billion (7%) above the FY2020 enacted level, $9.305 billion (22%) above the request, and $2.262 billion (5%) above the House-passed level, excluding emergency supplemental appropriations.
FY2021 Energy and Water Development funding was enacted by Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), signed by the President on December 27, 2020. The enacted Energy and Water appropriations totaled $49.525 billion—$1.201 billion (2%) above the FY2020 enacted level, $6.966 billion (16%) above the Administration request, $77 million (0%) below the House-passed level, and $2.339 billion (5%) below the Senate majority draft, excluding emergency appropriations and scorekeeping adjustments. (Detailed energy and water development appropriations tables for the enacted measure can be found in the Explanatory Statement, at https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2020/12/21/CREC-2020-12-21.pdf-bk4.)
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Congressional Hearings
The following hearings were held by the Energy and Water Development subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the FY2021 budget request. Testimony and opening statements are posted on most of the web pages cited for each hearing, along with webcasts in many cases.House
Department of Energy, February 27, 2020, https://appropriations.house.gov/events/hearings/department-of-energy-budget-request-for-fy2021.
DOE Applied Energy Programs, March 3, 2020, https://appropriations.house.gov/events/hearings/department-of-energy-applied-energy-programs-budget-requests-for-fy2021.
DOE National Nuclear Security Administration, March 4, 2020, https://appropriations.house.gov/events/hearings/department-of-energynational-nuclear-security-administration.
Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, March 10, 2020, https://appropriations.house.gov/events/hearings/us-army-corps-of-engineers-and-bureau-of-reclamation-budget-requests-for-fy2021.
DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy, Office of Science, and Environmental Management, March 11, 2020, https://appropriations.house.gov/events/hearings/department-of-energy-fy2021-budget-request-for-advanced-research-projects-agency.
Senate
Department of Energy, March 4, 2020, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/review-of-the-fy2021-budget-request-for-the-us-department-of-energy.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, March 11, 2020, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/review-of-the-fy2021-budget-request-for-us-army-corps-of-engineers-and-bureau-of-reclamation-within-dept-of-interior.
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