From Carol Hardy Vincent - this CRS report (28 June 2021): 'Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: Overview of FY2021 Appropriations'.
Download CRS_Report_Int_Env_Related_Overview_FY2021_App_28June2021
Click on the graphics to enlarge them. A list of CRS staffers and their areas of expertise is on page 14.
Summary
The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill contains funding for three dozen agencies and entities. They include most of the Department of the Interior (DOI) as well as agencies within other departments, such as the Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and the Indian Health Service within the Department of Health and Human Services. The bill also provides funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), arts and cultural agencies, and other organizations and entities. Issues for Congress included determining the amount, terms, and conditions of funding for agencies and programs.
P.L. 116-260, enacted on December 27, 2020, contained $38.52 billion for FY2021 for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (in Division G). This total included $36.17 billion in regular appropriations and $2.35 billion for wildfire suppression under a discretionary cap adjustment. Earlier, President Trump’s request, a House-passed bill, and a SenateAppropriations Committee majority draft bill all supported this wildfire suppression adjustment; it consisted of $2.04 billion for the Forest Service and $310.0 million for DOI.
Of the $38.52 billion enacted for FY2021, the 11 major DOI agencies in Title I of the law received $13.72 billion, or 35.6% of the total. For EPA, funded in Title II, the FY2021 law contained $9.24 billion, or 24.0% of the total. For the 24 agencies and other entities funded in Title III (“related agencies”), the FY2021 law provided $15.56 billion, or 40.4% of the total. Overall, nearly three-quarters of the $38.52 billion was for five agencies: EPA, Forest Service, Indian Health Service, NationalPark Service, and Bureau of IndianAffairs.
The FY2021 enacted total was $2.19 billion (5.4%) lower than the FY2020 enacted total of $40.72 billion, which included $2.41 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations for coronavirus preparedness and response and activities related to the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. However, the FY2021 enacted total was $0.2 million (0.6%) higher than the FY2020 enacted regular appropriation of $38.30 billion (in P.L. 116-94, Division D).
The FY2021 enacted total was $4.46 billion (13.1%) higher than President Trump’s FY2021 request of $34.07 billion. Many agencies in the bill received higher enacted appropriations than President Trump requested, including the EPA, U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Education, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Of the $34.07 billion requested, President Trump had sought the following amounts: for DOI agencies, $12.05 billion, or 35.4% of the total requested; for EPA, $6.70 billion, or 19.7% of the total requested; and for the related agencies in Title III of the bill, $15.31 billion, or 44.9% of the total.
Prior to enactment of P.L. 116-260, the House had passed an earlier FY2021 Interior appropriations bill. H.R. 7608, as passed by the House on July 24, 2020, contained $54.67 billion (in Division C) for agencies in the Interior bill. This total included $39.17 billion in annual appropriations and $15.50 billion in emergency appropriations for additional infrastructure investments of three agencies (EPA, the Indian Health Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs). The FY2021 enacted appropriations law did not include this infrastructure funding. To further negotiations between the House and the Senate, on November 10, 2020, the chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations released a draft Interior bill along with a draft accompanying explanatory statement. This Senate Appropriations Committee majority draft bill contained $38.22 billion in annual appropriations.
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