On May 1st the House passed the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2028), which funds the Department of Energy (DOE) for fiscal year 2016, along an almost party-line vote of 240-177. The bill appropriates $5.1 billion to the DOE Office of Science, an increase of $32.3 million or 0.6% above FY 2015 levels and a decrease of $239.8 million or 4.5% below the Administration request.
The bill and accompanying report contain deep cuts to the DOE Office of Science Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). It appropriates BER with $538 million, a $54 million or 9.1% cut, and EERE with $1.7 billion, a $255 million or 13.8% cut from FY 2015 levels. The bill also contains policy riders aimed at preventing the Administration from implementing the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, such as a rider that prohibits the Army Corps from using funds to implement any changes to the permitting program for degrading and filling waters and wetlands it runs under the Clean Water Act.
During a three-day open floor debate on the House floor, 60 amendments were considered, but ultimately very few were passed onto the final bill. Rep. Foster (D-IL) offered an amendment to fund the DOE Office of Science at the Administration’s requested level, touting the importance of investment in basic science by stating “At a time of ongoing economic stress, we must continue to develop the next generation of the American technical workforce. As other world powers are growing and challenging our position as the global leader in science and innovation, we cannot let the number of American scientists and researchers or the quality of their research facilities diminish. Bringing the Office of Science budget up to the President’s request is crucial to maintaining that quality.” Rep. Foster ultimately withdrew the amendment.
The White House has issued a Statement of Administrative Policy highlighting its concerns with the bill: “The bill drastically underfunds critical investments that develop American energy sources to build a clean and secure energy future; develop and commercialize the emerging technologies that create high-quality jobs and enhance the Nation's economic competitiveness; and improve resilience against current and ongoing climate impacts that threaten our economy, public health, and natural resources.” It went on to specifically single out its concerns for cuts to specific agencies and offices such as the DOE Office of Science, stating, “While the Administration appreciates the Committee's support for the Office of Science, the level of funding provided, which is $240 million below the FY 2016 Budget request, is insufficient to maintain U.S. leadership in high performance computing as the United States moves into capable exascale systems to support discovery science, national security, and economic competitiveness.”
On May 21st, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its own version of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill and accompanying report. Senator Cochran (R-MS), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated, “This appropriations bill is forward-looking in its approach to responsibly providing for our national nuclear security, waterways management, flood control, and energy security despite limited resources. All these areas are important to the day-to-day lives of Americans.” He also thanked Senator Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Feinstein (D-CA), the Chair and Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Development Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, for their hard work producing a bipartisan bill, which was approved by the Committee 26-4. Democrats, however, voiced concern that funding increases in the bill, similarly to the House counterpart, disproportionately leave out non-defense activities. Sen. Feinstein stated, “I support this bill insofar as it works within the current budget caps. However, it reveals the serious flaws of sequestration and budgeting under the Budget Control Act and underscores once again the need to balance our defense and non-defense priorities. This bill provides robust funding for nuclear weapons modernization and environmental cleanup, vital programs that deserve to be funded. At the same time, water infrastructure, drought relief, basic scientific research and energy technology development programs are left behind. Our ability to provide a strong national defense is based on a strong economy and a strong society, and those are achieved by the non-defense programs in this bill. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact sensible budget targets across government so that America can remain strong and competitive in the 21st century.”
The bill appropriates $5.1 million to the DOE Office of Science, an increase of $76.2 million or 1.5% from FY 2015 funding levels. In a press release, the Appropriations Committee stated that this is the highest funding level ever for the DOE Office of Science, which will support robust investments in innovative energy research, high-performance computing, and next-generation technologies to promote American energy security and economic competitiveness. In contrast to the House bill, the Senate bill includes funding increases to DOE Office of Science BER and DOE EERE. The bill appropriates $610 million to BER, an increase of $18 million or 3% from FY 2015 levels, and $1.95 billion to EERE, an increase of $26 million or 1.4% from FY 2015 levels.
After passing the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill now awaits a vote on the Senate floor. If the bill passes the Senate it will be conferenced with the House version passed on May 1st.