FY2020 Energy & Water Development Appropriations Bill Advanced by Full Committee

Statement

The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act by a vote of 31-0. The legislation funds U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) programs, including national nuclear security and energy research and development, as well as important infrastructure projects administered by the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.

The $48.866 billion measure represents an increase of $4.226 billion above the FY2019 enacted level and $10.807 billion above the President's budget request and supports programs to advance American energy security and economic competitiveness.

"This legislation supports a host of important national priorities, such as science and research, nuclear security, and critical infrastructure projects across the country," said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). "This is a good bill, and I want to thank Senator Alexander and Senator Feinstein for their hard work in crafting it in a bipartisan manner. By advancing this measure through the process today, we are taking a significant step toward funding the government and strengthening our nation."

"The Office of Science supports basic science and energy research at our 17 national laboratories and is the nation's largest supporter of research in the physical sciences. This fifth consecutive year of record level funding is important because it allows us to take advantage of the United States' secret weapon, our extraordinary capacity for basic research," said U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee. "This bill also includes funding to keep America number one in the world in supercomputing and build the next generation of supercomputers."

The funding bill provides resources to strengthen the U.S. nuclear deterrence posture, ensure nuclear stockpile readiness and safety, and prepare for existing and future nuclear threats. The measure also includes investments needed to improve and maintain flood control projects and ensure the viability of national and regional ports and waterways. Further, for the fifth year in a row, the Committee approved the highest-ever level of funding for the DOE Office of Science and recommended historic, record-level funding for programs to spur greater innovation in energy research, high-performance computing, and next-generation technologies.

Bill Highlights:

The Senate FY2020 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill totals $48.87 billion, $4.23 billion above the FY2019 enacted level and $10.81 billion above the budget request. While meeting national priorities, the legislation makes targeted reductions to lower-priority programs.

Nuclear Security -- $16.9 billion, $1.68 billion above the FY2019 enacted level and $425 million above the budget request, for DOE nuclear security programs. This includes:

$12.74 billion for Weapons Activities, $1.64 billion above the FY2019 enacted level and $333 million above the budget request,
$1.65 billion for Naval Reactors, $140 million below the FY2019 level and equal to the budget request, and
$2.09 billion for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, $155 million above the FY2019 enacted level and $92 million above the budget request.

Army Corps of Engineers -- $7.75 billion, $751.5 million above the FY2019 enacted level and $2.786 billion above the budget request.

For the sixth consecutive year, the bill meets the spending targets in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 for appropriations from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for the Corps of Engineers.
For the sixth consecutive year, the bill makes full use of the estimated annual revenues from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund to advance American competitiveness and export capabilities.

Bureau of Reclamation -- $1.75 billion, $185 million above the FY2019 enacted level and $630 million above the budget request, for the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation to help manage, develop, and protect the water resources of Western states.

Science Research -- $7.22 billion for the DOE Office of Science, $630 million above the FY2019 enacted level and $1.7 billion above the budget request, to support basic science research and enabling research capabilities, development of high-performance computing systems, and research into the next generation of clean energy sources--all important areas for improving economic competitiveness, national security, and quality of life.

Environmental Cleanup -- $7.45 billion for DOE environmental management activities, $276 million above the FY2019 enacted level and $982 million above the budget request, including $6.226 billion for Defense Environmental Cleanup to continue remediation of sites contaminated by previous nuclear weapons production.

Solving the Nuclear Waste Stalemate -- The bill includes a pilot program for consolidated nuclear waste storage, introduced by Alexander and ranking member Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). It also includes funding to allow DOE to store nuclear waste at private facilities that are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Energy Programs -- $15 billion, $1.5 billion above the FY2019 enacted level and $6.7 billion above the budget request. Within this total, the bill prioritizes and increases funding for energy programs that encourage U.S. economic competitiveness and that will advance an "all-of-the-above" solution to U.S. energy independence.

Fossil Energy Research and Development -- $800 million, $60 million above the FY2019 enacted level and $238 million above the budget request, for technologies to advance coal, natural gas, oil, and other fossil energy resources.

Nuclear Energy Research and Development -- $1.52 billion, $192 million above the FY2019 amount and $694 million above the budget request, for nuclear energy research, development, and demonstration activities, including:

-$300 million to start a demonstration program for Advanced Reactors;
-$315 million for Fuel Cycle Research and Development, including $10 million for work on Mining and Conversion; $50 million for Enrichment and Shipping; and $145 million for Advanced Fuels;
-$249 million for Reactor Concepts Research, Development, and Demonstration, including $22 million for industry-led Advanced Reactor Concepts program and $100 million for continued work to design and license an advanced small modular reactor.

Source