After being introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives on Monday, April 27 and a week of segmented debate, the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill became the second spending bill to pass either chamber on Friday, May 4. It received a vote of 240 – 177 largely along party lines, with Republicans supporting it. The bill, H.R. 2028, appropriates more than $36 billion. Most of that sum, $29 billion, funds programs run by the Department of Energy (DOE), but the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also received roughly $5.6 billion and $1.1 billion each, mainly for the administration of water projects.

Of the agencies receiving funding through the bill, a few emerged as big winners. The Corps of Engineers, for example, was given $142 million more in the bill as introduced, net of rescissions, than it received in the FY 2015 CROmnibus. The difference was largely funneled to the group’s Operations and Maintenance account. An amendment on the floor later gave the account an additional $36.3 million. As we noted in the subcommittee draft of the bill, DOE’s Nuclear Energy and Fossil Energy R&D programs also received plus-ups of $22.7 million and $34 million compared to FY 2015 levels. The biggest winner, however, was DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) which, funded at $12.3 billion, received $922 million more than last year. The agency’s Weapons Activities account saw an increase of more than $500 million alone. As we wrote when the President’s budget was first announced, this shows the stark difficulties of budgeting for non-Pentagon priorities – even in the Department of Energy budget.

Construction at the MOX facility in May, 2013

Despite a number of amendments trying to cut the wasted millions spent on the Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility, the project was fully funded at $331 million for the year. The bill would’ve maintained MOX’s funding at the FY 2015 level of $345 million if not for one successful amendment, offered by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) that shifted $13.8 million to other nuclear nonproliferation activities.

The bill’s future, and the fate of those provisions, depends on whether the Senate has the same spending priorities. Hopefully, the upper chamber won’t agree to wasteful spending for Fossil Energy R&D, DOE’s Nuclear Energy program, the MOX project, and the Corps, among other items. Taxpayers will have to wait until summer to find out, however – the chamber has yet to start the process. During debate on the House floor, Representatives offered 61 amendments to the bill. Of the 34 that were agreed to, 19 prohibited the relevant agencies from using appropriated funds in a certain way. 

The measures addressed a wide variety of objectives ranging from the implementation of efficiency standards for ceiling fans and incandescent reflector lamps, to the removal of dams and the delivery of water to the Trinity and Klamath rivers.