On July 15, the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee approved a $34.7 billion FY 2011 funding bill. Drafts of the bill are not yet public, but the committee provided a summary as well as an earmark list for this bill which funds the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of other Independent Agencies.

At $34.7 billion, this bill would be $675 million below the President’s request, but still represent a $1.2 billion increase from spending levels in FY2010.

Of special note to taxpayers, the committee chose to increase authority for DOE’s Loan Guarantee Program . While the DOE already has more than $50 billion in loan guarantee authority, the vast majority of which remains uncommitted, the bill authorizes an additional $50 billion in loan guarantees: $25 Billion for renewable projects and $25 billion for nuclear reactors, even though government sources have found nuclear loan guarantees have more than a 50% risk of default.

In a joint letter to the Energy and Water Subcommittee, Taxpayers for Common Sense urged representatives to oppose billions of dollars in additional nuclear loan guarantee authority. Such guarantees put an incredible burden on taxpayers, due to the high risk of default and the inadequate planning and poor execution on the part of the Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program. The inclusion of an additional $50 billion in loan guarantees, including $25 Billion earmarked for nuclear reactors, is careless and fiscally reckless at a time of exploding deficits and taxpayer belt-tightening.

URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO OPPOSE $50 BILLION IN LOAN GUARANTEE AUTHORITY IN THE ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS BILL!

The bill also reverses nearly $400 million in cuts the president sought to the budget for the Army Corps of Engineers, resulting in a $5.28 billion dollar budget for this agency. This is a 3% decrease from FY2010 funding levels. The bulk of the cuts reversed by Congress occurred in the Army Corps’ Construction account ($161 million above the president’s request) and in Operations and Maintenance (the president requested a $39 million cut from this account, but Congress instead increased funds $129 million over FY 2010 levels.)

The $34.7 billion in funding also included roughly 80 pages worth of Presidential and Congressional earmarks.

Read Subcommittee Chairman Pastor’s opening statement here .

See a summary of the bill here .

Peruse the disclosed earmark list here .