Energy and Water Development Appropriations for FY1997

Coordinated by
Marc Humphries, Analyst in Energy Policy
and
Carl E. Behrens, Specialist in Energy Policy
Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division

Updated October 8, 1996

96-634 ENR

Summary

The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill includes funding for civil projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, much of the Department of Energy, and a number of independent agencies, including the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the appropriated programs of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Key issues involving the Energy and Water appropriations programs include:

• Budget restraints facing the Department of Energy's large research and development programs;
• Changes in the direction of the Civilian Nuclear Waste program;
• Control of water releases by the Army Corps of Engineers into the Missouri and Mississippi River basins, long a point of contention between upper- and lower-basin states.

This report includes the FY1997 budget request figures, those approved by the House and Senate, and those enacted into law.

The Administration requested a total of $20.2 billion for these programs for FY1997, compared to $19.3 billion appropriated for FY1996. The House approved $19.4 billion for FY1997. The Senate Committee approved $20.3 billion (the unadjusted total for the Senate mark is $20.7 billion). The House voted 391-23 to approve funding for the energy and water development bill, H.R. 3816, on July 25, 1995. The Senate approved the bill July 30, 1996. A Conference Report (H.Rept. 104-782) was filed in the House and approved September 12, 1996 and was filed and approved in the Senate September 17, 1996. The conference agreement provides $20 billion in funding for energy and water development appropriations. The bill was enacted into law (P.L. 104-206) on September 30, 1996.

Included in the Senate-passed version of the Energy and Water Appropriations bill was the text of S. 534, a bill concerning control of interstate shipments of solid waste. The conference report did not include the S. 534 provisions. (For more details, see CRS Issue Brief 95023, Solid Waste Issues.)

The conference agreement prohibited the use of funds to revise the Missouri River Master Water Control Manual, if such revision would result in increasing springtime water releases in states with rivers that drain into the Missouri below Gavins Point Dam (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri).

Contributors

Contents

Status
Major Funding Trends
Title I: Corps of Engineers Civil Works Programs
-- Key Issues
Title II: Department of the Interior
-- Key Issues
Title III: Department of Energy
-- Key Issues
-- Research and Development Programs
-- Applied Energy R&D
-- Fusion Energy Sciences
-- Basic Research Programs
-- Defense R&D Programs
-- Advanced Light Water Reactors
-- Electrometallurgical Processing
-- Civilian Radioactive Waste Disposal
-- DOE's Defense Environmental Management
Title IV: Independent Agencies
-- Key Issues
For Additional Reading
CRS Products

Energy and Water Development Appropriations for FY1997:

Status

Status of Appropriations Legislation: Energy and Water Development, FY1997 (H.R. 3816, S. 1959)

Major Funding Trends

Funding for Energy and Water since FY1990 is shown in the table.

Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY1990 to FY1996 (budget authority in billions of dollars)

This report includes the FY1997 budget request figures, and those reported out by the House and Senate Appropriations Committee on July 16, 1996 and approved by the House on July 25, 1996. The House voted 391-23 to approve $19.4 billion for FY1997 (the unadjusted total for the House bill is $19.8 billion). The Senate Committee approved $20.3 billion (the unadjusted total for the Senate mark is $20.7 billion). The Senate approved the bill July 30, 1996. A Conference Report (H.Rept. 104-782) was filed in and approved by the House September 12, 1996 and filed in and approved by the Senate September 17, 1996. Funding at $20 billion was enacted (P.L. 104-206) on September 30, 1996.

Included in the Senate-passed version of the Energy and Water Appropriations bill was the text of S. 534, a bill concerning control of interstate shipments of solid waste. The conference report filed September 12 did not include the S. 534 provisions. (For more details, see CRS Issue Brief 95023, Solid Waste Issues.)

Title I: Corps of Engineers Civil Works Programs

Energy and Water Development Appropriations Title I: Corps of Engineers
(in millions of dollars)

Key Issues

Several controversial Administration proposals in last year's Corps of Engineers appropriations cycle, including one to restrict flood control projects, were rejected by the Congress (see CRS report 95-625ENR: Appropriations for FY96: Energy and Water). The flood control cutback was not repeated in the FY1997 budget request. However, the current year's request does include provisions to restrict the Corps' shore protection projects that involve placement of sand. The House Appropriations Committee objected to the proposal and restored money to fund the projects. The Committee's recommendations were approved by the House and Senate.

Section 504 of the conference agreement includes language proposed by the House prohibiting the use of funds to revise the Missouri River Master Water Control Manual, if such revision would result in increasing springtime water releases in states with rivers that drain into the Missouri below Gavins Point Dam (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri). The issue of water releases and their related impacts has long been a point of contention between Missouri/Mississippi River upper- and lower-basin states.

Title II: Department of the Interior

Energy and Water Development Appropriations Title II: Central Utah Project Completion Account (in millions of dollars)

Energy and Water Development Appropriations Title II: Bureau of Reclamation (in millions of dollars)

• Does not include $8.1 million in P.L. 103-134 (+$9.0 million supplemental for Folsom Gate and -$0.9 million rescission).
• *Excludes $2.7 million rescission from Working Capital Fund.

Key Issues

The Administration has asked for $800.2 million in FY1997 budget authority for the Bureau of Reclamation (the same as enacted for FY1996). However, the request includes $18 million less for construction than the FY1996 enacted appropriations. The construction request included $9.5 million for the Animas-La Plata project. An amendment to delete funding for the Animas-La Plata project was accepted during House floor debate as well as an amendment to reduce funding for the Central Arizona Project by $20.6 million. The Senate bill maintained the funding for these two projects, as did the conference report, albeit at slightly lower levels.

Section 503 of the conference agreement includes House language prohibiting the use of funds to determine the final point of discharge for the San Luis drain (Central Valley Project, California), until the Secretary of the Interior and the State of California develop a plan conforming to state water quality standards (as approved by the U.S. EPA). This section also notes that future obligations for "drainage service or drainage studies for the San Luis Unit" shall be paid for by the beneficiaries of the project. The Section 503 language had been included in successive Energy and Water Development Appropriations reports in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but had not been included in recent years. Section 505 requires any replacement power purchased per operation of the Shasta temperature control device be paid for by project beneficiaries. Section 505 amends similar House language.

Title III: Department of Energy

Energy and Water Development Appropriations Title III: Department of Energy (in millions of dollars)

Key Issues

Research and Development Programs

For FY1997, DOE requested $6.06 billion for civilian and defense R&D activities within the Committee's jurisdiction. This amount compares to $5.93 billion appropriated for FY1996. For civilian R&D programs, the request was $3.27 billion compared to $3.18 billion appropriated for FY1996, and for defense R&D programs, the request was $2.79 billion compared to $2.75 billion appropriated for FY1996. Action by the Congress for FY1997 reduced funding for civilian R&D programs and increased funding for the defense R&D programs compared to the request. For civilian programs R&D, the Congress appropriated $3.05 billion and for defense programs R&D, it appropriated $2.92 billion. The total is $5.97 billion, 1.5% below the request and 0.7% above FY1996.

These actions by Congress are consistent with its support of basic research and defense R&D. All of the DOE programs within those definitions received appropriation recommendations at or near their requests. In one case, the stockpile stewardship program within Atomic Energy Defense Activities, received an increase of 5.1% over the request. The accelerated strategic computing initiative, designed to provide the computational capability necessary to simulate nuclear weapons explosions, received the largest fraction of this increase.

Applied Energy R&D. For applied energy R&D programs, however, substantial reductions from the request resulted. Again, these actions are consistent with the belief that applied research activities with potential commercial applications are best left to the private sector where the market can best judge which projects deserve support. The largest decrease from the request occurred in the renewable energy program. The DOE had requested $363.2 million for FY1997 an increase of 32% from the FY1996 appropriation. For FY1997, however, Congress appropriated $270.0 million. Floor action in both the House and Senate, however, added funds to the amounts recommended by the Committees. These action suggest a strong baseline of support in Congress for renewable energy R&D. Even so, the final appropriation is still 26% below the request, indicating that support has limits and that there is much in the program which falls within the realm of technology development.

Appropriations for the nuclear energy program also were substantially below the request by 10.2%. As with renewable energy, the Congress apparently believes that this research is more the responsibility of the private sector. (See below for more detail on this program.)

Fusion Energy Sciences. The final program for which significant reduction from its request took place is the fusion energy sciences program. This program is undergoing a major shift as a result of congressional action on the FY1996 budget. The program has changed from an energy development focus to a basic science focus. While both Houses approved the actions taken by DOE in restructuring the program, both argued that the request could not be justified. Because the appropriation contains funds for program direction and com puter support which DOE placed in other parts of its request, the final appropriation of $232.5 million is not comparable to the request of $255 million. When adjustments are made for these two items, the appropriation is about 14.4% below the request. The conference report gave DOE discretion on how it will allocate the appropriation, but did specify that DOE must continue to participate in the engineering design activity of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor until its completion in 1998. About $55 million, or 23.7% of the appropriation will go for this project.

Basic Research Programs. The remaining reductions below the DOE request come in energy support activities and scattered, small reductions in some of the remaining programs. As stated above, the basic research programs -- basic energy sciences, biological and environmental research, general science and research activities (high energy physics and nuclear physics) -- all received requests at or slightly below the requests. In all cases, however, the requests were close to their FY1996 appropriations. Furthermore, reports accompanying the separate House and Senate versions of the appropriations bills noted that while it strongly supported DOE's basic research efforts, funding for these programs would not grow from current levels for several years to come. Therefore, it urged DOE to be cautious about any new commitments which might have significant budget implications in the years ahead.

Defense R&D Programs. For defense programs, similar warnings about level funding and new commitments appeared. Specifically, the House report accompanying its version of the appropriation expressed concern about future availability of funds for the National Ignition Facility, a $1.1 billion laser being designed as a key part of the Science Based Stockpile Stewardship program. Full funding for the project for FY1997 was enacted by the Congress, allowing detailed engineering design to proceed.

Advanced Light Water Reactors

The House rejected an amendment by Representative Obey that would have eliminated the bill's funding for advanced light water reactors (ALWRs), improved versions of today's commercial reactors. The Administration had requested $40 million for light water reactor technology in FY1997, but the House bill provided funding only for ALWR engineering and design, totalling $17 million. The Senate voted to fund only the portions of the request not approved by the House. The conference report provides $38 million, which funds the entire Administration request except research on strengthening the metal in reactor pressure vessels.

Opponents of the ALWR funding called the program an example of "corporate welfare" and predicted that the advanced reactors under development would never prove commercially viable. Supporters of the DOE program pointed out that the nuclear industry had shared the ALWR program's costs and contended that the funding for FY1997 would complete the multi-year design effort.

Electrometallurgical Processing

An amendment by Representative Markey to delete $20 million for electro-metallurgical processing of spent nuclear fuel was rejected by the House. Funding of $20 million also was provided by the Senate and the conferees, although an additional $5 million added separately in the bill by the Senate was deleted in conference. The electrometallurgical processing program uses facilities and equipment developed for the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR) program that was canceled in 1994. The ALMR was intended to produce electricity using plutonium and uranium separated from spent nuclear fuel. Opponents of the ALMR program contended that the proposed reactor would be uneconomical and that the separation of plutonium could pose nuclear weapons proliferation risks.

The electrometallurgical treatment program uses essentially the same pyroprocessing technology planned for the ALMR, but the program's goal now is to make spent fuel suitable for long-term storage and disposal, rather than to produce new reactor fuel. Opponents of electrometallurgical treatment contended that the technology could separate plutonium for weapons purposes, that the program's costs were too high, and that the suitability of the treated waste for disposal was unproven. Supporters called the technology a promising approach to safely handle unstable spent fuel at DOE sites and contended that it would not produce pure plutonium for weapons.

Civilian Radioactive Waste Disposal

The conference report provided $382 million for DOE's program to develop a disposal facility for commercial nuclear reactor spent fuel and defense-related high-level nuclear waste. That level is the amount approved by the House, $18 million below the Senate level and the Administration request. The conference report requires DOE by Sept. 30, 1998, to complete a "viability assessment" of the proposed national disposal site at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. If the site is found viable, an application for a disposal facility can be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by 2002, according to DOE, and waste disposal can begin by 2010.

Of the FY1997 funding provided in the conference report, $182 million is appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund, consisting of mandatory fees collected from nuclear power plants. The other $200 million comes from general revenues, to pay for disposal of nuclear waste from defense programs. (For further background, see CRS Issue Brief 92059, Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal.)

DOE's Defense Environmental Management

Nearly flat funding was provided for DOE's environmental management program, which is responsible for environmental cleanup and waste management at the Department's nuclear-related facilities. The conference report provides a total of $6.41 billion, including a $160 million reserve for the privatization of some DOE waste management activities. The Administration had requested $6.48 billion.

Appropriations for the environmental management program are provided in three segments: defense, non-defense, and the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) Fund. Defense environmental management activities are related to current or former facilities in the DOE nuclear weapons complex, while non-defense activities are related to nuclear energy, physics, and other research programs. The Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund consists of contributions from the DOE defense-related environmental restoration program and from nuclear utilities. (For additional background, see CRS Issue Brief 90074, Nuclear Weapons Production Complex: Environmental Compliance and Waste Management.)

Title IV: Independent Agencies

Energy and Water Development Appropriations Title IV: Independent Agencies (in millions of dollars)

Key Issues

The perennially controversial Appalachian Regional Commission and the appropriated programs of the Tennessee Valley Authority, respectively, received level and somewhat increased funding in the FY1997 budget request, but both were cut by the House and the Senate.

The conference agreement approved by the House and Senate does not provide funding for the Delaware River Basin Commission, the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, and The Susquehanna River Basin Commission. The Administration's FY1997 request for funding for the three programs, totalling $2.1 million was included in the "other" category in the table above.

For Additional Reading

CRS Products

Department of Energy's FY1997 Budget. Issue Brief IB96020

Department of Energy Programs: History, Status, Options. Report 95-508 ENR

Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal. Issue Brief IB92059

Renewable Energy: A National Outlook? Issue Brief IB93063

Magnetic Fusion Energy. Issue Brief IB91039

Solid Waste Issues. Issue Brief IB95023