Politico Pro

April 12, 2016

House appropriators are seeking to boost spending on Energy Department science and nuclear security work but their draft legislation this afternoon unsurprisingly rebuffs many of President Barack Obama's grander ambitions.

The House Appropriations Committee's $37.4 billion energy and water spending bill for fiscal 2017 is $259 million above last year's levels. DOE's Science office would see a modest $50 million increase to $5.4 billion while energy programs broadly would go up slightly more, to $11.08 billion.

But House lawmakers have once again included funding for the deadlocked Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project, including $150 million for DOE and $20 million for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to use in restarting the licensing process. NRC leaders have said that it would likely take about $330 million to license the project.

While the overall bill comes in above Obama's request, House leaders took a pass on funding Obama's request for a new Energy Innovation Hub devoted to desalination and additional "manufacturing institutes." The energy and water subcommittee is expected to advance the bill Wednesday.

Nevertheless, some popular programs fared well. For example, lawmakers are proposing to spend $335 million on ARPA-E, lower than Obama's request but still more than fiscal 2016.

The Senate is slated to release and vote on their version of the energy and water spending bill tomorrow afternoon and Thursday. Sen. Lamar Alexander, who chairs the energy spending subpanel, said today that he expects his spending bill to be on the Senate floor next week.