On Monday, 20 November, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its draft of the FY 2018 Interior and Environment spending bill.  Here’s a recap of the Interior and Environment spending bill, which includes funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), for fiscal year 2018 (FY2018). 

 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

FY2016	FY2017	President’s Budget Request for FY2018	AGU Request for FY2018	House Proposal for FY2018	Senate Proposal for FY2018
$1,062.00	$1,085.12	$922.17	$1,200	$1,038.92	$1,085.17

 

*Proposed and enacted funding levels in millions 

 

Thumbs Up 

The bill would fund the United States Geological Survey (USGS) at $1.085 billion, which is the same as FY2017.  This is $46 million (6%) more than the House bill, and $163 million (18%) more than the President’s Budget Request. Within USGS, Facilities received the largest increase of 12%. The committee’s explanatory statement states that some of those funds are for the proposed increase”. 

The Climate and Land Use Change Mission Area, which has been recently targeted, only received a 1% cut in large contrast to the House bill, which cut the mission area by 19%, and the President’s Request, which cut it by 24%.  

 

Thumbs Down  

Almost every mission area received a decrease in funding, with the exception of Facilities and Energy, Minerals, and Environmental Health. Ecosystems received the largest cut of 4%.  

 

Of Note 

The explanatory statement calls for the agency to focus more heavily on reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign minerals and expresses concerns that “scientific activities are reaching into non-traditional program areas at a rapid pace.” 

 

 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

FY2016	FY2017	President’s Budget Request for FY2018	House Proposal for FY2018	Senate Proposal for FY2018
$8,139.89	$8,058.49	$5,700.00	$7,500.00	$7,908.97

 

*Proposed and enacted funding levels in millions 

 

Thumbs Up 

The Senate Interior and Environment (I&E) bill would fund EPA at $7.91 billion, which is over 30% higher than the President’s Budget request, and provides over $400 million more than the House Interior and Environment (I&E) bill. 

 

Thumbs Down  

Science and Technology was especially hit hard in the Senate bill with a nearly 12% cut. These include cuts to chemical safety and sustainability research. 

 

Of Note 

The explanatory statement states that the bill fulfills the President’s request for operations and administration under Science and Technology. Specifically, the statement states that the bill “concurs with the Agency’s proposed allocation of resources for workforce reshaping through buyouts and voluntary separation agreements offered to employees”.