On Sept. 7, 2011, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, by a 28-2 vote, the
FY 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. AGC has prepared a summary of the impact of this legislation on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Civil Works program and the Bureau of Reclamation. To view the Committee report, please
click here.
Army Corps of Engineers - Civil Works
The legislation would provide $4.864 billion for FY 2012. This figure is $291 million above the President’s budget request and $101 million more than the House bill. Funding would be as follows:
- General Investigations would receive $125 million, which is $2 million below FY 2011
- Construction, General funding would receive $1.610 billion, which is $180 million below FY 2011.
- The Mississippi River and Tributaries would receive $250 million, which is $8 million above FY 2011.
- Operations and Maintenance would receive $2.360 billion, which is $6 million below FY 2011.
- The Regulatory Program would receive $193 million, which is $3 million more than FY 2011.
Bureau of Reclamation
Asserting that the budget request for the Bureau of Reclamation is woefully inadequate to meet the water infrastructure needs of the Western states, the Committee would provide $885.67 million for the water and land related resources program, as compared to the Administration’s request of $805 million. Commenting on Reclamation’s evolution since 1902 into a contemporary water management agency, the Committee highlighted the nationwide impacts and benefits of the program.
A Note on Earmarks
Due to this ongoing debate, the Senate Appropriations Committee refused all congressionally directed spending requests for FY 2012. This means the administration has total discretion as to how the funding appropriated by the Committee will be spent as it relates to individual studies and projects. The Committee still detailed the traditional tables for each of the four major accounts delineating 876 line items requested by the President in the FY 2012 budget request. However, the Committee decided that due to inadequacies in the administration’s budget request, it has inserted some additional line item funding under the nationwide heading for specific categories of studies or projects that the Committee believes were underrepresented in the administration’s budget request. The Corps and Bureau of Reclamation would have discretion within the guidelines provided in each account as to which line items would receive this additional funding.
For more information, please contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org. 