The House of Representatives last week approved a $30.4 billion Energy and Water Appropriations bill that trims funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and blocks the implementation of controversial guidance on the scope of the Clean Water Act.
The bill, H.R. 2609, would provide the Army Corps with $4.9 billion next year – about 2 percent below its current level. Other sections of the bill provide $965 million for the Bureau of Reclamation, $104 million below its FY13 level.
Section 107 of the bill would prohibit the use of Army Corps funds to implement or enforce regulations and guidance that would expand the scope of the federal Clean Water Act beyond traditional navigable waters. House Democrats offered a floor amendment to strike this section and allow work on the guidance to continue, but it failed on a near party-line vote.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved its own FY14 Energy and Water appropriations bill with slightly higher spending levels and no restrictions on the Clean Water Act guidance, but Senate leaders have not announced when it may receive a floor vote.