The Senate last week approved its FY17 energy and water appropriations bill (H.R. 2028), marking the first fiscal year 2017 spending legislation to advance through either chamber this year. The Senate acted following several weeks of delay stemming from a controversial amendment relating to President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran that was eventually defeated.
As approved by the Senate, the bill would deliver $6 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, consistent with the agency’s current funding level. The bill also includes $1.14 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation, about $91 million below its FY16 funding. During debate on the measure, senators defeated an amendment that would have barred the Corps from implementing the Obama Administration’s Clean Water Rule.
Action on FY17 appropriations legislation is expected to pick up steam in the coming weeks as lawmakers hope to approve as many bills as possible before both chambers break for a seven-week summer recess on July 15. Senate leaders have announced plans to “bundle” multiple spending bills into several larger measures to facilitate passage, and lawmakers in the House are expected to begin holding votes on individual appropriations bills as early as this week. To this point no word has emerged on when either chamber plans to unveil its version of FY17 appropriations legislation to fund EPA and its water infrastructure programs.