The FY15 “CRomnibus” appropriations bill carries a host of spending levels and policy riders negotiated by House and Senate lawmakers. Some notable provisions include:
- Providing only a short-term extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, through February 27. Conservatives pushed for the short-term funding so they can use DHS appropriations as leverage early next year as part of efforts to defund President Obama’s executive order on immigration.
- Continuing existing “Buy American” rules for iron and steel products used on projects financed in whole or in part by the Drinking Water SRF. Utilities may apply for a project waiver under certain conditions, such as if U.S.-made iron and steel would increase a project’s total cost by more than 25 percent. Congress permanently applied similar rules to Clean Water SRF projects earlier this year through separate legislation.
- Requiring states to set aside at least 10 percent of their CWSRF funds for green infrastructure or environmentally innovative activities. There is no similar set-aside for the DWSRF, though states may fund such projects at their discretion. DWSRF administrators are required to use between 20 and 30 percent of their funds for principal forgiveness and additional subsidization for qualified projects.
- Directing the president to send Congress a comprehensive report on “all Federal agency funding, domestic and international, for climate change programs, projects, and activities.”
- $5.4 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (an increase of about $126 million over FY14), and $5.5 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (an increase of about $15 million).
Notably absent from the CRomnibus was a policy rider sought by conservatives to bar EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the controversial “Waters of the U.S.” rule. While the bill does include some narrower restrictions on the application of the Clean Water Act in certain agricultural areas such as farm ponds and irrigation ditches, congressional Republicans are expected to attack the WOTUS rule head-on when the fiscal year 2016 budget process gets underway early next year.