FY18 Appropriations Update

As Congress heads out of DC for its August recess/district work period[1], here’s an update of where coastal FY18 appropriations stand.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) coastal appropriations.

The full House of Representatives passed the Energy & Water Appropriations Bill on July 27^th as part of a “mini-omnibus” that included Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch funding. The Energy & Water appropriations bill includes all USACE appropriations. However this omnibus bill is unlikely to be picked up in the Senate, because it contains controversial provisions, including policy on “Waters of the United State (WOTUS)” and $1.6 billion for a border wall. The Senate has passed the Energy & Water Appropriations Bill through committee, but not through the full chamber.

Here’s where coastal appropriations that ASBPA specifically weighed in on stand:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) coastal appropriations.

The appropriations committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill, which includes NOAA’s funding, but neither chamber has gone farther than the committee mark up. NOAA’s budget, with a lot funding related to climate science, can be one of the more politically charged budgets, and the administration proposed major cuts and program eliminations in FY18. Both the House bill and the Senate bill have major increases over the proposed admin budget, but have significant differences between each other, with the House largely cutting from FY17 levels and the Senate largely keeping funding flat.

Here’s where coastal appropriations that ASBPA specifically weighed in on stand:

U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) coastal appropriations.

The House of Representatives appropriations committee has passed the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, but the full House has not yet taken it up. The Senate has not yet brought this bill up before committee. Like the NOAA funding bill, the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies bill is often very politically charged, and is one of the least likely funding bills to be passed in regular order.

Here’s how the one coastal appropriation that ASBPA specifically weighed in on stands:

[1] The House of Representatives is on recess as of Friday July 28^th, the Senate remains in session to vote on nominations the week of July 31^st, but no further action is expected on appropriations until September.