Congress Funds Corps at $5 Billion

The Water Resources Coalition in their January 6 newsletter reported that the House and Senate have reached agreement on three bills as part of the final Fiscal Year 2012 package to appropriate funds for government operations.

|!|The legislation also prevents a potential government shutdown and supports important domestic programs and services the American people rely on|!| said Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

The Corps of Engineers is funded at $5 billion an increase of $145 million above last year’s level and $429 million above the budget request. The bill will provide $1.8 billion for navigation projects and studies. The bill also funds flood and coastal storm damage reduction at $1.66 billion including $437 million for dam safety improvements.

The conference agreement funds EPA at $8.4 billion which is a $233 million reduction below the FY 2011 enacted level and $524 million below the president’s request. Overall funding for EPA has been reduced by $1.8 billion a reduction of 18.4 percent for the remainder of calendar year 2011.

The bill also includes a $101 million reduction in FY 2012 for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) down from $1.525 million for Clean Water and $965 million for Drinking Water appropriated in FY 2011 and resulting in a cut of more than $1 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure over the last two fiscal years. Congress appropriated $2.5 billion for the programs in FY 2011 which represented a cut of $997 million from FY 2010.