Today, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees approved their respective FY 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations bills.
This morning, the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee passed by voice vote the FY2017 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The bill will now be referred to the full House Appropriations Committee for consideration. The FY2017 Energy and Water Appropriations bill funds the Department of Energy’s Office of Science at $5.4 billion, which is an increase of $53 million, or 1 percent above FY2016 enacted level of $5.347 billion. The bill funds ARPA-E at $305.8 million, which is an increase of $14.8 million, or 5.1 percent above FY2016 enacted level of $291 million.
This afternoon, the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee approved by voice vote its FY 2017 spending bill providing $37.5 billion for the Department of Energy and water programs. The measure includes $6 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers, $12.9 billion for nuclear security programs and $1.14 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation, according to a committee summary.
The Senate bill totals $37.5 billion, which is $355 million above FY2016 enacted funding levels and $261 million above the President’s FY 2017 request. During his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) stressed the importance of doubling funding for basic energy research. The FY2017 Energy and Water Appropriations bill funds the Department of Energy’s Office of Science at $5.4 billion, which is $53 million, or a 1 percent increase over FY2016 enacted funding levels ($5.347 billion). This is the same amount of funding the Office of Science received in the House Energy and Water Appropriations bill that was marked-up earlier today.
The Senate proposal eliminates funding for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Both Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) were in agreement on the elimination of this program. Chairman Alexander remarked that the elimination of funding for ITER would save $125 million for investment in other areas. Ranking Member Feinstein said that continued funding of ITER would threaten domestic fusion programs and the Army Corp of Engineers.
The bill funds ARPA-E at $292 million, which is consistent with the amount of funding it received in the House Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The bill also funds exascale computing at $285 million.
The measure is scheduled for full committee consideration Thursday and is expected to reach the Senate floor next week.