Funding for the Department of Energy’s cleanup efforts next year would be set at a total of approximately $5.91 billion under the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, set to undergo subcommittee markup today. The bill would provide approximately $100 million more than the Department of Energy’s budget request for cleanup work next year, and approximately $39 million more than current funding levels. In contrast, House appropriators provided $8.713 billion for the NNSA’s weapons program, $134 million less than President Obama’s $8.847 billion FY 2016 budget request but $526 million more than FY 2015 enacted levels. The appropriators also provided $1.918 billion for the NNSA’s nonproliferation program, largely matching the President’s $1.94 billion request.
The
subcommittee draft of the House spending bill, released ahead of today’s markup hearing, only contains top-line budget numbers. More detailed site-specific funding levels are not expected to be released until the full House Appropriations Committee considers the bill.
For defense environmental cleanup activities, which covers most major DOE Office of Environmental Management sites, the House bill would provide a total of approximately $5.056 billion, largely matching DOE’s request. Non-defense environmental cleanup would be funded at a total of $229 million, approximately $9 million more than the Department’s request. House appropriators are seeking a significant boost in funding, though, for uranium enrichment D&D activities, which covers work at the Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge sites—the House bill would provide a total of approximately $625 million, $83 million more than the Department’s request. In addition, the House bill would match DOE’s request of approximately $472 million for a federal contribution into the Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund.
