The U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development May 22 approved a fiscal-year 2019 spending bill that would provide more money for U.S. Department of Energy research programs and increase funding for the DOE's Office of Science.
The bill now heads to the full Senate Appropriations Committee, which will consider the legislation May 24 and release the full text of the bill.
Based on details released so far, the bill would provide $43.8 billion for energy and water development and related agencies, up $566 million from fiscal year 2018 enacted levels and $7.24 billion above the Trump administration's budget request for fiscal year 2019. DOE energy programs would receive $13.3 billion, up $379 million from the prior year and $9.5 billion above the White House's request.
"I would tell President [Donald] Trump and the Office of Management and Budget that science, research and innovation is what made America first, and I recommend that he add science, research and innovation to his 'America First' agenda," said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate energy and water appropriations subcommittee.
Fossil energy research and development funding would rise to $727 million, a $183,000 gain from fiscal year 2018 and $225 million more than the Trump administration sought. Nuclear energy research and development funding would hold steady with the prior year at $1.2 billion, $449 million higher than the White House's budget request.
At a May 22 markup of the bill, Alexander said the legislation would set aside $375 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, known as ARPA-E, up from $353.3 million in fiscal year 2018. The Trump administration proposed defunding the program in both its fiscal year 2018 and 2019 budget proposals.
The Senate legislation also seeks to solve a stalemate in U.S. nuclear waste storage policy. The bill includes a pilot program for consolidated nuclear waste storage and would allow the DOE to store nuclear waste at private facilities licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But highlights of the bill provided May 22 excluded any mention of funding for the proposed Yucca Mountain long-term waste repository in Nevada. In contrast, the fiscal-year 2019 energy spending bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Appropriations would provide $267 million to restart the licensing of the Yucca Mountain project.
Congressional leaders are once again pushing for a regular appropriations process, which would require the House and Senate to reconcile their respective appropriations bills. But Congress in recent years has frequently run out of time in trying to do so through the regular appropriations process, requiring lawmakers to craft omnibus bills or continuing resolutions to fund the federal government, the latter which often leaves spending for federal agencies at prior-year levels.
