This week, several subcommittees within the House Committee on Appropriations marked up Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations bills. All 12 appropriations bills must pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law by September 30, 2020 in order to avoid a government shutdown. In recent years, Congress has not been able to pass the appropriations bills on time and have instead passed a series of short-term spending bills, or continuing resolutions (CRs). Earlier this year, ASCE sent a series of letters to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees with our funding requests for infrastructure programs.
On Tuesday, the House FY21 Homeland Security, Interior & Environment, and Energy & Water Development appropriations bills were marked up and passed out of their respective Appropriations subcommittees. To start, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security marked up and passed its FY21 appropriations bill, which includes $263 for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis program, which is on par with the FY20 enacted funding level. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior & Environment marked up and passed its FY21 appropriations bill, which funds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at $9.38 billion – a $318 million increase compared to the FY20 enacted funding level. It provides $1.63 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program and $1.12 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program, which is the same as the programs’ FY20 enacted funding levels. It also includes $950 million for grants to replace lead pipes and repair sewers but zeros out the agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, which has bipartisan popularity and success and was funded at $60 million in FY20. Finally, the bill includes $350 million for Brownfields, which is $100 million more than the FY20 enacted funding level, as well as $3.22 billion for the National Park Service, which is a $55 million increase above the FY20 enacted level.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development marked up and passed its FY21 appropriations bill, which funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Construction account at $2.6 billion, which is the same as the FY20 enacted funding level, as well as an additional $17 billion in emergency funding to accelerate work on USACE projects around the country. It also provides $1.68 billion for Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund projects, which is a $50 million increase above the FY20 enacted level and meets the target set by authorizers for FY21.
These bills now head to the House Committee on Appropriations for full Committee mark-ups. After they pass out of Committee, they await votes on the full House floor.