Carol Hardy Vincent, Coordinator
Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill includes funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI), except for the Bureau of Reclamation, and for agencies within other departments—including the Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and the Indian Health Service within the Department of Health and Human Services. It also includes funding for arts and cultural agencies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and numerous other entities.
For FY2013, H.R. 6091 (H.Rept. 112-589) as reported by the House Committee on Appropriations contained $27.66 billion for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. This would be a decrease of $1.57 billion (5.4%) from the FY2012 level of $29.23 billion. The committee-reported bill included funding at the same level as FY2012 for some agencies, such as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. For other agencies, the bill would increase funds over FY2012. The additional amounts were $186.9 million (4.3%) for the Indian Health Service, $86.0 million (1.9%) for the Forest Service, and $36.8 million (1.5%) for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, among others. The committee-reported bill proposed decreases from FY2012 for still other agencies. For instance, there were reductions of $1.39 billion (16.5%) for the Environmental Protection Agency, $316.6 million (21.5%) for the Fish and Wildlife Service, $134.4 million (5.2%) for the National Park Service, and $101.0 million (9.5%) for the U.S. Geological Survey, among others.
The committee-reported bill would be a decrease of $2.07 billion (6.9%) from the Administration’s FY2013 request of $29.72 billion. The bill would provide higher levels of funding for a few major agencies relative to the Administration’s request, notably an additional $71.0 million (1.6%) for the Indian Health Service, $41.4 million (1.6%) for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and $9.5 million (6.7%) for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. However, the bill would provide most major agencies with less funding than under the Administration’s request, including $1.29 billion (15.5%) less for the Environmental Protection Agency, $188.6 million (14.0%) less for the Fish and Wildlife Service, $169.2 million (3.5%) less for the Forest Service, $135.5 million (12.3%) less for the U.S. Geological Survey, $133.5 million (5.2%) less for the National Park Service, and $67.7 million (7.9%) less for the Smithsonian Institution.
While no bill to appropriate funds for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies for FY2013 has been marked up or reported in the Senate, the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee released a draft bill, together with a draft detailed funding table, on September 25, 2012. The draft would provide $29.72 billion for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, $5.3 million (<0 .1=".1" 6091.="6091." and="and" appropriation="appropriation" billion="billion" br="br" but="but" committee-reported="committee-reported" fy2012="fy2012" h.r.="h.r." higher="higher" house="house" in="in" level="level" lower="lower" million="million" nbsp="nbsp" president="president" request="request" s="s" than="than" the="the">
Because no regular FY2013 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill was enacted before October 1, 2012, Congress included funds for these agencies in a continuing appropriations resolution (CR) for FY2013 (P.L. 112-175). For accounts in the Interior bill, the CR generally continued funding through March 27, 2013, at a level that is 0.612% higher than the FY2012 level.
Date of Report: October 2, 2012
Number of Pages: 80
Order Number: R42525
Price: $29.95
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