ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2019 HEARINGS BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho, Chairman KEN CALVERT, California MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio CHARLES J. FLEISCHMANN, Tennessee PETER J. VISCLOSKY, Indiana JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida KAY GRANGER, Texas PETE AGUILAR, California JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington JOSE´ E. SERRANO, New York DAVID P. JOYCE, Ohio DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington NOTE: Under committee rules, Mr. Frelinghuysen, as chairman of the full committee, and Mrs. Lowey, as ranking minority member of the full committee, are authorized to sit as members of all subcommittees. ANGIE GIANCARLO, LORAINE HECKENBERG, PERRY YATES, and AMY MURPHY Subcommittee Staff PART 5 Page U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation ........................................................................... 1 Secretary of Energy ................................................................ 95 National Nuclear Security Administration ....................... 219 ( Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 32–414 WASHINGTON : 2018 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 19, 2018 Jkt 032414 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 7513 Sfmt 7513 E:\HR\OC\32414P1.XXX 32414P1 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN, New Jersey, Chairman HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky 1 NITA M. LOWEY, New York ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio KAY GRANGER, Texas PETER J. VISCLOSKY, Indiana MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho JOSE´ E. SERRANO, New York JOHN ABNEY CULBERSON, Texas ROSA L. DELAURO, Connecticut JOHN R. CARTER, Texas DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina KEN CALVERT, California LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California TOM COLE, Oklahoma SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR., Georgia MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida BARBARA LEE, California CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota TOM GRAVES, Georgia TIM RYAN, Ohio KEVIN YODER, Kansas C. A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland STEVE WOMACK, Arkansas DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska HENRY CUELLAR, Texas THOMAS J. ROONEY, Florida CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine CHARLES J. FLEISCHMANN, Tennessee MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington DEREK KILMER, Washington DAVID P. JOYCE, Ohio MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania DAVID G. VALADAO, California GRACE MENG, New York ANDY HARRIS, Maryland MARK POCAN, Wisconsin MARTHA ROBY, Alabama KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada PETE AGUILAR, California CHRIS STEWART, Utah DAVID YOUNG, Iowa EVAN H. JENKINS, West Virginia STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan SCOTT TAYLOR, Virginia ————— 1 Chairman Emeritus NANCY FOX, Clerk and Staff Director (II) VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 19, 2018 Jkt 032414 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 7513 Sfmt 7513 E:\HR\OC\32414P1.XXX 32414P1 ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RE- LATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2019 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS AND BUREAU OF RECLAMATION WITNESSES R.D. JAMES, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY FOR CIVIL WORKS TIMOTHY PETTY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WATER AND SCIENCE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LIEUTENANT GENERAL TODD SEMONITE, COMMANDING GENERAL AND CHIEF OF ENGINEERS BRENDA BURMAN, COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION Mr. SIMPSON. Good morning. I would like to call this hearing to order. And welcome to our first hearing of the fiscal year 2019 budget season. It seems a little strange doing the 2019 hearings, when we haven’t finished 2018 yet, but I don’t know if any of your testimony today would change depending on what happens in 2018. Anyway, today’s hearing will review the budget request for the Civil Works Program for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. Before we turn to the Budget request, though, I would like to take a moment to congratulate our ranking member, Ms. Kaptur. On Sunday she will become the longest-serving female Member of the House of Representatives. As we have worked on this committee, I have come to see that she is a passionate advocate for her constituents in her home State of Ohio. They have been lucky to have her in Congress, these many years. So, Marcy, congratulations on a remarkable accomplishment, and I look forward to continue our work together, as you extend your record-setting tenure here in the House. (Applause.) Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you. Mr. SIMPSON. I would like to welcome our witnesses, most of whom are appearing before our subcommittee for the first time. Mr. R.D. James is the Assistant Secretary for the Army, for Civil Works; Lieutenant General Todd Semonite, is the Commanding General and Chief of Engineers; Dr. Timothy Petty is the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of Interior, and knows something about Idaho, having worked for Senator Risch. (1) VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Oct 19, 2018 Jkt 032414 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A414P2.XXX A414P2 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with REPORTS(2) 2 And Ms. Brenda Burman is the Commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation. I look forward to hearing from each of you on this budget re- quest, and learning more about the priorities included in this pro- posal and how it will address the nation’s water resource needs. The Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Civil Works Pro- grams, include a wide variety of water resources and power activi- ties essential to the public’s safety, economic and environmental goals of our nation. That is why it is disappointing to see such limited budget re- quests for these agencies year after year. It doesn’t matter whether it is a Republican or Democratic administration, OMB cuts these budgets knowing Congress will provide additional funds, and I think it is safe to say, we will provide additional funds again this year from the budget recommendations. The Corps and Reclamation would be much better positioned to advance projects and studies quickly and at a lower cost if there was an ability to plan ahead. OMB’s unrealistic budget restrictions, however, force the agencies to focus on smaller increments of work, with no assurances of future funding. Congress on the other hand, clearly recognizes the importance of both these programs as evidenced by funding levels provided in re- cent fiscal years, I expect this committee will once again work to develop an appropriations bill that provides strong support for these programs, that strikes a good balance across mission areas, including navigation, flood and storm damage reductions, environ- mental restoration, hydropower and water supply delivery. Again, I would like to welcome our witnesses to the sub- committee. I would ask all of you to please ensure that the hearing record, questions for the record, and any supporting information re- quested by the subcommittee are delivered in the final form to us no later than four weeks from the time you receive them. Members who have additional questions for the record, will have until the close of business on Monday to provide them to the sub- committee office. And with that, I will turn to my ranking member, Ms. Kaptur for any opening remarks that she may have. Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your kind remarks. And chairman of our full committee, Congressman Frelinghuysen, a dear, dear friend, it is a great pleasure to serve with you, and to steward this country during our tenure here. We welcome our witnesses this morning; Assistant Secretary James, General Semonite, Assistant Secretary Petty, and Commis- sioner Burman. Thank you so much for being here today to discuss the administration’s fiscal year 2019 budget request. We appreciate your appearing before our subcommittee. You collectively represent the water part of our Energy and Water bill. What an important piece it is. As the administration ponders investing in infrastructure, I be- lieve you have an extraordinary opportunity to lead the way for the nation, and hopefully you will be able to address the $96 billion construction backlog over 454 authorized active construction projects, which include $20 billion in dam safety. Personally, I be- VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Oct 19, 2018 Jkt 032414 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\A414P2.XXX A414P2 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with REPORTS(2) 3 lieve the President should start there, with his infrastructure ini- tiative. For any new infrastructure bill, I believe we must prioritize resil- ient infrastructure, and find innovative solutions that incorporate environmental components of a new age. Adequate maintenance of existing projects and new investments in green infrastructure, when combined with strategic regional and urban planning and policies to allow us to stay ahead of the water challenges that lay before our nation as we experience more ex- treme precipitation events, both droughts and inundations. In Ohio, my part of our country, we are experiencing surges of excess rainfall, which are exacerbating our nutrient runoff problem at historic levels, and causing massive algal blooms. At the blooms’ peak this past summer, over 1,000 square miles of Lake Erie were covered in the green slime, threatening our maritime industry. In the West, water flow into the Colorado River this year is fore- cast to be just 54 percent of the typically expected amount. Today, Lake Mead is at 40 percent of capacity, and if the water drops just 13 more feet, it will trigger Federal rules that cut the amount of water supply to Nevada, Arizona and California. Yet, in 2016, the most recent data, those states combined increase their population by 431,000 persons. Texas dealt with rain in a class of its own during Hurricane Har- vey where 60 inches of rain, a trillion gallons of water, enough to fill the Houston Astrodome more than 3,300 times over, fell in just a few short days. The Corps was forced into a terrible situation, released water from the Addicks and Barker dams near Houston, or risk cata- strophic dam failure.