Calendar No. 107 105TH CONGRESS REPORT 1st Session SENATE 105±44 "! ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATION BILL, 1998 JULY 10, 1997.ÐOrdered to be printed Mr. DOMENICI, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1004] The Committee on Appropriations reports the bill (S. 1004) mak- ing appropriations for energy and water development for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, and for other purposes, reports fa- vorably thereon and recommends that the bill do pass. Amount in new budget (obligational) authority, fiscal year 1998 Budget estimates considered by Senate ................. $23,047,903,000 Amount of bill as reported to the Senate ............... 21,209,623,000 The bill as reported to the SenateÐ Below the budget estimate, 1998 ..................... 1,838,280,000 Over enacted bill, 1997 ..................................... 219,596,000 41±960 cc CONTENTS TITLE I Department of DefenseÐCivil: Department of the Army: Corps of EngineersÐCivil: Page General investigations .............................................................................. 9 Construction, general ................................................................................ 28 Flood control, Mississippi River and tributaries ..................................... 46 Operation and maintenance, general ....................................................... 51 Regulatory program .................................................................................. 71 Flood control and coastal emergencies .................................................... 71 General expenses ....................................................................................... 72 TITLE II Department of the Interior: Central Utah project completion account ....................................................... 73 Bureau of Reclamation: Water and related resources ................................... 73 TITLE III Department of Energy: Energy Research Programs ............................................................................. 89 Solar and renewable energy ..................................................................... 89 Nuclear energy programs ......................................................................... 92 Environment, safety, and health .............................................................. 92 Magnetic fusion ......................................................................................... 93 Energy support .......................................................................................... 94 Environmental management (nondefense) ..................................................... 94 Uranium enrichment decontamination and decommissioning fund ............. 95 Nuclear waste fund .......................................................................................... 95 Science ............................................................................................................... 95 High energy physics .................................................................................. 96 Nuclear physics ......................................................................................... 96 Biological and environmental research ................................................... 96 Basic energy sciences ................................................................................ 97 Other energy research programs ............................................................. 97 Departmental administration .......................................................................... 98 Miscellaneous revenues ............................................................................ 98 Office of Inspector General .............................................................................. 98 Atomic energy defense activities ..................................................................... 99 Power marketing administrations: Operations and maintenance, Alaska Power Administration ................ 115 Bonneville Power Administration fund ................................................... 116 Operations and maintenance, Southeastern Power Administration ..... 118 Operations and maintenance, Southwestern Power Administration .... 118 Construction, rehabilitation, operations and maintenance, Western Area Power Administration .................................................................. 119 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ........................................................ 120 TITLE IV Independent Agencies: Appalachian Regional Commission ................................................................. 138 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board ........................................................ 138 Nuclear Regulatory Commission ..................................................................... 138 (2) 3 Page Independent AgenciesÐContinued Office of Inspector General .............................................................................. 139 Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board ......................................................... 139 Tennessee Valley Authority ............................................................................. 139 TITLE V General provisions ................................................................................................... 141 Compliance with paragraph 7(c), rule XXVI, of the Standing Rules of the Senate ................................................................................................................... 141 Compliance with paragraph 12, rule XXVI, of the Standing Rules of the Senate ................................................................................................................... 142 Budgetary impact statement .................................................................................. 144 4 PURPOSE The purpose of this bill is to provide appropriations for the fiscal year 1998 beginning October 1, 1997, and ending September 30, 1998, for energy and water development, and for other related pur- poses. It supplies funds for water resources development programs and related activities of the Department of the Army, Civil Func- tionsÐU.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Civil Works Program in title I; for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation in title II; for the Department of Energy's energy research activities (except for fossil fuel programs and certain conservation and regu- latory functions), including environmental restoration and waste management, and atomic energy defense activities in title III; and for related independent agencies and commissions, including the Appalachian Regional Commission and Appalachian regional devel- opment programs, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Tennessee Valley Authority in title IV. SUMMARY OF ESTIMATES AND RECOMMENDATIONS The fiscal year 1998 budget estimates for the bill total $23,047,903,000 in new budget (obligational) authority. The rec- ommendation of the Committee totals $21,209,623,000. This is $1,838,280,000 below the budget estimates and $219,596,000 over the enacted appropriation for the current fiscal year. SUBCOMMITTEE BUDGET ALLOCATION The Energy and Water Development Subcommittee allocation under section 602(b)(1) of the Budget Act totals $20,842,000,000 in budget authority and $20,883,000,000 in outlays for fiscal year 1998. The bill as recommended by the Committee is within the sub- committee allocation for fiscal year 1998 in budget authority and outlays. The Committee allocation for nondefense discretionary funding for fiscal year 1998 continues the downward trend experience for the past several years. For fiscal year 1998, the allocation has been reduced about $310,000,000 below the President's budget request for 1998, excluding the late budget amendment which reduced the Corps of Engineers funding by $330,000,000. With the severely lim- ited resources and the heightened expectation created by a new Water Resources Development Act and the expanded wastewater and ground water reuse authorization which passed late last year, the Committee has been faced with an overwhelming number of re- quests for funding to initiate work on new projects and studies for the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. To complicate matters further, severely constrained budget tar- gets within the executive branch have forced both the Corps and the Bureau of Reclamation to significantly lengthen project comple- tion schedules envisioned last year. The effect of this action, while reducing the funding needs for fiscal year 1998, has created a situ- ation in which sizable additional funding is needed on many ongo- ing projects to keep up with previous construction schedules. To cite one example, the Los Angeles Harbor project in California was included in the budget at $16,100,000, but the Corps has informed the Committee that $60,000,0000 is needed to continue the project 5 at an optimum rate. This $44,000,000 difference is caused by the lack of budgetary resources for the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee. There are several critical lock and dam replacement projects on the Nation's inland waterway system which the Com- mittee has not been able to recommend for construction because their large estimated project cost makes it extremely difficult to ac- commodate the annual funding requirements in future years. These are just two examples of many items which contribute significantly to the national economy, that the Committee has not been able to fully support in the