	Most Recent Developments

President Obama's FY2013 budget request for Energy and Water Development was released in February 2012. On April 25, 2012, the House Appropriations Committee reported out H.R. 5325 ( H.Rept. 112-462 ), with a total of $32.2 billion. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported out S. 2465 ( S.Rept. 112-164 ) on April 26, funding Energy and Water Development programs at $33.4 billion. The House passed H.R. 5325 with some amendments on June 6. 112-175 ), signed into law September 28, continues appropriations until March 27, 2013, for Energy and Water Development programs at 0.612% above the FY2012-enacted levels, with two exceptions: DOE's Nuclear Weapons Activities program is funded at an annual rate of $7.577 billion, the amount requested for FY2013, instead of the FY2012 rate of $7.214 billion, and the Nuclear Nonproliferation program was increased by $100 million over the FY2012 level of $2.296 billion to fund domestic uranium enrichment R&D. On March 6, 2013, the House passed H.R. 933 , the FY2013 Defense and Military Construction/VA, Full Year Continuing Resolution. The bill was signed into law on March 26, 2013 ( P.L. The act funds Energy and Water Development accounts at the FY2012 enacted level for the rest of FY2013, with some exceptions, and subject to the sequestration requirements of the Budget Control Act which went into effect March 1, 2013. Overview

The Energy and Water Development bill includes funding for civil works projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Department of the Interior's Central Utah Project (CUP) and Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of independent agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). The Budget Control Act and Energy and Water Development Appropriations

FY2013 discretionary appropriations were considered in the context of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25 ), which established discretionary spending limits for FY2012-FY2021. 113-6 continues funding for Energy and Water Development programs at the FY2012 level (minus sequestrations) for all accounts except the following:
In Title I, the Corps of Engineers Construction budget is reduced by $20 million from the FY2012 level of $1.617 billion In Title II, the Central Utah Project funding is set at $21.0 million instead of the FY2012 level of $28.7 million In Title III, the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy budget is $1.814 billion, rather than the FY2012 level of $1.810 billion In Title III, the Nuclear Energy budget is $759.0 million, rather than $765.4 million In Title III, the Science budget is $4.8760 billion, compared to the FY2012 level of $4.8736 billion In Title III, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy funding is $265 million, rather than the FY2012 level of $275 million In Title III, the National Nuclear Security Administration's Weapons program is funded at $7.5573 billion, rather than the FY2012 level of $7.2141 billion In Title III, the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation program is increased by $110 million over the FY2012 level of $2.2959 billion, to fund domestic uranium enrichment R&D. The Senate Appropriations Committee agreed with the Administration's request. For FY2013 the Administration requested $17 million for Natural Gas Technologies. The House Appropriations Committee sharply criticized the Administration's nuclear waste policy and provided $25 million for FY2013 to resume work on the Yucca Mountain repository. The Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 ( P.L.
The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Department of Energy (DOE), and for a number of independent agencies.
President Obama's FY2013 budget request for Energy and Water Development was released in February 2012.
For FY2013 the level of overall spending has been a major issue. The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25) contained an overall discretionary spending cap for FY2013 of $1.047 trillion. On March 29, 2012, the House passed a budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 112) that caps spending at a lower level, $1.028 trillion. The Senate has not passed a budget resolution, but on April 19, 2012, the Senate Appropriations Committee allotted subcommittee funding levels that totaled the $1.047 trillion cap in the BCA.
The difference between overall spending caps is reflected in differences in spending proposals for Energy and Water Development programs. The Administration's request for FY2013 was $33.684 billion. On April 25, the House Appropriations Committee reported out H.R. 5325 (H.Rept. 112-462), with a total of $32.156 billion. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported out S. 2465 (S.Rept. 112-164) on April 26, funding Energy and Water Development programs at $33.432 billion. On June 6 the House passed H.R. 5325 by a vote of 255-165, with some amendments.
On September 28, 2012, President Obama signed into law the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 (P.L. 112-175). The act continues appropriations until March 27, 2013, for Energy and Water Development programs at 0.612% above the FY2012-enacted levels, with several exceptions. On March 26, 2013, the President signed H.R. 933, the FY2013 Defense and Military Construction/VA, Full Year Continuing Resolution (P.L. 113-6). The act funds Energy and Water Development accounts at the FY2012 enacted level for the rest of FY2013, with some exceptions, and subject to the sequestration requirements of the Budget Control Act which went into effect March 1, 2013.
In addition, issues specific to Energy and Water Development programs included
the distribution of appropriations for Corps (Title I) and Reclamation (Title II) projects that have historically received congressional appropriations above Administration requests; alternatives to the proposed national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, which the Administration has abandoned (Title III: Nuclear Waste Disposal); and proposed FY2013 spending levels for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) programs (Title III) that are 25% higher in the Administration's request than the amount appropriated for FY2012.