On March 22nd, Congress approved a $1.3 trillion spending bill. This omnibus spending bill outlines the money that will be allocated to federal agencies and programs for the remainder of 2018.
Additionally, the 2,000+ page document included several policy items, commonly known as ‘riders,’ offered by legislators looking to enact their policy priorities before the midterm elections.
With the final version of the bill passing both the House and the Senate, we can begin to assess what the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 means for clean energy and the environment. Overall, the omnibus represents a clear message that Congress will reject Trump’s anti-environment spending cuts. In many cases, the programs targeted for elimination or reduction by the administration received an increase in funding when compared to 2017. At least for now, environmental protection and climate research remain intact.
For those who want to wade into the weeds, here’s a more detailed look at what was included in the 2018 omnibus spending bill:
Funding
The Good:
EPA funding was maintained at 2017 levels. Congress rejected the president’s proposed cut to the EPA of 31% and even included an additional $66 million for Superfund site cleanup.
NOAA got a budget increase of $243 million. Climate research at NOAA was maintained at 2017 levels. NOAA has provided some of the most comprehensive and revealing climate science.
NASA got a budget increase of $457 million. NASA’s earth science programs were maintained at 2017 levels. The omnibus included explicit funding for four of the five earth science programs the Trump administration attempted to eliminate. These programs include the Plankton, Aerosol, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, and the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission. The fifth program was canceled earlier this year by NASA due to technical issues.
The Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable energy both received approximately a 15% increase from 2017 funding levels. These offices conduct some of the nation’s premier energy research.
Advanced Research Projects – Energy (ARPA-E) received a $47 million dollar budget increase. ARPA-E is a Department of Energy program focused on developing high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that have the potential to revolutionize energy use, generation, and storage.
The Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund received a $31 million allocation. While this amount is $1 million below 2017 levels, this allocation is a rejection of the Trump administration’s proposal to cut funding for the Montreal Protocol by approximately 40%. The Montreal Protocol is an international agreement intended to protect the ozone layer. The U.S. ratified the Montreal Protocol in 1998 and has joined four subsequent amendments to the protocol.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) received $139.5 million. While this represents a small decrease from 2017, funding for the GEF was completely eliminated in the Trump administration proposal. The U.S. is currently the second largest contributor to the GEF, after Japan. The GEF was established at the Rio Earth Summit and works to promote environmentally sound development in 170 countries.
The Bad:
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) did not receive funding, despite bipartisan support in the Senate. These organizations collect the latest science on climate change and create a space for international climate diplomacy such as the COP in Paris. This is not the first time the U.S. has failed to fund the UNFCCC and IPCC. Last year Michael Bloomberg picked up the tab.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) did not receive funding in the omnibus. The GCF is the largest international climate fund. Under President Obama, the U.S. contributed $1 billion in two installments. The GCF has been a polarizing issue in U.S. politics and has seen direct attacks from President Trump and Republican members of Congress.
Riders
The Good:
An effort to defeat the EPA’s Clean Water Rule was defeated. One proposed policy rider would have allowed the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to re-write the Clean Water Rule without seeking public input or providing reasonable justification. This rider was defeated and not included in the omnibus.
A suite of riders were proposed to undermine the Endangered Species Act including one to block the protection of Sage Grouse in western states. Sage Grouse habitat often overlaps with oil and gas interests. None of the anti-endangered species riders made it into the final version of the omnibus.
The Bad:
- Included in the bill was a provision that directed federal agencies to consider biomass as a carbon-neutral energy source. Environmental advocates are concerned that the provision will lead to deforestation within the United States to provide fuel for wood-burning biomass power plants. These types of power plants still emit carbon dioxide. Advocates are concerned that this provision will put biomass on-par with non-emitting energy sources like wind and solar.
The Best For Last, One Big Win
Perhaps the biggest environmental victory within the omnibus is an overhaul of how the federal government funds wildfire fighting and prevention. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has been seeking this reform for years, and after one of the most devastating wildfire years on record, Congress has finally responded.
The reform addresses a practice known as “fire borrowing” which has plagued federal agencies tasked with addressing wildfires. Prior to the reform, when the costs of firefighting exceeded the amount allocated for fire prevention within the annual budgets for the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, the agencies would have to pull money from other areas of their budgets to cover the cost. Often this money was intended for conservation and restoration work. With increasingly severe and increasingly costly fire seasons, the “borrowed” money to aid fire suppression efforts was steadily eating up more and more of these agencies budgets.
The wildfire overhaul included in the omnibus allows federal agencies to access a separate emergency response fund for particularly expensive wildfires, like the western wildfires of 2017, and keep their budget intact for their intended purposes. “Common sense has finally prevailed when it comes to how the Forest Service pays to fight record-breaking forest fires that devastate homes and communities in Oregon and the West,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), one of the major supporters of wildfire reform.
The bill also includes funding for fire prevention, which could be a major cost savings measure. Lou Barletta (R-PA), who introduced the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, estimated that “every dollar invested in wildfire prevention saves taxpayers six to eight.” Additionally, ending the practice of “fire borrowing” will allow federal agencies to direct funds towards fire mitigation strategies on public lands, creating a positive spiral of preparedness and prevention
