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This Statement of Administration Policy provides the Administration's views on
S. 1004, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, FY 1998, as
reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Your consideration of the
Administration's views would be appreciated.
The Committee has developed a bill that provides requested funding for many of
the Administration's priorities. However, the Administration strongly objects
to the Committee's reallocation of national defense funds from Department of
Energy programs to Department of Defense programs. These funds are needed for
key environmental privatization projects and to provide full funding for Atomic
Energy Defense Activities, as requested, which is consistent with fixed asset
funding practices in the Government's other defense programs. We believe that
this action is an unacceptable deviation from our understanding of the
Bipartisan Budget Agreement.
As discussed below, the Administration will seek restoration of certain of the
Committee's reductions. We recognize that it will not be possible in all cases
to attain the Administration's full request and will work with the Senate
toward achieving acceptable funding levels. The Administration is committed to
working with the Senate to identify reductions in the bill in order to find
offsets for the restoration of funds that the Administration seeks. We urge
the Senate to reduce funding for lower priority programs, or for programs that
would be adequately funded at the requested level, and to redirect funding to
programs of higher priority.
Department of Energy
The Administration objects to the Committee's providing only $343 million of
the $1.006 billion requested for environmental management privatization
projects, while adding $283 million in unrequested funds to the stockpile
stewardship and management programs. Based on this mark, several environmental
privatization projects would not be funded at all, and it is questionable
whether the expected out-year funding would allow support for higher priority
cleanup privatization projects at this funding level. Failure to invest in
competitive privatization contracts for cleanup activities would force the
Department of Energy (DOE) to continue using more costly, traditional
contracting approaches. This would result in a substantial increase to DOE's
cleanup costs in future years and could jeopardize the Department's ability to
comply with legally enforceable cleanup agreements.
The Administration opposes the $19 million dollar reduction to the request for
the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) program. DOE
is about to enter into a large contract for D&D and re-industrialization of the
large gaseous diffusion plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, using an approach that
will expedite cleanup, reduce costs, and create new jobs. The Committee's
funding cuts in this program would make it difficult to proceed with this
effort, comply with legal environmental requirements, and provide
reimbursements to radium and thorium licensees.
The Administration is concerned that the Committee's reduction of $30 million
from the request for the civilian radioactive waste management program would
seriously threaten the DOE's viability assessment. Both the Nuclear Waste
Technical Review Board and independent expert advisers have urged DOE to build
and study an east-west tunnel "drift" through the repository block to reduce
current uncertainty about water moving downward through the site. The funding
cut would virtually eliminate any input from this important research to the
viability assessment. The Committee's recommendation for the Nuclear Energy
Security initiative would eliminate Departmental funding for any nuclear energy
research, including university-based research efforts in nuclear engineering
departments.
The Administration strongly opposes the Committee's $57 million cut (after the
use of prior-year balances) to the request for the Solar and Renewable Energy
program and the elimination of $25 million requested for Next Generation
Internet. The Solar and Renewable Energy mark would be particularly damaging
to solar-thermal R&D, which has been making some of the fastest progress in
reducing costs of any renewable technology, and would provide an unwanted and
unnecessary increase for hydrogen system testing. While the Administration
agrees that the private sector has shown the capability and willingness to fund
considerable technology development for the Internet, the Next Generation
Internet funds requested in the President's budget are necessary to assist
universities and national laboratories in implementing advanced, high-speed
connections that will not be financed by industry, and to accelerate research
in areas where DOE laboratories have particular expertise.
The Administration urges restoration of $2 million to fund the Office of
Inspector General (OIG). The President's request level is the minimum funding
necessary for the OIG to continue its present level of investigation, audit,
and oversight. The OIG was instrumental in DOE's ability to obtain the only
clean audit opinion for the consolidated financial statement in a cabinet-level
department.
Bureau of Reclamation
The Administration objects to the Committee's decision to fund the restoration
of California's Bay-Delta ecosystem at $50 million, a level $93 million below
the amount that Congress recently authorized. Because this program is central
to resolving the water conflicts that have plagued the State for over thirty
years, we believe that Congress should provide the full $143 million requested
in the FY 1998 Budget. The citizens of the State of California have
demonstrated their commitment to this historic effort with the passage of a
$995 million State bond issue last Fall. In addition, we urge the Senate to
provide the full $39 million authorized for the Central Valley Project
Restoration Fund, which is an important component of the effort to restore this
critical ecosystem. The Fund is financed through offsetting receipts from
project users.
The Administration also objects to the Committee's decision to fund a number
of Reclamation projects not requested in the FY 1998 Budget, some of which
could result in a demand for additional funding in the out-years.
Army Corps of Engineers
The Administration urges the Senate to reduce the number of unrequested Corps
of Engineers projects and to restore funds that the Administration has
requested for priority projects, including the Columbia and Snake Rivers
Juvenile Fish Mitigation Program for salmon run restoration, and for
construction of an emergency outlet for Devils Lake, North Dakota. The
Administration urges the Senate to use the over $290 million in unrequested
funds that the Committee has provided for the Corps of Engineers construction,
studies, and operation and maintenance programs to restore reductions made in
other priority Corps and DOE programs.
The Administration urges the Senate to restore the Committee's $6 million
reduction from the Administration's request for the Corps' regulatory program
and to include the Administration's requested regulatory permit fee. At the
Committee's proposed level of funding, permit processing times could increase.
Without the permit fee, the Corps would be unable to recover its costs for
processing commercial application.
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