The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday voted 30-26, largely along party lines, to approve a budget bill that would provide more than $8.3 billion for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch in fiscal 2025.
There was little mention of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management during the hour-plus markup. The measure will next be considered by the full House of Representatives, which had not scheduled a vote as of Tuesday evening.
The measure, which passed the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee in June, would provide less than the 2024 appropriations of $8.5 billion but more than the $8.2 billion requested by the administration of President Joe Biden (D).
The measure provides more than $7.1 billion for Defense Environmental Cleanup, which accounts for most of the Environmental Management office’s budget. That is less than the nearly $7.3 billion enacted in fiscal 2024 but more than the $7.05 billion White House request.
Non-defense Environmental spending would be set at $324 million for the budget year starting Oct. 1. That is less than fiscal 2024’s $342 million but more than the $315 million sought by the White House.
The Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund would receive $864 million for fiscal 2025 up from the $855 million enacted in fiscal 2024 and the $854 million sought by the administration.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) would see a big budget reduction in fiscal 2025. FUSRAP, would be funded at $200 million or equal to the administration’s request but 50% below the $300 million enactment in 2024.
FUSRAP remediates certain low-level radioactive materials and mixed wastes at sites contaminated as a result of the nation’s early efforts to develop atomic weapons, according to the bill.
“The Committee continues to support the prioritization of sites, especially those that are nearing completion,” according to the report accompanying the appropriations bill.
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), a small agency charged with providing outside safety advice to the secretary of energy, would be funded at $45 million in the new fiscal year. That’s more than the $42 million enacted in 2024 but less than the $47 million sought by the administration.
The energy and water bill would also prohibit funds to implement DOE’s Justice40 Initiative, something the fiscal 2024 subcommittee bill also sought to accomplish.
