Senate Committee Passes DOE Appropriations Bill
The Senate is moving out ahead of the House on appropriations bills. On May 27, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed an FY 2000 appropriations bill for Energy and Water Development. This bill, as yet unnumbered, would fund the Department of Energy’s defense, and most of its non-defense, programs, as well as Army Corps of Engineer and Bureau of Reclamation water projects. Physics research within DOE’s Office of Science would receive less than requested; generally at a level approximately equal to current year (FY 1999) funding.
Defense programs within the bill would receive more than the President’s request, including additional funding for security and counterintelligence at DOE’s weapons laboratories. Non- defense programs, in the aggregate, would receive less.
The Senate recommendation for selected programs within DOE’s Office of Science, according to reports received, is shown below:
DOE FY 1999 FY 2000 Senate
program Approp. Request Bill
(In millions)
Office of Science $2,698 2,835 2,699
High Energy Physics 692 697 691
Nuclear Physics 339 343 330
Fusion Energy Sciences 223 223 222
Basic Energy Sciences 800 888 855
Within Basic Energy Sciences (BES), the Spallation Neutron Source would be funded at $186 million, $28 million less than the request of $214 million. DOE’s Scientific Simulation Initiative (SSI: FY 2000 request: $70 million), would not be funded under the Senate bill. (Of the SSI request, $7 million falls within BES.) Additionally, DOE travel costs would be capped at 80 percent of the FY 1999 appropriations level.
Before drafting his bill, Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman, Pete Domenici (R-NM), succeeded in convincing Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens (R- AK), to direct an additional $400 million to energy and water development, resulting in an allocation of $21.2 billion. Even with the added funds, in order to stay within the budget caps and still increase spending for DOE defense programs, the Senate bill would make reductions to local water projects. These popular projects are usually funded through the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. If the caps remain in place through the appropriations process, DOE science programs could potentially be vulnerable to reductions when the bill comes to the Senate floor, if lawmakers attempt to increase spending for water projects.
Significantly, the House allocation for energy and water development is $19.4 billion, $1.8 billion less than the Senate’s. The House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee has not yet drafted its FY 2000 bill. The Senate bill has not yet been scheduled for floor action.
