A budget plan that would deeply cut farm bill biofuels and conservation programs will be in front of the full House Appropriations Committee today.

The committee's Republican chairman, Hal Rogers of Kentucky, applauded the bill released last week, saying it "works to put agencies funded by this bill on a sustainable budget path, while continuing to fund assistance to farmers, rural communities and low-income families."

The bill is part of the May 11 House Republican plan to eliminate a net $30 billion from the fiscal 2012 budgets of federal departments relative to the recently passed fiscal 2011 spending plan.

The Department of Agriculture takes a large percentage of the cuts -- USDA's appropriations bill cuts $2.6 billion relative to fiscal 2011 and $5 billion relative to what the Obama administration requested. It was approved by voice vote last week by House appropriators on the Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and Related Agencies subpanel.

Conservation and renewable energy groups say that the cuts to farm bill programs are a "huge mistake" (E&E Daily, May 25).

Under the plan, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) and the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) would be completely eliminated. Just last month, USDA approved the first major project award for BCAP, a program that provides matching payments for materials sold to biomass conversion facilities and pays producers to grow renewable biomass crops.

"Congress should not cut off implementation of these programs before they have a chance to succeed," said Brent Erickson, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

The appropriations bill would also cut the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels and many of the farm bill's conservation programs. Conservation programs already sustained a deep cut in the final 2011 spending plan.

Under the fiscal 2012 bill, the Conservation Stewardship Program would be cut $171 million relative to the levels mandated by the farm bill, and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program would be cut by $350 million. The Wetlands Reserve Program would be reduced by 64,200 acres, and the Grasslands Reserve Program by 96,000 acres.

The bill also cuts the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's budget by 15 percent, which House Democratic critics said would decrease the agency's ability to comply with last year's Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Under the act, CFTC has been proposing rules to rein in excessive oil speculation and the unregulated over-the-counter derivatives market (E&E Daily, April 14).

The agency had requested $308 million, an 87 percent increase to its current funding levels. CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler has argued that the increase is needed because the agency does not have enough resources to implement the financial reform act (E&E Daily, March 18).

Schedule: The markup is today at 5 p.m. in 2359 Rayburn.