House appropriators will meet this week to vote on a $30.6 billion spending bill for the Energy Department, Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.

The full Appropriations Committee meets Wednesday to discuss the measure that easily passed out of subcommittee by voice vote earlier this month.

Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) has listed the fiscal 2012 spending bill among his top priorities for the summer and has promised to push it to the House floor for a vote before the chamber breaks for its August recess (Greenwire, June 2).

The GOP-authored spending plan includes $24.7 billion for DOE, $4.8 billion for the Army Corps and $934 million for the Bureau of Reclamation, levels significantly lower than the White House's requested $36.5 billion for the three agencies. Democrats have opposed its cuts to renewable energy and efficiency programs.

The measure also includes a controversial provision that would block funding for a new Obama administration policy aimed at expanding federal protections over wetlands and streams.

Republicans this year have led a charge against government spending as they look for ways to reduce the deficit. Funding levels in the current fiscal year's spending plan are significantly lower than in previous years and the administration's requests.

"The Committee has taken a hard look at each and every line in this bill to make sure that we are prioritizing taxpayer dollars in programs that have the most benefit to the American people, while cutting back funding for programs that we simply cannot afford or that are not performing up to snuff," Rogers said when the language was introduced (Greenwire, June 1).

Democrats on the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee raised some concerns about the spending cuts during the subpanel's markup earlier this month. But they ultimately voted to clear the measure without any amendments, as is typical for the committee.

But this week's full committee markup could see a few more fireworks as Democrats push to maintain funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs they support. The current funding bill would cut 40 percent from the president's request for DOE's Office of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency and 11 percent off the administration's request for the Office of Science. But programs that research traditional energy technologies would see a funding boost of $24 million over the White House request.

"I know that you were faced with very difficult decisions in this allocation," subcommittee ranking member Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) said during the subcommittee markup. "While I appreciate your considerable efforts and recognize difficult choices must be made to assess the nation's serious financial situation, the allocation for energy and water is insufficient ... to ensure our economic recovery and ensure" the nation's energy security.

Democrats are also likely to raise concerns about the language's inclusion of $35 million for Yucca Mountain-related activities. The Obama administration has pulled its support from the long-term nuclear waste storage site in Nevada, instead appointing a blue ribbon commission to study alternatives for storing the hazardous material.

Republicans over the past two years have blasted the move, and the $35 million in this bill has been seen by many as repudiation for the closure.

And the GOP will likely continue their support for the program during the markup.

"We had to make some tough choices," subcommittee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) said. "But in the end, we think this is a fair bill."

Wetland regulation effort faces the ax

The bill would hand slightly more money to the Army Corps -- about 4.2 percent -- than in the administration's 2012 budget request (Greenwire, June 2). Water appropriations bills typically grow larger than the president's request, as Congress piles in additional spending for select flood control, navigation and ecosystem restoration projects.

But the bill represents a steep cut to the Army Corps budget, rolling back agency spending to less than the 2005 level. That is about $88 million, or 1.8 percent, less than what was enacted last year and $677 million, or 12.4 percent, less than was finalized in 2010.

Frelinghuysen's subcommittee included a surprise provision that outraged environmental and conservation groups: a measure that would de-fund a recent Obama administration policy aimed at expanding federal protection of wetlands and streams.

"This rash decision by Congress leaves vulnerable waters that provide critical habitat to fish and wildlife, flood control, drinking water and a range of other benefits," said Steve Kline, director of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership's Center for Agricultural and Private Lands.

But Republicans and the farming, homebuilding and mining industries have lambasted the administration policy as regulatory overreach.

The administration moved to expand regulation of wetlands in April, when it released a controversial guidance policy for public comment (E&ENews PM, April 27).

Schedule: The markup is Wednesday, June 15, at 9:30 a.m. in 2359 Rayburn.