Correction appended.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal 2012 spending bill yesterday that cuts farm conservation programs aimed at protecting water quality and wildlife habitat.

But the panel deferred a vote on a provision blocking the Food and Drug Administration from approving genetically engineered salmon.

The spending bill that funds Agriculture Department programs, FDA and related agencies allocates about $19.8 billion in discretionary spending, compared with the $17.2 billion contained in the measure passed by the House.

The agriculture bill was one of three spending plans moved out of the committee yesterday as the current fiscal year winds down. The panel also approved appropriations bills for energy and water and homeland security (see related stories).

The Senate agriculture spending plan cuts about 6 percent from the Conservation Stewardship Program, which helps farmers prepare management plans, and cuts by 20 percent the Environmental Quality Incentives Program that picks up some of the tab for environmental improvements like planting trees and reducing erosion on farms.

The measure reduces by 40 percent a program that helps farmers create wildlife habitat and by 50 percent an effort that helps preserve grasslands.

In all, the spending bill cuts conservation programs by 12 percent, or $726 million, from levels authorized by the farm bill. Agriculture spending on the whole would be $6.8 billion below the level approved for fiscal 2011 and $79.2 billion below President Obama's request for fiscal 2012.

Conservationists protested the Senate measure, although they found it less onerous than the House bill that slashed $1.1 billion from the farm bill's conservation programs (E&ENews PM, June 16).

"The best that can be said about the Senate Agricultural Appropriations bill's treatment of the 2008 farm bill is that it is a good deal better than the House bill," said Ferd Hoefner, policy director at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Senate appropriators opted not to vote on what Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) calls her "Frankenfish amendment," which would block FDA approval of genetically modified salmon. The language in the amendment is the same as was added to the House agriculture appropriations bill in June (E&E Daily, June 16).

Addressing protests from senators who said they had not had enough time to study the proposal, Murkowski agreed to delay a vote on her amendment until the spending bill reaches the Senate floor. But she urged prompt action on the issue, saying the modified fish could pose serious risks and have negative impacts on the price and demand of wild salmon populations.

"There's no reason to believe that we'll be able to keep these genetically modified fish contained," Murkowski said.

Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), chairman of the agriculture appropriations subcommittee, opposed the amendment because it questioned the conclusions of FDA scientists.

"I believe it is a slippery slope and could dissuade investments in other biotechnology products," Kohl said.

Also delayed to a floor vote was a proposed amendment by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) that would transfer $15 million from Natural Resources Conservation Service into a program to maintain dams. The service administers many USDA conservation programs.

Correction: The Senate agriculture spending plan cuts about 6 percent from the Conservation Stewardship Program. A previous version of this story misstated the amount.