The fate of the $31.625 billion energy and water spending bill remains uncertain this morning after Senate leaders failed to merge it with a pair of other spending measures yesterday.

The chamber will resume debate on the fiscal 2012 Energy and Water Development spending package later this morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said last night. But he hinted that time was running out for lengthy debate on the measure that would fund the Energy Department, Army Corps of Engineers and Interior Department water programs.

"We have a lot to do in a short period of time," Reid said last night. "We're not going to spend a lot of time on this. We wasted most of the day on procedural issues relating to this, but Thanksgiving is fast approaching. We have got a lot of stuff to do other than this energy and water appropriation bill."

Reid had planned to merge the measure with a pair of additional spending bills dealing with financial services and state and foreign operations. But that effort was blocked yesterday afternoon by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) on concerns about language dealing with trade with Cuba.

"I'm terribly disappointed that we weren't able to do the so-called minibus consisting of three appropriations bills, as we did a couple of weeks ago," Reid said. "It's unfortunate that we're not able to do that."

The chamber -- for now -- is continuing its consideration of the energy and water language as a stand-alone bill. But talks stalled last night as the bill's primary authors waited on other lawmakers to file amendments to the language.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations subpanel, said just one Republican amendment had been filed yesterday evening when she spoke on the Senate floor, though she expected more to come.

"I guess we just sit here and wait," Feinstein said.

But Reid likely won't allow lawmakers to wait too long as the clock is winding down on other legislative items, like a separate "minibus" of appropriations bills that would set the 2012 budgets for the Agriculture Department; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. That measure, after being conferenced with the House, now also contains stopgap funding language to keep the government running after a current spending bill expires at the end of this week (see related story).

"We have a CR, and we really need to get cracking," Feinstein said. "So time is of the essence."

Still, Feinstein and the subcommittee's ranking Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee are optimistic that the chamber can move forward with their bill today and tomorrow.

"So far the news has been encouraging," Alexander said. "There are not that many amendments and the senators with whom I've talked said if they have amendments, they believe there is no reason why, as long as they are given a short period of time to talk, a chance to vote ... they'll be fine with that."

The bill would fund DOE, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation for the rest of this fiscal year. A hefty portion of the spending language is directed toward national security programs within DOE, but the measure also directs spending priorities at DOE science and technology research programs and critical Army Corps water infrastructure programs.

The House this summer approved a $30.6 billion spending bill for the three agencies.

Amendments

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) offered an amendment that would prohibit DOE from using funds to pay for loan guarantees that make the Energy secretary's money subordinate to other financing.

The language comes in response to a continuing scandal over a loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra. The agency's clean energy financing program has come under harsh scrutiny from Republicans in the wake of the Solyndra failure.

In a similar vein, Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) has offered a separate amendment that would require DOE's inspector general to investigate and report on the agency's $730 million conditional loan guarantee to Russian steel giant Severstal to produce advanced high-strength steel in Michigan (E&E Daily, Nov. 15).

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) offered two amendments. One would exempt projects to rebuild levees, locks and dams damaged in this year's massive floods on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers from environmental permitting and reviews. Another would cap spending on wildlife recovery along the Missouri River.

The proposals, Blunt said in a press release, are intended to fast-track levee and other water-infrastructure rebuilding efforts in all flooded regions and, along the Missouri River, to free up limited Army Corps resources for flood-lighting measures.

"The flooding along the Missouri River lasted an unprecedented three to four months this year," Blunt said in a statement. "If we're going to get people back on their feet, our first priority must be restoring flood protection as soon as possible in order to restore the farm land, local businesses and vital transportation infrastructure behind the levees."

Blunt's proposals are two of several water-related amendments filed to the energy-water spending bill. Other senators filed proposals that aim to cutoff funding for Obama administration Clean Water Act regulations and to hand an additional $1.2 billion to the Army Corps for nationwide flood disaster recovery (E&ENews PM, Nov. 15).

Blunt said his first amendment "cuts bureaucratic red tape" to allow communities to rebuild flood-damaged levees, locks and dams by exempting water infrastructure projects "from duplicative federal obstacles that slow rebuilding efforts," his office said in a news release.

"This amendment will also give the Corps the tools they need to restore flood protection before the 2012 runoff season begins," the release said.

Included among the projects targeted by the amendment is the reconstruction of levees at the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway in northern Missouri, Blunt's office confirmed. Locals who farm the 133,000-acre floodway, whose levees were blasted open by the Army Corps for the first time since 1937, fear the rebuild will not be completed in time for next year's wet season. The rebuild has been hampered by, among other things, the Army Corps' lack of money.

The second amendment would insert language into the spending bill limiting money that can be spent on Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Recovery activities to $22 million.

Blunt said the amendment would ensure that resources from the Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP) will be focused on flood control priorities. "Congress has obligated over a half a billion dollars on Missouri River Recovery in the past, and after this year of unprecedented floods, it's critical that the Corps prioritize its limited resources to protect people and property," his press release said.

Priorities of the Army Corps that compete for funding along the Missouri River include flood control, commercial shipping, environmental and water supply efforts.

At least eight senators testified before the Environment and Public Works Committee earlier this year to criticize the Army Corps for contributing to the Missouri River floods with its policies for managing the river and urged that damaged levees everywhere be rebuilt quickly (E&E Daily, Oct. 19).

"As I've repeatedly said to the Corps during meetings and hearings, they cannot claim that flood control is a top priority when each annual budget reflects otherwise," Blunt said. "It's simply unacceptable for the budget to put more emphasis on land acquisition than on flood protection for communities, businesses, and personal property."