Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and a handful of agency officials will descend on Capitol Hill this week to defend the administration's 2013 budget, which calls for sustained investments in renewable and conventional energy, but smaller increases in conservation funding and significant cuts to construction.

The agency's $11.5 billion request -- an increase of about 1 percent over current levels but substantially lower than the $12.2 billion it requested a year ago -- was the subject of hearings two weeks ago before the House Natural Resources and Appropriations committees.

This week it goes before both panels again, in addition to the Senate Appropriations and Energy and Natural Resources committees.

While Interior proposed spending $86 million on wind, solar and geothermal permitting on public lands -- an increase of 20 percent over last year's request -- Salazar has emphasized that his 2013 budget also pledges $662 million to the development of conventional energy sources.

"We feel good about where we are," he told Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee who have criticized his agency's proposal to limit future offshore oil and gas leasing to the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska rather than expand into the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.

Republican lawmakers may discuss Interior's proposal to raise new fees from oil and gas inspections, nonproducing leases and production on public lands.

Fiscal conservatives may also press Salazar and Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service officials to defend the agency's $450 million request for land acquisitions at a time when Interior faces tens of billions of dollars in deferred maintenance projects. The request is about $100 million above current funding levels for the Land and Water Conservation Fund but half of what the agency requested last year.

At the same time, Interior's budget would cut construction by $49 million, or 16 percent below 2012, to $256 million.

The agency said it remains committed to protecting critical landscapes and infrastructure, while promoting outdoor recreation in national parks, refuges and other public lands throughout the country, a key focus of the president's Great Outdoors initiative.

Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe may be asked to discuss a settlement Interior struck with environmentalists last summer that will require it to issue final listing decisions for hundreds of at-risk species over the next five years.

Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) in the past has expressed concern over the cost to implement the settlement, which Obama officials argue will reduce the number of petitions to list new species.

The Center for Biological Diversity last week blasted the agency for requesting $22 million for endangered species, roughly level with current funding, and for also requesting a $1.5 million cap on what could be spent to process new listing petitions.

"Instead of asking for enough money to protect endangered plants and animals, the administration is again asking Congress to limit the amount it can spend," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of two litigants that forced last year's settlement. "This will ensure that hundreds of species that need Endangered Species Act protection will be left in the waiting room rather than receiving the emergency care they need."

The president's budget would support $1.5 billion in programs for FWS, an increase of $72 million over the 2012 enacted level. But that includes a $200 million cancellation of prior-year unobligated balances from the Coastal Impact Assistance Program, for a net 2013 request of $1.3 billion for the agency, Interior said.

Rural lawmakers may also voice concern with the Bureau of Land Management's proposal to raise grazing fees on public lands by roughly 75 percent in addition to decreasing funding for rangeland management, issues of high importance to some Western members.

The proposal has angered livestock groups that support grazing access on public lands but was cheered by environmentalists who say the animals have degraded the land (E&ENews PM, Feb. 15).

Under the Obama proposal, BLM would receive $1.1 billion in fiscal 2013, which is essentially level with this year.

Lawmakers will also explore the Park Service's proposed $2.6 billion budget, which is $1 million below current NPS funding levels but would include more than $20 million in cuts to base operations at the agency's nearly 400 units.

The National Parks Conservation Association said the budget would shed hundreds of full-time staff, curtail visitor services and fail to slow the growth of a roughly $11 billion maintenance backlog (E&ENews PM, Feb. 14).

Simpson's panel tomorrow will also explore the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget.

Schedule: The Interior hearing before Senate ENR is tomorrow at 10 a.m. in 366 Dirksen.

Witness: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

Schedule: The NPS and BLM hearing before House Natural Resources is tomorrow at 10 a.m. in 1324 Longworth.

Witnesses: To be announced.

Schedule: The BIA hearing is tomorrow at 1 p.m. in B-308 Rayburn.

Witnesses: Assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk; Michael Black, director of BIA; and Keith Moore, director of the Bureau of Indian Education.

Schedule: The Interior hearing before Senate Appropriations is Wednesday, Feb. 29, at 9:30 a.m. in 124 Dirksen.

Witnesses: Salazar; Interior Deputy Secretary David Hayes; and Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary Office of Budget, Finance, Performance and Acquisition Pam Haze.

Schedule: The FWS hearing before House Appropriations is Thursday, March 1, at 9:30 a.m. in B-308 Rayburn.

Witnesses: Dan Ashe, director FWS; and Chris Nolin, budget officer, FWS.