House Appropriations Committee Releases FY17 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill

The House Appropriations Committee approved their FY17 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill on Wednesday. The bill includes funding for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Forest Service, and other related agencies. The bill provides in total $32 billion, which is $64 million below the FY16 enacted level and $1 billion below the President’s request. Included in this appropriations is funding for the EPA, which totaled at $7.98 billion, which is $164 million below FY16 enacted level and $291 million below the President’s request. In response to what legislators feel is EPA’s anti-growth agenda which includes harmful and costly regulations, which also burden farmers, the bill will prohibit the EPA from making changes to the definition of “navigable waters” under the Clean Water Act; NAWG supports inclusion of this provision and has opposed any changes to the definition of “navigable waters.” Under funding for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the bill also continued a delay on any further Endangered Species Act (ESA) status reviews, determinations, and rulemakings for greater sage-grouse, the endangered status of which NAWG opposes. The Senate Appropriations Committee also today approved legislation with similar riders.