Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

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Energy and Water Development:

FY2023 Appropriations

Updated March 20, 2023

Congressional Research Service

https://crsreports.congress.gov

R47293

SUMMARY

R47293

Energy and Water Development:

FY2023 Appropriations

March 20, 2023

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill funds civil works

projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); the Department of the Interior’s Bureau

of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Central Utah Project (CUP); the Department of Energy

(DOE); the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); the Appalachian Regional Commission

(ARC); and several other independent agencies. DOE typically accounts for about 80% of the

bill’s funding.

Mark Holt

Specialist in Energy Policy

Anna E. Normand

Analyst in Natural

Resources Policy

Overall Funding Totals

President Biden submitted his FY2023 budget request on March 28, 2022. The Administration

request included $57.548 billion for energy and water development agencies, an increase of $1.972 billion (4%) above the

FY2022 enacted amount, excluding emergency appropriations and adjustments.

The House passed the FY2023 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill as part of the six-bill Consolidated

Appropriations Act (H.R. 8294) on July 20, 2022, following House Appropriations Committee approval of a stand-alone

measure on June 28, 2022 (H.R. 8255, H.Rept. 117-394). Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Appropriations

Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, introduced an FY2023 Energy and Water Development

appropriations bill July 28, 2022 (S. 4660), and posted a draft explanatory statement on the Appropriations Committee

website.

FY2023 Energy and Water Development funding was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, passed by

Congress December 22, 2022, and signed into law December 29, 2022 (P.L. 118-328). Excluding emergency supplementals

and rescissions, the Consolidated Appropriations Act provides a total of $59.204 billion, 7% above the FY2022 enacted level,

as shown below:

Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2022 and FY2023

dollars in millions (and % change)

Agency

FY2022

Enacted (%

Change from

FY2021

Enacted)

FY2023 Request

(% Change from

FY2022

Enacted)

FY2023 House

(% Change from

FY2022

Enacted)

FY2023 S. 4660

(% Change from

FY2022

Enacted)

FY2023

Enacted (%

Change from

FY2022

Enacted)

Corps of Engineers

8,343 (+7%)

6,601 (-21%)

8,889 (+7%)

8,758 (+5%)

8,310 (-%)

Bureau of

Reclamation/CUP

1,924 (+14%)

1,434 (-25%)

1,914 (-1%)

1,950 (+1%)

1,954 (+2%)

Department of Energy

44,856 (+13%)

49,004 (+9%)

48,340 (+8%)

49,495 (+10%)

48,445(+8%)

Independent Agencies

454 (+10%)

508 (+12%)

521 (+15%)

482 (+6%)

494 (+9%)

55,576 (+12%)

57,548 (+4%)

59,664 (+7%)

60,685 (+9%)

59,204 (+7%)

Total

Sources: Explanatory statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023; S. 4660 and draft explanatory statement; H.Rept. 117394; explanatory statement for H.R. 2371; CBO Estimate for H.R. 8294; FY2023 agency budget requests, S.Rept. 117-36, H.Rept.

117-98, H.R. 4502, explanatory statement of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022.

Notes: Totals exclude rescissions and budget scorekeeping adjustments. CUP=Central Utah Project Completion Account. Enacted

amounts do not include emergency supplemental appropriations.

Major Issues

Congressional debate on Energy and Water Development appropriations for FY2023 includes several major initiatives and

issues. Some examples follow:

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations



Western Drought. The Administration proposed funding for several Reclamation drought response-related

activities, which was increased by the enacted appropriations measure. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA,

P.L. 117-169) provided Reclamation with $4.588 billion to address drought mitigation and related issues.



Increased Funding for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The Administration requested an

EERE increase of $819 million (26%) over the FY2022 enacted amount, to $4.019 billion, excluding

several large EERE programs that are proposed to become separate offices. The enacted measure provided

$3.460 billion for EERE, including funding for the proposed separate offices. These amounts would be in

addition to $2.222 billion appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, P.L. 117-58)

for EERE for FY2023 and $10.000 billion by IRA for energy efficiency through FY2031.



Establishment of Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. The Administration requested $214 million in

FY2023 to continue the startup of the DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). The enacted

measure provided $89 million, although that amount is in addition to $4.426 billion appropriated by IIJA

for the new office for FY2023 and $5.812 billion by IRA through FY2026.

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Contents

Introduction and Overview .............................................................................................................. 1

Administration Request ............................................................................................................. 2

House-Passed Bill ..................................................................................................................... 3

S. 4660 and Draft Explanatory Statement ................................................................................. 4

FY2023 Enacted Funding ......................................................................................................... 4

FY2022 Enacted Funding ......................................................................................................... 5

FY2023 Budgetary Limits......................................................................................................... 6

Funding Issues and Initiatives ......................................................................................................... 6

Congressionally Directed Funding ............................................................................................ 6

USACE Funding ....................................................................................................................... 7

Western Drought ....................................................................................................................... 8

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Funding Increases and Reorganization .................. 9

Focus on Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) and Carbon Removal ................. 9

Increases for DOE Loan Programs.......................................................................................... 10

Startup of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations........................................................... 12

Increases in Crosscutting Hydrogen Funding ......................................................................... 13

Overall Level Funding for Weapons Activities ....................................................................... 14

Cleanup of Former Nuclear Sites: Adequacy of Proposed Funding ....................................... 15

Bill Status and Recent Funding History ........................................................................................ 16

Description of Major Energy and Water Programs ....................................................................... 16

Agency Budget Justifications .................................................................................................. 17

Army Corps of Engineers........................................................................................................ 18

Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah Project ................................................................... 21

Additional Funding ........................................................................................................... 22

Department of Energy ............................................................................................................. 23

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy........................................................................ 27

Electricity Delivery, Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Energy Reliability.................. 28

Nuclear Energy ................................................................................................................. 28

Fossil Energy and Carbon Management ........................................................................... 29

Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) .................................................................................. 29

Science .............................................................................................................................. 30

Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy .................................................................. 31

Loan Guarantees and Direct Loans ................................................................................... 31

Energy Information Administration .................................................................................. 32

Nuclear Weapons Activities .............................................................................................. 32

Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation .................................................................................... 33

Cleanup of Former Nuclear Weapons Production and Research Sites ............................. 34

Power Marketing Administrations .................................................................................... 34

Independent Agencies ............................................................................................................. 35

Appalachian Regional Commission .................................................................................. 36

Nuclear Regulatory Commission ...................................................................................... 37

Congressional Hearings ................................................................................................................. 37

House ...................................................................................................................................... 38

Senate ...................................................................................................................................... 38

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Figures

Figure 1. Funding for Major Components of Energy and Water Development

Appropriations Bill, FY2022 Through FY2023 ........................................................................... 1

Tables

Table 1. Additional Appropriations for Clean Energy Demonstrations in Infrastructure

Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58) ....................................................................................... 12

Table 2. Status of Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2023 ............................... 16

Table 3. Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2017-FY2023 ................................ 16

Table 4. Energy and Water Development Appropriations Summary ............................................. 17

Table 5. Army Corps of Engineers ................................................................................................ 19

Table 6. Additional FY2023 Appropriations for USACE .............................................................. 20

Table 7. Bureau of Reclamation and CUP..................................................................................... 22

Table 8. Department of Energy...................................................................................................... 23

Table 9. Additional FY2023 DOE Funding Under IIJA ................................................................ 25

Table 10. Additional FY2023 DOE Funding Under IRA .............................................................. 26

Table 11. Additional FY2023 Funding for DOE in Divisions M and N of P.L. 117-328 .............. 27

Table 12. Independent Agencies Funded by Energy and Water Development

Appropriations............................................................................................................................ 35

Table 13. Additional Appropriations in IIJA for Regional Commissions and Authorities ........... 36

Table 14. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Funding Categories .................................................. 37

Contacts

Author Information........................................................................................................................ 38

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Introduction and Overview

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill includes funding

for civil works projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), in Title I; the Department

of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Central Utah Project (CUP), in Title

II; the Department of Energy (DOE), in Title III; and a number of independent agencies,

including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Appalachian Regional Commission

(ARC), in Title IV. Figure 1 compares the major components of the Energy and Water

Development appropriations bill from FY2021 through FY2023.

Figure 1. Funding for Major Components of Energy and Water Development

Appropriations Bill, FY2022 Through FY2023

(excluding supplementals)

Sources: Explanatory statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023; H.Rept. 117-394; S. 4660 and draft

explanatory statement; explanatory statement for H.R. 2371; CBO Estimate for H.R. 8294; S.Rept. 117-36; H.R.

4502; H.Rept. 117-98; Administration budget request for FY2022. Includes some adjustments; see tables 4-7 for

details.

Notes: Enacted amounts do not include supplemental appropriations or rescissions. CUP = Central Utah

Project Completion Account.

President Biden submitted his FY2023 budget request on March 28, 2022. The Administration

request included $57.548 billion for energy and water development agencies, an increase of

$1.972 billion (4%) above the FY2022 enacted amount, excluding emergency appropriations and

adjustments. DOE funding would have risen by $4.149 billion (9%) and independent agencies by

$55 million (12%), while USACE was to be reduced by $1.742 million (-21%), and Reclamation

and CUP by $490 million (-25%).

The House passed the FY2023 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill on July 20,

2022, as part of a “minibus” package of six FY2023 appropriations bills (H.R. 8294), by a 220207 vote. The House Appropriations Committee had approved the stand-alone Energy and Water

Development appropriations bill on June 28, 2022, by a vote of 32-26 (H.R. 8255, H.Rept. 117394). The House-passed bill totaled $59.664 billion, excluding rescissions and scorekeeping

adjustments, an increase of $4.088 billion (7%) over the enacted FY2022 amount and 4% above

the Administration request. DOE funding in the bill totaled $48.340 billion, an increase of $3.485

billion (8%) over the FY022 enacted level and a decrease of 1% from the request. The bill would

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

have provided $8.889 billion for USACE, $546 million (7%) above FY2022 and 35% above the

request. Reclamation and CUP would have received $1.914 billion, $10 million (-1%) below the

FY2022 enacted amount but 33% above the request. The bill included $521 million for

independent agencies, $68 million (15%) above the FY2022 enacted amount and 3% above the

request.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on

Energy and Water Development, introduced an FY2023 Energy and Water Development

appropriations bill July 28, 2022 (S. 4660), and posted a draft explanatory statement on the

Appropriations Committee website.1 The bill’s total of $60.685 billion, excluding rescissions and

adjustments, was 9% above the FY2022 enacted amount and 5% above the Administration

request. Senator Richard Shelby, the Appropriations Committee’s Republican vice chairman,

referred to S. 4660 and other FY2023 appropriations bills introduced by Appropriations

Committee Democratic leaders as “partisan appropriations bills that spend billions more than

even the Administration’s wasteful request.”2 Committee action on the FY2023 appropriations

bills did not occur.

FY2023 Energy and Water Development funding was included in Division D of the Consolidated

Appropriations Act, 2023, passed by Congress December 22, 2022, and signed into law

December 29, 2022 (P.L. 118-328). Excluding emergency supplementals and rescissions, the

Consolidated Appropriations Act provides a total of $59.204 billion, 7% above the FY2022

enacted level. Division M of the act included emergency additional FY2023 appropriations of

$300 million for Nuclear Energy and $126 million for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation.

Division N also provided supplemental appropriations of $1.480 billion for USACE, $1.000

billion for DOE’s Electricity account to improve Puerto Rico’s electricity grid, and $520 million

for the Western Area Power Administration.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58), the Disaster Relief Supplemental

Appropriations Act, 2022 (DRSAA; P.L. 117-43), and budget reconciliation measure commonly

referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA; P.L. 117-169) provided additional

appropriations for energy and water development agencies, above the enacted amounts in the

Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2022 and FY2023. For FY2022, IIJA and DRSAA

appropriated an additional $41.923 billion for energy and water agencies, with another $16.040

billion provided by IIJA for FY2023. IRA appropriated $4.588 billion for Reclamation and

$35.067 billion for DOE for FY2022, to remain available for as long as through FY2031.

Administration Request

DOE’s major program areas include energy, science, defense, and environmental management.

The Administration’s largest proposed increase in the energy programs area was for Energy

Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which would have risen by $819 million (26%) over the

FY2022 enacted amount, to $4.019 billion. This excluded several large Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy (EERE) programs, such as the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)

and low-income weatherization and state planning grants, which were proposed to become

separate offices in FY2023. The Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy would have been

increased by $250 million (56%), to $700 million. Fossil Energy and Carbon Management would

1 Senate Appropriations Committee, “Explanatory Statement for the Energy and Water Development Appropriations

Bill, 2023,” https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/EWFY23RPT.PDF.

2 Senate Appropriations Committee, “Shelby: Democrats’ Partisan Bills Threaten FY23 Appropriations Process,”

minority news release, July 28, 2022, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/minority/shelby-democrats-partisanbills-threaten-fy23-appropriations-process.

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have received an increase of $68 million (8%), to $893 million, including an increase of $110

million (49%) for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). Funding for DOE’s Office of

Science would have been increased by $324 million (4%), to $7.799 billion, under the

Administration budget request, with Biological and Environmental Research rising by $89

million (11%). Funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which is

responsible for nuclear warheads, nuclear weapons nonproliferation, and naval reactor research

and development (R&D), would have increased by $754 million (4%), to $21.410 billion.

Environmental Management (waste management and cleanup) would have increased by $348

million (4%), to $8.252 billion.3

The water agencies in the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill would have

received funding reductions under the FY2023 budget request. Discretionary appropriations in the

Energy and Water bill for USACE would have declined from their FY2022 enacted level by

$1.742 billion (-21%), to $6,601 billion. The FY2023 Administration request included no new

construction starts and three new project studies. Reclamation (separately from CUP) would have

been reduced by $487 million (-26%), to $1.414 billion.

Among the independent agencies funded by the bill, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

was to receive an increase in total appropriations from $888 million in FY2022 to $929 million in

FY2023 (up $42 million, or 5%). NRC’s budget is mostly offset by nuclear industry fees, which

may vary from year to year; the Administration proposed an increase in the agency’s net

appropriation from $131 million in FY2022 to $137 million in FY2023 (up $6 million, or 5%).

Funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission would have increased from $195 million in

FY2022 to $235 million in FY2023 (up $40 million, or 21%). Requested funding for smaller

regional authorities in the bill varied widely: Denali Commission, Delta Regional Authority, and

Southwest Border Regional Commission were unchanged from FY2022 enacted, while the

Northern Border Regional Commission was to increase by 3% and the Southeast Crescent

Regional Commission by 40%.

House-Passed Bill

DOE would have received $48.340 billion under the House-passed FY2023 Energy and Water

Development appropriations bill, excluding a rescission of $150 million. The bill would have

provided nearly the amount requested for the EERE account, but it included funding for FEMP

and low-income weatherization and state planning grants that the Administration had proposed

under separate accounts. Science would have been increased by $201 million (3%) and Nuclear

Energy by $105 million (6%) above the Administration request, while NNSA would have been

reduced by $178 million (-1%) from the request.

The House bill would have increased funding for water agencies from the Administration request:

USACE by $2.288 billion (35%) and Reclamation by $477 million (34%). The USACE amount

was 7% above the FY2022 enacted level, while Reclamation would have been reduced by 1%

from FY2022. The Appropriations Committee report supported USACE new project study starts

recommended by the Administration and a limited number of additional new project studies. The

bill’s funding for independent agencies was nearly the same as the Administration request except

for a $26 million (371%) increase for the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission. The bill

3 Including a budget amendment that requested an additional $191 million for Defense Environmental Cleanup,

submitted to Congress on June 7, 2022, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/

FY_2023_Budget_Amendments_Package_6-7-22.pdf.

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included 145 community project funding (CPF) items (earmarks) for USACE, Reclamation, and

DOE.4

S. 4660 and Draft Explanatory Statement

For DOE, EERE funding would have been reduced by $220 million (-5%) from the

Administration request by S. 4660, which, as in the House-passed bill, would not have provided

separate accounts for FEMP and low-income weatherization and state planning grants. Funding

for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations would have been $39 million (-21%) lower than

the House-passed amount, while Science would have been $100 million (1%) and NNSA $870

million (4%) higher than the House levels.

Funding in S. 4660 for USACE would have been $131 million (-1%) below the House-passed

level, while funding for Reclamation would have been higher by $38 million (2%). Funding for

independent agencies would have been nearly the same as the House-passed amounts, except that

the Appalachian Regional Commission would have been lower by $20 million (-9%) and the

increase for the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission would have been reduced to $2

million. The draft explanatory statement listed 232 congressionally directed spending (CDS)

items for USACE, Reclamation, and DOE.

FY2023 Enacted Funding

DOE received $48.445 billion in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, excluding

emergency supplementals and rescissions. This was $3.590 billion (8%) above the FY2022

enacted level, $559 billion (1%) below the Administration request, $105 million (0%) below the

House-passed level, and $1.050 billion (2%) below the amount in S. 4660. Appropriations for

EERE were $559 million (14%) below the Administration request and, as in the House and

Senate measures, included the programs that the Administration had proposed under separate

accounts. The Office of Science received $8.100 billion, an increase of $301 million (4%) above

the request, while the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations received $89 million, a $125

million (-58%) reduction from the request. However, the office had already been appropriated

$21.456 billion for FY2022-FY2026 by IIJA.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E) received $470 million, $230

million (33%) below the request, but $20 million (4%) above the FY2022 level. NNSA received

$22.163 billion, an increase of $1.507 billion (7%) over the FY2022 enacted amount and $752

million (4%) above the request.

USACE received $8.310 billion, which was slightly below (less than 1%) the FY2022 enacted

level, $1.709 billion (26%) above the request, $579 million (7%) below the House-passed bill,

and $448 million (5%) below the amount in S. 4660. Reclamation received $1.931 billion, an

increase of $30 million (2%) over the FY2022 enacted amount. The Appalachian Regional

Commission and other regional development authorities received increases over their FY2022

enacted levels, with the largest being a $15 million (300%) increase for the Southeast Crescent

Regional Commission.

In addition to the regular annual appropriations provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act,

2023, many of the agencies funded by the act received emergency supplemental and additional

appropriations for FY2023. IIJA was the primary source of the additional funding, along with P.L.

4 For general information about congressional earmarks, see CRS Report RS22866, Earmark Disclosure Rules in the

House: Member and Committee Requirements, by Megan S. Lynch.

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117-328 Divisions M and N and P.L. 117-180. DOE received $15.078 billion in additional

funding for FY2023, USACE received $2.580 billion, Reclamation and CUP received $1.660

billion, and the Appalachian Regional Commission received $200 million. Unspecified amounts

of prior-year funding under IIJA and IRA also remained available for some agencies. Including

offsets, total FY2023 funding for agencies in the Energy and Water Development appropriations

bill was $70.095 billion, according to the Explanatory Statement.

FY2022 Enacted Funding

Energy and Water Development appropriations for FY2022 were enacted as part of the

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103, Division D), passed by the House on

March 9, 2022, and by the Senate March 10, 2022, and signed by President Biden March 15,

2022. The enacted energy and water development funding totaled $55.576 billion, excluding

adjustments.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy was appropriated $3.200 billion, $1.532 billion below

the request (-32%) but $338 million (12%) above the FY2021 enacted amount. ARPA-E received

$450 million, $50 million below the request (-10%), but $23 million (5%) above the FY2021

level, and the proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency—Climate (ARPA-C) was not

funded. The new Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations was appropriated $20 million, $380

million below the request (-95%). NNSA was appropriated a total of $20.656 billion, $913

million (5%) above the request and about the same increase from the FY2021 enacted level.

Water agencies received increases over the FY2022 request. USACE received $8.343 billion,

$1.551 billion (23%) above the request and $548 million (7%) above the FY2021 enacted

amount. Reclamation was appropriated $1.901 billion, $368 million (24%) above the request and

$231 million (14%) above the enacted FY2021 level. In addition, USACE received FY2022

supplemental appropriations of $5.711 billion in P.L. 117-43 and FY2022 emergency

appropriations of $14.969 billion in P.L. 117-58. Reclamation received an additional $210 million

in P.L. 117-43, $1.660 billion in P.L. 117-58, and $4.588 billion in P.L. 117-169. The explanatory

statement included 236 earmarks for Energy and Water Development agencies and programs: 156

for USACE, 15 for Reclamation, 2 for CESER, 54 for EERE, 3 for the Office of Electricity, and 6

for FECM.5

For more details, see



CRS Report R46857, Energy and Water Development: FY2022 Appropriations,

by Mark Holt, Corrie E. Clark, and Anna E. Normand;

CRS In Focus IF11846, Army Corps of Engineers: FY2022 Appropriations, by

Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter;

CRS In Focus IF11855, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2022 Appropriations, by

Charles V. Stern;

CRS In Focus IF11945, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Supplemental

Appropriations, by Nicole T. Carter and Anna E. Normand;

5 For more details about the FY2022 Energy and Water Development earmarks, see Government Accountability Office

(GAO), Tracking the Funds: Specific Fiscal Year 2022 Provisions for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, GAO-22-105919,

September 29, 2022, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105919; GAO, Tracking the Funds: Specific Fiscal Year

2022 Provisions for Department of the Interior, GAO-22-105904, September 12, 2022, https://www.gao.gov/products/

gao-22-105904; and GAO, Tracking the Funds: Specific Fiscal Year 2022 Provisions for Department of Energy, GAO22-105918, September 12, 2022, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105918.

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

CRS Insight IN11723, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Funding for

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works: Policy Primer, by Nicole

T. Carter and Anna E. Normand; and



CRS Report R47032, Bureau of Reclamation Provisions in the Infrastructure

Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E.

Normand.

FY2023 Budgetary Limits

Congressional consideration of the annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill

was affected by certain procedural and statutory budget enforcement requirements. These consist

primarily of procedural limits on discretionary spending (spending provided in annual

appropriations acts) established in a budget resolution or through some other means, and

allocations of this amount that apply to spending under the jurisdiction of each appropriations

subcommittee.

The House passed a “deeming resolution” (H.Res. 1151) on June 8, 2022, to set an FY2023

discretionary appropriations total of $1,602.901 billion (approximately $1.6 trillion), which

would accommodate the Administration’s FY2023 request. The House Appropriations Committee

issued a report on June 22, 2022, with suballocations of the FY2023 discretionary total, pursuant

to Section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, allocating $56.275 billion for the

Energy and Water Development bill.6 That was the amount included for Energy and Water

Development in H.R. 8294, after budget scorekeeping and other offsets, as passed by the House,

and $2.929 billion below the final FY2023 enacted amount (excluding adjustments).

Funding Issues and Initiatives

Several issues drew particular attention during congressional consideration of Energy and Water

Development appropriations for FY2023. The issues described in this section—listed

approximately in the order the affected agencies appear in the Energy and Water Development

bill—were selected based on total funding involved, percentage of proposed increases or

decreases, amount of congressional debate engendered, and potential impact on broader public

policy considerations.

Congressionally Directed Funding

The 117th Congress included earmarks for site-specific projects and other activities in the FY2022

and FY2023 appropriations process. (These were referred to as “community project funding”

(CPF) in the House and “congressionally directed spending” (CDS) in the Senate.) From the 112th

through the 116th Congresses, moratorium policies largely prohibited earmarks for such projects.

Funding for specific water projects constitutes the majority of the annual budget request for

USACE and Reclamation; during the moratorium, Congress appropriated funding above the

requested amounts for categories of work without identifying specific projects.

For FY2023, the House and Senate Appropriations committees invited Members of Congress to

request CPF/CDS items, respectively. Both the House-passed FY2023 bill and the draft

explanatory statement for S. 4660 included funding for site-specific studies and projects based on

the Administration request and CPF/CDS requests, while providing additional water project funds

6 House Appropriations Committee, Report on the Suballocation of Budget Allocations for Fiscal Year 2023,

https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20220622/114945/HMKP-117-AP00-20220622-SD007.pdf.

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for agencies to allocate. The House Appropriations Committee report included 75 earmarks for

USACE, 6 for Reclamation, and 64 for DOE. The draft explanatory statement for S. 4660

included 129 earmarks for USACE, 10 for Reclamation, and 93 for DOE. The Energy and Water

Development earmarks totaled approximately $785 million in the House committee report and

$810 million in the Senate draft explanatory statement.

The explanatory statement for the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, included 339 energy

and water development CPF/CDS projects totaling about $1.289 billion.7 This included 175 for

USACE, totaling about $1.020 billion, 12 for Reclamation, totaling about $47 million, and 152

for DOE, totaling about $222 million. DOE earmarks are provided under the Energy Projects

appropriations account.

USACE Funding

The Administration’s FY2023 budget request for USACE was $1.742 billion (-21%) lower than

the enacted FY2022 regular appropriations. As with previous budget requests, a majority of the

FY2023 request would have funded maintenance of existing infrastructure, as reflected by the

share of funds requested for the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) account. The share of

funding for construction in the FY2023 budget request was 19%, which was less than the 30% for

this account in FY2022 annual appropriations.

The Administration requested funding for three new USACE studies and no new construction

starts for FY2023. The enacted FY2022 annual appropriations funded 18 new studies and 4

construction projects, including those requested by the Administration, but did not provide the

Administration with authority to initiate additional starts with FY2022 work plan appropriations

beyond those provided for in the explanatory statement. Supplemental appropriations for FY2022

also funded 13 new studies and 38 new construction projects.8

Regular annual appropriations for USACE in Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act,

2023, totaled $8.310 billion, nearly the same as FY2022 regular appropriations. The proportion of

USACE regular appropriations for construction in FY2023 was 22%, compared with 30% in

FY2022, while regular appropriations for O&M were 61% in FY2023, compared with 55% in

FY2022. However, Division N provided USACE with $1.480 billion in supplemental funds.

While most of this funding ($1.130 billion) is limited to flood response and recovery for areas

affected by natural disasters,9 some is for construction and O&M of certain types of authorized

projects regardless of disaster impacts. In addition, the IIJA appropriated $1.080 billion for use in

FY2023, of which $1.000 billion is for navigation O&M activities,10 and P.L. 117-180 designated

$20 million in emergency funding for USACE environmental infrastructure assistance.

7 Compiled from PDF copies of combined Community Project Funding and Congressionally Directed Spending

provision data tables that appeared in the FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act Explanatory Statement reprinted in

the December 20, 2022, Congressional Record. Amounts given are the totals above the Administration request for each

earmark. Amounts over the presidential budget request level are considered Community Project Funding and

Congressionally Directed Spending for purposes of House and Senate rules.

8 Information provided to CRS by USACE on July 12, 2022.

USACE spend plans for flood response and recovery funds for natural disasters are available at USACE,

“Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2023,” at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/

Civil-Works/Supplemental-Work/DRSAA23/.

10 USACE spend plans for IIJA are located at USACE, “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” at https://www.usace.army.mil/

Missions/Civil-Works/Supplemental-Work/BIL/.

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Pursuant to direction in the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 117-328, Congress funded a

“limited number” of new starts with FY2023 regular appropriations; these included the

Administration’s request for three new studies and several requests from Members. In addition to

providing funds for the Administration’s requested studies and projects, Congress in the

explanatory statement (1) funded $1.020 billion for CPF/CDS items and (2) provided $562

million in additional funding and directed USACE to develop a work plan to distribute funds to

individual studies and projects. Division N also directed USACE to develop work plans for the

$350 million provided for construction and O&M of certain types of authorized projects.11

For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12090, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: FY2023

Appropriations, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.

Western Drought

In late December 2022, when the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 was enacted,

approximately 64% of the western United States was experiencing some level of drought.12 The

FY2023 budget request included funding for Reclamation programs addressing drought in

specific areas, such as funding for the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plans ($18.7 million

in the Lower Colorado River Basin and $3.7 million in the Upper Colorado River Basin) and

wildlife refuge water supply purchases in California’s Central Valley ($11.8 million), as well as

general drought grant funding for the Drought Response Program ($24.0 million). The

explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 117-328 included $50 million in additional funding for

implementing the Drought Contingency Plan in the Lower Colorado River Basin, and $10 million

in addition to the budget request for the Drought Response Program to go to activities in the

Klamath Basin.

In addition to regular appropriations, Congress has recently provided Reclamation with

supplemental appropriations to address drought. First, in September 2021, Congress included

$210 million in supplemental funding for Reclamation in the Disaster Relief Supplemental

Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-43, Division B); these funds were provided to combat western

drought and wildfire. Then, in P.L. 117-169, enacted in August 2022, Congress approved an

additional $4.588 billion for Reclamation for western drought mitigation and related issues, with

$4 billion of these funds prioritized for drought-related actions in the Colorado River Basin.13

The drought has also led some Members to argue for more funding for the construction of new

water storage projects in the West pursuant to Reclamation’s authorities under Section 4007 of

the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act; P.L. 114-322).14 The

executive branch typically requests no such funding in the budget; Congress has added funding

for this authority in every year since FY2017. For FY2023 appropriations, the explanatory

statement recommended $134 million of additional funding amounts for these projects.

For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12127, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2023 Budget and

Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern.

11 USACE work plans for FY2023 are available at USACE, “Civil Works Budget and Performance,” at

https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#Work-Plans.

12 U.S. Drought Monitor, Western U.S. Percent Area in Drought as of December 27, 2022,

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Maps/MapArchive.aspxhttps://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DmData/DataGraphs.aspx.

13 §§50231-50233 and §80004 of P.L. 117-169.

14 For more information on these projects, see CRS In Focus IF10626, Reclamation Water Storage Projects: Section

4007 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, by Charles V. Stern.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Funding Increases and

Reorganization

The Biden Administration proposed a 26% increase in the EERE appropriations account—from

$3.200 billion in FY2022 to $4.019 billion in FY2023 (an increase of $819 million). EERE

programs with the largest requested increases were Wind Energy Technologies (up $231 million,

or 203%), Geothermal Technologies (up $93 million, or 84%), Solar Energy Technologies (up

$245 million, or 84%), Renewable Energy Grid Integration (up $18 million, or 44%), and Vehicle

Technologies (up $183 million, or 44%).

Those increases did not include several major EERE programs that the Administration proposed

moving to separate DOE offices. FEMP would have received $170 million in FY2023 under the

request, and the Office of State and Community Energy Programs, which handles state energy

planning grants and low-income home weatherization assistance, would have received $727

million. The proposed new Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains would have

received $27 million in FY2023. Including those proposed separate offices in the EERE request

brought the total request to $4.943 billion, 54% above the FY2022 EERE total.

The House-passed bill would have provided nearly the amount requested for the EERE account

($4.016 billion), but it included funding for FEMP and low-income weatherization and state

planning grants that the Administration had proposed under separate accounts. S. 4660 also

included all those accounts under EERE, as in the past, with a total of $3.799 billion. The

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, provided $3.460 billion for EERE, including the

proposed separate accounts. This constituted an increase of $260 million (8%) over the FY2022

regular appropriations and $1.723 billion (-43%) below the Administration request, including the

proposed separate accounts.

IIJA appropriated $16.264 billion in FY2022 through FY2026 in additional emergency spending

for EERE programs, of which $8.207 billion was for FY2022 and $2.222 billion was for FY2023.

EERE received $17.962 billion in additional funding in IRA, available from FY2022 through

FY2026, FY2027, FY2029, or FY2031, depending upon the provision.

For more details, see CRS In Focus IF12236, DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Energy FY2023 Appropriations, by Corrie E. Clark and Melissa N. Diaz.

Focus on Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) and

Carbon Removal

The Administration requested $479 million for Carbon Management Technologies for FY2023,

much of which was for CCUS and carbon removal R&D activities. The request included an

increase of $110 million (49%) for CCUS technologies in the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon

Management (FECM) above the FY2022 enacted appropriation. The $335 million CCUS budget

request included a 72% increase in the Carbon Utilization program and a boost of 65% for

Carbon Capture. Other FECM budget priorities included methane mitigation, carbon dioxide

removal, domestic critical minerals production, and hydrogen production coupled with CCUS

(sometimes called blue hydrogen).15 The requested funds were in addition to IIJA FY2023

appropriations of $1.445 billion for FECM and $2.097 billion to capitalize the Carbon Dioxide

Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (CIFIA) program.

15 DOE, FY 2023 Congressional Budget Request, vol. 4, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/doe-

fy2023-budget-volume-4-fecm.pdf.

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

The FY2023 Administration request included $3 million to support the Interagency Working

Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization, which was

established pursuant to Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and

Abroad.”16 The requested funds were to “support targeted investments across the Federal

government to help affected communities impacted by the climate crisis and shift to a clean

energy economy.”17

The House-passed bill included $479 million for Carbon Management Technologies, including

CCUS and carbon removal.18 For CCUS, the committee called for particular focus on carbon

capture at natural gas power plants, including not less than $20 million for research and

optimization of such technologies, and up to $60 million “to support front-end engineering and

design studies, including for the development of a first-of-its-kind carbon capture project at an

existing natural gas combined cycle plant.” On September 23, 2022, DOE announced $2.54

billion in IIJA funding available for front-end engineering and design studies for carbon capture

facilities, including facilities designed to capture carbon dioxide from natural gas power plants.19

For carbon removal, the House appropriations bill would have provided not less than $175

million overall—$65 million from FECM, $26 million from EERE, and $84 million from

Science.

The draft explanatory statement for S. 4660 included $466 million for Carbon Management

Technologies. Up to $90 million was to be provided “to support front-end engineering and design

studies, large pilot projects, and demonstration projects” for carbon capture and at least $40

million for the CarbonSAFE transport and storage program. For carbon removal, S. 4660 would

have provided not less than $180 million overall—not less than $75 million from FECM, $26

million from EERE, and $90 million from Science.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, provided $460 million for Carbon Management

Technologies, a decrease of $19 million (-4%) from the Administration request. The largest

decrease from the request was for Carbon Capture (down by $28 million, or -17%), and the

largest increase from the request was for Hydrogen with Carbon Management (up by $21 million,

or 28%).

Increases for DOE Loan Programs

The Administration’s FY2023 budget request included $150 million to pay for credit subsidy

costs for qualifying projects under DOE’s Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee

Program. The same amount for subsidy costs was requested in FY2022 but not approved. The

FY2023 budget justification called for the annual appropriation for Title 17 subsidy costs to

continue and gradually increase to $164 million in FY2027.20

16 Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” Section 218, January 27, 2021,

https://downloads.regulations.gov/EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0202-0012/content.pdf. Additional information about the

working group is available at https://energycommunities.gov/.

17 DOE, FY 2023 Congressional Budget Justification, vol. 4, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/doefy2023-budget-volume-4-fecm.pdf.

18 For background information on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), see CRS Report R44902, Carbon

Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in the United States, by Angela C. Jones and Ashley J. Lawson.

19 DOE, “Funding Notice: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program,”

https://www.energy.gov/fecm/funding-notice-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-carbon-capture-demonstration-projectsprogram.

20 DOE, FY 2023 Congressional Budget Justification, vol. 3, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/doe-

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Subsidy cost payments, which reflect the budgetary effects of federal credit programs, are

required up-front by the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA; Section 13201 of P.L. 10158). For Title 17 loan guarantees, subsidy costs can be paid through appropriations, by the

borrower, or a combination thereof. The Office of Management and Budget provides guidance for

calculating subsidy costs, which are unique to each qualifying project.21 From an overall project

portfolio perspective, Title 17 subsidy costs range from 10% to 15% of loan guarantee

commitments.

Title 17 (XVII) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT05; P.L. 109-58, as amended at 42

U.S.C. §§16511 et seq.) authorizes DOE to guarantee loans for projects that meet the following

criteria:

1. Avoid, reduce, utilize, or sequester air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions,

and

2. Employ new or significantly improved technologies, including projects that

employ elements of commercial technologies in combination with new or

significantly improved technologies.

To date, the original and ongoing Title 17 authority—referred to as Section 1703—has provided

financial support for two projects. The most recent Section 1703 loan guarantee, issued in June

2022, was for $504.4 million to finance a hydrogen energy storage facility in Utah.22 Most Title

17 loan guarantee commitments were provided under a temporary authority—referred to as

Section 1705—that expired in September 2011.23

Approximately $61.9 billion of loan guarantee authority is currently available for Section 1703

projects, after a $40 billion increase by IRA. One factor that has resulted in low utilization of

Section 1703 authority is the requirement for most borrowers to pay for all or a portion of a

project’s credit subsidy cost. Congress appropriated $170 million in 2011 for Section 1703

renewable energy and efficient energy projects, subsequently reduced to $161 million after a

rescission and transfer. IRA appropriated an additional $3.6 billion for Section 1703 subsidy

costs. IRA also established a time-limited (available through FY2026), $250 billion Title 17 loan

guarantee commitment authority—Section 1706—for “Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment

Financing.” IRA appropriated $5 billion to carry out the Section 1706 program.

The additional $150 million credit subsidy appropriation requested by the Administration for

FY2023 would have supported up to $5 billion in loan guarantees. The Administration proposed

provisions to allow these loan guarantees to be used for projects authorized by IIJA but currently

prohibited from using existing Title 17 authority. These projects could have state support and

would not be required to employ significantly improved technology.

For DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program, the

Administration proposed expanding eligible projects to additional types of vehicle technology,

including “advanced medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, locomotives, maritime vessels, aircraft,

fy2023-budget-volume-3-lpo-v3.pdf.

21 See OMB Circular A-11, Part 5, Section 185, “Federal Credit,” available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/

uploads/2018/06/s185.pdf.

22 DOE Loan Programs Office, “Advanced Clean Energy Storage,” https://www.energy.gov/lpo/advanced-cleanenergy-storage.

23 For additional information, see CRS Insight IN11432, Department of Energy Loan Programs: Title XVII Innovative

Technology Loan Guarantees, by Phillip Brown et al.

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

and hyperloop technology.”24 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023—as did the Housepassed bill and S. 4660—included funding only for administrative expenses for the Title 17 loan

guarantee program and ATVM loan program, excluding the proposed Administration initiatives.

For DOE’s Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program (TELGP), the Administration expressed

support for continuing authority provided in the FY2022 appropriations act that allows applicants

to apply for direct loans. Both the House-passed bill and S. 4660 would have increased

appropriations for this program from the Administration’s request of $1.9 million to $10 million,

while the enacted measure provided $4 million. IRA had previously increased TELGP’s loan

guarantee authority to $20 billion and appropriated $75 million for the program.

For more information, see CRS Insight IN11984, Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA):

Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Programs, by Phillip Brown.

Startup of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations

The Administration requested $214 million in FY2023 to continue the startup of the DOE Office

of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), which was authorized and initially funded by IIJA (see

Table 1). The House-passed bill included $189 million for OCED, S. 4660 would have provided

$150 million, and the enacted measure appropriated $89 million.

OCED funds clean energy and industrial decarbonization demonstration projects for potential

commercialization. For FY2023, OCED is planning to solicit proposals to demonstrate

technologies “that integrate renewable and distributed energy systems with broader energy

networks” in addition to IIJA-funded programs.25 OCED is also taking over DOE support for two

advanced nuclear reactor demonstration projects previously overseen by the DOE Office of

Nuclear Energy.

DOE requested $25 million in FY2023 for 90 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff for OCED program

direction. For FY2022, OCED received $20 million, in addition to $21.456 billion appropriated to

OCED for FY2022-FY2026 by IIJA (see Table 1). IRA appropriated $5.812 billion for an OCED

program on Advanced Industrial Facilities Deployment for FY2022-FY2026.

Table 1. Additional Appropriations for Clean Energy Demonstrations in

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58)

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

Program

FY2022

FY2023

FY2024

FY2025

FY2026

Total

Energy Storage Demonstration Pilot

Grants Program

88.8

—

355.0

Long-Duration Demonstration Initiative

and Joint Program

37.5

—

150.0

Advanced Reactor Demonstration

Program

677.0

600.0

—

2,477.0

Carbon Capture Large-scale Pilot

Projects

387.0

200.0

150.0

—

937.0

24 DOE, FY 2023 Congressional Budget Justification, vol. 3, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/doe-

fy2023-budget-volume-3-lpo-v3.pdf.

25 DOE, FY 2023 Congressional Budget Justification, vol. 4, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/doefy2023-budget-volume-3-oced-1.pdf.

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Program

FY2022

FY2023

FY2024

FY2025

FY2026

Total

Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects

937.0

500.0

600.0

—

2,537.0

Industrial Emission Demonstration

Projects

100.0

150.0

—

500.0

Clean Energy Demonstration Program

on Current and Former Mine Land

100.0

500.0

Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs

1,600.0

8,000.0

Program Upgrading Our Electric Grid

and Ensuring Reliability and Resiliency

1,000.0

5,000.0

Energy improvement in rural and remote

areas

200.0

1,000.0

5,127.3

4,426.3

4,476.3

4,526.3

2,900.0

21,456.0

153.8

132.8

134.3

135.8

87.0

643.7

Total

3% set-aside for program administration

Source: P.L. 117-58, Division J.

Note: Appropriations would be in addition to other amounts made available for these purposes.

Increases in Crosscutting Hydrogen Funding

The DOE hydrogen program includes several offices with responsibility for supporting hydrogen

work based on different primary sources of energy (e.g., renewable, fossil, nuclear) and types of

end-use (e.g., vehicles, portable power, thermal comfort). DOE’s FY2023 request for hydrogen

appropriations totaled $406 million, an increase of $76 million (23%) over the FY2022 level.

Most of the hydrogen funding comes from EERE and FECM, with smaller amounts from Nuclear

Energy and Science. DOE launched a “Hydrogen Shot” initiative in June 2021—one of its

“Energy Earthshots” dedicated to the scale-up of emerging clean energy technologies—with a

goal of making hydrogen, produced through electrolysis, commercially available at a cost of $1

for 1 kilogram in 1 decade, not including delivery and dispensing.

The House-passed bill and S. 4660 draft explanatory statement did not provide totals for the

crosscutting hydrogen program. The House Appropriations Committee report directed DOE “to

continue to emphasize hydrogen production and the development of hydrogen refueling

infrastructure nationwide to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission fuel cell transportation.”

The Senate draft explanatory statement supported DOE’s “continued coordination on hydrogen

energy and fuel cell technologies in order to maximize the effectiveness of investments in

hydrogen-related activities.”

The FY2023 explanatory statement directed DOE to spend at least $316 million for the hydrogen

crosscut: $163 million from EERE, $113 million from FECM, $23 million from NE, and $17

million from the Office of Science. Those hydrogen activities are to be coordinated with the

Office of Electricity, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and ARPA-E, according to the

explanatory statement.

In addition to funding in the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, IIJA

appropriated $9.500 billion for three hydrogen- and fuel cell-related DOE programs from FY2022

to FY2026 ($1.900 billion in FY2023). The largest of these, the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs

in the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, was appropriated $8.000 billion to support

demonstration projects involving networks of clean hydrogen producers and consumers and the

connecting infrastructure. DOE plans to select 6 to 10 hubs with combined total funding of an

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

estimated $6-$7 billion, with a “preferred maximum” of $1.250 billion per hub. The balance of

the $8 billion appropriated for the hubs in the IIJA may be reserved for additional hubs or other

supporting activities.

(For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12163, Department of Energy Funding for Hydrogen

and Fuel Cell Technology Programs, by Martin C. Offutt.)

Overall Level Funding for Weapons Activities

The FY2023 budget request for DOE Weapons Activities was 4% higher than the FY2022

enacted level ($16.486 billion vs. $15.920 billion). Weapons Activities programs are carried out

by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous agency within

DOE. The House-passed bill included $16.333 billion for Weapons Activities (-1% below the

request), while S. 4660 would provide $16.986 billion (3% above the request). The enacted

amount was $17.116 billion, an increase of $1.196 billion (8%) over the FY2022 enacted level.

Under Weapons Activities, the FY2023 budget request included funding for several major nuclear

warhead life-extension programs (LEPs):



NNSA requested $672 million for the B61-12 LEP in FY2023, a decrease of

$100 million (-13%) from the FY2022 enacted amount. The B61-12 LEP is to

combine four existing variants of the B61 gravity bomb. Both the House-passed

bill and S. 4660 included the requested amount, as did the enacted measure.

NNSA proposed $162 million for the W88 Alteration in FY2023, a reduction of

$45 million (-22%) from the FY2022 amount. The program is to upgrade the

arming-fuzing-firing system on the warhead and refresh the warhead’s

conventional high explosives. This warhead is carried on a portion of the D-5

(Trident) submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). Both the House-passed

bill and S. 4660 included the requested amount, as did the enacted measure.

NNSA requested $1.122 billion for the W80-4 in FY2023, an increase of $42

million (4%) over the FY2021 level. This is the warhead for a new long-range

cruise missile. The LEP would seek to use common components from other LEPs

and to improve warhead safety and security. Both the House-passed bill and S.

4660 included the requested amount, which was also provided by the enacted

measure.

NNSA requested $680 million for the W87-1 warhead modification program for

FY2023, a decrease of $11 million (-2%) from FY2021. The Air Force plans to

deploy the W87-1 on the new U.S. land-based intercontinental ballistic missile

(ICBM), the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD). This would provide the

Air Force with an alternative warhead if the W87-1 FPU is delayed. Both the

House-passed bill and S. 4660 included the requested amount, as did the enacted

measure.

NNSA requested $241 million for the W93 warhead, which is a new design

intended for deployment on ballistic missile submarines by 2040.26 The full

amount was approved by the enacted measure.

Both the House Appropriations Committee report and the S. 4660 draft Explanatory Statement

expressed concerns about NNSA’s schedule for developing production capacity for plutonium

26 Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, “Fact Sheet: The W93 Warhead,” January 28, 2021,

https://armscontrolcenter.org/the-w93-warhead.

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

pits, a central component of nuclear warheads. The House Committee report said, “The slip in

schedule for achieving a production rate of 50 plutonium pits per year at the Savannah River Site

is symptomatic of the lack of a fully mature, risk-informed integrated master schedule (IMS).”

The explanatory statement, echoing language in the draft report on S. 4660, directs NNSA to

issue a two-site plan “covering the entirety of the work required to produce 80 pits per year.”

NNSA announced the two-site strategy on February 9, 2023.27 Pit production is included under

Primary Capability Modernization, which received an enacted appropriation of $3.144 billion, an

increase of $476 million above the request.

Appropriations for NNSA nuclear weapons activities and other defense programs typically

closely track the levels authorized in annual National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs). The

House passed the NDAA for FY2023 on July 14, 2022 (H.R. 7900) and the Senate Armed

Services Committee reported its version on July 18, 2022 (S. 4543, S.Rept. 117-130). It was

signed into law December 23, 2022 (P.L. 117-263).

Cleanup of Former Nuclear Sites: Adequacy of Proposed Funding

DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for environmental cleanup and

waste management at the department’s nuclear facilities. The $8.252 billion request for EM

activities for FY2023 was $754 million (4%) above the FY2022 enacted level of $7.904 billion.

The House-passed bill included $7.880 billion for EM (nearly the same as FY2022), while S.

4660 would have provided $8.307 billion (up 5% from FY2022). The Consolidated

Appropriations Act, 2023, provided a total of $8.263 billion for EM programs, about the same as

the request and up 5% from the FY2022 enacted amount.

The primary budgetary component of the EM program is the Defense Environmental Cleanup

account, which finances the cleanup of former nuclear weapons production sites. For FY2023, the

Administration requested $7.106 billion, 6% above the FY2022 enacted amount. The Housepassed bill and S. 4660 would have provided $6.723 billion and $7.064 billion, respectively, for

that account, while the enacted measure provided $7.025 billion (5% above FY2022). For the

Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup account, which funds the cleanup of federal nuclear energy

research sites, the request was $323 million, while the House-passed bill included $334 million

and S. 4660 $374 million. The enacted measure provided $359 million, 7% above the FY2022

amount. The third component of the EM budget is the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and

Decommissioning Fund, for which the FY2023 request was $822 million, while the Housepassed bill would have provided $823 million and S. 4660 $869 million. The enacted measure

provides $879 million, a 2% increase from FY2022. This fund was established by Title XI of the

Energy Policy Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-486) to pay for the cleanup of three federal facilities that

enriched uranium for national defense and civilian purposes, located near Paducah, KY; Piketon,

OH (Portsmouth plant); and Oak Ridge, TN.

The adequacy of funding for the Office of Environmental Management to attain cleanup

milestones across the entire site inventory has been a recurring issue. Cleanup milestones are

enforceable measures incorporated into compliance agreements negotiated among DOE, the

Environmental Protection Agency, and the states. These milestones establish time frames for the

completion of specific actions to satisfy applicable requirements at individual sites.

27 NNSA, “NNSA Approves Start of Construction for Plutonium Pit Production Subproject at Los Alamos National

Laboratory,” February 9, 2023, https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-approves-start-construction-plutonium-pitproduction-subproject-los-alamos.

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Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

The House Appropriations Committee report criticized the Administration’s request for increasing

Defense Environmental Cleanup funding for some sites at the expense of others, such as Hanford

(WA) and Savannah River (SC). According to the committee report, “The recommendation

continues to fund a balanced approach that sustains the momentum of ongoing cleanup activities

more consistently across all Department cleanup sites.”

Bill Status and Recent Funding History

Table 2 indicates the steps taken during consideration of FY2023 Energy and Water Development

appropriations. (For more details, see the CRS Appropriations Status Table at http://www.crs.gov/

AppropriationsStatusTable/Index.)

Table 2. Status of Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2023

Subcommittee

Markup

Final Approval

House

Senate

House

Comm.

6/21/22

None

6/28/22

House

Passed

Senate

Comm.

Senate

Passed

Conf.

Report

House

Senate

Public

Law

7/20/22

None

12/23/22

12/22/22

12/29/22

Source: CRS Appropriations Status Table.

Notes: The House Energy and Water Development appropriations bill was combined with five others for initial

House passage (H.R. 8294). Instead of a conference report, an explanatory statement was published in the

Congressional Record on December 20, 2022.

Table 3 includes budget totals for regular (excluding supplementals) energy and water

development appropriations enacted for FY2017 through FY2023.

Table 3. Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2017-FY2023

(budget authority in billions of current dollars)

FY2017

FY2018

FY201

FY2020

FY2021

38.9a

43.3b

44.7c

48.4d

49.5

FY2022 FY2023

Request

55.6e

57.5

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp

59.7

60.7

59.2

Source: Compiled by CRS from totals provided by congressional budget documents.

Notes: Figures exclude permanent budget authorities, scorekeeping adjustments, rescissions, and emergency

funding.

a. Amount does not include $1.0 billion in emergency funding for the USACE (P.L. 114-254).

b. Amount does not include $17.4 billion in emergency funding for USACE and DOE (P.L. 115-123).

c. Amount does not include supplemental funding provided by P.L. 116-20 ($3.3 billion for USACE and $16

million for Reclamation).

d. Amount does not include supplemental funding provided by P.L. 116-136.

e. Does not include appropriations from P.L. 117-58, P.L. 117-43, P.L. 117-169. Does not include budget

scorekeeping adjustments.

Description of Major Energy and Water Programs

The annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill includes four titles: Title I—Corps

of Engineers—Civil; Title II—Department of the Interior (Bureau of Reclamation and Central

Utah Project); Title III—Department of Energy; and Title IV—Independent Agencies, as shown

in Table 4. Major programs in the bill are described in this section in the approximate order they

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

appear in the bill. Previous appropriations and the amounts recommended and approved during

the major stages of the FY2023 appropriations process are shown in the accompanying tables,

and additional details about many of these programs are provided in separate CRS reports as

indicated. For a discussion of current funding issues related to these programs, see “Funding

Issues and Initiatives,” above. Congressional clients may obtain more detailed information by

contacting CRS analysts listed in CRS Report R42638, Appropriations: CRS Experts, by James

M. Specht and Justin Murray.

Table 4. Energy and Water Development Appropriations Summary

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

FY2019

Approp

FY2020

Approp

FY2021

Approp

FY2022

Approp

FY2023

Request

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp

Title I: Corps of

Engineers

6,999

7,650

7,795

8,343

6,601

8,889

8,758

8,310

Title II: CUP and

Reclamation

1,565

1,680

1,691

1,924

1,434

1,914

1,950

1,954

Title III:

Department of

Energy

35,709

38,657

39,625

44,856

49,004

48,340

49,495

48,445

Title IV:

Independent

Agencies

390

407

414

454

508

521

482

494

General provisions

—

44,684

48,395

49,525

55,576

57,548

59,664

60,685

59,204

-24

-71

-73

-2,704

-2,018

-3,389

-3,140

10,891

44,660

48,324

49,452

52,872

55,530

56,275

57,540

70,095

Title

Subtotal

Rescissions and

Scorekeeping

Adjustmentsa

E&W Total

Sources: P.L. 117-328 and explanatory statement; S. 4660 and draft explanatory statement; H.Rept. 117-394;

explanatory statement for H.R. 2371; CBO Estimate for H.R. 8294; S.Rept. 117-36; H.Rept. 117-98; H.R. 4502;

FY2022 agency budget justifications; explanatory statement for H.R. 133, 116th Congress; FY2021 Senate

Appropriations Committee majority draft; H.R. 7617; H.Rept. 116-449; President’s Budget FY2021; explanatory

statement for Division C of H.R. 1865, 116th Congress; S.Rept. 116-102; S. 2470; H.R. 2740; CBO Current Status

Report; H.Rept. 116-83; H.Rept. 115-929; and S.Rept. 115-258. Excludes emergency appropriations. Subtotals

may include other adjustments. Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding and adjustments.

a. Budget “scorekeeping” refers to official determinations of spending amounts for congressional budget

enforcement purposes. These scorekeeping adjustments may include rescissions and offsetting revenues

from various sources.

Agency Budget Justifications

FY2023 budget justifications for the largest agencies funded by the annual Energy and Water

Development appropriations bill can be found through the links below. The justifications provide

detailed descriptions and funding breakouts for programs, projects, and activities under the

agencies’ jurisdiction.



Title I, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Civil Works, http://www.usace.army.mil/

Missions/CivilWorks/Budget (see Table 5)

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations



Title II (see Table 7)

 Bureau of Reclamation, https://www.usbr.gov/budget/

 Central Utah Project, https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/fy2022-cupcabudget-justification.pdf

Title III, Department of Energy, https://www.energy.gov/cfo/articles/fy-2023budget-justification (see Table 8)

Title IV, Independent Agencies (see Table 12)

 Appalachian Regional Commission, https://www.arc.gov/budgetperformance-and-policy

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/staff/sr1100/

 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, https://www.dnfsb.gov/about/

congressional-budget-requests



Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, http://www.nwtrb.gov/about-us/

plans

Army Corps of Engineers

USACE is an agency in the Department of Defense with both military and civilian

responsibilities. Under its civil works program, which is funded by the Energy and Water

Development appropriations bill, USACE plans, builds, operates, and in some cases maintains

water resource facilities for coastal and inland navigation, riverine and coastal flood risk

reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration.28

In recent decades, Congress has generally authorized USACE studies, construction projects, and

other activities in omnibus water authorization bills, typically titled as Water Resources

Development Acts (WRDA), prior to funding them through appropriations legislation. Recent

Congresses enacted omnibus water resources authorization acts in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and

2022. (The latest WRDA was Title LXXXI of Division H of the James M. Inhofe National

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, P.L. 117-263.) These acts consisted largely of

authorizations for new USACE projects, and they altered numerous USACE policies and

procedures.29

Unlike for highways and in municipal water infrastructure programs, federal funds for USACE

are not distributed to states or projects based on formulas or delivered via competitive grants.

Instead, USACE generally is directly involved in planning, designing, and managing the

construction of projects that are cost-shared with nonfederal project sponsors.

Policies in the 112th through the 116th Congresses limited congressionally directed funding of sitespecific projects (i.e., earmarks). Prior to the 112th Congress, Congress would direct funds to

specific projects not in the budget request or increase funds for certain projects. For FY2011FY2021, Congress appropriated additional funding for categories of USACE work without

28 Military responsibilities are funded through the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

appropriations bill.

29 For more information on USACE authorization legislation, see CRS In Focus IF11322, Water Resources

Development Acts: Primer, by Nicole T. Carter and Anna E. Normand, and CRS Report R45185, Army Corps of

Engineers: Water Resource Authorization and Project Delivery Processes, by Nicole T. Carter and Anna E. Normand.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

identifying specific projects. During that period, after congressional enactment of the

appropriations legislation and accompanying report language on priorities and other guidance for

use of the additional funding, the Administration developed a work plan that reported on (1) the

studies and construction projects selected to receive funding for the first time (new starts) and (2)

the specific studies and projects receiving additional funds. For FY2022 and FY2023, Congress

approved earmarks in specified categories, in addition to providing additional funding for specific

categories for USACE to allocate in work plans.30 For more information, see CRS Report

R46320, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Annual Appropriations Process, by Anna E. Normand

and Nicole T. Carter.

Table 5 shows USACE appropriations accounts from FY2019 through FY2023.

Table 5. Army Corps of Engineers

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

FY2019

Approp

FY2020

Approp

FY2021

Approp

FY2022

Approp

FY2023

Request

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp

Investigations

125.0

151.0

153.0

143.0

105.9

160.0

165.7

172.5

Construction

2,183.0

2,681.0

2,692.6

2,492.8

1,221.3

2,475.2

2,159.6

1,808.8

Mississippi

River and

Tributaries

(MR&T)

368.0

375.0

380.0

370.0

225.0

350.0

373.1

370.0

3,739.5

3,790.0

3,849.7

4,570.0

2,599.1

5,153.0

5,131.6

5,078.5

Regulatory

200.0

210.0

212.0

210.0

213.0

218.0

General

Expenses

193.0

203.0

206.0

208.0

200.0

212.0

215.0

FUSRAP

150.0

200.0

250.0

300.0

250.0

278.3

450.0

400.0

Flood Control

and Coastal

Emergencies

(FCCE)

35.0

Office of the

Asst. Secretary

of the Army

5.0

WIFIA

Programb

—

14.2

7.2

10.0

7.2

10.0

7.2

Harbor

Maintenance

Trust Fund

—

1,726.0a

—

Program

Operation and

Maintenance

(O&M)

30 USACE work plans are available at USACE, “Civil Works Budget and Performance”, at

https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#Work-Plans.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

FY2019

Approp

FY2020

Approp

FY2021

Approp

FY2022

Approp

FY2023

Request

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp

Inland

Waterways

Trust Fund

—

13.8a

—

Rescissions

—

-0.5

—

6,998.5

7,650.0

7,795.0

8,343.0

6,601.0

8,888.7

8,758.0

8,310

Program

Total Title I

Sources: P.L. 117-328 and explanatory statement; S. 4660 and draft explanatory statement; explanatory

statement for H.R. 2371; CBO Estimate for H.R. 8294; S.Rept. 117-36; H.Rept. 117-98; H.R. 4502; USACE Civil

Works FY2022 Budget; explanatory statement for H.R. 133, 116th Congress; FY2021 Senate Appropriations

Committee majority draft; H.R. 7617, H.Rept. 116-449; President’s Budget, FY2021; explanatory statement for

Division C of H.R. 1865, 116th Congress; S.Rept. 116-102; S. 2470; H.R. 2740; CBO Current Status Report;

H.Rept. 116-83; FY2020 Budget Justification; H.Rept. 115-929; S.Rept. 115-258; S.Rept. 115-132; H.Rept. 115230; and P.L. 115-31 and explanatory statement. FY2020 and FY2021 request numbers can be found at

https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/.

Notes: Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding.

a. In the Administration’s request, some activities that would have previously been funded in these accounts

were proposed to be funded directly from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) and Inland

Waterway Trust Fund (IWTF) accounts. That is, the Administration proposed funding eligible USACE

activities directly from the trust funds. This would have replaced the current practice of having USACE’s

O&M, Construction, and MR&T accounts incur expenses for HMTF-eligible and IWTF-eligible activities, and

for these expenses to be reimbursed from the HMTF and IWTF accounts. For example, HMTF-eligible

maintenance dredging would no longer have been funded by the O&M account and reimbursed by the

HMTF; instead the dredging would have been funded directly from the HMTF account. The proposal was

not included in the enacted measure, and similar proposals also were not enacted in FY2019, FY2020, and

FY2021.

b. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, created a new USACE account to support direct loans and for

the cost of guaranteed loans, as authorized by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014

(WIFIA, Title V, Subtitle C of P.L. 113-121).

In addition to the regular appropriations for FY2023, USACE received the following FY2023

supplemental appropriations:



$1.480 billion in Division N of P.L. 117-328, as shown in Table 6;

$1.080 billion in IIJA (P.L. 117-58), as shown in Table 6; and

$20 million in the FY2023 continuing resolution (P.L. 117-180).

Table 6. Additional FY2023 Appropriations for USACE

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

Account

IIJA

FY2023 Approp

Division N

FY2023 Approp

Investigations

30.0

5.0

Construction

50.0

558.5a

—

15.5

1,000.0

376.8b

Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies

—

519.2

General Expenses

—

5.0

1,080.0

1,480.0

Mississippi River and Tributaries

Operation and Maintenance

Totals

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Source: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58) and Division N of P.L. 117-328.

Notes: USACE spending information for IIJA and other supplemental appropriations are available at “USACE

Supplemental Program,” at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Supplemental-Work/. The majority

of USACE appropriations provided by Division N of P.L. 117-328 were limited to flood response and recovery

for areas affected by natural disasters; exceptions are footnoted.

a. $297.2 million under Construction is for certain types of authorized projects regardless of disaster impacts.

USACE allocated this funding in the FY2023 Construction work plan at USACE, “Civil Works Budget and

Performance,” at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#Work-Plans.

b. $52.8 million under Operation and Maintenance is for certain types of authorized projects regardless of

disaster impacts. USACE allocated this funding in the FY2023 Operation and Maintenance work plan at USACE,

“Civil Works Budget and Performance,” at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#WorkPlans.

Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah Project

Most of the large dams and water diversion structures in the West were built by, or with the

assistance of, the Bureau of Reclamation. While USACE built hundreds of flood control and

navigation projects, Reclamation’s original mission was to develop water supplies, primarily for

irrigation to reclaim arid lands in the West for farming and ranching. Reclamation has evolved

into an agency that assists in meeting the water demands in the West while working to protect the

environment and the public’s investment in Reclamation infrastructure. The agency’s municipal

and industrial water deliveries have more than doubled since 1970.

Today, Reclamation manages hundreds of dams and diversion projects, including more than 300

storage reservoirs, in 17 western states. These projects provide water to approximately 10 million

acres of farmland and 31 million people. Reclamation is the largest wholesale supplier of water in

the 17 western states and the second-largest hydroelectric power producer in the nation.

Reclamation facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and other benefits.

Reclamation facility operations are often controversial, particularly for their effect on fish and

wildlife species and because of conflicts among competing water users during drought conditions.

As with USACE, the Reclamation budget is made up largely of individual project funding lines,

rather than general programs that would not be covered by congressional earmark requirements.

Therefore, as with USACE, these Reclamation projects have often been subject to earmark

disclosure rules. The moratorium on earmarks through FY2021 restricted congressional steering

of money directly toward specific Reclamation projects. For FY2022 and FY2023, the rules again

allowed congressionally directed funding for specific Reclamation projects.

Reclamation’s single largest account, Water and Related Resources, encompasses the agency’s

traditional programs and projects, including construction, operations and maintenance, dam

safety, and ecosystem restoration, among others.31 Reclamation also typically requests funds in a

number of smaller accounts, and has proposed additional accounts in recent years.

Implementation and oversight of the Central Utah Project, also funded by Title II, is conducted by

a separate office within the Department of the Interior.32

31 The Water and Related Resources Account is largely funded by the Reclamation Fund, which receives and

distributes receipts related to a number of federal activities (including royalties received from oil and gas leasing on

federal lands). For more on this fund and financing of selected Reclamation Projects, see CRS Report R41844, The

Reclamation Fund: A Primer, by Charles V. Stern.

32 The Central Utah Project moves water from the Colorado River basin in eastern Utah to the western slopes of the

Wasatch Mountain range. It was authorized in 1956 under the Colorado River Storage Project Act (P.L. 84-485). For

more information, see the CUP website at https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=498.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12127, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2023 Budget and

Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern. Previous appropriations and the amounts recommended and

approved during the major stages of the FY2023 appropriations process are shown in Table 7.

Table 7. Bureau of Reclamation and CUP

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

FY2019

Approp

FY2020

Approp

FY2021

Approp

FY2022

Approp

FY2023

Request

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp

1,392.0

1,512.2

1,521.1

1,747.1

1,270.4

1,749.1

1,784.9

1,787.2

Policy and

Administration

61.0

60.0

64.4

65.1

63.1

65.1

CVP

Restoration

Fund (CVPRF)

62.0

54.8

55.9

56.5

45.8

Calif. Bay-Delta

(CALFED)

35.0

33.0

Gross Current

Reclamation

Authority

1,550.0

1,660.0

1,670.0

1,901.0

1,414.2

1,891.0

1,928.8

1,931.0

Central Utah

Project (CUP)

Completion

15.0

20.0

21.0

23.0

20.0

23.0

21.0

23.0

Total,

Reclamation

and CUP

1,565.0

1,680.0

1,691.0

1,924.0

1,434.2

1,914.0

1,949.8

1,954.0

Program

Water and

Resources

Sources: P.L. 117-328 and explanatory statement; S. 4660 and draft explanatory statement; explanatory

statement for H.R. 2371; CBO Estimate for H.R. 8294; S.Rept. 117-36; H.Rept. 117-98; H.R. 4502; Reclamation

and CUP FY2022 congressional budget justifications, explanatory statement for H.R. 133, 116th Congress;

FY2021 Senate Appropriations Committee majority draft; H.R. 7617, H.Rept. 116-449; President’s Budget,

FY2021; explanatory statement for Division C of H.R. 1865, 116th Congress; S.Rept. 116-102; H.R. 2740; CBO

Current Status Report; H.Rept. 116-83; FY2020 Budget Justifications; H.Rept. 115-929; S.Rept. 115-258; S.Rept.

115-132; H.Rept. 115-230; and P.L. 115-31 and explanatory statement. Excludes offsets and permanent

appropriations.

Note: Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding. CVP = Central Valley Project.

Additional Funding

For FY2023, the IIJA provides $1.660 billion for Reclamation’s Water and Related Resources

account. (For more information, see CRS Report R47032, Bureau of Reclamation Provisions in

the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E.

Normand.) IRA also appropriated additional funds in FY2022 for Reclamation: $4.000 billion for

drought mitigation, available through FY2026; $550 million for disadvantaged communities,

available through FY2031; $25 million for projects to cover water conveyance facilities with

solar panels, available through FY2031; and $13 million for drought relief actions to mitigate

drought impacts for tribes affected by the operation of a Reclamation water project, available

through FY2031.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Department of Energy

The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill has funded all DOE programs since

FY2005. Major DOE activities are authorized under multiple energy statutes and include (1)

R&D on renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear power, fossil energy, and electricity; (2) the

Strategic Petroleum Reserve; (3) energy statistics, projections, and analysis; (4) general science;

(5) loan programs; (6) environmental cleanup; and (7) nuclear weapons and nonproliferation

programs. Table 8 provides the recent funding history for DOE programs, which are briefly

described further below.

Table 8. Department of Energy

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

FY2020

Approp.

FY2021

Approp.

FY2022

Approp.

FY2023

Request

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp.

Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy

2,790.0

2,861.8

3,200.0

4,018.9

4,016.0

3,799.0

3,460.0

Electricity Deliverya

190.0

211.7

277.0

297.4

350.0

362.0

350.0

Cybersecurity, Energy

Security, and

Emergency Responsea

156.0

185.8

202.1

205.0

202.1

200.0

1,493.4

1,507.6

1,654.8

1,675.1

1,779.8

1,765.6

1,473.0

750.0

825.0

893.2

875.0

880.0

890.0

117.3

109.8

222.0

Energy Programs

Nuclear Energyb

Fossil Energy and

Carbon Management

Energy Projects

Naval Petroleum and

Oil Shale Reserves

14.0

13.0

13.7

13.0

Strategic Petroleum

Reservec

205.0

189.0

226.4

222.2

60.5

-1,844.7

Northeast Home

Heating Oil Reserve

10.0

6.5

7.0

Energy Information

Administration

126.8

129.1

144.5

144.0

135.0

Non-Defense

Environmental

Cleanup

319.2

333.9

323.3

333.9

373.6

358.6

Uranium Enrichment

Decontamination and

Decommissioning

Fund

881.0

841.0

860.0

822.4

823.3

869.0

879.1

7,000.0

7,026.0

7,475.0

7,799.2

8,000.5

8,100.0

Office of Technology

Transitions

19.5

21.6

23.1

21.6

22.1

Office of Clean Energy

Demonstrations

20.0

214.1

189.0

150.0

89.0

Science

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

FY2020

Approp.

FY2021

Approp.

FY2022

Approp.

FY2023

Request

Defense Production

Act Domestic Clean

Energy Accelerator

Federal Energy

Management Program

169.7

Grid Deployment

Office

240.2

Office of

Manufacturing and

Energy Supply Chains

27.4

Office of State and

Community Programs

726.9

Advanced Research

Projects Agency—

Energy (ARPA-E)

425.0

Nuclear Waste

Disposal

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp.

105.0

500.0

427.0

450.0

700.2

550.0

570.4

470.0

27.5

10.2

Departmental Admin.

(net)

161.0

166.0

240.0

397.2

290.6

257.3

283.0

Office of Inspector

General

54.2

57.7

78.0

106.8

92.0

86.0

Office of Indian Energy

22.0

58.0

150.0

75.0

110.0

75.0

Advanced Technology

Vehicles Manufacturing

(ATVM) Loans

5.0

9.8

29.0

206.2

31.2

ATVM Rescission of

Emergency Funding

-1,903.0

Title 17 Loan

Guarantee

29.0

Title 17 Rescission of

Emergency Funding

29.0

-363.0

Tribal Energy Loan

Guarantee

2.0

1.9

10.0

4.0

Total, Energy

Programs

14,633.6

12,444.8

16,116.0

19,400.3

18,273.4

18,448.0

15,323.2

Weapons Activities

12,457.1

15,345.0

15,920.0

16,486.3

16,333.1

16,986.3

17,116.1

Nuclear

Nonproliferation

2,164.4

2,260.0

2,354.0

2,346.3

2,424.0

2,538.0

2,490.0

Naval Reactors

1,648.4

1,684.0

1,918.0

2,081.5

2,000.0

2,081.5

434.7

443.2

464.0

496.4

475.0

496.4

475.0

Total, NNSA

16,704.6

19,732.2

20,656.0

21,410.4

21,232.1

22,102.1

22,162.6

Defense

Environmental

Cleanup

6,255.0

6,426.0

6,710.0

7,105.9

6,722.5

7,064.1

7,025.0

Office of Admin./

Salaries and Expenses

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

FY2020

Approp.

FY2021

Approp.

Defense Uranium

Enrichment D&D

FY2022

Approp.

FY2023

Request

573.3

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp.

823.3

579.0

586.0

Other Defense

Activities

906.0

920.0

985.0

978.4

1,027.6

1,040.2

1,035.0

Total, Defense

Activities

23,865.6

27,078.2

28,924.3

29,494.6

29,805.5

30,785.5

30,808.6

Southwestern

10.4

10.6

Western

89.2

89.4

90.8

98.7

Falcon and Amistad

O&M

0.2

Total, PMAs

99.8

100.0

101.4

109.6

General provisions

-12.7

-2.0

-286.1

2.0

DOE Total

Appropriations

38,657.2

39,625.0

44,855.6

48,340.4

49,495.1

48,445.4

-150.0

-2,200.0

48,190.4

49,345.0

46,243.4

Offsets and

adjustments

-70.9

Total, DOE

38,586.3

39,625.0

44,855.6

49,004.4

Sources: P.L. 117-328 and explanatory statement; S. 4660 and draft explanatory statement; explanatory

statement for H.R. 2371; CBO Estimate for H.R. 8294; S.Rept. 117-36; H.Rept. 117-98; H.R. 4502; DOE FY2022

congressional budget justification, explanatory statement for H.R. 133, 116th Congress; FY2021 Senate

Appropriations Committee majority draft; H.R. 7617; H.Rept. 116-449; President’s Budget, FY2021; explanatory

statement for Division C of H.R. 1865, 116th Congress; S.Rept. 116-102; H.R. 2740; CBO Current Status Report;

H.Rept. 116-83; H.Rept. 115-929; S.Rept. 115-258; S.Rept. 115-132; H.Rept. 115-230; and P.L. 115-31 and

explanatory statement.

Notes: Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding. AI = Artificial Intelligence.

a. The Office of Electricity Delivery and the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency

Response were created from the former Office of Electric Delivery and Energy Reliability in FY2019.

b. Includes appropriations under defense budget function.

c. Includes Strategic Petroleum Reserve Petroleum Account and rescissions.

As well as the regular appropriations enacted for FY2023, DOE received additional FY2023

appropriations from IIJA as shown in Table 9. Additional appropriations are also available to

DOE from IRA, beginning in FY2022 as shown in Table 10. Additional amounts for FY2023

were appropriated by Division M and N of P.L. 117-328, as shown in Table 11.

Table 9. Additional FY2023 DOE Funding Under IIJA

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

Program

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response

IIJA FY2023

2,221.8

100.0

Electricity

1,610.0

Nuclear Energy

1,200.0

Fossil Energy and Carbon Management

1,444.5

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Program

IIJA FY2023

Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program

Account

2,097.0

Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations

4,426.3

Total

13,099.6

Source: H.Rept. 117-394.

Table 10. Additional FY2023 DOE Funding Under IRA

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

Program

IRA section

Approp.

Fiscal years

Home Energy Efficiency Rebates

50121

4,300

FY2022-FY2031

Home Electric Efficiency Rebates, States

50122

4,275

FY2022-FY2031

Home Electric Efficiency Rebates, Tribes

50122

225

FY2022-FY2031

Home Efficiency Contractor Training Grants

50123

200

FY2022-FY2031

Building Energy Code Adoption

50131(b)

330

FY2022-FY2029

Building Energy Code Adoption

50131(c)

670

FY2022-FY2029

Title 17 Loan Guarantees

50141

3,600

FY2022-FY2026

ATVM Loans

50142

3,000

FY2022-FY2028

Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grants

50143

2,000

FY2022-FY2031

Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment

50144

5,000

FY2022-FY2026

Tribal Energy Loan Guarantees

50145

FY2022-FY2028

Electric Transmission Facility Financing

50151

2,000

FY2022-FY2030

Transmission Line Siting Grants

50152

760

FY2022-FY2029

Offshore Wind Planning

50153

100

FY2022-FY2031

Advanced Industrial Facilities Deployment

50161

5,812

FY2022-FY2026

Inspector General

50171

FY2022-FY2031

National Laboratory Infrastructure

50172

Office of Science

FY2022-FY2027

50172(a)

Science Laboratory Infrastructure Projects

133.2

High Energy Physics Construction and Equipment

303.7

Fusion Energy Construction and Equipment

280.0

Nuclear Physics Construction and Equipment

217.0

Advanced Scientific Computing Facilities

163.8

Basic Energy Sciences Projects

294.5

Isotope Research and Development Facilities

157.8

Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management

50172(b)

150

Office of Nuclear Energy

50172(c)

150

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

50172(d)

150

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Program

Availability of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium

IRA section

50173

DOE Total

Approp.

Fiscal years

700

FY2022-FY2026

35,067

Source: P.L. 117-169.

Table 11. Additional FY2023 Funding for DOE in Divisions M and N of P.L. 117-328

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

Program

Division M

Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability

100.0

Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program

60.0

National Reactor Innovation Center

20.0

Risk Reduction for Future Demonstrations

120.0

Division N

Total

Nuclear Energy

Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (Ukraine-related activities)

125.3

Electricity (Puerto Rico electricity grid resilience)

1,000.0

Western Area Power Administration

Total

520.0

425.3

1,520.0

1,945.3

Source: P.L. 117-328, Divisions M and N.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) conducts research and

development on transportation energy technology, energy efficiency in buildings and

manufacturing processes, and the production of solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable

energy. EERE also administers formula grants to states.

The Sustainable Transportation program area includes electric vehicles, vehicle efficiency,

hydrogen and fuel cells, and alternative fuels. DOE’s electric vehicle program includes several

goals for 2030, including “decreasing vehicle battery cell cost to achieve cost parity with internal

combustion engines” and “eliminating dependence on critical materials such as cobalt, nickel, and

graphite.” The program also supports demonstrations of electrified medium and heavy trucks,

according to the FY2023 DOE budget justification.33

Renewable power programs focus on electricity generation from solar, wind, water, and

geothermal sources. They are also developing concentrated solar technologies to produce hightemperature heat that could replace fossil fuels in steel manufacturing and other industrial

processes. In the energy efficiency program area, the advanced manufacturing program focuses

on improving the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes and on the manufacturing of

energy-related products. The building technologies program includes R&D on lighting, space

conditioning, windows, and control technologies to reduce building energy-use intensity. The

energy efficiency program provides two types of formula grants to states: weatherization grants

33 DOE, FY2023 Congressional Budget Justification, March 2022, vol. 4 EERE, p. 5, https://www.energy.gov/sites/

default/files/2022-04/doe-fy2023-budget-volume-4-eere-v2.pdf.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

for improving the energy efficiency of low-income housing units and state energy planning

grants.

For more details on energy efficiency grants, see CRS Report R46418, The Weatherization

Assistance Program Formula, by Corrie E. Clark and Lynn J. Cunningham.

Electricity Delivery, Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Energy Reliability

The Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) is the federal

government’s lead entity for energy sector-specific responses to energy security emergencies—

whether caused by physical infrastructure problems or by cybersecurity issues. The office

conducts R&D on energy infrastructure security technology; provides energy sector security

guidelines, training, and technical assistance; and enhances energy sector emergency

preparedness and response.

The Office of Electricity (OE) “leads the Department’s efforts in developing new technologies to

strengthen, transform, and improve electricity delivery infrastructure so consumers have access to

resilient, secure, and clean sources of electricity.”34 OE uses a model of North American energy

vulnerabilities for analyzing transmission and other energy infrastructure needs. Other activities

include pursuing megawatt-scale electricity storage, integrating electric power system sensing

technology, and analyzing electricity-related policy issues.

Nuclear Energy

DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) supports R&D on technologies to improve the efficiency

and economic viability of existing U.S. nuclear power plants, development and demonstration of

advanced reactor technologies, and R&D on nuclear fuel cycle technologies. The FY2023 DOE

budget justification called NE “a key element of the President’s plan to put the United States

(U.S.) on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050.”35

The Reactor Concepts program area comprises research on advanced reactors, including

advanced small modular reactors, and research to enhance the “sustainability” of existing

commercial light water reactors. Advanced reactor research focuses on “Generation IV” reactors,

as opposed to the existing fleet of commercial light water reactors, which are generally classified

as generations II and III.

The Fuel Cycle Research and Development program includes generic research on nuclear waste

management and disposal. One of the program’s primary activities is the development of

technologies to separate the radioactive constituents of spent fuel for reuse or solidifying into

stable waste forms. Other major research areas in the Fuel Cycle R&D program include the

development of accident-tolerant fuels for existing commercial reactors, evaluation of fuel cycle

options, and development of improved technologies to prevent diversion of nuclear materials for

weapons. The program is also developing sources of high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU),

in which uranium is enriched to between 5% and 20% in the fissile isotope U-235, for potential

use in advanced reactors. HALEU would be required for several designs currently receiving costshared support by DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. For more information, see

34 DOE, FY2023 Congressional Budget Justification, March 2022, vol. 4 OE, p. 2, https://www.energy.gov/sites/

default/files/2022-04/doe-fy2023-budget-volume-4-oe-v2.pdf.

35 DOE, FY2023 Congressional Budget Justification, March 2022, vol. 4 Nuclear Energy, p. 1,

https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/doe-fy2023-budget-volume-4-ne.pdf.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

CRS Report R45706, Advanced Nuclear Reactors: Technology Overview and Current Issues, by

Danielle A. Arostegui and Mark Holt.

Fossil Energy and Carbon Management

The Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Research, Development, Demonstration, and

Deployment program (FECM) was formerly known as the Fossil Energy Research and

Development program. It has historically supported research related to coal, natural gas, and

petroleum,36 including a major focus area on the development of carbon capture and storage

technologies for use on coal-fired power plants. The program also supports operations at the

National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Under the Biden Administration, FECM has shifted its focus to what it calls carbon management

technologies: carbon capture, carbon utilization, geologic storage of carbon dioxide, and carbon

removal. FECM’s current carbon capture research focuses on natural gas-fired power plants and

applications outside the power sector, in line with congressional direction provided in the Energy

Act of 2020 (Division Z of P.L. 116-260) and other recent laws. FECM also focuses on research

into producing hydrogen from fossil fuels and using hydrogen in the power sector.

For more information, see CRS In Focus IF11861, DOE’s Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

and Carbon Removal Programs, by Ashley J. Lawson, CRS In Focus IF12163, Department of

Energy Funding for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Programs, by Martin C. Offutt, and

CRS Report R44902, Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in the United States, by Angela

C. Jones and Ashley J. Lawson.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)

Authorized in 1975 by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (P.L. 94-163, as amended; 42

U.S.C. §§6201 et seq.), the SPR fulfills two statutory policy objectives: (1) reduce the economic

impact of oil supply disruptions, and (2) carry out U.S. obligations under the Agreement on an

International Energy Program (IEP)—a multilateral, voluntary agreement subject to international

law. Currently, the SPR consists of a government-owned crude oil reserve in Texas and Louisiana

and a smaller gasoline reserve in several northeastern states leased from commercial storage

operators.

Since the SPR was established, various administrations directed crude oil drawdowns on four

occasions in response to emergency oil supply disruptions. During FY2022, emergency SPR

authorities aimed to address anticipated oil supply disruptions following Russia’s military

invasion of Ukraine. The Biden Administration released 180 million barrels during FY2022, the

largest ever emergency SPR release.37 More frequently, DOE uses SPR authorities to exchange

crude oil with refiners following natural disasters (i.e., hurricanes) and other regional supply

disruption events.38 The Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve—established in 2014—has never

been utilized.

36 The Biden Administration renamed the Office of Fossil Energy as the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon

Management in 2021. This name change was also adopted by appropriators throughout the FY2022 appropriations

process. See DOE, “Our New Name Is Also a New Vision,” July 8, 2021, https://www.energy.gov/fe/articles/our-newname-also-new-vision.

37 CRS Insight IN11916, Strategic Petroleum Reserve Oil Releases: October 2021 Through October 2022, by Phillip

Brown; DOE, “SPR Quick Facts,” https://www.energy.gov/ceser/spr-quick-facts.

38 For additional information about SPR releases, see U.S. Department of Energy, History of SPR Releases, at

https://www.energy.gov/fe/services/petroleum-reserves/strategic-petroleum-reserve/releasing-oil-spr, accessed

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Because of limited utilization in response to emergency oil supply disruptions prior to the 2022

Ukraine war, growing U.S. crude oil production, and rapidly declining net petroleum imports—

one key metric used to determine IEP emergency oil stock obligations—Congress began requiring

DOE to draw down and sell SPR crude oil to pay for other legislative priorities. Between 2015

and 2021, Congress enacted eight laws mandating the sale of 358.6 million barrels of crude oil.

Congress cancelled 140 million barrels of these mandated sales in the Consolidated

Appropriations Act, 2023. Additionally, Congress required DOE to sell approximately $1.5

billion of SPR crude oil to pay for an SPR modernization program.39

Science

The DOE Office of Science conducts basic research in six program areas: advanced scientific

computing research, basic energy sciences, biological and environmental research, fusion energy

sciences, high-energy physics, and nuclear physics. According to DOE’s FY2023 budget

justification, the Office of Science “is the Nation’s largest Federal sponsor of basic research in the

physical sciences and the lead Federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for our

Nation’s energy future.”40

DOE’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program focuses on developing and

maintaining computing and networking capabilities for science and research in applied

mathematics, computer science, and advanced networking. The program plays a key role in the

DOE-wide effort to advance the development of exascale computing, with the first exascale

system starting operation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in May 2022.41

Basic Energy Sciences (BES), the largest program area in the Office of Science, focuses on

understanding, predicting, and ultimately controlling matter and energy at the electronic, atomic,

and molecular levels. The program supports research in disciplines such as condensed matter and

materials physics, chemistry, and geosciences. BES also provides funding for scientific user

facilities (e.g., the National Synchrotron Light Source II, and the Linac Coherent Light SourceII), and certain DOE research centers and hubs (e.g., Energy Frontier Research Centers, as well as

the Batteries and Energy Storage and Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hubs).

Biological and Environmental Research (BER) seeks a predictive understanding of complex

biological, climate, and environmental systems across a continuum from the small scale (e.g.,

genomic research) to the large (e.g., Earth systems and climate). Within BER, Biological Systems

Science focuses on plant and microbial systems, while Biological and Environmental Research

supports climate-relevant atmospheric and ecosystem modeling and research. BER facilities and

centers include four Bioenergy Research Centers and the Environmental Molecular Science

Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

February 27, 2023.

39 For additional information about congressionally required SPR oil sales, see Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Mandated

and Modernization Sales, by Phillip Brown, a congressional distribution memo available to congressional clients by

request from the author.

40 DOE, FY2023 Congressional Budget Justification, March 2022, vol. 5, p. 7, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/

files/2022-05/doe-fy2023-budget-volume-5-science-v2.pdf.

41 Oak Ridge National Laboratory, “Frontier Supercomputer Debuts as World’s Fastest, Breaking Exascale Barrier,”

May 30, 2022, https://www.ornl.gov/news/frontier-supercomputer-debuts-worlds-fastest-breaking-exascale-barrier. An

exascale computer can perform one quintillion floating point operations per second. See Tim Greene, “World’s First

Exascale Supercomputer Is the World’s Fastest,” Network World, May 31, 2022, https://www.networkworld.com/

article/3662040/worlds-first-exascale-supercomputer-is-the-worlds-fastest.html.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) seeks to increase understanding of the behavior of matter at very

high temperatures and to establish the science needed to develop a fusion energy source. FES

provides funding for the ITER project, a multinational effort to design and build an experimental

fusion reactor.

The High Energy Physics (HEP) program conducts research on the fundamental constituents of

matter and energy, including studies of dark energy and the search for dark matter. Nuclear

Physics supports research on the nature of matter, including its basic constituents and their

interactions. A major project in the Nuclear Physics program is the construction of the Facility for

Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University.

Two significant research efforts in the Office of Science cut across multiple program areas:

quantum information science, which aims to use quantum physics to process information, and

artificial intelligence and machine learning, which use computerized systems that work and react

in ways commonly thought to require intelligence.

For more details, see CRS Report R47161, Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding:

FY2023, coordinated by Laurie A. Harris.

Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy

ARPA-E is a separate DOE office authorized by the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) to

support transformational energy technology research projects. DOE budget documents describe

ARPA-E’s mission as overcoming long-term, high-risk technological barriers to the development

of energy technologies. According to DOE, since 2009 ARPA-E has provided $3.06 billion in

R&D funding to 1,326 projects, and 190 project teams have raised more than $10.3 billion in

private sector follow-on funding.42

Loan Guarantees and Direct Loans

DOE’s Loan Programs Office provides loan guarantees and direct loans under several authorities:

Title 17 (XVII), Tribal, and ATVM for projects that deploy innovative energy technologies, as

authorized by Title XVII of EPACT05, as amended at 43 U.S.C. §§16511 et seq., direct loans for

advanced vehicle manufacturing technologies, and loan guarantees for tribal energy projects.

Section 1703 of EPACT05 authorized loan guarantees for advanced energy technologies that

reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and Section 1705 authorized a temporary program through

FY2011 for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

Title XVII allows DOE to provide loan guarantees for up to 80% of construction costs for eligible

energy projects. In general, successful applicants must pay an up-front fee, or “subsidy cost,” to

cover potential losses under the loan guarantee program. IRA appropriated $3.6 billion for

Section 1703 subsidy costs. IRA also established a time-limited (available through FY2026),

$250 billion Title 17 loan guarantee commitment authority—Section 1706—for “Energy

Infrastructure Reinvestment Financing.” IRA appropriated $5 billion to carry out the Section

1706 program.

Under the loan guarantee agreements, the federal government would repay all covered loans if the

borrower defaulted. Such guarantees would reduce the risk to lenders and allow them to provide

financing at below-market interest rates. DOE currently has more than $60 billion in authority

available to make direct loans and loan guarantees.

42 ARPA-E, “Our Impact,” web page viewed October 3, 2022, https://arpa-e.energy.gov/about/our-impact.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

To date, the only loan guarantees under Section 1703 have been to the consortium building two

new nuclear reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia, totaling about $12 billion, and for a Utah

hydrogen storage project, with a guarantee of $500 million.43 As of January 2023, applications for

126 additional loan guarantees totaling $119.9 billion were under consideration by the DOE Loan

Programs Office.44

Energy Information Administration

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) was established within DOE as the lead

federal agency for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data on U.S. and world energy supply

and consumption. EIA data collection spans the energy system from supply and transport to

consumption. All energy sources are included in EIA’s data and analysis products, though some

(e.g., petroleum) are more detailed than others (e.g., renewables). Recent areas of congressional

interest include improvements to EIA’s computer models used to project U.S. energy supply and

demand over time, and improvements to EIA’s data collection related to energy consumption in

residential and commercial buildings. For more details, see CRS Report R46524, The U.S. Energy

Information Administration, coordinated by Ashley J. Lawson.

Nuclear Weapons Activities

In the absence of explosive testing of nuclear weapons, the United States has adopted a sciencebased program to maintain and sustain confidence in the reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile.

Congress established the Stockpile Stewardship Program in the National Defense Authorization

Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (P.L. 103-160). The goal of the program, as amended by the National

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (P.L. 111-84, §3111), is to ensure “that the

nuclear weapons stockpile is safe, secure, and reliable without the use of underground nuclear

weapons testing.” The program is operated by NNSA, a semiautonomous agency within DOE

established by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (P.L. 106-65, Title

XXXII). NNSA implements the Stockpile Stewardship Program through the activities funded by

the Weapons Activities account in the NNSA budget.

Most of NNSA’s weapons activities take place at the nuclear weapons complex, which consists of

three laboratories (Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM; Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory, CA; and Sandia National Laboratories, NM and CA); four production sites (Kansas

City National Security Campus, MO; Pantex Plant, TX; Savannah River Site, SC; and Y-12

National Security Complex, TN); and the Nevada National Security Site (formerly the Nevada

Test Site). NNSA manages and sets policy for the weapons complex; contractors to NNSA

operate the eight sites. Radiological activities at these sites are subject to oversight and

recommendations by the independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, funded by Title IV

of the annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill.

NNSA’s budget has four major Weapons Activities program areas, each with funding of over $2

billion for FY2023:

43 DOE, “Secretary Perry Announces Financial Close on Additional Loan Guarantees During Trip to Vogtle Advanced

Nuclear Energy Project,” news release, March 22, 2019, https://www.energy.gov/articles/secretary-perry-announcesfinancial-close-additional-loan-guarantees-during-trip-vogtle; and DOE, “DOE Announces First Loan Guarantee for a

Clean Energy Project in Nearly a Decade,” June 8, 2022, https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-first-loanguarantee-clean-energy-project-nearly-decade.

44 DOE Loan Programs Office, “Monthly Application Activity Report,” February 6, 2023, https://www.energy.gov/lpo/

articles/january-2023-monthly-application-activity-report. More information about DOE loans and loan guarantees is at

the Loan Programs Office website, https://www.energy.gov/lpo/loan-programs-office.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations



Stockpile Management supports work directly on nuclear weapons. These include

life extension programs, warhead surveillance, maintenance, and other activities.

Production Modernization programs focus on maintaining and expanding the

production capabilities for the components of nuclear weapons that are critical to

weapons performance. According to NNSA, these include primaries, canned

subassemblies, radiation cases, and non-nuclear components.

Stockpile Research, Technology, and Engineering provides the scientific and

technical foundation for science-based stockpile decisions.

Infrastructure and Operations maintains, operates, and modernizes the NNSA

infrastructure. It supports construction of new facilities and funds deferred

maintenance in older facilities.

Nuclear Weapons Activities also has several smaller programs, including the following:



Secure Transportation Asset, providing for safe and secure transport of nuclear

weapons, components, and materials;

Defense Nuclear Security, providing operations, maintenance, and construction

funds for protective forces, physical security systems, personnel security, and

related activities; and

Information Technology and Cybersecurity, whose elements include

cybersecurity, secure enterprise computing, and Federal Unclassified Information

Technology.

For more information, see CRS Report R45306, The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Overview

of Department of Energy Sites, by Amy F. Woolf and James D. Werner.

Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation

DOE’s nonproliferation and national security programs provide technical capabilities to support

U.S. efforts to prevent, detect, and counter the spread of nuclear weapons worldwide. These

programs are administered by NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN).

The Materials Management and Minimization program conducts activities to minimize and,

where possible, eliminate stockpiles of weapons-useable material around the world. Major

activities include conversion of reactors that use highly enriched uranium (useable for weapons)

to low-enriched uranium, removal and consolidation of nuclear material stockpiles, and

disposition of excess nuclear materials.

Global Materials Security has three major program elements. International Nuclear Security

focuses on increasing the security of vulnerable stockpiles of nuclear material in other countries.

Radiological Security promotes the worldwide reduction and security of radioactive sources

(typically used in medical and industrial devices), including the removal of surplus sources and

substitution of technologies that do not use radioactive materials. Nuclear Smuggling Detection

and Deterrence works to improve the capability of other countries to halt illicit trafficking of

nuclear materials.

Nonproliferation and Arms Control works to “strengthen nonproliferation and arms control

regimes through innovative policy development and implementation to prevent proliferation,

ensure peaceful nuclear uses, and enable verifiable nuclear reductions,” according to the FY2023

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

DOE justification.45 This program conducts reviews of nuclear export applications and

technology transfer authorizations, implements treaty obligations, and analyzes nonproliferation

policies and proposals.

For more information, see CRS Report R44413, Energy and Water Development Appropriations

for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation: In Brief, by Mary Beth D. Nikitin.

Cleanup of Former Nuclear Weapons Production and Research Sites

The development and production of nuclear weapons since the beginning of the Manhattan

Project46 during World War II resulted in a waste and contamination legacy managed by DOE that

continues to present substantial challenges. DOE also manages legacy environmental

contamination at sites used for nondefense nuclear research. In 1989, DOE established the Office

of Environmental Management primarily to consolidate its responsibilities for the cleanup of

former nuclear weapons production sites that had been administered under multiple offices.47

DOE has identified more than 100 separate sites in over 30 states that historically were involved

in the production of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy research for civilian purposes.48

Responsibility for long-term stewardship at sites where remediation is complete or remedies are

in place is transferred from EM to the separate DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) and

other offices within DOE.49 Some of the smaller sites for which DOE initially was responsible

were transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers in 1997 under the Formerly Utilized Sites

Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). Once USACE completes the cleanup of a FUSRAP site, it

is transferred back to LM, which has its own DOE funding subaccount within Other Defense

Activities.

Power Marketing Administrations

DOE’s four Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) were established to sell the power

generated by various federal dams. The PMAs operate in 34 states; their assets consist primarily

of transmission infrastructure in the form of more than 33,000 miles of high voltage transmission

lines and 587 substations. PMA customers are responsible for repaying all power program

expenses, plus the interest on capital projects. Since FY2011, power revenues associated with the

PMAs have been classified as discretionary offsetting receipts (i.e., receipts that are available for

spending by the PMAs), thus the agencies are sometimes noted as having a “net-zero” spending

authority. Only the capital expenses of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) and

Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA) are supported by appropriations from Congress.

45 DOE, FY2023 Congressional Budget Justification, March 2022, vol. 1, p. 9, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/

files/2022-04/doe-fy2023-budget-volume-1-nnsa.pdf.

46 As described by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, “The Manhattan Project was a massive, top secret

national mobilization of scientists, engineers, technicians, and military personnel charged with producing a deployable

atomic weapon during World War II. Coordinated by the US Army, Manhattan Project activities were located in

numerous locations across the United States.” The nuclear weapons activities begun by the Manhattan Project are now

the responsibility of DOE. See National Park Service, Manhattan Project National Historical Park website,

https://www.nps.gov/mapr/learn/historyculture/index.htm.

47 In 1989, DOE created the Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, which later was renamed the

Office of Environmental Management.

48 For a list of active and completed sites, see the EM “Cleanup Sites” web page and interactive map at

http://energy.gov/em/cleanup-sites.

49 The Office of Legacy Management administers the long-term stewardship of DOE sites that do not have a continuing

mission once cleanup remedies are in place. Sites that have a continuing mission are transferred to the DOE offices that

administer those missions, which are responsible for their long-term stewardship.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

For more information, see CRS Report R45548, The Power Marketing Administrations:

Background and Current Issues, by Richard J. Campbell.

Independent Agencies

Independent agencies that receive funding in Title IV of the Energy and Water Development bill

include the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Appalachian Regional Commission

(ARC), and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. NRC is by far the largest of these

independent agencies, with a total budget of nearly $900 million. However, as noted in the

description of NRC below, about 85% of NRC’s budget is offset by fees, so that the agency’s net

appropriation is less than half of the total funding in Title IV. NRC and ARC are discussed in

more detail below. The recent appropriations history for all the Title IV agencies is shown in

Table 12. Additional FY2023 appropriations were provided by IIJA for ARC and other regional

commissions and authorities as shown in Table 12.

Table 12. Independent Agencies Funded by Energy and Water Development

Appropriations

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

FY2020

Approp

FY2021

Approp

FY2022

Approp

FY2023

Request

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp

Appalachian Regional

Commission

175.0

180.0

195.0

235.0

220.0

200.0

Nuclear Regulatory

Commission

855.6

844.4

887.7

929.2

927.2

(Revenues)

-728.1

-721.4

-756.7

-792.2

-790.2

Net NRC (including

Inspector General)

127.5

123.0

131.0

137.0

Defense Nuclear Facilities

Safety Board

31.0

36.0

41.4

41.9

41.4

Nuclear Waste Technical

Review Board

3.6

3.8

4.0

3.9

Denali Commission

15.0

15.1

17.0

Delta Regional Authority

30.0

30.1

Northern Border Regional

Commission

25.0

30.0

35.0

36.0

38.0

40.0

Southeast Crescent

Regional Commission

0.3

1.0

5.0

7.0

33.0

7.0

20.0

0.3

2.5

5.0

413.9

453.5

508.1

521.1

482.0

494.4

Program

Southwest Border Regional

Commission

Total

407.3

Sources: P.L. 117-328 and explanatory statement; S. 4660 and draft explanatory statement; explanatory

statement for H.R. 2371; CBO Estimate for H.R. 8294; S.Rept. 117-36; H.Rept. 117-98; H.R. 4502; FY2022

agency budget justifications; explanatory statement for H.R. 133, 116th Congress; FY2021 Senate Appropriations

Committee majority draft; H.R. 7617; H.Rept. 116-449; FY2021 President’s Budget; explanatory statement for

Division C of H.R. 1865, 116th Congress; S.Rept. 116-102; S. 2470; H.R. 2740; CBO Current Status Report;

H.Rept. 116-83; H.Rept. 115-929; S.Rept. 115-258; S.Rept. 115-132; H.Rept. 115-230; P.L. 115-31 and

explanatory statement.

Note: Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Table 13. Additional Appropriations in IIJA for Regional Commissions and

Authorities

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

Regional Commission or Authority

IIJA FY2022

Approp

IIJA FY2023

Approp

IIJA FY2024FY2026

Approp

Appalachian Regional Commission

200.0

600.0

Delta Regional Authority (DRA)

150.0

Denali Commission

75.0

Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC)

150.0

Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC)

5.0

Southwest Border Regional Commission (SBRC)

1.3

Source: H.Rept. 117-394.

Notes: Funding for the federal regional commissions and authorities in the IIJA has varying periods of availability.

Appropriations for ARC are available through FY2026, with $200 million to be allocated each fiscal year starting

in FY2022 through FY2026. Appropriations for the DRA, Denali Commission, NBRC, SCRC, and SBRC are

available until expended.

Appalachian Regional Commission

Established in 1965,50 the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a regional economic

development agency. It awards grants and contracts to state and local governments and nonprofit

organizations to foster economic opportunities, improve workforce skills, build critical

infrastructure, strengthen natural and cultural assets, and improve leadership skills and capacity in

the region. ARC’s authorizing statute defines the Appalachian Region as including all of West

Virginia and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North

Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. More than 25 million

people currently live in the region as defined.

ARC provides funding to several hundred projects each year, with particular focus on the region’s

most economically distressed counties. Major areas of infrastructure support include broadband

communication systems, transportation, and water and wastewater systems. ARC has supported

development of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS), a planned 3,000-mile

system of highways that connect with the U.S. Interstate Highway System. According to ARC,

91.1% of ADHS is “under construction or open to traffic.”51

Since FY2016, Congress has appropriated approximately $50 million per year as a set-aside for

ARC’s POWER Initiative (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic

Revitalization), which assists communities impacted by the decline of the coal industry. In

FY2023, Congress directed ARC to allocate $65 million to the POWER Initiative. The POWER

Initiative funds a variety of economic, workforce, and community development projects to

stabilize and stimulate economic activity in affected communities.

For more background on ARC and other regional commissions and authorities, see CRS Report

R45997, Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Structural Features and Function, by

Julie M. Lawhorn, and CRS In Focus IF11140, Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities:

50 Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, P.L. 89-4.

51 For more information, see ARC home page at https://www.arc.gov.

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Overview of Structure and Activities, by Julie M. Lawhorn. For more background on the POWER

Initiative, see CRS Report R46015, The POWER Initiative: Energy Transition as Economic

Development, by Julie M. Lawhorn.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NRC is an independent agency that establishes and enforces safety and security standards for

nuclear power plants and users of nuclear materials. Major appropriations categories for NRC are

shown in Table 14. Nuclear Reactor Safety is NRC’s largest program and is responsible for

licensing and regulating the U.S. fleet of 93 power reactors, plus two under construction. NRC is

also responsible for licensing and regulating nuclear waste facilities, such as the proposed

underground nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, NV (which has received no new

appropriations since FY2010).

NRC is required by law to offset its total annual appropriation, excluding specified items, through

fees charged to nuclear reactor owners and other holders of NRC licenses. NRC does not retain

the fee revenue, but instead sends it to the U.S. Treasury. Budget items excluded from fee

recovery include prior-year balances, development of advanced reactor regulations, international

activities, and nonsite-specific homeland security. As a result, NRC’s net appropriation is about

15% of the agency’s total budget.

Table 14. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Funding Categories

(budget authority in millions of current dollars)

Funding Category

FY2020

Approp.

FY2021

Approp.

FY2022

Approp.

FY2023

Request

FY2023

House

FY2023

S. 4660

FY2023

Approp.

Nuclear Reactor Safety

433.4

452.8

477.4

490.7

Nuclear Materials and

Waste Safety

103.2

102.9

107.3

111.6

Decommissioning and

Low-Level Waste

21.4

22.8

22.9

23.9

Corporate Support

289.1

271.4

266.3

285.3

Integrated University

Program

2.5

16.0

Prior-Year Balances

-38.4

-35.0

-16.0

Inspector General

12.1

13.5

13.8

17.8

15.8

823.1

844.4

887.7

929.2

927.2

Total

Sources: P.L. 117-328 and explanatory statement; S. 4660 and draft explanatory statement; CBO Estimate for

H.R. 8294; explanatory statement for H.R. 2371; S.Rept. 117-36; H.Rept. 117-98; H.R. 4502; NRC FY2022

congressional budget justification; explanatory statement for H.R. 133, 116th Congress; FY2021 Senate

Appropriations Committee majority draft; H.R. 7617; H.Rept. 116-449; NRC FY2021 Budget Justification;

explanatory statement for Division C of H.R. 1865, 116th Congress; S.Rept. 116-102; H.R. 2740; H.Rept. 116-83;

H.Rept. 115-929, NRC FY2020 Budget Justification; H.Rept. 115-697; S.Rept. 115-258.

Note: Fee offsets and some adjustments are excluded.

Congressional Hearings

The following hearings were held by the Energy and Water Development subcommittees of the

House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the FY2023 budget request. Testimony and

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

opening statements are posted on most of the web pages cited for each hearing, along with

webcasts in many cases.

House



Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, April 27, 2022,

https://appropriations.house.gov/legislation/hearings/fy-2023-budget-request-usarmy-corps-engineers-and-bureau-reclamation

Department of Energy, April 28, 2022, https://appropriations.house.gov/

legislation/hearings/fy-2023-budget-request-department-energy

National Nuclear Security Administration and Environmental Management, May

11, 2022, https://appropriations.house.gov/legislation/hearings/fy23-budgetnational-nuclear-security-administration-and-environmental

Department of Energy Science and Energy Programs, May 12, 2022,

https://appropriations.house.gov/legislation/hearings/fy-2023-budget-requestdepartment-energy-science-and-energy-programs

Senate



Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, April 6, 2022,

https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-review-of-the-fiscal-year2023-budget-submission-for-the-us-army-corps-of-engineers-and-the-bureau-ofreclamation



Department of Energy, May 4, 2022, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/

hearings/a-review-of-the-fiscal-year-2023-budget-submission-for-the-usdepartment-of-energy

National Nuclear Security Administration, May 18, 2022,

https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-review-of-the-fiscal-year2023-budget-submission-for-national-nuclear-security-administration



Author Information

Mark Holt

Specialist in Energy Policy

Congressional Research Service

Anna E. Normand

Analyst in Natural Resources Policy

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

Key Policy Staff

Area of Expertise

Name

General (Coordinators)

Mark Holt

Anna Normand

Corps of Engineers

Anna Normand

Nicole Carter

Bureau of Reclamation

Charles V. Stern

Renewable energy

Corrie E. Clark

Energy efficiency

Corrie E. Clark

Fossil energy research

Ashley Lawson

Hydrogen

Martin Offutt

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Phillip Brown

Nuclear energy

Mark Holt

Science and ARPA-E

Quantum Information Science

Artificial intelligence

Daniel Morgan

Patricia Moloney Figliola

Laurie A. Harris

Loan programs

Phillip Brown

Nuclear weapons stewardship

Alexandra Neenan

Nonproliferation

Mary Beth Nikitin

DOE Environmental Management

David Bearden

Lance Larson

Power Marketing Administrations

Charles V. Stern

Bonneville Power Administration

Charles V. Stern

Federal regional authorities and

commissions

Julie Lawhorn

Appropriations legislative procedures

James V. Saturno

Bill Heniff

Megan Lynch

Congressional Research Service

Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations

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Congressional Research Service

R47293 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.