Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Congressional research reportMay 15, 2025
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Energy and Water Development:
FY2025 Appropriations
Updated May 15, 2025
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
R48097
SUMMARY
R48097
Energy and Water Development:
FY2025 Appropriations
May 15, 2025
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations (E&W) bill funds civil
works activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in the Department of Defense;
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
Specialist in Natural
Resources Policy
Overall Funding Totals
President Biden submitted his FY2025 budget request on March 11, 2024. The Biden
Administration request included $61.333 billion for energy and water development agencies, a decrease of $42 million (less
than 1%) below the FY2024 enacted amount, excluding emergency appropriations, offsets, and adjustments. The House
Appropriations Committee approved its FY2025 E&W bill July 9, 2024, recommending higher funding for water
development and reductions for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs (H.R. 8997; H.Rept. 118-580). The Senate
Appropriations Committee reported its version of the bill August 1, 2024 (S. 4927; S.Rept. 118-205). The Full-Year
Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4) was signed by President Trump on March 15, 2025,
providing annual appropriations for FY2025 at the FY2024 level for nearly all programs. FY2024 energy and water
development appropriations were included in Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, signed into law
March 9, 2024 (P.L. 118-42).
Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2024 and FY2025
(in millions of dollars and % change from FY2024 enacted)
Agency
FY2024
Enacted
FY2025
Request
(% Change)
FY2025 House
Committee
(% Change)
FY2025 Senate
Committee
(% Change)
FY2025
Enacted
(% Change)
Corps of Engineers
8,703
7,220 (-17%)
9,957 (+14%)
10,345 (+19%)
8,703 (0%)
Bureau of Reclamation/CUP
1,923
1,616 (-16%)
1,951 (+1%)
2,043 (+6%)
1,882 (-2%)
Department of Energy
50,247
51,978 (+3%)
49,935 (-1%)
52,371 (+4%)
50,190 (0%)
Independent Agencies
502
519 (+3%)
520 (+4%)
526 (+5%)
502 (0%)
61,375
61,333 (-0%)
62,364 (+2%)
65,285 (+6%)
61,277 (0%)
-22
-1,365
-3,174
-67
-22 (0%)
61,353
59,968 (+2%)
59,190 (+1%)
65,218 (+6%)
61,255 (0%)
Total appropriations
Rescissions and other adjustments
Adjusted total
Sources: P.L. 119-4; S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-580; FY2025 Administration budget request; explanatory statement for
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024.
Notes: FY2025 enacted amounts are the same for most accounts as FY2024 enacted, as specified by P.L. 119-4. CUP = Central
Utah Project Completion Account. Enacted amounts do not include emergency supplemental appropriations.
Major Issues
Congressionally Directed Funding (Earmarks). For FY2025, the House Appropriations Committee included 97 earmarks
totaling $899 million within the major USACE and Reclamation accounts, while the Senate Appropriations Committee
included 170 earmark requests totaling $1.133 billion for major USACE, Reclamation, and DOE energy-related accounts.
Earmarks were not included in the enacted continuing appropriations act for FY2025, resulting in decreases for some
agencies, such as DOE and Reclamation.
Operating Plans. Departments are required to submit FY2025 detailed operating plans to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees, whereas USACE is to send a work plan. Congress may be interested in how appropriations for
these agencies are allocated across budget lines and activities within the agencies.
Congressional Research Service
Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Contents
Introduction and Overview .............................................................................................................. 1
Administration Request ............................................................................................................. 2
House Appropriations Committee ............................................................................................. 3
Senate Appropriations Committee ............................................................................................ 3
FY2025 Enacted Funding ......................................................................................................... 4
FY2024 Enacted Funding ......................................................................................................... 5
FY2025 Budgetary Limits......................................................................................................... 5
Funding Issues and Initiatives ......................................................................................................... 6
Congressionally Directed Funding ............................................................................................ 6
Recent Supplemental Funding .................................................................................................. 8
Funding Levels and Policies for Water Resources Agencies .................................................. 10
Funding Levels for EERE and New Accounts ........................................................................ 12
Controversy over Energy Efficiency Standards and Other DOE Actions ............................... 13
Proposed Funding Transfers for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstrations ........................ 14
Title XVII Loan Guarantees: Proposed Transfers and Lending Authority Reductions ........... 15
Strategic Petroleum Reserve Modernization Program ............................................................ 15
Proposed Increase for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations ........................................ 16
Crosscutting Hydrogen Funding ............................................................................................. 17
Proposed Increase for Weapons Activities, Decrease for Nuclear Nonproliferation............... 18
Startup of Surplus Plutonium Disposition............................................................................... 20
Cleanup of Former Nuclear Sites: Adequacy of Proposed Funding ....................................... 20
Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Amending or Expanding Uses of
Funding ................................................................................................................................ 21
Proposed Ban on Federal Funding for Private Consolidated Spent Nuclear Fuel
Storage Facilities and Proposed DOE Pilot ......................................................................... 22
Bill Status and Recent Funding History ........................................................................................ 22
Description of Major Energy and Water Programs ....................................................................... 23
Agency Budget Justifications .................................................................................................. 24
Army Corps of Engineers........................................................................................................ 24
Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah Project ................................................................... 27
Department of Energy ............................................................................................................. 29
DOE Crosscutting Activities ............................................................................................. 34
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy........................................................................ 35
Electricity Delivery, Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Energy Reliability.................. 36
Nuclear Energy ................................................................................................................. 36
Fossil Energy and Carbon Management ........................................................................... 37
Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) .................................................................................. 37
Science .............................................................................................................................. 38
Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) ................................................ 39
Clean Energy Demonstrations .......................................................................................... 40
Loan Programs Office ....................................................................................................... 40
Energy Information Administration .................................................................................. 41
Nuclear Weapons Activities .............................................................................................. 41
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation .................................................................................... 42
Cleanup of Former Nuclear Weapons Production and Research Sites ............................. 43
Power Marketing Administrations .................................................................................... 44
Congressional Research Service
Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Independent Agencies ............................................................................................................. 44
Appalachian Regional Commission .................................................................................. 46
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ...................................................................................... 47
Congressional Hearings ................................................................................................................. 47
House ...................................................................................................................................... 48
Senate ...................................................................................................................................... 48
Figures
Figure 1. Major Components of Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bills,
FY2024 Through FY2025 ............................................................................................................ 1
Figure 2. E&W CPF/CDS Total Enacted Funding from FY2022 Through FY2024 ....................... 7
Tables
Table 1. Enacted Supplemental Appropriations for Agencies Funded by Energy and Water
Development Acts, FY2018-FY2026 ........................................................................................... 8
Table 2. DOE Standards Addressed in Sections of H.R. 8997 (118th Congress) ........................... 13
Table 3. Additional Appropriations for Clean Energy Demonstrations in the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58) ....................................................................................... 17
Table 4. Status of Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2025 ............................... 22
Table 5. Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2020-FY2025 ................................ 23
Table 6. Energy and Water Development Appropriations Summary ............................................. 23
Table 7. Army Corps of Engineers ................................................................................................ 26
Table 8. Bureau of Reclamation and CUP..................................................................................... 28
Table 9. Department of Energy...................................................................................................... 30
Table 10. Additional FY2023-FY2025 DOE Funding Under IIJA ............................................... 32
Table 11. Additional FY2023 DOE Funding Under IRA .............................................................. 32
Table 12. Additional FY2023 Funding for DOE in Divisions M and N of P.L. 117-328 .............. 33
Table 13. DOE Crosscutting Initiatives ......................................................................................... 34
Table 14. Independent Agencies Funded by Energy and Water Development
Appropriations............................................................................................................................ 45
Table 15. Additional Appropriations in IIJA for Regional Commissions and Authorities ............ 45
Table 16. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Funding Categories .................................................. 47
Contacts
Author Information........................................................................................................................ 48
Congressional Research Service
Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Introduction and Overview
Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations (E&W) bills typically
include funding for civil works activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in the
Department of Defense, 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 E&W appropriations acts from FY2024 through FY2025.
The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, was signed by President
Trump on March 14, 2025 (P.L. 119-4), providing annual appropriations for FY2025 at the
FY2024 level for most E&W programs. The largest exceptions were an $185 million increase for
Weapons Activities and a $185 million decrease for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. With other
exceptions resulting in a net decrease of $98 million from FY2024, E&W appropriations for
FY2025 under P.L. 119-4 total $61.255 billion.1 FY2024 E&W appropriations were included in
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, signed into law March 9, 2024 (P.L. 118-42).
Figure 1. Major Components of Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Bills, FY2024 Through FY2025
(excluding supplementals)
Sources: P.L. 119-4; S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-580; FY2025 Administration budget request, explanatory
statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024; S.Rept. 118-72; H.Rept. 118-126; H.R. 4394; FY2024
agency budget justifications.
Notes: Enacted amounts do not include supplemental appropriations or adjustments and rescissions.
CUP = Central Utah Project Completion Account.
In addition to regular annual appropriations, advance funding for E&W agencies in FY2025 has
been appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58). The budget
reconciliation measure commonly referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA; P.L.
117-169) included funding for some E&W agencies to remain available through as long as
FY2031. For details, see the section “Recent Supplemental Funding.”
1 Total based on “FY 2024 Enacted” column in appropriations tables in H.Rept. 118-580 with changes specified by P.L.
119-4.
Congressional Research Service
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Administration Request
President Biden submitted his FY2025 budget request on March 11, 2024. The Biden
Administration request included $61.333 billion for energy and water development agencies, a
decrease of $42 million (less than 1%) below the FY2024 enacted amount, excluding emergency
appropriations, offsets, and adjustments. DOE funding would have risen by $1.731 billion (3%),
to $51.978 billion, and independent agencies by $17 million (3%), to $519 million. USACE
funding would have been reduced by $1.483 billion (-17%), to $7.220 billion, and Reclamation
and CUP funding would have declined by $307 million (-16%), to $1.616 billion, excluding
adjustments and offsets.2
DOE’s major program areas include energy, science, defense, and environmental management.
The Biden Administration again proposed to shift some funding in the Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy (EERE) appropriations account into several new accounts: the Federal Energy
Management Program (FEMP), the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC),
and the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), which provides low-income
weatherization and state planning grants. The total FY2025 request for EERE and the proposed
new accounts was $3.869 billion, an increase of $409 million (12%) over the combined EERE
enacted amount for FY2024. DOE established separate offices for FEMP, MESC, and SCEP, and
Congress has not approved requests to create separate appropriations accounts for them.
Other energy programs with large proposed percentage increases were the Office of Technology
Transitions, which facilitates the commercialization of new energy technologies, proposed to
increase by 35% in FY2025 to $27 million, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations,
which would have risen by 260% to $180 million. The Office of Indian Energy Policy and
Programs would have increased by 36% to $95 million, and the Grid Deployment Office by 70%
to $102 million.
Funding for DOE’s Office of Science was proposed to increase by $343 million (4%), to $8.583
billion, under the Biden Administration budget request, with the largest amounts going for Basic
Energy Sciences ($2.582 billion) and High Energy Physics ($1.231 billion). Funding for the
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous DOE agency responsible
for nuclear warheads, nuclear weapons nonproliferation, and naval reactor research and
development (R&D), was proposed to increase by $862 million (4%), to $24.997 billion.
Environmental Management (waste management and cleanup) would have decreased by $154
million (-2%), to $8.613 billion.
Among the independent agencies funded by the E&W bill, NRC would have received an increase
in total appropriations from $944 million in FY2024 to $975 million in FY2025 (up $31 million,
or 3%). NRC’s budget is mostly offset by nuclear industry fees, which may vary from year to
year; the Biden Administration proposed an increase in the agency’s net appropriation from $137
million in FY2024 to $151 million in FY2025 (up $14 million, or 10%). The funding request for
the Appalachian Regional Commission and other regional authorities in the bill was largely
unchanged from the FY2024 enacted levels.
2 Unless otherwise noted, appropriations numbers in this report for FY2024 and FY2025 are taken from S.Rept. 118-
205, H.Rept. 118-580, agency budget justifications for FY2025, and the explanatory statement for the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2024, Division D, in House Appropriations Committee Print 55-007, https://www.govinfo.gov/
content/pkg/CPRT-118HPRT55007/pdf/CPRT-118HPRT55007.pdf. Some appropriations totals have changed from
previously calculated amounts because of re-estimates of revenue offsets and other adjustments. Where the documents
provide different values for appropriations numbers, this report shows the values from the most recently released
document (S.Rept. 118-205, in most cases).
Congressional Research Service
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
House Appropriations Committee
The House Appropriations Committee approved its FY2025 E&W bill July 9, 2024 (H.R. 8997;
H.Rept. 118-580). The House committee bill recommended $62.364 billion for FY2025, an
increase of $989 million (2%) over the FY2024 enacted level, excluding adjustments.3 DOE
would have received $49.935 billion under the committee bill, a reduction of $312 million (-1%)
from the FY2024 enacted level. The committee bill would have provided an increase for USACE
of $1.254 billion (14%) over the FY2024 level, and an increase of $28 million (1%) for
Reclamation and CUP.
Within DOE, energy efficiency and renewable energy programs (including MESC, SCEP, and
FEMP) would have received $1.960 billion in the House committee bill, a reduction of $1.500
billion (-43%) from the FY2024 level, including an offset of $804 million using prior-year
balances. The Nuclear Energy account would have received $1.793 billion, an increase of $108
million (6%) over FY2024. In addition, the bill would have transferred $8.890 billion in IIJA and
IRA advance appropriations—which are currently specified to be used for credits for existing
nuclear power plants and energy loan guarantees—to support four nuclear reactor demonstration
projects. Appropriations for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would have risen by $82 million
(38%) to $295 million. The Office of Science would have received $8.390 billion, an increase of
$150 million (2%). Appropriations for DOE energy programs would have totaled $16.073 billion,
a decrease of $1.370 billion (-8%) from the FY2024 enacted level.
Total appropriations for NNSA would have been $25.467 billion under the House committee bill,
an increase of $1.332 billion (6%) over the FY2024 enacted level. That includes a reduction of
$136 million (-5%) for nuclear weapons nonproliferation. The Defense Environmental Cleanup
account would have declined by $153 million (-2%), to $7.132 billion.
Funding for independent agencies in the House committee bill totals $520 million, an increase of
$18 million (4%) over the FY2024 enacted amount. Total funding for NRC was the same as the
requested amount, $31 million (3%) over the FY2024 enacted level for a total of $975 million,
with a net appropriation of $151 million. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board would
have increased by $3 million (7%) to $45 million, and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review
Board would have received a 1% increase to $4 million. Other independent agencies funded by
the E&W bill were set at the same amounts as in FY2024.
Amendments to the bill were considered on the House floor on July 23, 2024, after which further
proceedings were not resumed.
Senate Appropriations Committee
The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the FY2025 E&W bill August 1,
2024 (S. 4927; S.Rept. 118-205). The Senate committee bill recommended a total of $65.285
billion, an increase of $3.910 billion (6%) over the FY2024 enacted level, excluding adjustments.
DOE would have received $52.371 billion under the committee bill, an increase of $2.124 billion
(4%) from the FY2024 enacted level. The committee bill would have provided an increase for
USACE of $1.642 billion (19%) over the FY2024 level, an increase of $120 million (6%) for
Reclamation and CUP, and an increase of $24 million (5%) for related agencies over the FY2024
level.
3 Scorekeeping adjustments of $3.174 billion in the House Appropriations Committee report reduce the bill’s net total
to $59.190 billion.
Congressional Research Service
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
DOE energy efficiency and renewable energy programs (including MESC, SCEP, and FEMP)
would have received $3.460 billion in the Senate committee bill, the same as the FY2024 enacted
level, although MESC would have been funded in a separate account with $20 million. The
Nuclear Energy account would have received $1.675 billion, a decrease of $10 million (-1%)
below FY2024. The Office of Science would have received $8.600 billion, an increase of $360
million (4%). Appropriations for all DOE energy programs in the bill totaled $17.740 billion, an
increase of $297 million (2%) over the FY2024 enacted level.
Total appropriations for NNSA would have been $25.201 billion under the Senate committee bill,
an increase of $1.066 billion (4%) over the FY2024 enacted level. That includes an increase of
$131 million (7%) for Naval Reactors. The Defense Environmental Cleanup account would have
increased by $265 million (4%), to $7.550 billion.
Funding for independent agencies in the Senate committee bill totaled $526 million, an increase
of $24 million (5%) over the FY2024 enacted amount. Total funding for NRC would have risen
by $14 million (2%) over the enacted FY2024 level to $958 million, with a net appropriation of
$138 million. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board would have increased by $5 million
(12%) to $47 million. The Southwest Border Regional Commission was to increase by $9 million
(180%), the Northern Border Regional Commission by $5 million (12%), and the Denali
Commission by $2 million (9%) over their FY2024 levels.
FY2025 Enacted Funding
The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, was signed by President
Trump on March 14, 2025, providing annual appropriations for FY2025 at the FY2024 level for
nearly all E&W programs. The Act states that FY2025 appropriations are subject to “the authority
and conditions provided in applicable appropriations Acts for fiscal year 2024,” unless otherwise
specified.
For DOE, the largest exceptions are an $185 million increase for Weapons Activities, to $19.293
billion, and a $185 million decrease for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, to $2.396 billion. The
DOE Energy Projects Account, which funded $84 million in Congressionally Directed Spending
(“earmarks”) in FY2024, was zeroed out for FY2025. The total for Other Defense Activities was
increased by $27 million, to $1.107 billion. Those changes reduce total DOE appropriations by a
net of $57 million from FY2024, to $50.190 billion.
P.L. 119-4 specifies that USACE is to develop a new work plan to allocate the agency’s FY2025
appropriations of $8.703 billion to specific projects rather than follow the explanatory statement
for FY2024.4 USACE has since published its work plan for FY2025 appropriations.5 FY2025
appropriations for Reclamation are reduced by $41 million from the FY2024 level, which reflects
FY2024 Reclamation earmark funding. The reductions for Reclamation and DOE result in a total
E&W appropriations reduction of $98 million for FY2025, to $61.255 billion (a reduction of less
than 1% from FY2024, including rescissions). The act directs DOE and the Department of the
4 Regular U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) appropriations for FY2025 were not reduced from the enacted
FY2024 amount. P.L. 119-4 excludes a P.L. 118-42 provision regarding the use of $1.43 billion in prior-year
unobligated and unallocated IIJA Construction funds. Those IIJA funds were mostly used to fund FY2024 Construction
earmarks. In addition, Section 1111 of P.L. 119-4 establishes that the act does not provide funding for the purposes of
the FY2024 earmarks.
5 The FY2025 work plan is available at USACE, “Civil Works Budget and Performance,”
https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/.
Congressional Research Service
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Interior to submit FY2025 detailed operating plans to the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees.
FY2024 Enacted Funding
President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-42), including
FY2024 energy and water development appropriations as Division D, on March 9, 2024.
Excluding adjustments, the enacted measure totaled $61.375 billion for energy and water
development agencies, an increase of $2.171 billion (4%) above the enacted FY2023 amount and
$638 billion (-1%) below the request.
DOE received $50.247 billion, an increase of $1.801 billion (4%) over FY2023 and $2.324
billion (-4%) below the request. EERE, including programs that the Biden Administration
proposed to fund under separate accounts, received $3.460 billion, the same as the FY2023
amount and a decrease of $1.332 billion (-28%) from the equivalent request. Science received
$8.240 billion, an increase of $140 million (2%) over the FY2023 enacted level and $560 million
(-6%) below the request. NNSA received $24.135 billion, an increase of $1.972 billion (9%) over
FY2023 and $290 million (1%) above the request.
USACE received $8.703 billion,6 excluding rescissions and adjustments, which is $393 million
(5%) more than in FY2023 and $1.290 billion (17%) higher than the request. Reclamation and
CUP received $1.923 billion, a reduction of $31 million (-2%) from FY2023 and $454 million
(31%) above the request.
NRC received $944 million, an increase of $17 million (2%) over the FY2023 level and a
decrease of $35 million (-4%) from the request, although the net appropriation was almost the
same as in FY2023. ARC received $200 million, the same as in FY2023 and $35 million (-15%)
below the request. The Great Lakes Authority received first-time funding of $5 million, the
requested amount, while the other regional authorities and commissions received all or slightly
more than the amounts requested. The Northern Border Regional Commission and Delta
Regional Authority each received $1 million more than their FY2024 requested amounts ($41
million and $31.1 million, respectively).
For more FY2024 Energy and Water Development appropriations details, see
•
•
•
CRS Report R47553, Energy and Water Development: FY2024 Appropriations,
by Mark Holt and Anna E. Normand.
CRS In Focus IF12370, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: FY2024 Appropriations,
by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.
CRS In Focus IF12369, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2024 Budget and
Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern.
FY2025 Budgetary Limits
Congressional consideration of the annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill
was affected by certain procedural and statutory budget enforcement requirements. These
consisted 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 applied to spending under the jurisdiction of each appropriations
subcommittee.
6 Not including $22 million in recessions.
Congressional Research Service
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA, P.L. 118-5), enacted in June 2023, established enforceable
discretionary spending limits (caps) for FY2024 and FY2025. For FY2025, the limits were
$895.212 billion for defense and $710.688 billion for nondefense. Spending designated as an
emergency requirement was exempt up to any amount, while funding for certain purposes—such
as program integrity initiatives, disaster funding, and reemployment services—was exempt up to
specified amounts.
The House Appropriations Committee approved interim FY2025 allocations on May 23, 2024, for
each of the 12 appropriations subcommittees under Section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget
and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344).7 For the Energy and Water Development
Subcommittee, the interim allocations provided $34.193 billion for defense functions and $24.997
billion for nondefense functions, totaling $59.190 billion. The interim allocation was $1.584
billion below the Biden Administration’s total request for agencies in the Energy and Water
Development bill, including offsets.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved subcommittee 302(b) allocations on July 31,
2024, based on the FRA caps (S.Rept. 118-203). The E&W allocation was $34.971 billion for
defense and $26.496 billion for nondefense, for a total of $61.467 billion. In addition, the
Committee leadership announced that subcommittees would have additional amounts above the
FRA caps allowed by the act, plus emergency funding of $13.5 billion for nondefense programs
and $21 billion for defense programs.8
For more information on funding ceilings, see CRS Report R46468, A Brief Overview of the
Congressional Budget Process, by James V. Saturno, and CRS Insight IN12168, Discretionary
Spending Caps in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, by Grant A. Driessen and Megan S.
Lynch.
Funding Issues and Initiatives
Several issues drew particular attention during congressional consideration of Energy and Water
Development appropriations for FY2025. The issues described in this section—listed
approximately in the order the affected agencies or provisions 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 118th Congress, largely continuing the policies of the 117th Congress, allowed earmarks for
site-specific projects and other activities in the appropriations process. These are 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
7 House Appropriations Committee, “Committee Approves FY25 Subcommittee Allocations, Prioritizing Defense,
Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs,” May 23, 2024, press release, https://appropriations.house.gov/news/pressreleases/committee-approves-fy25-subcommittee-allocations-prioritizing-defense-homeland; and House Appropriations
Committee, “Cole Previews Interim Fiscal Year 2025 Subcommittee Allocations,” new release, May 16, 2024,
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/cole-previews-interim-fiscal-year-2025-subcommittee-allocations.
8 Senate Committee on Appropriations, “Chair Murray Opening Remarks at Full Committee Markup,” July 11, 2024,
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/chair-murray-opening-remarks-at-full-committee-markup-fy25.
Congressional Research Service
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
of the annual budget request for USACE and Reclamation.9 Figure 2 shows enacted CPF/CDS
amounts per agency for FY2022 through FY2024. The patterned area of the stacked columns
distinguishes the sum of the top three CPF/CDS items (all under USACE appropriations).
Figure 2. E&W CPF/CDS Total Enacted Funding from FY2022 Through FY2024
(in millions of nominal dollars)
Sources: Community Project Funding (CPF)/Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) tables in explanatory
statements accompanying enacted annual appropriations for FY2022 through FY2024.
Note: The patterned area of the stacked columns distinguishes the sum of the top three CPF/CDS items (all
under USACE appropriations).
For FY2025, the House and Senate Appropriations committees invited Members of Congress to
request CPF/CDS items, respectively.10 The House committee report recommended funding 95
CPF items totaling $890 million for USACE activities and 2 CPF items totaling $9 million for
Reclamation activities. The largest of these CPF provisions were for USACE construction of the
Kentucky Lock and Dam in Kentucky ($218 million); the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Texas
($113 million); and the Morganza to the Gulf system in Louisiana ($93 million). The Senate
committee report recommended funding 131 CDS items totaling $1.034 billion for USACE
activities, 9 CDS items totaling $63 million for Reclamation activities, and 30 CDS items totaling
$36 million in DOE energy-related accounts. The largest of these CDS items were for USACE
construction of the Kentucky Lock and Dam in Kentucky ($218 million); the Upper Ohio River
Navigation Project in Pennsylvania ($205 million); and the replacement lock for Sault Ste. Marie,
MI (an additional $186 million).
Section 1111 of P.L. 119-4 establishes that the act does not provide funding for the purposes of
the FY2024 earmarks, unless specified otherwise. Some Reclamation and DOE accounts receive
9 During the moratorium, Congress appropriated funding above the requested amounts for categories of work, called
additional funding, without identifying specific projects. In the 117th and 118th Congresses, enacted appropriations
included additional funding for USACE and Reclamation, along with CPF/CDS items.
10 For House CPF details, see “Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Fiscal Year 2025 Guidance on All
Member Requests,” https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evomedia-document/fy25-energy-and-water-development-and-related-agencies-guidance.pdf; for the Senate, see “Energy
and Water Development FY 2025 Congressionally Directed Spending – Eligible Agencies and Accounts,”
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy2025_cds_appropriations_accounts_ew_final_051024.pdf.
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decreased amounts compared with FY2024 that reflect the earmark funding for those accounts in
FY2024. For example, Section 1501 reduces amounts provided to Reclamation’s Water and
Related Resources account by $41 million. The section also reduces funding for DOE Energy
Projects (CPF/CDS earmarks) to zero, from $84 million appropriated in FY2024. Neither Section
1111 nor Section 1501 affects the availability of funds in FY2024 appropriations acts for such
earmarks.
In addition to regular appropriations of $8.703 billion, the FY2024 E&W act directed that
USACE use $1.435 billion of unobligated and unallocated IIJA Construction monies to fund
construction projects listed in the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 118-42. Those IIJA
funds were mostly used to fund FY2024 Construction earmarks, including the four earmarks that
were funded at $100 million or more. P.L. 119-4 excluded the FY2024 provision regarding the
use of IIJA Construction funds. Therefore, FY2025 USACE’s Construction activities receive 44%
less funding than the total amount (regular appropriations plus redirected IIJA appropriations)
directed by Congress to fund FY2024 construction activities listed in the explanatory statement.
Recent Supplemental Funding
Congress provided supplemental appropriations for USACE and Reclamation from FY2018
through FY2023 for disaster response and mitigation (e.g., drought, flood); study, construction,
maintenance, and repair of projects; new authorities that expand the agencies’ activities; and
COVID-19 precautions, among other purposes.11 Congress also has provided supplemental
appropriations to DOE for clean energy demonstration projects, science facilities and
infrastructure, hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure, nuclear weapons
nonproliferation, and renewable energy R&D, among other purposes. In addition, in some years,
other agencies funded under Energy and Water Appropriations Acts received supplemental
funding.
Table 1 details in nominal dollars supplemental appropriations based on the fiscal year when
funds are first available (in some cases, FY2024-FY2026). All of these funds are available until
expended, except for funds from the IRA, which are available through various years from
FY2026 to FY2031, and Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation and Salaries and Expenses in P.L.
118-50, which are available through FY2025.12
Table 1. Enacted Supplemental Appropriations for Agencies Funded by Energy and
Water Development Acts, FY2018-FY2026
(in millions of nominal dollars)
FY Funds First
Available
FY2018
Act
P.L. 115-123
Title I:
U.S. Army
Corps of
Engineers
17,398
Title II:
Bureau of
Reclamation
and CUP
Title III:
Department
of Energy
—
22
Title IV:
Independent
Agencies
—
11 For CRS water resource products on these acts, see CRS In Focus IF11945, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
Supplemental Appropriations, by Nicole T. Carter and Anna E. Normand; CRS Insight IN11723, Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act Funding for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works, by Anna E. Normand and
Nicole T. Carter; 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; and CRS In Focus IF12437, Bureau of Reclamation Funding
in the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand.
12 Sections 50233 and 80004 of P.L. 117-169 appropriations are to remain available through FY2026. Sections 50231
and 50232 of P.L. 117-169 appropriations are to remain available through FY2031.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
FY Funds First
Available
Act
Title I:
U.S. Army
Corps of
Engineers
Title II:
Bureau of
Reclamation
and CUP
Title III:
Department
of Energy
Title IV:
Independent
Agencies
FY2019
P.L. 116-20
3,258
16
—
—
FY2020
P.L. 116-136
70
21
128
3
FY2021
—
—
—
—
—
FY2022
P.L. 117-43
5,711
220
43
—
P.L. 117-58
14,969
1,710
18,687
581
P.L. 117-169
—
4,588
35,067
—
P.L. 117-58
1,080
1,660
13,100
200
P.L. 117-180
20
—
—
—
P.L. 117-328
1,480
—
1,945
—
P.L. 117-58
1,050
1,660
10,778
200
P.L. 118-50
—
—
247
—
P.L. 117-58
—
1,660
10,831
200
P.L. 118-158
1,515
74
64
10
P.L. 117-58
—
1,660
9,072
200
FY2023
FY2024
FY2025
FY2026
Source: CRS using public laws enacted in FY2018-FY2025.
Notes: Fiscal year shown is when funds are first available. All funds are available until expended except for funds
from P.L. 117-169, which are available through various fiscal years from FY2026 to FY2031, and Defense Nuclear
Nonproliferation and Salaries and Expenses in P.L. 118-50, which are available through FY2025. For FY2025, the
American Relief Act (P.L. 118-158) provided $1.510 billion to the U.S. Economic Development Administration
(EDA) for disaster economic recovery, with $10 million of that amount to be transferred to the Delta Regional
Authority.
The relatively large amount of supplemental funding already available to Energy and Water
Development agencies for FY2025 was a consideration in the Biden Administration request and
congressional debate on FY2025 appropriations. For example, DOE cited IIJA funding for two
advanced reactor demonstration projects as the reason that no funding for those projects was
included in the FY2025 request.
Nonetheless, Congress enacted emergency supplemental appropriations for FY2025 in Division B
of the American Relief Act, 2025 (P.L. 118-158). The act provided funding to DOE accounts—
Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Weapons Activities, Defense Environmental Cleanup—for
necessary expenses related to damages caused by natural disasters, including Hurricanes Helene
and Milton. USACE and Reclamation received funding for studies and projects. Regarding
previous supplemental appropriations, the Trump Administration on January 27, 2025, ordered
federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all
Federal financial assistance,” including funds for “the green new deal.” The Trump
Administration said the temporary pause would provide it time to review agency programs and
“determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the
President’s priorities.”13 The pause and review could affect DOE, water resource agency, and
13 Office of Management and Budget, “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance
Programs,” January 27, 2025, https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25506186/m-25-13-temporary-pause-to-reviewagency-grant-loan-and-other-financial-assistance-programs.pdf.
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Appalachian Regional Commission appropriations in IIJA and IRA. As of late April 2025,
multiple challenges to the Trump Administration’s actions have been filed in federal courts.14
Congress may also consider whether or not to rescind unobligated energy and water
appropriations through future budget reconciliation and appropriations processes.
For more details on selected supplemental funding, see
•
•
•
•
•
•
CRS In Focus IF11945, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Supplemental
Appropriations, by Nicole T. Carter and Anna E. Normand.
CRS Insight IN11723, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funding for U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works, by Anna E. Normand and
Nicole T. Carter.
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.
CRS In Focus IF12437, Bureau of Reclamation Funding in the Inflation
Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand.
CRS Report R47034, Energy and Minerals Provisions in the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58), coordinated by Brent D. Yacobucci.
CRS Report R47262, Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA): Provisions Related
to Climate Change, coordinated by Jonathan L. Ramseur.
Funding Levels and Policies for Water Resources Agencies
The Biden Administration’s FY2025 budget requests for USACE and Reclamation were lower
than the enacted FY2024 regular appropriations ($1.483 billion, or 17%, lower for USACE and
$307 million, or 16%, lower for Reclamation). The Biden Administration specified $1.065 billion
of the request as emergency spending. For USACE civil works, the House committee bill would
have provided $9.957 billion, which was $1.254 billion (14%) above the FY2024 enacted amount
and $2.737 billion (38%) above the request. The House committee bill included a number of
policy provisions related to USACE.15 The Senate committee bill would have provided $10.345
billion, an increase of $1.642 billion (19%) over the FY2024 level and $3.125 billion (43%) over
the request. The Senate committee bill would have created a new USACE account—Planning,
Engineering, and Design—with $200 million for “plans and specifications prior to construction
and related activities for water resources development projects.”16 For Reclamation, the House
committee bill would have provided $1.928 billion (+21%) and the Senate committee bill $2.020
billion (+26%).
P.L. 119-4 provides the same appropriations levels for USACE accounts as P.L. 118-42 did for
FY2024. The O&M account, which funds maintenance of existing USACE infrastructure, makes
up 64% of USACE’s FY2025 annual appropriations. In addition, most provisions, such as how
14 Jack Queen and Nate Raymond, “Trump Administration Spending Freeze Will Remain Blocked, US Appeals Court
Says,” Reuters, March 26, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-spending-freeze-will-remainblocked-us-appeals-court-says-2025-03-27.
15 These include Sections 108, 110, 111, and 112.
16 The Senate committee report stated that the committee “created this new account to combat some of the challenges
facing the Corps and non-Federal sponsors,” which may include providing “more assurance of project scope,
challenges, and cost estimates” before authorizing construction and providing new start funding for a project. The
Senate committee bill for FY2024 also included this account; however, it was not included in the final FY2024 E&W
act.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
much funding is to be derived from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund ($2.77 billion), are
retained. Under P.L. 119-4, the Construction account receives the same level of appropriations as
in FY2024: $1.85 billion. However, P.L. 119-4 excludes a P.L. 118-42 provision regarding the use
of $1.43 billion in prior-year unobligated and unallocated IIJA Construction funds.
Therefore, P.L. 119-4 provides new funding for USACE’s Construction activities in FY2025 in an
amount that is 44% less than the amount directed by Congress to fund FY2024 construction
activities listed in the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 118-42.
Section 1503 of P.L. 119-4 removes the requirement for the Secretary of the Army to allocate
appropriated funds in accordance with the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 118-42.
Instead, the section directs USACE’s Chief of Engineers to develop a work plan to allocate P.L.
119-4 funding. The act specifies that USACE is to allocate FY2025 funding under the
Investigations, Construction, and Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) accounts in the work
plan only to active studies and projects. That is, Congress did not allow for any new starts using
FY2025 annual appropriations under P.L. 119-4.17 The act directs USACE to deliver the work
plan to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees within 60 days of the law’s enactment.
The act also directs that once the work plan has been submitted, there are to be no deviations
from the work plan aside from reprogramming authority as provided to USACE in P.L. 118-42.
USACE has published its work plan for FY2025 appropriations.18
As mentioned, P.L. 119-4 generally provides that appropriations for FY2025 accounts are at the
same rates and under the same terms and conditions as enacted in P.L. 118-42, unless otherwise
specified. Section 1501 of P.L. 119-4 reduces amounts provided to Reclamation’s Water and
Related Resources account by $41 million, which received a total of $1.752 billion in FY2024.
This reduction represents the FY2024 amount provided to this account for CPF/CDS. Section
1113 generally directs the Department of the Interior to submit spending, expenditure, or
operating plans to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, at the program, project, or
activity level or any greater level of detail required for FY2024. Such FY2025 plans, often
referred to as operating plans, are due not later than 45 days after enactment of P.L. 119-4.
P.L. 119-4 also included some provisions of note for Reclamation. Section 1506 increases the
authorization of appropriations and extends the expiration of the authorization for a Reclamation
rural water project, the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Project, that was originally
authorized in 2009 under P.L. 111-11.19 Section 1507 releases prior year (FY2024) Reclamation
funding that was proposed for a surface water storage project (Sites Reservoir) in California, in
accordance with a May 2024 recommendation under the Biden Administration. Similarly, Section
1507 releases FY2023 and FY2024 Reclamation funding recommended in that same transmission
for multiple water reuse and recycling projects. The recommendations and congressional release
of prior year funding occur pursuant to processes originally authorized in Sections 4007 and 4009
17 New starts is a term describing USACE studies or projects selected to receive funding to initiate study or project
work. For FY2025, the Biden Administration did not request and the House report (H.Rept. 118-580) did not
recommend new starts, but the Senate report (S.Rept. 118-205) recommended new starts under the Investigations and
the Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) accounts.
18 The FY2025 work plan is available at USACE, “Civil Works Budget and Performance,”
https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/.
19 The section increases the authorization from $870 million to $1.64 billion, and extends the project’s authority
through 2025. For more information about Reclamation Rural Water Projects, see CRS Report R46308, Bureau of
Reclamation Rural Water Projects, by Anna E. Normand.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (P.L. 114-322), and are consistent
with other recent congressional approvals under these authorities.20
For more information, see
•
•
CRS In Focus IF12648, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: FY2025 Appropriations,
by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.
CRS In Focus IF12661, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2025 Budget and
Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern.
Funding Levels for EERE and New Accounts
The Biden Administration’s FY2025 request would have increased DOE EERE funding by $409
million (12%) over the FY2024 enacted amount. This included separate appropriations accounts
that the request would have established for several large offices currently under the EERE
appropriations account—Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, Office of State and
Community Programs, and Office of Federal Energy Management Programs. Congress did not
approve moving these appropriations accounts out of EERE as proposed by the Biden
Administration in FY2023 and FY2024.
EERE programs with the largest requested percentage increases were Renewable Energy Grid
Integration (up $43 million, or 195%), Wind Energy Technologies (up $62 million, or 45%),
Geothermal Technologies (up $38 million, or 32%), Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization
(up $50 million, or 21%),21 and Vehicle Technologies (up $52 million, or 12%).
These proposed increases did not include the efficiency programs that the Biden Administration
proposed moving to separate DOE appropriations accounts. FEMP would have received $64
million in FY2025 under the request (up $21 million, or 49%), the Office of State and
Community Energy Programs, which handles state energy planning grants and low-income home
weatherization assistance, would have received $574 million (up $103 million, or 22%), and the
Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains would have received $113 million (up $95
million or 528%).
In contrast to the Biden Administration request, the House Appropriations Committee
recommended reductions for EERE (including MESC, SCEP, and FEMP). Those programs would
have received $1.960 billion in the House committee bill, a reduction of $1.500 billion (-43%)
from the FY2024 level, including an offset of $804 million using prior-year balances. In the
Senate committee bill, EERE programs (including MESC, SCEP, and FEMP) would have
received $3.460 billion, the same as the FY2024 enacted level, although MESC would have been
funded in a separate account with $20 million.
IIJA appropriated $16.264 billion in FY2022 through FY2026 in additional emergency spending
for programs in the EERE account, of which $1.945 billion was for FY2025.22 EERE programs
20 For additional information, see CRS Report R47987, Bureau of Reclamation Support for Water Storage Projects, by
Charles V. Stern, and CRS Report R44986, Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act: Bureau of
Reclamation and California Water Provisions, by Charles V. Stern, Pervaze A. Sheikh, and Nicole T. Carter.
21 Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization has been part of Advanced Manufacturing. In the FY2024 request, DOE
proposes dividing Advanced Manufacturing into two programs: (1) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing
Technologies and (2) Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization.
22 DOE, FY 2025 Congressional Justification, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, March 2024, p. 10,
https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/doe-fy-2025-budget-vol-4-v5.pdf. Includes all programs currently
funded by the EERE appropriations account.
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received $12.150 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 IF12710, DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
(EERE) Appropriations, FY2025, by Martin C. Offutt and Corrie E. Clark.
Controversy over Energy Efficiency Standards and
Other DOE Actions
DOE revises most of the energy efficiency standards in its Appliance and Commercial Equipment
Standards Program on a six-year cycle. Compliance with the revised standards, typically three
years after publication, can lead to additional costs to industry as manufacturing costs increase,
including up-front capital costs. The revisions generally are estimated to reduce energy costs for
users of the appliances and equipment covered by the standards. One section of H.R. 8997 as
reported by the House Appropriations Committee would have prohibited funding for DOE to
revise and/or implement and enforce three of these standards and a fourth standard for
manufactured housing, shown in Table 2.
Two sections of the bill would have prohibited funding for DOE to revise and/or implement and
enforce standards related to energy consumption in federal buildings and DOE’s ability to waive
certain requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; P.L. 90-190) with
respect to energy storage systems. (See Table 2.)
Further information on two of the energy conservation standards that would have been affected
can be found in CRS Insight IN12115, DOE’s Regulations on Gas Stoves, by Martin C. Offutt,
and CRS Insight IN12179, DOE’s Proposed Regulation on Electricity Distribution Transformers,
by Martin C. Offutt.
Table 2. DOE Standards Addressed in Sections of H.R. 8997 (118th Congress)
Section
Appliance or
Subject
Legislative Text
Affected Notice
Affected
Regulation
312
Clean Energy for
New Federal
Buildings and Major
Renovations of
Federal Buildings
“None of the funds made
available by this Act may
be used to further
develop, finalize,
administer, implement, or
enforce the proposed
regulation”
87 Fed. Reg. 78382
10 C.F.R. Part
435
313
Energy Storage
Systems
“None of the funds made
available by this Act may
be used to provide a
categorical exclusion from
the National
Environmental Policy Act
of 1969”
89 Fed. Reg. 34074
10 C.F.R. Part
1021
514(1)
Distribution
Transformers
“None of the funds made
available by this Act may
be used to finalize,
implement, administer, or
enforce”
89 Fed. Reg. 29834
10 C.F.R. Part
431 Subpart K
514(2)
Manufactured
Housing
“None of the funds made
available by this Act may
be used to finalize,
87 Fed. Reg. 32728
10 C.F.R. Part
460
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Section
Appliance or
Subject
Legislative Text
Affected Notice
Affected
Regulation
implement, administer, or
enforce”
514(3)
Room Air
Conditioners
“None of the funds made
available by this Act may
be used to finalize,
implement, administer, or
enforce”
88 Fed. Reg. 34298
10 C.F.R.
§430.32(b)
514(4)
Consumer
Conventional
Cooking Products
“None of the funds made
available by this Act may
be used to finalize,
implement, administer, or
enforce”
89 Fed. Reg. 11434
10 C.F.R.
§430.32(j)
Source: Federal Register.
Proposed Funding Transfers for Advanced Nuclear Reactor
Demonstrations
Section 317 of the House committee bill would have transferred up to $8.980 billion in funds
provided by IIJA and IRA to the DOE Nuclear Energy account for four advanced reactor
demonstration projects. From IIJA-appropriated funds, the transfers would have consisted of
$980 million from the DOE Civil Nuclear Credit Program and $1.5 billion23 from the Carbon
Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program Account (CIFIA). From
IRA-appropriated funds, the transfers would have consisted of $1.5 billion from the DOE 1703
loan guarantee program for innovative low-carbon technologies and $5 billion from the DOE
1706 program for energy repowering projects.
The proposed transfer in FY2025 would have followed a $950 million transfer from IIJAappropriated funds in the FY2024 E&W appropriations act (Section 311) for DOE to support up
to two small modular reactor demonstrations, through the Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations, and nuclear reactor safety training. The proposed $8.980 billion transfer in the
FY2025 House committee bill was designated for the two FY2024 reactor demonstrations plus
two demonstrations previously receiving support under the DOE Advanced Reactor
Demonstration Program.
The funds proposed to be transferred from the DOE Civil Nuclear Credit program were intended
to prevent the closure of existing nuclear power plants. IIJA appropriated $6 billion for the
program, and DOE has awarded $1.1 billion of Civil Nuclear Credits for one plant, Diablo
Canyon in California.24
The proposed transfer from CIFIA would have reduced the program’s total funding of $2.1 billion
by about 70%, sharply reducing available financial support for eligible CO2 pipeline projects.
DOE’s initial funding opportunity was accepting applications through July 30, 2024, and the
agency has not yet made any awards. Several currently proposed CO2 pipeline projects, located
primarily in the Midwest, face state permitting challenges, including delays, so it is uncertain
23 Throughout this report, numbers are generally rounded to millions. In this section, most of the numbers are precisely
billions or hundreds of millions of dollars. For this section, trailing decimal places have been removed.
24 DOE Grid Deployment Office, “Civil Nuclear Credit Program,” https://www.energy.gov/gdo/civil-nuclear-creditprogram.
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whether their developers have already applied, or might apply in the future, for financial support
under the CIFIA program.
Title XVII Loan Guarantees: Proposed Transfers and Lending
Authority Reductions
Section 1502(1) of P.L. 119-4 changes appropriations and offsets for the DOE Title XVII
Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program by reducing appropriations for administrative
costs and offsetting collections that can be applied to administrative costs from $70 million to $55
million. The act also estimates certain fee collections at $170 million during FY2025.
Section 317 of the House committee bill would have transferred certain IRA appropriations to
DOE’s Nuclear Energy account—as discussed above—and reduced IRA lending authority limits
for two Title XVII loan guarantee programs: (1) the 1703 program, which provides debt financing
for eligible clean energy projects, and (2) the 1706 program, which provides debt financing for
eligible energy infrastructure and reinvestment projects.25 Title XVII IRA appropriations and
lending authorities are available until September 30, 2026. For the 1703 program, the bill would
have transferred $1.5 billion26 from the unobligated balance of the IRA appropriations ($3.6
billion was originally enacted and most remains unobligated) and reduced IRA lending authority
by $150 billion (from $40 billion to $25 billion). For the 1706 program, the bill would have
transferred $5 billion from the unobligated balance of the IRA appropriations ($5 billion as
originally enacted) and reduced lending authority by $245 billion (from $250 billion to $5
billion). The Senate committee bill did not include similar provisions.
DOE 1703 loan guarantee commitments funded by IRA total approximately $17.7 billion for 15
projects, and 1706 loan guarantee commitments funded by IRA total approximately $48.8 billion
for 17 projects. DOE has not announced further loan guarantee commitments since January 17,
2025. As written, Section 317 may not have affected existing loan guarantee commitments.
Rather, future Title XVII lending activity likely would have been reduced from currently
authorized levels. Loan guarantee commitments reduce each program’s remaining available
lending authority. Appropriations for the cost of loan guarantees are obligated at the point of
conditional commitment.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve Modernization Program
DOE is currently executing a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) modernization program that
invests in infrastructure and systems with the goal of extending SPR mission readiness (i.e., oil
drawdown and refill rates) for another 15 to 25 years. According to DOE’s FY2025 budget
justification, the project is scheduled to be completed by the end of FY2026. Estimated program
costs of approximately $1.4 billion were funded through congressionally authorized SPR crude
oil sales conducted between FY2017 and FY2021. Sale proceeds were deposited into the Energy
Security and Infrastructure Modernization (ESIM) Fund, an account used to pay for
modernization program costs.
Citing “pandemic and related supply chain issues, and delays related to” emergency sales that
started in FY2022, DOE’s FY2025 budget justification estimated program costs at $1.920
25 For Title XVII background information, see CRS Insight IN11984, Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA):
Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Programs, by Phillip Brown.
26 Throughout this report, numbers are generally rounded to millions. In this section, the numbers are precisely billions
or half-billions of dollars. For this section, trailing decimal places have been removed. Cases where numbers are
approximate are noted.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
billion.27 The Biden Administration requested supplemental funding of $500 million for ESIM in
FY2023, but that request was not approved. DOE’s FY2025 budget justification highlighted
additional program costs, listed suspended and deferred projects, and indicated anticipation of
nearly $500 million of additional supplemental funding for FY2024. However, the SPR
supplemental funding subsequently was not requested. Other congressional options for addressing
the estimated SPR modernization funding shortfall could include directing DOE to sell $500
million of crude oil and deposit sale proceeds into the ESIM fund, rescinding unobligated funds
from the SPR Petroleum Account and transferring those funds to the ESIM account, directing
DOE to re-scope the program to match available funding. The Senate committee report directed
DOE to “immediately” provide the committee with a modernization program status report.
During his January 2025 inaugural address, President Trump indicated his administration intends
to fill the SPR to its capacity.28 Subsequently, a February 2025 DOE Secretarial Order includes
“Refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve” as a department-level priority.29 However, crude oil
purchases, other expenses, and congressional rescissions depleted the approximately $17 billion
received from emergency crude oil sales in response to oil market conditions related to Russia
invading Ukraine in 2022. Filling the SPR to its approximately 714 million barrel (Mbbl)
physical capacity could require congressional action in the form of appropriations and adjusting
congressionally mandated sales.30
Proposed Increase for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations
The Biden Administration requested $180 million in FY2025 for the DOE Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations (OCED). This would have been a $130 million (260%) increase from OCED’s
FY2024 regular annual appropriation, but the program’s regular appropriations are overshadowed
by $21.456 billion appropriated for OCED through FY2026 by IIJA (see Table 3). In addition,
IRA appropriated $5.812 billion for an OCED program on Advanced Industrial Facilities
Deployment for FY2022-FY2026. As of January 2025, OCED reported that it had awarded
support totaling up to $26.8 billion for clean energy demonstration projects.31
The House Appropriations Committee voted to reduce regular OCED funding to $28 million in
FY2025 (not including the IIJA and IRA advance appropriations). According to the committee
report, “The recommendation only includes funding for Program Direction and provides no
funding for new demonstrations, including the budget request proposal on extreme heat. The
Committee notes that more than $21 billion has been provided to the Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations in previous fiscal years for demonstration activities.” The Senate Appropriations
Committee recommended $125 million for OCED, with the Committee report calling for DOE to
establish a hydrogen transportation demonstration program and “prioritize next-generation
geothermal power production technologies.”
OCED funds clean energy and industrial decarbonization demonstration projects for potential
commercialization. OCED took over DOE support for two advanced nuclear reactor
27 DOE, FY2025 Congressional Justification, vol. 3, March 2024, p. 56, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/
2024-03/doe-fy-2025-budget-vol-3-v2.pdf.
28 White House, “The Inaugural Address,” January 20, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/remarks/2025/01/theinaugural-address.
29 DOE, “Secretary Wright Acts to ‘Unleash Golden Era of American Energy Dominance,’” February 5, 2025,
https://www.energy.gov/articles/secretary-wright-acts-unleash-golden-era-american-energy-dominance.
30 For more information, see CRS Insight IN12542, Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Inventory Outlook and Policy
Considerations, by Phillip Brown.
31 DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, “Portfolio,” January 2025, https://www.energy.gov/oced/portfolio.
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demonstration projects in Wyoming and Texas previously overseen by the DOE Office of Nuclear
Energy (NE), but no funding was requested for those projects in FY2025, because “IIJA provided
multi-year funding for these demonstrations,” according to the DOE budget justification.32 As
noted above, the enacted FY2024 E&W measure transferred $800 million from the DOE Civil
Nuclear Credit program to OCED for up to two cost-shared advanced reactor projects with a
nonfederal cost share of at least 50%. (For more details, see CRS In Focus IF12636, Nuclear
Energy in a Climate Change Context: Current Appropriations for Nuclear Energy Development,
by Jonathan D. Haskett and Mark Holt.)
Table 3. Additional Appropriations for Clean Energy Demonstrations in the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58)
(budget authority in millions of current dollars)
Program
FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
FY2025
FY2026
Energy Storage Demonstration Pilot
Grants Program
88.8
88.8
88.8
88.8
—
355.0
Long-Duration Demonstration Initiative
and Joint Program
37.5
37.5
37.5
37.5
—
150.0
Advanced Reactor Demonstration
Program
677.0
600.0
600.0
600.0
—
2,477.0
Carbon Capture Large-scale Pilot
Projects
387.0
200.0
200.0
150.0
—
937.0
Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects
937.0
500.0
500.0
600.0
—
2,537.0
Industrial Emission Demonstration
Projects
100.0
100.0
150.0
150.0
—
500.0
Clean Energy Demonstration Program
on Current and Former Mine Land
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
500.0
Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs
1,600.0
1,600.0
1,600.0
1,600.0
1,600.0
8,000.0
Program Upgrading Our Electric Grid
and Ensuring Reliability and Resiliency
1,000.0
1,000.0
1,000.0
1,000.0
1,000.0
5,000.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
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
Energy Improvement in Rural and
Remote Areas
Total
3% Set-aside for Program Administration
Total
Source: P.L. 117-58, Division J.
Note: Appropriations are in addition to other amounts made available for these purposes.
Crosscutting Hydrogen Funding
The DOE crosscutting hydrogen activity 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 FY2025
request for crosscutting hydrogen appropriations totaled $377 million, a decrease of $19 million
32 DOE, FY 2025 Congressional Justification, vol. 4, Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, March 2024, p. 365,
https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/doe-fy-2025-budget-vol-4-v5.pdf.
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(-5%) below the FY2024 enacted level of $396 million.33 Most of the hydrogen funding comes
from EERE and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), with smaller
amounts from the Office of Nuclear Energy and the Office of Science.
The Senate Appropriations Committee report recommended at least $378 million for the DOE
hydrogen crosscut in FY2025, slightly above the Administration request. The Senate committee
recommendation includes $65 million for heavy-duty transportation—such as trains, maritime
shipping, and aviation—and for industrial applications. Crosscut amounts were not specified by
the House Appropriations Committee report.
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 FY2025). 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, along
with the connecting infrastructure.
DOE launched a “Hydrogen Shot” initiative in June 2021—one of its “Energy Earthshots”
dedicated to the scale-up of emerging low-carbon energy technologies—with a goal of making
hydrogen, produced through electrolysis, commercially available at a cost of $1 for one kilogram
in one decade, not including delivery and dispensing.
For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12163, Department of Energy Funding for Hydrogen
and Fuel Cell Technology Programs FY2022, by Martin C. Offutt, and CRS In Focus IF12514,
DOE Appropriations for Its Hydrogen Program: FY2024, by Martin C. Offutt.
Proposed Increase for Weapons Activities, Decrease for Nuclear
Nonproliferation
The FY2025 budget request for NNSA Weapons Activities was $19.849 billion—$741 million
(4%) higher than the FY2024 enacted level, while the FY2025 request of $2.119 billion for Naval
Reactors was $173 million (9%) above the FY2024 amount. The FY2025 request for Defense
Nuclear Nonproliferation was $2.465 billion, a decrease of $116 million (-4%) from the FY2024
appropriation.
P.L. 119-4 funds the Weapons Activities account at $19.293 billion, which is $556 million less
than the FY2025 request (-3%) but $185 million (1%) more than the FY2024 enacted level. The
Nonproliferation account receives $2.396 billion, which is $69 million (-3%) less than the
FY2025 request and $185 million (-7%) below the FY2024 level. Naval reactors funding is
continued at the FY2024 amount. Allocation of the increases and decreases from the FY2024
level to individual projects and activities is not specified. The American Relief Act, 2025 (P.L.
118-158) provided an additional $2 million under the Weapons Activities account to mitigate
damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Requested FY2025 amounts for nuclear warhead modernization programs in Weapons Activities
included the following:
•
$28 million for the B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP), a decrease of $422
million (-94%) from the FY2024 enacted amount. The B61-12 LEP is to combine
33 DOE, FY 2025 Congressional Justification, vol. 4, Crosscutting Activities, Hydrogen, p. 301, March 2024,
https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/doe-fy-2025-budget-vol-2-v4.pdf; and Explanatory Statement to
Accompany Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, P.L. 118-42.
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•
•
•
•
•
•
four existing variants of the B61 gravity bomb. The House committee and Senate
committee reports recommended the same amount.
$16 million for the B61-13 variant of the B61 gravity bomb, a 69% decrease
from the $52 million enacted in FY2024. The Biden Administration announced in
2023 that the United States would pursue this warhead variant utilizing B61-12
production capacities for use against “certain harder and large-area military
targets” as the Department of Defense “works to retire legacy systems such as the
B83-1 and the B61-7.”34 The House committee and Senate committee reports
recommended the same amount.
$79 million for the W88 Alteration, a decrease of $100 million (-56%) from the
FY2024 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). The House committee and Senate committee reports
recommended the same amount.
$1.165 billion for the W80-4 warhead LEP, an increase of $154.82 million (15%)
over the FY2024 enacted amount intended for the warhead that will be mounted
on the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise missile. The House committee and
Senate committee reports recommended the same amount.
$1.096 billion for the W87-1 warhead modification program, an increase of $27
million (3%) from FY2024. The Air Force plans to deploy the W87-1 on the new
U.S. Sentinel land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).35 The House
committee and Senate committee reports recommended the same amount.
$456 million for the W93 warhead, an increase of $66 million (17%) from the
FY2024 enacted amount. The W93 is a new design intended for deployment on
ballistic missile submarines. The House committee and Senate committee reports
recommended the same amount.
The Biden Administration did not include funding for the nuclear sea-launched
cruise missile (SLCM-N) warhead in NNSA’s FY2025 budget request. NNSA
Administrator Jill Hruby testified in a May 2024 hearing that NNSA’s FY2025
unfunded priorities list includes $70 million in funding for this warhead.36 The
House committee and Senate committee reports both recommended $70 million.
NNSA is implementing seven warhead programs while also engaging in intensive efforts to
recapitalize its production infrastructure. In this regard, congressional concern has been raised
about NNSA’s schedule for developing production capacity for plutonium pits (warhead cores),
central components of nuclear warheads. NNSA plans to develop pit production capacity at Los
Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South
Carolina. Pit production was included in NNSA’s FY2025 budget under Plutonium
Modernization, for which NNSA requested $2.891 billion for FY2025, a decrease of $20 million
34 Department of Defense, “Fact Sheet on B61 Variant Deployment,” October 27, 2023, https://media.defense.gov/
2023/Oct/27/2003329624/-1/-1/1/B61-13-FACT-SHEET.PDF.
35 CRS In Focus IF11681, Defense Primer: LGM-35A Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.
36 Senate Armed Services Committee, Hearing to Receive Testimony on the Department of Energy’s Atomic Energy
Defense Activities and Department of Defense Nuclear Weapons Programs in Review of the Defense Authorization
Request for Fiscal Year 2025 and the Future Years Defense Program, May 22, 2024, https://www.armedservices.senate.gov/hearings/to-receive-testimony-on-the-department-of-energys-atomic-energy-defense-activities-anddepartment-of-defense-nuclear-weapons-programs-in-review-of-the-defense-authorization-request-for-fiscal-year2025-and-the-future-years-defense-program (55 minutes into the video).
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(-1%) from the FY2024 enacted level. The House Appropriations Committee recommended
$2.972 billion for Plutonium Modernization, $80 million above the request, while the Senate
Appropriations Committee recommended the same amount as 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). An
FY2025 NDAA (H.R. 8070) was passed by the House on June 14, 2024. The Senate Armed
Services Committee reported an FY2025 NDAA in July 8, 2024 (S. 4638, S.Rept. 118-188). The
Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2025 was signed into law December 23, 2024 (P.L. 118-159).
For more information, see CRS Report R47657, Energy and Water Development Appropriations
for Nuclear Weapons Activities: In Brief, by Anya L. Fink and Alexandra G. Neenan.
Startup of Surplus Plutonium Disposition
The FY2025 budget request provided for activities related to the disposition of surplus plutonium,
a key material for nuclear weapons, in the Material Management and Minimization (MMM) and
Nonproliferation Construction accounts. These activities are intended to dilute 34 metric tons of
surplus plutonium, located primarily at SRS, for permanent disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant (WIPP), a deep underground repository in New Mexico. “A total of 13 shipments of
downblended surplus plutonium were made to WIPP in FY 2023,” according to DOE’s FY2025
budget justification.37
In the MMM account, DOE requested $193 million for Plutonium Disposition and, under the
Construction account, $40 million for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Project at SRS. The
construction request was a reduction of $37 million (-48%) from the FY2024 enacted amount.
The budget justification said the construction funding reduction resulted from “the use of prior
year uncosted balances available due to delays in final design completion.”38 The request also
reflected a 10-year deferral of the expansion of plutonium pit disassembly and processing
capability, which will be needed to complete the disposition of all 34 metric tons of surplus
plutonium.39 In the MMM account, the House committee accepted the Biden Administration
request, while the Senate committee recommended $210 million. Both the House and Senate
committees agreed with the Biden Administration request of $40 million in the Construction
account.
As noted above, P.L. 119-4 reduces funding for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, which
includes plutonium disposition, by $185 million from the FY2024 enacted amount without
specifying how the reduction is to be allocated.
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 $8.613 billion request for EM
activities for FY2025 was $154 million (-2%) below the FY2024 enacted level of $8.767 billion,
including adjustments and offsets. The House committee bill would have provided $8.320 billion
37 DOE, FY 2025 Congressional Justification, Vol. 1, March 2024, p. 628, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/
2024-03/doe-fy-2025-budget-vol-1-v4.pdf.
38 Ibid., p. 672.
39 Ibid., p. 628.
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for EM, a decrease of $293 million (-3%) below the request. The Senate committee bill included
$9.334 billion for EM, $721 million (8%) above the request.
The primary appropriations component of the EM program is the Defense Environmental
Cleanup account, which finances the cleanup of former nuclear weapons production sites. For
FY2025, the Biden Administration requested $7.060 billion, a reduction of $225 million (-3%)
from the FY2024 enacted amount. For the Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup account, which
funds the cleanup of federal nuclear energy research sites, the request was $315 million, a
reduction of $27 million (-8%) below the FY2024 enacted level. The third component of the EM
budget is the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund (UED&D), for
which the FY2025 request was $854 million, nearly the same as the FY2024 enacted amount.
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.
Another EM component is Defense Uranium Enrichment D&D, for which $385 million was
requested, an increase of $100 million (35%) over the FY2024 enacted amount.
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.
Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Amending or
Expanding Uses of Funding
The FY2025 budget request included proposed appropriations language to amend or expand the
use of funding by certain federal regional commissions and authorities (i.e., Delta Regional
Authority (DRA), the Denali Commission, and the Northern Border Regional Commission
(NBRC)). The FY2025 request proposed to repeal the sunset (or termination of authority)
provision for DRA’s authority and allow the DRA to collect and spend fees to cover the costs of
operating a visa sponsorship program.40 President Biden’s budget would have allowed funding
provided by the Denali Commission to be considered a nonfederal match in projects for which the
Denali Commission was not the primary funding source and proposed that the nonfederal costshare maximum be 80% for certain construction projects.41 The FY2025 request also proposed to
waive the 10% limit on FY2025 funding that may be used for administrative expenses for the
NBRC.42
40 The FY2025 budget request included proposed appropriations language to repeal section 382N of the Delta Regional
Authority Act of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 2009aa–13). See Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Appendix: Budget of the
U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2025 (2024), p. 1143, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2025APP/pdf/BUDGET-2025-APP.pdf.
41 OMB, Appendix: Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2025 (2024), p. 1144,
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2025-APP/pdf/BUDGET-2025-APP.pdf.
42 OMB, Appendix: Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2025 (2024), p. 1201,
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2025-APP/pdf/BUDGET-2025-APP.pdf. The authorizing statute for
several regional commissions and authorities (including the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC)) limits the
amount of appropriated funding that may be used for administrative expenses to 10% of appropriated funds, unless less
than $10 million is provided in a fiscal year (see 40 U.S.C. §15751(b)). The exception to the 10% limit on
administrative expenses for the NBRC was previously included in the FY2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L.
118-42). For additional information, see CRS In Focus IF12165, Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities:
Administrative Expenses, by Julie M. Lawhorn.
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The funding amounts proposed in the FY2025 House committee and Senate committee bills for
the federal regional commissions and authorities were the same for ARC and varied by $1 million
to $5 million for the other commissions and authorities. The exception was the amount proposed
for the Southwest Border Regional Commission, which was $5 million in the House committee
bill and $14 million in the Senate committee bill.
The FY2025 House committee and Senate committee bills included several provisions that were
also similar to each other and to the President’s FY2025 budget request. For instance, as proposed
in the House committee and Senate committee bills, the DRA sunset provision would not apply.
Also as proposed in the House committee and Senate committee bills, funding provided by the
Denali Commission could be considered a nonfederal match in projects for which the Denali
Commission was not the primary funding source. In the Senate committee bill the nonfederal
cost-share maximum would be 90% for certain Denali Commission construction projects; in the
House committee bill the nonfederal cost-share maximum for certain Denali Commission
construction projects would be 80%. The House committee and Senate committee bills would
both waive the 10% limit on FY2025 funding that may be used for administrative expenses for
the NBRC.
Proposed Ban on Federal Funding for Private Consolidated Spent
Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilities and Proposed DOE Pilot
Section 504 of the House committee bill would have barred all federal funding for private-sector
spent nuclear fuel consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs) that are not currently operating
and are not specifically authorized under federal law “until such time that host state and local
governments and any affected Indian tribes have formalized their consent.” NRC has issued
licenses to CISFs in New Mexico and Texas—currently under legal challenge—that are strongly
opposed by their respective state governments. A ban on federal funding could affect federal
licensing, permits, and safety regulation, as well as potential federal payments to CISF operators
pursuant to spent fuel disposal contracts with DOE.
Section 312 of the Senate committee bill would have authorized DOE to conduct a pilot program
to license, construct, and operate at least one federal CISF “using a consent-based siting process.”
Similar language has been included in previous Senate E&W bills but has never been enacted.
The House and Senate committee provisions were not included in P.L. 119-4.
Bill Status and Recent Funding History
Table 4 indicates major congressional actions taken during consideration of FY2025 Energy and
Water Development appropriations. (For more details, congressional staff may see the CRS
Appropriations Status Table at http://www.crs.gov/AppropriationsStatusTable/Index.)
Table 4. Status of Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2025
Subcommittee
Markup
Final Approval
House
Senate
House
Comm.
House
Passed
Senate
Comm.
Senate
Passed
Conf.
Report
House
Senate
Public
Law
6/28/24
—
7/9/24
—
8/1/24
—
—
3/11/25
3/14/25
3/15/25
Source: CRS Appropriations Status Table.
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Table 5 includes budget totals for regular (excluding supplementals) energy and water
development appropriations enacted for FY2020 through FY2025.
Table 5. Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2020-FY2025
(budget authority in billions of current dollars)
FY2020
FY2021
FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
FY2025
Request
FY2025
H. Com.
FY2025
S. Com.
FY2025
Approp
48.4
49.5
55.6
59.2
61.4
61.3
62.4
65.3
61.3
Source: Compiled by CRS from totals provided by congressional budget documents.
Notes: Figures exclude permanent budget authorities, scorekeeping adjustments, rescissions, and emergency
funding. See Table 1 for emergency funding for these fiscal years. Figures are not adjusted for inflation.
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 6. Major programs in the bill are described in this section in the approximate order they
appear in the bill. Previous appropriations and recent budget requests 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 6. Energy and Water Development Appropriations Summary
(budget authority in millions of current dollars)
FY2021
Approp
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Request
FY2025
H. Com.
FY2025
S. Com.
FY2025
Approp
Title 1: USACE
7,795
8,343
8,310
8,703
7,220
9,957
10,345
8,703
Title II: CUP and
Reclamation
1,691
1,924
1,954
1,923
1,616
1,951
2,043
1,882
Title III:
Department of
Energy
39,625
44,856
48,445
50,247
51,978
49,935
52,371
50,190
Title IV:
Independent
Agencies
414
454
494
502
519
520
526
502
49,525
55,576
59,204
61,375
61,333
62,364
65,285
61,277
-73
-2,704
-2,202
-22
-1,365
-3,174
-67
-22
49,452
52,872
57,002
61,353
59,968
59,190
65,218
61,255
Title
Subtotal
Rescissions and
Scorekeeping
Adjustmentsa
E&W Total
Sources: P.L. 119-4; S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-580; FY2025 Administration budget request; explanatory
statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024; P.L. 117-328 and explanatory statement; FY2022 agency
budget justifications; explanatory statement for H.R. 133, 116th Congress; FY2021 agency budget justifications;
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explanatory statement for Division C of H.R. 1865, 116th Congress. Excludes emergency appropriations.
Subtotals may include other adjustments. Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding and adjustments.
Notes:
a. Budget “scorekeeping” refers to determinations of spending amounts for congressional budget enforcement
purposes. These scorekeeping adjustments may include rescissions and offsetting revenues from various
sources.
Agency Budget Justifications
FY2025 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, https://www.usace.army.mil/missions/civilworks/budget (see Table 7)
Title II (see Table 8)
•
•
Bureau of Reclamation, https://www.usbr.gov/budget
Central Utah Project, https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/202403/fy2025-508-cupca-greenbook.pdf
Title III: Department of Energy, https://www.energy.gov/cfo/articles/fy-2025-budget-justification
(see Table 9)
Title IV: Independent Agencies (see Table 14)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Appalachian Regional Commission, https://www.arc.gov/budget-performanceand-policy
Delta Regional Authority, https://dra.gov/accountability/congressional-budgetjustification
Denali Commission, https://www.denali.gov/finance/congressional-budgetjustifications
Northern Border Regional Commission, https://www.nbrc.gov/content/CJ
Southeast Crescent Regional Commission,
https://scrc.gov/sites/default/files/Reports2024/scrc_fy_2025_budget_justification_final.pdf
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
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water resource facilities for coastal and inland navigation, riverine and coastal flood risk
reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration.43
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, 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 I of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024
(P.L. 118-272).) These acts consisted largely of authorizations for new USACE studies and
projects, and they altered numerous USACE policies and procedures.44
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
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 through FY2024,
Congress approved earmarks in specified categories, in addition to providing additional funding
for specific categories for USACE to allocate in work plans.45 House and Senate rules again
allowed USACE earmarks for FY2025; however, Section 1111 of P.L. 119-4 establishes that the
act does not provide for earmarks. 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 7 shows USACE appropriations accounts from FY2021 through FY2024, as well as
appropriations action for FY2025.
43 Military responsibilities are funded through the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
appropriations bill.
44 For more information on USACE authorization legislation, see CRS In Focus IF11322, Water Resources
Development Acts: Primer and Action in the 118th Congress, 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.
45 USACE work plans are available at USACE, “Civil Works Budget and Performance,” at
https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#Work-Plans.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Table 7. Army Corps of Engineers
(budget authority in millions of current dollars)
Program
FY2021 FY2022
Approp Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Request
FY2025
H. Com.
FY2025
S. Com.
FY2025
Approp
Investigations
153.0
143.0
172.5
143.0
110.6
159.0
107.8
143.0
Planning,
Engineering,
and Design
—
—
—
—
—
—
200.0
—
Construction
2,692.6
2,492.8
1,808.8
1,854.7
1,958.4
3,010.0
2,979.0
1,854.7
Mississippi
River and
Tributaries
(MR&T)
380.0
370.0
370.0
368.0
244.8
370.0
375.5
368.0
Operation
and
Maintenance
(O&M)
3,849.7
4,570.0
5,078.5
5,552.8
2,469.5
5,714.0
5,849.1
5,552.8
Regulatory
210.0
212.0
218.0
221.0
221.0
218.0
224.0
221.0
General
Expenses
206.0
208.0
215.0
216.0
231.2
231.0
224.0
216.0
FUSRAP
250.0
300.0
400.0
300.0
200.3
200.0
325.0
300.0
Flood
Control and
Coastal
Emergencies
(FCCE)
35.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
45.0
45.0
45.0
35.0
Office of the
Asst.
Secretary of
the Army
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
6.4
5.0
5.5
5.0
WIFIA
Programa
14.2
7.2
7.2
7.2
7.0
5.0
10.0
7.2
Harbor
Maintenance
Trust Fundb
—
—
—
—
1,726.0
—
—
—
7,795.5
8,343.0
8,310.0
8,702.7
7,220.2
9,957.0
10,344.9
8,702.7
-0.5
—
—
-22.2
—
—
—
-22.2
7,795.0
8,343.0
8,310.0
8,680.5
7,220.2
9,957.0
10,344.9
8,680.5
Total
approp
Rescissions
Total Title I
Sources: P.L. 119-4; S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-580; FY2025 Administration budget request; explanatory
statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024; USACE Civil Works FY2024 Budget and USACE Civil
Works FY2022 Budget at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/; FY2024 Budget Appendix
for Corps of Engineers—Civil Works at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BUDGET-2024-APP/BUDGET2024-APP-1-20; Division D of P.L. 117-328; Division D of P.L. 117-103; Division D of P.L. 116-260; Division C of
P.L. 116-94; Division A of P.L. 115-244.
Notes: FUSRAP = Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program; WIFIA = Water Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Act. Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
a.
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 the Administration’s FY2025 request, as with previous requests, some activities that are funded in the
O&M, Construction, and MR&T accounts were proposed to be funded directly from the Harbor
Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) account. That is, the Administration proposed funding eligible USACE
activities directly from the trust fund. This would replace the current practice of having USACE’s O&M,
Construction, and MR&T accounts incur expenses for HMTF-eligible activities, and for these expenses to be
reimbursed from the HMTF accounts. For example, HMTF-eligible maintenance dredging would no longer
be funded by the O&M account and reimbursed by the HMTF; instead, the dredging would be funded
directly from the HMTF account. These proposals were not enacted in FY2024 or FY2025. Similar
proposals also were not enacted in FY2019, FY2020, FY2021, FY2022, and FY2023.
In addition to the regular appropriations for FY2022 through FY2025, USACE received the
following supplemental appropriations:
•
•
•
•
•
$5.711 billion in Division B of P.L. 117-43;
$14.969 billion for FY2022, $1.080 billion for FY2023, and $1.050 billion for
FY2024 in the IIJA (P.L. 117-58);
$1.480 billion in Division N of P.L. 117-328;46
$20 million in the FY2023 continuing resolution (P.L. 117-180); and
$1.515 billion in the American Relief Act, FY2025 (P.L. 118-158).
For more information on USACE supplemental funding, see CRS In Focus IF11945, U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers: Supplemental Appropriations, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.
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
46 Of the $1.480 billion in emergency supplemental funds provided by the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations
Act, 2023 (Division N of P.L. 117-328), $350 million was made available for USACE to allocate in a work plan for
construction and O&M of certain categories of projects (i.e., similar to additional funding provided through annual
appropriations in FY2014-FY2022). USACE allocated the $350 million from Division N along with additional funding
provided by Division D in its FY2023 work plan.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
of money directly toward specific Reclamation projects. For FY2022 through FY2025, the House
and Senate rules allowed congressionally directed funding for specific Reclamation projects. For
FY2025, Section 1111 of P.L. 119-4 establishes that the act does not provide for earmarks. As a
result, FY2025 funding for Water and Related Resources excludes $41 million in earmarks that
had been enacted for FY2024.
Water and Related Resources, Reclamation’s single largest account, encompasses the agency’s
traditional programs and projects, including construction, operations and maintenance, dam
safety, and ecosystem restoration, among others.47 Reclamation also typically requests funds in a
number of smaller accounts, and has proposed additional accounts in recent years.
Implementation and oversight of CUP, also funded by Title II, is conducted by a separate office
within the Department of the Interior.48
For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12369, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2024 Budget and
Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern, and CRS In Focus IF12127, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2023
Budget and Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern.
Table 8 shows Reclamation and CUP appropriations accounts from FY2021 through FY2024, as
well as appropriations action for FY2025.
Table 8. Bureau of Reclamation and CUP
(budget authority in millions of current dollars)
FY2021
Approp
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Request
FY2025
H. Com.
FY2025
S. Com.
FY2025
Approp
1,521.1
1,747.1
1,787.2
1,751.7
1,443.5
1,773.0
1,864.6
1,710.7
Policy and
Administration
60.0
64.4
65.1
66.8
66.8
66.8
66.8
66.8
CVP Restoration
Fund (CVPRF)
55.9
56.5
45.8
48.5
55.7
55.7
55.7
48.5
Calif. Bay-Delta
(CALFED)
33.0
33.0
33.0
33.0
33.0
33.0
33.0
33.0
Gross Current
Reclamation
Authority
1,670.0
1,901.0
1,931.0
1,900.0
1,599.0
1,928.5
2,020.0
1,859.0
21.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
20.3
23.0
23.0
23.0
Program
Water and
Related
Resources
Central Utah
Project (CUP)
Completion
47 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.
48 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
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Program
Reclamation
and CUP
Offsets and
Adjustments
Total
FY2021
Approp
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Request
FY2025
H. Com.
FY2025
S. Com.
FY2025
Approp
1,691.0
1,924.0
1,954.0
1,923.0
1,619.3
1,951.5
2,043.0
1,882.0
—
—
-45.8
—
—
—
—
—
1,691.0
1,924.0
1,908.2
1,923.0
1,619.3
1,951.5
2,043.0
1,882.0
Sources: P.L. 119-4; S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-580; FY2025 Administration budget request; explanatory
statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024; Reclamation and CUP FY2024 congressional budget
justifications; Division D of P.L. 117-328; Division D of P.L. 117-103; Division D of P.L. 116-260; Division C of
P.L. 116-94; Division A of P.L. 115-244.
Notes: Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding. CVP = Central Valley Project.
IIJA provided $1.660 billion in additional funding for each of FY2022 through FY2026 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. (For more information, see CRS In Focus
IF12437, Bureau of Reclamation Funding in the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), by
Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand.) The American Relief Act, 2025 (P.L. 118-158) included
$74 million for Reclamation.
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 the
following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
R&D on renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear power, fossil energy, and
electricity;
nuclear weapons and nonproliferation;
general science;
environmental cleanup;
energy statistics, projections, and analysis;
loan programs;
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; and
power marketing administrations.
Table 9 provides recent DOE funding history, including appropriations action for FY2025. Most
DOE programs funded by these appropriations accounts are briefly described further below.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Table 9. Department of Energy
(budget authority in millions of current dollars)
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Request
FY2025
H. Com.
FY2025
S. Com.
FY2025
Approp
Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy
3,200.0
3,460.0
3,460.0
3,118.0a
1,960.0
3,440.0b
3,460.0
Electricity Delivery
277.0
350.0
280.0
293.0
250.0
280.0
280.0
Cybersecurity, Energy
Security, and
Emergency Response
185.8
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
1,654.8
1,473.0
1,685.0
1,590.7
1,793.0
1,675.0
1,685.0
825.0
890.0
865.0
900.0
875.0
865.0
865.0
—
222.0
83.7
—
—
36.0
—
Naval Petroleum and
Oil Shale Reserves
13.7
13.0
13.0
13.0
13.0
13.0
13.0
Strategic Petroleum
Reserved
226.4
207.3
213.4
241.3
295.2
213.5
213.5
Northeast Home
Heating Oil Reserve
6.5
7.0
7.2
7.2
7.2
7.2
7.2
Energy Information
Administration
129.1
135.0
135.0
141.7
141.7
135.0
135.0
Non-Defense
Environmental Cleanup
333.9
358.6
342.0
314.7
324.0
342.0
342.0
Uranium Enrichment
Decontamination and
Decommissioning Fund
860.0
879.1
855.0
854.2
864.2
865.0
855.0
7,475.0
8,100.0
8,240.0
8,583.0
8,390.0
8,600.0
8,240.0
Office of Technology
Transitions
19.5
22.1
20.0
27.1
20.0
34.5
20.0
Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations
20.0
89.0
50.0
180.0
27.5
125.0
50.0
Federal Energy
Management Program
—
—
—
64.0
—
—
—
Grid Deployment
Office
—
—
60.0
101.9
60.0
60.0
60.0
Office of
Manufacturing and
Energy Supply Chains
—
—
—
113.4
—
20.0
—
Office of State and
Community Energy
Programs
—
—
—
574.0
—
—
—
Advanced Research
Projects Agency—
Energy (ARPA-E)
450.0
470.0
460.0
450.0
450.0
459.2
460.0
Energy Programs
Nuclear Energyc
Fossil Energy and
Carbon Management
Energy Projects
Science
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Request
FY2025
H. Com.
FY2025
S. Com.
FY2025
Approp
Nuclear Waste
Disposal
27.5
10.2
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
Departmental Admin.
(net)
240.0
283.0
286.5
334.7
286.5
290.4
286.5
Office of Inspector
General
78.0
86.0
86.0
149.0
100.0
86.0
86.0
Office of Indian Energy
58.0
75.0
70.0
95.0
95.0
70.0
70.0
Advanced Technology
Vehicles Manufacturing
(ATVM) Loans
5.0
9.8
13.0
27.5
18.0
20.0
13.0
Title 17 Loan
Guarantee
29.0
181.2
—
-115.0
-115.0
-115.0
—
Tribal Energy Loan
Guarantee
2.0
4.0
6.3
6.3
6.3
6.3
6.3
Critical and Emerging
Technologies
—
—
—
5.0
—
—
—
Total, Energy
Programs
16,116.0
17,525.2
17,443.2
18,281.4
16,073.5
17,740.1
17,359.5
Weapons Activities
15,920.0
17,116.1
19,108.0
19,848.6
20,338.8
19,930.0
19,293.0
Nuclear
Nonproliferation
2,354.0
2,490.0
2,581.0
2,465.1
2,445.0
2,630.0
2,396.0
Naval Reactors
1,918.0
2,081.5
1,946.0
2,118.8
2,118.8
2,077.0
1,946.0
464.0
475.0
500.0
564.5
564.5
564.0
500.0
20,656.0
22,162.6
24,135.0
24,997.0
25,467.0
25,201.0
24,135.0
6,710.0
7,025.0
7,285.0
7,059.7
7,132.0
7,550.0
7,285.0
Defense Uranium
Enrichment D&D
573.3
586.0
285.0
385.0
—
577.0
285.0
Other Defense
Activities
985.0
1,035.0
1,080.0
1,140.0
1,179.0
1,188.0
1,107.0
Southwestern
10.4
10.6
11.4
11.4
11.4
11.4
11.4
Western
90.8
98.7
99.9
100.9
99.9
100.9
99.9
Falcon and Amistad
O&M
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
Total, PMAs
101.4
109.6
111.5
112.5
111.5
112.5
111.5
General Provisions
-286.1
2.0
-93.0
2
-28
2
-93.0
DOE Total
Appropriations
44,855.6
48,445.4
50,246.8
51,977.6
49,935.0
52,370.6
50,190.0
Offsets and
Adjustments
—
-2,202.0
—
-300.0
—
-67.0
—
Total, DOE
44,855.6
46,243.4
50,246.8
51,677.6
49,935.0
52,303.6
50,190.0
Office of
Admin./Salaries and
Expenses
Total, NNSA
Defense Environmental
Cleanup
Congressional Research Service
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Sources: P.L. 119-4; S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-580; FY2025 Administration budget request; explanatory
statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024; DOE FY2024 budget justification; P.L. 117-328 and
explanatory statement; H.Rept. 117-98; DOE FY2022 congressional budget justification, explanatory statement
for H.R. 133, 116th Congress; H.Rept. 116-449; explanatory statement for Division C of H.R. 1865, 116th
Congress.
Notes: Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding. Table includes some category adjustments for
comparability.
a. Excludes requests for the FEMP, MESC, and SCEP accounts.
b. Excludes recommendation for MESC account.
c. Includes $178 million from defense budget function.
d. Includes Strategic Petroleum Reserve Petroleum Account and rescissions.
As well as the regular annual appropriations shown in Table 9, DOE received additional
appropriations from IIJA; the additional amounts for FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025 are shown in
Table 10. Additional appropriations also became available to DOE from IRA, beginning in
FY2022 as shown in Table 11. Additional amounts for FY2023 were appropriated by Divisions
M and N of P.L. 117-328, as shown in Table 12.
Table 10. Additional FY2023-FY2025 DOE Funding Under IIJA
(budget authority in millions of current dollars)
IIJA
FY2023
Program
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
IIJA
FY2024
IIJA
FY2025
2,221.8
1,945
1,945.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Electricity
1,610.0
1,610.0
1,610.0
Nuclear Energy
1,200.0
1,200.0
1,200.0
Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
1,444.5
1,447.0
1,449.5
Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Program Account
2,097.0
—
—
Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations
4,426.3
4,476.3
4,526.3
13,099.6
10,778.3
10,830.8
Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response
Total
Sources: H.Rept. 117-394, DOE FY2024 and FY2025 congressional budget justifications.
Table 11. 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
Congressional Research Service
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Program
IRA Section
Approp
Fiscal Years
Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grants
50143
2,000
FY2022-FY2031
Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment
50144
5,000
FY2022-FY2026
Tribal Energy Loan Guarantees
50145
75
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
20
FY2022-FY2031
National Laboratory Infrastructure
50172
Office of Science
FY2022-FY2027
50172(a)
Science Laboratory Infrastructure Projects
133
High Energy Physics Construction and Equipment
304
Fusion Energy Construction and Equipment
280
Nuclear Physics Construction and Equipment
217
Advanced Scientific Computing Facilities
164
Basic Energy Sciences Projects
295
Isotope Research and Development Facilities
158
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
50173
700
Availability of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium
DOE Total
FY2022-FY2026
35,067
Source: P.L. 117-169. Appropriations for items in Section 50172 are for the same fiscal year period.
Table 12. 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
Division N
Total
Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability
100.0
—
100.0
Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program
60.0
—
60.0
National Reactor Innovation Center
20.0
—
20.0
Risk Reduction for Future Demonstrations
120.0
—
120.0
125.3
—
125.3
Electricity (Puerto Rico electricity grid resilience)
—
1,000.0
1,000.0
Western Area Power Administration
—
520.0
520.0
425.3
1,520.0
1,945.3
Nuclear Energy
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (Ukraine-related activities)
Total
Source: P.L. 117-328, Divisions M and N.
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DOE Crosscutting Activities
Crosscutting activities consist of activities that draw funding and resources from multiple DOE
program offices and their corresponding appropriations accounts. Crosscutting activities are
identified in the FY2025 budget justification,49 as shown in Table 13. Final FY2025 crosscuts are
not specified in P.L. 119-4.
Table 13. DOE Crosscutting Initiatives
(FY2025 budget request in millions of current dollars)
Crosscut
EERE
FECM
Science
CESER
OE
MESC
NNSA
Other
Total
Carbon
Dioxide
Removal
13.3
130.2
94.0
—
—
—
—
—
237.5
Clean
Energy
Technology
Manufacturing
370.3
6.0
17.0
—
—
93.4
—
—
486.6
Clean Fuels
and
Products
353.9
128.5
417.7
—
—
—
—
—
900.1
Artificial
Intelligence
and Machine
Learning
76.0
—
259.0
—
—
—
114.1
6.0
455.1
Biotechnology and
Biomanufacturing
103.8
—
804.9
—
—
—
—
—
908.7
Microelectronics
24.5
—
94.7
—
—
—
157.0
—
276.2
Quantum
Information
Systems
—
—
280.4
—
—
—
9.0
—
289.4
Critical
Minerals
192.2
74.0
25.0
—
—
34.4
—
—
325.5
Energy
Cybersecurity
12.8
1.5
—
123.5
15.0
—
—
6.6
159.4
Energy
Storage
415.3
6.0
128.3
—
94.8
34.4
—
16.6
695.3
EnergyWater
Systems
31.8
—
14.5
—
—
—
—
2.3
48.5
Fusion
—
—
118.8
—
—
—
26.9
—
145.6
49 DOE, FY 2025 Congressional Justification, vol. 2, March 2024, p. 237, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/
2024-03/doe-fy-2025-budget-vol-2-v4.pdf.
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Crosscut
EERE
FECM
Science
CESER
OE
MESC
NNSA
Other
Total
Grid
Modernization
248.0
3.7
—
106.5
273.3
—
—
92.1
723.6
Hydrogen
210.1
110.4
50.7
—
—
—
—
6.0
377.2
Industrial
Decarbonization
603.9
240.7
44.7
—
—
21.0
—
26.1
936.5
2,655.9
701.0
2,349.7
230.0
383.1
183.2
307.0
155.7
6,965.2
Total
Source: DOE FY2025 congressional budget justification, vol. 2.
Notes: EERE = Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; FECM = Fossil Energy and Carbon Management; CESER
= Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response; OE = Office of Electricity; MESC = Manufacturing
and Energy Supply Chains; NNSA = National Nuclear Security Administration. Numbers may not add exactly to
totals due to rounding.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy conducts R&D on transportation
energy technology, energy efficiency in buildings and manufacturing processes, and the
production of solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable energy.
The Sustainable Transportation program area includes electric vehicles (EVs), vehicle efficiency,
hydrogen and fuel cells, and alternative fuels. Goals of the electric vehicle program include “to
reduce EV battery cell cost to achieve EV cost parity with internal combustion engine (ICE)
vehicles through expanded R&D focused on lithium metal, solid state, and next generation
lithium-ion battery technologies” and to “reduce or eliminate dependence on critical materials
such as cobalt, nickel, and graphite.”50
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 energyrelated products. The building technologies program includes R&D on lighting, space
conditioning, windows, and control technologies to reduce building energy-use intensity.
The Biden Administration split several EERE programs into separate offices and requested
separate appropriations accounts for them:
•
State and Community Energy Programs, which provides two types of formula
grants to states: weatherization grants for improving the energy efficiency of lowincome 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.
50 DOE, FY 2025 Congressional Justification, vol. 4, March 2024, p. 15, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/
2024-03/doe-fy-2025-budget-vol-4-v5.pdf.
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•
•
Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, which provides support for increasing
U.S. manufacturing capacity for critical energy technologies and for increasing
industrial energy efficiency.
Federal Energy Management Program, which provides guidance and expertise to
federal agencies to meet federal goals on energy use and emissions.
Electricity Delivery, Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Energy Reliability
The Office of Electricity (OE) “leads the Department of Energy’s research, development, and
demonstration programs to strengthen and modernize our nation’s power grid so that our nation
maintains a reliable, resilient, and secure electricity delivery infrastructure,” according to the OE
website.51
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. A separate DOE Grid Deployment Office supports modernization of the nation’s
electricity transmission system and critical generating facilities through planning and financial
assistance.
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.
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. NE also supports
growth of the U.S. nuclear fuel supply chain, including uranium mining, conversion to uranium
hexafluoride, and enrichment.
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 cost51 DOE Office of Electricity, “Mission,” https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity.
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shared support by DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. For more information, see
CRS Report R45706, Advanced Nuclear Reactors: Technology Overview and Current Issues, by
Mark Holt.
Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has historically supported
research related to coal, natural gas, and petroleum,52 including a major focus area on the
development of carbon capture and storage technologies for use with coal-fired power plants. The
office also supports operations at the National Energy Technology Laboratory.
Under the Biden Administration, FECM shifted its focus to what it called carbon management.
This included a focus on development of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies,
hydrogen technologies, and options to reduce methane emissions from fossil fuel infrastructure.
FECM also leads DOE’s activities related to critical minerals and rare earth elements.
Additionally, FECM is involved in a number of programs funded by IIJA, either managing the
programs directly or consulting with other DOE offices that have the lead management role.
These programs include Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs, Carbon Storage Validation and
Testing, Critical Mineral Innovation Efficiency, and Alternatives, and the Carbon Dioxide
Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA).
FECM’s 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 FY2022, 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.53
Since the SPR was established, various administrations have directed crude oil drawdowns and
sales on four occasions in response to emergency oil supply disruptions. During FY2022 and
FY2023, emergency SPR authorities addressed anticipated oil supply disruptions following
52 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 in recent E&W appropriations bills. See DOE, “Our New
Name Is Also a New Vision,” July 8, 2021, https://www.energy.gov/fe/articles/our-new-name-also-new-vision.
53 Congress directed DOE to sell and close the 1-million-barrel Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve (NGSR) during
FY2024 (P.L. 118-42, Section 308). DOE issued an NGSR notice of sale in May 2024 and awarded contracts to
complete the sale in July 2024. DOE, “DOE Awards Contracts for the Sale of Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve as
Americans Hit the Road for Summer Driving Season,” July 2, 2024, https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-awardscontracts-sale-northeast-gasoline-supply-reserve-americans-hit-road-summer.
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Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. The Biden Administration sold approximately 180 million
barrels between March 2022 and January 2023, the largest-ever emergency SPR release.54 More
frequently, DOE uses SPR authorities to exchange crude oil with refiners and traders following
natural disasters (i.e., hurricanes) and other regional supply disruption events. From time to time,
DOE also activates exchange authorities to temporarily store crude oil during low-price periods
and provide additional supply during high-price periods.55
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—
the basis for determining IEP emergency oil stock obligations—Congress began mandating SPR
crude oil sales 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 by
rescinding some proceeds from emergency sales in FY2022 and FY2023. Additionally, Congress
required DOE to sell approximately $1.4 billion of SPR crude oil to pay for an SPR
modernization program.56 As noted above, a February 2025 DOE Secretarial Order includes
“Refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve” as a department-level priority.
For additional information, see CRS Insight IN12542, Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Inventory
Outlook and Policy Considerations, by Phillip Brown.
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 FY2025 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.”57
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 2022.58
54 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.
55 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
February 27, 2023.
56 For additional information about congressionally required SPR oil sales, see Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Mandated
and Modernization Sales, by Phillip Brown, a congressional distribution memorandum available to congressional
clients by request from the author.
57 DOE, FY2025 Congressional Justification, March 2024, vol. 5, p. 6, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/202403/doe-fy-2025-budget-vol-5-v2.pdf. For more information, see “DOE Explains … Exascale Computing,”
https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsexascale-computing.
58 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.
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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.59
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.60
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 ElectronIon Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY.
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 R48307, Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding:
FY2025, coordinated by Laurie Harris.
Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E)
ARPA-E is a DOE office authorized by the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) to support
transformational energy technology research projects. DOE budget documents describe ARPAE’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 $4.21 billion in R&D
funding to more than 1,700 projects, and 258 projects have attracted more than $14.6 billion in
follow-on funding from the private sector.61
59 For more information, see DOE Genomic Science Program, “Bioenergy Research Centers,”
https://www.genomicscience.energy.gov/bioenergy-research-centers.
60 The name “ITER” was derived from “international thermonuclear experimental reactor” but is referred to as the
ITER Project by the international organization that is building it. See “What Is ITER,” at https://www.iter.org/proj/
inafewlines. Also see CRS Report R48362, ITER—An International Nuclear Fusion Research and Development
Facility, coordinated by Todd Kuiken.
61 ARPA-E, “Our Impact,” web page viewed April 15, 2025, https://arpa-e.energy.gov/about/our-impact.
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Clean Energy Demonstrations
DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) funds cost-shared demonstrations of
clean energy technologies, including “clean hydrogen, carbon management, industrial
decarbonization, advanced nuclear reactors, long-duration energy storage, demonstration projects
in rural or remote areas and on current and former mine land, and more.”62 OCED’s portfolio
includes the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (transferred from the Office of Nuclear
Energy), which is funding two 50% cost-shared advanced reactor demonstrations in Wyoming
and Texas. OCED also supports the regional Hydrogen Hubs established by IIJA to establish
hydrogen supply chains for industrial, transportation, and other decarbonization uses.
Loan Programs Office
DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) administers several authorized programs that provide loan
guarantees and direct loans to eligible projects, including the following:
•
•
•
•
Title 17 Incentives for Innovative Technologies (clean energy loan guarantees);
Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (direct loans);
Tribal Energy Financing (loan guarantees and direct loans); and
Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act
(CIFIA) financing (loan guarantees and direct loans).
As with all federal credit programs, estimated costs to the federal government must be calculated
for each approved project and paid for prior to financial closing. Commonly referred to as “credit
subsidy costs,” estimated costs are typically paid using congressionally appropriated funds, but in
some cases can be wholly or partially paid by the project applicant. Most LPO programs have
available appropriations for credit subsidy costs from previously enacted legislation. The FY2025
budget justification did not request credit subsidy appropriations. Rather, the FY2025 budget
requested appropriations for estimated administrative expenses during the fiscal year, some of
which are offset by collected fees.
Title 17 Incentives for Innovative Technologies
Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58) established the clean energy loan
guarantee program by authorizing DOE to guarantee loans for projects located in the United
States that (1) generally avoid or reduce air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions, and (2)
incorporate new or significantly improved technology. As amended at 42 U.S.C. §16511 et seq.,
the original Title 17 program (Section 1703) includes an expanded list of eligible project
categories as well as opportunities to guarantee loans for projects that employ commercially
available technologies. The IRA provided $40.000 billion of new lending authority for Section
1703 and appropriated $3.600 billion for credit subsidy and other program-related costs. The IRA
also established a new loan guarantee authority (Section 1706) for “Energy Infrastructure
Reinvestment Financing” aimed at reducing emissions from operating energy infrastructure and
through investments in energy infrastructure that has ceased operations. Section 1706 lending
authority is currently $250.000 billion, and the IRA appropriated $5.000 billion to pay for credit
subsidy and related program costs. IRA lending authorities and appropriations for 1703 and 1706
expire at the end of FY2026. For additional background about Title 17 and IRA amendments to
62 DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, “About Us,” https://www.energy.gov/oced/about-us.
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the program, see CRS Insight IN11984, Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA): Department of
Energy Loan Guarantee Programs, by Phillip Brown.
Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing
Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-140) established an
incentive program for manufacturing advanced technology light duty vehicles, including direct
loans for qualified facilities in the United States that manufacture advanced technology vehicles,
components for those vehicles, and engineering integration of qualifying vehicles and
components. As amended at 42 U.S.C. §17013, advanced technology vehicles currently include
medium and heavy-duty vehicles, trains and locomotives, maritime vessels, aircraft, and
hyperloop technology. The IRA appropriated $3.000 billion to pay for the costs of providing
ATVM direct loans. IRA funds are available until the end of FY2028.
Tribal Energy Financing
Section 2602 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-46), as amended by EPACT05 (P.L. 10958) authorized DOE to provide loan guarantees for energy tribal energy development, including
conventional and clean energy projects. As further amended at 25 U.S.C. §3502(d), borrowers are
permitted to receive loan guarantees directly from the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank.
The IRA permanently increased lending authority for this program to $20.000 billion and
appropriated $75 million carry out the program. IRA appropriations expire at the end of FY2028.
Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act
(CIFIA) Financing
Section 40304 of IIJA (P.L. 117-58; as amended at 42 U.S.C. §16371) established the CIFIA
program to provide grants and federal credit (i.e., direct loans or loan guarantees) for common
carrier infrastructure projects or associated equipment that will transport carbon dioxide captured
from anthropogenic CO2 emission sources or from ambient air. LPO coordinates with DOE’s
Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) to execute the CIFIA program. The
IIJA appropriated $2.100 billion for the CIFIA program.
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 EIA’s data collection related to energy consumption in residential and
commercial buildings and by cryptocurrency miners. 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
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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 facilities. 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:
•
•
•
•
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 nonnuclear 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 R48194, The U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise:
Background and Possible Issues for Congress, by Anya L. Fink.
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).
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•
•
•
•
•
The Materials Management and Minimization program conducts activities to
minimize and, where possible, eliminate stockpiles of weapons-useable material
around the world, such as conversion of reactors that use highly enriched
uranium (useable for weapons) to low-enriched uranium.
Global Materials Security works to increase the security of vulnerable stockpiles
of nuclear material in other countries, promotes the worldwide removal,
reduction, and security of radioactive sources (typically used in medical and
industrial devices), and improves the capability of other countries to halt illicit
trafficking of nuclear materials.
The Nonproliferation and Arms Control program conducts reviews of nuclear
export applications and technology transfer authorizations, implements treaty
obligations, and analyzes nonproliferation policies and proposals.
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (DNN R&D)
advances U.S. capabilities to detect and characterize threats such as foreign
nuclear material and weapons production, diversion of special nuclear material,
and nuclear detonations.
The Nonproliferation Construction program disposes of excess U.S. weapons
plutonium through a “dilute and dispose” strategy.
This account also includes the Nuclear Counterterrorism and Incident Response Program
(NCTIR), which evaluates nuclear and radiological threats and develops emergency preparedness
plans, including organizing scientific teams to provide rapid response to nuclear or radiological
incidents or accidents worldwide.
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
Project during World War II resulted in a waste and contamination legacy managed by DOE that
continues to present substantial challenges.63 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.64
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.65
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
63 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.
64 In 1989, DOE created the Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, which later was renamed the
Office of Environmental Management.
65 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.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
other offices within DOE.66 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.
Independent Agencies
Independent agencies that receive funding in Title IV of the Energy and Water Development bill
include NRC, ARC, and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. NRC receives the largest
funding of these independent agencies. However, about 85% of NRC’s budget is offset by fees, so
the agency’s net appropriation is about a third of the total funding in Title IV. NRC and ARC are
discussed in more detail below. Recent appropriations history, including action on FY2025
funding, for all the Title IV agencies is shown in Table 14. Additional FY2025 appropriations
were provided by the IIJA for ARC and other regional commissions and authorities as shown in
Table 15.
66 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.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Table 14. Independent Agencies Funded by Energy and Water Development
Appropriations
(budget authority in millions of current dollars)
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
S. Com.
FY2025
Approp
Appalachian Regional
Commission
195.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission
887.7
927.2
944.1
974.9
974.9
958.3
944.1
(Revenues)
-756.7
-790.2
-807.0
-823.9
-823.9
-820.3
-807.0
Net NRC (including
Inspector General)
131.0
137.0
137.1
151.0
151.0
138.0
137.1
Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board
36.0
41.4
42.0
47.2
45.0
47.0
42.0
Nuclear Waste Technical
Review Board
3.8
3.9
4.1
4.1
4.1
4.1
4.1
Denali Commission
15.1
17.0
17.0
17.0
17.0
18.5
17.0
Delta Regional Authority
30.1
30.1
31.1
30.1
32.1
32.5
31.1
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
Program
Great Lakes Authority
FY2025 FY2025
Request H. Com.
Northern Border Regional
Commission
35.0
40.0
41.0
40.0
41.0
46.0
41.0
Southeast Crescent
Regional Commission
5.0
20.0
20.0
20.0
20.0
21.0
20.0
Southwest Border Regional
Commission
2.5
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
14.0
5.0
453.5
494.4
502.3
519.4
520.2
526.1
502.3
Total
Sources: P.L. 119-4; S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-580; FY2025 Administration budget request; explanatory
statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024; President’s FY2024 budget; P.L. 117-328 and explanatory
statement; President’s FY2022 budget; explanatory statement for H.R. 133, 116th Congress.
Notes: Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding. NRC is required to collect annual fees equal to
100% of its appropriations, minus excluded activities.
Table 15. Additional Appropriations in IIJA for Regional Commissions
and Authorities
(budget authority in millions of current dollars)
IIJA
FY2022
Approp
IIJA
FY2023
Approp
IIJA
FY2024
Approp
IIJA
FY2025
Approp
IIJA
FY2026
Approp
Appalachian Regional Commission
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
Delta Regional Authority (DRA)
150.0
Denali Commission
75.0
Northern Border Regional Commission
(NBRC)
150.0
Southeast Crescent Regional Commission
(SCRC)
5.0
Regional Commission or Authority
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Energy and Water Development: FY2025 Appropriations
Regional Commission or Authority
IIJA
FY2022
Approp
Southwest Border Regional Commission
(SBRC)
Total
IIJA
FY2023
Approp
IIJA
FY2024
Approp
IIJA
FY2025
Approp
IIJA
FY2026
Approp
200
200
200
200
1.3
581.3
Sources: S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-126; S.Rept. 118-72; 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 and continuing through FY2026. Appropriations for the DRA, Denali Commission, NBRC, SCRC, and
SBRC are available until expended.
Appalachian Regional Commission
Established in 1965,67 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
establishment 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.”68
Since FY2016, Congress has directed ARC to set aside funding for the POWER Initiative
(Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization), which assists
communities impacted by the decline of the coal industry. The House and Senate Appropriations
Committee reports in FY2024, and again in FY2025, directed ARC to allocate $65 million each
year 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:
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.
67 Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, P.L. 89-4.
68 Appropriations for the Appalachian Highway Development System are provided separately from the appropriations
provided for the programs and expenses of the Appalachian Regional Commission. For more information, see
“Appalachian Development H
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