Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
Congressional research reportMar 25, 2026
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Energy and Water Development:
FY2026 Appropriations
Updated March 25, 2026
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
R48599
SUMMARY
R48599
Energy and Water Development:
FY2026 Appropriations
March 25, 2026
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 Donald Trump submitted his initial FY2026 budget request on May 2, 2025, followed
by more details in late May 2025 and subsequent weeks. The Trump Administration request included $56.031 billion in
discretionary appropriations for energy and water development agencies, a decrease of $5.233 billion (-9%) below the
FY2025 enacted amount, excluding emergency appropriations, mandatory appropriations, rescissions, offsets, and
adjustments. The House passed its version of the bill (H.R. 4553; H.Rept. 119-213) on September 4, 2025, at 12% above the
Administration request and less than 1% below the FY2025 level. An FY2026 E&W bill (S. 3293) introduced by Senate
E&W Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Kennedy on December 1, 2025, would have provided nearly level E&W
funding with the FY2025 total, plus transfers of unobligated appropriations. The FY2026 funding measure, with an increase
of 1% over FY2025, was signed January 23, 2026 (P.L. 119-74). Many E&W accounts are also bolstered by supplemental,
emergency, and advance appropriations from other acts. The FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21) included
rescissions and additional appropriations for several E&W programs affecting funds available for various years.
Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2025 and FY2026 Actions
(in millions of nominal dollars and % change from FY2025 enacted)
FY2025
Enacted
FY2026
Request
(% Change)
FY2026
House
(% Change)
FY2026
S. 3293
(% Change)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
8,703
6,663 (-23%)
9,891 (14%)
9,791 (13%)
10,435 (20%)
Bureau of Reclamation/CUP
1,889
1,290 (-32%)
1,895 (<1%)
1,600 (-15%)
1,650 (-13%)
Department of Energy
50,170
47,863 (-5%)
48,510 (-3%)
49,574 (-1%)
49,124 (-2%)
Independent Agencies
502
215 (-57%)
460 (-8%)
531 (6%)
522 (4%)
61,264
56,031 (-9%)
60,756 (<-1%)
61,496 (<1%)
61,731 (1%)
Agency
Total Appropriations
FY2026
Enacted
(% Change)
Sources: P.L. 119-74 and related H.R. 6938 explanatory statement; S. 3293 and draft report (no committee action); H.R. 4553;
H.Rept. 119-213.
Notes: Does not include rescissions, transfers, and scorekeeping adjustments. Enacted amounts do not include supplemental or
reconciliation appropriations. CUP = Central Utah Project Completion Account.
Selected Key Issues
Zero Funding Request for Wind, Solar, and Hydrogen Research and Development. No appropriations were requested
for FY2026 for Wind, Solar, and Hydrogen R&D, which were allocated a total of $108 million in DOE’s FY2025 spending
plan (down from $625 million in FY2024). The House approved $220 million for those activities, while the Senate draft
report would have provided $439 million. The enacted measure provided $690 million.
Continuing Funding of the Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities. All but one of the regional economic
development commissions and authorities would have been terminated by the FY2026 request; the Appalachian Regional
Commission annual appropriation would have been reduced from $200 million in FY2025 to $14 million in FY2026 (-93%).
The enacted measure continued funding for the federal regional commissions and authorities with an increase of 1% from
their FY2025 enacted levels. The act also provided funding for a new regional commission for distressed areas in Idaho,
Montana, Oregon, and Washington. As of the date of this report, the commission had not been authorized.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
Contents
Introduction and Overview .............................................................................................................. 1
Administration Request ............................................................................................................. 2
House ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Senate-Introduced Bill and Draft Report .................................................................................. 5
FY2026 Enacted Appropriations ............................................................................................... 6
FY2025 Reconciliation ............................................................................................................. 6
FY2025 Enacted Appropriations ............................................................................................... 7
FY2026 Budgetary Limits......................................................................................................... 7
Key Funding Issues and Initiatives.................................................................................................. 8
Congressionally Directed Funding ............................................................................................ 8
Recent Supplemental Funding ................................................................................................ 10
Cancellation and Transfer of IIJA and IRA Appropriations .................................................... 12
Funding Levels and Policies for Water Resources Agencies .................................................. 13
Proposed Reductions for EERE .............................................................................................. 15
Provision to Block Funding for Clean Energy Rule in Federal Buildings .............................. 16
Proposed IIJA Transfers for Nuclear Energy .......................................................................... 16
Consolidated Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Prohibition and Authorization .............................. 16
Title XVII Loan Guarantees: Proposed Nuclear Funding and Cancellation of Other
Lending Authority ................................................................................................................ 17
Proposals for Petroleum Reserves ........................................................................................... 18
Proposed Reductions in Office of Science and ARPA-E ........................................................ 18
Indirect Cost Rates for DOE Awards ...................................................................................... 19
Zero Funding Request for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations ................................. 20
Proposed Increase for NNSA Weapons Activities................................................................... 21
Cleanup of Former Nuclear Sites: Adequacy of Proposed Funding ....................................... 24
Department of Energy Reorganization .................................................................................... 25
Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Amending or Expanding Uses of
Funding, Funding for New Commission.............................................................................. 25
General Policy Proposals ........................................................................................................ 26
Bill Status and Recent Funding History ........................................................................................ 27
Description of Major Energy and Water Programs ....................................................................... 27
Agency Budget Justifications .................................................................................................. 28
Army Corps of Engineers........................................................................................................ 29
Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah Project ................................................................... 31
Department of Energy ............................................................................................................. 34
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy........................................................................ 38
Electricity Delivery, Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Energy Reliability.................. 39
Nuclear Energy ................................................................................................................. 40
Fossil Energy .................................................................................................................... 40
Strategic Petroleum Reserve ............................................................................................. 41
Science .............................................................................................................................. 42
Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) ................................................ 44
Clean Energy Demonstrations .......................................................................................... 44
Loan Programs Office ....................................................................................................... 44
Energy Information Administration .................................................................................. 46
Nuclear Weapons Activities .............................................................................................. 46
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation .................................................................................... 47
Cleanup of Former Nuclear Weapons Production and Research Sites ............................. 48
Power Marketing Administrations .................................................................................... 48
Independent Agencies ............................................................................................................. 49
Appalachian Regional Commission .................................................................................. 50
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ...................................................................................... 51
Congressional Hearings ................................................................................................................. 52
House ...................................................................................................................................... 52
Senate ...................................................................................................................................... 52
Key Policy Staff ...................................................................................................................... 52
Figures
Figure 1. Major Components of Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bills,
FY2025 Enacted Through FY2026 Actions ................................................................................. 2
Figure 2. Energy and Water Development CPF/CDS Total Enacted Funding from FY2022
Through FY2026 .......................................................................................................................... 9
Tables
Table 1. Enacted Supplemental Appropriations for Agencies Funded by Energy and Water
Development Acts, FY2018-FY2026 ......................................................................................... 10
Table 2. Additional Appropriations for Clean Energy Demonstrations in the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58) ....................................................................................... 21
Table 3. Status of Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2026 ............................... 27
Table 4. Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2020-FY2026 Action .................... 27
Table 5. Energy and Water Development Appropriations Summary ............................................. 28
Table 6. Army Corps of Engineers ................................................................................................ 30
Table 7. Bureau of Reclamation and CUP..................................................................................... 32
Table 8. Department of Energy...................................................................................................... 34
Table 9. Additional FY2023-FY2026 Department of Energy Funding Under IIJA ...................... 37
Table 10. Additional Department of Energy Funding Under the IRA ........................................... 37
Table 11. Additional FY2023 Department of Energy Funding in
Divisions M and N of P.L. 117-328 ............................................................................................ 38
Table 12. Independent Agencies Funded by Energy and Water Development
Appropriations............................................................................................................................ 49
Table 13. Additional Appropriations in IIJA for Regional Commissions and Authorities ............ 50
Table 14. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Funding Categories .................................................. 51
Contacts
Author Information........................................................................................................................ 53
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 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 bills for FY2026 and acts for FY2025 and
FY2026.
President Donald Trump submitted his initial FY2026 budget request on May 2, 2025, followed
by more details in late May and subsequent weeks. The Trump Administration request included
$56.031 billion in discretionary appropriations for energy and water development agencies, a
decrease of $5.233 billion (-9%) below the FY2025 enacted total of $61.264 billion (Figure 1),
excluding emergency appropriations, mandatory appropriations, rescissions, offsets, and
adjustments.
The House Appropriations Committee approved its FY2026 E&W bill on July 17, 2025 (H.R.
4553; H.Rept. 119-213). The bill would have provided $61.002 billion for E&W agencies, a
decrease of $263 million (less than 1%) from the FY2025 enacted amount and $6.563 billion
(12%) above the Administration request. The House passed the bill on September 4, 2025,
approving $60.756 billion for E&W agencies. The Senate Appropriations Committee majority
issued a draft report on November 24, 2025, to accompany a FY2026 E&W bill (S. 3293)
introduced December 1, 2025, by Senator Kennedy, chairman of the E&W appropriations
subcommittee. The Senate bill would have provided E&W funding nearly level with the FY2025
enacted total, plus transfers of unobligated appropriations.1
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026, was signed
into law January 23, 2026, as Division B of the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water
Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026 (P.L. 119-74; H.R. 6938).
It provided $61.731 billion for E&W agencies, not including rescissions, supplementals, and
scorekeeping adjustments. That total is about 1% higher than the comparable appropriation for
FY2025.
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 E&W accounts (with a net decrease of $98 million, less than 1%).2 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).
1 Senate Appropriations Committee, “Bill Text: Energy and Water Development Act, 2026,” news release including
link to draft committee report, November 24, 2025, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/bill-textenergy-and-water-development.
2 P.L. 119-4 provided funding levels for appropriations accounts, but generally did not specify amounts for line items
and programs within accounts. Further, Congress did not release explanatory language to accompany the law.
Therefore, funding comparisons with the FY2026 request in the report for some line items, programs, and activities are
presented based on FY2024 enacted levels and agency spending plans. For more on P.L. 119-4, see CRS Report
R48517, Section-by-Section Summary of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (Division A of P.L. 119-4),
coordinated by Drew C. Aherne.
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Figure 1. Major Components of Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Bills, FY2025 Enacted Through FY2026 Actions
(excluding supplementals)
Sources: P.L. 119-74 and H.R. 6938 explanatory statement; S. 3293 and draft report; H.R. 4553; H.Rept. 119213; FY2026 Administration budget request; 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. 11872; H.Rept. 118-126; H.R. 4394; FY2024 Administration budget request.
Notes: The total for S. 3293 does not include $4.170 billion in transfers of previous appropriations. Enacted
amounts do not include supplemental appropriations or adjustments and rescissions. CUP = Central Utah
Project Completion Account. Tables and figures are in nominal dollars.
In addition to regular annual appropriations, advance funding for E&W agencies in FY2026 was
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.”
In the 119th Congress, the FY2025 budget reconciliation measure signed into law on July 4, 2025
(P.L. 119-21), rescinded unobligated DOE advance funding provided by the IRA for specified
programs and included supplemental appropriations for Reclamation, DOE defense and loan
programs, and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Administration Request
President Donald Trump sent his initial FY2026 “skinny” budget to Congress on May 2, 2025,
describing broad budgetary outlines, reductions, additions, and initiatives.3 Additional details
were included in the FY2026 Budget Appendix that was released on May 30, 2025, by the Office
3 White House, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), The President’s FY 2026 Discretionary Budget Request,
May 2, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/budget/the-presidents-fy-2026-discretionarybudget-request.
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of Management and Budget (OMB).4 Most E&W agencies submitted their detailed budget
justifications to Congress in subsequent weeks.5
Under the Administration’s FY2026 request, DOE discretionary appropriations would have
decreased by $2.307 billion (-5%), to $47.863 billion. USACE funding would have been reduced
by $2.040 billion (-23%), to $6.663 billion, and Reclamation and CUP funding would have
declined by $592 million (-31%), to $1.290 billion. Appropriations for independent agencies in
the bill would have been reduced by $287 million (-57%), to $215 million, excluding adjustments
and offsets.6
DOE’s major program areas include energy, science, defense, and environmental management.
The Trump Administration proposed to reduce FY2026 funding for Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy (EERE) from $3.460 billion in FY2025 to $888 million in FY2026, a
reduction of $2.572 billion (-74%). Within EERE, no appropriations were requested in FY2026
for Wind, Solar, and Hydrogen Research and Development (R&D), which received a total of
$108 million in DOE’s FY2025 spending plan (down from $625 million in FY2024). Zero
funding was also requested for two other elements of the EERE appropriations account: the
Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), and the Office of State and Community Energy
Programs (SCEP), which provides low-income weatherization and state planning grants.
The budget request proposed no FY2026 appropriations for two other energy programs: the
Office of Technology Transitions, which facilitates the commercialization of new energy
technologies and received $20 million in FY2025; and the Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations, which had a FY2025 appropriation of $50 million. Funding for the Grid
Deployment Office would have declined by 75% from FY2025 to $15 million. New funding of
$750 million was requested to pay the credit subsidy cost (to cover potential losses to the federal
government) for DOE loan guarantees for small modular nuclear reactors.
Funding for DOE’s Office of Science in FY2026 was proposed to decrease by $1.148 billion
(-14%) to $7.092 billion from the FY2025 enacted amount of $8.240 billion. The Biological and
Environmental Research (BER) program would have seen the largest percentage reduction within
the Office of Science, from $900 million in FY2024 to $395 million (-56%) in FY2026.
Specifically, no FY2026 funding was requested for BER research in environmental system
sciences, atmospheric system research, earth system modeling, or data management. The
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility would have been terminated in FY2026. The
Administration requested $200 million in FY2026 for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–
Energy (ARPA-E), which supports research on high-risk but potentially transformative
4 OMB, Technical Supplement to the 2026 Budget: Appendix, May 30, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/
uploads/2025/05/appendix_fy2026.pdf; Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
2026, appropriations tables, Congressional Record, January 8, 2026, pp. H456-H470, https://www.congress.gov/119/
crec/2026/01/08/172/5/CREC-2026-01-08-bk3.pdf.
5 Unless otherwise noted, appropriations numbers in this report for FY2024 and FY2025 are taken from agency budget
justifications for FY2026, S.Rept. 118-205, H.Rept. 118-580, the explanatory statement for the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2024, Division D, in House Appropriations Committee Print, H.R. 4366/Public Law 118-42
[Legislative Text and Explanatory Statement], https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-118HPRT56550/pdf/
CPRT-118HPRT56550.pdf, and the explanatory statement for the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water
Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026, pp. H330-H470. Some appropriations totals
have changed from previously calculated amounts because of reestimates of revenue offsets and other adjustments.
Where the documents provide different values for appropriations, this report shows the values from the most recently
available document.
6 In the text of this report, dollar numbers are nominal and rounded to the nearest million. Detailed agency
appropriations tables round dollars to the tenths of a million. FY2026 budget request account levels are from the H.R.
6938 explanatory statement, and subaccount request levels are from the budget request.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
technology. This would have been a reduction of $260 million (-57%) for ARPA-E from $460
million enacted for FY2025.
Funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous DOE
agency responsible for nuclear warheads, nuclear weapons nonproliferation, and naval reactor
R&D, was proposed to increase by $5.907 billion (24%) over the FY2025 enacted amount of
$24.135 billion. The NNSA request for FY2026 included $4.782 billion in mandatory funding to
be provided through the congressional budget reconciliation process. The FY2025 budget
reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21) appropriated $3.885 billion for NNSA for FY2025, to
remain available through FY2029.
Environmental Management (waste management and cleanup) would have decreased by $389
million (-5%) under the Administration request, from $8.482 billion in FY2025 to $8.093 billion
in FY2026. Environmental Management funding at DOE’s largest cleanup site, the Hanford Site
in Washington state, would have remained nearly constant; reductions were to be spread among
the other cleanup locations around the country.
Among the independent agencies in the E&W bill, funding for six federal regional commissions
and authorities (FRCAs) would have been eliminated under the President’s FY2026 request.
FRCAs use appropriations to provide economic development and energy reliability and security
grants in their respective regions. Slated for defunding were the Delta Regional Authority, Denali
Commission, Great Lakes Authority, Northern Border Regional Commission, Southwest Border
Regional Commission, and Southeast Crescent Regional Commission. The largest FRCA, the
Appalachian Regional Commission, would have been reduced from $200 million in FY2025 to
$14 million in FY2026 (-93%). NRC, the largest E&W independent agency, was recommended to
receive $971 million under the FY2026 request, an increase of $27 million (3%) over the FY2025
enacted amount. NRC licenses and regulates nuclear reactors and radioactive materials. As
required by law, NRC’s FY2026 funding was to be offset by fees paid by the nuclear industry,
estimated at $819 million.
House
The House passed its FY2026 E&W bill (H.R. 4553; H.Rept. 119-213) by a vote of 214-213 on
September 4, 2025. The bill’s total appropriation of $60.756 billion was $6.318 billion (12%)
above the request. That excluded $3.562 billion in rescissions and scorekeeping adjustments,
bringing the bill’s total budget score to $57.194 billion, an increase of $2.756 billion (5%) over
the request.
The House Appropriations Committee approved its E&W bill on July 17, 2025. The committee
bill, ordered reported by a vote of 36-27, would have provided $61.002 billion for E&W
agencies, excluding adjustments and offsets.7 IIJA transfers of previous appropriations totaling
$5.104 billion in the House bill (Section 313) are not included in the Appropriations Committee
report tables.
Under the House-passed bill, DOE was to receive $48.510 billion—a reduction of $1.666 billion
(-3%) from the FY2025 enacted amount and $1.739 billion (4%) above the FY2026 request.
USACE would have received increases of $1.188 billion (14%) above FY2025 annual
appropriations and $3.228 billion (48%) above the request. Reclamation and CUP funding was to
7 The House Appropriations Committee report included $3.701 billion in budget scorekeeping adjustments and
rescissions, reducing the bill’s total for budgetary purposes to $57.300 billion. The scorekeeping offsets for the bill as
passed by the House are the sum of the appropriations accounts minus the officially scored (adjusted) total, which is
$106 million less than the committee report’s adjusted total.
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remain nearly the same as in FY2025 (a $6 million increase) but increase by $605 million (47%)
over the request. Appropriations for independent agencies in the bill would have been reduced by
$42 million (8%) from FY2025 but increased by $229 million (99%) over the request.
Funding in the bill for EERE totaled $1.830 billion—a reduction of $1.630 billion (-47%) from
the FY2025 enacted amount but an increase of $942 million (106%) over the Administration’s
FY2026 request. According to the committee report, the bill included $220 million for Wind,
Solar, and Hydrogen Research and Development, which would have been zeroed out by the
request. These areas received a total of $108 million in DOE’s FY2025 spending plan (down from
$625 million in FY2024). In two other elements of the EERE appropriations account that would
have received no funding under the request, the bill would have provided $15 million for the
Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and $250 million for the Office of State and
Community Energy Programs (SCEP), which provides low-income weatherization and state
planning grants.
DOE’s Office of Science in FY2026 would have received $8.400 billion under the bill, an
increase of $160 million (2%) over the FY2025 enacted amount and $1.308 billion (18%) over
the Administration’s FY2026 request. According to the committee report, Biological and
Environmental Research, which the Administration proposed to reduce to $395 million (-55%),
would have received $800 million (-8%). The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility,
which the Administration proposed to terminate in FY2026, was to receive $95 million. The bill
included $350 million for ARPA-E, a decrease of $110 million from FY2025 but an increase of
$150 million (75%) over the request.
NNSA funding included in the bill for FY2026 totaled $25.317 billion, an increase of $1.182
billion (5%) over the FY2025 level and $57 million (less than 1%) above the request. The bill
would have reduced Nuclear Nonproliferation funding by $412 million (-17%) from FY2025 and
$301 million ($-13%) from the request. As noted above, P.L. 119-21 appropriated $3.885 billion
for NNSA for FY2025, to remain available through FY2029. DOE’s Office of Environmental
Management (EM) funding in the bill totaled $7.703 billion, a decrease of $779 million (-9%)
from FY2025 and $389 million (-5%) below the request.
The bill included $460 million for federal regional commissions and authorities (FRCAs) and
independent nuclear agencies. FRCAs would have been reduced by 19% from their FY2025
enacted levels but increased far above the request, which called for shutdown budgets or deep
reductions. For NRC, the committee bill included the same amount as the Administration request.
Senate-Introduced Bill and Draft Report
S. 3293 and the E&W draft report issued by the Senate Appropriations Committee majority
would have increased overall appropriations for E&W agencies to $61.496 billion over the
FY2025 amount, an increase of $219 million (less than 1%). That total does not include the
proposed transfer of $4.170 billion in IIJA unobligated appropriations.8
Under the Senate-introduced bill, DOE would have received $49.574 billion, a decrease of $616
million (-1%) from FY2025 and an increase of $2.802 billion (6%) above the request. In addition,
DOE would have received $3.970 billion in IIJA transfers. Hydrogen, wind, and solar R&D
would have received $439 million, compared with $220 million in the House bill and zero in the
request. The total for energy programs—including hydrogen, wind, and solar R&D—was to
decline by $1.951 billion (11%) from the FY2025 level. Science would have declined by $240
8 The adjustment in the total in the Senate draft report consists of $4.170 billion in IIJA transfers minus $39 million in
rescissions, totaling $4.131 billion.
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million (-3%) from FY2025, to $8.000 billion, and NNSA would have increased by $878 million
(4%) to $25.013 billion.
USACE would have received $9.791 billion, an increase of $1.088 billion (13%) over FY2025
and $3.128 billion (47%) above the request. The Senate bill would have funded four requested
new study starts, and additional new study and construction starts under the Investigations,
Construction, and Mississippi River and Tributaries accounts. Reclamation and CUP would have
received $1.600 billion, a decrease of $289 million (-15%) from FY2025. That total does not
include the Senate bill’s proposed transfer of $200 million of aging infrastructure funding from
the IIJA to fund FY2026 discretionary Water and Related Resources activities.
The Senate-introduced bill proposed $332.6 million for the FRCAs, an increase of 4% from their
FY2025 enacted levels. The bill also proposed funding for a new Northwest Regional
Commission.
FY2026 Enacted Appropriations
The FY2026 E&W enacted measure provided $61.731 billion for E&W agencies, not including
rescissions, supplementals, and scorekeeping adjustments. That total is about 1% higher than the
comparable appropriation for FY2025, 10% higher than the request, 2% higher than the House
bill, and less than 1% higher than the Senate-introduced bill. The enacted total is reduced by
$3.692 billion in scorekeeping adjustments, bringing the budgetary total to $58.039 billion.
DOE received a total of $49.124 billion, a decrease of $1.046 billion (-2%) from FY2025 and an
increase of $1.262 billion (3%) over the request. EERE received appropriations of $1.950 billion
in the enacted measure, plus $1.150 billion of prior-year balances from IIJA. The newly enacted
EERE funding is $1.510 billion (-44%) below the FY2025 amount and $1.062 billion (120%)
above the request. Science received $8.250 billion, nearly the same as in FY2025 and $1.158
million (16%) above the request. NNSA was appropriated $25.404 billion, an increase of $1.269
billion (5%) from FY2025 and $144 million (1%) above the request.
USACE was appropriated $10.435 billion, an increase of $1.733 billion (20%) over FY2025 and
$3.772 billion (57%) above the request. The largest increase was for Construction, which
received $3.170 billion, an increase of $1.315 billion (71%) over FY2025 and $1.612 billion
(103%) above the request. Reclamation and CUP received $1.650 billion, a decrease of $239
million (-13%) from FY2025 and $360 million (28%) above the request.
The enacted measure provided $324 million for the FRCAs, an increase of about 1% from their
FY2025 enacted level of $319 million. The FY2026 appropriations measure also provided
funding for a new Northwest Regional Commission, which—once established—would cover
distressed areas of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. As of the date of this report, the
commission had not been authorized.
FY2025 Reconciliation
The FY2025 budget reconciliation measure, signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025 (P.L. 11921), rescinded unobligated appropriations in the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169) for
several DOE programs, including energy loans and loan guarantees, energy efficiency grants,
electricity transmission planning grants, and advanced industrial facilities deployment.
The reconciliation measure also provided additional mandatory appropriations for several E&W
programs. While rescinding previous appropriations for some DOE loan programs, it expanded
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
the scope of DOE’s Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (Section 1706) loan program and
appropriated $1.000 billion to cover the Section 1706 program’s subsidy costs (potential losses).
The reconciliation measure also appropriated $3.885 billion for NNSA weapons activities for
FY2025, to remain available through FY2029, and $1.000 billion for Reclamation for surface
water storage and conveyance projects.
FY2025 Enacted Appropriations
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 accounts. The act stated 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 were a $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 reduced total DOE appropriations by a
net of $57 million from FY2024, to $50.190 billion.
P.L. 119-4 directed USACE to develop a work plan to allocate the agency’s FY2025
appropriations of $8.703 billion to specific projects rather than follow the explanatory statement
for FY2024.9 USACE published its work plan for FY2025 appropriations as required.10 FY2025
appropriations for Reclamation were reduced by $41 million from the FY2024 level, which
reflects a reduction of the same amount as FY2024 Reclamation earmark funding. The reductions
for Reclamation and DOE resulted 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 directed DOE and the Department of the Interior to submit FY2025 detailed operating
plans to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Reclamation published its operating
plan, which included allocations to its various projects.11
FY2026 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 (the total 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.
9 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 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58) 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.
10 The FY2025 work plan is available at USACE, “Civil Works Budget and Performance,”
https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/.
11 Reclamation’s FY2025 Operating Plan is available at Reclamation, “Budget,” https://www.usbr.gov/budget/.
Detailed DOE tables for FY2025 are at https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/doe-fy-2026-budgetapprops-congressional-control-v5.pdf.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
The House Appropriations Committee adopted updated interim subcommittee allocations for
FY2026 under Section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-344) on July 17,
2025. The allocation for the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee was $57.300 billion,
$106 million higher than the amount provided in the FY2026 E&W bill passed by the House,
including budget scorekeeping adjustments.12
For more information on funding ceilings, see CRS Report R46468, A Brief Overview of the
Congressional Budget Process, by James V. Saturno.
Key Funding Issues and Initiatives
Several issues have drawn particular attention during congressional consideration of Energy and
Water Development appropriations for FY2026. The issues described in this section—listed
approximately in the order the affected agencies or provisions appear in Energy and Water
Development bills—were selected based on total funding involved, percentage of proposed
increases or decreases, amount of congressional interest engendered, and potential impact on
broader public policy considerations.
Congressionally Directed Funding
The 119th Congress, largely continuing the policies of the previous two Congresses, is allowing
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.13 Figure 2 shows enacted CPF/CDS amounts per
agency for FY2022 through FY2024, and FY2026. The patterned area of the stacked columns
indicates the sum of the top three CPF/CDS items (all under USACE appropriations). For
FY2025, P.L. 119-4 did not fund earmarks.14
12 House Appropriations Committee, “Committee Approves Updated FY26 Subcommittee Allocations,” press release,
July 17, 2025, https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/committee-approves-updated-fy26-subcommitteeallocations.
13 During the moratorium, Congress appropriated funding for USACE and Reclamation 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 community
project funding (CPF) and congressionally directed spending (CDS).
14 Earmarks were included in the reports accompanying FY2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies
appropriations (E&W) bills approved by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. However, Section 1111 of
P.L. 119-4 established that the act did not provide funding for earmarks. For more information on earmark restrictions
in P.L. 119-4, see CRS Report R48517, Section-by-Section Summary of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act,
2025 (Division A of P.L. 119-4), coordinated by Drew C. Aherne.
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Figure 2. Energy and Water Development CPF/CDS Total Enacted Funding from
FY2022 Through FY2026
(nominal dollars)
Sources: P.L. 119-4 and Community Project Funding (CPF)/Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) tables in
explanatory statements accompanying enacted annual appropriations for FY2022 through FY2026.
Note: The patterned area of the stacked columns indicates the sum of the top three CPF/CDS items (all under
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers appropriations).
For FY2026, House and Senate appropriations committees provided instructions to Members for
requesting CPF and CDS, respectively.
The House allowed CPF requests only for certain Reclamation and USACE accounts under
E&W,15 while the Senate allowed CDS requests for those accounts and for the “Energy Projects”
account, which includes specific projects in DOE applied energy programs such as energy
efficiency, renewables, and fossil fuels.16
The House committee E&W report included 94 CPF items totaling $901 million—90 for USACE
totaling $877 million and 4 for Reclamation totaling $24 million. Construction funding for
USACE projects constituted the largest CPF items for E&W: $213 million for Chickamauga
Lock, TN; $184 million for the Upper Ohio River, PA; and $132 million for Morganza to the
Gulf, LA.
The Senate Committee draft report included 197 CDS items totaling $1.186 billion—144 for
USACE totaling $977 million, 10 for Reclamation totaling $111 million, and 43 for energy
projects totaling $98 million. Construction funding for USACE projects constituted two of the
largest CDS items for E&W: $190 million for Howard A. Hanson Dam, WA, and $55 million for
Pajaro River at Watsonville, CA. The draft report also had a Reclamation CDS of $55 million for
the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. The explanatory statement accompanying H.R. 6938
15 U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, “FY26 Guidance Overview,” https://appropriations.house.gov/fy26-
member-requests/fy26-guidance-overview.
16 U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, “General Guidance on Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Requests,”
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy2026_appropriations_requests_general_guidance.pdf.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
funded 277 E&W CPF/CDS items—219 for USACE totaling $1.827 billion, 13 for Reclamation
totaling $124 million, and 45 for energy projects. As in previous fiscal years, USACE
construction projects were the largest CPF/CDS items. Four of these exceeded $100 million: $213
million for Chickamauga Lock, TN; $190 million for Howard A. Hanson Dam, WA; $184 million
for Upper Ohio River, PA, in Allegheny and Beaver Counties; and $132 million for Morganza to
the Gulf, LA.
Recent Supplemental Funding
Congress provided supplemental appropriations for USACE and Reclamation from FY2018
through FY2025 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.17 Congress has also 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; funds for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation and Salaries and Expenses in
P.L. 118-50, which are available through FY2025; and funds in P.L. 119-21, available through
various fiscal years from FY2029 to FY2034.18
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
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
FY2018
P.L. 115-123
17,398
—
22
—
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
—
17 For CRS water resource products on these acts, see CRS Report R48572, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
Supplemental Appropriations, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter; 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.
18 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: FY2026 Appropriations
FY Funds First
Available
FY2023
FY2024
FY2025
Act
Title I:
U.S. Army
Corps of
Engineers
Title III:
Department
of Energy
Title IV:
Independent
Agencies
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
1,000
5,274
—
1,660
9,072
200
P.L. 119-21
FY2026
Title II:
Bureau of
Reclamation
and CUP
P.L. 117-58
—
Source: CRS using public laws enacted in FY2018-FY2025, through July 11, 2025.
Notes: Fiscal year shown is when funds are first available. Amounts are shown as initially enacted, excluding any
subsequent transfers or rescissions. 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; funds for Defense Nuclear
Nonproliferation and Salaries and Expenses in P.L. 118-50, which are available through FY2025; and funds from
P.L. 119-21, available through various years from FY2029 to FY2034. 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. P.L. 11921 rescinded certain unobligated advance appropriations provided by P.L. 117-169. CUP = Central Utah Project
Completion Account.
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 its activities, including studies and projects.19
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.”20 The following section, “Cancellation and Transfer of IIJA and IRA
Appropriations,” discusses some of the proposals and actions for FY2026 regarding these
previously provided appropriations.
For more details on selected supplemental funding, see the following CRS publications:
•
CRS Report R48572, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Supplemental
Appropriations, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.
19 For information on USACE-funded studies, projects, and activities, see USACE, “Disaster Relief Supplemental
Appropriations Act of 2025,” https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Supplemental-Work/DRSAA25/.
20 OMB, “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-review-agency-grant-loan-and-otherfinancial-assistance-programs.pdf.
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•
•
•
•
•
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.
Cancellation and Transfer of IIJA and IRA Appropriations
The Administration request called for cancellation of $15.247 billion of IIJA advance
appropriations for renewable energy, carbon capture from the air, electric vehicles and batteries,
“and other costly technologies burdensome to ratepayers and consumers.”21 The Administration’s
budget request would have also canceled funding for carbon dioxide sequestration pipelines and
related transportation projects under the Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance
and Innovation Program established by IIJA Section 40304.
Separately, P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 budget reconciliation measure, rescinded all unobligated
balances of IRA appropriations for these programs:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
State Home Energy Efficiency Training Grants (IRA Section 50123);
DOE loan programs (IRA Section 50141);
tribal energy loan guarantees (IRA Section 50145);
electric transmission facility loans (IRA Section 50151);
grants for electricity transmission project siting studies (IRA Section 50152);
offshore wind electricity transmission planning (IRA Section 50153); and
grants for advanced industrial facilities deployment (IRA Section 50161).
Unobligated appropriations for DOE Section 1706 loan guarantees provided by IRA Section
40144—for energy infrastructure reinvestment and repurposing—were rescinded by P.L. 119-21.
However, the act expanded eligibility for Section 1706 loan guarantees to cover a broad spectrum
of projects, removing requirements that projects address greenhouse gas emissions. It
appropriates $1 billion to cover subsidy costs (potential losses) for the Section 1706 loan
guarantees, as well as administrative expenses, to be available through FY2028. The act also
repealed the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program (IRA Section 50142).
The House E&W bill (Section 313 of H.R. 4553) would have transferred IIJA appropriations
away from three programs in the DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, as discussed
below in the section “
21 OMB, “Discretionary Funding Changes,” p. 21.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
Zero Funding Request for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.” The transferred funding in
Section 313, totaling $5.1 billion, would have been used by DOE for advanced nuclear reactor
demonstration.
The Senate-introduced E&W bill would have transferred $1.060 billion in unobligated IIJA
appropriations from EERE: $92 million to Nuclear Energy, $92 million to Fossil Energy, $250
million to Science, $2.400 billion for advanced reactors and fuel, and $75 million for Grid
Deployment. The Senate-introduced bill also proposed to transfer $200 million of aging
infrastructure funding from the IIJA to fund FY2026 discretionary Water and Related Resources
activities.
The enacted measure (Section 311) transferred $5.165 billion of unobligated appropriations from
EERE, civil nuclear credits, and carbon capture and removal. The funding is transferred to small
reactor demonstrations and other nuclear programs, grid deployment, other EERE activities, fossil
energy, science, and Title XVI loan guarantees.
Funding Levels and Policies for Water Resources Agencies
The FY2026 budget request for USACE was $2.040 billion lower (-23%) than the enacted
FY2025 regular appropriations of $8.703 billion.22 In contrast, the House-passed H.R. 6938
would have increased USACE funding by $1.188 billion and the Senate-introduced bill by $1.088
billion over FY2025 enacted regular appropriations. The enacted measure provided $10.435
billion to USACE, an increase of $1.733 billion above FY2025 enacted regular appropriations
and $3.772 billion more than the FY2026 budget request. As with previous requests and annual
appropriations, a large portion of the funding was for maintenance of existing infrastructure
through the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) account ($6.013 billion). The Construction
account increased most of the USACE accounts from their FY2025 regular appropriations, for a
total increase of $1.325 billion. The Senate bill also had proposed a new account for
Preconstruction, Engineering, and Design (PED) to fund plans and specifications for projects
prior to construction;23 the enacted measure continued the practice of funding those activities in
the Investigations account.
While the Administration did not request FY2026 funds for any new construction projects, it did
request funds for four new studies. The House bill would have funded two new study starts;24 the
Senate-introduced bill would have funded new study and construction starts under the
Investigations, Construction, and MR&T accounts. The explanatory statement accompanying
H.R. 6938 stated that the agreement includes funding for individual new starts in the
Investigations, Construction, and Mississippi River and Tributaries accounts, including three of
the new study starts requested from the Administration.
In regard to navigation trust funds, the request proposed not utilizing funding from the Inland
Waterway Trust Fund (IWTF) for inland waterway construction projects and would have reduced
FY2026 funding from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) by $1.071 billion from the
amount provided for FY2025 (estimated at $2.771 billion). The Administration testified that the
22 For further information on the FY2026 request for USACE, see the Budget Information section of USACE, “Civil
Works and Budget Performance,” https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/.
23 Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations bills for FY2024 (S. 2443) and FY2025 (S. 4927) also
proposed a Preconstruction, Engineering, and Design account, but enacted appropriations did not include such an
account.
24 The new study starts recommended by the House committee bill include Lower Big Sioux River, Union County, SD,
and Savannah Harbor Deepening, GA. The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, did not
allow funding for new studies or new construction projects.
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FY2026 requested HMTF funding is focused on “principal federal responsibilities, which [are]
the maintenance and dredging of federal channels.”25 The enacted measure provided $3.535
billion from the HMTF for navigation work. P.L. 119-74 and the H.R. 6938 explanatory text did
not specify an amount of funding from the IWTF.
The request did not include funding for USACE loans and loan guarantees for nonfederal water
projects under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA; P.L. 113-121,
Title V, Subtitle C), which would have been a reduction of $7 million.26 The enacted measure
provided $2 million to support loans and $5 million for the program’s administrative costs. The
FY2026 request did not include funding for environmental infrastructure (EI) assistance or small
USACE projects under various continuing authorities programs (CAPs).27 The explanatory
statement accompanying H.R. 6938 provided $360 million in Construction funding for EI
assistance and $31 million across seven CAPs.
For Reclamation, President Trump’s FY2026 request is the lowest in nominal dollars since the
FY2021 budget request. The FY2026 budget proposes $1.273 billion in current budget authority
for Reclamation, or $593 million less (-32%) than the $1.866 billion Congress provided in the
Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025. The House bill would provide
$1.872 billion to Reclamation and the Senate-introduced bill would provide $1.577 billion. The
enacted measure provided $1.627 billion for Reclamation.
The budget request would eliminate funding for certain Reclamation activities that the request
says are unrelated to the agency’s core missions.28 The FY2026 budget did not request funding
for Reclamation’s WaterSMART program, which provides funding, mostly in the form of grants,
for water conservation and ecosystem restoration, among other purposes.29 The House committee
report recommended $90 million for the WaterSMART program and the Senate draft report
recommended $145 million, while the enacted measure provided $41 million. The FY2026
request also did not include funding for constructing new federal and nonfederal water storage
projects, otherwise known as Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act;
P.L. 114-322) Section 4007 funding. The Senate-introduced bill also would not have provided this
funding. In contrast, the House committee report recommended $201 million for WIIN Act
Section 4007 funding, and the enacted measure provided $63 million for these projects.
In addition to regular annual appropriations, Congress has provided Reclamation with
supplemental and mandatory appropriations to augment annual discretionary funding. The
FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21) appropriated $1.000 billion for surface
water storage and conveyance projects that restore or increase the capacity of existing
Reclamation facilities. (For more information on such projects, see CRS Report R47987, Bureau
25 U.S. Congress, Senate Appropriations Committee, Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, A Review of the
President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation,
119th Cong., 1st sess., June 11, 2025, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-review-of-the-presidents-fiscalyear-2026-budget-request-for-the-army-corps-of-engineers-and-the-bureau-of-reclamation.
26
For more information on USACE’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, see CRS
Insight IN12021, Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP), by Nicole T. Carter.
27 CPF items constituted all EI assistance funding and a portion of continuing authorities program project funding. For
more information on these USACE activities, see CRS Report R47162, Overview of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Environmental Infrastructure (EI) Assistance, by Anna E. Normand, and CRS In Focus IF12635, Continuing
Authorities Programs (CAPs) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, by Nicole T. Carter and Anna E. Normand.
28 OMB, “Discretionary Funding Changes,” p. 28.
29 For further information on the FY2026 request for Reclamation, see Department of the Interior (DOI), FY2026, The
Interior Budget in Brief, May 2025, https://www.doi.gov/budget/appropriations/2026/highlights. For more information
on Reclamation WaterSMART, see CRS In Focus IF12414, Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART Program, by Charles
V. Stern and Anna E. Normand.
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of Reclamation Support for Water Storage Projects, by Charles V. Stern.) The agency also
received $4.590 billion from the IRA mostly for drought mitigation.30 The IIJA included $8.300
billion total for various Reclamation activities and projects, to be made available in equal
installments from FY2022 to FY2026 (i.e., $1.660 billion for FY2026).31 As previously
mentioned, the Senate FY2026 introduced bill proposed transferring $200 million of
Reclamation’s aging infrastructure funding provided under the IIJA to fund FY2026 discretionary
Water and Related Resources activities. This proposed transfer was not included in the enacted
measure.
For more details on these agencies’ funding, see the following CRS publications:
•
•
CRS In Focus IF13039, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: FY2026 Appropriations,
by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.
CRS In Focus IF13066, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2026 Budget and
Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern.
Proposed Reductions for EERE
The Administration requested $888 million for EERE in FY2026, a reduction of $2.572 billion (74%) from FY2025. The budget focused on early-stage research and development to “support
technologies that promote firm baseload power and other priorities established in relevant
Executive Orders, such as bioenergy,” according to the request.32
Within EERE, no appropriations were requested in FY2026 for Wind Energy Technologies, Solar
Energy Technologies, and Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies, which received a total of
$108 million in FY2025. Zero funding was also requested for two other elements of the EERE
appropriations account: the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and the Office of State
and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), which provides low-income weatherization and state
planning grants. In FY2025, FEMP received $43 million and SCEP $432 million.
The Administration requested steep reductions from FY2025 levels for Vehicle Technologies
(from $240 million to $25 million, -90%), Bioenergy Technologies (from $305 million to $70
million, -77%), and Building Technologies (from $148 million to $20 million, -87%). Geothermal
Technologies, aimed at producing steady baseload power, would have been reduced from $488
million in FY2025 to $150 million (-69%).
The House E&W bill, H.R. 4553, would have funded EERE at $1.830 billion, a decrease of
$1.630 billion (-47%) from FY2025 enacted. H.R. 4553 would have reduced Vehicle
Technologies from $240 million to $215 million (-10%), Bioenergy Technologies from $305
million to $146 million (-52%), and Building Technologies from $148 million to $100 million
(-32%), according to the Appropriations Committee report. Geothermal Technologies would have
decreased from $488 million enacted for FY2025 to $125 million (-74%) in FY2026. Hydrogen
and Fuel Cells Technologies would have increased from $37 million enacted for FY2025 to $50
million.
Under the Senate-introduced bill and draft report, EERE would have received $2.277 billion, a
reduction of $1.233 billion (-36%) from the FY2025 amount. That total did not include $1.060
30 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.
31 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.
32 OMB, “Discretionary Funding Changes,” p. 21.
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billion in transfers previously appropriated to other DOE programs by IIJA. Hydrogen, wind, and
solar R&D would have received $439 million, including IIJA transfers. That compares with $220
million in the House bill, zero in the request, and $108 million in FY2025. Up to $75 million of
EERE funding, including $40 million for demonstrations, could have been spent on geothermal
technologies.
The enacted measure provided $1.950 billion for EERE, plus $1.150 billion of prior-year
balances from IIJA. The new EERE appropriations are a decrease of $1.510 billion (-44%) from
the equivalent FY2025 amount. The explanatory statement allocates the IIJA balances among the
various EERE subaccounts, such as Sustainable Transportation and Fuels, Renewable Energy,
Buildings and Industry, and State and Community Energy Programs.
Provision to Block Funding for Clean Energy Rule in Federal
Buildings
The House bill (Section 312) would prohibit E&W funding from being “used to finalize,
administer, implement, or enforce” DOE’s May 2024 rule on “clean energy” in federal buildings.
The May 2024 rule requires “certain new Federal buildings and Federal buildings undergoing
major renovations to be designed to reduce their fossil fuel-generated energy consumption.”33 The
prohibition was not included in the enacted measure.
Proposed IIJA Transfers for Nuclear Energy
The House-passed bill, Senate-introduced bill, and enacted measure included transfers of several
billion dollars of unobligated IIJA appropriations to advanced nuclear reactor demonstrations. For
that purpose, the House bill (Section 313) would have transferred $673 million in IIJA funding
previously appropriated to EERE, $981 million from DOE credits for existing reactors, $1.000
billion from Fossil Energy, $1.500 billion from the Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure
Finance and Innovation Program Account, and $950 million from OCED, for a total of $5.104
billion.
The Senate-introduced bill (Section 309) would have transferred $2.4 billion of unobligated IIJA
appropriations to advanced reactor demonstrations and advanced nuclear fuel. The transfers were
to come from $900 million in DOE credits for existing reactors and $1.500 billion from carbon
dioxide transportation.
The enacted measure (Section 311) transferred $3.100 billion from various programs in IIJA to
provide funding for up to two advanced small modular reactors that were previously appropriated
a total of $800 million for FY2024-FY2026 by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L.
118-42, Division D, Section 311).
Consolidated Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Prohibition and
Authorization
The House bill (Section 504) would have prohibited any federal funds from being used for
privately owned facilities for consolidated interim storage of spent nuclear fuel without the
formal consent of state and local governments and any affected Indian tribes. Two privately
owned consolidated interim storage facilities, one in New Mexico and one in Texas, have
33 DOE Federal Energy Management Program, “Clean Energy for New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations of
Federal Buildings,” 89 Federal Register 35384, May 1, 2024.
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received NRC licenses over the objections of the two state governments.34 Citing strong state
opposition, the sponsor of the New Mexico project canceled its plans for the waste storage project
in October 2025.35
The Senate-introduced bill (Section 310), as in previous years, would have authorized DOE to
build and operate one or more consolidated interim storage facilities through a consent-based
siting process. Such facilities would require an agreement with the governor of the host state,
each unit of local government with jurisdiction over the site, each affected Indian tribe, and other
entities identified by DOE. The House and Senate provisions were not included in the enacted
measure.
Title XVII Loan Guarantees: Proposed Nuclear Funding and
Cancellation of Other Lending Authority
For the Title 17 loan guarantee program, the request included $750 million to pay the credit
subsidy cost (to cover potential losses to the federal government) for loan guarantees for small
modular nuclear reactors, which DOE describes as “an immediate priority.”36 The budget request
would have provided an additional $30 billion in lending authority for geothermal, hydropower,
or bioenergy projects, transmission and distribution projects, advanced fossil energy projects,
advanced nuclear energy facilities, refineries, and critical minerals supply projects. It would have
permanently canceled unobligated balances made available for credit subsidy costs in P.L. 112-10
(estimated at $11 million) and canceled loan authority provided under P.L. 111-8, P.L. 117-328,
P.L. 109-289, and P.L. 112-10.37
The House bill included $150 million for small modular reactor subsidy costs ($600 million
below the request) and would not have canceled existing subsidy cost budget authority and
unobligated balances, as requested by the President. The Senate-introduced bill excluded all those
proposals except for administrative costs and offsetting collections, for a net appropriation of
negative $205 million, the same as the enacted E&W measure.
Under the second Trump Administration, the renamed Office of Energy Dominance Financing has
issued Title 17 loans to five projects, totaling $30.664 billion.38 P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 budget
reconciliation measure, rescinded unobligated appropriations for Title 17 programs, but
appropriated $1 billion for the Section 1706 program and expanded its scope (see the section
“Cancellation and Transfer of IIJA and IRA Appropriations”).
For the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) financing program, the request
would have canceled unobligated balances from credit subsidy appropriations originally provided
34 NRC, “Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF),” https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis.html; New
Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, letter to President Trump, July 28, 2020, https://www.nrc.gov/docs/
ML2100/ML21008A321.pdf; and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “Attorney General Ken Paxton Works to Stop
Unaccountable Federal Plan to Illegally Build a Nuclear Waste Facility on World’s Most Productive Oil Field,” news
release, March 6, 2025, https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-works-stopunaccountable-federal-plan-illegally-build-nuclear-waste.
35 World Nuclear News, “Holtec Cancels Plans for New Mexico Interim Storage Facility,” October 10, 2025,
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/holtec-cancels-plans-for-new-mexico-interim-storage-facility.
36 Department of Energy (DOE), FY 2026 Congressional Justification: Budget in Brief, May 2025, p. 53,
https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/doe-fy-2026-bib-v6.pdf.
37 OMB, Technical Supplement to the 2026 Budget: Appendix, May 30, 2025, p. 304, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2025/05/appendix_fy2026.pdf.
38 DOE, Office of Energy Dominance Financing, “EDF Projects,” February 25, 2026, https://www.energy.gov/edf/edfprojects.
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in P.L. 110-329, as amended. The remaining balance is estimated at $2.29 billion. The proposed
cancellation was not included in the House-passed bill, the Senate-introduced bill, or the enacted
measure. Limits on ATVM lending authority set by the IRA were repealed by P.L. 119-21.
For the Tribal Energy financing program, the request would have canceled nearly $11 million of
credit subsidy appropriations from prior acts, and nearly $3 million of unobligated balances for
administrative expenses made available in P.L. 119-4. The cancellations were not included in the
House bill, the Senate bill, or the enacted measure. Unobligated appropriations for this program
were repealed by P.L. 119-21.
For projects under DOE’s Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation
Act (CIFIA), enacted as part of the IIJA, the request proposed to cancel $2.09 billion in
unobligated balances. The House and Senate bills and enacted measure included transfers of
$1.500 billion from the CIFIA program account to DOE’s nuclear energy, EERE, fossil energy,
science, and loan guarantee accounts.
Proposals for Petroleum Reserves
The Administration requested $206 million in FY2026 for operation and management of the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a reduction of 3% from the FY2025 enacted amount. The
House bill would have provided $295 million for SPR operation and maintenance, an increase of
$88 million (43%) over the President’s request. The Senate-introduced bill would have provided
$214 million. The enacted measure appropriated $206 million as requested. SPR funding is
supplemented by the FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21), which appropriated
$171 million for purchasing crude oil for the SPR and $218 million for maintenance through
FY2029. It also repealed a previously mandated sale of 7 million barrels of SPR oil that was to
occur during 2026 and 2027.
The Administration proposed to close the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NEHHOR) in
FY2026. The 1 million barrels of low-sulfur heating oil in NEHHOR was to be sold and leases
for storage facilities closed out. The bill passed by the House, the Senate-introduced bill, and the
enacted measure continued funding for the NEHHOR at the FY2025 level for operation and
maintenance. For background, see CRS In Focus IF12205, Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve,
by Phillip Brown.
Proposed Reductions in Office of Science and ARPA-E
The Administration proposed to reduce funding for the Office of Science to $7.092 billion (-14%)
and Biological and Environmental Research (BER) in the DOE Office of Science from $900
million in FY2024 to $395 million (-56%) in FY2026. The BER program was to be realigned to
focus on “transformative science and scientific user facilities to harness the genomic potential
found in nature, achieve a predictive understanding of complex systems, and provide the
fundamental research leading to solutions for the Nation’s energy and national security
challenges.”39 Previously funded research in environmental system sciences, atmospheric system
research, earth system modeling, data management, and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement
User Facility were to be eliminated.
The Office of Science would have received $8.400 billion under the House bill, an increase of
$160 million (2%) over the FY2025 enacted amount and $1.308 billion (18%) over the
39 DOE, FY 2026 Congressional Justification: Budget in Brief, May 2025, pp. 20-21, https://www.energy.gov/sites/
default/files/2025-06/doe-fy-2026-bib-v6.pdf.
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Administration’s FY2026 request. BER would have received $800 million (-8%) under the House
bill, and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility would have received $95 million,
according to the committee report. The Senate-introduced bill would have provided $8.000 billion
for Science, plus $250 million transferred from previously appropriated funding for OCED. The
enacted measure appropriated $8.250 billion.
Under the FY2026 budget request, ARPA-E would have seen a 57% reduction in its budget from
the FY2025 enacted amount. The request called for ARPA-E to release up to four new
solicitations focused on the discovery of outlier energy technologies that ensure the production of
reliable, American-made energy—projects aligned with the Administration’s “goal of restoring
U.S. energy dominance” through firm, baseload power. It also would have supported research
related to “increasing the energy available to power modern life and unleash American energy
innovation to maintain America’s global competitiveness.”40 The House bill included ARPA-E
funding of $350 million, a decrease of $110 million (-24%) from FY2025 but an increase of $150
million (75%) over the request. The Senate-introduced bill would have provided $414 million for
ARPA-E, a decrease of $46 million (-10%) from FY2025. The enacted measure appropriated
$350 million, the same as the House amount.
One major difference between the House report and the draft Senate appropriations report for
fusion energy was the U.S. contribution to ITER, an international nuclear fusion research and
development facility located in France.41 The House bill would have provided $225 million, while
the Senate draft report recommended $75 million, which is closer to the DOE FY2026 request of
$77 million.42 The enacted measure included $171 million for ITER.
Indirect Cost Rates for DOE Awards
On April 11, 2025, DOE announced “updated policies, procedures, and general decision-making
criteria for establishing indirect cost rates when awarding grants to IHEs [institutions of higher
education].”43 According to the policy, DOE will no longer use the negotiated indirect cost rate
for grants awarded to IHEs; instead, DOE is setting a standardized 15% indirect cost rate for all
grant awards to IHEs.44 A federal lawsuit filed by several affected IHEs cited previously
negotiated indirect cost rates ranging up to 62%.45 Separately, DOE issued policies on May 8,
2025, that also changed the indirect cost rates DOE would pay to state and local governments,
40 DOE, Detailed Budget Justification, Energy and Water Development Appropriations, Volume 2, Advanced Research
Projects Agency–Energy, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/doe-fy-2026-vol-2-arpa-e.pdf.
41 CRS Report R48362, ITER—An International Nuclear Fusion Research and Development Facility, coordinated by
Todd Kuiken; and CRS Report R48866, Toward Commercial Fusion Energy: Considerations for Congress, by Todd
Kuiken.
42 DOE, FY 2026 Congressional Justification: Science, May 2025, p. 9, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/
2025-07/doe-fy-2026-vol-5.pdf.
43 Indirect costs, also known as facilities and administrative or overhead costs, fund the infrastructure and support
services for R&D but are not easily attributed to a specific project. For additional information on how federal agencies
negotiate indirect cost rates, see CRS Report R48540, Universities and Indirect Costs for Federally Funded Research,
by Marcy E. Gallo and Laurie Harris. DOE, “PF 2025-22 Adjusting Department of Energy Grant Policy for Institutions
of Higher Education (IHE),” April 11, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/management/pf-2025-22-adjusting-departmentenergy-grant-policy-institutions-higher-education-ihe.
44 DOE, “PF 2025-22 Adjusting Department of Energy Grant Policy for Institutions of Higher Education (IHE).”
45 Association of American Universities v. Department of Energy, No. 1:25-cv-10912 (D. Mass. filed April 14, 2025),
https://www.aau.edu/sites/default/files/AAU-Files/Key-Issues/Research-Administration-Regulation/legal-filing-DOE4-14-25.pdf.
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nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations.46 The explanatory statement accompanying
the enacted FY2026 appropriations measure (P.L. 119-74; H.R. 6938) addresses DOE indirect
cost rates as follows:
The Committees acknowledge that there is room for improvement in the system used to
identify and recover indirect cost rates under the Uniform Guidance, particularly with
respect to the need for greater transparency into these costs. Various models have been
suggested to achieve these improvements, including the Financial Accountability in
Research (FAIR) model advanced by the Joint Associations Group on Indirect Costs
(JAG), which the Committees believe merit further consideration.47
Zero Funding Request for the Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations
The Administration requested no appropriations in FY2026 for the DOE Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations (OCED), which funds clean energy and industrial decarbonization demonstration
projects for potential commercialization. The office received $50 million in annual appropriations
in FY2025, but that amount was overshadowed by $21.456 billion appropriated for OCED by
IIJA through FY2026 (see Table 2). In addition, the IRA appropriated $5.812 billion for an
OCED program on Advanced Industrial Facilities Deployment available from FY2022 through
FY2026. As of January 2025, OCED reported that it had awarded support totaling up to
$26.8 billion for clean energy demonstration projects.48 The Trump Administration proposed to
rescind all unobligated OCED appropriations.
The House E&W bill included transfers of appropriations made by IIJA Division J for three
OCED programs. Section 313 of H.R. 4553 would have transferred $950 million in unobligated
balances of the Carbon Capture Demonstration and Pilot Programs, authorized in IIJA Sections
41004(a) and 41004(b). Section 313 of H.R. 4553 also included a transfer of $673 million
affecting several other programs authorized in IIJA, including the Regional Clean Hydrogen
Hubs (IIJA Section 40314), and appropriated to OCED in Division J. The transferred
appropriations were to be used by DOE for nuclear reactor demonstrations.
The Senate-introduced bill also did not include any new Clean Energy Demonstration funding,
and it would have transferred $4.170 billion of DOE’s IIJA appropriations to other DOE
programs.
The enacted FY2026 appropriations measure provided no funding for OCED. As discussed
above, P.L. 119-21 rescinded unobligated IRA appropriations for Advanced Industrial Facilities
46 DOE, “PF 2025-25 Adjusting Department of Energy Financial Assistance Policy for State and Local Governments’
Financial Assistance Awards,” May 8, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/management/pf-2025-25-adjusting-departmentenergy-financial-assistance-policy-state-and-local; DOE, “PF 2025-26 Adjusting Department of Energy Financial
Assistance Policy for Nonprofit Organizations’ Financial Assistance Awards,” May 8, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/
management/pf-2025-26-adjusting-department-energy-financial-assistance-policy-nonprofit; and DOE, “PF 2025-27
Adjusting Department of Energy Financial Assistance Policy for For-Profit Organizations’ Financial Assistance
Awards,” May 8, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/management/pf-2025-27-adjusting-department-energy-financialassistance-policy-profit-organizations.
47 House of Representatives, Explanatory Statement, Congressional Record, vol. 172, part No. 5 - Book II (January 8,
2026), p. H390, https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2026/01/08/172/5/CREC-2026-01-08-bk3.pdf.
48 DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, “Portfolio,” January 2025, https://www.energy.gov/oced/portfolio.
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Deployment.49 On October 2, 2025, DOE announced the termination of $7.56 billion in energy
grants by OCED, EERE, the Grid Deployment Office, MESC, ARPA-E, and FE.50
Table 2. 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: Not including rescissions and terminations. Appropriations are in addition to other amounts made
available for these purposes, such as from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Proposed Increase for NNSA Weapons Activities
The Administration requested $30.042 billion for NNSA in FY2026. This included $25.26 billion
in discretionary appropriations in the E&W bill and $4.782 billion in mandatory funding to be
provided through the congressional budget reconciliation process (see below). The requested total
of $30.042 billion would have been an increase of $5.907 billion (24%) over the FY2025 enacted
discretionary amount of $24.135 billion. The $25.260 billion discretionary funding request would
have been an increase of $1.125 billion (5%) above the FY2025 enacted amount. NNSA funding
included in the House bill for FY2026 totaled $25.317 billion, an increase of $1.182 billion (5%)
over the FY2025 level and $57 million (less than 1%) over the request. The Senate-introduced
bill included $25.013 billion, an increase of $878 million (4%) from the FY2025 level and $247
49 Unobligated balances for this program have not been reported by OMB.
50 DOE, “Energy Department Announces Termination of 223 Projects, Saving over $7.5 Billion,” news release,
October 2, 2025.
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million (less than 1%) below the request. The enacted FY2026 measure appropriated $25.404
billion for NNSA, an increase of $1.269 billion (5%) over the FY2025 level and $144 million
(1%) above the request.
The requested $4.782 billion in mandatory spending would have been applied entirely to the
Weapons Activities account, for a total of $24.856 billion, an increase of $5.563 billion (29%)
over the FY2025 enacted level.51 The FY2026 discretionary appropriations request for Weapons
Activities totaled $20.074 billion, an increase of $781 million (4%) over the FY2025 enacted
amount of $19.293 billion. The House-passed bill included $20.662 billion for Weapons
Activities, and the Senate-introduced bill included $20.074 billion. The enacted FY2026 E&W
measure appropriated $20.378 billion for Weapons Activities, an increase of $1.085 billion (6%)
over FY2025 and $304 million (2%) above the request. As noted above, P.L. 119-21 appropriated
$3.885 billion for NNSA for FY2025, to remain available through FY2029.
For Weapons Activities, the requested FY2026 amounts for nuclear warhead modernization
programs, which include proposed reconciliation funding, include the following:52
•
•
•
•
•
$16 million for the B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP), a decrease of $12
million (-42%) from the FY2025 enacted amount. NNSA intends to complete and
close out modernization of the B61-12 LEP, which combines four existing
variants of the B61 gravity bomb, in FY2026. The House committee report,
Senate draft committee report, and the explanatory statement included the same
amount.
$49 million for the B61-13 variant of the B61 gravity bomb, a 209% increase
from the $16 million enacted in FY2025. This B61 variant, intended for strikes
on harder and larger-area military targets, is transitioning to full-scale
production.53 The House committee report, Senate draft committee report, and
the explanatory statement included the same amount.
The Administration did not request funding for the W88 Alteration 370 program,
for which $64 million was enacted in FY2025. NNSA stated that it would
complete and close out this program with carryover funding. The W88 warhead
is carried on a portion of the D-5 (Trident) submarine-launched ballistic missiles
(SLBMs). The House committee report did not itemize the program, and the
Senate draft committee report and explanatory statement, as requested, did not
include funding for the program.
$1.259 billion for production engineering activities of the W80-4 LEP, an
increase of $64 million (5%) over the FY2025 enacted amount, intended for the
warhead that will be mounted on the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise
missile.54 The House committee report, Senate draft committee report, and the
explanatory statement included the same amount.
$649 million for development engineering activities in the W87-1 warhead
modification program, a decrease of $367 million (-36%) from FY2025. The
51 DOE, FY2026 Congressional Justification: Budget in Brief, May 2025, p. 24, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/
files/2025-06/doe-fy-2026-bib-v6.pdf; and OMB, Technical Supplement to the FY2026 Budget: Appendix, May 30,
2025, p. 275, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/appendix_fy2026.pdf.
52 DOE, FY2026 Detailed Budget Justification—Energy and Water Development Appropriations, Volume 1, National
Nuclear Security Administration, Weapons Activities, pp. 16 and 20, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/202506/doe-fy-2026-vol-1-wa.pdf.
53 For more information, see CRS In Focus IF10519, Defense Primer: Strategic Nuclear Forces, by Anya L. Fink.
54 For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12945, U.S. Strategic Bombers, by Jennifer DiMascio and Anya L. Fink.
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•
•
Air Force plans to deploy the W87-1 on the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic
missile (ICBM).55 The House committee report, Senate draft committee report,
and the explanatory statement included the same amount.
$807 million for the design definition and cost study of the W93 warhead, an
increase of $351 million (77%) from the FY2025 enacted amount. The W93 is a
warhead intended for deployment on SLBMs. The House committee report
recommended the same amount, which was provided by the explanatory
statement. The Senate draft committee report recommended $782 million.
$272 million for development engineering of the warhead (W80-X) for the
nuclear sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N), a $172 million (172%) increase
from the FY2025 enacted amount.56 This amount appears to include mandatory
funding in the FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21), as noted
below. The House committee report stated that the committee recommended
more funding than requested for SLCM-N, but the report did not include an
amount for the program in the funding table.57 The Senate draft committee report
and the explanatory statement included $186 million.
NNSA is implementing seven warhead programs while also engaging in intensive efforts to
recapitalize its production infrastructure. Congress has raised concerns 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
is included in NNSA’s FY2026 budget under Plutonium Modernization, for which NNSA
requested $3.795 billion for FY2026, an increase of $1.303 billion (52%) from the FY2025
enacted level of $2.491 billion.58 The House committee report recommended $2.833 billion. The
Senate draft committee report recommended $2.520 billion. The explanatory statement included
$2.633 billion, an increase of $142 million (6%) above the FY2025 amount.
The FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21) appropriated $3.885 billion for NNSA
for FY2025, to remain available through FY2029:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
$200 million for Phase 1 studies;
$540 million for deferred maintenance and repair;
$1 billion for construction;
$400 million for the sea-launched cruise missile nuclear warhead;
$750 million for modernization of facilities for nuclear warhead primary stages;
$750 million for modernization of facilities for nuclear warhead secondary
stages;
$120 million for uranium enrichment centrifuge deployment;
$10 million for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing evaluation; and
55 For more information, see CRS In Focus IF11681, Defense Primer: LGM-35A Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic
Missile, by Anya L. Fink.
56 For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12084, Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM-N), by Anya
L. Fink.
57 See pp. 158 and 4 in the report.
58 DOE, FY2026 Detailed Budget Justification—Energy and Water Development Appropriations, Volume 1, National
Nuclear Security Administration, Weapons Activities, p. 16, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/doe-fy2026-vol-1-wa.pdf.
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•
$115 million for artificial intelligence.
Appropriations for NNSA nuclear weapons activities and other defense programs typically align
with the amounts authorized in annual National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs). See
Division C of H.R. 3838 (H.Rept. 119-231), S. 2296 (S.Rept. 119-39), and compromise bill (S.
1071; P.L. 119-60) and accompanying explanatory statement.59 For more information, see CRS
Report R47657, Energy and Water Development Appropriations for Nuclear Weapons Activities:
In Brief, by Anya L. Fink.
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 Administration requested $8.093
billion for Environmental Management (EM) in FY2026, a reduction of $389 million (-5%) from
the program’s FY2025 enacted amount of $8.482 billion. EM funding in the House bill totaled
$7.703 billion, a decrease of $779 million (-9%) from FY2025 and $389 million (-5%) below the
request. The Senate-introduced bill would have provided $8.841 billion for EM, increases of
$1.137 billion over the House bill (15%), $748 million (9%) over the request, and $359 million
(4%) above FY2025. The enacted measure provided $8.562 billion, an increase of $470 million
(6%) over the request and $80 million (1%) above FY2025.
The House bill included no funding for the USACE Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action
Program (FUSRAP), for which $200 million was requested, a decrease of $100 million (-33%)
from FY2025. FUSRAP cleans up radioactive sites dating to the early years of the U.S. nuclear
weapons program. The committee report said that USACE “will carry over into fiscal year 2026
significant unobligated funds sufficient to make appropriate progress on all active FUSRAP
sites.”60 The Senate-introduced bill would have provided $100 million, a reduction of $200
million (-67%) from the enacted FY2025 amount. The enacted measure provided $75 million, a
decrease of $225 million (-75%) from the FY2025 level of $300 million.
The EM budget consists of three appropriations accounts. The largest is the Defense
Environmental Cleanup account, which finances the cleanup of former nuclear weapons
production sites and received an FY2026 appropriation of $7.375 billion. The Non-Defense
Environmental Cleanup account, which funds the cleanup of federal nuclear energy research sites,
received $322 million. The third component is the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and
Decommissioning Fund (UED&D), which was appropriated $865 million.
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.
59 House Armed Services Committee, FY26 NDAA Resources, FY26 NDAA Joint Explanatory Statement,
https://armedservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fy26_ndaa_joint_explanatory_statement.pdf.
60 H.Rept. 119-213, p. 66. The Treasury Department reported unobligated FUSRAP balances of $829 million at the end
of FY2025. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Combined Statement, https://fiscal.treasury.gov/
reports-statements/combined-statement/current.html.
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Department of Energy Reorganization
DOE reorganized several major offices and management responsibilities within the department on
November 20, 2025.61 The reorganization did not change the names of the appropriations
accounts in the FY2026 bills as passed by the House, introduced in the Senate, or enacted into
law. The DOE changes include the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
changing the name of EERE to the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy
Innovation, and adding critical minerals and supply chains to its portfolio;
changing the name and portfolio of FECM to the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal
Energy Office;
establishing a new Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum;
establishing a new of Office of Fusion;
eliminating OCED and dividing its responsibilities among other offices; and
renaming LPO the Office of Energy Dominance Financing.
Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Amending or
Expanding Uses of Funding, Funding for New Commission
Funding for six federal regional commissions and authorities (FRCAs) would have been
eliminated under the President’s FY2026 request. The House rejected the Administration’s
proposed shutdowns of FRCAs. The House bill would have continued funding for FRCAs with a
reduction of 19% from their FY2025 enacted levels. The Committee report directed ARC to
allocate $12 million of total appropriations to fund basic infrastructure in distressed counties in
Central Appalachia that have been impacted by the decline in the coal industry and $8 million to
fund broadband in distressed counties in Central Appalachia.
The Senate-introduced bill also rejected the Administration’s proposed shutdowns of FRCAs. The
Senate bill included funding for the FRCAs with an increase of 4% from their FY2025 enacted
levels. The bill included funding for a new regional commission (the Northwest Regional
Commission), which—once established—would cover distressed areas of Idaho, Oregon, and
Washington
The enacted FY2026 E&W measure continued funding for FRCAs programs and administrative
expenses at 1% over FY2025 enacted levels. The act provided funding for 7 of the 10 authorized
FRCAs and provided $1 million for the Northwest Regional Commission, which was not
authorized as of February 2026.62 The seven FRCAs that are authorized and received funding
include (1) Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), (2) Delta Regional Authority (DRA), (3)
Denali Commission, (4) Great Lakes Authority (GLA), (5) Northern Border Regional
Commission (NBRC), (6) Southwest Border Regional Commission (SBRC), and (7) Southeast
61 DOE, “Energy Department Announces Organizational Realignment to Strengthen Efficiency and Unleash American
Energy,” November 20, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-organizationalrealignment-strengthen-efficiency-and-unleash.
62 S. 3293 included funding for a new regional commission (the Northwest Regional Commission), which—once
established—would cover distressed areas of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. P.L. 119-74 also included funding for
the Northwest Regional Commission and included distressed areas of Montana, as well as distressed areas of Idaho,
Oregon, and Washington. As of the date of this report, the commission has not been authorized.
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Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC).63 Six of the seven authorized FRCAs that received
FY2026 appropriations are considered active.64 The act provided $5 million for the GLA, which
was not active as of February 2026.65
The explanatory statement directed FRCAs to allocate funding to address specific regional
initiatives or types of communities. For instance, the statement directed ARC to allocate $65
million for coal-impacted communities, $10 million to fund broadband in distressed counties in
Central Appalachia, $16 million of total appropriations to fund basic infrastructure in distressed
counties in Central Appalachia that have been impacted by the decline in the coal industry, and up
to $13 million to address substance use disorder. The statement directed ARC and DRA to
continue investing in their local development district programs. It directed the Denali
Commission to support rural Alaska Native Villages with bulk fuel storage needs and directed
NBRC to allocate at least $4 million to support regional economies impacted by the decline of
forest-based industries and almost $2 million for the State Capacity Building Grant Program.66
General Policy Proposals
The House bill included a number of general policy provisions that raised controversy during the
markup process, including the following, which were not enacted:
•
•
•
•
•
•
limiting restrictions on firearms on USACE public lands (Section 108);
prohibiting E&W funds from being used to replace USACE names related to the
Confederate States of America (Section 109);
prohibiting E&W funding for activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion
and critical race theory (Section 505);
prohibiting discriminatory actions against persons with religious objections to
same-sex marriage (Section 506);
limiting the use of E&W funds for displaying nongovernmental flags (Section
508); and
prohibiting funds for finalizing any rule with an annual economic impact of $100
million or more (Section 509).
63 The other three federal regional commissions and authorities (FRCAs) are the Mid-Atlantic Regional Commission
(MARC), Northern Great Plans Regional Authority (NGPRA), and Southern New England Regional Commission
(SNERC). As of the date of publication, MARC, NGPRA, SNERC, and the Great Lakes Authority (GLA) are not
active, and none of these have a confirmed federal co-chair. For additional information, see CRS Report R45997,
Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Structural Features and Function.
64 Each of the six functioning regional commissions and authorities engage in economic development to varying
extents, and they address multiple programmatic activities in their respective service areas. These activities may
include, but are not limited to, basic infrastructure, energy, ecology/environment and natural resources, workforce, and
business development/entrepreneurship. For more information, see CRS In Focus IF11140, Federal Regional
Commissions and Authorities: Overview of Structure and Activities.
65 The presidential nomination and Senate confirmation of a federal co-chair is an essential step for the GLA to start
operations; as of the date of publication, the Senate has not confirmed a federal co-chair for the GLA (a nominee by
President Biden was not confirmed, and President Trump has not submitted a nominee). For more information, see
CRS In Focus IF11744, Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Authorization.
66 H.R. 6938 explanatory statement, p. H446, https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2026/01/08/172/5/CREC-2026-0108-bk3.pdf#page=192.
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Bill Status and Recent Funding History
Table 3 indicates major congressional actions taken during consideration of FY2026 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 3. Status of Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2026
Subcommittee
Markup
Final Approval
House
Senate
House
Comm.
House
Passed
Senate
Comm.
Senate
Passed
Conf.
Report
House
Senate
Public
Law
7/14/25
—
7/17/25
9/4/25
—*
—
—
1/8/26
1/15/26
1/23/26
Source: CRS Appropriations Status Table.
Note: *An FY2026 E&W bill (S. 3293) was introduced in the Senate December 1, 2025.
Table 4 includes budget totals for regular (excluding supplementals) energy and water
development appropriations enacted for FY2020 through FY2025 and the FY2026 request.
Table 4. Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2020-FY2026 Action
(budget authority in billions of current dollars)
FY2021
FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
FY2025
FY2026
Request
FY2026
House
S. 3293
FY2026
49.5
55.6
59.2
61.4
61.3
56.0
60.8
61.5
61.7
Source: Compiled by CRS from totals provided by congressional budget documents and the FY2026 President’s
Budget Request.
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. These are
shown in Table 5. Major programs in the bill are described in this section in the approximate
order they appear in the bill. Recent appropriations and FY2026 actions 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 “Key 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, also listed at the end of this
report.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
Table 5. Energy and Water Development Appropriations Summary
(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)
Title
FY2022 FY2023
Approp Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Approp
FY2026
Request
FY2026
House
S. 3293
FY2026
Approp
Title 1: U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers
8,343
8,310
8,703
8,703
6,663
9,891
9,791
10,435
Title II: CUP and
Reclamation
1,924
1,954
1,923
1,889
1,290
1,895
1,600
1,650
Title III:
Department of
Energy
44,856
48,445
50,247
50,170
47,863
48,510
49,574
49,124
Title IV:
Independent
Agencies
454
494
502
502
215
460
531
522
Subtotal
55,576
59,204
61,375
61,264
56,031
60,756
61,496
61,731
Rescissions,
Transfers, and
Scorekeeping
Adjustments
-2,704
-2,202
-22
-22
-228
-3,562
4,131
-3,692
E&W Total with
Adjustments
52,872
57,002
61,353
61,242
55,803
57,194
65,627
58,039
Sources: H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement; S. 3293 and draft report; H.R. 4553; H.Rept. 119213; FY2026 Administration budget request; 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. Excludes emergency appropriations. Subtotals may include other adjustments.
Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding and adjustments. CUP = Central Utah Project.
Notes: FY2026 House scorekeeping offsets are the sum of the appropriations accounts minus the officially
scored (adjusted) total. The S. 3293 adjusted total includes $4.170 billion in transfers minus $39 million in
rescissions. FY2026 House transfers of $5.104 billion are not included. FY2026 request does not include a
further reduction of $19.674 billion in scorekeeping adjustments. 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
Selected FY2026 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 6)
Title II: (see Table 7)
•
•
Bureau of Reclamation, https://www.usbr.gov/budget
Central Utah Project, https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025-06/
cupca-2026-greenbook508.pdf
Title III: Department of Energy, https://www.energy.gov/cfo/articles/fy-2026-budget-justification
(see Table 8)
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Title IV: Independent Agencies (see Table 12)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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
Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, https://scrc.gov/Accountability/
congressional-justification
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/staff/sr1100
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, https://www.dnfsb.gov/about/
congressional-budget-requests
Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, http://www.nwtrb.gov/about-us/plans
Army Corps of Engineers
USACE is an agency in the Department of Defense with both military and civilian
responsibilities. Under its civil works program, which is funded by the Energy and Water
Development appropriations bill, USACE plans, builds, operates, and in some cases maintains
water resource facilities for coastal and inland navigation, riverine and coastal flood risk
reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration.67
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 (WRDAs), prior to funding them through appropriations legislation. Recent
Congresses enacted omnibus USACE water resources authorization acts in 2014, 2016, 2018,
2020, 2022, and 2024. The latest enacted WRDA was Division A 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.68
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.
During the period when earmarks were limited during the 112th through 116th Congresses, the
procedure was that 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
67 Military responsibilities are funded through the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
appropriations bill.
68 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 R47946, Process for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Projects, by Nicole T. Carter and Anna E.
Normand.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
in specified categories, in addition to providing additional funding for specific categories for
USACE to allocate in work plans.69 House and Senate rules again allow Members to submit
USACE earmark requests in the 119th Congress (i.e., for FY2025 and FY2026). In FY2025,
however, Section 1111 of P.L. 119-4 established that the act did 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 6 shows USACE appropriations accounts from FY2022 through FY2026.
Table 6. Army Corps of Engineers
(budget authority in millions of current dollars)
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Approp
FY2026
Request
FY2026
House
S. 3293
FY2026
Approp
143.0
—
172.5
—
143.0
—
143.0
—
130.0
—
200.0
—
97.5
150.4
151.3
—
Construction
2,492.8
1,808.8
1,854.7
1,854.7
1,558.2
2,557.0
2,481.8
3,170.0
Mississippi
River and
Tributaries
(MR&T)
370.0
370.0
368.0
368.0
256.5
490.0
468.2
531.6
Operation
and
Maintenance
(O&M)
4,570.0
5,078.5
5,552.8
5,552.8
2,330.3
6,143.0
5,990.2
6,013.2
Regulatory
212.0
218.0
221.0
221.0
221.0
221.0
225.0
221.0
General
Expenses
208.0
215.0
216.0
216.0
220.0
226.0
220.0
220.0
FUSRAP
300.0
400.0
300.0
300.0
200.0
0
100.0
75.0
Flood
Control and
Coastal
Emergencies
(FCCE)
35.0
35.0
35.0
35.0
40.0
42.5
40.0
40.0
Office of the
Asst.
Secretary of
the Army
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
7.0
6.0
7.0
7.0
WIFIA
Program
7.2
7.2
7.2
7.2
0
5.0
10.0
7.2
Harbor
Maintenance
Trust Funda
—
—
—
—
1,700.0
—
—
—
Program
Investigations
Preconstruction,
Engineering,
and Design
69 USACE work plans are available at USACE, “Civil Works Budget and Performance,” https://www.usace.army.mil/
Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#Work-Plans.
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Program
Total
approp
Rescissions
Total Title I
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Approp
FY2026
Request
FY2026
House
S. 3293
FY2026
Approp
8,343.0
8,310.0
8,702.7
8,702.7
6,663.0
9,890.5
9,790.9
10,435.4
—
—
-22.2
-22.2
—
—
—
—
8,343.0
8,310.0
8,680.5
8,680.5
6,663.0
9,890.5
9,790.9
10,435.4
Sources: H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement; S. 3293 and draft report; H.R. 4553; H.Rept. 119213; FY2026 Administration budget request; 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/CivilWorks/Budget/; FY2024 Budget Appendix for Corps of Engineers—Civil Works at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/
details/BUDGET-2024-APP/BUDGET-2024-APP-1-20; Division D of P.L. 117-328; Division D of P.L. 117-103;
Division D of P.L. 116-260.
Notes: FUSRAP = Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program; WIFIA = Water Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Act. Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding.
a.
P.L. 113-121. In the Administration’s FY2026 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 a 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. Such proposals were not enacted in previous fiscal years since first
proposed for FY2019.
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;70
$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 Report R48572, 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
70 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 operation and maintenance (O&M) of certain categories of projects (i.e., similar to additional funding
provided through annual appropriations). 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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environment and the public’s investment in Reclamation infrastructure. The agency’s municipal
and industrial water deliveries have more than doubled since 1970.
Today, Reclamation manages hundreds of dams and diversion projects, including more than 300
storage reservoirs, in 17 western states. These projects provide water to approximately 10 million
acres of farmland and 31 million people. Reclamation is the largest wholesale supplier of water in
the 17 western states and the second-largest hydroelectric power producer in the nation.
Reclamation facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and other benefits.
Reclamation facility operations are often controversial, particularly for their effect on fish and
wildlife species and because of conflicts among competing water users during drought conditions.
As with USACE, the Reclamation budget is made up largely of individual project funding lines,
rather than general programs that would not be covered by congressional earmark requirements.
Therefore, as with USACE, these Reclamation projects have often been subject to earmark
disclosure rules. The moratorium on earmarks through FY2021 restricted congressional steering
of money directly toward specific Reclamation projects. For FY2022 through FY2026, the House
and Senate rules allowed congressionally directed funding for specific Reclamation projects. For
FY2025, Section 1111 of P.L. 119-4 established that the act did not provide for earmarks.
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.71 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.72
For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12661, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2025 Budget and
Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern; 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 7 shows Reclamation and CUP appropriations accounts from FY2022 through FY2026.
Table 7. Bureau of Reclamation and CUP
(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Approp
FY2026
Request
FY2026
House
S. 3293
FY2026
Approp
1,747.1
1,787.2
1,751.7
1,710.7
1,112.0
1,710.6
1,415.6
1,465.6
Policy and
Administration
64.4
65.1
66.8
66.8
64.0
64.0
64.0
64.0
CVP Restoration
Fund (CVPRF)
56.5
45.8
48.5
55.7
65.4
65.4
65.4
65.4
Program
Water and
Related
Resources
71 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.
72 The Central Utah Project (CUP) 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.
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FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Approp
FY2026
Request
FY2026
House
S. 3293
FY2026
Approp
Calif. Bay-Delta
(CALFED)
33.0
33.0
33.0
33.0
32.0
32.0
32.0
32.0
Gross Current
Reclamation
Authority
1,901.0
1,931.0
1,900.0
1,866.3
1,273.4
1,872.0
1,577.0
1,627.0
Central Utah
Project (CUP)
Completion
23.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
17.0
23.0
23.0
23.0
Reclamation
and CUP
1,924.0
1,954.0
1,923.0
1,889.3
1,290.4
1,895.0
1,600.0
1,650.0
Offsets,
Transfers, and
Adjustments
—
-45.8
—
—
—
—
200.0
—
1,924.0
1,908.2
1,923.0
1,889.3
1,290.4
1,895.0
1,800.0
1,650.0
Program
Total
Sources: H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement; S. 3293 and draft report; H.R. 4553; H.Rept. 119213; FY2026 Administration budget request; 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.
Notes: Total for S. 3293 includes $200 million in transfers from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA;
P.L. 117-58). Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding. CVP = Central Valley Project.
Reclamation has also received supplemental and mandatory appropriations in recent fiscal years
that the agency is still allocating, obligating, and expending. The 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.) The 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.
In FY2025, the American Relief Act, 2025 (P.L. 118-158) included $74 million for Reclamation,
to remain available until expended. Additionally, the FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (P.L.
119-21) appropriated $1 billion in funding for surface water storage and conveyance projects that
restore or increase the capacity of existing Reclamation facilities, available through FY2034.
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
Department of Energy
The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill has funded nearly all DOE programs
since FY2005.73 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 8 provides recent DOE funding history. Most DOE programs funded by these
appropriations accounts are briefly described further below.
Table 8. Department of Energy
(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)
FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Approp
FY2026
Request
FY2026
House
S. 3293
FY2026
Approp
Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy
3,200.0
3,460.0
3,460.0
3,460.0
888.0
1,830.0
2,227.2
1,950.0
Electricity Delivery
277.0
350.0
280.0
280.0
193.0
225.0
265.0
235.0
Cybersecurity,
Energy Security, and
Emergency
Response
185.8
200.0
200.0
200.0
150.0
200.0
190.0
190.0
Nuclear Energya
1,654.8
1,473.0
1,685.0
1,685.0
1,370.0
1,795.0
1,592.7
1,685.0
Fossil Energy
825.0
890.0
865.0
865.0
595.0
694.4
782.7
580.0
Energy Projects
—
222.0
83.7
—
—
—
98.1
97.6
Naval Petroleum
and Oil Shale
Reserves
13.7
13.0
13.0
13.0
13.0
13.0
13.0
13.0
Strategic Petroleum
Reserve (SPR)b
226.4
207.3
213.4
213.5
206.4
294.7
214.4
206.6
Northeast Home
Heating Oil Reserve
6.5
7.0
7.2
7.2
3.6
7.2
7.2
7.2
Energy Information
Administration
129.1
135.0
135.0
135.0
135.0
135.0
135.0
135.0
Energy Programs
73 The DOE Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence is funded as part of the National Intelligence Program in the
Defense Appropriations bill.
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FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Approp
FY2026
Request
FY2026
House
S. 3293
FY2026
Approp
Non-Defense
Environmental
Cleanup
333.9
358.6
342.0
342.0
322.4
337.7
337.9
322.4
Uranium Enrichment
Decontamination
and
Decommissioning
Fund
860.0
879.1
855.0
855.0
814.4
844.4
875.0
865.0
7,475.0
8,100.0
8,240.0
8,240.0
7,092.0
8,400.0
8,000.0
8,250.0
Office of
Technology
Transitions
19.5
22.1
20.0
20.0
—
—
20.0
—
Office of Clean
Energy
Demonstrations
20.0
89.0
50.0
50.0
—
—
—
—
Grid Deployment
Office
—
—
60.0
60.0
15.0
25.0
45.0
25.0
Office of
Manufacturing and
Energy Supply
Chains
—
—
—
—
15.0
—
19.0
—
Advanced Research
Projects Agency–
Energy (ARPA-E)
450.0
470.0
460.0
460.0
200.0
350.0
414.0
350.0
Nuclear Waste
Disposal
27.5
10.2
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
Departmental
Admin. (net)
240.0
283.0
286.5
286.5
174.9
189.7
194.3
200.0
Office of Inspector
General
78.0
86.0
86.0
86.0
90.0
90.0
90.0
90.0
Office of Indian
Energy
58.0
75.0
70.0
70.0
50.0
75.0
65.0
75.0
Advanced
Technology Vehicles
Manufacturing
(ATVM) Loans
5.0
9.8
13.0
13.0
9.5
13.0
9.5
9.5
Title 17 Loan
Guarantee
29.0
181.2
—
-115.0
1,699.3
-121.0
-205.0
-205.0
Tribal Energy Loan
Guarantee
2.0
4.0
6.3
6.3
-12.0
6.3
6.3
6.3
Critical and
Emerging
Technologies
—
—
—
—
2.0
—
—
—
Science
Total, Energy
Programs
16,116.0
17,525.2 17,443.2 17,244.5 14,038.6 15,416.4 15,408.1 15,099.3
National Nuclear
Security Admin.
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FY2022
Approp
FY2023
Approp
FY2024
Approp
FY2025
Approp
FY2026
Request
FY2026
House
S. 3293
FY2026
Approp
Weapons Activities
15,920.0
17,116.1
19,108.0
19,293.0
20,074.4
20,662.0
20,074.4
20,378.0
Defense Nuclear
Nonproliferation
2,354.0
2,490.0
2,581.0
2,396.0
2,284.6
1,983.6
2,431.0
2,367.0
Naval Reactors
1,918.0
2,081.5
1,946.0
1,946.0
2,346.0
2,171.0
1,966.0
2,134.0
464.0
475.0
500.0
500.0
555.0
500.0
542.0
525.0
Office of
Admin./Salaries and
Expenses
Total, NNSA
20,656.0
22,162.6 24,135.0 24,135.0 25,260.0 25,316.7 25,013.4 25,404.0
Defense
Environmental
Cleanup
6,710.0
7,025.0
7,285.0
7,285.0
6,956.0
6,521.4
7,627.8
7,375.0
Defense Uranium
Enrichment D&D
573.3
586.0
285.0
285.0
278.0
—
279.7
—
Other Defense
Activities
985.0
1,035.0
1,080.0
1,107.0
1,182.0
1,180.0
1,169.2
1,170.0
Southwestern
10.4
10.6
11.4
11.4
10.4
10.4
10.4
10.4
Western
90.8
98.7
99.9
99.9
63.4
63.4
63.4
63.3
Falcon and Amistad
O&M
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
Colorado River
Basins Power
Marketing Fund
—
—
—
—
—
2.0
—
—
Total, PMAs
101.4
109.6
111.5
111.5
74.0
76.0
74.0
74.0
General Provisions
-286.1
2.0
-93.0
2.0
74.1
—
2.0
2.0
DOE Total
Appropriations
44,855.6
Offsets, Transfers,
and Adjustments
—
Power Marketing
Administrations
Total, DOE
48,445.4 50,246.8 50,170.3 47,862.7 48,510.4 49,574.1
49,124.3
44,855.6
-2,202.0
—
—
-168.1
—
-39.0
—
46,243.4 50,246.8 50,170.3 47,694.6 48,510.4 49,535.1 49,124.3
Sources: H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement; S. 3293 and draft report; H.R. 4553; H.Rept. 119213; FY2026 Administration budget request; P.L. 119-4; S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-580; FY2025
Administration budget request; explanatory statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024; Department
of Energy FY2024 budget justification; P.L. 117-328 and explanatory statement.
Notes: S. 3269 total includes $3.970 billion in IIJA transfers. Columns may not sum to totals because of
rounding. Table includes some category adjustments for comparability. Excludes rescissions and supplementals in
subsequent acts.
a. Includes amounts in defense budget function. Defense amount of $160 million excluded from Energy
Programs total and included in Defense Activities total in FY2026 request column.
b. Includes SPR Petroleum Account and rescissions.
In addition to the regular annual appropriations shown in Table 8, DOE received appropriations
from IIJA; these additional amounts for FY2023, FY2024, FY2025, and FY2026 are shown in
Table 9. Additional appropriations also became available to DOE from the IRA beginning in
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FY2022, as shown in Table 10. Unobligated balances for certain programs were rescinded by P.L.
119-21. Additional amounts for FY2023 were appropriated by Divisions M and N of P.L. 117328, as shown in Table 11.
Table 9. Additional FY2023-FY2026 Department of Energy Funding Under IIJA
(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)
IIJA
FY2023
IIJA
FY2024
IIJA
FY2025
IIJA
FY2026
2,221.8
1,945.0
1,945.0
1,945.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Electricity
1,610.0
1,610.0
1,610.0
1,610.0
Nuclear Energy
1,200.0
1,200.0
1,200.0
1,200.0
Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
1,444.5
1,447.0
1,449.5
1,317.0
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
2,900.0
13,099.6
10,778.3
10,830.8
9,072.0
Program
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response
Total
Sources: H.Rept. 117-394; Department of Energy FY2024 and FY2025 congressional budget justifications; IIJA.
Note: Does not include proposed transfers in FY2026 E&W bills.
Table 10. Additional Department of Energy Funding Under the IRA
(budget authority in millions of nominal 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 Energy Efficiency Contractor Training Grants
50123
200
FY2022-FY2031
Building Energy Code Adoption
50131(b)
330
FY2022-FY2029
Building Energy Code Adoption
50131(c)
670
FY2022-FY2029
Title 17 Loan Guarantees
50141
3,600
FY2022-FY2026
ATVM Loans
50142
3,000
FY2022-FY2028
Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grants
50143
2,000
FY2022-FY2031
Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment
50144
5,000
FY2022-FY2026
Tribal Energy Loan Guarantees
50145
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
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Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations
Program
IRA Section
Office of Science
Approp
Fiscal Years
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
35,068
Source: Inflation Reduction Act (IRA; P.L. 117-169). Appropriations for items in Section 50172 are for the same
fiscal year period.
Note: The FY2025 reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21) rescinds unobligated appropriations for some programs.
Table 11. Additional FY2023 Department of Energy Funding in
Divisions M and N of P.L. 117-328
(budget authority in millions of nominal 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.
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)
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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.”74
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, listed below, and
requested separate appropriations accounts for them.
•
•
•
State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), which provides two types of
formula grants to states: weatherization grants for improving the energy
efficiency of low-income housing units and state energy planning grants.
Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), which provides support for
increasing U.S. manufacturing capacity for critical energy technologies and for
increasing industrial energy efficiency.
Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), which provides guidance and
expertise to federal agencies to meet federal goals on energy use and emissions.
The Trump Administration is not requesting funding for SCEP and FEMP as separate offices in
FY2026; it is, however, requesting $15 million for MESC as a separate office. The House-passed
bill does not include separate accounts for SCEP, FEMP, or MESC. A DOE reorganization on
November 20, 2025, changed the name of EERE to the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy
Innovation.
For more information, see CRS In Focus IF13118, DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy (EERE) Appropriations, FY2026, by Martin C. Offutt and Lexie Ryan.
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.75
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.
74 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.
75 DOE Office of Electricity, “Mission,” https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity.
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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 costshared support by DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
Fossil Energy
The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) has historically supported research related to coal, natural gas,
and petroleum,76 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.
The Biden Administration changed the office’s name to Fossil Energy and Carbon Management,
reflecting a focus on development of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies;
hydrogen technologies; and options to reduce methane emissions from fossil fuel infrastructure.
The Trump Administration’s FY2026 request “restores the name and function of the Office of
Fossil Energy to its original purpose, which is funding for the research of technologies that could
produce an abundance of domestic fossil energy and critical minerals.”77 The House-passed bill
76 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.
77 DOE, FY 2026 Congressional Justification, Vol. 4, Fossil Energy, May 30, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/sites/
default/files/2025-06/doe-fy-2026-vol-4-fe.pdf.
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would change the name of the account to Fossil Energy. A DOE reorganization on November 20,
2025, changed the name of FECM to the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office.
Additionally, FE 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 Materials Innovation, Efficiency, and Alternatives; and the Carbon Dioxide
Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA).
FE’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. FE also conducts research on 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.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
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.78
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
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.79 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.80 In response to oil supply and trade
disruptions linked to military conflict in Iran, DOE announced plans in March 2026 to release 172
million barrels of crude oil from the SPR. This release is part of an International Energy Agency
(IEA) coordinated release plan totaling 400 million barrels. DOE is releasing barrels using
exchange authorities.81
78 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.
79 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.
80 For additional information about SPR releases, see DOE, History of SPR Releases, https://www.energy.gov/fe/
services/petroleum-reserves/strategic-petroleum-reserve/releasing-oil-spr, accessed February 27, 2023.
81 DOE, “Energy Department Begins Delivering SPR Barrels at Record Speeds,” March 20, 2026,
https://www.energy.gov/hgeo/articles/energy-department-begins-delivering-spr-barrels-record-speeds; and
International Energy Agency, “IEA Member Countries to Carry out Largest Ever Oil Stock Release amid Market
(continued...)
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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.82 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 FY2026 budget
justification, the Office of Science “is the nation’s largest Federal supporter of basic research in
the physical sciences.”83 DOE has a system of 17 national laboratories, mostly operated by
contractors, around the country. Ten of these labs are overseen by the Office of Science.84
On November 20, 2025, DOE announced an organizational realignment that made several
changes to the offices overseen by the Undersecretary for Science, which includes the Office of
Science.85 New offices within the responsibilities of the Undersecretary for Science include the
Office of Fusion, the Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum, and the Office of Technology
Commercialization (previously the Office of Technology Transfer under the Energy Secretary);
other offices were eliminated.
DOE’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program focuses on developing and
maintaining computing and networking capabilities for science and research in computational
science, applied mathematics, computer science, networking, and software research, as well as
development and operation of multiple large, high-performance computing and networking user
facilities. The program plays a key role in the DOE-wide effort to advance the development of
artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Under the DOE reorganization discussed above,
CRS is unable to determine whether the new Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum is to
be responsible for future funding and programmatic activities related to AI and quantum currently
undertaken by ASCR.
Disruptions from Middle East Conflict,” March 11, 2026, https://www.iea.org/news/iea-member-countries-to-carryout-largest-ever-oil-stock-release-amid-market-disruptions-from-middle-east-conflict.
82 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.
83 DOE, FY2026 Congressional Justification: Budget in Brief, p. 19, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/202506/doe-fy-2026-bib-v6.pdf.
84 CRS In Focus IF12692, Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, by Todd Kuiken.
85 DOE, “Energy Department Announces Organizational Realignment to Strengthen Efficiency and Unleash American
Energy,” press release, November 20, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announcesorganizational-realignment-strengthen-efficiency-and-unleash.
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Basic Energy Sciences (BES), the largest program area in the Office of Science, focuses on
fundamental research to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the
electronic, atomic, and molecular levels to provide the foundations for novel technologies critical
to the DOE missions in energy, economic, and national security.86 The program supports research
in disciplines such as condensed matter and materials physics, chemistry, geosciences, and
aspects of biosciences that establish the foundation of knowledge required to advance artificial
intelligence, critical materials, microelectronics, and quantum information science. BES also
provides funding for scientific user facilities (e.g., the National Synchrotron Light Source II, and
the Linac Coherent Light Source-II) and certain DOE research centers and hubs (e.g., National
Quantum Information Science Research Centers and Energy Frontier Research Centers, as well as
the Batteries and Energy Storage and Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hubs).
Biological and Environmental Research (BER) includes genomic science, biotechnology, imaging
of biological systems, and related subjects. BER user facilities and centers include four Bioenergy
Research Centers, the Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory at Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory, and (proposed for termination in FY2026 as noted above) the Atmospheric
Radiation Measurement User Facility.87
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 also
provides funding for the ITER project, a multinational effort to design and build an experimental
fusion reactor.88 As part of its organizational realignment, DOE established a new Office of
Fusion under the responsibilities of the Undersecretary for Science. CRS is unable to determine
whether the new Office of Fusion is to be responsible for future funding and programmatic
activities currently undertaken by FES.89 For more information, see CRS Report R48866, Toward
Commercial Fusion Energy: Considerations for Congress, by Todd Kuiken.
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. One major
project is the Sanford Underground Research Facility, which enables researchers to study how the
universe was formed and how organisms survive in extreme conditions.90 The Nuclear Physics
program (NP) 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. As part of its organizational realignment, DOE
established a new Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum under the Undersecretary for
86 DOE, FY 2026 Congressional Justification: Budget in Brief, May 2025, p. 20, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/
files/2025-06/doe-fy-2026-bib-v5.pdf.
87 For more information, see DOE Genomic Science Program, “Bioenergy Research Centers,”
https://www.genomicscience.energy.gov/bioenergy-research-centers.
88 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?,” https://www.iter.org/proj/
inafewlines. Also see CRS Report R48362, ITER—An International Nuclear Fusion Research and Development
Facility, coordinated by Todd Kuiken.
89 DOE, “Energy Department Announces Organizational Realignment to Strengthen Efficiency and Unleash American
Energy,” press release, November 20, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announcesorganizational-realignment-strengthen-efficiency-and-unleash.
90 Sanford Underground Research Facility, “Areas of Research,” https://sanfordlab.org/areas-of-research.
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Science.91 CRS is unable to determine whether the new Office of Artificial Intelligence and
Quantum is to be responsible for future funding and programmatic activities previously held
under other program areas in the Office of Science.
For more details, see CRS Report R48694, Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding:
FY2026, coordinated by Emily G. Blevins.
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 “in areas where industry by itself is not
likely to invest due to technical and financial uncertainty.”92 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.93
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.”94 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. DOE’s
November 2025 reorganization eliminated OCED and divided its responsibilities among other
offices.
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
91 DOE, “Energy Department Announces Organizational Realignment to Strengthen Efficiency and Unleash American
Energy,” press release, November 20, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-de
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