WASHINGTON, DC— Chair of the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) tonight welcomed House passage of the FY2022 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which increases funding $1.9 billion above Fiscal Year 2021. This $38 billion bill makes significant investments to improve water quality and public health in our communities, and to protect, conserve, and restore our nation’s forests.
“In my first fiscal year as Interior Chair, I’m incredibly proud that we were able to make unprecedented investments to fight the climate crisis, return science as the foundation for decision-making, dedicate the highest level of federal funding to the arts and humanities ever, and continue our commitment to tribal nations,” Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Pingree said. “With a new partner in the Biden Administration, we are renewing our commitment to stewarding our lands and waters for the next generation and prioritizing conservation of our resources and institutions. The Interior bill reflects House Democrats’ enduring commitment to environmental justice, renewable energy, health infrastructure on tribal lands, and the arts.”
Click here to watch a video message from Pingree ahead of the vote.
A summary of the bill can be found below and online.
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill summary:
Department of the Interior (DOI): $14.1 billion, $776 million above the 2021 enacted level
- $1.41 billion for the Bureau of Land Management
- No less than $78 million for sage-grouse conservation.
- $31 million for threatened and endangered species
- $137 million for the wild horse and burro program, $21 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $1.65 billion for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- $277 million for Ecological Services, $8 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $519 million for National Wildlife Refuge System, $15 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $23 million for Science Support, $6 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $3.26 billion for National Park Service
- $2.77 billion for Operation of the National Park System, $79 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $84 million for National Recreation and Preservation, $10 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $173 million for the Historic Preservation Fund, $29 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes $74 million for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, $26.5 million for Save America’s Treasures grants, $28 million for competitive grants to preserve the sites and stories of underrepresented community civil rights, and $10 million for grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
- $1.39 billion for the U.S. Geological Survey
- $164 million for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
- $37 million for renewable energy an increase of $8 above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $80 million for environmental assessment an increase of $4 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $268 million for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, $46 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes:
- $118 million for Regulation and Technology, an increase of $25 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $149 million the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund, an increase of $20 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $3.66 billion for Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education, and the Office of the Special Trustee, $150 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes:
- $1.8 billion for operation of Bureau of Indian Affairs Operation of Indian Programs, $204 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- Establishes and provides $1 million for a new Indian Land Consolidation account.
- $147 million for Bureau of Indian Affairs Construction, $18 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $11.8 million for the Indian Guaranteed Loan Program, equal to the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $1 billion for Bureau of Indian Education Operation of Indian Programs, $50 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $264 million to Bureau of Indian Education Construction, equal to the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- Fully funds Contract Support Costs and Payments for Tribal Leases.
- $109.6 million for the Office of the Special Trustee, $1.2 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $122 million for Office of Insular Affairs, $7 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $62 million for Office of Inspector General, $3.6 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $95 million for the Office of the Solicitor, $8 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $5 million for the new Energy Community Revitalization Program that will be supplemented by funding provided in Public Law 117-58.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): $9.56 billion in for EPA – $323 million above the 2021 enacted level.
- $3.566 billion for EPA’s core science and environmental program work, an increase of $224 million above the 2021 enacted level. Within these amounts, the bill includes:
- $587 million for Geographic Programs which help with restoration of nationally significant bodies of water like the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, and Long Island Sound. This is an increase of $45 million above the 2021 enacted level.
- $539 million for environmental compliance monitoring and enforcement activities and grants, a $13 million increase above the 2021 enacted level.
- $4.352 billion for State and Tribal Assistance Grants, a $38 million increase above the 2021 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes:
- $2.77 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, equal to the 2021 enacted level.
- $43 million for Combined Sewer Overflow grants, a $3 million increase above the enacted level.
- $92 million for Brownfields cleanups, a $1 million increase above the 2021 enacted level.
- $92 million for Diesel Emissions Reductions grants, a $2 million increase above the enacted level.
- $1.233 billion for Superfund, a $27 million increase above the 2021 enacted level.
- $100 million for Environmental Justice activities, an $83 million increase above the 2021 enacted level.
Wildland Fire Management (WFM): $5.48 billion—an increase of $211 million for WFM.
Related Agencies –
- $3.7 billion for the Forest Service (non-fire), an increase of $239 million above the 2021 enacted level.
- $6.6 billion for the Indian Health Service for fiscal year 2022, an increase of $395 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $4.7 billion for health services, $359 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $940 million for health facilities construction, $22 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level. This continues $5 million to invest in green infrastructure.
- Fully funds Contract Support Costs and Payments for Tribal Leases.
- $180 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is $12.5 million more than the 2021 enacted levels.
- $1.06 billion for the Smithsonian Institution, $29 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $15 million for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, $1 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level.
- $40.4 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, equal to the 2021 enacted level and equal to the President’s budget request.
- $62.6 million for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, $1 million above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level. The NEVER AGAIN EDUCATION ACT (Public Law 116-141) is fully funded at $2 million to enhance the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s education programming on the Holocaust and genocide prevention.
Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) – The bill provides for the allocation of the full $900 million now permanently available from the Land and Water Conservation Fund as a result of enactment of the Great American Outdoors Act. These allocations include $418 million for the federal program, $330 million for the state grants program, and $152 million for other non-federal grant programs.
Pingree, a well-known leader for Congressional action on fighting climate change, has served on the House Appropriations Committee for the past nine years and was elected Chair of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee in January 2021. As Chair, she oversees discretionary spending for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, and several agencies related to the arts and humanities. More information about her time as Chair can be found here.
In addition to the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies FY 2022 appropriations bill, 11 other FY 2022 appropriations bills passed the House today in an omnibus funding package, which included billions in humanitarian and security aid to Ukraine.
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