Contents

• Introduction and Overview
• Administration Request
• House Appropriations Committee
• Senate Appropriations Committee
• FY2025 Enacted Funding
• FY2024 Enacted Funding
• FY2025 Budgetary Limits
• Funding Issues and Initiatives
• Congressionally Directed Funding
• Recent Supplemental Funding
• Funding Levels and Policies for Water Resources Agencies
• Funding Levels for EERE and New Accounts
• Controversy over Energy Efficiency Standards and Other DOE Actions
• Proposed Funding Transfers for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstrations
• Title XVII Loan Guarantees: Proposed Transfers and Lending Authority Reductions
• Strategic Petroleum Reserve Modernization Program
• Proposed Increase for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations
• Crosscutting Hydrogen Funding
• Proposed Increase for Weapons Activities, Decrease for Nuclear Nonproliferation
• Startup of Surplus Plutonium Disposition
• Cleanup of Former Nuclear Sites: Adequacy of Proposed Funding
• Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Amending or Expanding Uses of Funding
• Proposed Ban on Federal Funding for Private Consolidated Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilities and Proposed DOE Pilot
• Bill Status and Recent Funding History
• Description of Major Energy and Water Programs
• Agency Budget Justifications
• Army Corps of Engineers
• Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah Project
• Department of Energy
• DOE Crosscutting Activities
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Electricity Delivery, Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Energy Reliability
• Nuclear Energy
• Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
• Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)
• Science
• Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E)
• Clean Energy Demonstrations
• Loan Programs Office
• Energy Information Administration
• Nuclear Weapons Activities
• Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
• Cleanup of Former Nuclear Weapons Production and Research Sites
• Power Marketing Administrations
• Independent Agencies
• Appalachian Regional Commission
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Congressional Hearings
• House
• Senate

Summary

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.

Overall Funding Totals

President Biden submitted his FY2025 budget request on March 11, 2024. The Biden Administration request included $61.333 billion for energy and water development agencies, a decrease of $42 million (less than 1%) below the FY2024 enacted amount, excluding emergency appropriations, offsets, and adjustments. The House Appropriations Committee approved its FY2025 E&W bill July 9, 2024, recommending higher funding for water development and reductions for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs (H.R. 8997; H.Rept. 118-580). The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the bill August 1, 2024 (S. 4927; S.Rept. 118-205). The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4) was signed by President Trump on March 15, 2025, providing annual appropriations for FY2025 at the FY2024 level for nearly all programs. FY2024 energy and water development appropriations were included in Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, signed into law March 9, 2024 (P.L. 118-42).

Major Issues

Congressionally Directed Funding (Earmarks). For FY2025, the House Appropriations Committee included 97 earmarks totaling $899 million within the major USACE and Reclamation accounts, while the Senate Appropriations Committee included 170 earmark requests totaling $1.133 billion for major USACE, Reclamation, and DOE energy-related accounts. Earmarks were not included in the enacted continuing appropriations act for FY2025, resulting in decreases for some agencies, such as DOE and Reclamation.

Operating Plans. Departments are required to submit FY2025 detailed operating plans to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, whereas USACE is to send a work plan. Congress may be interested in how appropriations for these agencies are allocated across budget lines and activities within the agencies.

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Introduction and Overview

Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations (E&W) bills typically include funding for civil works activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in the Department of Defense, in Title I; the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Central Utah Project (CUP), in Title II; the Department of Energy (DOE), in Title III; and a number of independent agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), in Title IV. Figure 1 compares the major components of the E&W appropriations acts from FY2024 through FY2025.

The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, was signed by President Trump on March 14, 2025 (P.L. 119-4), providing annual appropriations for FY2025 at the FY2024 level for most E&W programs. The largest exceptions were an $185 million increase for Weapons Activities and a $185 million decrease for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. With other exceptions resulting in a net decrease of $98 million from FY2024, E&W appropriations for FY2025 under P.L. 119-4 total $61.255 billion.¹ FY2024 E&W appropriations were included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, signed into law March 9, 2024 (P.L. 118-42).

Figure 1. Major Components of Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bills, FY2024 Through FY2025 (excluding supplementals)

Sources: P.L. 119-4; S.Rept. 118-205; H.Rept. 118-580; FY2025 Administration budget request, explanatory statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024; S.Rept. 118-72; H.Rept. 118-126; H.R. 4394; FY2024 agency budget justifications. Notes: Enacted amounts do not include supplemental appropriations or adjustments and rescissions. CUP = Central Utah Project Completion Account.

In addition to regular annual appropriations, advance funding for E&W agencies in FY2025 has been appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58). The budget reconciliation measure commonly referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA; P.L. 117-169) included funding for some E&W agencies to remain available through as long as FY2031. For details, see the section "Recent Supplemental Funding."

Administration Request

President Biden submitted his FY2025 budget request on March 11, 2024. The Biden Administration request included $61.333 billion for energy and water development agencies, a decrease of $42 million (less than 1%) below the FY2024 enacted amount, excluding emergency appropriations, offsets, and adjustments. DOE funding would have risen by $1.731 billion (3%), to $51.978 billion, and independent agencies by $17 million (3%), to $519 million. USACE funding would have been reduced by $1.483 billion (-17%), to $7.220 billion, and Reclamation and CUP funding would have declined by $307 million (-16%), to $1.616 billion, excluding adjustments and offsets.²

DOE's major program areas include energy, science, defense, and environmental management. The Biden Administration again proposed to shift some funding in the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) appropriations account into several new accounts: the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), and the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), which provides low-income weatherization and state planning grants. The total FY2025 request for EERE and the proposed new accounts was $3.869 billion, an increase of $409 million (12%) over the combined EERE enacted amount for FY2024. DOE established separate offices for FEMP, MESC, and SCEP, and Congress has not approved requests to create separate appropriations accounts for them.

Other energy programs with large proposed percentage increases were the Office of Technology Transitions, which facilitates the commercialization of new energy technologies, proposed to increase by 35% in FY2025 to $27 million, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, which would have risen by 260% to $180 million. The Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs would have increased by 36% to $95 million, and the Grid Deployment Office by 70% to $102 million.

Funding for DOE's Office of Science was proposed to increase by $343 million (4%), to $8.583 billion, under the Biden Administration budget request, with the largest amounts going for Basic Energy Sciences ($2.582 billion) and High Energy Physics ($1.231 billion). Funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous DOE agency responsible for nuclear warheads, nuclear weapons nonproliferation, and naval reactor research and development (R&D), was proposed to increase by $862 million (4%), to $24.997 billion. Environmental Management (waste management and cleanup) would have decreased by $154 million (-2%), to $8.613 billion.

Among the independent agencies funded by the E&W bill, NRC would have received an increase in total appropriations from $944 million in FY2024 to $975 million in FY2025 (up $31 million, or 3%). NRC's budget is mostly offset by nuclear industry fees, which may vary from year to year; the Biden Administration proposed an increase in the agency's net appropriation from $137 million in FY2024 to $151 million in FY2025 (up $14 million, or 10%). The funding request for the Appalachian Regional Commission and other regional authorities in the bill was largely unchanged from the FY2024 enacted levels.

House Appropriations Committee

The House Appropriations Committee approved its FY2025 E&W bill July 9, 2024 (H.R. 8997; H.Rept. 118-580). The House committee bill recommended $62.364 billion for FY2025, an increase of $989 million (2%) over the FY2024 enacted level, excluding adjustments.³ DOE would have received $49.935 billion under the committee bill, a reduction of $312 million (-1%) from the FY2024 enacted level. The committee bill would have provided an increase for USACE of $1.254 billion (14%) over the FY2024 level, and an increase of $28 million (1%) for Reclamation and CUP.

Within DOE, energy efficiency and renewable energy programs (including MESC, SCEP, and FEMP) would have received $1.960 billion in the House committee bill, a reduction of $1.500 billion (-43%) from the FY2024 level, including an offset of $804 million using prior-year balances. The Nuclear Energy account would have received $1.793 billion, an increase of $108 million (6%) over FY2024. In addition, the bill would have transferred $8.890 billion in IIJA and IRA advance appropriations—which are currently specified to be used for credits for existing nuclear power plants and energy loan guarantees—to support four nuclear reactor demonstration projects. Appropriations for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would have risen by $82 million (38%) to $295 million. The Office of Science would have received $8.390 billion, an increase of $150 million (2%). Appropriations for DOE energy programs would have totaled $16.073 billion, a decrease of $1.370 billion (-8%) from the FY2024 enacted level.

Total appropriations for NNSA would have been $25.467 billion under the House committee bill, an increase of $1.332 billion (6%) over the FY2024 enacted level. That includes a reduction of $136 million (-5%) for nuclear weapons nonproliferation. The Defense Environmental Cleanup account would have declined by $153 million (-2%), to $7.132 billion.

Funding for independent agencies in the House committee bill totals $520 million, an increase of $18 million (4%) over the FY2024 enacted amount. Total funding for NRC was the same as the requested amount, $31 million (3%) over the FY2024 enacted level for a total of $975 million, with a net appropriation of $151 million. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board would have increased by $3 million (7%) to $45 million, and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board would have received a 1% increase to $4 million. Other independent agencies funded by the E&W bill were set at the same amounts as in FY2024.

Amendments to the bill were considered on the House floor on July 23, 2024, after which further proceedings were not resumed.

Senate Appropriations Committee

The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the FY2025 E&W bill August 1, 2024 (S. 4927; S.Rept. 118-205). The Senate committee bill recommended a total of $65.285 billion, an increase of $3.910 billion (6%) over the FY2024 enacted level, excluding adjustments. DOE would have received $52.371 billion under the committee bill, an increase of $2.124 billion (4%) from the FY2024 enacted level. The committee bill would have provided an increase for USACE of $1.642 billion (19%) over the FY2024 level, an increase of $120 million (6%) for Reclamation and CUP, and an increase of $24 million (5%) for related agencies over the FY2024 level.

DOE energy efficiency and renewable energy programs (including MESC, SCEP, and FEMP) would have received $3.460 billion in the Senate committee bill, the same as the FY2024 enacted level, although MESC would have been funded in a separate account with $20 million. The Nuclear Energy account would have received $1.675 billion, a decrease of $10 million (-1%) below FY2024. The Office of Science would have received $8.600 billion, an increase of $360 million (4%). Appropriations for all DOE energy programs in the bill totaled $17.740 billion, an increase of $297 million (2%) over the FY2024 enacted level.

Total appropriations for NNSA would have been $25.201 billion under the Senate committee bill, an increase of $1.066 billion (4%) over the FY2024 enacted level. That includes an increase of $131 million (7%) for Naval Reactors. The Defense Environmental Cleanup account would have increased by $265 million (4%), to $7.550 billion.

Funding for independent agencies in the Senate committee bill totaled $526 million, an increase of $24 million (5%) over the FY2024 enacted amount. Total funding for NRC would have risen by $14 million (2%) over the enacted FY2024 level to $958 million, with a net appropriation of $138 million. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board would have increased by $5 million (12%) to $47 million. The Southwest Border Regional Commission was to increase by $9 million (180%), the Northern Border Regional Commission by $5 million (12%), and the Denali Commission by $2 million (9%) over their FY2024 levels.

FY2025 Enacted Funding

The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, was signed by President Trump on March 14, 2025, providing annual appropriations for FY2025 at the FY2024 level for nearly all E&W programs. The Act states that FY2025 appropriations are subject to "the authority and conditions provided in applicable appropriations Acts for fiscal year 2024," unless otherwise specified.

For DOE, the largest exceptions are an $185 million increase for Weapons Activities, to $19.293 billion, and a $185 million decrease for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, to $2.396 billion. The DOE Energy Projects Account, which funded $84 million in Congressionally Directed Spending ("earmarks") in FY2024, was zeroed out for FY2025. The total for Other Defense Activities was increased by $27 million, to $1.107 billion. Those changes reduce total DOE appropriations by a net of $57 million from FY2024, to $50.190 billion.

P.L. 119-4 specifies that USACE is to develop a new work plan to allocate the agency's FY2025 appropriations of $8.703 billion to specific projects rather than follow the explanatory statement for FY2024.⁴ USACE has since published its work plan for FY2025 appropriations.⁵ FY2025 appropriations for Reclamation are reduced by $41 million from the FY2024 level, which reflects FY2024 Reclamation earmark funding. The reductions for Reclamation and DOE result in a total E&W appropriations reduction of $98 million for FY2025, to $61.255 billion (a reduction of less than 1% from FY2024, including rescissions). The act directs DOE and the Department of the Interior to submit FY2025 detailed operating plans to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

FY2024 Enacted Funding

President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-42), including FY2024 energy and water development appropriations as Division D, on March 9, 2024. Excluding adjustments, the enacted measure totaled $61.375 billion for energy and water development agencies, an increase of $2.171 billion (4%) above the enacted FY2023 amount and $638 billion (-1%) below the request.

DOE received $50.247 billion, an increase of $1.801 billion (4%) over FY2023 and $2.324 billion (-4%) below the request. EERE, including programs that the Biden Administration proposed to fund under separate accounts, received $3.460 billion, the same as the FY2023 amount and a decrease of $1.332 billion (-28%) from the equivalent request. Science received $8.240 billion, an increase of $140 million (2%) over the FY2023 enacted level and $560 million (-6%) below the request. NNSA received $24.135 billion, an increase of $1.972 billion (9%) over FY2023 and $290 million (1%) above the request.

USACE received $8.703 billion,⁶ excluding rescissions and adjustments, which is $393 million (5%) more than in FY2023 and $1.290 billion (17%) higher than the request. Reclamation and CUP received $1.923 billion, a reduction of $31 million (-2%) from FY2023 and $454 million (31%) above the request.

NRC received $944 million, an increase of $17 million (2%) over the FY2023 level and a decrease of $35 million (-4%) from the request, although the net appropriation was almost the same as in FY2023. ARC received $200 million, the same as in FY2023 and $35 million (-15%) below the request. The Great Lakes Authority received first-time funding of $5 million, the requested amount, while the other regional authorities and commissions received all or slightly more than the amounts requested. The Northern Border Regional Commission and Delta Regional Authority each received $1 million more than their FY2024 requested amounts ($41 million and $31.1 million, respectively).

For more FY2024 Energy and Water Development appropriations details, see

• CRS Report R47553, Energy and Water Development: FY2024 Appropriations, by Mark Holt and Anna E. Normand.
• CRS In Focus IF12370, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: FY2024 Appropriations, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.
• CRS In Focus IF12369, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2024 Budget and Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern.

FY2025 Budgetary Limits

Congressional consideration of the annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill was affected by certain procedural and statutory budget enforcement requirements. These consisted primarily of procedural limits on discretionary spending (spending provided in annual appropriations acts) established in a budget resolution or through some other means, and allocations of this amount that applied to spending under the jurisdiction of each appropriations subcommittee.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA, P.L. 118-5), enacted in June 2023, established enforceable discretionary spending limits (caps) for FY2024 and FY2025. For FY2025, the limits were $895.212 billion for defense and $710.688 billion for nondefense. Spending designated as an emergency requirement was exempt up to any amount, while funding for certain purposes—such as program integrity initiatives, disaster funding, and reemployment services—was exempt up to specified amounts.

The House Appropriations Committee approved interim FY2025 allocations on May 23, 2024, for each of the 12 appropriations subcommittees under Section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344).⁷ For the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, the interim allocations provided $34.193 billion for defense functions and $24.997 billion for nondefense functions, totaling $59.190 billion. The interim allocation was $1.584 billion below the Biden Administration's total request for agencies in the Energy and Water Development bill, including offsets.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved subcommittee 302(b) allocations on July 31, 2024, based on the FRA caps (S.Rept. 118-203). The E&W allocation was $34.971 billion for defense and $26.496 billion for nondefense, for a total of $61.467 billion. In addition, the Committee leadership announced that subcommittees would have additional amounts above the FRA caps allowed by the act, plus emergency funding of $13.5 billion for nondefense programs and $21 billion for defense programs.⁸

For more information on funding ceilings, see CRS Report R46468, A Brief Overview of the Congressional Budget Process, by James V. Saturno, and CRS Insight IN12168, Discretionary Spending Caps in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, by Grant A. Driessen and Megan S. Lynch.

Funding Issues and Initiatives

Several issues drew particular attention during congressional consideration of Energy and Water Development appropriations for FY2025. The issues described in this section—listed approximately in the order the affected agencies or provisions appear in the Energy and Water Development bill—were selected based on total funding involved, percentage of proposed increases or decreases, amount of congressional debate engendered, and potential impact on broader public policy considerations.

Congressionally Directed Funding

The 118^th Congress, largely continuing the policies of the 117^th Congress, allowed earmarks for site-specific projects and other activities in the appropriations process. These are referred to as "community project funding" (CPF) in the House and "congressionally directed spending" (CDS) in the Senate. From the 112^th through the 116^th Congresses, moratorium policies largely prohibited earmarks for such projects. Funding for specific water projects constitutes the majority of the annual budget request for USACE and Reclamation.⁹ Figure 2 shows enacted CPF/CDS amounts per agency for FY2022 through FY2024. The patterned area of the stacked columns distinguishes the sum of the top three CPF/CDS items (all under USACE appropriations).

Figure 2. E&W CPF/CDS Total Enacted Funding from FY2022 Through FY2024 (in millions of nominal dollars)

Sources: Community Project Funding (CPF)/Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) tables in explanatory statements accompanying enacted annual appropriations for FY2022 through FY2024. Note: The patterned area of the stacked columns distinguishes the sum of the top three CPF/CDS items (all under USACE appropriations).

For FY2025, the House and Senate Appropriations committees invited Members of Congress to request CPF/CDS items, respectively.¹⁰ The House committee report recommended funding 95 CPF items totaling $890 million for USACE activities and 2 CPF items totaling $9 million for Reclamation activities. The largest of these CPF provisions were for USACE construction of the Kentucky Lock and Dam in Kentucky ($218 million); the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Texas ($113 million); and the Morganza to the Gulf system in Louisiana ($93 million). The Senate committee report recommended funding 131 CDS items totaling $1.034 billion for USACE activities, 9 CDS items totaling $63 million for Reclamation activities, and 30 CDS items totaling $36 million in DOE energy-related accounts. The largest of these CDS items were for USACE construction of the Kentucky Lock and Dam in Kentucky ($218 million); the Upper Ohio River Navigation Project in Pennsylvania ($205 million); and the replacement lock for Sault Ste. Marie, MI (an additional $186 million).

Section 1111 of P.L. 119-4 establishes that the act does not provide funding for the purposes of the FY2024 earmarks, unless specified otherwise. Some Reclamation and DOE accounts receive decreased amounts compared with FY2024 that reflect the earmark funding for those accounts in FY2024. For example, Section 1501 reduces amounts provided to Reclamation's Water and Related Resources account by $41 million. The section also reduces funding for DOE Energy Projects (CPF/CDS earmarks) to zero, from $84 million appropriated in FY2024. Neither Section 1111 nor Section 1501 affects the availability of funds in FY2024 appropriations acts for such earmarks.

In addition to regular appropriations of $8.703 billion, the FY2024 E&W act directed that USACE use $1.435 billion of unobligated and unallocated IIJA Construction monies to fund construction projects listed in the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 118-42. Those IIJA funds were mostly used to fund FY2024 Construction earmarks, including the four earmarks that were funded at $100 million or more. P.L. 119-4 excluded the FY2024 provision regarding the use of IIJA Construction funds. Therefore, FY2025 USACE's Construction activities receive 44% less funding than the total amount (regular appropriations plus redirected IIJA appropriations) directed by Congress to fund FY2024 construction activities listed in the explanatory statement.

Recent Supplemental Funding

Congress provided supplemental appropriations for USACE and Reclamation from FY2018 through FY2023 for disaster response and mitigation (e.g., drought, flood); study, construction, maintenance, and repair of projects; new authorities that expand the agencies' activities; and COVID-19 precautions, among other purposes.¹¹ Congress also has provided supplemental appropriations to DOE for clean energy demonstration projects, science facilities and infrastructure, hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure, nuclear weapons nonproliferation, and renewable energy R&D, among other purposes. In addition, in some years, other agencies funded under Energy and Water Appropriations Acts received supplemental funding.

Table 1 details in nominal dollars supplemental appropriations based on the fiscal year when funds are first available (in some cases, FY2024-FY2026). All of these funds are available until expended, except for funds from the IRA, which are available through various years from FY2026 to FY2031, and Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation and Salaries and Expenses in P.L. 118-50, which are available through FY2025.¹²

The relatively large amount of supplemental funding already available to Energy and Water Development agencies for FY2025 was a consideration in the Biden Administration request and congressional debate on FY2025 appropriations. For example, DOE cited IIJA funding for two advanced reactor demonstration projects as the reason that no funding for those projects was included in the FY2025 request.

Nonetheless, Congress enacted emergency supplemental appropriations for FY2025 in Division B of the American Relief Act, 2025 (P.L. 118-158). The act provided funding to DOE accounts—Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Weapons Activities, Defense Environmental Cleanup—for necessary expenses related to damages caused by natural disasters, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton. USACE and Reclamation received funding for studies and projects. Regarding previous supplemental appropriations, the Trump Administration on January 27, 2025, ordered federal agencies to "temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance," including funds for "the green new deal." The Trump Administration said the temporary pause would provide it time to review agency programs and "determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President's priorities."¹³ The pause and review could affect DOE, water resource agency, and Appalachian Regional Commission appropriations in IIJA and IRA. As of late April 2025, multiple challenges to the Trump Administration's actions have been filed in federal courts.¹⁴ Congress may also consider whether or not to rescind unobligated energy and water appropriations through future budget reconciliation and appropriations processes.

For more details on selected supplemental funding, see

• CRS In Focus IF11945, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Supplemental Appropriations, by Nicole T. Carter and Anna E. Normand.
• CRS Insight IN11723, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funding for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.
• CRS Report R47032, Bureau of Reclamation Provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand.
• CRS In Focus IF12437, Bureau of Reclamation Funding in the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand.
• CRS Report R47034, Energy and Minerals Provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58), coordinated by Brent D. Yacobucci.
• CRS Report R47262, Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA): Provisions Related to Climate Change, coordinated by Jonathan L. Ramseur.

Funding Levels and Policies for Water Resources Agencies

The Biden Administration's FY2025 budget requests for USACE and Reclamation were lower than the enacted FY2024 regular appropriations ($1.483 billion, or 17%, lower for USACE and $307 million, or 16%, lower for Reclamation). The Biden Administration specified $1.065 billion of the request as emergency spending. For USACE civil works, the House committee bill would have provided $9.957 billion, which was $1.254 billion (14%) above the FY2024 enacted amount and $2.737 billion (38%) above the request. The House committee bill included a number of policy provisions related to USACE.¹⁵ The Senate committee bill would have provided $10.345 billion, an increase of $1.642 billion (19%) over the FY2024 level and $3.125 billion (43%) over the request. The Senate committee bill would have created a new USACE account—Planning, Engineering, and Design—with $200 million for "plans and specifications prior to construction and related activities for water resources development projects."¹⁶ For Reclamation, the House committee bill would have provided $1.928 billion (+21%) and the Senate committee bill $2.020 billion (+26%).

P.L. 119-4 provides the same appropriations levels for USACE accounts as P.L. 118-42 did for FY2024. The O&M account, which funds maintenance of existing USACE infrastructure, makes up 64% of USACE's FY2025 annual appropriations. In addition, most provisions, such as how much funding is to be derived from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund ($2.77 billion), are retained. Under P.L. 119-4, the Construction account receives the same level of appropriations as in FY2024: $1.85 billion. However, P.L. 119-4 excludes a P.L. 118-42 provision regarding the use of $1.43 billion in prior-year unobligated and unallocated IIJA Construction funds. Therefore, P.L. 119-4 provides new funding for USACE's Construction activities in FY2025 in an amount that is 44% less than the amount directed by Congress to fund FY2024 construction activities listed in the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 118-42.

Section 1503 of P.L. 119-4 removes the requirement for the Secretary of the Army to allocate appropriated funds in accordance with the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 118-42. Instead, the section directs USACE's Chief of Engineers to develop a work plan to allocate P.L. 119-4 funding. The act specifies that USACE is to allocate FY2025 funding under the Investigations, Construction, and Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) accounts in the work plan only to active studies and projects. That is, Congress did not allow for any new starts using FY2025 annual appropriations under P.L. 119-4.¹⁷ The act directs USACE to deliver the work plan to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees within 60 days of the law's enactment. The act also directs that once the work plan has been submitted, there are to be no deviations from the work plan aside from reprogramming authority as provided to USACE in P.L. 118-42. USACE has published its work plan for FY2025 appropriations.¹⁸

As mentioned, P.L. 119-4 generally provides that appropriations for FY2025 accounts are at the same rates and under the same terms and conditions as enacted in P.L. 118-42, unless otherwise specified. Section 1501 of P.L. 119-4 reduces amounts provided to Reclamation's Water and Related Resources account by $41 million, which received a total of $1.752 billion in FY2024. This reduction represents the FY2024 amount provided to this account for CPF/CDS. Section 1113 generally directs the Department of the Interior to submit spending, expenditure, or operating plans to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, at the program, project, or activity level or any greater level of detail required for FY2024. Such FY2025 plans, often referred to as operating plans, are due not later than 45 days after enactment of P.L. 119-4.

P.L. 119-4 also included some provisions of note for Reclamation. Section 1506 increases the authorization of appropriations and extends the expiration of the authorization for a Reclamation rural water project, the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Project, that was originally authorized in 2009 under P.L. 111-11.¹⁹ Section 1507 releases prior year (FY2024) Reclamation funding that was proposed for a surface water storage project (Sites Reservoir) in California, in accordance with a May 2024 recommendation under the Biden Administration. Similarly, Section 1507 releases FY2023 and FY2024 Reclamation funding recommended in that same transmission for multiple water reuse and recycling projects. The recommendations and congressional release of prior year funding occur pursuant to processes originally authorized in Sections 4007 and 4009 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (P.L. 114-322), and are consistent with other recent congressional approvals under these authorities.²⁰

For more information, see

• CRS In Focus IF12648, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: FY2025 Appropriations, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.
• CRS In Focus IF12661, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2025 Budget and Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern.

Funding Levels for EERE and New Accounts

The Biden Administration's FY2025 request would have increased DOE EERE funding by $409 million (12%) over the FY2024 enacted amount. This included separate appropriations accounts that the request would have established for several large offices currently under the EERE appropriations account—Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, Office of State and Community Programs, and Office of Federal Energy Management Programs. Congress did not approve moving these appropriations accounts out of EERE as proposed by the Biden Administration in FY2023 and FY2024.

EERE programs with the largest requested percentage increases were Renewable Energy Grid Integration (up $43 million, or 195%), Wind Energy Technologies (up $62 million, or 45%), Geothermal Technologies (up $38 million, or 32%), Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization (up $50 million, or 21%),²¹ and Vehicle Technologies (up $52 million, or 12%).

These proposed increases did not include the efficiency programs that the Biden Administration proposed moving to separate DOE appropriations accounts. FEMP would have received $64 million in FY2025 under the request (up $21 million, or 49%), the Office of State and Community Energy Programs, which handles state energy planning grants and low-income home weatherization assistance, would have received $574 million (up $103 million, or 22%), and the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains would have received $113 million (up $95 million or 528%).

In contrast to the Biden Administration request, the House Appropriations Committee recommended reductions for EERE (including MESC, SCEP, and FEMP). Those programs would have received $1.960 billion in the House committee bill, a reduction of $1.500 billion (-43%) from the FY2024 level, including an offset of $804 million using prior-year balances. In the Senate committee bill, EERE programs (including MESC, SCEP, and FEMP) would have received $3.460 billion, the same as the FY2024 enacted level, although MESC would have been funded in a separate account with $20 million.

IIJA appropriated $16.264 billion in FY2022 through FY2026 in additional emergency spending for programs in the EERE account, of which $1.945 billion was for FY2025.²² EERE programs received $12.150 billion in additional funding in IRA, available from FY2022 through FY2026, FY2027, FY2029, or FY2031, depending upon the provision.

For more details, see CRS In Focus IF12710, DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Appropriations, FY2025, by Martin C. Offutt and Corrie E. Clark.

Controversy over Energy Efficiency Standards and Other DOE Actions

DOE revises most of the energy efficiency standards in its Appliance and Commercial Equipment Standards Program on a six-year cycle. Compliance with the revised standards, typically three years after publication, can lead to additional costs to industry as manufacturing costs increase, including up-front capital costs. The revisions generally are estimated to reduce energy costs for users of the appliances and equipment covered by the standards. One section of H.R. 8997 as reported by the House Appropriations Committee would have prohibited funding for DOE to revise and/or implement and enforce three of these standards and a fourth standard for manufactured housing, shown in Table 2.

Two sections of the bill would have prohibited funding for DOE to revise and/or implement and enforce standards related to energy consumption in federal buildings and DOE's ability to waive certain requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; P.L. 90-190) with respect to energy storage systems. (See Table 2.)

Further information on two of the energy conservation standards that would have been affected can be found in CRS Insight IN12115, DOE's Regulations on Gas Stoves, by Martin C. Offutt, and CRS Insight IN12179, DOE's Proposed Regulation on Electricity Distribution Transformers, by Martin C. Offutt.

Proposed Funding Transfers for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstrations

Section 317 of the House committee bill would have transferred up to $8.980 billion in funds provided by IIJA and IRA to the DOE Nuclear Energy account for four advanced reactor demonstration projects. From IIJA-appropriated funds, the transfers would have consisted of $980 million from the DOE Civil Nuclear Credit Program and $1.5 billion²³ from the Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program Account (CIFIA). From IRA-appropriated funds, the transfers would have consisted of $1.5 billion from the DOE 1703 loan guarantee program for innovative low-carbon technologies and $5 billion from the DOE 1706 program for energy repowering projects.

The proposed transfer in FY2025 would have followed a $950 million transfer from IIJA-appropriated funds in the FY2024 E&W appropriations act (Section 311) for DOE to support up to two small modular reactor demonstrations, through the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and nuclear reactor safety training. The proposed $8.980 billion transfer in the FY2025 House committee bill was designated for the two FY2024 reactor demonstrations plus two demonstrations previously receiving support under the DOE Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The funds proposed to be transferred from the DOE Civil Nuclear Credit program were intended to prevent the closure of existing nuclear power plants. IIJA appropriated $6 billion for the program, and DOE has awarded $1.1 billion of Civil Nuclear Credits for one plant, Diablo Canyon in California.²⁴

The proposed transfer from CIFIA would have reduced the program's total funding of $2.1 billion by about 70%, sharply reducing available financial support for eligible CO₂ pipeline projects. DOE's initial funding opportunity was accepting applications through July 30, 2024, and the agency has not yet made any awards. Several currently proposed CO₂ pipeline projects, located primarily in the Midwest, face state permitting challenges, including delays, so it is uncertain whether their developers have already applied, or might apply in the future, for financial support under the CIFIA program.

Title XVII Loan Guarantees: Proposed Transfers and Lending Authority Reductions

Section 1502(1) of P.L. 119-4 changes appropriations and offsets for the DOE Title XVII Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program by reducing appropriations for administrative costs and offsetting collections that can be applied to administrative costs from $70 million to $55 million. The act also estimates certain fee collections at $170 million during FY2025.

Section 317 of the House committee bill would have transferred certain IRA appropriations to DOE's Nuclear Energy account—as discussed above—and reduced IRA lending authority limits for two Title XVII loan guarantee programs: (1) the 1703 program, which provides debt financing for eligible clean energy projects, and (2) the 1706 program, which provides debt financing for eligible energy infrastructure and reinvestment projects.²⁵ Title XVII IRA appropriations and lending authorities are available until September 30, 2026. For the 1703 program, the bill would have transferred $1.5 billion²⁶ from the unobligated balance of the IRA appropriations ($3.6 billion was originally enacted and most remains unobligated) and reduced IRA lending authority by $150 billion (from $40 billion to $25 billion). For the 1706 program, the bill would have transferred $5 billion from the unobligated balance of the IRA appropriations ($5 billion as originally enacted) and reduced lending authority by $245 billion (from $250 billion to $5 billion). The Senate committee bill did not include similar provisions.

DOE 1703 loan guarantee commitments funded by IRA total approximately $17.7 billion for 15 projects, and 1706 loan guarantee commitments funded by IRA total approximately $48.8 billion for 17 projects. DOE has not announced further loan guarantee commitments since January 17, 2025. As written, Section 317 may not have affected existing loan guarantee commitments. Rather, future Title XVII lending activity likely would have been reduced from currently authorized levels. Loan guarantee commitments reduce each program's remaining available lending authority. Appropriations for the cost of loan guarantees are obligated at the point of conditional commitment.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Modernization Program

DOE is currently executing a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) modernization program that invests in infrastructure and systems with the goal of extending SPR mission readiness (i.e., oil drawdown and refill rates) for another 15 to 25 years. According to DOE's FY2025 budget justification, the project is scheduled to be completed by the end of FY2026. Estimated program costs of approximately $1.4 billion were funded through congressionally authorized SPR crude oil sales conducted between FY2017 and FY2021. Sale proceeds were deposited into the Energy Security and Infrastructure Modernization (ESIM) Fund, an account used to pay for modernization program costs.

Citing "pandemic and related supply chain issues, and delays related to" emergency sales that started in FY2022, DOE's FY2025 budget justification estimated program costs at $1.920 billion.²⁷ The Biden Administration requested supplemental funding of $500 million for ESIM in FY2023, but that request was not approved. DOE's FY2025 budget justification highlighted additional program costs, listed suspended and deferred projects, and indicated anticipation of nearly $500 million of additional supplemental funding for FY2024. However, the SPR supplemental funding subsequently was not requested. Other congressional options for addressing the estimated SPR modernization funding shortfall could include directing DOE to sell $500 million of crude oil and deposit sale proceeds into the ESIM fund, rescinding unobligated funds from the SPR Petroleum Account and transferring those funds to the ESIM account, directing DOE to re-scope the program to match available funding. The Senate committee report directed DOE to "immediately" provide the committee with a modernization program status report.

During his January 2025 inaugural address, President Trump indicated his administration intends to fill the SPR to its capacity.²⁸ Subsequently, a February 2025 DOE Secretarial Order includes "Refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve" as a department-level priority.²⁹ However, crude oil purchases, other expenses, and congressional rescissions depleted the approximately $17 billion received from emergency crude oil sales in response to oil market conditions related to Russia invading Ukraine in 2022. Filling the SPR to its approximately 714 million barrel (Mbbl) physical capacity could require congressional action in the form of appropriations and adjusting congressionally mandated sales.³⁰

Proposed Increase for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations

The Biden Administration requested $180 million in FY2025 for the DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). This would have been a $130 million (260%) increase from OCED's FY2024 regular annual appropriation, but the program's regular appropriations are overshadowed by $21.456 billion appropriated for OCED through FY2026 by IIJA (see Table 3). In addition, IRA appropriated $5.812 billion for an OCED program on Advanced Industrial Facilities Deployment for FY2022-FY2026. As of January 2025, OCED reported that it had awarded support totaling up to $26.8 billion for clean energy demonstration projects.³¹

The House Appropriations Committee voted to reduce regular OCED funding to $28 million in FY2025 (not including the IIJA and IRA advance appropriations). According to the committee report, "The recommendation only includes funding for Program Direction and provides no funding for new demonstrations, including the budget request proposal on extreme heat. The Committee notes that more than $21 billion has been provided to the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations in previous fiscal years for demonstration activities." The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $125 million for OCED, with the Committee report calling for DOE to establish a hydrogen transportation demonstration program and "prioritize next-generation geothermal power production technologies."

OCED funds clean energy and industrial decarbonization demonstration projects for potential commercialization. OCED took over DOE support for two advanced nuclear reactor demonstration projects in Wyoming and Texas previously overseen by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), but no funding was requested for those projects in FY2025, because "IIJA provided multi-year funding for these demonstrations," according to the DOE budget justification.³² As noted above, the enacted FY2024 E&W measure transferred $800 million from the DOE Civil Nuclear Credit program to OCED for up to two cost-shared advanced reactor projects with a nonfederal cost share of at least 50%. (For more details, see CRS In Focus IF12636, Nuclear Energy in a Climate Change Context: Current Appropriations for Nuclear Energy Development, by Jonathan D. Haskett and Mark Holt.)

Crosscutting Hydrogen Funding

The DOE crosscutting hydrogen activity includes several offices with responsibility for supporting hydrogen work based on different primary sources of energy (e.g., renewable, fossil, nuclear) and types of end-use (e.g., vehicles, portable power, thermal comfort). DOE's FY2025 request for crosscutting hydrogen appropriations totaled $377 million, a decrease of $19 million (-5%) below the FY2024 enacted level of $396 million.³³ Most of the hydrogen funding comes from EERE and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), with smaller amounts from the Office of Nuclear Energy and the Office of Science.

The Senate Appropriations Committee report recommended at least $378 million for the DOE hydrogen crosscut in FY2025, slightly above the Administration request. The Senate committee recommendation includes $65 million for heavy-duty transportation—such as trains, maritime shipping, and aviation—and for industrial applications. Crosscut amounts were not specified by the House Appropriations Committee report.

In addition to funding in the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, IIJA appropriated $9.500 billion for three hydrogen- and fuel cell-related DOE programs from FY2022 to FY2026 ($1.900 billion in FY2025). The largest of these, the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs in the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, was appropriated $8.000 billion to support demonstration projects involving networks of clean hydrogen producers and consumers, along with the connecting infrastructure.

DOE launched a "Hydrogen Shot" initiative in June 2021—one of its "Energy Earthshots" dedicated to the scale-up of emerging low-carbon energy technologies—with a goal of making hydrogen, produced through electrolysis, commercially available at a cost of $1 for one kilogram in one decade, not including delivery and dispensing.

For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12163, Department of Energy Funding for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Programs FY2022, by Martin C. Offutt, and CRS In Focus IF12514, DOE Appropriations for Its Hydrogen Program: FY2024, by Martin C. Offutt.

Proposed Increase for Weapons Activities, Decrease for Nuclear Nonproliferation

The FY2025 budget request for NNSA Weapons Activities was $19.849 billion—$741 million (4%) higher than the FY2024 enacted level, while the FY2025 request of $2.119 billion for Naval Reactors was $173 million (9%) above the FY2024 amount. The FY2025 request for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation was $2.465 billion, a decrease of $116 million (-4%) from the FY2024 appropriation.

P.L. 119-4 funds the Weapons Activities account at $19.293 billion, which is $556 million less than the FY2025 request (-3%) but $185 million (1%) more than the FY2024 enacted level. The Nonproliferation account receives $2.396 billion, which is $69 million (-3%) less than the FY2025 request and $185 million (-7%) below the FY2024 level. Naval reactors funding is continued at the FY2024 amount. Allocation of the increases and decreases from the FY2024 level to individual projects and activities is not specified. The American Relief Act, 2025 (P.L. 118-158) provided an additional $2 million under the Weapons Activities account to mitigate damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Requested FY2025 amounts for nuclear warhead modernization programs in Weapons Activities included the following:

• $28 million for the B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP), a decrease of $422 million (-94%) from the FY2024 enacted amount. The B61-12 LEP is to combine four existing variants of the B61 gravity bomb. The House committee and Senate committee reports recommended the same amount.
• $16 million for the B61-13 variant of the B61 gravity bomb, a 69% decrease from the $52 million enacted in FY2024. The Biden Administration announced in 2023 that the United States would pursue this warhead variant utilizing B61-12 production capacities for use against "certain harder and large-area military targets" as the Department of Defense "works to retire legacy systems such as the B83-1 and the B61-7."³⁴ The House committee and Senate committee reports recommended the same amount.
• $79 million for the W88 Alteration, a decrease of $100 million (-56%) from the FY2024 amount. The program is to upgrade the arming-fuzing-firing system on the warhead and refresh the warhead's conventional high explosives. This warhead is carried on a portion of the D-5 (Trident) submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). The House committee and Senate committee reports recommended the same amount.
• $1.165 billion for the W80-4 warhead LEP, an increase of $154.82 million (15%) over the FY2024 enacted amount intended for the warhead that will be mounted on the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise missile. The House committee and Senate committee reports recommended the same amount.
• $1.096 billion for the W87-1 warhead modification program, an increase of $27 million (3%) from FY2024. The Air Force plans to deploy the W87-1 on the new U.S. Sentinel land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).³⁵ The House committee and Senate committee reports recommended the same amount.
• $456 million for the W93 warhead, an increase of $66 million (17%) from the FY2024 enacted amount. The W93 is a new design intended for deployment on ballistic missile submarines. The House committee and Senate committee reports recommended the same amount.
• The Biden Administration did not include funding for the nuclear sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) warhead in NNSA's FY2025 budget request. NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby testified in a May 2024 hearing that NNSA's FY2025 unfunded priorities list includes $70 million in funding for this warhead.³⁶ The House committee and Senate committee reports both recommended $70 million.

NNSA is implementing seven warhead programs while also engaging in intensive efforts to recapitalize its production infrastructure. In this regard, congressional concern has been raised about NNSA's schedule for developing production capacity for plutonium pits (warhead cores), central components of nuclear warheads. NNSA plans to develop pit production capacity at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. Pit production was included in NNSA's FY2025 budget under Plutonium Modernization, for which NNSA requested $2.891 billion for FY2025, a decrease of $20 million (-1%) from the FY2024 enacted level. The House Appropriations Committee recommended $2.972 billion for Plutonium Modernization, $80 million above the request, while the Senate Appropriations Committee recommended the same amount as the request.

Appropriations for NNSA nuclear weapons activities and other defense programs typically closely track the levels authorized in annual National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs). An FY2025 NDAA (H.R. 8070) was passed by the House on June 14, 2024. The Senate Armed Services Committee reported an FY2025 NDAA in July 8, 2024 (S. 4638, S.Rept. 118-188). The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 was signed into law December 23, 2024 (P.L. 118-159).

For more information, see CRS Report R47657, Energy and Water Development Appropriations for Nuclear Weapons Activities: In Brief, by Anya L. Fink and Alexandra G. Neenan.

Startup of Surplus Plutonium Disposition

The FY2025 budget request provided for activities related to the disposition of surplus plutonium, a key material for nuclear weapons, in the Material Management and Minimization (MMM) and Nonproliferation Construction accounts. These activities are intended to dilute 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium, located primarily at SRS, for permanent disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a deep underground repository in New Mexico. "A total of 13 shipments of downblended surplus plutonium were made to WIPP in FY 2023," according to DOE's FY2025 budget justification.³⁷

In the MMM account, DOE requested $193 million for Plutonium Disposition and, under the Construction account, $40 million for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Project at SRS. The construction request was a reduction of $37 million (-48%) from the FY2024 enacted amount. The budget justification said the construction funding reduction resulted from "the use of prior year uncosted balances available due to delays in final design completion."³⁸ The request also reflected a 10-year deferral of the expansion of plutonium pit disassembly and processing capability, which will be needed to complete the disposition of all 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium.³⁹ In the MMM account, the House committee accepted the Biden Administration request, while the Senate committee recommended $210 million. Both the House and Senate committees agreed with the Biden Administration request of $40 million in the Construction account.

As noted above, P.L. 119-4 reduces funding for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, which includes plutonium disposition, by $185 million from the FY2024 enacted amount without specifying how the reduction is to be allocated.

Cleanup of Former Nuclear Sites: Adequacy of Proposed Funding

DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for environmental cleanup and waste management at the department's nuclear facilities. The $8.613 billion request for EM activities for FY2025 was $154 million (-2%) below the FY2024 enacted level of $8.767 billion, including adjustments and offsets. The House committee bill would have provided $8.320 billion for EM, a decrease of $293 million (-3%) below the request. The Senate committee bill included $9.334 billion for EM, $721 million (8%) above the request.

The primary appropriations component of the EM program is the Defense Environmental Cleanup account, which finances the cleanup of former nuclear weapons production sites. For FY2025, the Biden Administration requested $7.060 billion, a reduction of $225 million (-3%) from the FY2024 enacted amount. For the Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup account, which funds the cleanup of federal nuclear energy research sites, the request was $315 million, a reduction of $27 million (-8%) below the FY2024 enacted level. The third component of the EM budget is the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund (UED&D), for which the FY2025 request was $854 million, nearly the same as the FY2024 enacted amount. This fund was established by Title XI of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-486) to pay for the cleanup of three federal facilities that enriched uranium for national defense and civilian purposes, located near Paducah, KY; Piketon, OH (Portsmouth plant); and Oak Ridge, TN. Another EM component is Defense Uranium Enrichment D&D, for which $385 million was requested, an increase of $100 million (35%) over the FY2024 enacted amount.

The adequacy of funding for the Office of Environmental Management to attain cleanup milestones across the entire site inventory has been a recurring issue. Cleanup milestones are enforceable measures incorporated into compliance agreements negotiated among DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the states. These milestones establish time frames for the completion of specific actions to satisfy applicable requirements at individual sites.

Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Amending or Expanding Uses of Funding

The FY2025 budget request included proposed appropriations language to amend or expand the use of funding by certain federal regional commissions and authorities (i.e., Delta Regional Authority (DRA), the Denali Commission, and the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC)). The FY2025 request proposed to repeal the sunset (or termination of authority) provision for DRA's authority and allow the DRA to collect and spend fees to cover the costs of operating a visa sponsorship program.⁴⁰ President Biden's budget would have allowed funding provided by the Denali Commission to be considered a nonfederal match in projects for which the Denali Commission was not the primary funding source and proposed that the nonfederal cost-share maximum be 80% for certain construction projects.⁴¹ The FY2025 request also proposed to waive the 10% limit on FY2025 funding that may be used for administrative expenses for the NBRC.⁴²

The funding amounts proposed in the FY2025 House committee and Senate committee bills for the federal regional commissions and authorities were the same for ARC and varied by $1 million to $5 million for the other commissions and authorities. The exception was the amount proposed for the Southwest Border Regional Commission, which was $5 million in the House committee bill and $14 million in the Senate committee bill.

The FY2025 House committee and Senate committee bills included several provisions that were also similar to each other and to the President's FY2025 budget request. For instance, as proposed in the House committee and Senate committee bills, the DRA sunset provision would not apply. Also as proposed in the House committee and Senate committee bills, funding provided by the Denali Commission could be considered a nonfederal match in projects for which the Denali Commission was not the primary funding source. In the Senate committee bill the nonfederal cost-share maximum would be 90% for certain Denali Commission construction projects; in the House committee bill the nonfederal cost-share maximum for certain Denali Commission construction projects would be 80%. The House committee and Senate committee bills would both waive the 10% limit on FY2025 funding that may be used for administrative expenses for the NBRC.

Proposed Ban on Federal Funding for Private Consolidated Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilities and Proposed DOE Pilot

Section 504 of the House committee bill would have barred all federal funding for private-sector spent nuclear fuel consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs) that are not currently operating and are not specifically authorized under federal law "until such time that host state and local governments and any affected Indian tribes have formalized their consent." NRC has issued licenses to CISFs in New Mexico and Texas—currently under legal challenge—that are strongly opposed by their respective state governments. A ban on federal funding could affect federal licensing, permits, and safety regulation, as well as potential federal payments to CISF operators pursuant to spent fuel disposal contracts with DOE.

Section 312 of the Senate committee bill would have authorized DOE to conduct a pilot program to license, construct, and operate at least one federal CISF "using a consent-based siting process." Similar language has been included in previous Senate E&W bills but has never been enacted. The House and Senate committee provisions were not included in P.L. 119-4.

Bill Status and Recent Funding History

Table 4 indicates major congressional actions taken during consideration of FY2025 Energy and Water Development appropriations. (For more details, congressional staff may see the CRS Appropriations Status Table at http://www.crs.gov/AppropriationsStatusTable/Index.)

Table 5 includes budget totals for regular (excluding supplementals) energy and water development appropriations enacted for FY2020 through FY2025.

Description of Major Energy and Water Programs

The annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill includes four titles: Title I—Corps of Engineers—Civil; Title II—Department of the Interior (Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah Project); Title III—Department of Energy; and Title IV—Independent Agencies, as shown in Table 6. Major programs in the bill are described in this section in the approximate order they appear in the bill. Previous appropriations and recent budget requests are shown in the accompanying tables, and additional details about many of these programs are provided in separate CRS reports as indicated. For a discussion of current funding issues related to these programs, see "Funding Issues and Initiatives," above. Congressional clients may obtain more detailed information by contacting CRS analysts listed in CRS Report R42638, Appropriations: CRS Experts, by James M. Specht and Justin Murray.

Agency Budget Justifications

FY2025 budget justifications for the largest agencies funded by the annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill can be found through the links below. The justifications provide detailed descriptions and funding breakouts for programs, projects, and activities under the agencies' jurisdiction.

Title I: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Civil Works, https://www.usace.army.mil/missions/civil-works/budget (see Table 7)

Title II (see Table 8)

• Bureau of Reclamation, https://www.usbr.gov/budget
• Central Utah Project, https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024-03/fy2025-508-cupca-greenbook.pdf

Title III: Department of Energy, https://www.energy.gov/cfo/articles/fy-2025-budget-justification (see Table 9)

Title IV: Independent Agencies (see Table 14)

• Appalachian Regional Commission, https://www.arc.gov/budget-performance-and-policy
• Delta Regional Authority, https://dra.gov/accountability/congressional-budget-justification
• Denali Commission, https://www.denali.gov/finance/congressional-budget-justifications
• Northern Border Regional Commission, https://www.nbrc.gov/content/CJ
• Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, https://scrc.gov/sites/default/files/Reports-2024/scrc_fy_2025_budget_justification_final.pdf
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/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.⁴³

In recent decades, Congress has generally authorized USACE studies, construction projects, and other activities in omnibus water authorization bills, typically titled as Water Resources Development Acts, prior to funding them through appropriations legislation. Recent Congresses enacted omnibus water resources authorization acts in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022. (The latest WRDA was Title I of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (P.L. 118-272).) These acts consisted largely of authorizations for new USACE studies and projects, and they altered numerous USACE policies and procedures.⁴⁴

Unlike for highways and in municipal water infrastructure programs, federal funds for USACE are not distributed to states or projects based on formulas or delivered via competitive grants. Instead, USACE generally is directly involved in planning, designing, and managing the construction of projects that are cost-shared with nonfederal project sponsors.

Policies in the 112^th through the 116^th Congresses limited congressionally directed funding of site-specific projects (i.e., earmarks). Prior to the 112^th Congress, Congress would direct funds to specific projects not in the budget request or increase funds for certain projects. For FY2011-FY2021, Congress appropriated additional funding for categories of USACE work without identifying specific projects. During that period, after congressional enactment of the appropriations legislation and accompanying report language on priorities and other guidance for use of the additional funding, the Administration developed a work plan that reported on (1) the studies and construction projects selected to receive funding for the first time (new starts) and (2) the specific studies and projects receiving additional funds. For FY2022 through FY2024, Congress approved earmarks in specified categories, in addition to providing additional funding for specific categories for USACE to allocate in work plans.⁴⁵ House and Senate rules again allowed USACE earmarks for FY2025; however, Section 1111 of P.L. 119-4 establishes that the act does not provide for earmarks. For more information, see CRS Report R46320, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Annual Appropriations Process, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.

Table 7 shows USACE appropriations accounts from FY2021 through FY2024, as well as appropriations action for FY2025.

In addition to the regular appropriations for FY2022 through FY2025, USACE received the following supplemental appropriations:

• $5.711 billion in Division B of P.L. 117-43;
• $14.969 billion for FY2022, $1.080 billion for FY2023, and $1.050 billion for FY2024 in the IIJA (P.L. 117-58);
• $1.480 billion in Division N of P.L. 117-328;⁴⁶
• $20 million in the FY2023 continuing resolution (P.L. 117-180); and
• $1.515 billion in the American Relief Act, FY2025 (P.L. 118-158).

For more information on USACE supplemental funding, see CRS In Focus IF11945, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Supplemental Appropriations, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.

Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah Project

Most of the large dams and water diversion structures in the West were built by, or with the assistance of, the Bureau of Reclamation. While USACE built hundreds of flood control and navigation projects, Reclamation's original mission was to develop water supplies, primarily for irrigation to reclaim arid lands in the West for farming and ranching. Reclamation has evolved into an agency that assists in meeting the water demands in the West while working to protect the environment and the public's investment in Reclamation infrastructure. The agency's municipal and industrial water deliveries have more than doubled since 1970.

Today, Reclamation manages hundreds of dams and diversion projects, including more than 300 storage reservoirs, in 17 western states. These projects provide water to approximately 10 million acres of farmland and 31 million people. Reclamation is the largest wholesale supplier of water in the 17 western states and the second-largest hydroelectric power producer in the nation. Reclamation facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and other benefits. Reclamation facility operations are often controversial, particularly for their effect on fish and wildlife species and because of conflicts among competing water users during drought conditions.

As with USACE, the Reclamation budget is made up largely of individual project funding lines, rather than general programs that would not be covered by congressional earmark requirements. Therefore, as with USACE, these Reclamation projects have often been subject to earmark disclosure rules. The moratorium on earmarks through FY2021 restricted congressional steering of money directly toward specific Reclamation projects. For FY2022 through FY2025, the House and Senate rules allowed congressionally directed funding for specific Reclamation projects. For FY2025, Section 1111 of P.L. 119-4 establishes that the act does not provide for earmarks. As a result, FY2025 funding for Water and Related Resources excludes $41 million in earmarks that had been enacted for FY2024.

Water and Related Resources, Reclamation's single largest account, encompasses the agency's traditional programs and projects, including construction, operations and maintenance, dam safety, and ecosystem restoration, among others.⁴⁷ Reclamation also typically requests funds in a number of smaller accounts, and has proposed additional accounts in recent years.

Implementation and oversight of CUP, also funded by Title II, is conducted by a separate office within the Department of the Interior.⁴⁸

For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12369, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2024 Budget and Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern, and CRS In Focus IF12127, Bureau of Reclamation: FY2023 Budget and Appropriations, by Charles V. Stern.

Table 8 shows Reclamation and CUP appropriations accounts from FY2021 through FY2024, as well as appropriations action for FY2025.

IIJA provided $1.660 billion in additional funding for each of FY2022 through FY2026 for Reclamation's Water and Related Resources account. (For more information, see CRS Report R47032, Bureau of Reclamation Provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand.) IRA also appropriated additional funds in FY2022 for Reclamation: $4.000 billion for drought mitigation, available through FY2026; $550 million for disadvantaged communities, available through FY2031; $25 million for projects to cover water conveyance facilities with solar panels, available through FY2031; and $13 million for drought relief actions to mitigate drought impacts for tribes affected by the operation of a Reclamation water project, available through FY2031. (For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12437, Bureau of Reclamation Funding in the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand.) The American Relief Act, 2025 (P.L. 118-158) included $74 million for Reclamation.

Department of Energy

The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill has funded all DOE programs since FY2005. Major DOE activities are authorized under multiple energy statutes and include the following:

• R&D on renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear power, fossil energy, and electricity;
• nuclear weapons and nonproliferation;
• general science;
• environmental cleanup;
• energy statistics, projections, and analysis;
• loan programs;
• the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; and
• power marketing administrations.

Table 9 provides recent DOE funding history, including appropriations action for FY2025. Most DOE programs funded by these appropriations accounts are briefly described further below.

As well as the regular annual appropriations shown in Table 9, DOE received additional appropriations from IIJA; the additional amounts for FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025 are shown in Table 10. Additional appropriations also became available to DOE from IRA, beginning in FY2022 as shown in Table 11. Additional amounts for FY2023 were appropriated by Divisions M and N of P.L. 117-328, as shown in Table 12.

DOE Crosscutting Activities

Crosscutting activities consist of activities that draw funding and resources from multiple DOE program offices and their corresponding appropriations accounts. Crosscutting activities are identified in the FY2025 budget justification,⁴⁹ as shown in Table 13. Final FY2025 crosscuts are not specified in P.L. 119-4.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy conducts R&D on transportation energy technology, energy efficiency in buildings and manufacturing processes, and the production of solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable energy.

The Sustainable Transportation program area includes electric vehicles (EVs), vehicle efficiency, hydrogen and fuel cells, and alternative fuels. Goals of the electric vehicle program include "to reduce EV battery cell cost to achieve EV cost parity with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles through expanded R&D focused on lithium metal, solid state, and next generation lithium-ion battery technologies" and to "reduce or eliminate dependence on critical materials such as cobalt, nickel, and graphite."⁵⁰

Renewable power programs focus on electricity generation from solar, wind, water, and geothermal sources. They are also developing concentrated solar technologies to produce high-temperature heat that could replace fossil fuels in steel manufacturing and other industrial processes.

In the energy efficiency program area, the advanced manufacturing program focuses on improving the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes and on the manufacturing of energy-related products. The building technologies program includes R&D on lighting, space conditioning, windows, and control technologies to reduce building energy-use intensity.

The Biden Administration split several EERE programs into separate offices and requested separate appropriations accounts for them:

• State and Community Energy Programs, which provides two types of formula grants to states: weatherization grants for improving the energy efficiency of low-income housing units and state energy planning grants. For more details on energy efficiency grants, see CRS Report R46418, The Weatherization Assistance Program Formula, by Corrie E. Clark and Lynn J. Cunningham.
• Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, which provides support for increasing U.S. manufacturing capacity for critical energy technologies and for increasing industrial energy efficiency.
• Federal Energy Management Program, which provides guidance and expertise to federal agencies to meet federal goals on energy use and emissions.

Electricity Delivery, Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Energy Reliability

The Office of Electricity (OE) "leads the Department of Energy's research, development, and demonstration programs to strengthen and modernize our nation's power grid so that our nation maintains a reliable, resilient, and secure electricity delivery infrastructure," according to the OE website.⁵¹

OE uses a model of North American energy vulnerabilities for analyzing transmission and other energy infrastructure needs. Other activities include pursuing megawatt-scale electricity storage, integrating electric power system sensing technology, and analyzing electricity-related policy issues. A separate DOE Grid Deployment Office supports modernization of the nation's electricity transmission system and critical generating facilities through planning and financial assistance.

The Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) is the federal government's lead entity for energy sector-specific responses to energy security emergencies—whether caused by physical infrastructure problems or by cybersecurity issues. The office conducts R&D on energy infrastructure security technology; provides energy sector security guidelines, training, and technical assistance; and enhances energy sector emergency preparedness and response.

Nuclear Energy

DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) supports R&D on technologies to improve the efficiency and economic viability of existing U.S. nuclear power plants, development and demonstration of advanced reactor technologies, and R&D on nuclear fuel cycle technologies. NE also supports growth of the U.S. nuclear fuel supply chain, including uranium mining, conversion to uranium hexafluoride, and enrichment.

The Reactor Concepts program area comprises research on advanced reactors, including advanced small modular reactors, and research to enhance the "sustainability" of existing commercial light water reactors. Advanced reactor research focuses on "Generation IV" reactors, as opposed to the existing fleet of commercial light water reactors, which are generally classified as Generations II and III.

The Fuel Cycle Research and Development program includes generic research on nuclear waste management and disposal. One of the program's primary activities is the development of technologies to separate the radioactive constituents of spent fuel for reuse or solidifying into stable waste forms. Other major research areas in the Fuel Cycle R&D program include the development of accident-tolerant fuels for existing commercial reactors, evaluation of fuel cycle options, and development of improved technologies to prevent diversion of nuclear materials for weapons. The program is also developing sources of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), in which uranium is enriched to between 5% and 20% in the fissile isotope U-235, for potential use in advanced reactors. HALEU would be required for several designs currently receiving cost-shared support by DOE's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. For more information, see CRS Report R45706, Advanced Nuclear Reactors: Technology Overview and Current Issues, by Mark Holt.

Fossil Energy and Carbon Management

The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has historically supported research related to coal, natural gas, and petroleum,⁵² including a major focus area on the development of carbon capture and storage technologies for use with coal-fired power plants. The office also supports operations at the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Under the Biden Administration, FECM shifted its focus to what it called carbon management. This included a focus on development of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies, hydrogen technologies, and options to reduce methane emissions from fossil fuel infrastructure. FECM also leads DOE's activities related to critical minerals and rare earth elements.

Additionally, FECM is involved in a number of programs funded by IIJA, either managing the programs directly or consulting with other DOE offices that have the lead management role. These programs include Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs, Carbon Storage Validation and Testing, Critical Mineral Innovation Efficiency, and Alternatives, and the Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA).

FECM's carbon capture research focuses on natural gas-fired power plants and applications outside the power sector, in line with congressional direction provided in the Energy Act of 2020 (Division Z of P.L. 116-260) and other recent laws. FECM also focuses on research into producing hydrogen from fossil fuels and using hydrogen in the power sector.

For more information, see CRS In Focus IF11861, DOE's Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Removal Programs, by Ashley J. Lawson; CRS In Focus IF12163, Department of Energy Funding for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Programs FY2022, by Martin C. Offutt; and CRS Report R44902, Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in the United States, by Angela C. Jones and Ashley J. Lawson.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)

Authorized in 1975 by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (P.L. 94-163, as amended; 42 U.S.C. §6201 et seq.), the SPR fulfills two statutory policy objectives: (1) reduce the economic impact of oil supply disruptions, and (2) carry out U.S. obligations under the Agreement on an International Energy Program (IEP)—a multilateral, voluntary agreement subject to international law. Currently, the SPR consists of a government-owned crude oil reserve in Texas and Louisiana.⁵³

Since the SPR was established, various administrations have directed crude oil drawdowns and sales on four occasions in response to emergency oil supply disruptions. During FY2022 and FY2023, emergency SPR authorities addressed anticipated oil supply disruptions following Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. The Biden Administration sold approximately 180 million barrels between March 2022 and January 2023, the largest-ever emergency SPR release.⁵⁴ More frequently, DOE uses SPR authorities to exchange crude oil with refiners and traders following natural disasters (i.e., hurricanes) and other regional supply disruption events. From time to time, DOE also activates exchange authorities to temporarily store crude oil during low-price periods and provide additional supply during high-price periods.⁵⁵

Because of limited utilization in response to emergency oil supply disruptions prior to the 2022 Ukraine war, growing U.S. crude oil production, and rapidly declining net petroleum imports—the basis for determining IEP emergency oil stock obligations—Congress began mandating SPR crude oil sales to pay for other legislative priorities. Between 2015 and 2021, Congress enacted eight laws mandating the sale of 358.6 million barrels of crude oil. Congress cancelled 140 million barrels of these mandated sales in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 by rescinding some proceeds from emergency sales in FY2022 and FY2023. Additionally, Congress required DOE to sell approximately $1.4 billion of SPR crude oil to pay for an SPR modernization program.⁵⁶ As noted above, a February 2025 DOE Secretarial Order includes "Refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve" as a department-level priority.

For additional information, see CRS Insight IN12542, Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Inventory Outlook and Policy Considerations, by Phillip Brown.

Science

The DOE Office of Science conducts basic research in six program areas: advanced scientific computing research, basic energy sciences, biological and environmental research, fusion energy sciences, high-energy physics, and nuclear physics. According to DOE's FY2025 budget justification, the Office of Science "is the Nation's largest Federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and the lead Federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for our Nation's energy future."⁵⁷

DOE's Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program focuses on developing and maintaining computing and networking capabilities for science and research in applied mathematics, computer science, and advanced networking. The program plays a key role in the DOE-wide effort to advance the development of exascale computing, with the first exascale system starting operation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in May 2022.⁵⁸

Basic Energy Sciences (BES), the largest program area in the Office of Science, focuses on understanding, predicting, and ultimately controlling matter and energy at the electronic, atomic, and molecular levels. The program supports research in disciplines such as condensed matter and materials physics, chemistry, and geosciences. BES also provides funding for scientific user facilities (e.g., the National Synchrotron Light Source II, and the Linac Coherent Light Source-II), and certain DOE research centers and hubs (e.g., Energy Frontier Research Centers, as well as the Batteries and Energy Storage and Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hubs).

Biological and Environmental Research (BER) seeks a predictive understanding of complex biological, climate, and environmental systems across a continuum from the small scale (e.g., genomic research) to the large (e.g., Earth systems and climate). Within BER, Biological Systems Science focuses on plant and microbial systems, while Biological and Environmental Research supports climate-relevant atmospheric and ecosystem modeling and research. BER facilities and centers include four Bioenergy Research Centers and the Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.⁵⁹

Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) seeks to increase understanding of the behavior of matter at very high temperatures and to establish the science needed to develop a fusion energy source. FES provides funding for the ITER project, a multinational effort to design and build an experimental fusion reactor.⁶⁰

The High Energy Physics (HEP) program conducts research on the fundamental constituents of matter and energy, including studies of dark energy and the search for dark matter. Nuclear Physics supports research on the nature of matter, including its basic constituents and their interactions. A major project in the Nuclear Physics program is the construction of the Electron-Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY.

Two significant research efforts in the Office of Science cut across multiple program areas: quantum information science, which aims to use quantum physics to process information, and artificial intelligence and machine learning, which use computerized systems that work and react in ways commonly thought to require intelligence.

For more details, see CRS Report R48307, Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding: FY2025, coordinated by Laurie Harris.

Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E)

ARPA-E is a DOE office authorized by the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) to support transformational energy technology research projects. DOE budget documents describe ARPA-E's mission as overcoming long-term, high-risk technological barriers to the development of energy technologies. According to DOE, since 2009 ARPA-E has provided $4.21 billion in R&D funding to more than 1,700 projects, and 258 projects have attracted more than $14.6 billion in follow-on funding from the private sector.⁶¹

Clean Energy Demonstrations

DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) funds cost-shared demonstrations of clean energy technologies, including "clean hydrogen, carbon management, industrial decarbonization, advanced nuclear reactors, long-duration energy storage, demonstration projects in rural or remote areas and on current and former mine land, and more."⁶² OCED's portfolio includes the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (transferred from the Office of Nuclear Energy), which is funding two 50% cost-shared advanced reactor demonstrations in Wyoming and Texas. OCED also supports the regional Hydrogen Hubs established by IIJA to establish hydrogen supply chains for industrial, transportation, and other decarbonization uses.

Loan Programs Office

DOE's Loan Programs Office (LPO) administers several authorized programs that provide loan guarantees and direct loans to eligible projects, including the following:

• Title 17 Incentives for Innovative Technologies (clean energy loan guarantees);
• Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (direct loans);
• Tribal Energy Financing (loan guarantees and direct loans); and
• Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA) financing (loan guarantees and direct loans).

As with all federal credit programs, estimated costs to the federal government must be calculated for each approved project and paid for prior to financial closing. Commonly referred to as "credit subsidy costs," estimated costs are typically paid using congressionally appropriated funds, but in some cases can be wholly or partially paid by the project applicant. Most LPO programs have available appropriations for credit subsidy costs from previously enacted legislation. The FY2025 budget justification did not request credit subsidy appropriations. Rather, the FY2025 budget requested appropriations for estimated administrative expenses during the fiscal year, some of which are offset by collected fees.

Title 17 Incentives for Innovative Technologies

Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58) established the clean energy loan guarantee program by authorizing DOE to guarantee loans for projects located in the United States that (1) generally avoid or reduce air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions, and (2) incorporate new or significantly improved technology. As amended at 42 U.S.C. §16511 et seq., the original Title 17 program (Section 1703) includes an expanded list of eligible project categories as well as opportunities to guarantee loans for projects that employ commercially available technologies. The IRA provided $40.000 billion of new lending authority for Section 1703 and appropriated $3.600 billion for credit subsidy and other program-related costs. The IRA also established a new loan guarantee authority (Section 1706) for "Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Financing" aimed at reducing emissions from operating energy infrastructure and through investments in energy infrastructure that has ceased operations. Section 1706 lending authority is currently $250.000 billion, and the IRA appropriated $5.000 billion to pay for credit subsidy and related program costs. IRA lending authorities and appropriations for 1703 and 1706 expire at the end of FY2026. For additional background about Title 17 and IRA amendments to the program, see CRS Insight IN11984, Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA): Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Programs, by Phillip Brown.

Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing

Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-140) established an incentive program for manufacturing advanced technology light duty vehicles, including direct loans for qualified facilities in the United States that manufacture advanced technology vehicles, components for those vehicles, and engineering integration of qualifying vehicles and components. As amended at 42 U.S.C. §17013, advanced technology vehicles currently include medium and heavy-duty vehicles, trains and locomotives, maritime vessels, aircraft, and hyperloop technology. The IRA appropriated $3.000 billion to pay for the costs of providing ATVM direct loans. IRA funds are available until the end of FY2028.

Tribal Energy Financing

Section 2602 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-46), as amended by EPACT05 (P.L. 109-58) authorized DOE to provide loan guarantees for energy tribal energy development, including conventional and clean energy projects. As further amended at 25 U.S.C. §3502(d), borrowers are permitted to receive loan guarantees directly from the U.S. Treasury's Federal Financing Bank. The IRA permanently increased lending authority for this program to $20.000 billion and appropriated $75 million carry out the program. IRA appropriations expire at the end of FY2028.

Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA) Financing

Section 40304 of IIJA (P.L. 117-58; as amended at 42 U.S.C. §16371) established the CIFIA program to provide grants and federal credit (i.e., direct loans or loan guarantees) for common carrier infrastructure projects or associated equipment that will transport carbon dioxide captured from anthropogenic CO₂ emission sources or from ambient air. LPO coordinates with DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) to execute the CIFIA program. The IIJA appropriated $2.100 billion for the CIFIA program.

Energy Information Administration

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) was established within DOE as the lead federal agency for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data on U.S. and world energy supply and consumption. EIA data collection spans the energy system from supply and transport to consumption. All energy sources are included in EIA's data and analysis products, though some (e.g., petroleum) are more detailed than others (e.g., renewables). Recent areas of congressional interest include improvements to EIA's computer models used to project U.S. energy supply and demand over time, and EIA's data collection related to energy consumption in residential and commercial buildings and by cryptocurrency miners. For more details, see CRS Report R46524, The U.S. Energy Information Administration, coordinated by Ashley J. Lawson.

Nuclear Weapons Activities

In the absence of explosive testing of nuclear weapons, the United States has adopted a science-based program to maintain and sustain confidence in the reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. Congress established the Stockpile Stewardship Program in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (P.L. 103-160). The goal of the program, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (P.L. 111-84, §3111), is to ensure "that the nuclear weapons stockpile is safe, secure, and reliable without the use of underground nuclear weapons testing." The program is operated by NNSA, a semiautonomous agency within DOE established by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (P.L. 106-65, Title XXXII). NNSA implements the Stockpile Stewardship Program through the activities funded by the Weapons Activities account in the NNSA budget.

Most of NNSA's weapons activities take place at the nuclear weapons complex, which consists of three laboratories (Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA; and Sandia National Laboratories, NM and CA); four production sites (Kansas City National Security Campus, MO; Pantex Plant, TX; Savannah River Site, SC; and Y-12 National Security Complex, TN); and the Nevada National Security Site (formerly the Nevada Test Site). NNSA manages and sets policy for the weapons complex; contractors to NNSA operate the facilities. Radiological activities at these sites are subject to oversight and recommendations by the independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, funded by Title IV of the annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill.

NNSA's budget has four major Weapons Activities program areas:

• Stockpile Management supports work directly on nuclear weapons. These include life extension programs, warhead surveillance, maintenance, and other activities.
• Production Modernization programs focus on maintaining and expanding the production capabilities for the components of nuclear weapons that are critical to weapons performance. According to NNSA, these include primaries, canned subassemblies, radiation cases, and nonnuclear components.
• Stockpile Research, Technology, and Engineering provides the scientific and technical foundation for science-based stockpile decisions.
• Infrastructure and Operations maintains, operates, and modernizes the NNSA infrastructure. It supports construction of new facilities and funds deferred maintenance in older facilities.

Nuclear Weapons Activities also has several smaller programs, including the following:

• Secure Transportation Asset, providing for safe and secure transport of nuclear weapons, components, and materials;
• Defense Nuclear Security, providing operations, maintenance, and construction funds for protective forces, physical security systems, personnel security, and related activities; and
• Information Technology and Cybersecurity, whose elements include cybersecurity, secure enterprise computing, and Federal Unclassified Information Technology.

For more information, see CRS Report R48194, The U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise: Background and Possible Issues for Congress, by Anya L. Fink.

Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation

DOE's nonproliferation and national security programs provide technical capabilities to support U.S. efforts to prevent, detect, and counter the spread of nuclear weapons worldwide. These programs are administered by NNSA's Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN).

• The Materials Management and Minimization program conducts activities to minimize and, where possible, eliminate stockpiles of weapons-useable material around the world, such as conversion of reactors that use highly enriched uranium (useable for weapons) to low-enriched uranium.
• Global Materials Security works to increase the security of vulnerable stockpiles of nuclear material in other countries, promotes the worldwide removal, reduction, and security of radioactive sources (typically used in medical and industrial devices), and improves the capability of other countries to halt illicit trafficking of nuclear materials.
• The Nonproliferation and Arms Control program conducts reviews of nuclear export applications and technology transfer authorizations, implements treaty obligations, and analyzes nonproliferation policies and proposals.
• Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (DNN R&D) advances U.S. capabilities to detect and characterize threats such as foreign nuclear material and weapons production, diversion of special nuclear material, and nuclear detonations.
• The Nonproliferation Construction program disposes of excess U.S. weapons plutonium through a "dilute and dispose" strategy.

This account also includes the Nuclear Counterterrorism and Incident Response Program (NCTIR), which evaluates nuclear and radiological threats and develops emergency preparedness plans, including organizing scientific teams to provide rapid response to nuclear or radiological incidents or accidents worldwide.

For more information, see CRS Report R44413, Energy and Water Development Appropriations for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation: In Brief, by Mary Beth D. Nikitin.

Cleanup of Former Nuclear Weapons Production and Research Sites

The development and production of nuclear weapons since the beginning of the Manhattan Project during World War II resulted in a waste and contamination legacy managed by DOE that continues to present substantial challenges.⁶³ DOE also manages legacy environmental contamination at sites used for nondefense nuclear research. In 1989, DOE established the Office of Environmental Management primarily to consolidate its responsibilities for the cleanup of former nuclear weapons production sites that had been administered under multiple offices.⁶⁴

DOE has identified more than 100 separate sites in over 30 states that historically were involved in the production of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy research for civilian purposes.⁶⁵ Responsibility for long-term stewardship at sites where remediation is complete or remedies are in place is transferred from EM to the separate DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) and other offices within DOE.⁶⁶ Some of the smaller sites for which DOE initially was responsible were transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers in 1997 under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). Once USACE completes the cleanup of a FUSRAP site, it is transferred back to LM, which has its own DOE funding subaccount within Other Defense Activities.

Power Marketing Administrations

DOE's four Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) were established to sell the power generated by various federal dams. The PMAs operate in 34 states; their assets consist primarily of transmission infrastructure in the form of more than 33,000 miles of high voltage transmission lines and 587 substations. PMA customers are responsible for repaying all power program expenses, plus the interest on capital projects. Since FY2011, power revenues associated with the PMAs have been classified as discretionary offsetting receipts (i.e., receipts that are available for spending by the PMAs), thus the agencies are sometimes noted as having a "net-zero" spending authority. Only the capital expenses of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) and Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA) are supported by appropriations from Congress.

Independent Agencies

Independent agencies that receive funding in Title IV of the Energy and Water Development bill include NRC, ARC, and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. NRC receives the largest funding of these independent agencies. However, about 85% of NRC's budget is offset by fees, so the agency's net appropriation is about a third of the total funding in Title IV. NRC and ARC are discussed in more detail below. Recent appropriations history, including action on FY2025 funding, for all the Title IV agencies is shown in Table 14. Additional FY2025 appropriations were provided by the IIJA for ARC and other regional commissions and authorities as shown in Table 15.

Appalachian Regional Commission

Established in 1965,⁶⁷ ARC is a regional economic development agency. It awards grants and contracts to state and local governments and nonprofit organizations to foster economic opportunities, improve workforce skills, build critical infrastructure, strengthen natural and cultural assets, and improve leadership skills and capacity in the region. ARC's authorizing statute defines the Appalachian Region as including all of West Virginia and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. More than 25 million people currently live in the region as defined.

ARC provides funding to several hundred projects each year, with particular focus on the region's most economically distressed counties. Major areas of infrastructure support include broadband communication systems, transportation, and water and wastewater systems. ARC has supported establishment of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS), a planned 3,000-mile system of highways that connect with the U.S. Interstate Highway System. According to ARC, 91.1% of ADHS is "under construction or open to traffic."⁶⁸

Since FY2016, Congress has directed ARC to set aside funding for the POWER Initiative (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization), which assists communities impacted by the decline of the coal industry. The House and Senate Appropriations Committee reports in FY2024, and again in FY2025, directed ARC to allocate $65 million each year to the POWER Initiative. The POWER Initiative funds a variety of economic, workforce, and community development projects to stabilize and stimulate economic activity in affected communities.

For more background on ARC and other regional commissions and authorities, see CRS Report R45997, Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Structural Features and Function, by Julie M. Lawhorn, and CRS In Focus IF11140, Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Overview of Structure and Activities, by Julie M. Lawhorn. For more background on the POWER Initiative, see CRS Report R46015, The POWER Initiative: Energy Transition as Economic Development, by Julie M. Lawhorn.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NRC is an independent agency that establishes and enforces safety and security standards for nuclear power plants and users of nuclear materials. Major appropriations and budget request categories for NRC are shown in Table 16. Nuclear Reactor Safety is NRC's largest program and is responsible for licensing and regulating the 94 power reactors in the United States. NRC is also responsible for licensing and regulating nuclear waste facilities, such as the proposed underground nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, NV (which has received no new appropriations since FY2010).

NRC is required by law to offset its total annual appropriation, excluding specified items, through fees charged to nuclear reactor owners and other holders of NRC licenses. NRC does not retain the fee revenue, but instead sends it to the U.S. Treasury. Budget items excluded from fee recovery include prior-year balances, development of advanced reactor regulations, international activities, and non-site-specific homeland security. As a result, NRC's net appropriation is about 15% of the agency's total budget.

Congressional Hearings

The following hearings were held by the Energy and Water Development subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the FY2025 budget request. Testimony and opening statements are posted on most of the web pages cited for each hearing, along with webcasts in many cases.

House

• Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, April 17, 2024, https://appropriations.house.gov/events/hearings/budget-hearing-fiscal-year-2025-request-army-corps-engineers-civil-works-and-bureau
• Department of Energy, March 20, 2024, https://appropriations.house.gov/events/hearings/fiscal-year-2025-budget-request-department-energy

Senate

• Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, May 15, 2024, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-review-of-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2025-budget-request-for-the-us-army-corps-of-engineers-and-the-bureau-of-reclamation
• Department of Energy, May 22, 2024, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-review-of-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2025-budget-request-for-the-us-department-of-energy-including-the-national-nuclear-security-administration