Energy and Water Development: FY2027 Appropriations

Energy and Water Development: FY2027 Appropriations

Energy and Water Development: FY2027 Appropriations

May 12, 2026 (R48944)
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Contents

Introduction and Overview

Administration Request

DOE

USACE and Reclamation

Independent Agencies

FY2027 Budgetary Limits

Key Funding Issues and Initiatives

Congressionally Directed Funding

Cancellation and Transfer of IIJA and IRA Appropriations

Proposed USACE District Salaries and Expenses Account

Proposed Reductions for Wind, Solar, and Conservation

New Request for Baseload Power Production

Proposals to Sell Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve

Proposed Reductions in DOE Office of Science and ARPA-E, and Other Changes

Proposed Increase for NNSA Weapons Activities

Cleanup of Former Nuclear Sites: Adequacy of Proposed Funding

Proposed Elimination and Reductions at Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities

FY2027 Budget Request and Recent Annual Appropriations by Account

Agency Budget Justifications

Congressional Hearings

House Appropriations Committee Hearings

Senate Appropriations Committee Hearings

Key Policy Staff

Figures

Figure 1. Major Components of Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bills: FY2025 and FY2026 Enacted, and FY2026 and FY2027 Budget Request

Figure 2. Energy and Water Development CPF/CDS Total Enacted Funding from FY2022 Through FY2026

Tables

Table 1. Energy and Water Development Funding by Title: FY2025-FY2027 Request

Table 2. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Funding: FY2025-FY2027 Request

Table 3. Bureau of Reclamation and CUP Funding: FY2025-FY2027 Request

Table 4. Department of Energy Funding: FY2025-FY2027 Request

Table 5. E&W Independent Agency Funding: FY2025-FY2027 Request

Table 6. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Funding Categories: FY2025-FY2027 Request

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 Donald Trump submitted his FY2027 budget request on April 3, 2026. The request includes $67.597 billion in discretionary appropriations for energy and water development agencies, an increase of $5.866 billion (10%) above the FY2026 enacted amount, excluding emergency appropriations, mandatory appropriations, rescissions, offsets, and adjustments. The E&W budget request for FY2027 includes offsets totaling $4.917 billion from unobligated appropriations transferred from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58).

Energy and Water Development Appropriations, FY2026 and FY2027 Actions
(in millions of nominal dollars and % change from FY2026 enacted)

Agency | FY2026 Enacted | FY2027 Request (% Change)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | 10,435 | 6,663 (-36%)
Bureau of Reclamation/CUP | 1,650 | 1,292 (-22%)
Department of Energy | 49,124 | 59,330 (21%)
Independent Agencies | 522 | 312 (-40%)
Total Appropriations | 61,731 | 67,597 (10%)
Rescissions and Offsets | -3,692 | -4,917
Adjusted Total | 58,039 | 62,680 (8%)

Sources: P.L. 119-74 and related H.R. 6938 explanatory statement; President's FY2027 Budget Appendix, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/appendix_fy2027.pdf.

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

Selected Key Issues

Zero Funding Request for Wind, Solar, and Hydrogen Research and Development (R&D). No appropriations are requested for FY2027 for Wind, Solar, and Hydrogen R&D, which received $480 million in FY2026.

Proposed Elimination of Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities. All but one of the federal regional commissions and authorities would be terminated by the FY2027 request; the Appalachian Regional Commission annual appropriation would be reduced from $200 million in FY2026 to $120 million in FY2027 (-40%).

Requested Increase for National Nuclear Security Administration. The FY2027 request for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is $7.398 billion (29%) over the FY2026 enacted amount of $25.404 billion. NNSA is a semiautonomous DOE agency responsible for nuclear warheads, nuclear weapons nonproliferation, and naval reactor R&D.

USACE Account Reorganization. The budget request proposes a 36% cut to USACE and a new District Salaries and Expenses account. This account would fund the salaries of USACE district and field office employees, plus other operational costs, separately from direct study and project costs, which would be funded in traditional study and project accounts.

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 (currently using the secondary title Department of War), 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.

President Donald Trump submitted his FY2027 budget request on April 3, 2026.¹ The request includes $67.597 billion in discretionary appropriations for energy and water development agencies.² Figure 1 compares the major components of the E&W budget request for FY2027 and FY2026 and E&W enacted annual appropriations for FY2025 and FY2026. The FY2027 budget request for E&W agencies would be an increase of $5.866 billion (10%) above the FY2026 enacted amount, excluding emergency appropriations, mandatory appropriations, rescissions, offsets, and adjustments. The E&W budget request for FY2027 includes offsets totaling $4.917 billion from unobligated appropriations transferred from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58).

Figure 1. Major Components of Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bills: FY2025 and FY2026 Enacted, and FY2026 and FY2027 Budget Request

(nominal dollars)

Sources: President's FY2027 Budget; Agency budget justifications; P.L. 119-74 and H.R. 6938 explanatory statement, https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2026/01/08/172/5/CREC-2026-01-08-bk3.pdf.

Notes: Amounts do not include supplemental appropriations or adjustments, offsets, and rescissions. CUP = Central Utah Project.

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026, was signed into law January 23, 2026, as Division B of the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026 (P.L. 119-74; H.R. 6938). It provided $61.731 billion for E&W agencies, not including rescissions, supplementals, and scorekeeping adjustments. That total is about 1% higher than the comparable appropriation for FY2025. In the 119th Congress, the FY2025 budget reconciliation measure signed into law on July 4, 2025 (P.L. 119-21), rescinded unobligated DOE advance funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA; P.L. 117-169 ) for specified programs and included supplemental appropriations for Reclamation, DOE defense and loan programs, and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Administration Request

Under the Administration's FY2027 request, DOE discretionary appropriations would increase by $10.206 billion (21%), to $59.330 billion, including a proposed $7.063 billion (35%) increase for nuclear weapons activities. The request would cancel $15.247 billion in unobligated balances of DOE appropriations provided by the IIJA.³ USACE funding would be reduced by $3.772 billion (-36%), to $6.663 billion, and Reclamation and CUP funding would decline by $358 million (-22%), to $1.292 billion.⁴ Appropriations for independent agencies in the bill would be reduced by $209 million (-40%), to $312 million, including rescissions of previous appropriations. These totals generally exclude adjustments and offsets.⁵

DOE

DOE's major program areas include energy, science, defense, and environmental management. The Trump Administration reorganized the former offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and Fossil Fuels into the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) and the Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy (HGE). For CMEI, the request proposes to reduce FY2027 comparable funding from $1.883 billion in FY2026 to $1.122 billion in FY2027, a reduction of $762 million (-40%). HGE would be comparably increased from $647 million to $676 million (4%). Within CMEI, no appropriations are requested in FY2027 under Integrated Energy Systems for wind and solar R&D, down from $320 million in FY2026. Zero funding is also requested for two other elements of the CMEI appropriations account: the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), which received $25 million in FY2026, and the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), which provides low-income weatherization and state planning grants and received $435 million in FY2026.

A new $3.500 billion appropriations account for Baseload Power, to be funded with proposed transfers of IIJA unobligated balances, would be used by various DOE offices to provide firm baseload electricity—generated by coal, natural gas, geothermal, nuclear, and hydropower. The initiative is intended to prevent what the request says is the planned retirement of about 9 gigawatts of baseload capacity and provide 9 gigawatts to 13 gigawatts of power plant upgrades and new capacity.

Funding for DOE's Office of Science in FY2027 is proposed to decrease by $1.111 billion (-13%) to $7.139 billion from the FY2026 enacted amount of $8.250 billion. The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program would see the largest percentage reduction within the Office of Science, from $854 million in FY2026 to $396 million (-54%) in FY2027. Particularly, no FY2027 funding is requested for BER research in environmental system sciences and atmospheric system research. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility would not be funded in FY2027. Those eliminations were also proposed for FY2026 but not enacted.

The Administration requests $200 million in FY2027 for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), which supports research on technologies it considers high-risk but potentially transformative. This would be a reduction of $150 million (-43%) from $350 million enacted for FY2026. The request includes $1.200 billion for a new Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum (AIQ), which is to oversee the Genesis Mission to create an integrated research platform of "the world's best supercomputers, experimental facilities, AI systems, and unique datasets across every major scientific domain" to support research on artificial intelligence and quantum energy systems.⁶ The funding for AIQ would come from IIJA unobligated balances.

Funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous DOE agency responsible for nuclear warheads, nuclear weapons nonproliferation, and naval reactor R&D, is proposed to increase by $7.398 billion (29%) over the FY2026 enacted amount of $25.404 billion. NNSA's largest appropriations account, Weapons Activities, would rise from $20.378 billion to $27.441 billion, an increase of $7.063 billion (35%). The FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21) appropriated $3.885 billion for NNSA for FY2025, to remain available through FY2029, affecting FY2027 funding. Environmental Management (waste management and cleanup) would decrease by $386 million (-5%) under the Administration request, from $8.562 billion in FY2026 to $8.176 billion in FY2027.

USACE and Reclamation

USACE uses most of its appropriations on specific water resources studies and projects authorized by Congress. The FY2027 request includes $6.663 billion for USACE, which is $3.772 billion less than the $10.435 billion provided for FY2026. The Administration also proposes different accounts compared with FY2026, including a District Salaries and Expenses (S&E) account. Most of the proposed FY2027 reduction for Reclamation would come from Reclamation's largest account, Water and Related Resources, which supports the development and operation of water supplies for irrigation, hydroelectric generation, and environmental quality. The FY2027 budget would reduce that account by $354 million (-24%) compared with FY2026 annual appropriations.

Independent Agencies

Among the independent agencies in the E&W bill, funding for five federal regional commissions and authorities (FRCAs) would be eliminated under the President's FY2027 request. FRCAs use appropriations to provide economic development and energy reliability and security grants in their respective regions. Slated for defunding are the Delta Regional Authority, Great Lakes Authority, Northern Border Regional Commission, Southwest Border Regional Commission, and Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, along with a cancellation of $150 million in previously appropriated funds for these and other FRCAs.⁷ The FRCA that has historically received the largest annual appropriation, the Appalachian Regional Commission, would be reduced from $200 million in FY2026 to $120 million in FY2027 (-40%).

NRC, the largest E&W independent agency, was recommended to receive $892 million under the FY2027 request, a decrease of $79 million (-9%) over the FY2026 enacted amount. NRC licenses and regulates nuclear reactors and radioactive materials. As required by law, NRC's FY2027 funding is to be offset by fees paid by the nuclear industry, estimated at $756 million, for a net appropriation of $136 million.

FY2027 Budgetary Limits

Congressional consideration of the annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill is affected by certain procedural and statutory budget enforcement requirements. These consist primarily of procedural limits on discretionary spending (the total spending provided in annual appropriations acts) established in a budget resolution or through some other means, and allocations of this amount that applied to spending under the jurisdiction of each appropriations subcommittee. FY2027 allocations had not been determined by the date of this report.

For more information on funding ceilings, see CRS Report R46468, A Brief Overview of the Congressional Budget Process, by James V. Saturno.

Key Funding Issues and Initiatives

Several issues have drawn particular attention during congressional consideration of Energy and Water Development appropriations for FY2027. The issues described in this section—listed approximately in the order the affected agencies or provisions typically appear in Energy and Water Development bills—were selected based on total funding involved, percentage of proposed increases or decreases, amount of congressional interest engendered, and potential impact on broader public policy considerations. Additional relevant CRS products are noted in the following sections, as applicable.

Congressionally Directed Funding

The 119th Congress, largely continuing the policies of the previous two Congresses, is allowing congressionally directed funding, also known as earmarks, for site-specific projects and other activities in the appropriations process. These are referred to as "community project funding" (CPF) in the House and "congressionally directed spending" (CDS) in the Senate. From the 112th through the 116th Congresses, moratorium policies largely prohibited earmarks for such projects.⁸ Figure 2 shows enacted CPF/CDS amounts per agency for FY2022 through FY2024, and FY2026. The patterned area of the stacked columns indicates the sum of the three highest funded CPF/CDS items (all under USACE appropriations). For FY2025, P.L. 119-4 did not fund earmarks.⁹

Figure 2. Energy and Water Development CPF/CDS Total Enacted Funding from FY2022 Through FY2026

(nominal dollars)

Sources: P.L. 119-4 and Community Project Funding (CPF)/Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) tables in explanatory statements accompanying enacted annual appropriations for FY2022 through FY2026.

Note: The patterned area of the stacked columns indicates the sum of the three highest funded CPF/CDS items (all under U.S. Army Corps of Engineers appropriations). For FY2025, P.L. 119-4 did not fund earmarks.

For FY2027, House and Senate appropriations committees provided instructions to Members for requesting CPF and CDS, respectively. The House and Senate allowed CPF and CDS requests only for certain Reclamation and USACE accounts under E&W.¹⁰ For previous fiscal years, the Senate allowed CDS requests for DOE that were funded in the "Energy Projects" account, but for FY2027, the Senate appropriations committees did not allow such requests.¹¹

Cancellation and Transfer of IIJA and IRA Appropriations

The Administration's FY2027 request calls for cancellation of $15.247 billion of IIJA advance appropriations for renewable energy, carbon capture from the air, electric vehicles and batteries, FRCAs, "and other costly technologies burdensome to ratepayers and consumers."¹² Those proposed cancellations include $588 million in unobligated balances for carbon dioxide sequestration pipelines and related transportation projects under the Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program established by IIJA Section 40304.

Separately, P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 budget reconciliation measure, rescinded all unobligated balances of IRA appropriations, some of which had been available for several DOE programs in FY2027.

Proposed USACE District Salaries and Expenses Account

The Administration proposes altering budgeting of USACE district salaries and expenses. In previous budget requests and appropriations acts, study and project accounts (i.e., Investigations, Construction, Operation and Maintenance [O&M], and Mississippi River and Tributaries accounts) composed the majority of the funding, which included the district salaries and expenses of those activities. For FY2027, the budget request includes a new account, District Salaries and Expenses, to fund the salaries of USACE district and field office employees, plus other operational costs, separately from direct project costs.¹³ For example, the budget request for the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, LA, is split with $5 million in the O&M account and $15 million in the District S&E account, for a total of $20 million for the project.¹⁴ The request for the proposed District S&E account is $2.429 billion, making up 36% of the total amount requested for USACE.¹⁵

The FY2027 budget request notes the new District S&E account as a central feature of the request and part of the Administration's "District Salary Transparency initiative."¹⁶ USACE states that the proposed account is a policy change to emphasize delivery, transparency, and accountability, and that "this new approach will realign incentives to focus on building infrastructure on time and within budget." Congress may consider how the proposed district S&E accounting could alter project delivery and agency accountability, and whether to fund the S&E separately as proposed. For more discussion and information on the FY2027 budget request for USACE, see CRS In Focus IF13212, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: FY2027 Appropriations, by Anna E. Normand and Nicole T. Carter.

Proposed Reductions for Wind, Solar, and Conservation

The request would reduce funding for Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) from $1.122 billion in FY2027 to a comparable amount of $1.883 billion in FY2026, down $762 million (-40%). CMEI was created from the former Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by adding critical minerals programs and moving geothermal research to the Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy (formerly Fossil Energy).

The request opposes federal support for "intermittent energy sources" such as wind and solar in favor of "24/7 energy that underpins a secure grid."¹⁷ Within CMEI, no appropriations are requested in FY2027 under Integrated Energy Systems for wind and solar R&D, down from $320 million in FY2026. Zero funding is also requested for two other elements of the CMEI appropriations account that together received $460 million in FY2026: the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), which provide low-income weatherization and state planning grants. The budget request also proposes to zero out Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies (a program element within Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks), which received $160 million in FY2026.

Also within CMEI, the Administration requests steep reductions for FY2027 compared with FY2026 levels for Transportation Technologies (formerly Vehicle Technologies), from $397 million to $20 million (-95%); Bioenergy Technologies (now part of Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks), from $245 million to $10 million (-96%); and Building Technologies, from $288 million to $20 million (-93%).

New Request for Baseload Power Production

DOE's FY2027 budget proposal includes a new $3.500 billion appropriations account for Baseload Power, to be funded with proposed transfers of IIJA unobligated balances, that would be used by various DOE offices to provide firm baseload electricity—generated by coal, natural gas, geothermal, nuclear, and hydropower. The initiative is intended to prevent what the request says is the planned retirement of about 9 gigawatts of baseload capacity and provide from 9 gigawatts to 13 gigawatts of power plant upgrades and new capacity, according to the budget justification.

The Baseload Power initiative is consistent with the Trump Administration's opposition to federal support for intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. The budget request would provide $1.940 billion for electricity production from coal, gas, and geothermal. The funds would be used for upgrading existing coal, natural gas, and geothermal plants and expanding gas pipelines and related facilities. The request also includes $750 million for reconductoring transmission lines—replacing their wires using advanced materials—and $300 million to upgrade nuclear power plants and fuel.¹⁸

Proposals to Sell Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve

The DOE budget request proposes to close the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NEHHOR). The 1 million barrels of ultra-low-sulfur heating oil in NEHHOR would be sold, and leases for storage facilities closed out, by FY2029. The FY2027 NEHHOR appropriation would be half of the $7 million provided for FY2026.¹⁹ The Administration also proposed terminating the NEHHOR in FY2026, but Congress continued the program's funding.

Proposed Reductions in DOE Office of Science and ARPA-E, and Other Changes

The Administration proposes to reduce funding for the Office of Science to $7.139 billion (-13%) from FY2026. The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program would see the largest reduction in funding, from $854 million to $396 million (-54%).²⁰ This reduction is similar in size to the Administration's FY2026 request. Within BER, Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences would see a reduction of $341 million, including the elimination of funding for the atmospheric system research and environmental system sciences programs and closure of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility. Under the FY2027 request, all BER activities related to earth and environmental systems science would be funded under earth systems modeling. That program, according to the budget request, would "focus on harnessing AI to accelerate, enhance and couple BER's suite of exascale class and multi-sector dynamics models and integrate atmospheric and environmental field observations to enhance weeks to years predictive skill for energy expansion."²¹ The request would also reduce biological systems science by $133 million, with the largest reduction (-$124 million) coming from the genomic science program.²² The DOE budget justification says the request "reduces lower priority efforts while focusing support on the Genesis Mission and integrating AI to accelerate biotechnology innovation and CMM (critical minerals and materials) recovery and supporting key quantum science research for imaging and sensing to align with Administration priorities."²³

The overall $50 million (-6%) decrease in the fusion energy sciences program is specifically focused on the U.S. contribution to ITER²⁴ (-$93 million); with the rest of the program budget that supports fusion energy research increasing by about $43 million.²⁵ On November 20, 2025, DOE announced an organizational realignment that established an Office of Fusion within the responsibilities of the Under Secretary for Science.²⁶ For FY2027, the budget requests $10 million for the new Office of Fusion, which, according to DOE, will coordinate all fusion-related activities within DOE and develop "a national strategy to close scientific and technological gaps on the critical path toward developing, deploying and commercializing fusion energy."²⁷

The recently established Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum (AIQ),²⁸ within the responsibilities of the Under Secretary for Science, would receive $1.200 billion under the Administration's FY2027 request.²⁹ The stated mission of the AIQ is "to oversee the Department's Genesis Mission through collaboration and coordination of federal government, national laboratories, and industry in support of the U.S. AI and quantum research investments." According to the budget request, the AIQ repurposes prior year unobligated Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding.³⁰

Separately, under the Office of Science, the proposed FY2027 budget requests $1.104 billion for the Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program, a reduction of $12 million compared with FY2026.³¹ According to the request, "ASCR is coordinating closely with AIQ in the development, deployment, and management of the Genesis Mission supercomputing partnerships and quantum investments under AIQ's purview, and ASCR's user facilities, the American Science Cloud, and other ASCR investments are being leveraged by AIQ to deploy and manage Genesis Mission computing resources."³²

Under the FY2027 budget request, the Advanced Research Project Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) would see a 43% reduction in its budget from FY2026 enacted levels ($350 million). The $200 million requested by the Administration in FY2027 is the same amount requested in FY2026.³³

Proposed Increase for NNSA Weapons Activities

The FY2027 budget request would increase NNSA by $7.398 billion (29%) over the FY2026 enacted amount of $25.404 billion. NNSA's largest appropriations account, Weapons Activities, would rise from $20.378 billion to $27.441 billion, for an increase of $7.063 billion (35%).

For Weapons Activities, the requested FY2027 amounts for nuclear warhead modernization programs, which include proposed reconciliation funding, include the following:³⁴

No funding for the B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP), a decrease from $16 million in FY2026. NNSA intends to complete and close out modernization of the B61-12 LEP, which combines four existing variants of the B61 gravity bomb, in FY2026.

$46 million for the B61-13 variant of the B61 gravity bomb, $3 million less than enacted for FY2026. NNSA has begun delivering this B61 variant, intended for strikes on harder and larger-area military targets, to the U.S. Air Force.³⁵

No funding for the W88 Alteration 370 program, for which $64 million was enacted in FY2025 and none in FY2026. NNSA stated that it would complete and close out this program with carryover funding. The W88 warhead is carried on a portion of the D-5 (Trident) submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

$1.048 billion for the W80-4 LEP, a decrease of $211 million (-17%) from the FY2026 enacted amount, intended for the warhead that will be mounted on the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise missile.³⁶ NNSA expects the first production unit of this warhead in FY2027.

$913 million for development engineering activities in the W87-1 warhead modification program, an increase of $264 million (41%) from FY2026. The Air Force plans to deploy the W87-1 on the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).³⁷

$1.106 billion for the W93 warhead, an increase of $299 million (37%) from the FY2026 enacted amount. NNSA expects that the W93, a warhead intended for deployment on SLBMs, will enter development engineering in FY2027.

An undetermined amount for development engineering of the warhead (W80-5) for the nuclear sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N), to be taken from mandatory funding in the FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21), as noted below.

NNSA is implementing seven warhead programs and, according to the budget submission, plans to "authorize new future concept programs."³⁸ NNSA is also engaged in intensive efforts to recapitalize its production infrastructure, including for the manufacture of plutonium pits (warhead cores), central components of nuclear warheads. NNSA plans to develop pit production capacity at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. Pit production is included in NNSA's FY2027 budget under Plutonium Modernization, for which NNSA requests $4.912 billion for FY2027, an increase of $2.280 billion (87%) from the FY2026 enacted level of $2.633 billion.³⁹

The FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (P.L. 119-21) appropriated $3.885 billion for NNSA for FY2025, to remain available through FY2029:

$200 million for Phase 1 studies;

$540 million for deferred maintenance and repair;

$1 billion for construction;

$400 million for the sea-launched cruise missile nuclear warhead;

$750 million for modernization of facilities for nuclear warhead primary stages;

$750 million for modernization of facilities for nuclear warhead secondary stages;

$120 million for uranium enrichment centrifuge deployment;

$10 million for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing evaluation; and

$115 million for artificial intelligence.

Appropriations for NNSA nuclear weapons activities and other defense programs typically align with the amounts authorized in annual National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs). For FY2026, see Division C of H.R. 3838 (H.Rept. 119-231), S. 2296 (S.Rept. 119-39), and the passed bill (S. 1071; P.L. 119-60) and accompanying explanatory statement for additional detail.⁴⁰ For more information, see CRS Report R47657, Energy and Water Development Appropriations for Nuclear Weapons Activities: In Brief, by Anya L. Fink.

Cleanup of Former Nuclear Sites: Adequacy of Proposed Funding

DOE Environmental Management funding would decrease by $386 million (5%) under the Administration request, from $8.562 billion in FY2026 to $8.176 billion in FY2027. Environmental Management funding at DOE's largest cleanup site, the Hanford Site in Washington state (including the Office of River Protection), would decline from $3.348 billion to $2.954 billion, a reduction of $394 million (12%). EM funding at the Oak Ridge site in Tennessee would drop by $98 million (14%), from $701 million to $604 million.⁴¹

The proposed reductions at the Hanford site have drawn criticism from Members of Congress in the Pacific Northwest. For example, Senator Murray on the Senate floor April 16, 2026, accused the Administration of "trying to shortchange the Hanford cleanup."⁴² The DOE budget justification says that the requested amount "supports risk reduction" at the site, including treating and removing highly radioactive waste in underground tanks "as well as waste site and facility remediation."⁴³

DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for environmental cleanup and waste management at the department's nuclear facilities. The EM budget consists of three appropriations accounts: Defense Environmental Cleanup, which finances the cleanup of former nuclear weapons production sites; Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup, which funds the cleanup of federal nuclear energy research sites; and the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund (UED&D).

In addition to the proposed Hanford budget reductions, 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.

Proposed Elimination and Reductions at Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities

Funding for five of the six active federal regional commissions and authorities (FRCAs) would be eliminated under the President's FY2027 request. A similar proposal was received by Congress in the FY2026 request and not adopted.⁴⁴ The budget request proposes terminating five FRCAs:

Delta Regional Authority (DRA),

Denali Commission,

Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC),

Southwest Border Regional Commission (SBRC), and

Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC).

The President's FY2027 request calls for the cancellation of unobligated balances from prior-year appropriations for one inactive FRCA (Great Lakes Authority);⁴⁵ does not provide funding for the Northwest Regional Commission, which received its first appropriation in the FY2026 E&W measure and is also inactive;⁴⁶ provides $7 million for the Denali Commission for closeout purposes; instructs four other FRCAs to use prior-year unobligated balances to conduct an orderly closeout of the entities; and provides reduced funding for the ARC that is to be expended within two years. However, unlike the funding for the other five active FRCAs, the funding for ARC is not provided for closeout purposes. The request also proposes to end the annual transfer of interest from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to the Denali Commission.⁴⁷

The eight FRCAs that received funding in FY2026 include the (1) ARC, (2) DRA, (3) Denali Commission, (4) GLA, (5) NBRC, (6) Northwest Regional Commission, (7) SBRC, and (8) SCRC.⁴⁸ Six of the FRCAs that received FY2026 appropriations are considered active (ARC, DRA, Denali Commission, NBRC, SBRC, SCRC).⁴⁹ The FY2026 E&W measure also provided $5 million for the GLA and $1 million for the Northwest Regional Commission, which were inactive as of May 2026.⁵⁰

FRCAs have been previously proposed for elimination in presidential budgets, but have continued to receive subsequent appropriations from Congress. For instance, in May 2025, the President's FY2026 budget request proposed closeout budgets for most of the FRCAs. As noted, the enacted FY2026 E&W measure continued funding for FRCA programs and administrative expenses at 1% over FY2025 enacted levels.

FY2027 Budget Request and Recent Annual Appropriations by Account

The annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill titles are shown in Table 1. These titles include 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. Recent annual appropriations and the FY2026 and FY2027 budget requests for E&W accounts under these titles are shown in the accompanying tables. Additional appropriations for these agencies, such as from supplemental appropriations acts, are not presented in this section.

For additional details about the agencies and accounts funded by E&W appropriations acts, and changes to various accounts and their programs, as applicable, see CRS Report R48599, Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations, by Mark Holt and Anna E. Normand. For a discussion of selected current funding issues related to these accounts and programs, see "Key Funding Issues and Initiatives," above. Congressional clients may obtain more detailed information by contacting CRS analysts listed at the end of this report and listed in CRS Report R42638, Appropriations: CRS Experts, by James M. Specht and Justin Murray.

Table 1. Energy and Water Development Funding by Title: FY2025-FY2027 Request

(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)

Title | FY2025 Approp | FY2026 Request | FY2026 Approp | FY2027 Request
Title 1: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | 8,703 | 6,663 | 10,435 | 6,663
Title II: CUP and Reclamation | 1,889 | 1,290 | 1,650 | 1,292
Title III: Department of Energy | 50,170 | 47,863 | 49,124 | 59,330
Title IV: Independent Agencies | 502 | 215 | 522 | 312
Subtotal | 61,264 | 56,031 | 61,731 | 67,597
Rescissions, Transfers, and Scorekeeping Adjustments | -22 | -228 | -3,692 | -4,917
E&W Total with Adjustments | 61,242 | 55,803 | 58,039 | 62,680

Sources: President's budget request for FY2027; H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement; P.L. 119-4. Excludes emergency appropriations. Subtotals may include other adjustments. Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding and adjustments. CUP = Central Utah Project.

Notes: FY2026 request does not include a further reduction of $19.674 billion in scorekeeping adjustments. Budget "scorekeeping" refers to determinations of spending amounts for congressional budget enforcement purposes. These scorekeeping adjustments may include rescissions and offsetting revenues from various sources.

Agency Budget Justifications

Selected FY2027 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 accounts, programs, projects, and activities under the agencies' jurisdiction, in addition to the Budget of the U.S. Government Appendix, Fiscal Year 2027, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/appendix_fy2027.pdf.

Title I: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Civil Works, https://www.usace.army.mil/missions/civil-works/budget (see Table 2)

Title II (see Table 2):

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

Central Utah Project, https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/fy2027greenbookcupca.pdf

Title III: Department of Energy, https://www.energy.gov/cfo/articles/fy-2027-budget-justification (see Table 3)

Title IV: Independent Agencies (see Table 3)

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

Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, https://scrc.gov/Accountability/congressional-justification

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

Southwest Border Regional Commission, https://sbrc.gov/congressional-justification

Table 2. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Funding: FY2025-FY2027 Request

(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)

Account | FY2025 Approp | FY2026 Request | FY2026 Approp | FY2027 Request
Investigations | 143.0 | 130.0 | 150.4 | 38.0
Construction | 1,854.7 | 1,558.2 | 3,170.0 | 1,166.1
Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) | 368.0 | 256.5 | 531.6 | 156.3
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) | 5,552.8 | 2,330.3 | 6,013.2 | 759.7
Regulatory | 221.0 | 221.0 | 221.0 | 223.0
General Expenses | 216.0 | 220.0 | 220.0 | 218.0
FUSRAP | 300.0 | 200.0 | 75.0 | 200.0
Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies (FCCE) | 35.0 | 40.0 | 40.0 | 40.0
Office of the Asst. Secretary of the Army | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0
WIFIA Program | 7.2 | — | 7.2 | —
Harbor Maintenance Trust Funda | — | 1,700.0 | — | 1,392.6
Inland Waterways Trust Fund | — | — | — | 33.4
District Salaries and Expensesb | — | — | — | 2,428.9
Total appropriation | 8,702.7 | 6,663.0 | 10,435.4 | 6,663.0
Rescissions | -22.2 | — | — | —
Total Title I | 8,680.5 | 6,663.0 | 10,435.4 | 6,663.0

Sources: President's budget request for FY2027; H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement.

Notes: FUSRAP = Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program; WIFIA = Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act. Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding.

a. In the Administration's FY2026 and FY2027 requests, as with previous requests, some activities funded in the O&M, Construction, and MR&T accounts were proposed to be funded directly from a Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) account. That is, the Administration proposed funding eligible USACE activities directly from the trust fund. This would replace the current practice of having USACE's O&M, Construction, and MR&T accounts incur expenses for HMTF-eligible activities, and for these expenses to be reimbursed from the HMTF accounts. For example, HMTF-eligible maintenance dredging would no longer be funded by the O&M account and reimbursed by the HMTF; instead, the dredging would be funded directly from the HMTF account. Such proposals were not enacted in previous fiscal years since first proposed for FY2019.

b. For FY2027, the budget request includes a new account, District Salaries and Expenses, to fund the salaries of USACE district and field office employees, plus other operational costs, separate from direct project costs. In previous E&W appropriations acts, study and project accounts (Investigations, Construction, O&M, and Mississippi River and Tributaries accounts) composed the majority of the funding, which included the district salaries and expenses of those activities.

Table 3. Bureau of Reclamation and CUP Funding: FY2025-FY2027 Request

(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)

Account | FY2025 Approp | FY2026 Request | FY2026 Approp | FY2027 Request
Water and Related Resources | 1,710.7 | 1,112.0 | 1,465.6 | 1,112.0
Policy and Administration | 66.8 | 64.0 | 64.0 | 64.0
CVP Restoration Fund (CVPRF) | 55.7 | 65.4 | 65.4 | 67.0
Calif. Bay-Delta (CALFED) | 33.0 | 32.0 | 32.0 | 32.0
Gross Current Reclamation Authority | 1,866.3 | 1,273.4 | 1,627.0 | 1,275.0
Central Utah Project (CUP) Completion | 23.0 | 17.0 | 23.0 | 17.0
Reclamation and CUP | 1,889.3 | 1,290.4 | 1,650.0 | 1,292.0
CVP Restoration Fund Offset | — | — | — | -67.0
Total | 1,889.3 | 1,290.4 | 1,650.0 | 1,225.0

Sources: President's budget request for FY2027; H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement.

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

Table 4. Department of Energy Funding: FY2025-FY2027 Request

(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)

Account | FY2025 Approp | FY2026 Request | FY2026 Approp | FY2027 Request
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy | 3,460.0 | 888.0 | 1,950.0 | —
Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation | — | — | — | 1,121.7
Electricity Delivery | 280.0 | 193.0 | 235.0 | 203.5
Baseload Powera | — | — | — | 3,500.0
Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response | 200.0 | 150.0 | 190.0 | 160.2
Nuclear Energyb | 1,685.0 | 1,370.0 | 1,685.0 | 1,533.7
Fossil Energy | 865.0 | 595.0 | 580.0 | —
Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy | — | — | — | 676.0
Energy Projects | — | — | 97.6 | —
Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.0
Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)c | 213.5 | 206.4 | 206.6 | 295.2
Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve | 7.2 | 3.6 | 7.2 | 3.6
Energy Information Administration | 135.0 | 135.0 | 135.0 | 135.4
Non-Defense Environmental Cleanup | 342.0 | 322.4 | 322.4 | 338.5
Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund | 855.0 | 814.4 | 865.0 | 854.6
Science | 8,240.0 | 7,092.0 | 8,250.0 | 7,138.8
Artificial Intelligence and Quantuma | — | — | — | 1,200.0
Office of Fusion | — | — | — | 10.0
Technology Commercialization | 20.0 | — | — | 26.6
Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations | 50.0 | — | — | —
Grid Deployment Office | 60.0 | 15.0 | 25.0 | —
Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains | — | 15.0 | — | —
Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) | 460.0 | 200.0 | 350.0 | 200.3
Nuclear Waste Disposal | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0
Departmental Admin. (net) | 286.5 | 174.9 | 200.0 | 288.9
Office of Inspector General | 86.0 | 90.0 | 90.0 | 77.4
Office of Indian Energy | 70.0 | 50.0 | 75.0 | 50.0
Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loans | 13.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5
Title 17 Loan Guarantee | -115.0 | 1,699.3 | -205.0 | 179.6
Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee | 6.3 | -12.0 | 6.3 | 2.0
Critical and Emerging Technologies | — | 2.0 | — | —
Strategy and Technology Roadmaps | — | — | — | 3.0
Total, Energy Programs | 17,244.5 | 14,038.6 | 15,099.3 | 18,033.5
National Nuclear Security Admin. (NNSA) |  |  |
Weapons Activities | 19,293.0 | 20,074.4 | 20,378.0 | 27,441.2
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation | 2,396.0 | 2,284.6 | 2,367.0 | 2,389.6
Naval Reactors | 1,946.0 | 2,346.0 | 2,134.0 | 2,393.7
Office of Admin./Salaries and Expenses | 500.0 | 555.0 | 525.0 | 577.1
Total, NNSA | 24,135.0 | 25,260.0 | 25,404.0 | 32,801.5
Defense Environmental Cleanup | 7,285.0 | 6,956.0 | 7,375.0 | 6,983.2
Defense Uranium Enrichment D&D | 285.0 | 278.0 | — | 253.0
Other Defense Activities | 1,107.0 | 1,182.0 | 1,170.0 | 1,182.7
Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) |  |  |
Southwestern | 11.4 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 10.4
Western | 99.9 | 63.4 | 63.3 | 63.4
Falcon and Amistad O&M | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2
Total, PMAs | 111.5 | 74.0 | 74.0 | 74.0
General Provisions | 2.0 | 74.1 | 2.0 | 2.0
Department of Energy Total Appropriations | 50,170.3 | 47,862.7 | 49,124.3 | 59,330.1
Offsets, Transfers, and Adjustments | — | -168.1 | — | -5,417.1
Total, Department of Energy | 50,170.3 | 47,694.6 | 49,124.3 | 53,913.0

Sources: President's budget request for FY2027; H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement; P.L. 119-4.

Notes: Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding. Table includes some category adjustments for comparability. Offsets, transfers, and adjustments include transferred Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funds, negative loan guarantee subsidy costs, decommissioning fund offsets, oil sales, and excess fees. Excludes rescissions and supplementals in subsequent acts. D&D = Decontamination and Decommissioning. O&M = Operation and Maintenance.

a. Funding proposed to be transferred from IIJA.

b. Includes amounts in defense budget function. Defense amount of $160 million excluded from Energy Programs total in FY2027 request column.

c. Includes SPR Petroleum Account and rescissions.

Table 5. E&W Independent Agency Funding: FY2025-FY2027 Request

(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)

Account | FY2025 Approp | FY2026 Request | FY2026 Approp | FY2027 Request
Appalachian Regional Commission | 200.0 | 14.0 | 200.0 | 120.0
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) | 944.1 | 971.5 | 971.5 | 892.4
(Revenues) | -807.0 | -819.4 | -819.4 | 756.2
Net NRC (including Inspector General) | 137.1 | 152.1 | 152.1 | 136.2
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board | 42.0 | 45.0 | 42.0 | 45.0
Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0
Denali Commission | 17.0 | -4.0 | 18.0 | 7.0
Delta Regional Authority | 31.1 | -25.0 | 32.0 | -40.0a
Great Lakes Authority | 5.0 | -5.0 | 5.0 | -14.0b
Northern Border Regional Commission | 41.0 | -15.0 | 42.0 | -90.0c
Northwest Regional Commission | — | — | 1.0 | —
Southeast Crescent Regional Commission | 20.0 | -10.0 | 20.0 | -5.0d
Southwest Border Regional Commission | 5.0 | -1.0 | 5.5 | -1.0e
Total Appropriation | 502.3 | 215.1 | 521.6 | 312.2
Rescissions and Adjustments | — | -60.0 | — | -150.0
Adjusted Total | — | 155.1 | — | 162.2

Sources: FY2027 budget request; H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement; FY2026 Administration budget request; P.L. 119-4 and explanatory statement.

Notes: E&W = Energy and Water Development. Rescissions (negative numbers) for federal regional commissions and authorities (FRCAs) in the FY2026 and FY2027 requests are considered zero requests, and are not included in the Total Appropriation. Instead, the negative numbers are included under Rescissions and Adjustments and counted in the Adjusted Total. Columns may not sum to totals because of rounding. NRC is required to collect annual fees equal to 100% of its appropriations, minus excluded activities. The FY2027 request for the Denali Commission is for closure purposes. The FY2027 request also proposes to end the annual transfers from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (on the interest from the investment of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund) to the Denali Commission and to cancel any remaining unobligated discretionary balances from previous interest transfers. The FY2027 requests for the Delta Regional Authority, Great Lakes Authority, Northern Border Regional Commission, Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, and Southwest Border Regional Commission include amounts to be canceled from unobligated FRCA balances from prior year appropriation and cancellations from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) balances.

FY2027 request for regional commissions and authorities are for closeout funds except for the Appalachian Regional Commission.

a. $30 million in canceled unobligated discretionary funding and $10 million from IIJA.

b. Canceled unobligated discretionary funding.

c. $40 million in unobligated discretionary funding and $50 million from IIJA.

d. Canceled unobligated discretionary funding.

e. Canceled unobligated discretionary funding.

Table 6. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Funding Categories: FY2025-FY2027 Request

(budget authority in millions of nominal dollars)

Funding Category | FY2025 Approp | FY2026 Request | FY2026 Approp | FY2027 Request
Nuclear Reactor Safety | 484.9 | 502.3 | 502.3 | 460.7
Nuclear Materials and Waste Safety | 117.2 | 113.5 | 113.5 | 107.7
Decommissioning and Low-Level Waste | 24.7 | 27.9 | 27.9 | 24.8
Corporate Support | 301.6 | 309.0 | 309.0 | 285.0
Integrated University Program | — | — | 12.4 | —
Prior-Year Balances | — | — | -12.4 | —
Inspector General | 15.8 | 18.8 | 18.8 | 14.2
Total | 944.1 | 971.5 | 971.5 | 892.3
Carryover | — | — | — | —
Total Minus Carryover | 944.1 | 971.5 | 971.5 | 892.3

Sources: FY2027 budget request; H.R. 6938 (P.L. 119-74) and explanatory statement; P.L. 119-4.

Notes: Fee offsets and some adjustments are excluded (see Table 2).

Congressional Hearings

The following hearings were held by the Energy and Water Development subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the FY2027 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 Appropriations Committee Hearings

Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, April 16, 2026, https://appropriations.house.gov/schedule/hearings/budget-hearing-army-corps-engineers-and-bureau-reclamation

Department of Energy, April 15, 2026, https://appropriations.house.gov/schedule/hearings/budget-hearing-department-energy

Senate Appropriations Committee Hearings

National Nuclear Security Administration, April 29, 2026, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-review-of-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2027-budget-request-for-the-national-nuclear-security-administration

Department of Energy, April 22, 2026, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-review-of-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2027-budget-request-for-the-department-of-energy

Key Policy Staff

Area of Expertise | Name
General (Coordinators) | Mark Holt Anna E. Normand
Corps of Engineers | Anna E. Normand Nicole T. Carter
Bureau of Reclamation | Charles V. Stern
Renewable Energy | Martin C. Offutt
Energy Efficiency | Martin C. Offutt
Fossil Energy | Ashley J. Lawson
Hydrogen | Martin C. Offutt
Strategic Petroleum Reserve | Phillip Brown
Nuclear Energy | Mark Holt
Science and ARPA-E Quantum Information Science Artificial Intelligence | Todd Kuiken Ling Zhu Laurie Harris
Loan Programs | Phillip Brown
Nuclear Weapons Stewardship | Anya L. Fink
Nonproliferation | Mary Beth D. Nikitin
DOE Environmental Management | Lance N. Larson
Power Marketing Administrations | Charles V. Stern
Bonneville Power Administration | Charles V. Stern
Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities | Julie M. Lawhorn
Appropriations Legislative Procedures | James V. Saturno Bill Heniff Megan S. Lynch

Footnotes

1.

Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government Appendix, Fiscal Year 2027, April 2026, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/appendix_fy2027.pdf; DOE, "FY 2027 Budget Justification," April 3, 2026, https://www.energy.gov/cfo/articles/fy-2027-budget-justification. For additional details, see references in Agency Budget Justifications section.

2.

This overall Energy and Water (E&W) total is calculated by adding the total budget request for agencies covered by the bill, not including rescissions, offsets, transfers, and supplementals. Selected FY2027 budget justifications provide detailed descriptions and funding breakouts for accounts, programs, projects, and activities under the agencies' jurisdiction. See "Agency Budget Justifications."

3. | Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government Appendix, Fiscal Year 2027, April 2026, p. 424, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/appendix_fy2027.pdf.

4.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Fiscal Year 2027 Civil Works Budget of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#Budget%20Information; Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Central Utah Project (CUP) FY2027 budget justifications are available at, Department of the Interior (DOI), "Fiscal Year 2027," https://www.doi.gov/budget/appropriations/2027.

5. | In the text of this report, dollar numbers are nominal and rounded to the nearest million. Detailed agency appropriations tables round dollars to the tenths of a million. The total for the FY2027 E&W request consists of the sum of agency request totals and does not include budgetary offsets.
6. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification Budget in Brief, April 2026, p. 33, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-budget-brief.

7.

Six FRCAs are currently active, meaning they are engaged in economic development activities in their service areas, have received recent appropriations, and have a Senate-confirmed federal co-chair (or equivalent) in place. These are the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), Delta Regional Authority (DRA), Denali Commission, Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC), Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC), and Southwest Border Regional Commission (SBRC). Five FRCAs are currently inactive, and do not have all of those features as of May 9, 2026: the Great Lakes Authority (GLA), Mid-Atlantic Regional Commission (MARC), Northern Great Plains Regional Authority (NGPRA), Northwest Regional Commission (NRC), and Southern New England Regional Commission (SNERC).

8.

During the moratorium, Congress appropriated funding for USACE and Reclamation above the requested amounts for categories of work, called additional funding, without identifying specific projects. In the 117th and 118th Congresses, enacted appropriations included additional funding for USACE and Reclamation, along with community project funding (CPF) and congressionally directed spending (CDS).

9.

Earmarks were included in the reports accompanying FY2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations (E&W) bills approved by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. However, Section 1111 of established that the act did not provide funding for earmarks. For more information on earmark restrictions in P.L. 119-4, see CRS Report R48517, Section-by-Section Summary of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (Division A of P.L. 119-4), coordinated by Drew C. Aherne.

10.

U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, "Fiscal Year 2027 Guidance on Community Project Funding Requests," https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/fy27-ew-cpf-guidance.pdf. U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, "General Guidance on Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations Requests," https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy2027_appropriations_requests_general_guidance.pdf.

11. | U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, "General Guidance on Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations Requests," https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy2027_appropriations_requests_general_guidance.pdf.

12.

OMB, Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2027, "Program Cuts and Eliminations," p. 16, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/budget_fy2027.pdf; OMB, Budget of the U.S. Government Appendix, p. 424, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/appendix_fy2027.pdf.

13. | USACE, Fiscal Year 2027 Civil Works Budget of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#Budget%20Information.
14. | USACE, Civil Works Budget – Operation and Maintenance Account, Budget Crosswalk, https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll6/id/2587.
15. | USACE, Fiscal Year 2027 Civil Works Budget of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#Budget%20Information.
16. | USACE, Fiscal Year 2027 Civil Works Budget of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#Budget%20Information.
17. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, p. 34, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-2-cmei.
18. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification—Baseload Power, April 2026, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-3-bp.
19. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification—Budget in Brief, p. 47, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-budget-brief.
20. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Office of Science, 2026, p. 101, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-4-sc.
21. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Biological and Environmental Research, 2026, p. 102, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-4-sc.
22. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Office of Science, 2026, p. 101, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-4-sc.

23.

DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Biological and Environmental Research, 2026, p. 102, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-4-sc. DOE's Genesis Mission, launched in 2025, is "a national initiative to build the world's most powerful scientific platform to accelerate discovery science, strengthen national security, and drive energy innovation" by developing "an integrated platform that connects the world's best supercomputers, experimental facilities, AI systems, and unique datasets across every major scientific domain to double the productivity and impact of American research and innovation within a decade." The mission is focused on three overarching challenge areas: energy dominance, scientific discovery, and national security. For additional information see DOE, "Genesis Mission," 2025, https://genesis.energy.gov/.

24. | For additional information on ITER see CRS Report R48362, ITER—An International Nuclear Fusion Research and Development Facility, coordinated by Todd Kuiken.
25. | For additional information on fusion energy science see CRS Report R48866, Toward Commercial Fusion Energy: Considerations for Congress, by Todd Kuiken.

26.

DOE, "Energy Department Announces Organizational Realignment to Strengthen Efficiency and Unleash American Energy," press release, November 20, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-organizational-realignment-strengthen-efficiency-and-unleash. For DOE's November 25, 2025, organizational chart, see https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-11/Organization-Chart-11.20.2025-2.pdf.

27. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Office of Fusion, 2026, p. 2, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-4-fusion.
28. | DOE, "Energy Department Announces Organizational Realignment to Strengthen Efficiency and Unleash American Energy," press release, November 20, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-organizational-realignment-strengthen-efficiency-and-unleash.
29. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Artificial Intelligence and Quantum, 2026, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-vol-4-artificial-intelligence-and-quantum.
30. | DOE, Artificial Intelligence and Quantum FY 2027 Congressional Justification, 2026, p. 2, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-vol-4-artificial-intelligence-and-quantum.
31. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Office of Science, 2026, p. 11, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-4-sc.
32. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Advanced Scientific Computing Research, 2026, p. 8, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-4-sc.
33. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy, 2026, p. 2, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-2-arpa-e.
34. | DOE, FY2027 Congressional Budget Justification—Weapons Activities, April 2026, pp. 16 and 20, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-1-wa.
35. | For more information, see CRS In Focus IF10519, Defense Primer: Strategic Nuclear Forces, by Anya L. Fink.
36. | For more information, see CRS In Focus IF12945, U.S. Strategic Bombers, by Jennifer DiMascio and Anya L. Fink.
37. | For more information, see CRS In Focus IF11681, Defense Primer: LGM-35A Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, by Anya L. Fink.
38. | DOE, FY2026 Detailed Budget Justification—Energy and Water Development Appropriations, Volume 1, National Nuclear Security Administration, Weapons Activities, p. 3, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/doe-fy-2026-vol-1-wa.pdf.
39. | DOE, FY2026 Detailed Budget Justification—Energy and Water Development Appropriations, Volume 1, National Nuclear Security Administration, Weapons Activities, p. 16, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/doe-fy-2026-vol-1-wa.pdf.
40. | House Armed Services Committee, FY26 NDAA Resources, FY26 NDAA Joint Explanatory Statement, https://armedservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fy26_ndaa_joint_explanatory_statement.pdf.
41. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, Budget in Brief, p. 61, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-budget-brief.
42. | Senator Patty Murray, "On Senate Floor, Murray Blasts Trump's Budget Request and Speaks About Path Forward for FY27 Appropriations," news release, April 16, 2026, https://www.murray.senate.gov/on-senate-floor-murray-blasts-trumps-budget-request-and-speaks-about-path-forward-for-fy27-appropriations.
43. | DOE, FY 2027 Congressional Justification, vol. 5, April 2026, p. 212, https://www.energy.gov/documents/doe-fy-2027-volume-5-em.

44.

Additionally the Appalachian Regional Commission annual appropriation was proposed to be reduced from $200 million in FY2026 to $120 million in FY2027 (-40%). See White House, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), The President's FY 2026 Discretionary Budget Request, May 2, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/budget/the-presidents-fy-2026-discretionary-budget-request.

45. | White House, OMB, Budget of the U.S. Government - Appendix, April 3, 2026, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/appendix_fy2027.pdf.

46.

P.L. 119-74 provided appropriations for "expenses necessary to establish a Northwest Regional Commission" and that the funding for the commission "shall be used to carry out activities authorized for other regional Commissions by subtitle V of title 40, United States Code." The commission is not active.

47. | White House, OMB, Budget of the U.S. Government - Appendix, April 3, 2026, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/appendix_fy2027.pdf.

48.

The other three federal regional commissions and authorities (FRCAs) are the Mid-Atlantic Regional Commission (MARC), Northern Great Plans Regional Authority (NGPRA), and Southern New England Regional Commission (SNERC). As of the date of publication, MARC, NGPRA, SNERC, and the Great Lakes Authority (GLA) are not active, and none of these have a confirmed federal co-chair. For additional information, see CRS Report R45997, Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Structural Features and Function.

49.

Each of the six functioning regional commissions and authorities engage in economic development to varying extents, and they address multiple programmatic activities in their respective service areas. These activities may include, but are not limited to, basic infrastructure, energy, ecology/environment and natural resources, workforce, and business development/entrepreneurship. For more information, see CRS In Focus IF11140, Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Overview of Structure and Activities.

50.

The presidential nomination and Senate confirmation of a federal co-chair is an essential step for the GLA to start operations; as of the date of publication, the Senate has not confirmed a federal co-chair for the GLA (a nominee by President Biden was not confirmed, and President Trump has not submitted a nominee). For more information, see CRS In Focus IF11744, Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Authorization.