Interior Spending Bills Move Forward in House, Senate

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee passed the FY2017 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill by a vote of 31-18. The bill totals $32.1 billion in spending and funds for the Interior Department as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The bill contains numerous policy riders, including provisions to block the "Waters of the US" or WOTUS rule, the carbon limits on power plants rule and the methane emissions rule. Also last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its own FY2017 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill by a vote of 16-14. Total funding for the bill is $32.03 billion which is almost identical to the House version and is approximately $1 billion less than President Obama’s budget request. Similar to the House bill, the Senate bill contains policy riders blocking the WOTUS rule and other environmental regulations.

The WOTUS rule significantly expands the jurisdiction of the Army Corps and EPA over waterways and is currently under a nationwide stay while legal challenges to the rule are worked out in the court system. NRMCA is concerned about how expansion of federal jurisdiction over marginal waters would place an undue burden on ready mixed concrete and aggregate operations, and new construction starts.