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1 1 (July 18, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govemga0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congress onal Research Service Inforrming the legislative debate since 1914 Updated July 18, 2023 Bureau of Reclamation: FY2024 Budget and Appropriations The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), part of the Department of the Interior, is responsible for the construction and operation of hundreds of large dams and water diversion structures in the 17 western reclamation states as designated in statute (43 U.S.C. §391). Reclamation is the largest wholesale supplier of water in these 17 states and the second-largest hydroelectric power producer in the nation. Reclamation's mission areas and geographic scope are narrower than those of the other principal federal water resource agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Reclamation's Water and Related Resources account funds most agency activities, including construction, operations and maintenance, dam safety, ecosystem restoration, and Indian water rights settlements, as well as the agency's programmatic and grant authorities (including those for water reuse and recycling, desalination, conservation and efficiency, and restoration, among other purposes). Reclamation typically also receives funding for three smaller accounts: California Bay-Delta Restoration, the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund (which is offset by customer receipts), and Policy and Administration. FY2024 Budget and Appropriations The Administration budget request for Reclamation is usually for a lower amount than the final enacted total of annual appropriations. For FY2024, the President requested $1.45 billion in current budget authority (i.e., appropriations before offsets) for Reclamation and the House Appropriations Committee approved $1.84 billion. The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023 (Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, P.L. 117-328), provided $1.93 billion for Reclamation. Figure 1 shows recent Reclamation annual appropriations levels. In addition to regular appropriations, Congress has provided Reclamation with supplemental appropriations that may factor into FY2024 appropriations considerations. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58) included $8.30 billion in supplemental appropriations for various infrastructure-focused Reclamation expenditures. This funding is to be made available in equal installments from FY2022 to FY2026 (i.e., $1.66 billion per year). P.L. 117-169 (popularly known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, IRA) provided an additional $4.59 billion for Reclamation, including $4.00 billion for western drought mitigation with priority given to actions in the Colorado River Basin. IIJA funding is no year funding, meaning it remains available until expended; IRA funding is to remain available until FY2026 or FY2031, depending on the provision. Reclamation has been gradually allocating IIJA funding in spend plans for each fiscal year and is releasing IRA funding on a rolling basis. Figure I. Reclamation Annual Appropriations, FY20 16-FY2024 (nominal $ in millions) stooo $500 E Water and Reated Rescurces N All Other Accounts Source: CRS, based on FY2016-FY2023 enacted appropriations, the FY2024 President's budget request, and H.Rept. 118-126. Notes: Does not reflect supplemental funding or offsetting receipts. Earmarks and Reclamation Reclamation's Water and Related Resources account consists largely of individual project funding lines. During the 112th1 116th Congresses, Reclamation appropriations were subject to general earmark moratoriums that restricted Congress from funding geographically specific project line items not requested by the Administration. Instead, Congress included additional funding amounts for selected categories of Reclamation projects, typically in five categories: Rural Water, Water Conservation and Delivery, Environmental Restoration and Compliance, Fish Passage/Fish Screens, and Facilities Maintenance and Rehabilitation. The Administration allocated these funds for specific projects in spend plans made available several months after enactment of the appropriations bills. (Spend plans are available at http://www.usbr.gov/budget/.) In FY2022, Congress included the first Member-requested earmarks since the I11t Congress. These funds were categorized as community project funding (CPF) or congressionally directed spending (CDS) in the House and Senate, respectively. For FY2023, the explanatory statement for the enacted bill continued to include these funds in their recommendations for Reclamation, in addition to amounts designated as Additional Funding. In its FY2024 recommendation, the House Appropriations

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