Agriculture and Forestry
Climate Change
Renewable Energy

FY 2011 Budget Compromise Cuts Funding for Environmental, Energy Programs

By

April 19, 2011

The final federal budget for fiscal year 2011 (ending September 30, 2011), signed by President Obama on April 15, will reduce spending by about $38.5 billion compared to FY 2010 appropriated levels. The compromise among Congressional Republicans, Democrats, and the White House included significant cuts to environmental and energy programs within the Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Transportation (DOT), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Labor (DOL). Below are some highlights by department.

Specific program cuts within the DOE include:

  • The Nuclear Energy Program was cut $56 million (7 percent) below the FY 2010 level.
  • The Fossil Energy Program was cut $226 million (24 percent) below the FY 2010 level.
  • The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program was cut $408 million (18 percent) below the FY 2010 level.
  • The Electric Delivery and Energy Reliability Program was cut $31 million (18 percent) below the FY 2010 level.

Specific program cuts within the USDA include:

  • The USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) was cut $34 million (85 percent) below the FY 2010 level.
  • The USDA Biomass Crop Assistance Program was cut $134 million (54 percent) below the FY 2010 level.
  • The USDA’s Wetlands Reserve, Conservation Stewardship, and Environmental Quality Incentives Programs were cut a combined $239 million (11 percent) below FY 2010 levels.

Specific program cuts within the HUD include:

  • No funding for the Brownfields Redevelopment Program, which received $18 million in FY 2010.
  • No funding for the Energy Innovation Fund, which received $50 million in FY 2010.

Specific program cuts within the DOT include:

  • The Federal Transit Administration was cut $705 million (6 percent) below the FY 2010 level.
  • No funding for high speed rail, which received $2.5 billion in FY 2010; $400 million in unobligated funds were rescinded.

Specific program cuts within the DOL include:

  • No funding for the Green Jobs Innovation Fund, which received $40 million in FY 2010.

The EPA was cut by $1.6 billion, or 16 percent compared to the FY 2010 level. Climate change programs were cut $49 million below FY 2010 levels.

One energy program that saw a boost in funding was DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which funds high-risk, high-reward research and development projects. ARPA-E was not funded last year but received $180 million for FY 2011.

 


For more information, see:
House Appropriations Committee - Majority Summary
House Appropriations Committee - Minority Summary
Senate Appropriations Committee Summary
Full text of spending bill H.R. 1473