Washington Watch, 5/5/2011
FY 2011 Budget is Final; FY 2012 Begins
Conrad Anker testifies in Support of the Land and Water Conservation Fund
America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative
FY 2011 Budget is Final; FY 2012 Begins
Congress returned from a two-week spring recess on May 2nd, and after wrapping up the extremely long Fiscal Year 2011 budget process and taking the first steps towards setting the budget for the next fiscal year. Due to concerns over the deficit, discretionary spending, the cost of mandatory spending programs and the need to increase the debt limit or risk serious financial implications, the next several weeks and months will be largely focused on these top-line budgetary issues.
Congress approved the FY 11 federal budget on April 14, after missing the initial fiscal year deadline for completion of all appropriations bills by more than six months. After enacting six short-term Continuing Resolutions (CR), which kept the government in operation, Congress finally negotiated an agreement all sides could live with, avoiding by one hour a government-wide shutdown. The final agreement cut $38 billion from the previous year's funding levels, less than the $61 billion in cuts proposed by the House of Representatives in February, but still a major reduction in expenditures - mostly hitting non-defense discretionary programs. This includes a significant cut in funding for land conservation programs which are detailed below. In some regard, especially compared to the very draconian cuts and program eliminations included in the House-passed version, things could have come out a lot worse but these cuts still have enormous impacts to conservation efforts on the ground. Read press release.
For the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the country's premiere federal program for protecting lands for all Americans, the final level of $301 million is far closer to $450 million than it is to $58 million proposed by the House of Representatives (read press release). It is gratifying that in the end, Congress and the Administration recognized the continued value of the LWCF, and it lives to the next budget cycle. However, the continued emphasis on spending reductions—especially in the dwindling non-defense discretionary spending pot—has significant implications going into the next round in FY 2012 and so the fight begins again.
Following below are the specific program levels in the final FY 11 budget. There are some programs whose funding levels are not yet determined, so that is why we aren't reporting something more specific for some programs.
There is a 0.2 percent across the board cut to the following funding levels—all non-defense discretionary accounts get this cut.
Conservation programs
LWCF - $301 million - instead of $450 million in FY 2010 (enacted) and $590 million proposed in FY 11
BLM - $22 M - instead of $29.65 M enacted and $83.65 M proposed in FY 11
FWS - $55 M - instead of $86.34 M enacted and $106.34 M proposed in FY 11
NPS - $55 M - instead of $86.266 M enacted and $106.266 M proposed in FY 11
NPS state grants - $40 M - same as enacted and instead of $50 M proposed in FY 11
USFS - $33 M - instead of $63.522 M enacted and $73.664 M proposed in FY 11
Forest Legacy - $53 M instead of $76.46 M enacted and $100.11 M proposed in FY 11
Section 6 land acquisition - $31 M instead of $56 M enacted and proposed in FY 11
OVS (appraisal services) - $12.136 M - same as FY 10 enacted and instead of $14.136 M proposed in FY 11
Under the terms of the FY 11 budget bill, the agencies have 30 days from April 15 to submit to Congress a "spend plan" that details how they will spend the LWCF and FLP dollars they have been allocated. The agencies are compiling those lists now.
Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP) - The CR did not specifically direct a spending cut for the CELCP program, but rather specified a funding allocation for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Procurement, Acquisition and Construction (PAC) account, out of which CELCP is funded, at a rate of $1.335 billion. This represents a relatively small decrease from the FY 10 level of $1.36 billion. While $20 million was appropriated for CELCP in FY 10, the exact funding level for CELCP in FY 11 has yet to be determined by NOAA but will be specified in a spend plan the agency is required to submit to Congress within 30 days of the budget's enactment. The Trust for Public Land recently worked with a coalition of coastal stakeholders to send a letter to the Secretary of Commerce in support of NOAA's coastal programs and urging attention to these programs in FY 11. The letter highlights the conservation achievements of the CELCP program since its creation in 2002 and demonstrates the broad support for the program.
North American Wetlands Conservation Act - $37.5 M, instead of $47.6 M enacted and $42.6 M proposed in FY 11.
Farm and Ranchland Protection - no specified cut; final level not known yet.
DOD Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI) - $100 M, a doubling of the program over the FY 10 enacted level of $50 million. This is the only conservation program that saw an increase in funding coming out of this protracted budget process.
Urban-related programs
Community Development Block Grants - $3.34 B, down $650 M from $3.99 B enacted
EPA Brownfields Site Assessment and Cleanup - $100 M, same as FY 10
EPA Brownfields Assistance to the States - $49.5 M, same as FY 10
HUD Brownfields EDI - eliminated, a cut of $17 M from FY 10 enacted
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) - $528M, a cut of $72 M from FY 10 enacted
The Partnership for Sustainable Communities - $100 M, a cut of $50 M from FY10 enacted
Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds - $1.988 B, a $997 M cut from FY 10, and a $797 M cut compared to FY 11 request (which had already been proposed for a cut by President Obama because of an infusion of stimulus funds in FY 10).
Next steps in Congress
With the FY 11 budget now settled, we turn our attention to the FY 12 budget process, which Congress is working on now. On April 15, the House of Representatives approved an FY 12 budget that assumes further cuts to discretionary spending and conservation programs. It again adopts the House position laid out in H.R. 1 for the FY 11 process that reduced LWCF to $58 million.
In stark contrast to the House efforts to slash conservation programs, the FY 12 President's budget released in February shows some real promise for land conservation funding, including fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million. We believe this is the first time a President has proposed this level of funding in an annual budget since the authorized level was increased to $900 million in 1978. Read press release.
Here is what that proposed $900 million would mean for specific agencies and programs:
LWCF federal acquisitions - $440 M
Bureau of Land Management - $50 M
US Fish and Wildlife Service - $140 M
National Park Service - $160 M
US Forest Service - $90 M
DOI Office of Valuation Services - $25 M
Forest Legacy Program - $135 M
Section 6 Cooperative Endangered Species Fund- $100 M
NPS state grants - $200 M (formula grants = $78 M, new competitive grants = 117 M, admin = $5 M)
Other FY 12 proposed budget highlights:
North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) - $50 M
Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP) - $25 M
Farm and Ranchland Protection (FRPP) - $200 M
DOD REPI buffer program - $99.986 M
Congress has nearly completed its agency-specific hearings on the President's FY 12 budget proposals and will turn its attention to writing the 12 individual appropriations bills. This effort begins in the House and will likely occur in June.
Conrad Anker testifies in Support of the Land and Water Conservation Fund
On April 15, 2011, Conrad Anker, world-renowned alpine climber—who discovered lost explorer George Mallory’s body on Mt. Everest—testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, the Environment and Related Agencies in support of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The fund was reduced by 33% in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget and could face further cuts. Supported by offshore oil and gas leasing revenues—not taxpayers’ dollars—the LWCF ensures all Americans have access to local community parks and playgrounds and the vast expanses of federal public lands.
In his testimony, Anker said, “LWCF enhances access to the outdoors for active recreation and keeps the doors open to the outdoor industry, which contributes $730 billion to the economy each year.” His testimony urged Congress to reject further cuts.
Anker, who manages the athlete department for The North Face, appeared on behalf of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition, a broad-based coalition of conservation, recreation, environment, business, historic and cultural organizations working to secure full and dedicated funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Visit the LWCF coalition’s news page to read more.
America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative
In 2010, President Obama launched the America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative to bring in outside conservation partners to help create his 21st century conservation and recreation agenda. During the summer of 2010, the leadership of the Department of Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Army Corps of Engineers conducted approximately 51 listening sessions in various areas across the country—from Los Angeles, CA to Nashville, TN—to engage adults and youth alike on their conservation vision and how to make the Federal Government a better partner with states, tribes, and local communities.
The goal of these listening sessions was to produce a report, based on comments from conservation supporters that would be the framework for how to create the President’s 21st century conservation and recreation agenda. After receiving over 105,000 comments, the AGO report was released on February 16, 2011, and outlined the President’s proposal for connecting American’s to the great outdoors. Major themes identified in the report are:
- Enhancing Recreational Access and Opportunities
- Engaging Young People in Conservation
- Full Funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)
- Establishing Great Urban Parks and Community Green Spaces
- Protecting and Renewing Rivers and other Waters; and
- Making the Federal Government a More Effective Conservation Partner
One major initiative that was introduced in the chapter on establishing great urban parks was a recommendation to focus a portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for urban parks and broaden guidelines for state comprehensive outdoor recreation plans to support urban parks and green spaces.
This was reflected in the President’s FY 2012 budget which included $122 million from LWCF state conservation grants to develop a competitive component targeted at community parks and green spaces, landscape-style conservation, and recreational waterways. The goal of these grants would be to fund “signature projects” that create more outdoor recreational opportunities and conserve open space where access to natural areas has been unavailable. The Department of Interior is finalizing the details of this effort with the guidance of State and Local park and recreation directors, State outdoor recreation liaisons, and conservation nonprofit organizations like TPL.
The Obama Administration is working with TPL and many other groups on implementing the AGO recommendations and visiting all 50 states to identify conservation and recreation opportunities that meet the initiative’s goals.
