[Budget of the United States Government]
[VI. Investing in the Common Good: Program Performance in Federal Functions]
[16. Natural Resources and Environment]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
                 16.  NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                 Table 16-1.  FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT                 
                                            (In millions of dollars)                                            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               Estimate                         
               Function 300                   1997   -----------------------------------------------------------
                                             Actual     1998      1999      2000      2001      2002      2003  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spending:                                                                                                       
  Discretionary Budget Authority..........    22,426    23,180    22,613    22,284    21,990    22,027    22,343
  Mandatory Outlays:                                                                                            
    Existing law..........................        51     1,059       712       846       739       544       682
    Proposed legislation..................  ........  ........       203       223       304       337       327
Credit Activity:                                                                                                
  Direct loan disbursements...............        31        42        40        44        46        48        51
Tax Expenditures:                                                                                               
  Existing law............................     1,700     1,710     1,740     1,740     1,735     1,725     1,710
  Proposed legislation....................  ........  ........       -86       -78       -78       -83       -91
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   The Federal Government spends over $20 billion a year to protect the 
environment, manage federal land, conserve resources, provide 
recreational opportunities, and construct and operate water projects. 
\1\ The Federal Government manages about 700 million acres--a third of 
the U.S. continental land area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  \1\  The Natural Resources and Environment function does not reflect 
total Federal support for the environment and natural resources. It does 
not include, for instance, the environmental clean-up programs at the 
Departments of Energy and Defense.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Federal lands include the 376 units of the National Park System, with 
such unique resources as Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone 
National Park, and Gettysburg National Military Park; the 156 National 
Forests; the 510 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System; and 
land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 11 Western States 
(see Chart 16-1).
   Within this function, Federal efforts focus on providing cleaner air 
and water, conserving natural resources, and cleaning up environmental 
contamination. The major goals include:
   Protecting human health and safeguarding the natural 
          environment--air, water, and land--upon which life depends.
   Restoring and maintaining the health of federally managed 
          lands, waters, and renewable resources.
   Providing recreational opportunities for the public to enjoy 
          natural and cultural resources.

National Parks

   The Federal Government invests over $1.6 billion a year to maintain a 
system of national parks that covers over 83 million acres in 49 States, 
the District of Columbia, and various territories. Although funding for 
the National Park Service (NPS) has steadily increased (almost five 
percent a year since 1986), the popularity of national parks has 
generated even faster growth in the number of visitors, new parks, and 
additional NPS responsibilities.
   With demands growing faster than available resources, NPS is taking 
new, creative, and more efficient approaches to managing parks

[[Page 174]]



and has developed performance measures against which to weigh its 
progress.
   Using higher funding from the proposed Environmental 
          Resources Fund for America, the NPS will begin systematically 
          addressing the backlog of priority construction and 
          maintenance projects at national parks and, in 1999, will 
          develop a five-year list of the highest priorities to address 
          and allocate funds to address about 20 percent of them.
   NPS is focusing construction and maintenance funds on the 
          highest priorities based on objective criteria and, in 1999, 
          will implement controls, reengineer the measurement process, 
          and establish capital plans with approved cost, schedule, and 
          project goals for each major construction project.
   NPS will use the receipts from recreation and user fees to 
          finance park improvements and, in 1999, will increase the 
          receipts by 14 percent, compared to 1997 levels.
   NPS will implement park management reforms that will increase 
          returns to the Government from park concessions to eight 
          percent in 1999, compared to a baseline of six percent in 
          1997.
   NPS is establishing broader cooperative arrangements through 
          partnerships with public and private groups and, in 1999, will 
          use those partnerships to protect an additional 220 miles of 
          trails, 240 miles of rivers, and 7,000 acres of parks and open 
          spaces.

Conservation and Land Management

   The 75 percent of Federal land that comprises the National Forests, 
National Grasslands, National Wildlife Refuges, and the BLM-administered 
public lands also provides significant public recreation. BLM provides 
for nearly 55 million recreational visits a year, while over 30 million 
visitors watch wildlife each year at National Wildlife Refuges.

[[Page 175]]

 With its 125,000 miles of trails, the Forest Service is the largest 
single supplier of public outdoor recreation, providing 348 million 
recreational visitor days last year.
   Federal lands provide other benefits. BLM and the Forest Service, 
with combined annual budgets of about $4.4 billion, manage for multiple 
purposes. Federal laws require that the Forest Service manage the 
National Forests for outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, 
wildlife and fish, and wilderness, and that the BLM manage the public 
lands that it administers for multiple uses.
   The agencies concentrate on the long-term goal of providing 
sustainable levels of multiple uses while ensuring and enhancing 
ecological integrity. Their performance measures include the following:
   The Forest Service will target its higher funding to needed 
          watershed restoration work by increasing acres of watershed 
          restoration work by 43 percent (to 40,000 acres) over 1998 
          levels of 28,000 acres; increasing the acres of range 
          restoration by 24 percent (to 42,000 acres) over 1998 levels 
          of 34,000 acres; increasing the number of miles of road 
          obliterated to 3,500 miles, as compared to a 1998 baseline of 
          1,200 miles in 1998; and increasing the number of acres 
          treated for fire hazard reduction to 1.6 million, compared to 
          a 1998 planned level of 1.3 million.
   For priority watersheds, BLM will enhance the ecological 
          integrity of 25 percent more miles of riparian areas and 35 
          percent more acres of wetlands in 1999, compared to 1996, and 
          increase the number of acres treated for fire hazard reduction 
          by prescribed fire and mechanical means by 12 percent.
   The Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), with a 
budget of $1.3 billion, manages 93 million acres of refuges and, with 
the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 
protects species on Federal and non-Federal lands.
  Proposed 1999 funding increases will enable the refuge system 
          to protect, enhance, and restore 661,000 more acres, over the 
          1997 baseline of 96 million acres.
   FWS' 1999 funding increase will double the number of acres 
          covered by Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs); improve the 
          development and implementation of HCPs through increased 
          public participation, monitoring, and adaptive management; 
          extend Candidate Conservation Agreement protections to another 
          80 species; keep 20 candidate species off the endangered 
          species list; and help ensure that 60 percent of listed 
          species are stabilized or improved in status.
   NMFS will implement programs in 1999 to continue fully 
          assessing 79 percent of fish stocks, cutting commercial by-
          catch by 15 percent, and increasing the number of listed 
          species that improve in status to 15, over a baseline of 12.
   Half the continental United States is crop, pasture, and range land 
owned and managed by two percent of Americans--farmers and ranchers. The 
Agriculture Department's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service 
provides technical assistance to ensure sound management of this land:
   Under USDA's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), the Federal Government 
buys long-term or permanent easements from landowners for cropland, 
which is taken out of production and restored to wetlands. Landowners 
receive fair market value for the land and cost-share assistance to 
cover the restoration expenses. The budget proposes to enroll another 
164,000 acres, bringing total cumulative enrollment to over 655,000 by 
the end of 1999. The Administration's goal for WRP remains one of 
reaching total enrollment of 975,000 acres by the end of calendar 2000.
   To enhance water quality along streams and lakes, and provide 
          important new riparian wildlife and fish habitat, USDA will 
          retire at least 50,000 miles of conservation buffers in 1999, 
          the same high level as in 1998.
   In 1999, USDA will restore two million acres of native 
          grassland vegetation (the same as the 1998 level), and 
          complete conservation management systems for grazing lands, 
          which help control erosion and

[[Page 176]]

          benefit habitat, on 6.4 million acres, compared to six million 
          acres in 1998.
  In 1999, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides 
funds to farmers and ranchers to adopt sound conservation practices and 
comply with environmental requirements, will better target areas of 
environmental need requiring that funding be allocated in conservation 
priority areas.
   Federal and non-Federal agencies are carrying out long-term 
restoration plans for several nationally significant ecosystems, such as 
those in South Florida and the California Bay-Delta. The South Florida 
ecosystem is a national treasure that includes the Everglades and 
Florida Bay. Its long-term viability is critical for the tourism and 
fishing industries, and for the water supply, economy, and quality of 
life for South Florida's six million people. Low water quality in the 
San Francisco Bay-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem has degraded wildlife 
habitat, endangered several species, and reduced the estuary's 
reliability as a water source.
   The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will complete its 
          comprehensive review of the central and southern Florida 
          project by July 1, 1999, thus providing a master plan for 
          restoring the Everglades while accommodating other demands for 
          water and related resources in South Florida. By September 30, 
          2002, 10 percent of all known federally endangered and 
          threatened species in South Florida will be able to be ``down 
          listed.''
  The Bay-Delta program is undergoing National Environmental Policy Act 
review of three major alternatives for the Bay-Delta, and it will 
develop specific, measurable goals after the analysis is complete and an 
alternative is selected.
   The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is an important tool for 
species and habitat conservation. It uses the royalties of offshore oil 
and gas leases to help Federal, State, and local governments acquire 
land for conservation and outdoor recreation.
   In 1999, LWCF funds will provide for the acquisition of 
          parcels to enhance National Parks, provide habitat for 
          species, protect our natural and cultural resource heritage, 
          and improve land ownership patterns for greater efficiency.
   The management of lands, the availability and quality of water, and 
improvements in the protection of resources is based on sound natural 
resources science. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides research 
and information to land managers and the public to better understand 
ecosystems and species habitat, land and water resources, and natural 
hazards.
   In 1999, USGS, in partnership with other Federal natural 
          hazards information providers, will develop an integrated 
          disaster information network to improve mitigation and 
          preparedness for natural disasters.
   In 1999, USGS will provide water quantity and quality 
          information on 1,000 U.S. watersheds that the Clean Water 
          Action Plan identified as impaired (half of the Nation's 
          watersheds). These data, together with completed water quality 
          assessments, will help develop water quality management models 
          that resource managers need to forecast results from changing 
          land use.
   The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA) manages ocean and coastal resources in the 20-mile 
Exclusive Economic Zone. Its National Ocean Service and National Marine 
Fisheries Service manages 201 fish stocks and 163 marine mammal 
populations. NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS), using data collected 
by the National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service, 
provides weather forecasts and flood warnings. Its Office of Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Research provides science for policy decisions in areas such 
as climate change, air quality and ozone depletion.
   In 1999, NWS' ongoing modernization will increase the lead 
          time of flash flood warnings to 32 minutes and the accuracy of 
          flash flood warnings to 82 percent; increase the lead time of 
          severe thunderstorm warnings to 19 minutes and the accuracy of 
          severe thunderstorm warnings to 84 percent, and achieve a six-
          month lead time for El Nino Southern Oscillation forecasts.

[[Page 177]]

Pollution Control and Abatement

   The Federal Government helps achieve the Nation's pollution control 
goals by: (1) taking direct action; (2) funding actions by State, local, 
and Tribal governments; and (3) implementing the Nation's environmental 
regulatory system. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) $7.8 
billion in discretionary funds and the Coast Guard's $100 million Oil 
Spill Liability Trust Fund (which funds oil spill cleanups in U.S. 
waters) finance these activities. EPA's discretionary funds include 
three major components--the operating program, Superfund, and water 
infrastructure financing.
   EPA's $3.6 billion operating program provides the Federal funding to 
implement most Federal pollution control laws, including the Clean Air, 
Clean Water, Solid Waste Disposal, Safe Drinking Water, and the Toxic 
Substances Control Acts. EPA protects human health and the environment 
by developing national pollution control standards, largely enforced by 
the States under EPA-delegated authority. For example, under the Clean 
Air Act, EPA has developed health-based National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS) for six air pollutants: ozone, particulate matter, 
carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and nitrogen dioxide. Among 
these, ground-level ozone and particulate matter are the most complex, 
difficult to control, and pervasive. EPA recently revised the standard 
for ozone and promulgated a new standard for particulate matter to 
further protect human health.
   In 1999, EPA will certify that eight of the estimated 38 
          remaining nonattainment areas have achieved the current NAAQS 
          for ozone (See Chart 16-2).
   In 1999, EPA will certify that 13 of the 58 estimated 
          remaining nonattainment areas have achieved the NAAQS for 
          carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, or lead.
   Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), EPA and 
authorized States prevent dangerous releases to the environment 



[[Page 178]]

of hazardous, industrial nonhazardous, and municipal solid wastes by 
requiring proper facility management. EPA and authorized States also 
implement the RCRA corrective action program to clean up environmental 
contamination at sites where hazardous wastes are being stored, treated, 
or disposed.
   In 1999, 153 more hazardous waste management facilities will 
          have approved controls in place to prevent dangerous releases 
          to air, soil, and groundwater, for a total of 2,080 facilities 
          (62 percent of the total outstanding).
   Superfund's $2.1 billion program pays to clean up hazardous spills 
and abandoned hazardous waste sites, and to compel responsible parties 
to clean up. The Coast Guard implements a smaller but similar program to 
clean up oil spills. Superfund also supports the Federal ``Brownfields'' 
program, designed to assess, clean up, and re-use formerly contaminated 
sites.
   In 1999, EPA will complete 136 cleanups, in order to reach 
          900 completed cleanups (60 percent of those outstanding) by 
          the end of 2001.
   In 1999, EPA will fund Brownfields site assessments in 100 
          more communities, in order to reach 300 communities by the end 
          of 2000.
   In 1999, the Coast Guard will reduce the amount of oil that 
          marine sources spill into the water by 20 percent below the 
          1993 level of 7.76 gallons per million gallons shipped.
   Federal water infrastructure funds provide capitalization grants to 
State revolving funds, which make low-interest loans to help 
municipalities pay for wastewater and drinking water treatment systems 
required by Federal law. The Administration plans to capitalize these 
funds to the point where the Clean Water State Revolving Funds and the 
Drinking Water State Revolving Funds provide a total of $2.5 billion in 
average annual assistance. The more than $68 billion in Federal 
assistance since passage of the 1972 Clean Water Act has dramatically 
increased the portion of Americans enjoying better quality water.
   In 1999, another three million people will receive the 
          benefits of secondary treatment of wastewater, for a total of 
          183 million.
   In 1999, 85 percent of the population served by community 
          water systems will receive drinking water meeting all health-
          based standards, up from 81 percent in 1994.
   USDA gives financial assistance to rural communities to provide safe 
drinking water and adequate wastewater treatment facilities to rural 
communities. The budget proposes $1.3 billion in combined grant, loan, 
and loan guarantees for this assistance.
   The Water 2000 initiative is bringing indoor plumbing and 
          safe drinking water to under-served rural communities, and 
          USDA plans to fund 250 Water 2000 facilities in 1999.

Water Resources

   The Federal Government builds and manages water projects for 
navigation, flood control, irrigation, and hydropower generation. The 
Army Corps of Engineers operates Nation-wide, while Interior's Bureau of 
Reclamation operates in the 17 Western States. The budget proposes $4.1 
billion for the agencies in 1999--$3.2 billion for the Corps, $0.9 
billion for the Bureau. The Administration will work with Congress to 
address the problem of project delays and growing future liabilities 
that result from Congress' addition of many new projects in 1998.
   While navigation and flood damage reduction remain the Corps' major 
focus, its projects, programs, and regulatory responsibilities 
increasingly address environmental objectives, including wetlands 
protection.
   In 1999, the Corps expects to maintain its commercial 
          navigation and flood damage facilities so that they will be 
          fully operational at least 95 percent of the time.
   In 1999, the Corps' regulatory program expects to achieve 
          ``no net loss'' of wetlands by creating, enhancing, and 
          restoring wetlands functions and values that are comparable to 
          those lost when the Corps allows wetlands to be developed.

[[Page 179]]

   Congress created the Bureau of Reclamation to support economic 
development in the West by financing and constructing reliable water 
supplies for irrigation and power generation. The West is now developed, 
and the Bureau is remaking itself into a customer-oriented ``water 
resources management'' agency by providing expertise on improved water 
management practices. The budget also proposes funding for several local 
projects that reclaim and reuse wastewater in urban areas in order to 
demonstrate the benefits of this alternative to constructing more dams 
and reservoirs.
   In 1999, the Bureau plans to complete evaluations of current 
          practices on at least one project in each of its 26 area 
          offices, with the goal of finding ways to more effectively 
          manage competing demands for water.

Tax Incentives

   State and local governments (and private companies) benefit from a 
tax break, costing about $600 million in 1999, that allows State and 
local governments to construct private waste disposal facilities with 
tax-exempt bonds. The tax code also offers incentives for natural 
resource industries, especially timber and mining. The timber industry 
can deduct certain costs for growing timber, pay lower capital gains 
rates on profits, take a credit for investments, and quickly write-off 
reforestation costs--in total, costing about $600 million in 1999. The 
mining industry benefits from percentage depletion provisions (which 
allow deductions that exceed the economic value of resource depletion) 
and can deduct certain exploration and development costs--together, 
costing about $400 million in 1999.