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


 
                 17.  NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

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                 Table 17-1.  FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
                                            (In millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               Estimate
               Function 300                   1998   -----------------------------------------------------------
                                             Actual     1999      2000      2001      2002      2003      2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spending:
  Discretionary Budget Authority..........    23,456    23,355    23,812    23,987    23,886    23,911    23,964
  Mandatory Outlays:
    Existing law..........................       441     1,049       709       802       701       860       834
    Proposed legislation..................  ........  ........      -753      -740      -777      -726      -703
Credit Activity:
  Direct loan disbursements...............        39        35        46       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A
  Guaranteed loans........................  ........  ........  ........       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A
Tax Expenditures:
  Existing law............................     1,460     1,515     1,555     1,620     1,670     1,735     1,790
  Proposed legislation....................  ........  ........       -84       -45        31       108       185
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
N/A = Not available

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  The Federal Government spends over $23 billion a year to protect the 
environment, manage Federal land, conserve resources, provide 
recreational opportunities, and construct and operate water projects. 
The Federal Government manages about 700 million acres--a third of the 
U.S. continental land area.
  The Natural Resources and Environment function reflects most Federal 
support for natural resources and the environment, but does not include 
certain large-scale environmental programs, such as the environmental 
clean-up programs at the Departments of Energy and Defense.
  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; and
   providing recreational opportunities for the public to enjoy 
          natural and cultural resources.
  Federal lands include the 378 units of the National Park System, the 
156 National Forests; the 514 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge 
System; and land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 11 
Western States (see Chart 17-1).

Land and Water Conservation Fund

  The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is an important tool for 
species and habitat conservation. The Fund uses the royalties of 
offshore oil and gas leases to help Federal, State, and local 
governments acquire land for conservation and outdoor recreation.
  The 2000 Lands Legacy initiative will allocate full funding ($900 
million) from the LWCF to support: (1) conservation of Federal

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lands to preserver wildlife habitat, natural resources, and historic 
sites; (2) Federal grants and planning assistance for States and local 
governments to protect local green space, urban parks, and greenways; 
and (3) Federal and State efforts to restore ocean and coastal 
resources.
   In 2000, Interior will acquire approximately 500,000 acres in 
          the California Desert region, 22,500 acres to expand refuges 
          in the Northern Forests of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and 
          New York, and about 1,500 acres for Civil War battlefields.
   In 2000, the Forest Legacy program will support permanent 
          easements for 150,000 acres, up from 9,000 acres in 1999.
   In 2000, approximately 80,000 acres of farmland threatened 
          with development will be protected through permanent 
          easements.
   In 2000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
          (NOAA) will double the number of protected acres in the 
          National Estuay Reserve System from 500,000 in 1999.
  As a complement to the Lands Legacy initiative, the Administration 
will also propose a Livability Initiative that includes, among other 
components, a new financing tool that will generate $9.5 billion in bond 
authority for investments by State, local, and Tribal governments. These 
Better America Bonds will be used to preserve green space, create or 
restore urban parks, protect water quality, and clean up brownfields.

National Parks

  The Federal Government spends over $1.8 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. Discretionary funding 
for the National Park Service (NPS) has steadily increased (almost five 
percent a year since 1986) and fee receipts have grown from $93 million 
in 1996 to about $180

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million in 1998. Yet, 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 and has 
developed performance measures against which to gauge progress. NPS and 
other Department of the Interior bureaus are systematically addressing 
facility maintenance and construction needs through newly established 
five-year lists of priority projects. The bureaus will update these 
lists annually to track progress in addressing top priorities and 
completing funded projects on time and at cost.
  In 2000, NPS will:
   Maintain the percentage of park visitors that summarize their 
          experience as good or very good at 95 percent--the 1998 
          results of a new survey using an enhanced methodology and 
          covering over 300 parks.
   Help State and local governments through NPS partnerships to 
          add an additional 280 miles of recreational trails, 310 miles 
          of recreational river corridors, and 9,000 acres of 
          recreational parkland, compared to 220 trail miles, 240 river 
          miles, and 7,000 parkland acres added in 1998.
   Complete 329 data sets for natural resource inventories in 
          2000 out of 2,287 required, compared to 180 completed through 
          1998.

Conservation and Land Management

  The 75 percent of Federal land that makes up the National Forests, 
National Grasslands, National Wildlife Refuges, and the BLM-administered 
public lands also provides significant public recreation. BLM provides 
for nearly 65 million recreational visits a year, while over 30 million 
visitors enjoy wildlife each year at National Wildlife Refuges. With its 
133,000 miles of trails, the Forest Service is the largest single 
supplier of public outdoor recreation, providing 341 million 
recreational visitor days last year.
  Federal lands also provide other benefits. With combined annual 
budgets of about $4 billion, BLM and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) 
manage lands for multiple purposes, including outdoor recreation, range, 
timber, watershed, wildlife and fish, and wilderness. BLM, USFS, and NPS 
have been identified by the Vice President's National Partnership for 
Reinventing Government as High-Impact Agencies. As part of the goals to 
cut red tape and streamline processes, these agencies are cooperating to 
build an integrated nationwide outdoor recreation information system 
that delivers seamless service to customers regardless of agency 
jurisdiction.
  Some high priority reinvention projects include:
  Financial Management: USFS is implementing a new general ledger system 
and re-engineering the budget process to better align budget planning 
and execution with the agency's strategic goals. A redesigned budget 
structure will better connect funding categories to strategic goals and 
help employees at the field level execute integrated ecosystem projects.
  ``Service First'':  Proposed in the 1996 Reinventing Government 
report, USFS and BLM are working together to deliver seamless service to 
customers and ``boundaryless'' care for the land. This began as two 
pilot projects in Colorado and Oregon to: (1) improve customer service 
with one-stop shopping; (2) achieve efficiencies in operations to reduce 
or avoid costs; and (3) take better care of the land by taking a 
landscape approach to stewardship rather than stopping at the 
traditional jurisdictional boundaries. USFS and BLM are also looking to 
streamline major business processes to make them work better for both 
employees and customers.
  BLM and USFS concentrate on the long-term goal of providing 
sustainable levels of multiple uses while ensuring and enhancing 
ecological integrity. Their performance measures include:
   USFS will target increased funding to needed watershed 
          restoration work by increasing acres of watershed restoration 
          work by 100 percent (to 40,000 acres) over 1999 levels of 
          20,000 acres; increasing the acres of noxious weed control by 
          21 percent (to 64,500 acres) over 1999 levels of

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          51,410 acres; maintain the pace of obliterating existing roads 
          at the 1999 level (3,500 miles), as compared to 1,200 miles in 
          1998; and increasing the number of acres treated for fire 
          hazard reduction to 1.8 million, compared to a 1999 planned 
          level of 1.6 million.
   For priority watersheds, BLM will enhance the ecological 
          integrity of an additional 1,700 miles of riparian areas and 
          128,500 acres of wetlands in 2000, compared to 868 miles and 
          11,842 acres enhanced in 1997; BLM will also treat 344,300 
          acres for fire hazard reduction by prescribed fire and 
          mechanical means, compared to 1997 levels of 70,000 acres.
  The Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), with a 
budget of $1.6 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 2000 funding increases will enable the refuge system 
          to manage an additional 948,000 more acres over the 1997 
          baseline of 93 million acres.
   FWS will also increase by one million acres the number of 
          protected, non-Federal acres in Habitat Conservation Plans 
          (HCPs) up from two million in 1998; keep 15 more species off 
          the endangered species list, compared to a 1998 baseline of 
          seven species kept off the list; and improve or stabilize the 
          populations of 37 percent of species listed a decade or more, 
          over a 1998 baseline of 36 percent.
   NMFS will implement programs in 2000 to continue fully 
          assessing 80 percent of fish stocks, increasing the number of 
          listed species that improve in status to 16 over a baseline of 
          12 in 1997, and increasing the number of restored acres of 
          coastal habitat by 25 percent over 1999 levels of 43,000 
          cumulative acres restored.
  Half of the continental United States is crop, pasture, and rangeland. 
Two percent of Americans own and manage this land--farmers and ranchers. 
The Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation 
Service provides technical assistance to them to improve land management 
practices.
  Under USDA's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), the Federal Government 
buys long-term or permanent easements from cropland owners that take the 
land out of production and restore it to wetlands. Landowners receive up 
to 100 percent of the fair market agricultural value for the land and 
cost-share assistance to cover the wetland restoration expenses. At the 
end of 1999, cumulative acreage in the WRP will total 775,174.
   In 2000, WRP will enroll 199,826 additional acres, bringing 
          its cumulative acreage to the 975,000 authorized enrollment 
          cap.
   USDA will use a number of programs to address the goals 
          outlined in the Clean Water Action Plan's Animal Feeding 
          Operations Strategy, resulting in the installation of 10,400 
          animal waste management systems to protect water from 
          agricultural pollution, an increase of 30 percent over 1999.
   Through several programs, USDA will also implement resource 
          management systems to control erosion and improve habitat on 
          6.3 million acres of grazing lands, compared to six million 
          acres in 1999.
  USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which provides 
funds to farmers and ranchers to adopt sound conservation practices, 
will again target funds in 2000 to conservation priority areas such as 
Maine's Penobscot Nation and Texas's Edwards Aquifer. These areas use 
EQIP funds to address problems ranging from erosion to threatened and 
endangered species to water quality. The 2000 budget proposes $300 
million in mandatory funding for EQIP, a $126 million increase above 
1999, in support of the Clean Water Action Plan.

Everglades and California Bay-Delta Restoration

  Federal and non-Federal agencies are carrying out long-term 
restoration plans for several nationally significant ecosystems, such as 
those in South Florida and California's Bay-Delta. The South Florida 
ecosystem is a national treasure that includes the Everglades

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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. Economic development and 
water uses in California's San Francisco Bay-San Joaquin Delta watershed 
have diminished water quality, degraded wildlife habitat, endangered 
several species, and reduced the estuary's reliability as a water source 
for two-thirds of Californians and seven million acres of highly 
productive agricultural land.
   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, seven of the 68 currently known federally endangered and 
          threatened species in South Florida will be able to be ``down-
          listed.''
   The Bay-Delta program expects to complete during 2000 the 
          required National Environmental Policy Act review and select 
          the preferred long-term plan to solve critical water-related 
          problems in the California Bay-Delta. The plan will contain 
          specific, measurable performance goals for levee protection, 
          ecosystem restoration, and water conservation, storage and 
          conveyance.

Scientific Support for Natural Resources

  The management of lands, the availability and quality of water, and 
improvements in the protection of resources are 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 2000, the USGS will lead the Community-Federal Information 
Partnership, an interagency effort to provide communities with the 
geospatial information they need to make sound planning decisions and 
preserve open space. Communities will receive GIS technological tools 
and earth science data to improve mapping and planning capabilities.
  The Commerce Department's NOAA manages ocean and coastal resources in 
the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone and in 12 National Marine 
Sanctuaries. Its National Ocean Service and NMFS manage 201 fish stocks, 
163 marine mammal populations, and their associated coastal and marine 
habitats. 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 2000, NWS' ongoing modernization will increase the lead 
          time of flash flood warnings to 42 minutes and the accuracy of 
          flash flood warnings to 85 percent; increase the lead time of 
          severe thunderstorm warnings to 20 minutes and the accuracy of 
          severe thunderstorm warnings to 85 percent, and increase the 
          accuracy of heavy snowfall forecasts to 60 percent.

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 an environmental regulatory 
system. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) $7.2 billion in 
discretionary funds and the Coast Guard's $140 million Oil Spill 
Liability Trust Fund (which funds oil spill prevention and cleanup) 
finance the activities in this subfunction. EPA is an NPR High Impact 
Agency whose discretionary funds have three major components--the 
operating program, Superfund, and water infrastructure financing.
  EPA's $3.7 billion operating program provides the Federal funding to 
implement most Federal pollution control laws, including the Clean Air, 
Clean Water, Resource Conservation and Recovery, Safe Drinking Water, 
and 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 works to make the air clean and healthy to 
breathe by

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setting standards for ambient air quality, toxic air pollutant 
emissions, new pollution sources, and mobile sources.
   In 2000, EPA will certify that five of the estimated 30 
          remaining nonattainment areas have achieved the one-hour 
          National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone (see Chart 17-
          2).
   In 2000, air toxics emissions nationwide from stationary and 
          mobile sources combined will be reduced by five percent from 
          1999 (for a cumulative reduction of 30 percent from the 1993 
          level of 1.3 million tons).
  Under the Clean Water Act, EPA works to conserve and enhance the 
ecological health of the Nation's waters, through regulation of point 
source discharges and through multi-agency initiatives such as the 
Administration's Clean Water Action Plan.
   In 2000, environmental improvement projects will be underway 
          in 350 high priority watersheds as a result of implementing 
          activities under the Clean Water Action Plan.
  Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, EPA regulates pesticide use, 
grants product registrations, and sets tolerances (standards for 
pesticide residue on food) to reduce risk and promote safer means of 
pest control.
   In 2000, EPA will reassess 20 percent of the existing 9,700 
          tolerances to ensure that they meet the statutory standard of 
          ``reasonable certainty of no harm,'' achieving a cumulative 53 
          percent.
  EPA's pollution prevention program seeks to reduce environmental risks 
where Americans reside, work, and enjoy life.
   In 2000, the quantity of Toxic Release Inventory pollutants 
          released, disposed of, treated, or combusted for energy 
          recovery will be reduced by 200 million pounds, or two 
          percent, from 1999 reporting levels.

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  Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), EPA and 
authorized States prevent dangerous releases to the environment of 
hazardous, industrial nonhazardous, and municipal solid wastes by 
requiring proper facility management and cleanup of environmental 
contamination at those sites.
   In 2000, 146 more hazardous waste management facilities will 
          have approved controls in place to prevent dangerous releases 
          to air, soil, and groundwater, for a total of 65 percent of 
          3380 facilities.
  EPA's underground storage tank (UST) program seeks to prevent, detect, 
and correct leaks from USTs containing petroleum and hazardous 
substances. Regulations issued in 1988 required that substandard USTs 
(lacking spill, overfill and/or corrosion protection) be upgraded, 
replaced or closed by December 22, 1998.
   By the end of 2000, 90 percent of USTs will be in compliance 
          with these requirements, which improves upon the estimated 65 
          percent as of the December 22, 1998 deadline.
  In October 1997, the President announced immediate actions to begin 
addressing the problem of global climate change, and included the 
Climate Change Technology Initiative (CCTI) in the 1999 Budget. The 2000 
Budget provides $216 million for the second year of EPA's portion of 
CCTI, much of which focuses on the deployment of underutilized but 
existing technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The 
partnerships EPA has built with business and other organizations since 
the early 1990s will continue to be the foundation for reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions in 2000 and beyond.
   In 2000, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced from 
          projected levels by more that 50 million metric tons of carbon 
          equivalent per year through EPA partnerships with businesses, 
          schools, State and local governments, and other organizations. 
          This reduction level will be an increase of 10 million metric 
          tons over 1999 reduction levels.
   In 2000, energy consumption will be reduced from projected 
          levels by over 60 billion kilowatt hours, resulting in over $8 
          billion in energy savings to consumers and businesses that 
          participate in EPA's climate change programs. This will 
          represent an increase of 15 billion kilowatt hours and $5 
          million in annual energy savings over 1999.
  The new Clean Air Partnership Fund will also contribute to the 
achievement of these goals as well as the ozone attainment goal.
  The $1.5 billion Superfund 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 EPA's Brownfields program, 
designed to assess, clean up, and re-use formerly contaminated sites.
   In 2000, EPA will complete 85 Superfund cleanups, continuing 
          on a path to reach 925 completed cleanups by the end of 2002.
   In 2000, EPA will fund Brownfields site assessments in 50 
          more communities, thus reaching 350 communities by the end of 
          2000.
   In 2000, the Coast Guard will reduce the rate of oil spilled 
          into the Nation's waters to 4.83 gallons per million gallons 
          shipped from a baseline of 5.25 gallons in 1998.
  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 $1.625 billion in the 2000 Budget is 
consistent with the Administration's plans to capitalize these funds to 
the point where the Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF) and the 
Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (DWSRF) provide a total of $2.5 
billion in average annual assistance. The $72 billion in Federal 
assistance since passage of the 1972 Clean Water Act has dramatically 
increased the portion of Americans enjoying better quality water. 
Ensuring that community water systems meet health-based drinking water 
standards is supported by both the DWSRF and operating program 
resources.

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   In 2000, another two million people will receive the benefits 
          of secondary treatment of wastewater, for a total of 181 
          million.
   In 2000, 91 percent of the population served by community 
          water systems will receive drinking water meeting all health-
          based standards in effect as of 1994, up from 83 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 $1.5 billion in combined grant, loan, 
and loan guarantees for this assistance, a 12 percent increase over 
1999. Part of those funds will go toward the Water 2000 initiative to 
bring indoor plumbing and safe drinking water to under-served rural 
communities. Since 1994, USDA has invested almost $1.6 billion in loans 
and grants on high-priority water 2000 projects nationwide.
   In 2000, USDA will fund 300 high-priority water 2000 
          projects.
  The Office of Surface Mining (OSM), in partnership with States, 
reclaims abandoned coal mines using funds from the Abandoned Mine Lands 
Reclamation Fund.
   In 2000, OSM will reclaim 9,235 acres of abandoned coal mine 
          lands, 1,235 acres more than in 1999.

Water Resources

  The Federal Government builds and manages water projects for 
navigation, flood-damage reduction, environmental purposes, 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 $4.7 billion for the agencies in 2000--$3.9 
billion for the Corps, $0.8 billion for the Bureau. The budget includes 
a proposal to create a new Harbor Services Fund to increase funding for 
the Corps' operations, maintenance, and construction activities at our 
Nation's ports and harbors and help ensure a safe and economically 
competitive port system. While navigation and flood damage reduction 
remain the Corps' major focus, its responsibilities increasingly address 
environmental objectives.
   In 2000, maintain Corps controlled commercial navigation and 
          flood damage-reduction facilities to be fully operational at 
          least 95 percent of the time.
   In 2000, the Corps' regulatory program will achieve ``no net 
          loss'' of wetlands by creating, enhancing, and restoring 
          wetlands functions and values that are comparable to those 
          lost when the Corps issues permits to allow wetlands to be 
          developed.
  Congress created the Bureau of Reclamation primarily to develop water 
supplies to support economic development in the western States. Since 
the West is now largely developed, the Bureau has shifted its emphasis 
to become a water resources management agency.
   In 2000, the Bureau will deliver or release the amount of 
          water contracted for from Reclamation-owned and operated 
          facilities, expected to be no less than 27 million acre-feet. 
          Reclamation will also generate power needed to meet 
          contractual commitments and other requirements 100 percent of 
          the time, depending upon water availability.

Tax Incentives

  The tax code 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 $585 million in 2000. The mining industry benefits 
from percentage depletion provisions (which sometimes allows deductions 
that exceed the economic value of resource depletion) and can deduct 
certain exploration and development costs--together, costing about $270 
million in 2000.
  In 2000, Better America Bonds will provide tax incentives for State 
and local governments to protect local green spaces, improve water 
quality, and clean up abandoned industrial sites.