[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)
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Estimate
Function 300 1998 -----------------------------------------------------------
Actual 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
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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
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N/A = Not available
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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.