[Budget of the United States Government]
[III. Creating a Better Government]
[6. Natural Resources and Environment]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
                  6.  NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

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                  Table 6-1.  Federal Resources in Support of Natural Resources and Environment
                                            (In millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               Estimate
               Function 300                   2000   -----------------------------------------------------------
                                             Actual     2001      2002      2003      2004      2005      2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spending:
  Discretionary Budget Authority..........    24,646    28,687    26,401    27,020    27,587    27,630    27,418
  Mandatory Outlays:
    Existing law..........................        37      -213       -83       107       249       123       136
    Proposed legislation..................  ........  ........       -10       -69       -20        42        78
Credit Activity:
  Direct loan disbursements...............        21        33        29        27        28        28        29
  Guaranteed loans........................  ........  ........        50       100        50  ........  ........
Tax Expenditures:
  Existing law............................     1,520     1,550     1,630     1,710     1,820     1,920     2,020
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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  The Federal Government plans to spend over $26 billion in 2002 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. (See Chapter 
2, ``National Defense'' and Chapter 5, ``Energy.'') This function does 
not include many other initiatives that help protect the environment, 
including energy conservation and tax credits for using non-conventional 
energy sources. (See Chapter 5, ``Energy,'' for more details.)
  Within the Natural Resources and Environment function, Federal efforts 
focus on providing cleaner air and water, conserving natural resources, 
and cleaning up environmental contamination. The major purposes of this 
function include:
          protecting human health and safeguarding the natural 
          environment;
          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 384 units of the National Park System; the 
156 National Forests; the 530 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge 
System; and the 264 million acres of public lands managed by the Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM), mainly in Alaska and 11 Western States.

Land and Water Conservation Fund

  The budget allocates $900 million from the Land and Water Conservation 
Fund (LWCF) to acquire and conserve lands in national parks, forests, 
refuges, and public lands, and provide grants to States for broad 
conservation and outdoor recreation purposes.

[[Page 46]]

  The National Park Service will provide $450 million in 2002 for LWCF 
matching grants to States in support of State and local conservation, 
wildlife protection, and outdoor recreation efforts. In 2002, two new 
programs aim to establish positive incentives for private landowners and 
local communities to protect imperiled species and restore habitat: $50 
million in matching grants will help States establish Landowner 
Incentive Programs to help private landowners protect imperiled species, 
and $10 million will establish a Private Stewardship Grant Program to 
provide funding for private conservation activities.
  In 2002, the Department of the Interior's (DOI's) and U.S. 
          Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Federal LWCF program will 
          increase the number of easement acquisitions, rather than just 
          fee simple acquisitions, and increase the involvement of 
          communities as DOI and USDA consider acquiring lands or 
          interests in lands for national parks, forests, refuges, and 
          public lands.

National Parks

  The Federal Government spends over $2 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 recreation demonstration and concession 
fee receipts have grown to about $150 million in 2000. Yet, the 
popularity of national parks has also generated growth in the number of 
visitors, new parks, and additional NPS responsibilities. Over the past 
30 years, the number of national park units has grown by 50 percent and 
the number of national park visits has increased from 164 million a year 
to almost 287 million a year.
  With growing demands on park facilities and resources, NPS is taking 
new, creative, and more efficient approaches to managing parks and has 
developed performance measures against which to gauge progress. NPS is 
systematically addressing facility maintenance and construction needs 
through various management reforms, such as establishing five-year lists 
of priority projects, conducting condition assessments, implementing new 
information systems, and using business plans at parks to achieve 
strategic plan goals and resolve management challenges. NPS will use 
these business plans and other reforms to clearly communicate 
priorities, hold superintendents accountable, and influence how funding 
for individual parks is allocated. By next year's budget, NPS expects to 
establish better measures for addressing the backlog of deferred 
maintenance and resource protection needs. These reforms, coupled with 
increased appropriations and targeted fee receipts, will allow NPS to 
eliminate its backlog after five years.
  In 2002, NPS plans to:
  maintain the percentage of park visitors responding to surveys 
          that summarize their experience as good or very good at 95 
          percent; and
  as part of the National Resource Challenge, improve science-
          based management in parks, and complete 1,121 data sets for 
          natural resource inventories in 2002 out of 2,527 required, 
          compared to 455 completed through 2000.

Conservation and Land Management

  The 75 percent of Federal land that makes up the National Forests, 
National Grasslands, National Wildlife Refuges, and BLM-administered 
public lands also provides significant opportunities for public 
recreation. BLM provides for nearly 75 million recreational visits a 
year, while over 36 million visitors enjoy wildlife each year at 
National Wildlife Refuges. With its approximately 192 million acres, 
USDA's U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is the largest single supplier of 
public outdoor recreation. USFS estimates that in 1996 it provided 341 
million recreational visitor days. In 2001, USFS will be releasing a new 
scientific based statistical sample measure for recreation use that it 
has been developing.
  Federal lands also provide other benefits. With combined annual 
budgets of almost $6 billion, BLM and USFS manage lands for multiple 
purposes, including outdoor recreation, fish and wildlife conservation, 
energy

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and mineral production, timber production, livestock grazing, and 
wilderness preservation. As part of the efforts to cut red tape and 
streamline processes, these agencies will upgrade an integrated 
nationwide outdoor recreation information system that gives the American 
public quick and easy electronic access to information about recreation 
use, permits, and reservations on Federal lands (www.recreation.gov).
  In addition to managing the land for recreation and conservation 
purposes, in 2002:
   BLM will improve domestic energy supplies by increasing 
          leasing of oil and gas from 2,900 leases in 2000 to 3,400 
          leases; and
   BLM plans to increase processing of applications for permits 
          to drill from 3,600 in 2000 to 4,400.
  BLM will continue to emphasize accountability as well as verification 
for royalty production through inspection and enforcement on both 
Federal and Indian leases. The budget initiates planning and studies on 
potential oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 
northern Alaska in 2004. Beginning in 2004, the budget would dedicate 
one-half of the bonus bids--the cash paid to the United States by 
successful bidders for oil and gas leases--to fund increased research on 
solar and renewable energy technology research and development, to be 
conducted by the Department of Energy over a seven-year period. The 
budget assumes that $1.2 billion would be available in 2004 to increase 
the funding for the solar and renewable technology program.
  Some high-priority projects include:

  Service First: USFS and BLM are working together to deliver seamless 
service to customers and ``boundaryless'' care for the land. The goal is 
to: improve customer service with one-stop shopping; achieve 
efficiencies in operations to reduce or avoid costs; and 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.
  USFS Administrative Reforms: The Administration is committed to 
enhancing USFS accountability and ensuring that more resources are 
available for ``on-the-ground'' activities. Over the next year, USDA 
will review and begin implementation of streamlining and efficiency 
enhancing measures for USFS administrative operations. Centralized 
servicing and enterprise teams will be evaluated as ways to provide 
additional efficiency savings. National forest units may be able to 
contract with the private sector for these services where appropriate, 
or rely on coordinated cost pools. In addition, streamlined decision-
making and an emphasis on forest-level activities will help establish 
increased accountability and improved decision-making for the agency. 
USFS will also improve its financial accounting system in support of 
fire suppression efforts to provide more accurate and timely information 
on fire suppression costs.
  The risk of wildfires increasingly threatens communities and the 
environment. Last year, USFS and DOI jointly released a report, Managing 
the Impact of Wildfires on Communities and the Environment. The report 
outlined a national strategy (known as the National Fire Plan) to reduce 
risks to communities from catastrophic wildfires, and to increase fire 
preparedness. The report made clear the importance of restoring 
landscapes and rebuilding communities devastated by fire; the need to 
invest in projects to reduce fire risk; and the importance of working 
closely with local communities to reduce risks. In 2002, the land 
management agencies plan to:
  perform hazardous fuels treatments on 1.4 million acres of 
          Federal land to reduce the risk of loss of life, property, and 
          natural resources from catastrophic wildfire; and
  assist over 5,300 communities and volunteer fire departments, 
          more than double the number assisted in 1999.
  The agencies will also be working to improve the fuels reduction 
program by integrating the best available fire science in fuels 
treatment planning for 2002 and by developing performance measures to 
better target and then gauge the effectiveness of fuels treatments on 
reducing fire risks. These perform

[[Page 48]]

ance measures are expected to be developed and in place by 2002.
  BLM and USFS concentrate on the long-term goal of providing 
sustainable levels of multiple uses while ensuring and enhancing 
ecological integrity. In 2002:
  USFS will target funding to needed watershed restoration work 
          (25,000 acres) and noxious weed control (85,000 acres); and
  BLM plans to improve the condition of 800 priority watersheds 
          and increase the number of acres treated to control noxious 
          weeds to 245,000 acres.
  DOI's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), with a budget of $1.091 
billion, manages roughly 94 million acres of refuges and, with the 
Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), protects 
species on Federal and non-Federal lands.
  In 2002, FWS will again ensure that the refuge acreage is 
          protected, of which 3.4 million acres will be enhanced or 
          restored.
  FWS expects the status of 347 species listed under the 
          Endangered Species Act as endangered or threatened a decade or 
          more to stabilize or improve in 2002, compared to 309 in 2000; 
          and anticipates recovery efforts will result in the delisting 
          of three species.
  NMFS will implement programs in 2002 to reduce from 95 to 74 
          the number of fisheries where overfishing is occurring out of 
          the 286 major fish stocks.
  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 
          plans to support an increase in the number of restored acres 
          of coastal habitat by 10,000 acres in 2002 to a total of 
          80,000.
  Half of the continental United States is crop, pasture, and rangeland. 
Two percent of Americans manage this land--farmers and ranchers. USDA's 
Natural Resources Conservation Service provides technical and financial 
assistance to them to improve land management practices.
  Through several programs, USDA will implement conservation and 
          resource management systems to control erosion, reduce 
          nutrient runoff, improve pest management and improve habitat 
          on 32 million acres of cropland.
  USDA intends also to help livestock producers reduce 
          agricultural runoff and protect water quality through the 
          development and implementation of 4,315 comprehensive nutrient 
          management plans.
  In addition, in 2002, USDA will explore alternative methods of 
delivering technical assistance to farmers and ranchers. As part of this 
effort, USDA has authority to implement a small pilot program through 
which Conservation Reserve Program participants receive USDA-funded 
private-sector technical assistance, instead of the technical assistance 
traditionally provided by USDA. This pilot would allow USDA to determine 
if contracting out some services improves program delivery or reduces 
costs, and whether contracting should be explored for similar programs.

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 and 
Florida Bay. Its long-term viability is critical to the health of scores 
of endangered plants and animals, important tourism and fishing 
industries, the economy of the State, and the quality of life for South 
Florida's six million people who depend on the ecosystem for its water 
and natural resources. 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 total proposed in the 2002 Budget for the implementation of the 
Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), authorized by the 
Water Resources Development Act of 2000, is $37 million. This includes 
$28 million for the Army Corps of Engineers and $9 million for DOI for 
research,

[[Page 49]]

monitoring, and planning studies to support CERP implementation.
  In addition to CERP, the budget proposes $183 million to continue 
ongoing construction, research, and land acquisition activities 
associated with the restoration of the South Florida ecosystem, 
including the Everglades. For example, the budget continues important 
restoration efforts on the Kissimmee River and funds the project to 
provide additional water to Everglades National Park.
  By September 30, 2002, five of the 68 currently known 
          federally-endangered and threatened species in South Florida 
          will be able to be ``down-listed'' or removed from the list.
  In August 2000, Federal and State of California officials agreed upon 
a long-term, $8.7 billion plan for the California Bay-Delta that would 
improve water quality, habitat and ecological functions, and water 
supply reliability, while reducing the risk of catastrophic breaching of 
Delta levees. The Congress is likely to consider legislation to 
authorize the Bay-Delta program early in 2001. The budget contains funds 
for Bay-Delta activities that can be undertaken within existing 
statutory authorities, including $20 million of new funds in a dedicated 
DOI account.
  In 2002, as part of implementing that plan, participating 
          agencies expect to make up to 60,000 acre-feet of water 
          available to Federal water project contractors that would not 
          otherwise have been available.

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 and 
objective natural resources science. DOI's 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 2002, USGS will streamline its 
activities to better focus on providing sound and objective scientific 
information to land managers and the public.
  The Department of Commerce's NOAA manages ocean and coastal resources 
in the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone and in 13 National Marine 
Sanctuaries. Its NMFS manages 891 fish stocks and approximately 200 
marine mammal populations, and along with NOAA's National Ocean Service 
seeks to conserve coastal and marine habitats. NOAA's National Weather 
Service (NWS), using data collected by NOAA's 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 2002, the modernized NWS expects to increase the lead time 
          of tornado warnings to 13 minutes and the accuracy of 
          tornadoes warning to 72 percent; increase the lead time of 
          flash flood warnings to 50 minutes and the accuracy to 87 
          percent; and increase the accuracy of winter storm warnings to 
          88 percent. Since 1986, lead times for tornado warnings and 
          flash flood warnings have improved significantly. For example, 
          in 1986 the lead time for tornado warnings was less than five 
          minutes versus the expected 13 minutes lead time in 2002.

Pollution Control and Abatement

  The Federal Government helps achieve the Nation's pollution control 
and abatement 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) $7.3 billion in discretionary funds and the Coast Guard's $138 
million Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (which funds oil spill prevention 
and cleanup) finance these pollution control and abatement activities. 
EPA's 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. The

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Operating Program is funded at the second highest level in history and 
is higher than 2001 if unrequested projects are excluded. EPA protects 
human health and the environment by developing national pollution 
control standards, supported by sound science, largely enforced by the 
States under EPA-delegated authority. In 2002, the States and Tribes 
will receive $1.1 billion in grants, the highest level ever, to 
administer delegated programs and other responsibilities pursuant to EPA 
statutes. Included in this total is $25 million in new funding for State 
enforcement programs, reflecting a shift in enforcement responsibilities 
in delegated States from Federal enforcement to expanded State 
enforcement. The budget also includes $25 million for information 
exchange network State grants, which will develop environmental 
information standards, practices and design in accord with existing 
efforts in several States.
  Under the Clean Air Act, EPA works to make the air clean and healthy 
to breathe by setting standards for ambient air quality, toxic air 
pollutant emissions, new pollution sources, and mobile sources. In 2002:
  EPA plans to certify that three areas of the remaining 55 
          nonattainment areas have attained the one-hour National 
          Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone, thereby increasing the 
          number of people living in areas with healthy air quality by 
          2.9 million; and
  air toxic emissions nationwide from stationary and mobile 
          sources combined will be reduced by five percent from 2001 
          (for a cumulative reduction of 40 percent from the 1993 annual 
          level of 4.3 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, support for programs and projects to address polluted 
runoff, and through other multi-agency cooperative endeavors.
  In 2003, water quality will improve on a watershed basis such 
          that 600 of the Nation's 2,262 watersheds will have greater 
          than 80 percent of assessed waters meeting all water quality 
          standards. (Water quality is surveyed biennially.)
  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. EPA also seeks to reduce environmental risks where 
Americans reside, work, and enjoy life, through pollution prevention and 
risk management strategies.
  By the end of 2002, EPA plans to reassess a cumulative 66 
          percent of the 9,721 pesticide tolerances required to be 
          reassessed over ten years. This includes 70 percent of the 893 
          tolerances having the greatest potential impact on dietary 
          risks to children. This will be a major improvement given that 
          only 121 reassessments were completed in 2000.
  The quantity of Toxic Release Inventory pollutants released, 
          disposed of, treated, or combusted for energy recovery in 
          2002, (normalized for changes in industrial production) is 
          expected to be reduced by 200 million pounds, or two percent, 
          from 2001 reporting levels. These data will be reported in 
          2004.
  In 2002, EPA will make publicly available screening level 
          hazard data and assessments for eight percent of the 2,800 
          High Production Volume chemicals (industrial chemicals which 
          are manufactured in or imported into the United States at one 
          million pounds or greater), as part of the Agency's 
          implementation of a comprehensive strategy for screening, 
          testing, classifying, and managing the potential risks posed 
          by commercial chemicals.
  Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 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 2002, 82 more hazardous waste management facilities are 
          expected to have approved controls in place to prevent 
          dangerous releases to air, soil, and groundwater, for an 
          approximate total of 71 percent of 2,750 facilities.

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  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. EPA's leaking underground 
storage tank program (LUST) promotes and implements rapid and effective 
responses to UST releases. In 2002:
   EPA and its State and Tribal partners aim to achieve 96 
          percent compliance of active USTs with the 1998 requirements 
          and 75 percent compliance of active USTs will be in compliance 
          with the leak detection requirements. (EPA is in the process 
          of changing the way it measures compliance, including changing 
          from a per tank to a per facility basis.)
   The performance goal is to complete 23,000 LUST cleanups.
  The $1.3 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. 
The Administration's strategy on Brownfields (abandoned industrial 
sites) is to clean them in order to protect human health and the 
environment while allowing affordable cleanups and flexible approaches. 
The Administration intends to remove legal obstacles to cleanups, make 
the Brownfields tax incentive permanent, and make Federal financial 
assistance more effective by cutting red tape and reforming existing 
funding mechanisms. Brownfield cleanup and redevelopment is important 
because it revitalizes urban communities by improving public health and 
environmental conditions, boosting local property tax rolls, and 
providing jobs. In 2002:
   EPA and its partners intend to complete 65 Superfund cleanups 
          (construction completions) for an overall total of 895 
          construction completions by the end of 2002; and
   The Coast Guard expects to reduce the rate of oil spilled 
          into the Nation's waters to 3.6 gallons per million gallons 
          shipped, which will make good progress toward a goal of a 20-
          percent reduction from the 3.9 gallons per million five-year 
          moving average.
  EPA water infrastructure funds provide grants to States for 
capitalizing revolving funds, which make low-interest loans, to help 
municipalities pay for wastewater and drinking water treatment systems 
required by Federal Law. Also, EPA funds State sewer overflow control 
grant programs. The $1.3 billion requested in the 2002 Budget for EPA 
state wastewater grants fund the Clean Water State Revolving Funds 
(CWSRF) at $850 million and the newly authorized Sewer Overflow Control 
Grant program at $450 million. This request is consistent with EPA's 
plan to capitalize the CWSRF to the point where it provides $2 billion 
in average annual assistance and further addresses Federal mandates to 
control the biggest remaining municipal wastewater problem, sewer 
overflows. The $76 billion in Federal wastewater assistance since 
passage of the 1972 Clean Water Act has dramatically increased the 
number of Americans enjoying better quality water; nearly all of the 
Nation's wastewater treatment systems have been upgraded to secondary 
treatment or better. Also, the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund 
(DWSRF) is funded at $823 million to provide capitalization grants to 
State DWSRFs, to provide $500 million in long-term average annual 
assistance. Ensuring that community water systems meet health-based 
drinking water standards is supported by both the DWSRF and operating 
program resources. In 2002:
  700 CWSRF projects are intended to initiate operations, 
          including 400 projects providing secondary treatment, advanced 
          treatment, combined sewer overflow correction (treatment) and, 
          or/or storm water treatment. Cumulatively, 7,900 CWSRF-funded 
          projects will have initiated operations since program 
          inception.
   91 percent of the population served by community water 
          systems is expected to receive drinking water meeting all 
          health based standards in effect as of 1994, up from 83 
          percent in 1994.

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  USDA gives financial assistance to rural communities to provide safe 
drinking water and adequate wastewater treatment facilities to under-
served rural communities (less than 10,000 people). USDA offers this 
loan assistance at subsidized interest rates based on the community's 
income. The budget proposes $1.4 billion in combined grant, loan, and 
loan guarantees for this assistance, equal to the 2001 enacted levels.
  USDA expects to provide 1.4 million rural residents access to 
          clean, safe drinking water and/or quality waste disposal 
          service by funding 900 water/waste treatment projects in 2002.

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 (Corps) operates 
nationwide, while DOI's Bureau of Reclamation operates in the 17 western 
States. The budget proposes $4.7 billion for these agencies in 2002--
$3.9 billion for the Corps, $0.8 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation. 
The budget targets Corps funds at completing the backlog of ongoing 
projects, rather than starting new ones. It gives priority for funding 
to activities in the Corps' primary missions areas--commercial 
navigation, flood damage reduction, and environmental restoration.
  In 2002, the Corps plans to:
  maintain high-use commercial navigation facilities in a fully 
          operational state at least 90 percent of the time;
  maintain flood damage-reduction facilities in a fully 
          operational state at least 95 percent of the time;
  achieve ``no net loss'' of wetlands by creating, enhancing, 
          and restoring wetlands functions and values that are 
          comparable to those lost; and
  address concerns regarding the assessment of construction 
          projects.
  The Bureau of Reclamation manages, develops, and protects water and 
related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in 
the interest of the American public.
  In 2002, the Bureau of Reclamation intends to deliver or 
          release the amount of water contracted for from Reclamation-
          owned and operated facilities, expected to be no less than 28 
          million acre-feet, and generate power needed to meet 
          contractual commitments and other requirements 100 percent of 
          the time, depending upon water availability.

Tax Expenditures

  Conservation Tax Credit: To provide an incentive for private, 
voluntary land protection, the budget includes a 50-percent capital 
gains tax exclusion for private landowners who voluntarily sell land or 
water to a Government agency or qualified conservation organization for 
conservation purposes. This incentive is a cost effective, non-
regulatory, market-based approach to conservation.
  Brownfields: To spur more cleanups across the country, the budget 
includes a permanent extension of favorable tax treatment of the costs 
of cleaning up contamination at abandoned waste sites. Taxpayers may 
elect to treat certain environmental remediation expenditures as 
deductible in the year paid or incurred. Under current law, the 
Brownfields tax incentive expires at the end of 2003.