[Senate Hearing 117-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



 
    ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022

                              ----------                              


                        WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2021

                                       U.S. Senate,
           Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittee met at 10:04 a.m. in room SD-192, Dirksen 
Senate Office Building, Hon. Dianne Feinstein (chairwoman) 
presiding.
    Present: Senators Feinstein, Tester, Heinrich, Kennedy, 
Hoeven, Hyde-Smith, and Hagerty.


                      DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE--CIVIL

                         Department of the Army

                       Corps of Engineers--Civil

STATEMENT OF MR. JAMIE PINKHAM, ACTING ASSISTANT 
            SECRETARY OF THE ARMY (CIVIL WORKS)


             opening statement of senator dianne feinstein


    Senator Feinstein. And the subcommittee on Energy and Water 
Development is in order. Today's hearing we will review the 
President's Fiscal 2022 Budget Request for the United States 
Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation.
    Ranking Member Kennedy and I will each have an opening 
statement. Then I will recognize each Senator for an opening 
statement, if they wish to make one.
    We will then turn to our witnesses to present testimony on 
behalf of the Corps and the Bureau. Each witness will be 
allowed 5 minutes for opening remarks. At the conclusion of the 
witness testimony, I will then recognize Senators for 5 minutes 
of questions each, alienating between--excuse me--alternating 
between the majority and minority in the order in which they 
arrived.
    I would like to welcome our witnesses. And thank each of 
you for being here today. We have, Mr. Jamie, Pinkham, the 
acting assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works; 
Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon, Chief of Engineers for the 
United States Corps of Engineers; and Mr. David Palumbo, Deputy 
Commissioner of Operations for the Bureau of Reclamation at the 
Department of Interior.
    I want to just thank the Army Corps and the Bureau for 
their very hard work in managing what is becoming an 
increasingly challenging water situation in California.
    California and other western states are in the midst of a 
mega drought caused by years of warming temperatures and failed 
rainy seasons, reducing critical snowpack that feed our rivers. 
The crippling cycle of drought, temperature increases, and 
severe weather is also affecting the frequency and size of our 
wildfires. Climate change, of course, is a major contributing 
cause of these changes. And I am really encouraged by this 
administration's commitment to address climate change and 
improve the Nation's infrastructure.
    Unfortunately, though, the commitment to battle global 
warming is not, as I see it, reflected in the Army Corps of 
Engineers fiscal year 2022 budget request.
    In fact, the proposed funding levels, Senator Kennedy and 
Senator Tester, are less than what Congress appropriated last 
year. First, the Army Corps' budget request represents more 
than a-billion-dollar cut to the Civil Works program. I am 
really disappointed that this administration has fallen to the 
same pattern of underfunding the Corps' budget.
    There are some bright spots, however, in the Army Corps 
request. I am very pleased to see a more proactive effort in 
the proposed budget for recommending new construction projects. 
This will be the first time in 4 years that the Corps has done 
this. So it is appreciated. I also appreciate the Corps' 
inclusion of important dam and flood control projects for 
California, including the Whittier Dam and West Sacramento 
levees. These investments are really critical to California. So 
I thank you on behalf of my State.
    With smart planning and innovative green infrastructure 
ideas, every project should be able to result in multiple 
benefits, when we dredge channels to maintain navigation, that 
fill material can be strategically placed to restore wetlands 
and combat sea level rise as the Corps has started to do in San 
Francisco Bay. And thank you very much for that as well.
    This brings me to the Bureau of Reclamation budget, which 
is particularly critical to my State given its operation of the 
Central Valley Project and water delivery infrastructure 
throughout the State. Reclamation's request for the water and 
related resources account is $145 million less than what we 
appropriated last year, General.
    I am very thankful for the $184 million investment in the 
Central Valley Project, but I am deeply disappointed that the 
administration requested none of the $206 million we included 
in last year's bill for implementation of the drought-related 
provisions in the 2016 WIIN (Water Infrastructure Improvements 
to the Nation) Act.
    For me, the WIIN Act is key to developing long-term 
solutions to worsening drought and other extreme weather 
events. There is no way that I can see, after more than 20 
years on this committee, that the west can survive the extreme 
drought without more investment in infrastructure to carry 
water from wet years to dry ones.
    The Bureau and several States have already drastically 
reduced water allocations. We need additional drought funding 
now to help water users in the environment get through the 
year. So I asked the Bureau to work with me on identifying 
projects that could be implemented in a 6- to 12-month 
timeframe that could help farmers, cities and the environment 
survive next year if this winter is another drought concern.
    Dam security, and let me touch on this because if things go 
bad, it could be devastating, dam security remains a big 
priority of mine. I would like to thank and applaud the Bureau 
for more than double funding for dam safety and rehabilitation 
projects from $86.5 million to $182.5 million, this will allow 
for $130 million in critically-needed repairs to the BF Sisk 
Dam, which is not only at high risk, but is also a key hub for 
California's water delivery system.
    I am also very pleased to see the Army Corps continues to 
focus efforts on dams with the most significant safety issues, 
such as Whittier in Los Angeles.
    Last year, we provided $12 million for the Army Corps 
Whittier program to provide low-interest loans for local dam 
safety projects. I encouraged the Corps and the administration 
to prioritize this program. Whittier should be a part of the 
administration's plan to invest in infrastructure. And I hope 
to hear more about it today.
    I would now like to recognize my distinguished Ranking 
Member Kennedy for his opening statement.


                   statement of senator john kennedy


    Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank 
our witnesses today for being here. I want to thank you for 
giving so much to our country. I want to thank my team, my 
ranking member team for their hard work, especially--many of 
you know him--but I especially want to thank Bubba [phonetic] 
from my office, better known as Kennedy's brain when it comes 
to really technical details.
    It is a real pleasure for me to--a real joy for me to serve 
with Senator Feinstein. She is, and I am not just saying that, 
we have had--we have spent a lot of time together on the 
Judiciary Committee. She is an institutional compass for the 
Senate. When you get lost, you pull out your compass. And she 
has served that role for many, many years, and I have--and will 
continue to serve that role for many, many years--and I have 
learned an awful lot from just watching her and listening to 
her.
    Before I give them opening statement, I do want to 
recognize my good friend, Senator Tester, who, if you have not 
read it, he rocked a front page article in The Wall Street 
Journal this week. I mean, he rocked it. Okay. If you will go 
read it, you are going to want to follow him on Facebook. So he 
cannot say anything yet so I can--he will get his turn.
    Let me just say a word about Louisiana. We are a State that 
has a lot of water. We deal with storm surge from the Gulf of 
Mexico, during hurricanes and tropical storms, and that is 
ordinary for us, even in ordinary times, we deal with a lot of 
water. Lately, we have had to deal with isolated rainstorms, 
people who don't live near a tributary or a body of water, have 
flooded.
    And I don't--I don't profess to know why this is happening, 
and in the grand scheme of things, and in the long arc of 
history, maybe this is not unusual. But I do know this. If you 
get 8, 10, 12, 14 inches of rain in a short period of time you 
are going to flood. I don't care whether you are in the desert 
or on top of Pikes Peak.
    The Mississippi River, of course, runs through our State. 
We are blessed. It goes from the top of our State to the bottom 
of our State. It has the third largest drainage basin in the 
entire world, not the United States, the entire world. It is 
exceeded in size only by the watersheds of the Amazon and Congo 
Rivers. And now that is something--that is a blessing, but it 
can also cause issues.
    Our basin drains 41 percent of the 48 contiguous States of 
these United States. So this is not just a Louisiana jam, an 
issue. It is a national issue. Our basin, the Mississippi River 
Basin covers more than 1.25 thousand square miles. It includes 
all our parks of 31 States and two Canadian provinces. It 
roughly resembles a funnel, just like this, which has its spout 
at the Gulf of Mexico. I am not telling you, generally, I know 
anything you don't know, but I just think it is important to 
emphasize this.
    Water from as far away as New York, and as far west as 
Montana contributes to the flows into the Mississippi River, so 
the work of the U.S. Corps of Engineers to say it is vital to 
America and to Louisiana is a gross understatement. We need 
your help with flood control, we need your help with storm 
protection projects, and just as we need help from our 
government with respect to the fires in California, and the 
lack of water in some respects in their State.
    Because we are talking about--we are not just talking about 
projects, and I know you know this, we are talking about human 
life, we are talking about humanity, and we are talking about 
property that people work very hard for.
    Now, I just wanted to include these pictures, everybody 
loves pictures. This is a project that was authorized after 
Hurricane Katrina, you know it well; it struck New Orleans. 
Thank you, American taxpayer, and thank you Corps of Engineers 
for helping Louisiana when we were on our knees. This started 
in August of 2005, the planning for these projects. Katrina, of 
course, killed about 1,600 people in my State and destroyed the 
lives of many, many more.
    This project provides storm protection for the New Orleans 
region, not just New Orleans, but for the entire region, which 
is with you, together, we just built levees around the entire 
area, not just the city, we used levees and seawalls. We, you, 
together, we constructed the largest surge barrier of its kind. 
And this project also, as you know, includes the world's 
largest, not the United States' largest, the world's largest 
pump station. It is known as the Hurricane and Storm Damage 
Risk Reduction System. And, I just wanted to mention it. Maybe 
we will talk about it later.
    Thank you again for your service.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you, Senator, for your words.
    Senator Tester, would you like to make a statement?
    Senator Tester. I will be brief. Thank you, Chairwoman 
Feinstein.
    Senator Feinstein. You are welcome.


                    statement of senator jon tester


    Senator Tester. It is good to be on the committee again 
under your leadership. And I look forward to working with 
Senator Kennedy. He is no Lamar Alexander, but he is a close 
second. Let's put it that way.
    And I would just say this, simply put, water is life. And, 
you guys have a lot of work to do. This budget is going to be 
critically important. As Senator Kennedy has already pointed, 
Montana is a headwater State, how we utilize our water, and how 
it is kept clean and functional is critically important, both 
for drinking water, and for irrigation primarily.
    I am one who believes that economic development is going 
to--it has been--but it is going to continue to revolve around 
water resources. And so your job is really important. I would 
just say one thing. There is a lot of talk about resiliency, 
most time when you talk about resiliency you are talking about 
climate change and it needs to be resilient to climate change 
and effective during a changing climate.
    We also need to be aware that we need to have resiliency is 
as it applies to cyber. And that is also very, very important 
moving forward in projects where they can be impacted by 
potential cyber criminals.
    So with that, I look forward to working with the witnesses, 
and the people on this committee to get a budget that works for 
America when it comes to our water resources. Thank you all for 
being here.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you very much, Senator Tester.
    Senator Hyde-Smith, would you like to make some comments?
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Just appreciate everyone being here, 
and what you do. And Senator Kennedy could not have said it 
better because I am from Mississippi, the Mississippi Rivers. 
Thank you.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you very much. Shall we proceed 
now with the testimony?
    Each witness has 5 minutes. Your written statements will be 
entered into the record. I would like to start with Mr. 
Pinkham, followed by General Spellmon, and then Mr. Palumbo. If 
that is agreeable, please proceed.


                 summary statement of mr. jamie pinkham


    Mr. Pinkham. Thank you. Chairwoman Feinstein, Ranking 
Member Kennedy, and members of this committee, thank you for 
the opportunity to be here today, to discuss the President's 
Budget Request for the Civil Works Program of the Army Corps of 
Engineers.
    The fiscal year 2022 budget request provides roughly $6.8 
billion for the Army Civil Works program, which is the highest 
annual budget ever proposed with a focus on investments that 
yield economic and environmental returns, increasing resiliency 
to climate change, facilitating safe, reliable, and sustainable 
commercial navigation, and accelerating and improving the water 
delivery resource projects.
    This budget relies on a foundation of strong relationships 
between the Corps and local communities, which allows us to 
work together to develop, manage, restore, and protect the 
Nation's water resources. And the budget does focus on the 
highest performing missions of the Army Civil Works program: 
commercial navigation, flood, and storm damage reduction and 
aquatic ecosystem restoration.
    In the budget we want to advance two key objectives. One, 
as the committee has talked about, is increasing infrastructure 
and ecosystem resilience to climate change and decreasing 
climate risks for communities based on the best available 
science, also promoting environmental justice in disadvantaged 
communities in line with the administration's Justice40 
Initiative, and creating good-paying jobs for the American 
people.
    The Budget supports a Corps program that has a diverse set 
of tools and approaches to working with local communities, 
whether this means funding projects with our cost-share 
partners, providing pioneering assistance and technical 
expertise to help communities make better informed decisions, 
or participating in the national and international 
conversations on how to best address our water resources 
challenges.
    The Budget also focuses on maintaining the vast water 
resources infrastructure that the Corps owns and manages, and 
on finding innovative ways to rehabilitate it or transfer 
ownership to willing recipients.
    For example, the Budget includes $13 million to complete 
six new major rehabilitation studies for inland waterways, 
locks and dams, and $2 million to investigate disposition of 
completed projects.
    At the top of the budget, the 2022 budget, it is funding: 
investigations at $106 million, the construction account is 
$1.8 billion, O&M (Operation and Maintenance) is at $2.5 
billion, the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund $1.6 billion, the 
Inland Waterways Trust Fund at $52 million, the Mississippi 
River and Tributaries account at $270 million, flood control 
and coastal emergencies at $35 million, the regulatory program 
is at $204.4 million, the expenses for the Army Corps of 
Engineers $199.3 million, and the Office of the Assistant 
Secretary at $5 million.
    Of this, the Corps will use $3.4 billion to invest in 
projects that will facilitate commercial navigation, $1.7 
billion to help reduce the risk of damages from floods and 
storms, and $501 million to restore aquatic ecosystems to a 
more natural condition.
    Among these amounts in terms of the resiliency to climate 
change: $38 million will go to energy and water conservation 
measures at Corps projects, $23 million to updates to water 
control manuals, $8 million for charging--for changing the 
infrastructure needed to support a fleet of zero-emission 
vehicles, and $6 million to evaluate ways to increase the 
resilience of Corps' infrastructure over the longer term. And 
we look to the American Jobs Plan too, with the hope that 
additional resources will be brought to improve the ports and 
the waterways.
    The Budget includes $350 million for the South Florida 
Everglades Restoration Program, a $100 million increase, or 40 
percent above the 2021 enacted level. And Everglades 
Restoration Funding is also included in the American Jobs Plan. 
Taken together, we hope for a robust amount of funding to 
continue the significant progress on this ecosystem restoration 
program.
    There is also, within the budget, funding to initiate new 
work, including studies in Florida, Idaho, the eight States on 
a Great Lakes coastal area, New York, Rhode Island, South 
Carolina, and Wyoming.
    The budget includes funding to initiate construction at 
four new projects, including West Sacramento in California, 
McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, in Arkansas, 
Norfolk Harbor Channels in Virginia, and a project that will be 
both initiated and completed in Maryland, the Anacostia 
Watershed Restoration.
    In addition, we look to complete two additional projects, 
Calumet Harbor and river in Illinois and Indiana, and a project 
at the mouth of the Columbia River between Oregon and 
Washington.
    Within the budget, $1.6 billion is being proposed to be 
derived from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, included in 
that is $787 million that would be used to support commercial 
navigation at the top 50 U.S. coastal ports across the Nation, 
which handle around 90 percent of the waterborne cargo that is 
shipped to or from the United States in foreign commerce. $252 
million for operation and maintenance of Great Lakes projects, 
and $63 million for five construction projects that will 
accommodate disposal of material dredged from coastal 
navigation projects.
    Within the budget there is also $10 million for new, 
innovative funding partnerships, which support the Corps' 
efforts to accelerate and improve the delivery of water through 
greater non-Federal participation to encourage State, Tribal, 
local, and private parties to move forward with investments 
they deem as priorities.
    In addition, the budget also proposes to return 
responsibility for management of the Formerly Utilized Sites, 
Remedial Action Program, FUSRAP for short, back to the 
Department of Energy. The budget will also begin the process of 
addressing the climate crisis as outlined in Executive Order 
14008, tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad. The Army 
will evaluate the Civil Works program to identify the 
appropriate actions the agency can take to support this policy 
objective in moving forward.
    The Army is also committed to securing environmental 
justice and spurring economic opportunity for disadvantaged 
communities that have been historically marginalized and 
overburdened by pollution and experience underinvestment in 
essential services.
    And so we will work with the Army to ensure that 40 percent 
of the benefits of climate and clean energy investments are 
directed to these disadvantaged communities, and we will begin 
to track how program expenditures can help impact, positively 
impact the disadvantaged communities, and consider metrics that 
will help track how our program benefits, accrue to help these 
communities.
    Now, I am honored to have been selected for this position 
to help implement the President's priorities for the Army Civil 
Works Program. I have been on board for just shy of 2 months, 
but I have had the opportunity to make two trips in the State 
of Washington, as well as another trip in West Virginia, and 
Ohio. And I will be visiting sites in Delaware next week.
    And I am grateful for the relationship that I have been 
building with General Spellmon and his staff. And I am 
impressed with the professionalism, the relationship they are 
working hard to develop with local communities, individuals 
who, as partners with so many members of society, working to 
advance the Army Corps, Civil Works mission.
    There is a lot that needs to be done, as outlined by this 
committee this morning. And I am excited to be a part of this 
team working alongside you to serve this Nation.
    Thank you for inviting me here today. And I look forward to 
your questions.
    [The statement follows:]
               Prepared Statement of Mr. Jaime A. Pinkham
    Chairwoman Feinstein, Ranking Member Kennedy and distinguished 
members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here 
today to discuss the President's Budget request for the Civil Works 
program of the Army Corps of Engineers.
    The Fiscal Year 2022 Budget request provides roughly $6.8 billion 
for the Army Civil Works program, which is the highest annual budget 
ever proposed, with a focus on investments that will yield high 
economic and environmental returns, increasing resiliency to climate 
change; facilitating safe, reliable and sustainable commercial 
navigation; and accelerating and improving the delivery of water 
resources projects.
    This Budget relies on a foundation of strong relationships between 
the Corps and local communities, which allow us to work together to 
help develop, manage, restore, and protect the Nation's water 
resources.
    The Budget focuses on the highest performing work within the three 
main missions of the Army Civil Works program:
  --commercial navigation,
  --flood and storm damage reduction, and
  --aquatic ecosystem restoration.
    In developing the Budget, consideration was given to advancing two 
key objectives including: (1) increasing infrastructure and ecosystem 
resilience to climate change and decreasing climate risk for 
communities based on the best available science; and (2) promoting 
environmental justice in disadvantaged communities in line with 
Justice40 and creating good paying jobs that provide the free and fair 
chance to join a union and collectively bargain.
    The Budget supports a Corps program that has a diverse set of tools 
and approaches to working with local communities, whether this means 
funding projects with our cost-sharing partners, providing planning 
assistance and technical expertise to help communities make better 
risk-informed decisions, or participating in the national and 
international conversations on how to best address our water resources 
challenges.
    The Budget also focuses on maintaining the vast water resources 
infrastructure that the Corps owns and manages, and on finding 
innovative ways to rehabilitate it or transfer ownership to willing 
recipients. For example, the Budget includes $13 million to complete 
six new major rehabilitation studies for inland waterways locks and 
dams and $2 million to investigate disposition of completed projects.
    The FY 2022 Investigations account is funded at $106 million, the 
Construction account at $1.8 billion, the Operation and Maintenance 
account at $2.5 billion, the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund at $1.6 
billion, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund at $52 million, and the 
Mississippi River and Tributaries account at $270 million. Other 
accounts include the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies account at 
$35 million, the Regulatory Program account at $204.4 million, the 
Expenses account at $199.3 million and the Office of the Assistant 
Secretary of the Army for Civil Works account at $5 million.
    The Army Corps will use $3.4 billion of these funds to invest in 
projects and activities that will facilitate commercial navigation, 
$1.7 billion to help reduce the risk of damages from floods and storms, 
and $501 million to restore aquatic ecosystems to a more natural 
condition. These amounts include:
  --$75 million to increase the resilience of Corps infrastructure to 
        climate change, including $38 million for energy and water 
        conservation measures at Corps projects, $23 million for 
        updates to water control manuals at Corps projects that will 
        account for a changing climate, $8 million for the charging 
        infrastructure needed to support a Federal fleet of Zero 
        Emission Vehicles, and $6 million to evaluate ways to increase 
        the resilience of Corps infrastructure over the longer term; 
        and
  --$29 million for Corps technical and planning assistance programs, 
        through which the Corps is able to enable states and local 
        communities to take steps to reduce their flood risks including 
        risks associated with climate change. For example, the Budget 
        supports Corps participation in joint Federal-State interagency 
        teams known as the Silver Jackets, which work at the state 
        level to help local communities to understand their flood risks 
        and identify options to help them manage those risks, with 
        emphasis on non-structural approaches.
    The American Jobs Plan also includes an additional $8 billion over 
five years for the Corps to improve ports and waterways.
    The Budget includes $350 million for the South Florida Everglades 
Restoration (SFER) program. The SFER request of $350 million is a $100 
million increase, or 40 percent, to the 2021 enacted level. SFER 
funding is also included in the American Jobs Plan. Taken together, a 
robust amount of funding is proposed for SFER, enabling significant 
progress on this ecosystem restoration program.
    The FY 2022 Budget includes funding to initiate seven new studies--
Central & Southern Florida Flood Resiliency (Section 216), FL; Boise 
River, Garden City, Ada County, ID; Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency 
Study, IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, PA, NY & WI; Spring Creek South, Jamaica Bay 
(Howard Beach), Queens, NY; Little Narragansett Bay, RI; Waccamaw 
River, Horry County, SC; and Little Goose Creek, Sheridan, WY.
    The FY 2022 Budget also includes funding to initiate construction 
at four new projects--McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, 
Three Rivers, AR; West Sacramento, CA; Anacostia Watershed Restoration, 
Prince George's County, MD; and Norfolk Harbor and Channels, VA 
(Deepening) as well as to complete three construction projects--Calumet 
Harbor and River, IL & IN; Columbia River at the Mouth, OR/WA; and 
Anacostia Watershed Restoration, Prince George's County, MD.
    Within the $1.6 billion proposed in the FY 2022 Budget to be 
derived from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, $787 million would be 
used to support commercial navigation at the top 50 U.S. coastal ports 
across the Nation, which handle around 90 percent of the waterborne 
cargo that is shipped to or from the Unities States in foreign 
commerce; $252 million for operation and maintenance of Great Lakes 
projects; $58 million for projects that support access by Native 
American tribes to their legally recognized historic fishing areas; and 
$63 million for five construction projects that will accommodate 
disposal of material dredged from coastal navigation projects.
    The FY 2022 Budget proposes $10 million for a new Innovative 
Funding Partnership program, which supports Corps efforts to accelerate 
and improve the delivery of water through greater non-Federal 
participation, and by removing barriers that prevent State, local, and 
private parties from moving forward with investments that they deem 
priorities. In addition, the Budget also proposes to return 
responsibility for management of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial 
Action Program (FUSRAP) back to the Department of Energy (DOE). 
Consolidation of FUSRAP with the other DOE cleanup programs under a 
single agency will allow DOE to consider a broader range of federal 
cleanup responsibilities in prioritizing work each fiscal year and 
result in efficiencies for taxpayers and the Army Corps would continue 
to perform cleanup of FUSRAP sites on a reimbursable basis with DOE.
    The FY 2022 Budget begins the process of addressing the climate 
crisis. As outlined in Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate 
Crisis at Home and Abroad, the Army will evaluate the Civil Works 
program to identify the appropriate actions the agency can take to 
support this policy objective in the FY 2023 Budget. The Army is also 
committed to securing environmental justice and spurring economic 
opportunity for disadvantaged communities that have been historically 
marginalized and overburdened by pollution and experience 
underinvestment in essential services. The Army will actively work 
towards ensuring 40 percent of the benefits of climate and clean energy 
investments are directed to disadvantaged communities. These actions 
will include an examination of the activities of key programs to 
determine whether those programs' benefits have accrued to 
disadvantaged communities. The Army will also begin to track program 
expenditures that impact disadvantaged communities and consider metrics 
that will help track how applicable covered program benefits accrue at 
specific disadvantaged communities.
    Finally, I would like to highlight one of the initiatives proposed 
in the Budget--an important technical change to the account structure 
of the Corps, which would improve our ability to oversee the spending 
financed through our two navigation trust funds. This proposal involves 
changes to the appropriations language for the Construction, Operation 
and Maintenance, and Mississippi River and Tributaries accounts, as 
well as the adoption of appropriations language for the Harbor 
Maintenance and Inland Waterways Trust Funds. It is needed and would 
enable greater transparency and accountability in how these funds are 
budgeted and spent.
    I am very honored to have been selected for this position, to help 
implement the President's priorities for the Army Civil Works program. 
I have been on-board for just a month or so. And, I've had the 
opportunity to make two short trips--one to Tacoma Harbor in Washington 
State, and another to multiple sites throughout West Virginia and 
northern Ohio. I have been very impressed with the professionalism and 
dedication of the Corps of Engineers employees, who build and maintain 
water resources facilities for our primary Civil Works missions. There 
is much work to be done, I'm excited to be a part of this great team--
serving our Nation.
    Thank you all for inviting me here today. I look forward to your 
questions.

    Senator Feinstein. And thank you very much. I appreciate 
it. Thank you very much.
    Next, please, General.
STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL SCOTT A. SPELLMON, 
            CHIEF OF ENGINEERS AND COMMANDING GENERAL, 
            U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
    General Spellmon. Thank you, and good morning. Chairwoman 
Feinstein, Ranking Member Kennedy, and distinguished members of 
the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify 
today.
    I have been in command of the Corps for a little bit over 8 
months now, and I would like to provide just a few brief 
highlights of the work our team is accomplishing as we are 
already making progress on three of my initial focus areas. And 
those are: transforming our organization for the increased 
workload, expanding research and development, and strengthening 
our already talented workforce.
    These are just a few of the key initiatives that we will 
use to optimally leverage annual appropriations, meet the 
priorities of both the administration's--the administration and 
the Congress, and ultimately deliver on our vision. And that is 
to engineer solutions for our Nation's toughest challenges.
    Over the past several years, the Corps has delivered an 
annual Civil Works program between $7- to $8 billion. And I 
would like to further develop that competency into one that can 
deliver double that benefit by stretching our dollars further 
through better partnering practices, revolutionizing our 
processes, and seeking efficiencies with functional pilot 
programs. Our Nation is again seeking to renew its 
infrastructure, and the Corps is poised to support this pivotal 
modernization.
    Some examples of the initiatives include the Corps' 
continued efforts to build upon public-private partnerships and 
other innovative financing solutions. We are all also working 
to streamline our regulatory program by providing 
straightforward, common-sense rules, but we continue to face 
challenges with a static funding stream during an ever-
increasing demand on these resources.
    We will continue to seek efficiencies in project delivery 
by reducing cost, optimizing schedules, and eliminating 
unnecessary redundancies. We have successfully validated a 
number of these concepts through implementation of the regional 
dredge demonstration program, on the Gulf Coast; and we look 
forward to applying those concepts in other regions, as well as 
furthering potential efficiencies in our navigation program, by 
advancing the beneficial use of dredged material.
    I feel strongly that in order to achieve our vision, we 
also need to elevate our research and development programs; we 
are working to expand our R&D initiatives and strengthen our 
partnerships with academic institutions to leverage our 
Nation's scientists, the enormous capacity that they bring so 
that we can meet the challenges of the 21st Century, head-on.
    I believe that investment in research and development will 
help us find solutions for today's challenges, like those posed 
by harmful algal blooms, drought, wildfires, reservoir 
sedimentation, and of course, engineering with nature.
    And finally, successful innovation in the future cannot be 
accomplished without the talented and passionate professionals 
of our workforce. People remain our greatest resource, 
investing in our people, our leaders, and diversity in all its 
forms, as well as maintaining a culture and a commitment to 
safety are keys to developing our future team.
    For over 245 years, the Army Corps of Engineers has served 
as the Nation's engineers, we have risen to meet the challenges 
of the day, and today is no exception. We will engineer the 
future, but we do not do it alone. We need the help of our non-
Federal partners, our project stakeholders, and the Congress to 
enable us to succeed. I look forward to continuing our great 
collaboration with this committee as we strive to finish 
quality projects on time and within budget.
    Thank you again, Madam Chairwoman, and members of the 
subcommittee. I look forward to any questions that you may 
have.
    [The statement follows:]
       Prepared Statement of Lieutenant General Scott A. Spellmon
    Chairwoman Feinstein, Ranking Member Kennedy, and Members of the 
Subcommittee:
    I am honored to testify before your committee today, along with Mr. 
Jamie Pinkham, the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil 
Works, in regard to the President's Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 2022) Budget 
for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Civil Works 
Program.
    Through its Civil Works Program, the Corps works with other Federal 
agencies, and with State, Tribal, and local agencies and others, to 
develop, manage, restore, and protect water resources, primarily 
through the construction, operation and maintenance, and study of 
water-related infrastructure projects. The Corps focuses on work that 
provides the highest economic, environmental, and public safety returns 
to the Nation. The Corps also regulates development in waters of the 
United States and works with other Federal agencies to help communities 
respond to, and recover from, floods and other natural disasters. The 
FY 2022 Budget invests in improving the Nation's water infrastructure, 
including U.S. coastal ports, while incorporating climate resilience 
efforts into the Corps' commercial navigation, flood and storm damage 
reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration work.
    The Corps' Military program also continues our work across the 
globe with presence in more than 110 countries supporting national 
security and our Combatant Commanders with civil works, military 
missions, and water resources research and development expertise.
                                overview
    The Civil Works Program is performance-based. It uses a targeted 
approach to invest in our water resources and promote climate 
resiliency, which will benefit the Nation's economy, environment, and 
public safety--now and in the future. With the requested funds, the 
Corps will emphasize: Investments in High Return Projects; Increasing 
Resiliency to Climate Change; Facilitating Safe, Reliable and 
Sustainable Commercial Navigation; and Accelerating and Improving 
Delivery of Water Resource Projects.
    The Corps focuses on high-performing projects and programs within 
its three main water resources missions: commercial navigation, flood 
and storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration. The 
Budget includes $6.8 billion for these Civil Works activities 
throughout the Nation. The American Jobs Plan includes an additional $8 
billion over five years for the Corps to improve ports and waterways.
                         investigations program
    The Investigations program of the Corps is funded both in the 
Investigations account and in the Mississippi River and Tributaries 
account. The Corps uses these funds to evaluate water resources 
problems and opportunities, design projects within the Corps three main 
mission areas, and support related work. The Investigations program 
includes the Corps planning assistance and technical assistance 
programs, where the Corps shares its expertise with local communities 
to help them identify and understand their water resources problems, 
and helps them to develop options including ways that they can increase 
their resilience to, and preparedness for, flood risks. In addition to 
ongoing efforts, the FY 2022 Budget supports starting seven new studies 
including those which will further investigate problems and 
opportunities associated with the commercial navigation, flood and 
storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration missions of 
the Corps.
                          construction program
    The Construction program of the Corps is funded both in the 
Construction account and in the Mississippi River and Tributaries 
account.
    The goal of the construction program is to produce as much value as 
possible for the Nation from the available funds. The Corps also gives 
priority to investments, selected on a risk informed basis, in dam 
safety assurance, seepage control, and static instability correction 
work at dams that the Corps owns and operates.
    The Budget provides $350 million for the South Florida Everglades 
Restoration (SFER) program, which includes the everglades. This is $100 
million above the enacted level for FY 2021, an increase of 40 percent. 
Additional SFER funding is included in the American Jobs Plan. Taken 
together, these funds would enable the Corps to make significant 
progress on this restoration program.
    The Budget also invests in four previously unfunded construction 
projects: West Sacramento, California, a flood and storm damage 
reduction project; McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, 
Three Rivers, Arkansas, and Norfolk Harbor and Channels, Virginia 
(Deepening), which are commercial navigation projects; and Anacostia 
Watershed Restoration, Prince George's County, Maryland, an aquatic 
ecosystem restoration project.
                operation and maintenance (o&m) program
    The O&M program of the Corps is funded both in the O&M account and 
in the Mississippi River and Tributaries account, with the Budget 
providing over $4 billion.
    All structures age and can deteriorate over time, causing a 
potential decline in reliability. As stewards of a large portfolio of 
water resources projects, the Corps is working to sustain the benefits 
that the key features of this infrastructure provides.
    The Corps continues to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of 
its operation and maintenance program. The Corps does so by targeting 
its investments in infrastructure maintenance, repair, and 
rehabilitation on a risk informed basis. It invests in the highest 
priority needs with emphasis on the key features of the infrastructure 
that the Corps owns and operates, and in work that will reduce long-
term O&M costs in real terms.
    Generally, the O&M program supports completed works owned or 
operated by the Corps, including administrative buildings and 
laboratories. Work to be accomplished includes: operation and 
maintenance of locks and dams along the inland waterways; maintenance 
dredging of inland and coastal Federal channels; operation and 
maintenance of multi-purpose dams and reservoirs for flood risk 
reduction and related purposes such as hydropower; monitoring of 
completed navigation and flood damage reduction projects; and 
management of Corps facilities and associated lands including serving 
as a responsible steward of the natural resources on Corps lands.
                           regulatory program
    Through its Regulatory Program, the Corps protects the Nation's 
waters including wetlands, and regulates development that could impede 
navigation, while allowing reasonable development to proceed.
                          emergency management
    The Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies (FCCE) account funds the 
planning, training, exercises, and other preparedness measures that 
help the Corps respond to floods, hurricanes, and other natural 
disasters, and to support emergency operations in response to such 
natural disasters, including advance measures, flood fighting, 
providing potable water, and the repair of certain damaged flood and 
storm damage reduction projects. The FCCE funding proposed in the 
Budget is for preparedness work. The Corps also prepares for 
emergencies through funding provided under the National Emergency 
Preparedness program, an O&M account remaining item.
                          reimbursable program
    Through the Interagency and International Services (IIS) 
Reimbursable Program, the Corps assists other Federal agencies, state, 
local, tribal governments, and those of other countries with timely, 
cost-effective solutions. These agencies can turn to the Corps, which 
already has these capabilities, rather than develop their own internal 
workforce and expertise to act as their design and construction agent. 
The work is principally technical oversight and management of 
engineering, environmental, and construction projects. The work itself 
is typically performed by private sector firms and is financed by the 
agencies we service. We only accept agency requests that are consistent 
with our core technical expertise, in the national interest, and that 
can be executed without impacting our primary mission areas.
                               conclusion
    The FY 2022 Budget for the Corps represents a continuing, fiscally 
prudent investment in the Nation's water resources infrastructure and 
the restoration of aquatic ecosystems. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
is committed to a performance-based Civil Works Program, based on 
innovative, resilient, and sustainable risk-informed solutions.
    Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and Members of Subcommittee. This 
concludes my statement. I look forward to answering any questions you 
or other Members of the Subcommittee may have.

    Senator Feinstein. Thanks very much, General.
    Mr. Palumbo.

                       DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


                         Bureau of Reclamation

STATEMENT OF MR. DAVID PALUMBO, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF 
            OPERATIONS
    Mr. Palumbo. Thank you, Chair Feinstein, Ranking Member 
Kennedy, and members of the subcommittee for the opportunity to 
discuss with you the President's fiscal year----
    The Bureau of Reclamation is the largest supplier and 
manager of water in the Nation, and the second largest producer 
of hydro-power. Reclamation manages water for agricultural, 
municipal, and industrial uses, the environment, and provides 
flood control, and recreation.
    Reclamation enjoys a close bipartisan working relationship 
with the subcommittee. The relationship has helped us address 
long-standing and emerging challenges in the West. Many of 
these challenges will continue to require close cooperation and 
innovative solutions, addressing drought, climate change, 
issues of equity and sustainability are essential, as are the 
continuing needs to secure, modernize, and maintain our 
Nation's water infrastructure.
    Reclamation's request of approximately $1.5 billion in 
discretionary appropriations addresses these challenges. I 
would like to acknowledge what is probably at the forefront of 
many members' minds, the significant, expansive and persistent 
drought. As you can see from the current U.S. drought monitor 
map, nearly every State west of the 100th meridian is 
experiencing some level of drought, with many of the 17 western 
States experiencing extreme or exceptional drought.
    Many farmers, Tribes, stakeholders, and related communities 
have had to make significant sacrifices. This dire hydrologic 
situation highlights the need for actions to make our 
infrastructure more resilient to water resource scarcity and 
variability, as well as to maintain healthy ecosystems.
    Reclamation's priorities reflect this vital need through 
our commitment to drought planning and response activities, 
such as the Seven Basin States, Drought Contingency Plan, and 
system conservation agreements. This budget request also 
acknowledges the need to continue to deploy and develop 
science-based drought and climate change adaptation strategies.
    Reclamation's water smart and science technology programs 
directly contribute to these administration priorities. In 
addition to our ongoing water resource management activities, 
our budget request includes roughly $200 million related to 
drought.
    Reclamation also continues to provide an important source 
of renewable energy. The 400 million megawatt hours of clean 
energy we generate each year, displaces over 18 million tons of 
carbon dioxide emissions and supports grid stability and other 
renewables like wind and solar power.
    Reclamation must also plan for the future of its 
infrastructure. Reclamation's dams and reservoirs, water 
conveyance facilities, and power generation facilities serve as 
the water and power infrastructure backbone of the American 
West.
    However, much of this infrastructure is aging and in need 
of critical maintenance. B.F. Sisk Dam in California, for 
example, which provides 2 million acre-feet of water storage 
south of the Delta, is one of the most significant funding 
needs under Reclamation's Dam Safety Program. Our request 
includes $207 million for dam safety, and $125 million for 
other extraordinary maintenance.
    However, it is not sufficient to address infrastructure 
needs without considering economic inequities and the needs of 
underserved communities. This administration is committed to 
generating broader economic opportunities and fostering greater 
social inclusion. Reclamation is establishing and rebuilding 
water infrastructure for underserved populations by ensuring 
that water for multiple purposes is reliably provided to all 
communities.
    In addition to settlements with mandatory funds, our budget 
request includes $158 million for Indian Water Rights 
Settlements, as well as $200 million for Reclamation's Native 
American Technical Assistance Program, and $93 million for 
Rural Water Program.
    The Bureau of Reclamation remains committed to working with 
Congress and our operating partners and stakeholders in 
carrying out our mission responsibly planning for the future. 
The challenges of drought and climate change demands such 
action. And the need for more equitable outcomes and broader 
economic development do as well.
    I again thank the subcommittee and your excellent staff. 
And I am happy to answer any questions.
    [The statement follows:]
                  Prepared Statement of David Palumbo
    Thank you, Chair Feinstein, Ranking Member Kennedy, and members of 
the Subcommittee for the opportunity to discuss with you the 
President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Budget for the Bureau of Reclamation. 
I am David Palumbo, Deputy Commissioner of Operations for the Bureau of 
Reclamation.
    The Bureau of Reclamation is the largest supplier and manager of 
water in the Nation and the second largest producer of hydroelectric 
power. Reclamation manages water for agriculture, municipal and 
industrial use, and the environment, as well as providing flood control 
and recreation for millions of people. Reclamation's activities, 
including recreation benefits, support economic activity valued at 
$66.63 billion, and support approximately 472,000 jobs. Reclamation 
delivers 10 trillion gallons of water to more than 31 million people 
each year, and provides water for irrigation of 10 million acres, which 
yields approximately 25 percent of the Nation's fruit and nut crops, 
and 60 percent of the vegetable harvest.
    Reclamation's fundamental mission and programs--modernizing and 
maintaining infrastructure, conserving natural resources, using science 
and research to inform decision-making, serving underserved 
populations, and staying as nimble as possible in response to the real-
time resiliency and long-term adaptation requirements of drought and a 
changing climate--position our agency to deliver significant 
contributions to the Biden-Harris Administration's core priorities. The 
Bureau of Reclamation's FY 2022 budget provides the foundation to meet 
our mission: to manage, develop, and protect water resources, 
consistent with applicable State and Federal law, in a cost-effective 
and environmentally responsible manner in the interest of the American 
public. Reclamation remains committed to working with a wide range of 
stakeholders, including water and power customers, Tribes, State and 
local officials, and non-governmental organizations, to meet its 
mission.
    Reclamation is requesting $1,532,949,000 in gross Federal 
discretionary appropriations. Of the total amount, $1,379,050,000 is 
for the Water and Related Resources account, which is Reclamation's 
largest account, $64,400,000 is for the Policy and Administration 
account, and $33,000,000 is for the California Bay Delta account. A 
total of $56,499,000 is budgeted for the Central Valley Project 
Restoration Fund, to be offset by expected discretionary receipts in 
the amounts collected during the fiscal year. Reclamation also 
anticipates approximately $900 million in other Federal, including 
mandatory, and non-Federal funds to support FY 2022 activities.
    Racial and Economic Equity: Activities to Support Underserved 
communities, Tribal Programs & Tribal Water Rights Settlements: 
Reclamation tackles the challenges of racial equity and underserved 
communities through investments in tribal water rights settlements, the 
Native American Affairs technical assistance program, rural water 
projects, and investments in specific projects for underserved 
communities. Reclamation is confident in its ability to meet the 
legislated deadlines of tribal settlements.
    Reclamation's budget supports Indian water rights settlements, 
continuing the high prioritization of these projects to meet Tribal 
trust and treaty obligations. The FY 2022 budget request includes a 
total of $157.6 million for Indian water rights settlements consistent 
with settlement dates required by statute. In addition to requesting 
discretionary funding, these settlements will draw on available 
mandatory funding to support current settlement implementation 
activities.
    The FY 2022 budget includes $20.0 million for the Native American 
Affairs program to increase the capacity to work with and support 
Tribes in water resources development, including the resolution of 
water rights claims, sustainable and equitable water sharing 
agreements, and other water related technical and resource management 
activities. This funding will also strengthen Department-wide 
capabilities to achieve an integrated and systematic approach to Indian 
water rights negotiations to consider the full range of economic, 
legal, and technical attributes of proposed settlements.
    By means of its request of $92.9 million for the Rural Water 
program, Reclamation is also establishing and rebuilding clean water 
infrastructure for underserved populations, furthering the President's 
environmental justice goals as well as his commitment to Tribal Nations 
by ensuring that clean, safe drinking water is a right in those 
communities. The request consists of $68.1 million for construction and 
$24.8 million for operation, maintenance, and replacement of completed 
Tribal features.
    Conservation, Climate Resilience and Climate Science: Reclamation's 
projects were primarily designed and constructed in the first half of 
the 20th century with snowpack serving as the largest reservoir. The 
decrease in snowpack and earlier spring runoff have made climate 
resilience and adaptation an important focus area for Reclamation. Our 
investments address the unprecedented and persistent drought and our 
ability to combat climate change by continuing to fund the WaterSMART 
program, to improve water conservation and energy efficiency as well as 
proactive efforts to provide sound climate science, research and 
development, and clean energy. We will continue to seek to optimize 
non-Federal contributions to accomplish more with our Federal dollars.
    Reclamation is continuing efforts to manage drought. Across the 
west, we are seeing drought at a scale and intensity that we have not 
seen before. California is currently experiencing its third driest year 
on record; the second two consecutive driest years on record, and the 
driest year since 1977. In the Central Valley of California, 
precipitation has been far below normal, at the bottom 10th percentile 
of historic levels, which equates to snow and rain precipitation of 
less than half of average for this date. Reclamation plays a crucial 
role in managing and regulating water operations in California, 
coordinating closely with the State, fishery agencies and local 
operating partners to evaluate options. The FY 2022 budget continues to 
support drought mitigation and planning efforts, including a request of 
$184.7 million for operations within the Central Valley Project, which 
includes work to modernize facilities and take advantage of water 
conservation efforts. In addition, the FY 2022 Budget includes $33 
million for the California Bay-Delta Restoration account and $56.5 
million for the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund. In the 
Colorado River Basin, the period from 2000 through 2021 has been the 
driest 22-year period in more than 100 years of record-keeping and one 
of the driest in the past 1,200 years based on paleohydrology data. The 
FY 2022 budget includes salinity control efforts along the river with 
both the Title I ($17.6 million) and Title II ($7 million) Programs, 
while continuing to implement the Drought Contingency Plans (DCP) in 
coordination with the Seven Basin States through the Lower and Upper 
Colorado River Programs. Drought response activities include $15 
million for the DCP to conserve water in Lake Mead to reduce the 
likelihood of the Lake declining to further critical elevations and $3 
million for the Upper Colorado River Operations Program for Demand 
Management.
    The Klamath Basin is also experiencing one of the driest hydrologic 
years on record. The 2022 Budget includes $24.1 million for the Klamath 
Project with $3.3 million for water conservation, water quality 
monitoring, and water measurement operations; $15.7 million for Tribal 
Trust Obligations and Endangered Species Act compliance, and $2.5 
million for maintenance activities and the rehabilitation of Link River 
Dam.
    Climate change adaptation is a focus of Reclamation's science 
efforts. Funding will focus on innovation strategies that are necessary 
to address present and future hydrologic changes. The Desalination 
Program supports water purification science, development, and 
demonstrations for the purpose of converting unusable waters to useable 
water supplies. The Science and Technology Program addresses the full 
range of technical issues confronting Reclamation water and hydropower 
managers.
    WaterSMART: The WaterSMART Program directly contributes to 
Administration priorities for conservation, climate science, 
adaptation, and resiliency. WaterSMART also serves as the primary 
contributor to the Reclamation/Interior Water Conservation Priority 
Goal. Projects funded through WaterSMART since 2010, including 
WaterSMART Grants and Title XVI projects, are expected to save more 
than one million acre-feet of water each year, once completed. The FY 
2022 budget includes $54.1 million for WaterSMART programs.
    Modernizing and Maintaining Infrastructure: Reclamation's dams and 
reservoirs, water conveyance systems, and power generating facilities 
serve as the water and power infrastructure backbone of the American 
West. Reclamation's water and power projects throughout the western 
United States provide water supplies for agricultural, municipal, and 
industrial purposes. Reclamation's projects also provide energy 
produced by hydropower facilities and maintain ecosystems that support 
fish and wildlife, hunting, fishing, and other recreation, as well as 
rural economies. Changing demographics and competing demands are 
increasingly impacting already strained systems, and the proper 
management of this infrastructure is critical to Reclamation's ability 
to achieve progress on its mission objectives. This budget addresses 
priorities by allocating funds based on objective and performance-based 
criteria to most effectively implement Reclamation's programs and its 
management responsibilities for its water and power infrastructure in 
the West.
    Funding is provided for dam safety and Extraordinary Maintenance 
(XM) of Reclamation facilities. Reclamation manages 491 dams throughout 
the 17 Western States. Reclamation's Dam Safety Program has identified 
364 high and significant hazard dams. Through constant monitoring and 
assessment, Reclamation strives to achieve the best use of its limited 
resources to ensure dam safety and to maintain our ability to store, 
conserve, and deliver water and to generate hydropower. The FY 2022 
budget request includes $207.1 million for the Dam Safety Program. 
Reclamation's XM request is part of its overall Asset Management 
Strategy that relies on condition assessments, condition/performance 
metrics, technological research and development, and strategic 
collaboration to better inform and improve the management of its assets 
and address infrastructure maintenance challenges. Additional XM items 
are directly funded by revenues, customers, or other Federal agencies 
(e.g., Bonneville Power Administration). The FY 2022 budget includes 
$125.3 million for XM related activities.
    Renewable Energy: Reclamation owns 78 hydroelectric power plants 
and operates 53 of those plants that account for 15 percent of the 
hydroelectric capacity and generation in the United States. Each year 
on average, Reclamation generates about 40 million megawatt hours of 
electricity and collects over $1.0 billion in gross power revenues for 
the Federal Government. It would take more than 130 billion cubic feet 
of natural gas or about 7.1 million tons of coal to produce an equal 
amount of energy with fossil fuels; as a result, Reclamation's 
hydropower program displaces over 18 million tons of carbon dioxide 
that may have otherwise been emitted by traditional fossil fuel power 
plants.
    Reclamation's FY 2022 budget request includes $3.5 million to 
support Department energy initiatives through increasing Reclamation 
Project hydropower capabilities. These activities include: policy 
development, oversight, and support services facilitating non-Federal 
hydropower development on Reclamation projects through Lease of Power 
Privilege and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensing. These 
actions allow Reclamation to derive additional value and revenue from 
existing public infrastructure and reduce project operating costs 
(e.g., water and power delivery costs). Revenues derived from 
incremental hydropower production are invested in the underlying public 
infrastructure to ensure continued, reliable operations and benefits. 
These investments, in combination with prior year's efforts will ensure 
that Reclamation can continue to provide reliable water and power to 
the American West.
    Water management, improving and modernizing infrastructure, using 
sound science to support critical decision-making, finding 
opportunities to expand capacity, reducing conflict, and meeting 
environmental responsibilities were all addressed in the formulation of 
the FY 2022 budget. Reclamation continues to look at ways to plan more 
efficiently for future challenges faced in water resources management 
to improve the way it does business.
                         account level details
    The FY 2022 budget allocates funds to projects and programs based 
on objective, performance-based criteria to implement Reclamation's 
programs and its management responsibilities most effectively for its 
water and power infrastructure in the West.
    The FY 2022 budget for Reclamation totals $1.533 billion in gross 
budget authority. The budget is partially offset by discretionary 
receipts in the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund ($56.5 million) 
resulting in net discretionary budget authority of $1.476 billion.
              water and related resources--$1,379,050,000
    The FY 2022 Water and Related Resources budget provides funding for 
five major program activities--Water and Energy Management and 
Development ($434.0 million), Land Management and Development ($49.1 
million), Fish and Wildlife Management and Development ($193.2 
million), Facility Operations ($322.0 million), and Facility 
Maintenance and Rehabilitation ($380.7 million). The funding proposed 
in Reclamation's FY 2022 budget supports key programs important to the 
Department and in line with Administration objectives.
    By far, the greatest portion of Reclamation's Water and Related 
Resources budget is dedicated to delivering water and generating power. 
This is accomplished within over 300 congressionally-authorized 
projects. Certain programs are also particularly notable, including Dam 
Safety-described above--and others, due to their unique nature and 
interest to Congress and other stakeholders. In addition to 
infrastructure needs and other overarching initiatives that fulfill the 
President's priorities noted above, a few additional programs that 
directly respond to Administration goals are described below.
    Reclamation's FY 2022 budget of $27.5 million for Research and 
Development (R&D) programs includes both Science and Technology, and 
Desalination and Water Purification Research-both of which focus on 
Reclamation's mission of water and power deliveries.
    The Science and Technology program supports engineering innovation 
that promotes economic growth, supports maintaining and improving our 
water and power infrastructure, and spurs continued generation of 
energy. Program outcomes enable reliable water and power delivery to 
our customers, improve safety, limit the impacts of invasive species, 
and ensure that Reclamation can meet its environmental compliance 
responsibilities. These activities support the Administration's 
priorities for the FY 2022 budget, including job creation by supporting 
technology transfer activities that may lead to new business 
opportunities for private industry. The program also supports 
Administration priorities related to maintaining and improving our 
water and power infrastructure by partnering with the U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers to foster research projects to develop technologies that 
extend the operating life and reduce maintenance costs of Reclamation's 
structures. The Administration's priority related to energy from all 
sources is supported by hydropower research that ensures that 
Reclamation is maximizing reliability, reducing maintenance costs, and 
exploring new energy development opportunities. Research on safety is 
ensuring our workers can perform their jobs safely and securely.
    The Desalination and Water Purification Research program priorities 
include development of improved and innovative methods of desalination 
and reducing costs to develop new water supplies. The research and 
testing funded out of this program supports Executive Order 14008 
including job creation, by supporting innovative new solutions that 
spur the creation of new businesses by entrepreneurs and by advancing 
Reclamation's competitive edge in the area of water treatment and 
desalination.
    Reclamation's continued water delivery and power generation cannot 
be accomplished without meeting our environmental responsibilities. 
Reclamation meets these responsibilities associated with individual 
projects, such as the Central Valley Project and the Middle Rio Grande 
Collaborative Program, through a large number of activities. The FY 
2022 budget funds Reclamation's Endangered Species Act recovery 
programs and other programs that contribute towards these efforts, such 
as the Columbia/Snake River Salmon Recovery Program, the San Juan River 
Recovery Implementation Program, the Upper Colorado Recovery 
Implementation Program, and the Multi-Species Conservation Program 
within the Lower Colorado River Operations Program, among many others.
    Including other efforts, Reclamation helps address the West's water 
challenges through the WaterSMART program. Through WaterSMART, 
Reclamation works cooperatively with States, Tribes, and local entities 
as they plan for and implement actions to address current and future 
water shortages, including drought; degraded water quality; increased 
demands for water and energy from growing populations; environmental 
water requirements; and the potential for decreased water supply 
availability due to climate change, drought, and population growth.
    The Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program is a new program that 
addresses aquatic ecosystems in connection to Reclamation projects. The 
FY 2022 budget includes $1 million for the Aquatic Ecosystem 
Restoration Program. The program provides broad authority for 
Reclamation to fund fish passage improvements and aquatic habitat 
enhancement, including removal of dams or other aging infrastructure if 
such projects are supported by a broad multi-stakeholder group, and if 
it maintains water security for all involved. This new authority aligns 
with the Administration's priorities for climate change and climate 
resiliency.
    Aging Infrastructure Program and Account: Sec. 1101, Title XI of 
P.L. 116-260 amends 43 U.S.C. 510b to establish the Aging 
Infrastructure Account, authorizing an annual appropriation for 
Reclamation to provide for the extended repayment of work by a 
transferred works operating entity or project beneficiary to conduct 
extraordinary operation and maintenance work at a Reclamation facility. 
It is envisioned that the discretionary funds would be from a transfer 
from Water and Related Resources as proposed in FY 2022 appropriations 
language. The FY 2022 Budget includes $1 million. Mandatory funds would 
be appropriated from the receipt account.
    The account would receive deposits from repayment of reimbursable 
costs under a repayment contract. Under the program, Reclamation will 
provide funding to non-Federal partners who rehabilitate infrastructure 
projects that are owned by the Federal government. Those entities would 
repay the funds to the Aging Infrastructure Account over periods of up 
to 50 years. Funds from that account would be available to be spent 
without further appropriation for future projects.
    Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure: A total of $3.5 
million is included in this request to support the DOI Zero Emission 
Vehicle (ZEV) investment strategy that is comprised of three core 
elements: replacing hydrocarbon powered vehicles with ZEVs; investing 
in ZEV charging infrastructure; and integrating ZEV fleet and 
infrastructure management.
      central valley project restoration fund (cvprf): $56,499,000
    This fund was established by the Central Valley Project Improvement 
Act, Title XXXIV of P.L. 102-575, October 30, 1992. The budget of $56.5 
million is expected to be offset fully by discretionary receipts based 
on what can be collected from project beneficiaries under provisions of 
Section 3407(d) of the Act. The discretionary receipts are adjusted on 
an annual basis to maintain payments totaling $30.0 million (October 
1992 price levels) on a three-year rolling average basis. The budget 
was developed after considering the effects of the San Joaquin River 
Restoration Settlement Act (P.L. 111-11, March 30, 2009), which 
redirects certain fees, estimated at $2.0 million in FY 2022, collected 
from the Friant Division water users to the San Joaquin Restoration 
Fund.
           california bay-delta restoration fund: $33,000,000
    The CALFED Bay-Delta Restoration Act (P.L. 108-361), as amended, 
authorized multiple Federal agencies to participate in the 
implementation of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program as outlined in the 
August 28, 2000, Record of Decision (ROD) for the CALFED Bay-Delta 
Program Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental 
Impact Report. The legislation directed the implementing agencies to 
undertake a set of broadly described programmatic actions identified in 
the ROD to the extent authorized under existing law. In addition, the 
Act authorized $389.0 million in Federal appropriations for new and 
expanded authorities.
    The FY 2022 budget of $33.0 million implements priority activities 
pursuant to P.L. 108-361. Six Federal agencies--the Department of the 
Interior, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, Department 
of the Army, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Council on 
Environmental Quality -work together to ensure that the Federal actions 
and investments the Administration is undertaking are coordinated in a 
fashion to help address California's current water supply and 
ecological challenges. This budget supports actions under the following 
program activities: $1.7 million for Renewed Federal State Partnership, 
$2.3 million for Smarter Water Supply and Use, and $29.0 million to 
address the Degraded Bay Delta Ecosystem.
                 policy and administration: $64,400,000
    The $64.4 million budget will be used to: 1) develop, evaluate, and 
directly implement Reclamation-wide policy, rules, and regulations, 
including actions under the Government Performance and Results Act; and 
2) manage and perform functions that are not properly chargeable to 
specific projects or program activities covered by separate funding 
authority. A new Diversity, Inclusion and Compliance initiative will 
address identified high priority needs in support of Executive Order 
13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities 
through the Federal Government, and Executive Order 13988, Preventing 
and Combatting Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and 
Sexual Orientation. In addition, $1.6 million is requested for 
increased cybersecurity as a sustained response to the SolarWinds 
attack, and to improve future protection and detection capabilities.
             central utah protection completion act (cupca)
    The Department's 2022 CUPCA Program budget of $20 million reflects 
the Administration's commitment to strengthening our climate resiliency 
and supporting conservation partnerships. As authorized, the completion 
of the Central Utah Project (CUP) Utah Lake System pipelines will 
deliver 60,000 acre-feet of municipal and industrial water to Salt Lake 
and Utah Counties. The completed project will provide increased water 
security, helping communities adapt to and increase their resiliency 
under changing climate conditions.
    The request provides funding to continue construction of the 
system; support the recovery of endangered species; and implement fish, 
wildlife, and recreation mitigation and water conservation projects. 
One of the goals of the project is the recovery of the June sucker 
fish, a critical element of listed species recovery efforts.

    Senator Feinstein. Thank you very much. We will proceed--if 
there is no objection--with questions.
    Deputy Commissioner Palumbo, more than 72 percent of the 
Western United States is now in severe drought, or worse, which 
is the--this is the most extensive, severe drought in the west 
in recorded history. California is unfortunately worse with 90 
percent of the State in severe drought. So this is a real 
emergency that requires our immediate action. Does the Bureau 
plan to send a reprogramming or supplemental funding request 
for drought?
    Mr. Palumbo. Thank you, Senator. Absolutely; the Bureau of 
Reclamation is currently working on finalizing a reprogramming 
and request to address a variety of factors related to drought. 
I would expect in the next coming weeks you will be seeing that 
reprogramming request with a significant focus on drought 
mitigation and adaptation strategies for the----
    Senator Feinstein. Well, I am glad to hear that. And I 
thank you for it. Can you tell us anything about the type of 
immediate actions which would be permitted under this revision 
that you are sending?
    Mr. Palumbo. Yes. Thank you, Senator. We are looking at a 
variety of tools, the immediate tools that we would deploy our 
water transfers, water purchases, groundwater substitutions, as 
well as salinity barriers to help with salinity in the Delta. 
Another variety of tools that we are looking at are related to 
fish hatcheries, making sure we have cool water available for 
the species that depend on water, as well as humans.
    Senator Feinstein. Well, I am pleased to hear that. I have 
worked hard with my colleagues to develop appropriate funding 
under the WIIN Act to build storage projects, to be able to 
capture precipitation for the dry years. Last year we worked to 
provide an additional $206 million in WIIN Act funding for 
water storage, desal, and water recycling and reuse projects. 
The President's budget recommends no funding for these critical 
projects this year. My question is, why?
    Mr. Palumbo. Thank you, Senator. The Bureau of Reclamation 
as well as the administration places a high emphasis on water 
infrastructure, including storage, desalinization and water 
purification. We are in the process of developing a request 
that we will be sending to the appropriations committees 
through the Secretary of the Interior in the very near future, 
with funding requests for both water storage as well as 
desalinization and water reuse.
    Senator Feinstein. When it is ready, will you please bring 
it to my attention?
    Mr. Palumbo. Absolutely.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you very much. I have seen that 
the President's American Jobs Plan includes $2.5 billion over 5 
years for reclamation infrastructure, and we certainly need to 
invest more money in our infrastructure. And when can I expect 
the Bureau to provide more details on the President's 
infrastructure proposal?
    Mr. Palumbo. Very soon as well. We are working closely in 
the department to finalize opportunities, to put money to work 
on shovel-ready projects, using alternative delivery methods on 
pencil-ready projects, to get that infrastructure on the 
ground, put that money to work, put people to work. So we are 
working very hard, as we speak, on finalizing our plans.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you. I take you at your word. We 
have 84 dams in California that are in less than satisfactory 
condition and would cause fatalities or significant property 
damage if they failed. In order to repair these dams, I have 
worked with my colleagues to include in last year's Energy and 
Water Bill $12 million to provide low-interest loans to restore 
non-Federal dams under the Water Infrastructure, Finance and 
Innovation Act Program.
    The Corps still needs to finalize the program rules in 
order to finalize a Federal funding opportunity for these 
critically needed grants. So the question is: How quickly can 
you finalize the program rules and get out these funds so we 
can start repairing dangerously deficient non-Federal dams?
    Mr. Pinkham. Madam Chair, if I could take that question, 
please? We are currently working with OMB (Office of Management 
and Budget) on the rule that is on the OMB spring agenda. So we 
are working closely with them. We have been able to model some 
of the rules after something that is already in place to 
Environmental Protection Agency. And so we are trying to move 
that along as quickly as we can.
    Senator Feinstein. Appreciate that. Do you have any time 
zone you can give us, because the temperatures change and the 
water levels change?
    Mr. Pinkham. Yes. Madam Chair, let me work with OMB and see 
if we can get you a more definitive timeline on it; I hate to 
give you something, and prove that I am wrong. And so let me 
get back to you on that, if I might?
    Senator Feinstein. Yes, you can. But please do. I will 
count on that. Thank you.
    Senator Kennedy.
    Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Mr. Commissioner, I am probably going to direct most of my 
questions to the Secretary and the General. But I don't want 
you to think that I don't recognize the extraordinary work and 
importance of the Bureau of Reclamation.
    Mr. Palumbo. Thank you.
    Senator Kennedy. In my opening statement, gentlemen, I have 
talked about Hurricane Katrina and what we call, HSDRRS, if you 
are familiar with this project, where we built levees, flood 
walls, pumping stations all around the New Orleans metropolitan 
area.
    A miracle of engineering. Thank you. Of course this project 
didn't just happen. The money didn't just fall from heaven. We 
thank heaven for it, but it came out of taxpayers' pockets. The 
Federal Government put up most of it, but the State had to put 
up its share. After Katrina we were flat on our back literally 
and figuratively, especially economically, so we had to borrow 
the money from the American taxpayer.
    In the last water bill, with the help of my colleagues, 
thank you, we restructured Louisiana's debt, and we are about 
to make, our legislature just approved it, about a $400 million 
payment to meet, and I promise you, the check will clear, the 
money has been appropriated. This is going to require perhaps 
some guidelines in implementing this restructuring.
    Have you thought about that, Mr. Secretary General? If you 
are going to issue guidelines, if you could call me and we will 
work together to make sure that we both are on the same page.
    Mr. Pinkham. Senator Kennedy, we would be happy to work 
with you on the process going forward to make sure that the 
commitments are met. And if there are guidelines that need to 
be created, we are happy to work with you and your staff on 
what those guidelines are.
    Senator Kennedy. I will really would appreciate it. 
General.
    General Spellmon. Yes, sir, I appreciate that. And I 
appreciate the guidance. And I believe it was Section 351, in 
WRDA (Water Resources Development Act) 2020, and we are working 
with the Secretary's office on getting the appropriate guidance 
out to the field.
    Senator Kennedy. Good. Well, if you need me, call me, 
because we want to get this back right. And we are going to 
make our payments. And again, I want to thank my colleagues for 
working with me on helping us restructure this debt, because we 
were never going to be able to pay back the interest. It was 
just eating us alive.
    General Spellmon. Yes, sir.
    Senator Kennedy. Let me talk about the Morganza to the Gulf 
Hurricane Protection Project. I know you are familiar with it. 
This project is in Southeast Louisiana, below New Orleans. It 
is hugely important to us. And my people know that. They 
started taxing themselves back in, let's see, early-1990. And I 
know that is rare. And usually everybody comes to the Federal 
Government and says, money, please. My people said, look, we 
are going to put our money where our mouth is. They started 
taxing themselves.
    And of course, we went through the planning for the project 
and worked--working closely with the Corps, and the project is 
on its way. And our last Congress, we actually appropriated a 
little bit of money for it, but we got a long way to go. I 
wanted to get your thoughts about the Morganza to the Gulf 
Protection Project. So what do you think? What are we doing 
right? What are we doing wrong? Because I can assure you, I am 
going to be calling you a lot about it. Mr. Secretary?
    Mr. Pinkham. I will be honest with you. Senator Kennedy, I 
am not familiar with the project----
    Senator Kennedy. Oh, we are going to fix that.
    Mr. Pinkham. Well, I look forward to that, the opportunity 
to visit the site with you, and gather some information.
    Senator Kennedy. I am thinking, you must come--come to 
Louisiana. We are going to take a helicopter tour. We will take 
an airboat. I will show you some alligators. But all kidding 
aside, this is a big project. It is a big deal, and we have 
been working on it since the 1990s, and my people have put up a 
lot of their money and we are on our way. It is authorized that 
we--Congress appropriated a little bit of money, but we need to 
finish this. And I want you to know it as well as I do.
    Mr. Pinkham. Okay. I look forward to the trip.
    Senator Kennedy. Okay. General, have you got any thoughts?
    General Spellmon. Sure. I will just add, we understand the 
non-Federal sponsors have put over $400 million against this 
project. We are grateful for the New Start Authority that we 
received.
    Senator Kennedy. Yes.
    General Spellmon. In the fiscal year 2021. Sure, that is a 
good start, and about $12 million to get started on the Federal 
portion. So when we make our recommendation to the Secretary, 
life safety is always at the top of the list, and this is a 
critical life safety project for the people in that region.
    Senator Kennedy. Well, I am glad you mentioned the New 
Start Authority. I want to thank my colleagues again for 
helping me get the New Start Authority. And I want to thank all 
of you, and we will be in touch on this project. Thank you.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Tester.
    Senator Tester. Thank you, Chairwoman Feinstein, and 
Ranking Member Kennedy.
    I am going to start with you, Mr. Palumbo. I got first 
involved in the state legislature in 1998. I was introduced to 
a lot of water projects back then, and they are still there. 
One of these water projects is the St. Mary's Diversion Dam, 
which, if have not seen, come out to Montana, you need to look 
at it. It is an amazing piece of engineering. It is well over a 
hundred years old now, and it is shot. It was shot 25 years ago 
and it is worse today than it was then.
    At some point in time we have got to figure out whether we 
just shut the dam thing down, and let the Milk River run dry 6 
out of 10 years? Or are we going to fix it? It is not a cheap 
project, $52 million for replacing the dam, $200 million for 
the siphons and pumping stations, $50 to $80 million for Fresno 
Dam, which is downstream.
    This is water that is used for drinking water and 
irrigation. My question is: is we need some serious attention 
to this, because as I said, if Mother Nature has her way, if we 
wouldn't have done this project back in the early, early, early 
1900s, the Milk would be dry. And the Milk basically covers 
Eastern Montana, two-thirds of Eastern Montana, the entire 
Northern Tier.
    The question is: Will you commit to making this a priority? 
To try to figure out how we can get this dam project done? Two 
of the five drops failed last year, they were replaced due to 
some of your good work and the State's good work. Tell me your 
view on this and how we are going to get this baby done? And 
then I am going to get to the other projects.
    Mr. Palumbo. Thank you, Senator. I had the pleasure 
actually of meeting with you up on the Highline in 2016.
    Senator Kennedy. There we go.
    Mr. Palumbo. I have been out at the facilities. I worked 
with the Joint Border Control; wonderful folks.
    Senator Tester. Yeah, you got it.
    Mr. Palumbo. Absolutely, the Bureau of Reclamation is 
committed. We certainly recognized the high capital cost, as 
well as the cost shared, and reimbursability, the struggles 
that we need to work through.
    Senator Tester. Yes.
    Mr. Palumbo. But we are committed to doing that, and 
working closely with you.
    Senator Tester. Okay. Needless to say this budget doesn't 
reflect that. I am hoping we can get Congress to plus that up. 
But, you know, and I am going to tell you, there is some 
frustration here. I think the Chairwoman talked about it, for 
sure, in her opening remarks. That oftentimes I think that you 
guys low ballee is expecting Congress to increase them? And I 
am not being critical. I mean, it is a game that is being 
played. And I don't think if we are looking at infrastructure 
being critical for national security, which I believe it 
absolutely is, then we ought not be playing games. We ought to 
be just telling it like it is. And if it involves having to 
raise taxes to pay for critical infrastructure, we should be 
doing it. That is not for you. That is for us. Okay.
    Indian Water Rights Settlements, these are settlements that 
have been done. We owe the bill, the check hasn't been cut yet. 
The Blackfeet Water Settlement, and this is just one of many, 
expires, enforceability date of 2025. There is about a $172 
million needed to finish that, 2025 that is like day after 
tomorrow. There is, I think there is $40 million--no, no. I 
have got the wrong one; but the bottom line is, is there is not 
near enough in this proposal to deal with that. Do you have any 
suggestions on how we are going to deal with that?
    Mr. Palumbo. Thank you, Senator. We have looked very 
closely at all of our Indian Water Rights Settlements, we 
believe that we are on track with the Blackfeet to complete 
both in terms of our technical capability, as well as the 
funding stream that we have identified through discretionary 
and mandatory appropriations. So we think we are well 
positioned to make that 2025 date.
    Senator Tester. Okay. That is good. We will hold you to 
that. Now we are going to talk about regional water projects 
that fit around those Native American water settlements. One of 
them is where I live, although I don't personally get water 
from it, so I have no conflict of interest. The North Central 
Water Project deals with North Central Montana, a huge area, 
you know, 200 miles by a 100 probably, is what this water 
project does; square miles.
    The question is: Back in '98 it was a hundred-million-
dollar project. Now it is well over 300 million. We pumped some 
money in, but we are still--we kind of lost ground. We are at 
$138 million needed to fix--to finish that project. Can you 
tell me how this budget can be adequate to deal with that 
problem?
    Mr. Palumbo. Thank you, Senator. What we are doing in the 
Bureau of Reclamation is prioritizing all of our funding needs, 
including rural water projects, projects in the State of 
Montana. Again, I think we are well positioned to make progress 
commensurate with our technical capability.
    Senator Tester. Once again, I will hold you to it.
    Just a question for the record, if I might, Madam Chair. I 
would like the Army Corps to give me a list of the ports. 
Montana's a landlocked State, but we need ports to push out our 
product. Could you give me a list of the ports that are in need 
of repair to take on the ships that take a large amount of 
water to get to the port? How many of them are adequate for 
that, and how many need to be rebuilt to deal with that issue?
    As I say, this is more of an issue for Kennedy than it is 
for me, or for Senator Feinstein than it is for me. But the 
truth is all of our drain goes to a port, and if we can't get 
it out, we are done. And so we need to have those export 
opportunities.
    So I would love to know what kind of shape our ports are 
in. And I am sure you have done that for somebody like Lindsey 
Graham before. So you probably have it easy at your fingertips, 
and if I could get those, that would also help make sure we 
have that infrastructure available. Okay?
    General Spellmon. Yes, sir.
    Senator Tester. Thanks.
    Senator Feinstein. Thanks, Senator Tester.
    Senator Hyde-Smith.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
    General Spellmon, you and I have discussed the Yazoo area 
pump--the Backwater Area Pump Project before, on several 
occasions, and I also believe you have flown over, and you have 
looked at it, and you have received briefings from the Corps of 
Vicksburg District, and the local sponsor of the Mississippi 
Levee Board. And as you know, the Yazoo Backwater Area has 
experienced flooding 9 out of the past 10 years.
    In 2019 alone, the flooding caused two deaths, hundreds of 
millions of dollars in damages, destroyed over 600 homes, and 
adversely affected the aquatic and terrestrial environment. And 
on a very cold day, with ice on the ground and snow, very 
unusual for Mississippi, I had to get in a four-wheel drive to 
get there, but the Mississippi Valley Division Commander signed 
a Record of Decision for a new proposed plan on January the 
15th. And the Vicksburg District is currently utilizing $11.2 
million provided for the fiscal year 2021 Omnibus 
Appropriations Bill to carry out the preconstruction, 
engineering and design activities.
    Unfortunately, the Corps' fiscal year 2022 budget request 
fails to mention the Yazoo Backwater Area Project. That is 
despite the fact that the Corps' estimated fiscal year 2022 
total capability for the project is approximately $25 million. 
Those funds could be used to complete the PED (Pre-Construction 
Engineering and Design) phase, continue NEPA (National 
Environmental Policy Act) documentation, and carry out other 
important activities to move this project alone.
    Should Congress provide the necessary funding for the Yazoo 
Backwater Area Project in the fiscal year 2022, Energy and 
Water Appropriations Bill? Are you committed to putting these 
funds to good use, to advance this much needed project?
    General Spellmon. Yes, ma'am, absolutely. We remain 
committed to this project. And as you know, I have had the 
opportunity to visit it several times. You mentioned $25 
million to complete preliminary engineering and design. What we 
would like to see is $7.5 million, if we are offered a work 
plan. That will allow us to complete PED for the first 
construction contract and actually start turning dirt on this 
very important project.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Very reassuring. Thank you so much for 
your work, because you have been committed to this, and it is 
so needed.
    Assistant Secretary Pinkham. I was pleased to read in your 
testimony that one of your Corps' two key objectives in 
developing the fiscal year 2022 budget request was to promote 
environmental justice. Approximately 71 percent of the Yazoo 
Backwater Area population is minority. More than 30 percent of 
the population lives below the poverty threshold right now.
    The medium household income is roughly $31,000, far below 
the national average. And since 2010, the population area has 
declined by more than 10,000 people. People are losing jobs, 
businesses are leaving, the residents most affected don't have 
a safety net, the Corps' Environmental Justice Appendix of 
Company, its final environmental document concluded, ``The new 
proposed plan, as designed, would benefit low income and 
minority populations in the Yazoo study area.'' Is there any 
reason why moving forward with this project would not promote 
environmental justice? And until this project is completed, I 
would consider the perpetual flooding affecting the Yazoo 
Backwater Area to be a tremendous environmental injustice. So, 
is there any reason that we would not promote this moving 
forward?
    Mr. Pinkham. Senator Hyde-Smith, thank you for the 
question. And I have had a chance to look at the information 
you just shared as well in my briefings from the district, for 
the very reasons, this to me has an alignment with 
environmental justice for the facts that you have laid out, in 
the briefings that I have received on it.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you. And again, we so appreciate 
your work on this, and we look forward to making some good 
things happen, and making sure that we have a celebration soon 
to continue this project. Thank you so very much.
    Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Senator Feinstein. I have another round, and I would like 
to address this to Mr. Pinkham. We have 84 dams in California 
that are in less than satisfactory condition, and would cause 
fatalities, or significant property damage if they--pardon me?
    Well, let me ask this question. Last year, this committee 
provided an additional $7.5 million for the Corps to 
demonstrate the beneficial use of dredged material at existing 
projects.
    Mr. Pinkham, your testimony highlighted $63 million for 
projects to dispose of dredge material. I am interested if any 
of this funding addresses beneficial use. Nationwide 60 percent 
of the material, the Corps' dredges is not reused, and then I 
could talk a little bit about multiple benefits in San 
Francisco Bay. But what if any of the $63 million is for 
beneficial use?
    Mr. Pinkham. Madam Chair, I don't have that direct figure 
in front of me right now, but I would be happy to follow up 
with you. But certainly with just the short time that I have 
been here, looking at some of the challenges that communities 
are facing with disposal around contaminants, but there are 
some great examples where we are seeing beneficial use of 
dredge materials in reclaiming spawning habitat for salmon, and 
Puget Sound, the development of recreational areas in Delaware 
Bay, one I will visit next week.
    So there are some great innovations that are taking place 
with better use of disposable--the dredge materials; the exact 
figure, I will have to look that up and provide a response 
later.
    Senator Feinstein. Okay, if you would. One other quick 
question: regarding Corps assistance for 84 at-risk dams in 
California. How quickly can you finalize the program rules and 
get out these funds, so we can start repairing dangerously-
deficient dams in California?
    Mr. Pinkham. Madam Chair, are you talking about the 
Whittier Dam?
    Senator Feinstein. Yes.
    Mr. Pinkham. Yes. On that one we are--we continue to work 
with OMB on finalizing the rule, it is on OMB's spring agenda. 
I would be happy to work with OMB on trying to get you a better 
timeline of when we can expect that rule to be made.
    Senator Feinstein. Would you do that? And would you keep in 
touch with us? I am really concerned. I mean, 84 is a big 
number of dams to be at reach. It is hard for me to know what 
is serious and what is not. So we really need that help, and I 
wanted to bring it to your attention. So thank you for 
following up. Appreciate it.
    Senator Kennedy.
    Senator Kennedy. I will defer to Senator Hagerty. 
Gentlemen, I am going to send you letter with a couple of 
requests dealing with some important bookkeeping, and of course 
Senator Feinstein and her excellent team will know all about 
it. If you could get back to us on that, I would be very 
grateful.
    Mr. Pinkham. Yes, sir.
    Senator Kennedy. But I don't want to take up any more time. 
I have had my bite at the apple.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Hagerty.
    Senator Hagerty. Thank you, Chairwoman Feinstein. And thank 
you very much Ranking Member Kennedy, for holding this hearing. 
And to our distinguished guests, thank you all for being here 
with us today.
    I would like to specifically talk about border security and 
our border wall. Between April 2019 and April 2020 the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers awarded some $3.6 billion in contracts 
for border wall construction. Specifically for fiscal year 
2021, Congress, in a bipartisan manner, by this committee 
appropriated $1.375 billion for border wall construction.
    My first question to you, General Spellmon, is for the 
border wall, how much of that $1.375 billion that was 
appropriated for fiscal year 2021 has the Department of 
Homeland Security obligated to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
to award contracts for border wall construction?
    General Spellmon. Sir, I don't have that figure with me, 
but I can get that to you by the end of the day.
    Senator Hagerty. I would appreciate getting that figure. 
General, do you know now how much of that $1.375 billion has 
been awarded for border wall construction contracts?
    General Spellmon. Of the DHS (Department of Homeland 
Security) appropriation sir, specifically. No, no, sir, can get 
that to you, all those figures for you.
    Senator Hagerty. Well, if we could go to the, $4.5 billion 
that was appropriated between fiscal years 2017 and 2020, how 
much of that $4.5 billion, during that span, has been either 
paused or canceled?
    General Spellmon. Sir, if I can just--sir, let me take it 
from the top. So the total appropriation for border wall 
construction, is about on the order of $15 billion. So this was 
the DHS appropriation, which you specifically asked about, but 
it was also counter-drug funding, and then also deferred MILCON 
funding.
    Sir, we built up on the order of 455 miles with that--with 
those funds, $2 billion--a little bit more than $2 billion has 
been returned to the Department of Defense. These were MILCON 
(Military Construction) funds, sir, that were not going to be 
used on four projects. The remainder of those dollars will be 
used for termination costs. We have 20 contracts that we have 
terminated for the government's convenience, and we are in 
negotiations now with each of those 20 vendors to work through 
what those final bills will be.
    Senator Hagerty. And General, what are the grounds for the 
termination of those contracts?
    General Spellmon. So, sir, a Termination for Convenience 
clause is a standard clause in each of the government's 
contracts. So the guidance that we received from the 
administration, as you said, was to immediately pause work for 
a 60-day period while the administration considered its next 
steps. And so, sir, we are now, as I said, in the negotiation 
phase with each one of those vendors.
    Senator Hagerty. So to be clear, the administration told 
you to pause or suspend. Can you give me the exact direction 
that you received there?
    General Spellmon. So we paused all of that work. We made 
safe each of those construction sites down on the border. So 
what I mean by that, is we marked trenches where we had 
potential for people to fall. We blocked mountain roads that 
were designed for construction. We wanted to make sure that the 
public did not have access up there. We braced and secured a 
lot of steel that we had pre-positioned along the border for 
eventual placement.
    Senator Hagerty. So the funds that this committee, on a 
bipartisan basis, has appropriated have now been paused based 
on the direction that you received from the White House?
    General Spellmon. So we were paused, and then the new 
direction from the administration, and now, as I said, it was, 
we were going through a Termination for Convenience for each of 
those 20 contracts. And as I said, each one of those is a 
separate negotiation with the contractor.
    Senator Hagerty. So the decision to slow down, freeze, and 
otherwise not proceed, has been made based on guidance from the 
White House?
    General Spellmon. This is the guidance that we received 
from the administration. Yes, sir. For my case, through DoD 
(Department of Defense) and the Army.
    Senator Hagerty. Well, I will underscore the fact that this 
committee, on a bipartisan basis, has allocated these funds for 
a specific purpose. And I am very concerned about following the 
rule of law, and the possible impoundment of these funds, which 
I think you know, would be a great concern to me and every 
member of this committee. I appreciate you getting back to me 
with the information on the expenditures that you described. 
And I will yield back the rest of my time. Thank you.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Heinrich.
    Senator Heinrich. I have a number of questions, but I am 
just going to take a moment to talk a little bit about that 
situation, because I have seen border wall built in some of the 
most insane and unrealistic areas where, frankly, it is the 
wrong solution and for, you know, parts of the border where a 
wall doesn't provide you any additional security because it is 
on such a steep slope in a place where it is, so easy to evade 
that the biggest thing that it actually does is create an 
obstacle for our border patrol agents to actually have 
situational awareness.
    So I would commend this administration for actually looking 
at the details of some of these issues, and making sure that we 
are actually using the right technology on a--to secure our 
border.
    With that, Mr. Pinkham, I want to ask you a little bit 
about the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Program; that 
has been around for quite a few years. It has provided 
irreplaceable data. It has been effective at recovering a 
number of endangered species. It has been effective at 
protecting existing, and future water uses, and since 2010, the 
Corps has been supporting that program allocating upwards of 
$2.5 million per fiscal year.
    However, funding was stripped in 2021 by the previous 
administration. I want to acknowledge, and I want to thank this 
administration for restoring funding in the fiscal year 2022 
budget. And just ask you how we can work together to identify a 
more secure and sustainable funding source for this program so 
that we don't find ourselves in the same position in the 
future.
    Mr. Pinkham. Senator Heinrich, thank you for bringing that 
to my attention. I would like to spend more time learning about 
the project too, and making sure that we meet our ESA 
commitments that have been laid out there, so that we can move 
these pieces towards recovery. So I look forward to working 
with you on a solution.
    Senator Heinrich. We will engage with you on that. And 
credit where credit is due, this is really a work that, Senator 
Domenici and Senator Bingaman started a very effective program 
with a lot of collaboration, and we want to continue that. The 
Tribal partnership program is the only Corps authority that 
specifically targets Tribes as partners, identifying 
opportunities to work with entities that otherwise might not be 
reached.
    Continued support for this program, and the designated 
funding that it provides will allow Tribal communities 
throughout my State and others, to effectively plan for future 
development, as well as protect their land from 
overdevelopment, from flooding. A lot of other issues that you 
are aware of, with a growing awareness of this program an 
increasing number of Tribes have begun to approach the Corps to 
participate in these studies.
    However the 2022 budget only requests $175,000 for this 
program. Can you provide any explanation for why the budget 
request is so low compared to previous years?
    Mr. Pinkham. I can't provide a specific answer to that. 
But, I recognize that you are you are stating is there is that 
growing awareness amongst Tribes and using this for doing 
assessments, some planning work, and I know we have got actual 
construction work that is going on in a Missouri River with the 
Lower Sioux Brule Tribe. So this interest is growing, and I 
think this will speak well to the collaboration between our 
agency and this Congress about what are resources that we could 
bring to bear and put to good use on the ground.
    Senator Heinrich. I do think, given the focus on 
environmental justice from this administration, that this is a 
program that bears some attention and was under-considered in 
the current budget. The last thing for you, I want to ask you a 
little bit about--or at least put on your radar screen, I 
should say. The issue of acequias in the Southwest, these are 
community irrigation systems that have been around for hundreds 
and hundreds of years.
    We have had to fight continually for them to be considered 
the water development structures that they are. Actually back 
in the 1986 the Water Resources Development Act, Congress 
declared that restoration and preservation of these engineering 
works has cultural and historic value and, authorized critical 
funding for acequia infrastructure. And I just want to ask you 
to consider what your agency's plans should be for addressing 
acequia infrastructure in 2022, and how we can work together to 
preserve these assets, because I think it is an area that has, 
not received the attention that it is due, and it is a very 
culturally central issue to the State of New Mexico.
    Mr. Pinkham. Thank you.
    Senator Heinrich. Thank you, Chair.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Hoeven.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
    Mr. Pinkham, you mentioned the Innovative Financing 
program, and, my first question for you would be, would the Red 
River Valley Flood Protection Project in North Dakota and 
Minnesota be a good candidate for that innovative program?
    Mr. Pinkham. Senator Hoeven, I am not familiar with that 
project yet. Will be happy to look into it and provide you a 
response.
    Senator Hoeven. Okay. It is a public-private partnership. 
It has been authorized. The Federal share is $750 million, of 
which $360 million has already been--roughly has already--has 
been expended. And it fixes the Federal share at about 35 
percent, which is 35 percent of the project, and the locals and 
the State are picking up 65 percent, which, you know, is the 
reverse of what you usually have to pay. So it seems to me like 
it is a heck of a good deal for you, and I would sure hope you 
would look at it and, see if you can't lend some support.
    Mr. Pinkham. All right. Will do. Thank you.
    Senator Hoeven. You are willing to do that? Are you 
willing----
    Mr. Pinkham. Yes. I am willing to take a look at it, 
Senator.
    Senator Hoeven. Okay, thanks. And General--oh. The other 
one is, for Minot which had a terrible flood--Minot, North 
Dakota, had terrible flood in 2011. And there is about a $1.2 
billion project of which we are trying to get $65 million for 
one of the phases of the project. We have broken it into eight 
phases, about $65 million out of it for the Corps. Benefit-cost 
ratio is an issue, but that phase would link together about 
half of the total flood protection for the community, which is 
clearly-roughly-50,000 people.
    But also at the air force base, just north of 12,000 
people, and when that flood occurred, those people couldn't get 
to grocery stores. So there is a national security aspect to it 
in terms of addressing that benefit-cost ratio to qualify for 
funding. And I would ask that you would look at that and 
hopefully help us with it. Is that something you are willing to 
look at?
    Mr. Pinkham. Yes, Senator.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you.
    General Spellmon. Thank you. We appreciate you. Thanks for 
the work that you have done in a number of areas; thank you 
most recently for your work on the Dakota Access Pipeline, and 
for being open and willing to work with us on that. It has a 
huge impact, not only for the State of North Dakota, but for 
three affiliated Tribes. And, so I want to, again, express my 
appreciation to you and your crew for the straightforward way 
you have approached it, and been willing to work with us on it. 
Do you have a status update on the EIS and when you might 
complete EIS?
    General Spellmon. Sir, the technical work is ongoing by the 
Omaha District, as well as Tribal consultation with the--with 
the affected Tribes, and so we remain on a glide path right now 
for a March 2022 Record of Decision to complete that EIS.
    Senator Hoeven. And I also want to thank you for your work 
on the Red River Valley Flood Protection Project, for your 
willingness to come out and see it. We are making real progress 
there. The whole private sector bid is coming up here soon--or 
bid opening, I should say. As you know, that is now a $3.2 
billion project to which the State and locals have stepped up 
to cover 65 percent of it. Of the $750 million Federal 
authorization of which you have funded 360, will you commit to 
make sure that we get funding this year to do the work that is 
scheduled, so we keep this project on schedule?
    General Spellmon. So just a quick, you are aware of the 
$150 million that we did receive, that is going to funding the 
excavation for the Red River control structure, and the bulk of 
the Interstate 29 Raise. Sir, if we are offered a fiscal year 
2022 work plan, I would request $180 million to keep us on 
schedule.
    And, sir, that will fund much of the embankment work, and 
some of the mitigation contracts that follows, and that keep 
us--that sort of--that funding level would do it, would keep us 
on schedule for an operational system for a spring 2027 flood 
season.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you for your help on this multi-
State, very important flood protection project, and innovative 
public-private partnership. And as you know now, we have got 
both States on board, we have resolved the litigation. And so 
your help is really appreciated and we hope to stay on schedule 
with your help. Thank you.
    And my final question is for Mr. Palumbo. Will the Bureau 
of Reclamation continue to work with Congress and our State to 
ensure that the Northwest Area Water Supply Project is funded 
by the Federal Government as is consistent with the Dakota 
Water Resources Act?
    Mr. Palumbo. Yes, Senator, we will. We are very much 
committed to that project.
    Senator Hoeven. Okay. Again, let me express my appreciation 
with these important projects, to all three of you. Thank you.
    Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you. Are there other questions?
    Senator Hagerty. Madam Chair, if you would allow me just a 
few minutes to----
    Senator Feinstein. Yes, of course.
    Senator Hagerty [continuing]. Follow up on a couple of 
items, I very much would appreciate that.
    Senator Feinstein. Of course. Go ahead.
    Senator Hagerty. Mr. Pinkham, I would just like to bring to 
your attention the bridge failure on Interstate 40, between 
Memphis and Arkansas, connecting my State to the State of 
Arkansas, it has created an incredible emergency situation in 
my home State, as I am certain you are aware. It resulted in 
the shutdown of the Mississippi River for several days, 
hundreds of millions of dollars of commodities held up in that 
process, and has created just massive traffic problems because 
that bridge just has to be driven around and avoided.
    And May 15th I wrote a letter to President Biden asking for 
interagency cooperation to make certain that, of course, the 
coast guard that has primary jurisdiction over the waterways, 
the Department of Transportation, you know, had several 
conversations with Secretary Buttigieg on this. We are 
prioritizing this. Our State Departments of Transportation, 
both in Tennessee and Arkansas, are working on it. And I would 
be very interested to know the engagement that you have had, 
that the Corps has had on this project.
    Mr. Pinkham. Senator Hagerty, I have no personal 
engagement, but I would be happy to check with members of the 
staff.
    Senator Hagerty. If you would do that, I would appreciate 
it, Mr. Pinkham. And if you could also let me know if you have 
any sort of contingency plans put in place, or if you are 
working on contingent contingency plans, because this emergency 
situation right now may be a very long-term fix. And so 
understanding the increments to get there I think it will be 
extremely helpful.
    And I would just like to add one bit of thanks, Madam 
Chair, and this is about Chickamauga Dam. My predecessor, 
Senator Lamar Alexander, worked very hard on this. The team 
worked very hard on this for years. I went to visit the dam. 
$191 million has been committed by this subcommittee to 
complete that project. It should be completed, the team on the 
ground told me by April of 2024. It is a huge project, 
massively important, and I want to acknowledge the work of this 
subcommittee in making that happen for my State. And thanks to 
all of you for your support. Thank you very much. Thank you 
very much.
    Senator Feinstein. Thank you, Senator. And we appreciate 
it.
    Senator Hagerty. Indeed. Indeed.

                          SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

    Senator Feinstein. And thank you, our witnesses. I think 
your testimony was well received.
    And we will be in recess--or adjourned, I should say.
    [Whereupon, at 11:20 a.m., Wednesday, June 9, the 
subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of 
the Chair.]