Keep Eyes on Where the Omnibus FY 2023 Funds End Up
Now that the House Speaker coup is over - for now - it's time to redirect some focus on how $1.7 trillion in Fiscal Year 2023 federal monies are being spent
Dr. G.S. Potter | Senior Editor
With the battle for House Speaker - which turned out being a non-violent January 6th insurrection remake - now passed and all of us expecting a key branch of government to devolve into complete disarray, we should pay some attention to the current Fiscal Year 2023 federal budget. The struggle to pass that was the last major battle to keep the federal government from collapsing. It will be important, as we watch dysfunction in the House, to see how federal government agencies under the Biden administration map and spend these dollars, and how much trouble House Republicans, in particular, pose to that spending schedule as they now rule the House of Representatives for the next two years.
The passage of the Omnibus Act of 2022 wasn’t just a bipartisan battle to keep the government from shutting down. It was a battle for funding. It was a battle for prioritization. And in many ways, it was a battle to save the planet.
While we all continue the struggle against the rise of white supremacy, a global pandemic, and the widening gaps between income and the cost of living, we can’t ignore the very real war that must be waged to save the Earth from becoming completely uninhabitable for human life. The climate crisis cannot be ignored. Across the globe it is causing wars for resources, mass migration, and death. Here at home, communities of color are being used as sandbags to protect wealthier, whiter communities from drowning in the rising waters of environmental destruction while the entire nation navigates trillions of dollars worth of damages to infrastructure and public health.
The Omnibus Act will not save us. It does not go far enough to do that. It barely goes far enough to rapidly detach this nation from its dependence on fossil fuels, agricultural poisons, and chemical waste. It does not go far enough to protect endangered species and their quickly depleting habitats. And it does not fund the efforts needed to not only lead this nation out of this catastrophe, let alone persuade the international network of nations to follow suit.
But: it does increase funding and opportunities in some key areas. Organizations and individuals on the ground should prepare themselves to access these funds and take these opportunities as a way to push the needle on change.
The Omnibus package includes more than 1,000 specific earmarks for federal agencies working on energy and the environment. Here are some key highlights we feel necessary to point out …
For front line communities …
$108 million for Environmental Justice activities, an increase of $8 million above the fiscal year 2022 level. Wildland Fire Management (WFM). The bill provides $4.2 billion for WFM, which includes $2.6 billion in cap adjusted fire suppression funding. In addition, the Bill includes $1.6 billion for wildfire preparedness and suppression activities
$3.5 billion for the National Park Service, an increase of $210 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes …
$2.9 billion for the Operation of the National Park System, an increase of $156 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level. o $93 million for National Recreation and Preservation, an increase of $9 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
$205 million for the Historic Preservation Fund, an increase of $32 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes $62 million for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, $30 million for competitive grants to preserve the sites and stories of underrepresented community civil rights, and $11 million for grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities
$4.5 billion for State and Tribal Assistance Grants, an increase of $129 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes …
$2.76 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. This includes $1.472 billion in Community Project Funding for 715 drinking water, wastewater, and storm water management projects across the country.
$100 million for Brownfields cleanups, a $8 million increase above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
$100 million for Diesel Emissions Reduction grants, an increase of $8 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level. o $16 million for four new grant programs authorized in the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act.
For folks working on transitioning away from fossil fuels and into clean energy …
$653.3 million for the Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program, which is $100 million above the fiscal year 2023 budget request and supports the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)'s investments in energy efficiency, resilience, renewable energy systems, and energy security
For folks protecting water, wildlife and land …
$1.5 billion for the Bureau of Land Management (MLR/O&C), $83 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes:
$81 million for sage-grouse conservation, $34 million for threatened and endangered species, and $62 million for the National Landscape Conservation System which includes and clearly identifies $11 million for National and Scenic Historic Trails. It also provides $148 million for the Wild Horse and Burro program which includes $11 million for research on reversible immunocontraceptive fertility control and its administration.
$1.8 billion for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, $128 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level. Within this amount, the bill includes:
$296 million for Ecological Services, $19 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
$542 million for National Wildlife Refuge System, $23 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
$4.1 billion for EPA’s core science and environmental program work, an increase of $374 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level. Within these amounts, the bill includes:
$681.7 million for Geographic Programs which help with the restoration of nationally significant bodies of water like the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, and Long Island Sound. This is an increase of $94.5 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and $103.1 million above the President’s budget request.
$613.2 million in funding for enforcement and compliance activities. This is an increase of $71.6 million above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
For folks concerned about global impact …
Includes $2 billion for bilateral and multilateral climate and other environment programs. Including …
$385 million for biodiversity, of which $125 million is for wildlife trafficking, same as the fiscal year 2022 enacted level o $185 million for sustainable landscapes, same as the fiscal year 2022 enacted level
$270 million for adaptation programs, same as the fiscal year 2022 enacted level
$260 million for clean energy programs, same as the fiscal year 2022 enacted level o $150.2 million for the Global Environment Facility, $912,000 above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level and the same as the President’s budget request.
$125 million for the Clean Technology Fund, same as the fiscal year 2022 enacted level o Provides authority for a contribution to the Adaptation Fund and the Least Developed Countries Fund to help countries adapt to new climate realties caused by climate change
According to the Sierra Club, we can also specifically expect …
$5 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
$600 million for repairing water infrastructure in Jackson, Mississippi
A $576 million increase to EPA funding, including increases for enforcement and toxics and clean air programs
$100 million for brownfields restoration and $1.3 billion for Superfund sites
Inclusion of the Safeguarding Treatment for the Restoration of Ecosystems from Abandoned Mines (STREAM) Act to address the ongoing acid mine drainage crisis in coal communities and new funding to improve and modernize facility energy use at HBCU and minority-serving institutions
A nearly 9 percent increase for the Diesel Emissions Reduction program
As we continue the fight to save the planet and demand more from our public officials, we can still strategically prepare ourselves to ensure the support we are getting to where it needs to go to do what needs to be done. While many organizations aren’t turning to the Omnibus Act for environmental change, it is a key driver of the resources organizations will need to create it. We need to make sure we keep our eyes on the funding allocated to combat the climate change and use it as effectively as possible.