WASHINGTON – An early round of a fight over public-land and natural-resources policies came in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, as it approved a bill that would significantly increase money allocated for wildfire suppression.
Approval on Tuesday came despite opposition from Democrats.
“I want to support the good things in this bill – including emergency funds to fight wildfires, language to reform the way we budget for wildland firefighting – but we need to do it on a bipartisan basis,” said Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., the subcommittee’s ranking minority member. “Until we remove these damaging policy riders and deliver realistic funding levels, I will have to oppose this bill.”
Udall took issue with language included in the bill that would, among other things, permanently block the implementation of EPA rules to limit carbon emissions from power plants, apply clean water rules to non-navigable waterways, and override a court requirement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service make a determination on how to deal with the greater sage-grouse.
Subcommittee Chairwoman Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said President Barack Obama did not propose a budget that conformed to the budget sequestration limits that he signed into law. That allowed him to avoid making difficult choices the subcommittee could not avoid in drafting the bill.
Spending levels, she said, must stay within levels set by sequestration.
She pointed out increases in funding were provided to agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service and the Forest Service.
In addition to $1.05 billion set aside for emergency spending on fire suppression, the bill would increase funding for the Forest Service by $67 million.
It specifically directs much of the money to hazardous-fuels reduction, road maintenance and construction and increased timber production.
The bill also adjusts a cap on fire spending. Firefighting costs that exceed the fire-suppression cap would trigger eligibility for disaster assistance so the Forest Service doesn’t run empty on firefighting funds.
The full Appropriations Committee will vote on the bill on Thursday.
mbakash@durangoherald.com. Mariam Baksh is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.
