Swordsmyth
02-12-2018, 03:09 PM
President Trump (http://thehill.com/people/donald-trump)'s fiscal 2019 budget unveiled Monday would use energy sales on public lands to help fund infrastructure projects for the Department of the Interior (DOI).Overall, the blueprint from the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) proposes cutting Interior's budget by 14 percent, from $13.2 billion in 2017 to $11.7 billion in 2018.
The proposed cuts are almost identical to last year's OMB request, which called for cutting the department's funding by 12 percent.
Many of the same cuts were highlighted this year, including zeroing out Abandoned Mine Land Grants, the Centennial Challenge Fund, the Heritage Partnership Program and the National Wildlife Refuge Fund.
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The latest budget, though, increases funding for DOI programs that "support safe and responsible development of energy on public lands and offshore waters," according to its text. It includes a proposal for creating a fund that would be financed by sales of energy resources on DOI-managed parkland.The Public Lands Infrastructure Fund would aim to provide up to $18 billion to address what Interior calls the department's "deferred maintenance backlog," according to a press release from the agency. The fund would support necessary infrastructure projects for building roads and visitor centers in national parks.
On a press call Monday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (http://thehill.com/people/ryan-zinke) said the fund would be filled "exclusively from new energy developments on public lands."
More at: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/373467-wh-interior-dept-budget-would-fund-infrastructure-projects-through
The proposed cuts are almost identical to last year's OMB request, which called for cutting the department's funding by 12 percent.
Many of the same cuts were highlighted this year, including zeroing out Abandoned Mine Land Grants, the Centennial Challenge Fund, the Heritage Partnership Program and the National Wildlife Refuge Fund.
ADVERTISEMENT
The latest budget, though, increases funding for DOI programs that "support safe and responsible development of energy on public lands and offshore waters," according to its text. It includes a proposal for creating a fund that would be financed by sales of energy resources on DOI-managed parkland.The Public Lands Infrastructure Fund would aim to provide up to $18 billion to address what Interior calls the department's "deferred maintenance backlog," according to a press release from the agency. The fund would support necessary infrastructure projects for building roads and visitor centers in national parks.
On a press call Monday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (http://thehill.com/people/ryan-zinke) said the fund would be filled "exclusively from new energy developments on public lands."
More at: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/373467-wh-interior-dept-budget-would-fund-infrastructure-projects-through