Dear Chair DeLauro and Ranking Member Granger:
As the Committee prepares to mark up the Fiscal Year 2023 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urges your strong support for the Department of Energy’s innovation programs, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, permit streamlining measures, and the U.S.- Israel Energy Cooperative Agreement. We believe that these programs are fundamental to enhancing U.S. energy security, accelerating the clean energy transition, and supporting the water and energy infrastructure necessary to create new jobs and contribute to economic growth.
Energy Innovation: The Chamber commends the Committee for its longstanding, bipartisan support of energy research and development programs that are vital to economic security and environmental progress. Specifically, there is a growing consensus that the development and commercialization of new emissions-reducing technologies are critical to determining how quickly and at what cost greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced. We also know that development of these same technologies holds enormous potential to strengthen the long-term energy security of the United States and its allies. As the Committee advances this legislation, the Chamber urges priority attention to the following innovation programs:
· Sufficient resources to ensure effective implementation of the clean energy programs prescribed in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Energy Act of 2020;
· Strong funding for the new Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, including resources necessary to complement BIL funding for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program’s large-scale projects;
· At least $250 million for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program to carry out risk reduction awards, fund the National Reactor Innovation Center, and ensure regulatory and safety compliance. We additionally recommend $211 million for the Advanced SMR R&D program in FY23 to continue funding for the Nuscale first-of-a-kind demonstration readiness project;
· At least $300 million for the Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability Program in FY23 to fund and expedite the availability of High-Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) for civilian domestic research, development, demonstration, and commercial use;
· Full funding ($893.2 million) for the Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) office to pursue technology advancements related to carbon capture utilization and storage, hydrogen, methane emissions reduction, and production of critical minerals;
· At least $81 million to support energy storage R&D within DOE’s Office of Electricity to advance goals set forth in the Energy Storage Grand Challenge Roadmap, support the Long Duration Storage Energy Earthshot initiative, and foster development of U.S.-based manufacturing of storage technologies;
· Full funding for critical materials research authorized in Title VII of the Energy Act of 2020, including ($110 million) for the Advanced Manufacturing Office materials supply chain subprogram RD&D to reduce supply risk in high priority materials supply chains necessary to advance the clean energy transition; and
· Additional funding for the Advanced Manufacturing Office to carry out industrial emission demonstrations funded in the BIL and authorized in the Energy Act of 2020.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps): The Chamber encourages the Committee to support full funding for the Army Corps’ Civil Works Program authorized in the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. The Chamber also encourages the House to invest all revenues collected into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for their intended purpose of port dredging and maintenance. We strongly believe that funding for the Army Corps should be targeted to navigation, flood protection (e.g., green, and grey infrastructure), permitting, resilience, and water supply management priorities.
Permit Streamlining: The Chamber supports regulatory permitting processes that enable building smart, modern, resilient infrastructure through such programs as the Nationwide Permits Program (NWP) that would avoid unnecessary delays and overly burdensome requirements. The importance of permit streamlining measures has only grown considering increased attention to priorities such as electric reliability, energy security, and the energy transition. We therefore support funding and policy direction that enhances project permitting, including by pausing pending revisions to nationwide permit 12 (NWP-12) as well as limiting the nationwide expansion of federal permitting consultations called for in the recent Army Corps – National Marine Fisheries Service joint memorandum on project reviews pertaining to listed species and designated critical habitats.[1]
U.S.-Israel Energy Center: The Chamber supports $4 million for the U.S.-Israel Energy Center. The Center advances energy and water innovation by facilitating cooperative industrial R&D, technology sharing, regulatory convergence, training, and education among national laboratories, academic institutions, and companies in both nations.
The Chamber appreciates your consideration of these recommendations as you mark up the Fiscal Year 2023 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.
Sincerely,
Neil L. Bradley
Executive Vice President, Chief Policy Officer,
and Head of Strategic Advocacy
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
cc: Members of the House Committee on Appropriations
[1] January 5, 2022 Memorandum between the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Available at https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/NOAA%20and%20Army%20Civil%20Works%27%20joint%20memorandum%20to%20advance%20Endangered%20Species%20Act%20Consultations_0.pdf
