Hill Heat

For the Interior and Environment bill, the subcommittee will likely make up for what it considers to be major shortfalls in the president’s proposed budget for basic programs for the sake of administration pet projects.

The Bush administration’s $10.7 billion fiscal 2009 budget proposal for the Interior Department represents a slight decrease from last year’s budget and shifts funding from some standard functions like construction and range improvement for specific department initiatives such as the National Park Service’s Centennial Challenge.

Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) has said his priorities are to increase funding for wildlife refuges and national parks. He plans to increase allocation levels for wildlife refuges, even beyond the boost he gave refuges last year.

Congress gave a $39 million boost to refuges last year, in light of a funding crisis that threatened to downscale refuge programs and lay off staff. Dicks’ spending panel had proposed even more, but the number was lowered in negotiations with the Senate.

Wildfire funding could also see a major boost following months of criticism from Dicks and other members of the subcommittee over what they believe is a lopsided budget for addressing wildfires.

Forest Service fire suppression efforts would get a $148 million increase – to just under $1 billion – under the plan, a total based on the 10-year average of fire suppression costs.

The suppression figure is unlikely to change, but Dicks and others on the committee have slammed other aspects of the Forest Service proposal, claiming it puts too much emphasis on suppression and not enough on preventive measures like fuels reduction. The Bush administration budget proposal would provide $297 million for projects to reduce hazardous fuels, down from $310 million in fiscal 2008.

The subcommittee may also consider an effort by Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) to open up part of the outer continental shelf to oil and gas drilling.