This week, The White House released the President’s Budget request for Fiscal Year 2023. Here are key highlights. The full budget is HERE

• Accelerates Efforts to Move More Goods Faster through American Ports and Waterways. The Budget continues support for the historic levels of Federal investment to modernize America’s port and waterway infrastructure provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It includes $230 million for the Port Infrastructure Development Program to strengthen maritime freight capacity, as well as $1.7 billion in spending for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to facilitate safe, reliable, and environmentally sustainable navigation at coastal ports. 

• Invests in Clean Energy Infrastructure and Innovation. The Budget invests $3.3 billion to support clean energy projects that will create good paying jobs, continue to cut to cost of clean energy, and drive progress toward President Biden’s climate goals

• Strengthens Climate Resilience. The Budget provides more than $18 billion for climate resilience and adaptation programs across the Federal Government. These critical investments will reduce the risk of damages from floods and storms, restore the Nation’s aquatic ecosystems, and make HUD-assisted multifamily homes more climate resilient. Advances Equity and Environmental Justice. 
• The Budget provides historic support for underserved communities, and advances the President’s Justice40 commitment to ensure 40 percent of the benefits of Federal investments in climate and clean energy reach disadvantaged communities. The Budget includes $1.45 billion to bolster the EPA’s environment justice efforts that will help create good-paying jobs, clean up pollution, implement Justice40, advance racial equity, and secure environmental justice for communities that too often have been left behind
• Achieves the President’s Historic Climate Pledge. The Budget includes over $11 billion in international climate finance, meeting the President’s pledge to quadruple international climate finance a year early. This funding will accelerate the global energy transition to net zero emissions by 2050; help developing countries build resilience to the growing impacts of climate change.

Committee Update

The Water Resources and Environment House subcommittee met on March 16 to discuss proposals for the Water Resources Development Act of 2022. House members delivered testimony on priorities related to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). This testimony will help to inform the drafting of a new Water Resources Development Act for 2022, which the committee expects to approve this year.  The recording of this event is here: https://transportation.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/proposals-for-a-water-resources-development-act-of-2022-members-day-hearing

On March 17, the House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife held a hearing and introduced H.R. 3431 (Rep. Chris Pappas, D-NH) Increasing Community Access to Resiliency Grants Act of 2021. This bill asks that the Secretary of Commerce, through NOAA, establish a website providing information about grants available to assist governments with climate resiliency, adaptation and mitigation. H.R. 6987 (Rep. Rick Larsen, D-WA) was also introduced at this hearing to establish programs to reduce the impacts of vessel traffic and underwater noise on marine mammals. 
MORE HERE