House Bill calls for full and Mandatory funding of LWCF.
House lawmakers filed legislation yesterday to provide permanent, full funding for the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.), the bill’s sponsor, is holding a press conference this morning with House Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and outside supporters on the “Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act.”
The bill is identical to legislation Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced in April (E&E Daily, April 9).
It would make funding for the LWCF mandatory at its current authorized annual level of $900 million. Offshore oil and gas revenues deposited into the fund could be spent without being subject to the appropriations process under the bill.
In recent years, LWCF’s annual appropriation has been about half the authorized level of $900 million.
In fiscal 2019, Congress appropriated $435 million for LWCF. The existing unappropriated balance in the fund stands at roughly $22 billion.
Congress earlier this year passed a major public lands package that permanently reauthorized LWCF — a significant victory for the program’s bipartisan supporters on and off Capitol Hill.
As Manchin put it in February, shortly after the Senate approved that legislation, securing mandatory funding for LWCF was the “next big lift” and supporters need “to make sure that gets done.”
Land Tawney, president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said in a statement that “the moment has arrived” for full, dedicated LWCF funding. “As Jerry Maguire says: ‘Show me the money!’ This bill and its companion in the Senate get the job done.”
While full funding for LWCF has some Republican support in the Senate now — notably from Richard Burr of North Carolina, Steve Daines of Montana and Cory Gardner of Colorado — it will take some doing to get other members of their party on board.
Last week, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters she believes mandatory funding for the program is “still a real challenge” because there is “a pretty big split” over the issue within the Republican caucus.
She acknowledged that making funding permanent for the LWCF, or any program, would be problematic for her as an appropriator.
The panel is scheduled to have a hearing June 25 to “review the implementation of the Land and Water Conservation Fund program.”
