WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, joined Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to lead a hearing on the president's Fiscal Year 2017 budget request for the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Below are Udall's opening remarks as prepared for delivery:
Good morning. Secretary Jewell, we're very pleased to have you appear before the Subcommittee to discuss the Department of the Interior's fiscal year 2017 budget request.
I'm also pleased to welcome Deputy Secretary Mike Connor and Deputy Assistant Secretary Kris Sarri before the Subcommittee.
Before we turn to the budget, I want to thank Chairman Murkowski for working with me to produce what I think is a very good budget for the Department in 2016.
Madam Chairman, we've had some challenging policy issues to work through. So I'm very pleased that we were able to pass a bill that included critical increases for national parks, tribal programs, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and many of the programs that we'll discuss this morning.
I want to recognize your hard work, and your leadership, of this Subcommittee. I know it will be a pleasure to work with you again this year - and to work with your very fine staff - to support our common interests in this bill.
That said, this Subcommittee's job is not going to be easy.
Under the Budget Control Act, discretionary spending for non-defense programs is essentially flat in 2017. At the same time, we have to fund certain "must do" increases across the government, including firefighting and tribal contract support costs for this Subcommittee. So, that flat funding level effectively means a cut.
On paper, the Department's discretionary request also looks flat compared to fiscal year 2016, in keeping with the budget caps.
But if you dig a little deeper, it's clear that the President used savings from a number of proposals to create room for some significant increases.
These proposals include funding part of the firefighting budget with a new disaster cap authorization and providing mandatory funding for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program.
In fact, when you factor in all sources of funding, this budget is really a 2 percent increase overall for the Department.
I like many of the increases that this budget proposes. It provides a 9 percent increase for our national parks. And a 5 percent increase for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to support tribal education and social service needs.
This budget also expands on the increases that we provided in the 2016 omnibus to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It proposes $475 million for LWCF programs funded by this bill and proposes to transition the program to its full authorized level of $900 million in future years.
There are other important increases as well, for wildlife refuges, energy development, science and climate change programs - all very important investments.
But, let's be clear. Since funding is tight, our ability to fund many of these increases depends on getting agreement to reform the wildland firefighting budget. And enacting a long-term mandatory funding source for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program.
Until we're successful in enacting those changes, we will have to prioritize what we fund very carefully - and that means very tough tradeoffs.
The budget also includes some important legislative proposals that I expect we'll discuss today.
In particular, I want to applaud the Administration's leadership to reform energy and mining activities on public lands. And make sure that taxpayers are getting a fair return from the development of those lands.
I'm pleased to see that your budget addresses hardrock mining reforms - including setting a fair royalty for mining operations on public lands and proposing a Hardrock Abandoned Mine fee to address legacy cleanup issues.
I've also sponsored legislation to take on this issue. We need real mining reform, and we have needed it for a long time. It makes no sense that we still rely on an antiquated law - that is nearly 150 years old - as the framework for mining in this country.
Events like the Gold King Mine disaster should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. We have to get serious about cleaning up abandoned mines. There are abandoned, toxic mine sites throughout the West. These mines are ticking time bombs. They are releasing a slow motion stream of lead, arsenic, cadmium, and other toxins into water supplies - water we need for drinking, irrigation, and recreation.
The clean-up costs are absolutely astronomical. I've seen estimates between $9 and $21 billion. In New Mexico alone, the cost is estimated to be between $385 and $840 million.
Today's mining industry has much better standards. But, this toxic legacy cannot be left unaddressed. The damage has been done. And taxpayers should not be left holding the bag for the mess - as well as for future cleanup costs.
The cost of inaction on mining reform has been too great already. We can't afford to wait, and it's time that we act. You are doing the right thing, Secretary Jewell, and I want to work with you to enact common-sense reforms.
Thank you again for appearing before us. I look forward to hearing your testimony and to having a good discussion.
