HR4553-119

What This Bill Does

This bill appropriates fiscal year 2026 funds for energy and water development and related agencies. For the Army Corps of Engineers, it requires funds to be allocated according to the Act and accompanying report, restricts contracts that would over-obligate project balances, allows up to $8,733,000 to be transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service, bars certain Lake Erie open-lake dredged-material placement alternatives, blocks a Wolf Creek Dam and Lake Cumberland water-supply reallocation study, limits extra funding to projects eligible under the Chief of Engineers, and blocks implementation or enforcement of section 370 of Public Law 116-283 for civil works projects. For the Bureau of Reclamation, it imposes similar allocation controls and bars use of funds to determine a final discharge point for the San Luis Unit interceptor drain until repayment and reimbursability terms are developed.

For the Department of Energy, the bill restricts new starts and requests for proposals unless the activity is funded and justified, treats intelligence funds as specifically authorized, requires independent oversight for high-hazard nuclear facilities, restricts certain major construction decisions without reporting, and blocks grants or cooperative agreements above $100,000,000 unless Congress receives a project-management report. It prevents creating new regional petroleum product reserves without prior budget requests and prohibits Strategic Petroleum Reserve sales to entities under Chinese Communist Party ownership, control, or influence. It bars DOE grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or loans of $10,000,000 or more to entities of concern unless risk tools are used; restricts admission of Russian or Chinese noncitizens to nuclear weapons production facilities; bars DOE purchases of computers, printers, and videoconferencing products from PRC-owned manufacturers; and blocks DOE's clean-energy federal buildings rule.

The bill also shifts large unobligated balances from prior infrastructure funding into DOE Nuclear Energy. Section 313 transfers $672,652,992 from Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, $981,479,556 from Nuclear Energy, $1,000,000,000 from Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, $1,500,000,000 from the Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance program, and $950,000,000 from the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to nuclear energy awards, including up to two Generation 3+ small modular reactor awards, two Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program awards, and risk-reduction activities. The NRC provisions require compliance with congressional request procedures and monthly reprogramming reports. The general provisions add restrictions on lobbying, transfers, pornography access on government networks, spent nuclear fuel consolidated interim storage without consent, DEI and CRT initiatives, COVID mask and vaccine mandates, non-U.S. flag display, major-rule finalization, and federal classification or funding of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation activity.

Who Benefits and How

Army Corps civil works projects benefit from appropriations and project-specific eligibility rules. Fish and Wildlife Service activities funded by the Corps benefit from up to $8,733,000 in transfer authority. Lake Erie communities concerned about dredged-material placement benefit from the open-lake placement restriction. Nuclear reactor developers benefit most from the section 313 transfers, especially Generation 3+ small modular reactor developers and Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program awardees. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission benefits from continued funding but receives clearer congressional-request and reprogramming procedures. Congressional appropriations committees benefit from reporting triggers, transfer controls, and project-management reports.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Secretary of the Army, Corps contracting officers, Bureau of Reclamation officials, DOE program offices, DOE procurement staff, NRC budget officials, and agencies covered by the general provisions face compliance burdens from allocation rules, transfer reporting, major-project reports, foreign-entity checks, purchase restrictions, and policy riders. Entities of concern seeking DOE awards of $10,000,000 or more face heightened screening or exclusion. PRC-owned computer, printer, and videoconferencing manufacturers lose DOE purchasing opportunities. Clean-energy demonstration and carbon-management accounts lose unobligated balances redirected to nuclear energy. Spent nuclear fuel storage developers face a consent requirement before federal money can support consolidated interim storage agreements.

Key Provisions

• Appropriates fiscal year 2026 energy and water development funds for the Corps, Reclamation, DOE, NRC, and related agencies.
• Requires Corps and Reclamation funds to follow the Act and accompanying report and restricts over-obligation of project balances.
• Authorizes up to $8,733,000 from Corps funds for transfer to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Bars certain Lake Erie dredged-material disposal alternatives and blocks the Wolf Creek Dam and Lake Cumberland water-supply reallocation study.
• Restricts DOE new starts, major construction decisions, high-hazard nuclear-facility construction, and awards above $100,000,000 without reporting.
• Prohibits Strategic Petroleum Reserve sales to Chinese Communist Party-controlled entities and restricts DOE awards of $10,000,000 or more to entities of concern.
• Bars DOE procurement of certain PRC-owned computer, printer, and videoconferencing products and blocks DOE clean-energy federal building rule implementation.
• Transfers $5.104 billion in unobligated infrastructure balances into DOE Nuclear Energy for small modular reactor, ARDP, and risk-reduction awards.
• Requires NRC congressional request compliance and monthly reprogramming reports.
• Adds governmentwide riders on lobbying, network pornography blocking, spent nuclear fuel storage consent, DEI and CRT, COVID mandates, flag display, major rules, and misinformation-related activity.