The Interior Department would be cut 11 percent under President Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget request, while receiving more funds for coal, oil and natural gas development and to fix a maintenance backlog at the national parks.
“President Trump promised the American people he would cut wasteful spending and make the government work for the taxpayer again, and that’s exactly what this budget does,” said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday in rolling out the agency’s $11.7 billion budget proposal for fiscal 18, which is less than the $13.18 billion it is receiving for fiscal 2017.
Most of the cuts were made to items such as the Office of the Secretary for operational expenses, land reclamation and technology program to shift money to resolve an $11 billion maintenance backlog for the national parks, with increased fossil energy development on federal lands.
Onshore energy programs received $189 million, which is a $24 million increase from fiscal 2017 “with increases to strengthen oil and gas and coal programs by improving the application and permitting processes, and supporting related rights of way.”
Offshore energy development received $343 million, which includes a $10 million increase to “update the Five-Year [Outer-continental Shelf] Oil and Gas Plan” under Trump’s offshore energy executive order signed last month.
The budget proposal also calls for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas development, the agency said as part of Trump’s legislative priorities that it projects would save taxpayers $5.8 billion. Lawmakers from Alaska introduced legislation earlier this year to open up the refuge to oil development, which environmental groups and many Democrats have opposed.
Renewable energy also would receive $78 million as a nominal amount “to keep pace with anticipated project interest for renewable energy development,” according to the department.
Another priority under the budget is infrastructure development, which is a major priority for Trump. The budget proposal addresses infrastructure by boosting funds to deal with the growing maintenance backlog at the national parks, said Zinke. That would dovetail with energy development on federal lands, he said.
“Working carefully with the president, we identified areas where we could reduce spending and also areas for investment, such as addressing the maintenance backlog in our national parks and increasing domestic energy production on federal lands,” Zinke said.
The agency said that it is proposing $766 million, an increase of $35 million, “to address the $11.3 billion deferred maintenance backlog in our national parks, which accounts for 73 percent of Interior’s [overall] $15 billion deferred maintenance backlog.”
