Congresswoman Barbara Lee Commends the Passage of the FY2020 Interior Appropriations Bill
WASHINGTON, DC – In response to the House Appropriations Committee’s passage of the fiscal year 2020 appropriations bill for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) issued the following statement:
“This important bill provides $37 billion in funding, which is $1.73 billion over FY2019 levels.
“I am also pleased that this bill provides funding for important programs, including $10 million for competitive grants for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) under the Historic Preservation Fund. This grant program assists HBCUs in repairing historic building on their campuses. This funding is critical to our nation’s HBCUs, so I thank you for including that.
“I am also pleased to see $23.2 million for the Civil Rights Initiative; $8 million more than last year. This program is vital to protecting and uplifting the civil rights movement through preservation projects in states all around the nation.
“Year after year the committee continued to cut EPA by the millions. I’m pleased this bill increases funds to $9.5 Billion for the EPA – an increase of $672 million -- which will improve our nation’s ability to protect the health of our communities, our environment and to ensure clean water for our children and families.”
The bill also includes:
- $10 million for Historic Preservation Fund competitive grants for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to provide much-needed assistance to schools combating increased challenges associated with maintaining their schools and gaining access to capital for campus improvements. We request $50 million in FY 2020 for this program.
- $500,000 for the 400 Years of African American History Commission.
- $23.25 million for Underrepresented Communities Civil Rights Grant Program, to preserve the sites and stories associated with securing civil rights for all Americans, including women, Native Americans, Native Alaskan, Native Hawaiian, American Latino, and LGBTQ Americans.
- $121.66 million for the Historic Preservation Fund, to carry out the National Historic Preservation Act, which provides citizens the tools they need to revitalize, rehabilitate, and protect the places that give meaning to America.
- $108.6 million for the Office of Insular Affairs to combat the economic and fiscal problems for U.S.-affiliated insular areas, oversee vital projects that foster economic development, promote sound financial management in the insular governments, and improve the quality of life for islanders while respecting and preserving their native cultures.
- $3.155 million to preserve and protect Japanese American Confinement Sites, which help to connect today’s Americans with the history and meaning of the internment.
- $7.1 million for U.S. Geological Survey’s Global Seismographic Network, which provides data for earthquake monitoring, warning, and response, tsunami detection and warning, and underground nuclear explosion detection.
- $1.3 billion for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).
- $167.5 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which is the largest funder of humanities programs in the United States. Numerous sectors of our country’s educational system – from private research universities to state colleges to community colleges – utilize NEH grants.
- $167.5 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), to strengthen the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts engagement, and in which every community recognizes and celebrates its aspirations and achievements through the arts.
- $3.39 billion for the Operation of the National Park Service.
- $105 million for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program to support states, local communities, and tribes in their efforts to assess and clean up potentially contaminated and lightly contaminated sites within their jurisdiction.
- $1.2 billion for the Hazardous Substance Superfund Account.
- $38.3 million for the USCS National and Regional Climate Science Centers to prepare for, respond to, and reduce the negative consequences of climate extremes.
- $19 million for West Coast Earthquake Early Warning System.
- $30 million for the USGS Volcano Hazards Program.
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