WASHINGTON,
April 14, 2016 - The Food and Drug Administration would get $3 million to
promote “understanding and acceptance” of agricultural biotechnology to
consumers, under a provision in the House’s draft Agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal 2017.
The
bill, which the House Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to vote on
today, would require FDA to work with
the Agriculture Department on the distribution of “science-based educational
information on the environmental, nutritional, food safety, economic, and
humanitarian benefits” of genetically engineered products.
The
provision comes as food companies are starting to label biotech products to
comply with a Vermont law that takes effect July 1. Leaders of the Senate
Agriculture Committee reached an impasse last month on a bill that would
preempt the Vermont law and there has been no sign of progress on the issue
since then.
The
Agriculture spending bill, which funds FDA, USDA and the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission, would authorize $21.3 billion in discretionary funding,
spending that is not mandated by the farm bill and other laws. That is $451
million below what was provided for fiscal 2016 and $281 million less than what
President Obama requested for fiscal 2017, which begins Oct. 1.
Despite
the overall cut, the bill would actually boost spending in several areas,
including for FDA’s implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act and for
rural development programs at USDA. FDA
would receive an increase of $33 million for FSMA implementation; Obama had
requested $25.3 million in new spending to implement FSMA, $11 million of which
would go to states for enforcing the produce safety rule.
The
legislation would increase funding for rural development programs by $113
million, including an increase of nearly $26 million for grants and loans to
expand and improve rural broadband service. The Value Added Producer Grant
Program would be increased by $4.25 million to $15 million in 2017.
USDA’s
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service would receive an increase of $29.6
million to address outbreaks of citrus greening and avian influenza and to
manage antibiotic resistance.
Funding
for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would be unchanged from fiscal
2016 at $250 million, $80 million less than Obama requested.
To
fund increased spending, the appropriators are once again seeking to cut the
2014 farm bill’s mandated spending levels for the Environmental Quality
Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program. The combination in
cuts also would reduce funding for the Resource Conservation Partnership
Program by $46.5 million, according to the National Sustainable Agriculture
Coalition.
The
bill also would extend school nutrition provisions that would delay a reduction
in sodium limits and allow financially strapped schools to get a waiver from
USDA’s current whole grain requirement.
Both the House and Senate also begin today moving
their respective FY17 Energy-Water appropriations bills that fund the Army
Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies.
The
Senate version of the Energy-Water bill hasn’t been released, but the House’s draft bill revives a provision that would block the
administration from implementing its “waters of the United States” (WOTUS)
rule, which is currently on hold because of court challenges.
The bill also includes several provisions designed
to help farmers and communities in California’s drought-stricken Central
Valley.
The provisions, which are based on language from California GOP Rep. David
Valadao's Western Water and
American Food Security Act of 2015 would give managers of the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project more flexibility to pump
water for farms.
But
the language likely faces stiff opposition in the Senate because the
legislation would essentially overturn biological opinions issued by the Fish
and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. Those opinions
govern operation of the state and federal water projects so that they do not
jeopardize the continued existence of federally listed Delta smelt or
salmonids.
One
provision would bar the Fish and Wildlife Service from issuing any new
requirements under the opinions that would reduce the amount of water available
to the state and Central Valley projects. Any provisions designed to get around
the opinions will likely be opposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Lawmakers
are getting an earlier start than usual on appropriations bills this year
because of the shortened congressional calendar due to the national party
conventions in July. The
Senate’s Energy-Water bill is expected to be on the Senate floor next week. The
Senate’s Agriculture appropriations bill will likely be marked up in
subcommittee at the end of this month.
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