November 19, 2019

Manchin Committee Passes Bills To Permanently Fund LWCF And Address National Parks Backlog

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a business meeting to consider pending legislation. The committee reported out 15 energy and lands bills on a largely bipartisan basis. Among these was Senator Manchin’s (D-WV), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at its fully authorized level of $900 million annually. The Committee also passed the Restore Our Parks Act, which would provide over $6.5 billion in mandatory funding over five years to address the critical maintenance backlog in our National Parks.

“I am tremendously proud of the bipartisan work we conducted today on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. We passed permanent, mandatory funding for the LWCF so that we can continue to invest in our public lands at both the state and federal level. We also passed legislation that would begin addressing the National Park Service backlog of deferred maintenance projects. The infrastructure projects that will be funded through this bill are critical to protecting many of our national treasures, and like the LWCF funding, will provide a significant benefit to the outdoor recreation economy,” Ranking Member Manchin said.

Below is the full list of legislation passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.