September 12, 2019

Manchin Includes Funding For West Virginia In FY20 Energy And Water And Defense Appropriations Bills

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, included significant funding for West Virginia in the FY20 Energy and Water and Defense appropriations bills which were reported out of committee today.

“I am pleased that this fiscal year 2020 Energy and Water and Defense appropriations bills provide West Virginia with funding for some of the state’s top priorities: additional broadband funding for West Virginia through the Appalachian Regional Commission, incorporates language from a bill I introduced to recognize the national and economic security benefits of a storage hub in Appalachia, and recognition of the work being done by the West Virginia National Guard Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) threat defense unit. As we continue our work in the Appropriations Committee I will fight for West Virginia in the final budget and for a responsible budget that puts West Virginia first,” said Senator Manchin.

Read West Virginia Highlights in FY20 Energy and Water and Defense Appropriations Bills below: 

Energy and Water Bill:

  • Broadband Funding: Senator Manchin was able to include a provision that would provide $10 million for broadband funding through the Appalachian Regional Commission and expand eligibility to allow 10 more WV counties to be able to apply.
  • Appalachian Storage Hub: Incorporates Senator Manchin’s Appalachian Energy for National Security Act by encouraging DOE to issue a report to study the potential benefits of a natural gas liquids storage hub, including national and economic security. The bill also includes $32 million for the continuation of the Title XVII Innovative Technologies Loan Guarantee Program, which will be critical for the proposed Appalachian Storage Hub.
  • National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL): $184 million for the National Energy Technology Laboratory, located in Morgantown, WV, including $25 million for the Rare Earth Element program to develop advanced separation technologies for rare earth elements from coal and coal byproducts, as well as $12 million for the NETL Computational Science and Engineering Center, which will construct the facility to house the new NETL supercomputer, Joule 3.0 – which will be one of the fastest computers in the world.
  • Fossil Energy Research and Development: $800 million for Fossil Energy Research and Development, including $517.3 million for Coal Carbon Capture Storage and Power Systems.
  • Feasibility of Solar on Abandoned Mine Lands: Encourages the Department of Energy to study how solar energy technologies could be used on reclaimed and unreclaimed mine lands for energy production.
  • Appalachian Regional Commission: $175 million for basic infrastructure, job training, and $10 million for a new program to address substance abuse in areas like West Virginia that are most impacted by the opioid crisis.

 

Defense Bill:

  • National Guard Threat Response: $20 million will go towards funding the National Guard’s Unified Command Suite for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) threat defense. This funding also passed with a requirement for a report detailing the work of CBRN units in the National Capital Region, which includes the West Virginia National Guard CBRN unit at the Army Interagency Training and Education Center in Saint Albans.
  • Youth ChalleNGe: West Virginia’s own Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy will benefit from a portion of the $50 million in funding that the Senate provided to support all Youth ChalleNGe programs.
  • STARBASE: $15 million will go to the STARBASE program to promote STEM experiences for rural elementary school students in West Virginia.
  • DEPSCoR: $118 million for DEPSCoR, which WVU has traditionally ranked in the top 10 within total DEPSCoR (DoD Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) awards.
  • Civil Air Patrol: As one of the only aviators in the Senate, Senator Manchin is an honorary Colonel and serves as Vice Commander for the Civil Air Patrol’s Congressional Squadron, and fought for an increase of $18 million towards procurement of Civil Air Patrol aircraft, vehicles, and radio equipment.