WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a historic federal spending bill that will make substantial investments in San Diego priorities that Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) fought to secure for Fiscal Year 2022.

“For the first time in over a decade, Congress has committed to funding local projects put forth by lawmakers. These investments will make a huge difference in the lives of Americans across the country,” said Rep. Peters. “In California’s 52^nd congressional district, we successfully landed pivotal funding for seven projects that will directly benefit San Diego residents.”

The local projects Rep. Peters championed funding for include:

• $975,000 for the Higher Education Online Pathways program, which will help the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) increase access to and improve the quality of its existing online certificates, credentials, or programs. 
• $950,000 for the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) to strengthen the university’s Telehealth and Health Information Technology program
• $1 million to improve and update Poway’s Clearwell water storage reservoir, which supplies the city’s primary drinking water system. 
• $187,500 for the City of Poway to reinforce the safety of wildfire evacuation routes in the area by removing hazardous trees along Twin Peaks and Espola roads.
• $1 million for the Port of San Diego to secure Harbor Island’s shoreline with special interlocking armor units that provide structural security to the shoreline and also benefit marine organisms and the local ecosystems.
• $750,000 for San Diego Metropolitan Transit System’s (MTS) Imperial Avenue Division Zero Emission Bus project to help support the MTS to convert its entire bus fleet to a fully zero-emission fleet by 2040.
• $1 million for San Diego Association of Governments’ (SANDAG) COASTER Commuter Rail Study to assess alternative alignments for the COASTER Commuter Rail Corridor that would move the rail tracks completely off the Del Mar Bluffs.

“I’m glad we were able to deliver this funding to the 52^nd District. These dollars will make our neighborhoods stronger, healthier, safer and more sustainable,” Rep. Peters added. “I look forward to seeing these projects help my constituents and the region once the bill is signed into law by President Biden.”

The $1.5 trillion package also supports critical programs and services important to San Diegans, including:

• Energy & Environmental Programs:
  • Department of Energy (DOE):
    • $3.2 billion for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
    • $450 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)
    • $27.5 million for interim storage of nuclear waste and oversight of Nuclear Waste Fund
    • $40 million for Advanced Algal Systems and $8 million for carbon utilization using algal systems
    • $75 million for direct air capture
  • $5.88 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for climate research and mitigation efforts, improvements in weather forecasting, understanding sea level rise, supporting offshore wind energy and STEM education
  • $78.3 million across the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to address the impacts of climate change through investments in sustainable agriculture, research, and clean energy
  • $5.48 billion for wildland fire management
  • $35 million for Border Water Infrastructure Program (BWIP) to fund boundary projects that combat pollution flows
  • $100 million for environmental justice activities
• National Defense, Foreign Operations, Homeland Security & Related Programs:
  • $20 million for TAO oiler fleet affordability initiatives, which will help the Navy procure more ships which are built in San Diego
  • $120 million funding for recapitalization of 12 legacy MQ-1C aircraft and procurement of two additional MQ-4 Triton aircraft, all of which are manufactured by San Diego companies
  • Natural disaster response and mitigation, with $18.8 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and $275.5 million for Flood Mapping, consistent with Rep. Peters work to discourage costly development in flood-prone areas
  • $409.5 million for Citizenship and Immigration Services to reduce immigration, refugee, and asylum application backlogs, including through $275 million for application processing and $20 million for the Citizenship and Integration Grant program
  • Funding for critical international climate change programs
• Military Construction & Veterans’ Services:
  • $13.2 billion for veteran mental health programs
  • $2.2 billion for veteran homeless assistance programs including for HUD-VASH, a program which Rep. Peters has fought to expand since coming to Congress
  • $2.5 billion for Veteran Affairs’ (VA) electronic health records system
  • $10 million San Diego Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) center at the VA
  • San Diego Military Construction projects:
    • $63.6 million for CMV-22B Aircraft Maintenance Hangar in Coronado.
    • $50 million for San Diego Air National Guard Pier 6 Replacement
    • $13.6 million for Veterinary Treatment Facility Replacement at Camp Pendleton.
    • $21.7 million for Special Operations Forces Air Traffic Control Operations Support Facility in Coronado.
    • $12 million for Naval Special Warfare Group 11 Operations Support Facility.
• Health Resources & Services:
  • $8.5 billion for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including $100 million for the Data Modernization Initiative to modernize public health data, consistent with Rep. Peters’ commitment to improve our national data reporting systems
  • $45 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with $1 billion dedicated to establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to accelerate the pace of scientific breakthroughs for diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and cancer
  • $286 million under Title X for family planning projects
• Education, Safety & Community Programs:
  • $6.2 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grants
  • $107 million for Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, up $15 million from Fiscal Year 2021
  • $11 billion for the Head Start program
  • $24.6 billion for federal student aid programs, including a new increase in the maximum Pell Grant to $6,895 and allowing Pell Grant eligibility to DREAMers
  • $140.4 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
  • $674.5 million for Byrne Justice Assistance grants and $512 million for COPS program grants to provide resources for local law enforcement
  • $95 million to strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check system and $50 million for community-based violence intervention initiatives
  • $575 million for Violence Against Women Act prevention and prosecution programs
  • $297 for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and $106 million for the Drug-Free Communities Program
• Housing, Transportation & Infrastructure Programs:
  • $3.3 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBGs), one of the most effective federal programs for growing local economies and for providing a lifeline to families and communities
  • $3.2 billion for homeless assistance grants
  • $2.3 billion for Capital Investment Grants, which fund major transportation projects
• American Businesses, Employment & Labor Programs:
  • $1 billion for the Small Business Administration (SBA), including $290 million for Entrepreneurial Development Programs
  • $8.84 billion for the National Science Foundation to foster American innovation and U.S. economic competitiveness by supporting climate science and sustainable research, research on artificial intelligence, quantum information science, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, and other critical research efforts
• Government Agencies & Democracy Programs:
  • $75 million for Election Security Grants to help States secure election systems and improve election administration
  • $20 million for Election Assistance Commission operating expenses to ensure the continued security and accessibility of Federal elections
  • $12.6 billion to help the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provide better customer service to working families navigating the tax system and $5.4 billion for IRS enforcement

The spending package also included a supplemental bill that sets aside $13.6 billion in emergency funding to support the Ukrainian people and defend global democracy in the wake of Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine.