WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed nine funding bills for Fiscal Year 2022 that advance and invest in major San Diego priorities Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52) fought to include.

The bills, seven wrapped into one package and two others that passed separately, cover funding for energy and water; interior and environment; military construction and veterans affairs; state and foreign operations; labor, education and health and human services; transportation, housing and urban development; financial services and general government; agriculture, rural development and the Food and Drug Administration; and the legislative branch. The bills will now head to the Senate.

Peters scores significant clean energy, environment funding

With a total of $53.2 billion directed to Energy and Water Development and $43.4 billion dedicated to Interior and Environment, the funding bills make bold, future-focused investments to spur energy innovation. The funds will create jobs as we mitigate the effects of and adapt to climate change, improve the nation’s water infrastructure, and strengthen national security.

“Like many communities, San Diego faces increasingly dangerous climate change consequences. Our region is confronted by more intense wildfires, greater risks of flooding from sea level rise, and worsening droughts,” said Rep. Peters. “The funding the House voted on today will put our country on a more sustainable path that creates a healthier planet while moving us closer to the green, clean economy of the future.”

Rep. Peters successfully advocated for the following energy and environment investments outlined in the funding package:

• $45 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE), including
  • $3.77 billion for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
  • $600 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 $10M for carbon utilization using algal systems
  • $75 million for direct air capture

• $35 mil for Border Water Infrastructure Program (BWIP) to fund boundary projects that combat pollution flows

He also supported the following investments included in the final funding package:

• $11.34 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• $5.66 billion for Wildland Fire Management
• $248 million for environmental justice activities
• $150 million for Diesel Emissions Reduction grants
• $3.23 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds

Peters supports provisions to help servicemembers & veterans and to reinforce U.S. strength and leadership

San Diego is a proud military town and a strategic partner in the national defense. Equally important, over 15,000 servicemembers transition out of the Armed Forces every year in San Diego and about half stay here as they begin civilian life. San Diego is also home to one of the nation’s largest populations of homeless veterans.

“In an era of new and dynamic threats, we need to ensure our service members have the resources they need to fight our enemies abroad and keep Americans safe at home,” said Rep. Peters. “And when those in uniform return home, we owe it to them to make sure they have an affordable place to live and access to the care and benefits they earned through their service. We must keep our promises to the men and women who volunteered to fight for our freedom and security? just as they served us.”

The Military Construction (MilCon) and Veterans Affairs (VA) portion of the funding package allocates $124.5 billion in discretionary funding and $155.4 billion in mandatory funding for VA benefits and health care, including:

• $13.1 billion for mental health programs
• $778.5 million for gender-specific care
• $2.1 billion for homeless assistance programs
• $2.6 billion for VA electronic health records system
• $10 million San Diego Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) center at the VA
• San Diego MilCon projects:
  • Coronado Special Operations Forces (SOF) Air Traffic Control (ATC) Operations Support Facility, $21,700,000
  • Coronado Special Operations Forces (SOF) Naval Special Warfare Group (NSWG) 11 Operations Support Facility, $12,000,000
  • San Diego Air National Guard Pier 6 Replacement, $50,000,000
  • Camp Pendleton Veterinary Treatment Facility Replacement, $13,600,000
  • Camp Pendleton I Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF) Consolidated Information Center (INC 2), $19,869,000

Rep. Peters continued: “Finally, the United States is a leader in both diplomacy and strength, and I believe we must always work toward smart, diplomatic solutions when we encounter threats to American interests and the interests of our long-standing allies and partners. This funding bill invests in restoring American leadership and empowers our nation to rally our global partners to tackle our shared challenges and priorities.”

This fiscal year 2022 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPs) appropriations bill, voted on independently of the larger appropriations package, invests $62.2 billion in top American priorities abroad, including promoting security and democracy, combating the climate crisis, rebuilding global public health infrastructure, defending human rights and lifting up vulnerable communities through humanitarian assistance. It includes:

• $1.7 billion for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
• $9 billion for International Security Assistance
• $4 billion for Multilateral Assistance
• $50 million for Middle East Partnership for Peace
• $10.6 billion for Global Health Programs
• Funding for critical international climate change programs:
  • $1.6 billion for the Green Climate Fund
  • $149.3 million for the Global Environment Facility
  • $294.2 million for adaptation programs
  • $179 million for renewable energy programs

Peters backs investments in Americans’ health, opportunity, prosperity

The package of seven bills invests in the American people, with historic investments in America’s working families and in expanding opportunities by providing $253.8 billion for Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services (HHS); $26.55 billion for Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Related Agencies; $29.1 billion for Financial Services and General Government; and $162.6 billion for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD).

“As we continue to emerge from the devastation of COVID-19, it’s critical we invest in what we need here at home,” said Rep. Peters. “That means expanding and strengthening Americans’ access to health care, jobs, education, housing and transportation.”

Provisions in the package include funding for:

• Health Resources and Services:
  • $10.6 billion for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including $150 million for the Data Modernization Initiative to modernize public health data, consistent with Rep. Peters’ commitment to improve our national data reporting systems
  • $49 billion for the National Institutes of Health, with $3 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
  • $4.3 billion for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrative expenses
  • $9.16 billion for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
  • $3.4 billion for the FDA
• Education: $102.8 billion in funding for the Department of Education
  • $65 billion for K-12 education
  • $17 billion for Special Education
  • $2.2 billion for Career, Technical, and Adult Education
  • $3.4 billion for higher education
  • $27.2 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
• Housing:
  • $330 million for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which help facilitate affordable housing
  • $56.6 billion for Housing and Urban Development (HUD):
    • $29.2 billion for tenant-based rental assistance; $14 billion for project-based rental assistance
    • $25 million for HUD-VASH, a program which Rep. Peters has fought to expand since coming to Congress
    • $3.7 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
    • $3.4 billion for homeless assistance grants
    • $1.85 billion for HOME Investment partnership
    • $92 million for Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, including $10 million for technical assistance and systems grants
• Transportation and Infrastructure: $105 billion for the Department of Transportation (DOT)
  • $1.2 billion for RAISE/TIGER/BUILD infrastructure grants
  • $18.9 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
  • $61.9 billion for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
  • $4.1 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA); $2.7 billion for Amtrak
  • $15.5 billion for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), with $2.5 billion for Capital Investment Grants, which fund major transportation projects

Peters secures requested funding for local projects and programs

For the first time in a decade, the House Appropriations Committee accepted Community Project Funding requests for Fiscal Year 2022. This initiative allows Members of Congress to target federal funds towards projects and programs in their respective congressional districts that will address the most significant needs of the communities they represent.

As a result, the House funding bills included money set aside for specific community projects in California’s 52^nd congressional district that Rep. Peters requested in April. These 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. 
• $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.

“Approving these priority projects for San Diego is an exciting step forward,” said Rep. Peters. “I look forward to working with my counterparts in the Senate to make sure we can pull it across the finish line.”