Congress Funds Nuclear Cleanup and Flood Control, But Ties Agencies’ Hands on Spending

This legislation, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2026, is essentially the federal budget blueprint for everything from nuclear security to your local river’s flood control system. It pours over $58 billion into the Department of Energy (DOE), the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bureau of Reclamation. If you’re wondering where the money goes, think atomic bombs, massive dams, and the electric grid.

The bill locks in funding for critical infrastructure projects, including over $9.5 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers to keep ports dredged, maintain levees, and operate dams. For anyone living near a river or relying on goods shipped through a major port, this is the essential, unsexy maintenance that keeps the lights on and the water flowing. It also establishes a $100 million loan program to help state and local governments fix aging, non-federal dams and levees—a huge deal for public safety, especially in parts of the country where smaller, older dams are ticking time bombs.

The Tight Leash on Federal Agencies

Here’s where things get interesting, and potentially frustrating. This bill is less about flexibility and more about control. Titles I, II, and V impose seriously strict rules on how the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation (the folks who manage Western water) can spend their allocated cash. The bill explicitly limits the ability of agency heads to move money between projects after Congress has approved the spending plan. Think of it like this: Congress gives you a budget for your house renovation, specifying exactly how much goes to the kitchen and how much to the bathroom. If you realize mid-project that the kitchen needs an extra $10,000 from the bathroom budget, you can’t just shift it. You have to go back to Congress and ask nicely.

While this is designed to increase transparency and make sure Congress’s priorities are followed (a good thing for oversight), it means less operational agility for the agencies. If a dam needs an emergency repair or a project suddenly faces unexpected costs, the agency’s hands are tied. They can’t quickly reallocate a small amount of money to solve the problem, which could lead to delays or increased costs down the road. For the people who rely on these services—like farmers needing timely irrigation water or communities needing rapid flood response—that bureaucratic delay could be a real problem.

The Nuclear Cleanup and Storage Solution

On the energy front, the bill earmarks over $20 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration to maintain the nation’s nuclear stockpile. But a major policy shift is tucked into Title III: the creation of a new, consent-based program for temporary, centralized storage of spent nuclear fuel. This is a big deal because the federal government has been on the hook for storing this waste for decades, often paying utility companies billions in liability fees because a permanent solution hasn’t materialized.

This new program requires the DOE to find storage sites only if they get the explicit agreement of state, local, and tribal governments. The idea is to move away from top-down mandates and build trust. If successful, this could finally solve the nuclear waste storage problem, which would be a win for taxpayers and the environment. But here’s the catch: getting local consent for a nuclear waste site is notoriously difficult. If the DOE can’t get buy-in, the problem—and the liability payments—will just continue.

General Provisions: No Lobbying, No Porn

Title V includes the standard, but important, procedural rules. Most notably, it prohibits agencies from using any funds to lobby Congress on pending legislation. That’s aimed at keeping the executive branch from trying to influence its own funding. It also mandates that government computer networks must block access to pornography, with exceptions for law enforcement. If you work for one of these agencies, expect IT to be double-checking those filters.

Ultimately, this bill is a necessary funding mechanism that keeps critical national infrastructure running, from flood control to nuclear defense. But it comes with a high price tag of administrative control, potentially trading agency efficiency for congressional oversight. The success of major initiatives, like the new nuclear waste storage program, hinges on whether the new, consent-based approach can actually overcome decades of political gridlock.