The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee voted yesterday to provide $26.3 billion in FY '06 for the Interior Department, Forest Service and U.S. EPA. Overall, the bill would provide $9.88 billion for Interior and $4.12 billion for the Forest Service. House cuts to EPA's Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund were restored.

In the Interior Department, the bill would increase the operations budget for the National Park Service by $65 million to $1.75 billion, $20 million above the Bush administration's request. In addition, other agencies are funded at the following levels:

*BLM - $1.79 billion ($28 million below FY '05)

*Fish and Wildlife Service - $1.3 billion ($23 million below FY '05)

*U.S. Geological Survey - $963 million ($27 million increase over FY '05)

*Mineral Management Service - $160 million ($14 million below FY '05)

*Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement - $110 million ($2 million increase over FY '05)

*Payment in Lieu of Taxes program - $235 million ($10 million increase over FY '05)

Most numbers are close to those in the House bill (H.R. 2361) passed on May 19. The full Senate appropriations panel is scheduled to take up the bill tomorrow.