Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a nearly $31.25 billion fiscal year 2006 Energy and Water funding bill. The bill is almost $1.5 billion more than House-passed Energy and Water legislation, and it exceeds current-year funding by $1.4 billion.

How the Army Corps manages its budget could provide an additional stumbling block during conference discussions. The House and Senate versions of the bill differ dramatically on issues of corps financial management, including reprogramming funds and issuing multiyear contracts.

The House Energy and Water spending bill would allow Congress to more closely monitor the movement of funds by earmarking appropriations for specific projects, as well as limiting the use of some continuing contracts for projects that require multiyear appropriations. Traditionally, the corps has been granted the discretion to move funding from one project to another as it deals with weather restrictions, construction hold ups and other emergency situations.

The Senate committee passed a $5.3 billion budget for the Army Corps of Engineers and a $1.08 billion budget for the Bureau of Reclamation - more than $1 million increase over the House for the Bureau of Reclamation, which is $130 million above the president's request and $63.5 million more than the FY '05 level. Shipping and port industry groups support the Senate version.