Summary

Sets new, detailed limits and oversight rules on how federal water, energy, nuclear, and related appropriated funds may be used or moved. It narrows agencies’ ability to reprogram funds, requires advance notice or committee approval for large awards and transfers, creates consent-based siting and contracting rules for consolidated nuclear storage, restricts certain dredged-material disposals, and directs new reporting and transparency requirements across the Army Corps of Engineers, Interior water programs, DOE, and NRC. The Act also provides an FY2026 appropriation direction, places prohibitions on certain transfers or duty reassignments, adds conditions for advance payments to non-Federal project sponsors, and includes general use-and-reporting rules (including bans on using funds to influence Congress and new IT content-blocking rules).

Key Points

• Creates strict notice/approval rules limiting agencies’ ability to reprogram or transfer appropriated funds.
• Imposes agency-specific reprogramming controls and recurring reporting requirements for the Army Corps, Interior (Reclamation), DOE, and NRC.
• Requires congressional advance notice or committee approval for major DOE program starts, large grants/contracts, and certain construction or award decisions.
• Authorizes DOE to run a consent-based licensing/siting program for consolidated interim storage of spent nuclear fuel, with host agreements and public hearings.
• Prohibits transferring Corps civil-works duties to another agency and restricts some dredged-material disposals (e.g., in Lake Erie).
• Directs FY2026 appropriation authority for energy and water development funds from Treasury-available balances and ties all spending to the bill’s tables/report.
• Permits limited emergency waivers for health, safety, environmental, or national-security risks but requires rapid reporting.
• Adds cross-cutting administrative rules: bans using funds to influence Congress, requires IT content-blocking for pornography (with exceptions), and mandates advance notice before certain firings.
• Tightens rules on advance payments to non-Federal project sponsors with documentation and reporting requirements.
• Increases administrative burden and potential delays for large programs, awards, and construction decisions while raising transparency for oversight.

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