House Approves Funding Bill With Abercrombie Hawaii Projects

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. House today approved the 2010 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill.

The fourth of 12 annual spending bills that Congress passes every year to pay for all the operations and services of the U.S. Government, the Interior Appropriation totals $32.4 billion, and includes funding for three Hawaii projects requested by Rep. Neil Abercrombie:

• $500,000 for land acquisition for the James Campbell Refuge;
• $660,000 to establish and build a research and education center for the recently-established Hawaii Experimental Tropical Forest on the Big Island; and
• $1,000,000 to the Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research (CPBR) for grants to universities to conduct renewable energy research.  UH has frequently received grants from CPBR.

-30-