Here’s how the 2016 fiscal budget impacts Nevada

The fiscal 2016 budget contains a number of line items that affect Nevada directly and indirectly.

The Interior Department seeks $78.1 million to support sage grouse conservation in advance of decisions whether to list the desert bird as threatened or endangered. The sum is an increase of $45 million.

Interior is reviving a proposal to impose a 5 percent gross proceeds royalty on hard rock minerals taken from federal lands. Congress has ignored that plan in past years.

“Payment in lieu of taxes” funding is an estimated $452 million. The sum would be divided among 1,850 counties in 49 states, although most of the money goes to counties in western states that contain substantial tracts of government land that cannot be taxed.

The Department of Energy has proposed $108 million for nuclear waste research, according to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. There is no money proposed for the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, as Moniz said the Obama administration remains committed to finding another site to bury nuclear waste.

Overall, the Department of Energy proposes to spend $478 million in Nevada, a 3.4 percent increase from what Congress appropriated for this year. Most of the spending is for activities related to nuclear security, stockpile stewardship, safety and counterterrorism at the Nevada National Security Site.

The Department of Veterans Affairs seeks money to hire 770 additional benefit claims processors and field examiners. The Reno office has been criticized as one of the poorest performing claims outposts.