House appropriators today approved a $27.6 billion Interior-Environment spending bill after adding a provision intended to recoup lost royalties on a series of faulty oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico.

Democrats said the fiscal 2008 spending bill would provide an overdue injection of money for environmental and American Indian health programs, which they say have suffered several years of budget cuts since President Bush came to office.

Rejecting the president’s call for further cuts this year, Democrats proposed a 4.5 percent increase over fiscal 2007 in discretionary spending for the EPA, the Interior Department, the Agriculture Department’s Forest Service and several cultural agencies. The Appropriations Committee approved the bill by voice vote, despite Republican complaints that such funding increases are fiscally irresponsible.

“I do not know of one increase in the package which cannot be fully justified based on need or on ability to spend the money wisely,” said Norm Dicks, D-Wash., chairman of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee.

Although Dicks said he was worried that attaching controversial riders could jeopardize the bill, he supported an amendment by Maurice D. Hinchey, D-N.Y., intended to address an ongoing scandal over lost royalties from deepwater production in the Gulf. It was adopted by voice vote.