Congress did it right when they adopted a bipartisan infrastructure lawThis is how it works Strong funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). to pay for hazardous material cleanups and distribute to the states for important clean water and wastewater projects. It also missed the boat with an Omnibus Appropriation for the EPAThis neglects the most vital environmental infrastructure, EPAs core capacity for protecting our nation’s health and environment. It has been depleted over the years by neglect and slow starvation. Last year was the last year.EPA funding That was it It is not even half.In real dollars, what the agency received 40-years ago and its smallest staff since 1987.
The Biden administration EPA 2022 budget request It was designed to reverse the decline of EPA resources. The down payment would be used to rebuild the agency and restore its environmental protection infrastructure. It also addressed climate change and advanced environmental justice. Despite its generous support for physical infrastructure in bipartisan infrastructure legislation, Congress continued its long-standing trend of neglecting EPAs infrastructure, staff, and programs that allow the agency to protect the environment.
The agency’s rebuilding plans are being thwarted by this years EPA appropriation, which rejects nearly $1.7 billion worth of requests for funding. It includes a small increase in support for EPA programs that is not enough to keep up with inflation. EPA cannot continue to be a weak relation among federal agencies while still providing the environmental and health protections that the nation demands and needs.
The agency’s rebuilding plans were hit hard by the rejection of a $110 million request for 1,000 new staff to improve environmental protection. It rejects even a modest $10million increase to address the numerous and noxious pollutants collectively identified. PFAS,An emerging problem that receives $2B a year through bipartisan infrastructure legislation
The greatest harm to air quality protection is the omnibus which denies $300 million to climate research ($60m), state, local and tribal management of air quality ($100m), and EPA clean and safe air programs ($140m). Monitoring system for air qualityIt is not able to accurately measure national air pollution and has a long history of missing serious pollution problems.
The Omnibus rejects $175 million more for EPA core programs to address toxins, protect water quality, and for operations, activities, and facilities; as well as for compliance monitoring and enforcement. New data has shown that enforcement support and monitoring are lacking in the EPA is particularly harmful. Environmental violations are commonOften, the most serious pollutants are the ones that are being violated the most. Only a few of the worst polluters can cause a significant amount of harm. One-third of America’s toxic pollution from the air was in 2014With the brunt falling on Communities that are disadvantaged Too often, they are treated as nothing more than a sacrifice zone. The upgrade to the jettisoned monitoring system could have provided better information to inform and defend overburdened frontline and fence-line communities as well as direct enforcement attention to the most serious issues.
Another cut of $200 million is required from $290 million requested to advance environmental justice. This money will be used to create a national program office and address the issue through environmental justice. Even with this cut, the omnibus appropriation increases existing environmental justice funding by $12 million by $90 million. This is the largest single increase in EPA core activities support and should help accelerate progress in advancing environmental justice in our nations disadvantaged peoples of color and low-income peoples.
Additionally, funding through bipartisan infrastructure legislation offsets or mitigates some of those negative effects from the rejection of certain increases in the EPA budget. Almost all that infrastructure money goes directly to EPA, passing through to the states. Almost none of it goes toward supporting, much less rebuilding, EPAs core environmental protection capacities.
For example, the omnibus appropriation rejected EPAs request for $450 million to support wastewater and infrastructure revolving lending loan fund programs. However, in the next five year, those programs will receive more that $20 billion under the infrastructure legislation. In the same way, the rejected increases of $330 million for Superfund hazardous site cleanups and brownfields site development are more than offset by $5 billion in infrastructure law funding over five year, $700 million per annum for Superfund and 300 million for brownfields. Denial of the requested $60 million increase in support for the diesel emission program should be mitigated with $1 billion per year of additional funding for clean school busses that will reduce diesel emissions.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill does not contain any provisions to mitigate the severe consequences of the omnibus appropriations inability to provide $800million in support for EPAs core programs and staff to protect the environment and peoples health. Congress will need to do more with EPA’s 2023 funding.
David F. Coursenis, a former EPA lawyer and a member theEnvironmental Protection Network, a non-profit organization made up of EPA alumni, working to preserve the agency’s progress towards climate, water and clean air.
