Congress did it right with a bipartisan infrastructure lawThat is what it does Strong funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). to pay for hazardous material cleanups and to distribute to the states for important clean water and wastewater projects. It also missed the boat on an Omnibus Appropriation of EPAIt neglects the most crucial environmental infrastructure, EPAs core capability to protect our environment and health. It has been depleted over the years by neglect and slow starvation. Last year was the last year.EPA funding That was it Only half of the population is awareIn real dollars, what the agency received 40-years ago and what its smallest staff have earned since. 1987.
The Biden administrations EPA 2022 budget request The bill was intended to reverse the decline of EPA resources by making a down payment towards rebuilding the agency, restoring its environmental protection infrastructure, and addressing climate change. But despite its generous support for physical infrastructure in the bipartisan infrastructure law, when it came to funding EPAs operations, Congress continued its long-standing pattern neglecting EPAs infrastructure, the staff and programs that enable 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 be a poor relation between federal agencies and still provide the protections that the nation needs and wants.
The agency’s rebuilding plans are being hampered by the rejection of an omnibus law request for $110million to hire 1,000 staff to improve environmental protection. This was in response to the significant declines that have occurred under the Trump administration. A second blow comes from the rejection of all but 10 million of the increases EPA proposed to restore science in the agency. The increase was for $100 million in support for science and technology. Even a modest $10 million increase is rejected by the agency to address the noxious and ubiquitous pollutants that have been collectively identified as PFAS,A bipartisan infrastructure law, called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, addresses a new problem of $2 billion per year.
Air quality protection suffers the most: The omnibus denies $300M for climate research ($60million); state, local, and tribal air quality management ($100million); and EPA clean-air programs ($140million). This makes it impossible to plan for improvements that are appallingly insufficient. Air quality monitoring systemIt doesn’t accurately measure national air pollution and has a long history of missing serious pollution problems.
The omnibus also rejects $175 million for EPA core program to address toxics and protect water, operations and facilities, and enforcement and compliance monitoring. New data shows that enforcement and monitoring support are lacking. This is especially harmful. Environment violations are rampant. The most serious pollutants are often the worst. A few of the worst polluters can cause a significant share of the harm. 100 facilities produced half of the total. one-third of America’s toxic air pollution in 2014. This is where the majority of this pollution occurs. Communities in need Too often, they are treated as little more that sacrifice zones. The upgraded jettisoned air monitoring system could have addressed this issue by providing better information to inform, protect and direct enforcement attention towards the most serious problems.
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 countries disadvantaged, indigenous, low-income and people of color.
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 of the infrastructure money goes to EPA to be passed on to the states. Almost none of it goes towards supporting, or rebuilding, EPAs core environmental protection capacities.
The omnibus appropriation rejects EPA’s request to increase $450 million for support for wastewater and infrastructure revolving loans fund programs. However, these programs will receive more than $20 Billion under the infrastructure law over the next five years. 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 people’s health. Congress will need better funding for EPA fiscal year 2023.
David F. Coursen is a former EPA attorney and a member of the Environmental Protection Network, a non-profit organization of EPA Alumni working to protect the agency’s progress toward climate, clean air, and water protection.
