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Environmental Protection Agency

OVERALL SPENDING WOULD BE $1.3 BILLION BELOW FY2004 LEVEL
Infrastructure Accounts Targeted for Cuts

The Administration proposes another decrease in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The administration proposed $7.1 billion in discretionary funding for EPA in FY 2009. The agency's budget has steadily declined since it received $8.4 billion in FY 2004.

The proposal includes a $134 million cut to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, a low-interest wastewater loan program that helps states construct water treatment facilities. State and tribal assistance grants would also be cut. Other areas slated for reductions include targeted water infrastructure programs and leaking underground petroleum storage tank cleanup. Funds for targeted water infrastructure would drop from about $177 million in fiscal 2008 to $26 million in fiscal 2009.

The popular brownfields program would also be cut slightly from $168.3 million to $165.7 million. On Capitol Hill, the Chairman of House Transportation and Infrastructure introduced legislation to formally reauthorize the brownfields program. The bill, HR 5336, extends the program to 2012, raises the authorization level for the site assessment and cleanup program from $200 million to $350 million annually, and eliminates the 25 percent set-aside for petroleum-contaminated sites. The bill also adds a "ranking criterion" that favors funding of projects that implement green and energy-efficient building standards.

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