By Judy Sheahan
July 18, 2011

The House Appropriations Committee on July 12 passed the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill by a vote of 28-18, which includes funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Committee slashed the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) money to $689 million, down from $1.525 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, and $2.1 billion in 2010. The Drinking Water SRF program was also seriously cut to $829 million, down from $965 million in FY 2011 and $1.387 billion in 2010.

Although Congress acknowledged the tremendous need for water and wastewater infrastructure money, they also stated that between EPA and the states, there is $6.4 billion of money in unobligated funds. They strongly encouraged EPA and the states to obligate the funding “in order to address the pressing infrastructure needs facing the nation.” Congress is allowing 30 percent of the funding to provide additional forms of subsidy to communities that cannot afford the SRF rates. These subsidies can be in the form of negative interest loans, principle forgiveness or grants. However, the committee did not include the 20 percent set aside for green infrastructure projects.

Brownfields funding was also cut to $60 million, down by $39.8 million from FY 2011 and EPA’s climate change programs were cut by $83 million (22 percent). There was also a one-year prohibition placed on the Agency to use funds for the implementing of greenhouse gas regulations. The Conference of Mayors has policy supporting EPA regulating greenhouse gas emissions if Congress didn’t pass their own Climate Change bill.

The committee also placed a prohibition on EPA using funds to change the definition of waters of the United States. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are currently seeking comments on their guidance regarding the definition of Waters of the United States. Conference of Mayors policy “opposes legislation to expand Federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. However if the pending legislation is approved by Congress, the Conference of Mayors resolves that the costs incurred in its implementation are born solely and entirely by the Federal government and its agencies and not levied as an unfunded mandate on the public and private sectors.”

In addition, the appropriations bill also had other policy riders that would prohibit EPA from doing the following:

• Implement the “lead contractor” rule until the Agency approves a commercially available lead paint test kit;

• Implement or enforce numeric Florida Water Quality Standards;

• Finalize a new greenhouse gas standard for automobiles after model year 2017; and

• Regulate certain levels of particulate matter in the air – including farm dust – under the Clean Air Act

Other amendments included:

• Prohibiting States from receiving Great Lakes funding if they have adopted ballast water requirements that are more stringent than federal requirements; and

• Directing EPA to do a cumulative assessment of the impacts of EPA regulations, and prohibits funding for the “Utility MACT” and “Transport” rules.

The Conference of Mayors strongly encourages all mayors to contact their Congressional delegation and ask them to restore funding for both SRF programs, the Brownfields program, and to lift the prohibition on EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.