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The President’s 2007 Budget, Part I: The EPA

6 February 2006

Chart of proposed changes in EPA Program funding. Click to enlarge.

The Administration has submitted the President’s $2.8-trillion budget for the 2007 fiscal year, which overall seeks to cut spending in non-security discretionary programs below 2006 levels.

For the Environmental Protection Agency, this means a budget cut by about 4% from $7.6 billion in FY 2006 to $7.3 billion in 2007—the lowest budget amount in 10 years.

EPA shares in the responsibility of being good stewards of our nation’s environment, and good stewards of our nation’s tax dollars. This budget fulfills every presidential environmental commitment and maintains the goals laid out in EPA’s Strategic Plan, while spending less.

—EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson

The EPA budget includes a request for $184 million for EPA Homeland Security efforts, an increase of $55 million (43%) over the FY 2006 enacted budget. This funding includes $33 million to protect drinking water from terrorist attack; and $10 million to develop Environmental Laboratory Preparedness and Response capability; $10 million to provide for environmental decontamination, including related research and development.

The largest new program in the EPA budget is the Diesel Emissions Reduction Program, with a budget request of $49.5 million. Congress, however, in passing the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), had authorized an annual expenditure of $200 million—a point Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, made clear in a statement concerning the budget submission.

While $50 million is a solid start, we urge Congress to finance this important clean air program at $200 million as originally authorized.

—Allen Schaeffer

Other gains in the proposed EPA budget include:

• $38 million in underground storage tank funding, a $26 million increase over FY 2006 enacted levels, to prevent future releases from such tanks;

• $11 million for the development and implementation of the renewable fuel standard which leads to increasing market share of ethanol and renewable fuels;

• $1.3 billion for the Superfund program, a $17 million increase over last year's enacted budget. The program will achieve 40 construction completions.

The largest program cut is a $199-million reduction (22.5%) in low-interest loans to states for water quality protection projects. The second largest is a 16%, $35-million cut in state land local air quality management programs.

The voluntary Climate Protection Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions faces a 5%, $5-million cut.

President Bush says his main priorities at EPA are reducing diesel pollution, decreasing leaks from underground storage tanks, and “developing the necessary tools and protocols to mitigate the environmental and human health effects of chemical, biological or radiological attacks.”

Resources:

• Summary of the EPA FY 2007 Budget

• Detailed EPA FY 2007 Budget

February 6, 2006 in Climate Change, Diesel, Emissions, Policy | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

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