Congressional Appropriations for EPA “On Deck” for Mid June Deliberations

June 8, 2012 Anthony DeRosa

The House Appropriations Interior, Environment & Related Agencies Subcommittee is tentatively scheduled to consider the FY 13 funding measure that includes EPA during the week of June 18th. Political insiders expect that the legislation will see a return of many of the contentious policy riders that were removed from last year’s bill. Subcommittee Chair Mike Simpson (R-ID) has said that he will try to limit the overall number of riders and amendments but that some are likely to be included – such as the jurisdiction and definition issue under the Clean Water Act and the mountaintop mining stream protection initiative. Just as a refresher, EPA’s FY 13 budget request includes the following amounts:

$850 million for the DWSRF
$109.7 million for PWSS
$15 million for National Priorities Competitive Grants
$1.17 billion for the CWSRF
$265 million for §106 Pollution Control
$164.8 million for §319 Nonpoint Source

The likelihood of the measure working its way to the House Floor has increased in recent weeks. The House Appropriations Committee has finalized FY 13 funding bills for Energy & Water, Homeland Security, Veterans, Commerce, Defense, the Legislative Branch, and State Department. Work on Transportation and Agriculture is underway which leaves some time for Interior, Labor, and Financial Services to be considered before the end of the fiscal year.