Congressional Appropriators Unveil $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Bill

December 20, 2022 Stephanie Schlea

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Drinking Water Headlines, DWSRF, Legislative

Early this morning (12/20), Congressional appropriators released the FY 2023 omnibus spending package. The full bill includes over 4100 pages of text outlining Congress’s plan for $1.7 trillion, which includes $772.5 billion for non-defense programs – a 5.5% increase from FY 2022. The bill provides the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with $10.135 billion. Although this represents an increase of $576 million from EPA’s FY 2022 budget, it falls short of the $11.881 billion requested by President Biden. This additional funding includes a $72 million increase for EPA’s enforcement and compliance programs, a $20 million increase for toxic chemical programs, and a $33 million increase for water programs. Drinking water-related provisions include:

Public Water System Supervision’s (PWSS) funding increased by $8.5 million from FY 2022 to a total of $121.5 million. Of this, $12,000,000 is to support States, Territories, and Tribes in addressing PFAS and other contaminants of emerging as they carry out their PWSS programs.
The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) is slated to receive $1,126,101,000, a minor increase of $13,000 over FY 2022. However, the projects specified for “Community Project Funding Items/Congressionally Directed Spending Items’’ (previously known as earmarks) saw a massive jump from $397,766,044 in FY 2022 to $609,255,899 in FY 2023, leaving the DWSRF programs with $516,845,101.
$68 million for the Water Infrastructure and Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, which includes $5 million for the SRF programs. This is a $4.5 million increase from FY 2022.
$16,000,000 for new infrastructure assistance grant programs, including the Midsize and Large Drinking Water System Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability program, the Indian Reservation Drinking Water Program, Stormwater Infrastructure Technology, and Enhanced Aquifer Use and Recharge.

The bill now makes its way to the Senate floor for a vote as lawmakers work to pass the spending bill before the clock runs out on the current Continuing Resolution that is funding the federal government until December 23.