[env-trinity] EE News: House proposes to slash EPA, Interior spending

[Tom Stokely]

APPROPRIATIONS

House proposes to slash EPA, Interior spending
Kevin Bogardus and Kellie Lunney, E&E News reportersPublished: Tuesday, July 11, 2017The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, led by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), tomorrow will take up a controversial spending bill for the Interior Department and U.S. EPA. Calvert/YouTubeHouse Republicans are pushing deep spending cuts for U.S. EPA and the Interior Department, although the planned cuts are not nearly as drastic as President Trump had proposed.Released this afternoon, the House fiscal 2018 Interior and environment bill, up for subcommittee markup tomorrow, would fund EPA at $7.5 billion, cutting the agency by about $2 billion. Still, the funding amount is far more than the White House's proposed $5.6 billion.Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), chairman of the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, said the bill "prioritized proven programs that have a meaningful impact to achieve these goals while also ensuring our economy can continue to grow."The bill supports EPA's coming buyout program for employees by offering resources for the voluntary separation agreements.The bill would provide $58 million on workforce restructuring at the agency, according to a House Appropriations aide. Trump's budget had proposed $68 million in fiscal 2018 to reshape EPA's workforce.EPA has planned to offer buyouts to more than 1,200 employees this summer while Trump has proposed to cut 3,800 jobs at EPA in fiscal 2018 (E&E News PM, June 20).
Water
The legislation includes a provision authorizing EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the Obama-era Clean Water Rule "without regard to any provision of statute or regulation that establishes a requirement for such withdrawal."That language is identical to a provision included in the energy and water spending bill, and comes as the Trump administration is moving to repeal the rule, which aims to clarify the Clean Water Act's reach (Greenwire, June 27).Exempting the rule, also known as the Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, rule, from the Administrative Procedure Act could not only remove the requirement that it undergo certain public scrutiny but also make it easier for the new administration to ignore the Obama team's justifications for WOTUS.That could include the cost-benefit analysis of the 2015 regulation and an accompanying 408-page technical report, as well as a review from EPA's Science Advisory Board.The appropriations bill also reiterates that the Clean Water Act does not apply to farm ponds and irrigation ditches in agricultural areas.The bill would maintain spending levels for the Chesapeake Bay and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $72 million and $300 million, respectively.The move is a repudiation of the Trump administration's budget request, which had asked Congress to eliminate funding for regional cleanup efforts like those in the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay.The bill would also provide $1.14 billion in capitalization grants for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, $863 million of which would go toward the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program would receive an additional $25 million.
Air and climate
Appropriators flatly rejected the White House's bid to slash or eliminate funding for two popular air quality grant programs.The administration proposed cutting Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grants from $60 million this year to $10 million; the draft would instead increase next year's total to $75 million.And while the White House is seeking to zero out Targeted Air Shed grants, which are getting $30 million this year, the bill would boost the amount of money in next year's pot to $40 million.DERA grants are used to replace or retool older, higher-polluting school buses and other diesel-powered equipment; airshed grants are supposed to help areas suffering from unhealthy levels of ozone and particulate pollution.The bill would further delay EPA attainment designations for its 2015 ozone standard until 2025; the agency had been scheduled to make those designations by this October, but Administrator Scott Pruitt recently pushed back that deadline until 2018.Another rider would require EPA and other agencies to continue to treat forest biomass as carbon-neutral. In a victory for the forest products industry, almost identical language was included for the first time in the fiscal 2017 omnibus spending measure signed in May.In an effort to relax industrial farming regulations, the legislation would prohibit agencies from requiring permits under the Clean Air Act to emit carbon dioxide, methane and other gases from livestock production.The measure would also prohibit agencies from issuing rules that require mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from manure management systems.The appropriations bill would provide more than $1.1 billion for the Superfund program, around $600.6 million more than the $515.8 million requested by the president's budget. It also represents an increase of around $27.6 million from the omnibus spending deal.In addition, the bill seeks to send $11 million to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, the same amount as last fiscal year. The Trump budget had called for CSB to be eliminated.
Interior
For Interior, the bill would provide $11.9 billion in fiscal 2018. That's slightly more than the $11.7 billion the White House requested but less than the current $12.3 billion.The legislation would also fund some popular programs at a higher level than the president's budget.House appropriators, for example, want to fully fund the payment in lieu of taxes system at $465 million and provide $275 million for Land and Water Conservation Fund programs.The bill hewed to the administration's recommendation on wildfire firefighting and prevention, fully funding the 10-year average for suppression costs for Interior and the Forest Service with $3.4 billion. That's $334 million below the fiscal 2017 level.Several Interior agencies would see cuts from fiscal 2017:   
   - The Bureau of Land Management would receive $1.2 billion, a decrease of $46 million from fiscal 2017. The spending legislation would provide $68.9 million for sage grouse conservation.
   
   - The National Park Service would receive $2.9 billion, a decrease of $64 million from fiscal 2017, mostly a reduction in land acquisition activities.
   
   - The Fish and Wildlife Service would receive $1.5 billion under the bill, $38 million less than the fiscal 2017 level. The fiscal 2018 bill also continues a one-year delay on Endangered Species Act reviews and rulemakings for sage grouse.
   
   - The U.S. Geological Survey would receive $1 billion in fiscal 2018 under the bill, $46 million below the fiscal 2017 enacted level.
   
   - The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement would receive $213 million for fiscal 2018, $40 million less than in fiscal 2017. That includes $75 million to continue a pilot program to reclaim abandoned land mines and $68.6 million for state regulatory grants.
Reporters Corbin Hiar, Sean Reilly, Arianna Skibell and Ariel Wittenberg contributed.
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