On June 6th, the House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2019 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill on a vote of 25-20. The legislation includes funding for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Forest Service, the Indian Health Service, and various independent and related agencies. In total, the bill provides $35.25 billion, equal to the fiscal year 2018 enacted level.
The bill funds the EPA at $7.958 billion, which is $100 below the FY18 level. However, while the bill looks to cut regulatory programs at EPA, it does maintain or increase funding for several infrastructure-based programs:
- A total of $1.5 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan fund and a total of $1 billion the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan fund, which states and localities use for water infrastructure projects;
- An increase of $40 million to accelerate the cleanup of Superfund sites to return them to productive use and spur economic development; and
- A total of $75 million for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program to leverage federal dollars to provide financing for more than $8 billion in water infrastructure projects.
The bill also maintains a current funding level of $4.1 million for the National Priorities Grant Program, which WEF supports, and an increase of $19 million for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
“The Interior Subcommittee has made every effort to balance a host of competing needs and provided the Interior Department, EPA and other agencies under our jurisdiction with the resources necessary to carry out their mission. Our bill funds a number of American priorities like our National Park Service, the Smithsonian, Native American programs, efforts to prevent and combat wildfires, and the development of an earthquake early warning system for the West Coast. Once again we provide important funding for EPA programs that clean our environment, but do not increase the size of the federal bureaucracy. I appreciate the input of all of our Subcommittee members,” Interior Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert said.
WEF will monitor the funding legislation in the Senate.
