On June 14th, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2019 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill by a vote of 31-0. 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 $35.853 billion, $8.06 billion of which is for the EPA—equal to the enacted FY18 level.
Specifically, Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Funds, which states and localities use for water infrastructure projects, would receive a total of more than $2.86 billion, an increase over FY18. Additionally, the Water Infrastructure Finance Act (WIFIA) program is funded at $63 million, which will enable billions in loans to address water infrastructure challenges. The bill also includes level funding for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
On June 6th, the House Appropriations Committee approved their FY 2019 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill on a vote of 25-20. The House bill funds the EPA at $7.958 billion, which is $100 million 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
- 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 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).
WEF will monitor the progress of both bills on the floor.
