May 18, 2018 - On Monday, the House Appropriations Committee released it’s FY19 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, which is equal to the enacted amount of the FY18 bill of $35.252 billion. 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).
WEF will continue to monitor the funding legislation in the House and Senate.
