On April 2, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will face House appropriators to defend the Trump administration’s fiscal 2020 budget request, which again seeks deep cuts to the agency’s budget and staffing levels. Wheeler will appear before the House Appropriations subcommittee for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.
The White House is proposing to slash the EPA’s budget by around $2 billion —including eliminating many voluntary climate programs and requesting large reductions in the EPA’s grant programs that help state and local regulators implement federal environmental protections.
Wheeler is likely to face scrutiny over those proposed cuts from appropriators on both sides of the aisle. Congress hasn’t matched the Trump administration’s requested steep cut to the EPA in previous years. It isn’t clear whether Wheeler will publicly back all of the Administration’s proposed cuts.
WEF and others in the water sector are actively seeking an increase in the FY2020 Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF) to $2.8 billion and $1.3 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (DWSRF) - the fully authorized amount, as well as funding for WIFIA at the fully authorized level of $50 million in FY2020. In addition, WEF is seeking $2.5 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Water and Wastewater Loans and Grants and $100 million for Title XVI-WIIN competitive grants, $20 million for the National Priorities Water Research Grant Program and at least level funding for the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay, as well as other important programs.
