EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has made several trips to Capitol Hill over the past several weeks to deliver testimony on the Obama Administration’s fiscal year 2016 budget request for the agency. Each time, she has encountered lawmakers with concerns about reduced funding for the State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs and EPA’s proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule.
The White House’s FY16 EPA budget seeks $2.3 billion for the SRFs, representing a reduction of $54 million below the FY15 enacted level for the two programs. But the plan would actually increase funding for the Drinking Water SRF by $279 million (to $1.186 billion), while cutting Clean Water SRF funding by $333 million. The budget also seeks $5 million for EPA “to begin developing the information necessary to lay the groundwork” for the new WIFIA program.
In testimony delivered to a pair of House Energy and Commerce subcommittees in February, Administrator McCarthy said, “Aging systems and the increasing impacts of climate change create opportunities for innovation and new approaches for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.” She said the $2.3 billion SRF request would “promote innovative practices that advance water system and community resiliency and sustainability.”
McCarthy also discussed the Obama Administration’s proposed Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center, which she called part of “a government-wide effort to increase infrastructure investment and promote economic growth by creating opportunities for state and local governments and the private sector to collaborate on infrastructure development.”
McCarthy delivered a similar message before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on March 4. “Protecting the nation’s water remains a priority for EPA,” she said, and said the agency’s combined request of $2.3 billion for the Drinking Water and Clean Water SRFs is EPA’s attempt to do “the best [it] can” in a tight budget environment. She also told senators EPA is working creatively to supplement the SRFs “in a variety of ways,” including through the new WIFIA program EPA is working to implement.
In response to questions from senators about why EPA is seeking cuts to the Clean Water SRF, McCarthy explained that EPA has found “the [infrastructure replacement] need in drinking water is even more severe than clean water at this point,” and referred to EPA’s most recent needs surveys that show higher cost expectations for drinking water infrastructure. She said the budget therefore “shifted funds away from wastewater into drinking water,” and noted that in spite of the CWSRF cut the administration’s total SRF proposal for FY16 is $527 million above its initial FY15 request for both programs.
McCarthy faced harsh questioning on both sides of the Capitol about EPA’s proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule, but reiterated EPA’s plans to implement the rule during the 2016 fiscal year. McCarthy said the rule will “foster more certain and efficient business decisions to protect the nation’s waters.”