A two-year federal budget agreement approved by the House and Senate this month will scale back budget sequestration cuts in the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years while giving congressional appropriators a pathway to avoid another government shutdown in January.
Negotiated by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the deal increases discretionary spending by $63 billion over the next two years, split equally between defense and non-defense programs. In FY14 the agreement allows an additional $22 billion for non-defense programs (including EPA), compared to earlier sequester-impacted budget caps. Overall, the deal provides for a FY14 discretionary spending level of $1.012 trillion – roughly halfway between the levels authorized in the respective House and Senate budget proposals from earlier this year.
The degree to which the higher spending cap will translate to additional funding for EPA or water infrastructure programs is still to be determined. Between now and January 15 – when a temporary government funding bill is scheduled to expire – House and Senate appropriators will develop FY14 appropriations legislation that essentially carves up the $1.012 trillion among various discretionary departments and programs. Therefore the final decisions over how much money to direct to EPA and other spending programs will be made during this process.