The White House and congressional Republicans narrowly averted shutting down the federal government this month as they reached a last-minute fiscal year 2011 budget deal that will reduce federal spending by roughly $38 billion from 2010 levels. EPA, the State Revolving Funds (SRFs), and other water programs were not immune from cuts, though they were not as severe as some earlier proposals would have been.
The final budget deal, approved by the House and Senate as H.R. 1473, would provide EPA with $8.7 billion in 2011 – roughly $1.6 billion less than what the agency received in 2010. The bulk of the cuts come from the Drinking Water and Clean Water SRFs: the DWSRF will receive $965 million (compared to $1.387 billion in 2010), while the CWSRF will receive $1.525 billion (compared to $2.1 billion in 2010).
While the SRF cuts are severe, the programs benefited from record-high funding levels in 2010, and it was unlikely that such a high rate of spending would continue in this more conservative budget environment. Nevertheless, the final 2011 DWSRF appropriation of $965 million still represents the third-highest level of spending in the history of the program behind only 2010 and 1997, the first year it received funding from Congress.
EPA’s ultimate funding level also looks better when compared to earlier cuts proposed by Republican House members. In February the House of Representatives approved H.R. 1, which would have slashed EPA’s budget by $3 billion, and cut the DWSRF down to $830 million. This measure was rejected by the Senate, which led to the eventual deal that netted an additional $135 million for the DWSRF.
Attention will now turn to the 2012 budget. President Obama has requested $9 billion for EPA next year, including $990 million for the DWSRF – or a $25 million improvement over this year’s final funding level. Many Democrats on Capitol Hill reacted favorably to Obama’s proposal when it debuted in February, but it is a strong possibility that congressional Republicans may target EPA for cuts once again next year.