On February 15 President Trump signed into law a long-awaited package of appropriations bills that will provide funding for EPA and a host of other departments and agencies for the remainder of the 2019 fiscal year. The action came four-and-a-half months after the fiscal year began, and three weeks after the end of a record-breaking 35-day partial government shutdown that had shuttered EPA.
The EPA component of the appropriations agreement, which came together after the president dropped his demand for Congress to include more than $5 billion for a southern border wall, largely mimicked several other spending proposals lawmakers had previously considered. Ultimately, the final deal provides EPA with just over $8.8 billion in 2019, slightly above the agency’s FY18 appropriation but more than $2 billion beyond what President Trump had originally sought for the agency. Both the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs will benefit from small upticks as well, with the DWSRF receiving $1.164 billion, and the CWSRF $1.694 billion. Funding for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program will increase by $5 million to $68 million, of which $8 million will be reserved for EPA’s administrative expenses. Congressional appropriators expect the WIFIA funding could be leveraged into more than $7 billion worth of loans to communities.
The deal also includes $15 million for a new EPA grant program to help communities and low-income individuals replace lead service lines, and $25 million for grants to help schools and child care centers test for lead in their drinking water.
The appropriators’ explanatory statement on the bill makes reference to EPA’s just-released PFAS action plan. The statement notes that EPA “has announced plans to take the next step under the Safe Drinking Water Act process to evaluate the need for” a drinking water regulation for PFOA and PFOS, and expresses support for this action while urging EPA “to act expeditiously on this matter.” EPA is further directed to brief the congressional appropriations committees on its plans for evaluating PFOA and PFOS under the SDWA process within 60 days.
With work on the FY19 budget now complete, attention will soon turn to 2020. That budget process will get underway in the coming weeks when the White House unveils its formal FY20 budget request.