Among the first orders of business when Congress returns to Washington in September will be a House of Representatives vote on a package of eight remaining FY18 spending bills, House Republican leaders announced on August 16. Included within the package of bills is EPA funding legislation that was approved by the House Appropriations Committee in July.
According to the announcement from the House Rules Committee, the omnibus appropriations bill slated for a vote during the week of September 4 combines the FY18 Interior and Environment spending bill into one package along with measures funding Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, State-Foreign Operations and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development measures. Earlier in the summer the House approved a package of legislation that was comprised of the remaining four spending bills for the next fiscal year.
The portion of the package dedicated to EPA’s budget closely mirrors the agency funding levels recommended by House appropriators in July. The bill would cut overall EPA funding by 6.5 percent to $7.5 billion, and the budget of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) would be slashed 18 percent to $1.144 billion. Conversely, Drinking Water SRF funding would hold steady at $863 million, and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program would receive $30 million (including $5 million reserved to cover administration costs at EPA) – enough to support more than $3 billion worth of loan capacity, according to appropriators.
Other parts of the bill would extend for the duration of the FY18 fiscal year the existing Buy American rules that apply to DWSRF-funded projects and would reject the Trump Administration’s proposal to eliminate the WaterSense program.
Scheduling the omnibus spending bill for an early September vote suggests that House Republican leaders expect to have sufficient support to move it through the chamber. Passage of the measure would complete the House’s work on all twelve initial FY18 spending bills, but the Senate had yet to pass any of them when Congress left for its summer break earlier this month. As a result, lawmakers will almost certainly have to pass a stopgap temporary funding bill next month to keep the government operating after the onset of the new fiscal year on October 1.