House Approps Acts on EPA Funding

On July 15, the full House Appropriations Committee passed the FY 15 funding measure for the Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.  Draft bill and report language are available on the House Appropriations Committee website at http://appropriations.house.gov/.  Neither the bill nor the report has been assigned a number as yet.
In the “kind of” good news category, the PWSS program would be funded at FY 14 enacted levels ($101.98 million) but $7.7 million below the FY 15 request while the DWSRF would receive $757 million which is the budget requested level but is nearly $150 million less than what the fund received in FY 14. The wastewater side of the house fared in a generally similar fashion.  The CWSRF would receive $1.01 billion (same as requested but less than FY 14); the §106 program would receive $230.8 million which is less than enacted last year but equals the budget request level.
Overall, under the House Committee’s action, EPA’s funding would decrease by about $400 million from the FY 15 budget request and slightly more than $717 million below FY 14 enacted levels.  Within the program accounts, Science & Technology would be funded at $716.5 million – about $47.1 million below the budget request level.  Environmental Programs & Management would receive about $2.5 billion – about $200 million below the FY 15 request.  The STAG Program would receive an overall $2.94 billion which is just over $58.4 million less than what the Administration requested.  However, the STAG account is subject to a $40 million additional rescission.  No details about how or which programs would feel this additional pinch were included in the House report.  There is also no sense as to when this measure might move to the House Floor for passage.
Across the Capitol, the Senate Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee has yet to take up this measure in any formal sense.  It is uncertain that the Senate plans to try to move this individual funding measure or whether there’s a greater likelihood that they would prefer to put together a series of packaged measures (mini-buses if you will) or even consider a larger omnibus funding vehicle.