House Appropriations Committee Approves Significant Cuts to EPA’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget

On Tuesday, July 19, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $25.4 billion appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 that cuts funding across multiple Federal programs within the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) for water and wastewater infrastructure as well as the Superfund cleanup program. The bill reduces appropriations for EPA by $3.96 billion, a 39% cut. It slashes state and tribal assistance programs, which include the water and wastewater State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan program, by 42% below FY 2023 enacted levels. SRF capitalization grants are being reduced further by Congressional Directed Spending (CDS, also known as earmarks).

The committee-passed bill also rescinds several climate and social justice-related provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, including $7.8 billion from the newly created Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, $1.4 billion for environmental and climate funding, and $55 million from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The bill still needs to be passed by the full House, and appropriations action is ongoing in the Senate. The results of the ongoing FY24 appropriations negotiations are unclear at this time.