U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2018 Appropriations: Congressional Action

Updated May 16, 2018

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2018

Appropriations: Congressional Action

Enacted March 23, 2018, the Consolidated Appropriations

Act, FY2018 (P.L. 115-141), Division G, provided funding

for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, including

a total of $8.82 billion for the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) in Titles II and IV combined.

After rescissions, Title II provided $8.06 billion for EPA,

and Title IV (§430) appropriated an additional $766.0

million for EPA water infrastructure priorities and

Superfund emergency response, removal, and remedial

actions at eligible sites. Enacted earlier on February 9,

2018, the Further Additional Supplemental Appropriations

for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-123,

Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, Division B, Subdivision 1),

provided an additional $63.2 million for EPA in emergency

supplemental appropriations to address impacts of

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Combined, P.L. 115141 and P.L. 115-123 appropriated a total of $8.89 billion

for EPA in FY2018, $3.23 billion (57%) above the

President’s FY2018 request of $5.65 billion and $709.2

million (9%) above the $8.18 billion enacted for FY2017 in

P.L. 115-31 and P.L. 114-254 combined. For a history of

EPA appropriations over the past decade, Figure 1 presents

the trend in annual budget requests and enacted

appropriations from FY2008 to FY2018.

Figure 1. EPA Requested and Enacted Appropriations

FY2008-FY2018 (not adjusted for inflation)

Source: Prepared by CRS using information from annual

appropriations acts, committee reports, and explanatory statements

presented in the Congressional Record. Amounts reflect applicable

rescissions and supplemental appropriations, including $7.22 billion in

the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5).

Prior to the enactment of P.L. 115-141, EPA and other

federal departments and agencies operated under multiple

continuing resolutions generally at FY2017 enacted levels

(minus across-the-board rescissions). The House and Senate

initially proposed lower funding levels for EPA than

enacted in P.L. 115-141. As passed by the House on

September 14, 2017, the Make America Secure and

Prosperous Appropriations Act, 2018 (H.R. 3354), included

all 12 appropriations bills and would have provided $7.39

billion for EPA (after rescissions). Released November 20,

2017, the Senate Committee on Appropriations chairman’s

“mark” of FY2018 appropriations for Interior,

Environment, and Related Agencies proposed $7.91 billion

for EPA (after rescissions).

EPA Appropriations Accounts

Discretionary funding is annually appropriated to EPA

among 10 statutory accounts established in annual

appropriations acts: State and Tribal Assistance Grants

(STAG), Environmental Programs and Management

(EPM), Hazardous Substance Superfund (“Superfund”),

Science and Technology (S&T), Leaking Underground

Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund Program, Buildings and

Facilities, Office of Inspector General, Inland Oil Spill

Program, Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System

Fund, and Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation

Program that implements the Water Infrastructure Finance

and Innovation Act (WIFIA). In the reports accompanying

the annual appropriations bills that fund EPA, Congress has

allocated funding within these accounts for specific

program areas and activities. As indicated in Figure 2, the

proportional distribution of funding among these accounts

has remained similar over the past decade.

Figure 2. EPA Appropriations by Account FY2008FY2018 Enacted (not adjusted for inflation)

Source: Prepared by CRS using information from annual

appropriations acts, committee reports, and explanatory statements

presented in the Congressional Record. Amounts reflect supplemental

appropriations (including $7.22 billion in the American Recovery and

Reinvestment Act of 2009) and across-the-board rescissions but not

rescissions of prior-year funds in certain accounts.

The STAG and EPM accounts have received the largest

share of funding, followed by the Superfund and S&T

accounts. The STAG account funds grants for water

infrastructure, brownfield site assessment and remediation,

diesel emissions reduction, targeted airsheds, and

“categorical” grants to states and tribes for carrying out

delegated regulatory authorities. The EPM account funds

additional grants and many cross-cutting agency activities.

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2018 Appropriations: Congressional Action

The Superfund account supports the environmental

remediation of priority sites on non-federal lands

designated for federal attention. The S&T account funds

scientific research to inform agency regulatory decisions.

Funding and Policy Issues

More than a dozen federal laws authorize EPA’s mission.

Congress appropriates funding for EPA to carry out much

of its responsibilities in coordination with delegated states

and tribes. Funding for implementation through delegated

authorities was an issue in the FY2018 appropriations

debate. P.L. 115-141 did not approve the President’s

request to eliminate or reduce funding for certain EPA

programs that support state and tribal delegation. In an

agency press release announcing the FY2018 budget

request, EPA indicated that the overall proposed reduction

in funding was intended to shift priorities to the agency’s

“core statutory mission,” reduce “redundancies” and

“inefficiencies,” and “return responsibility for funding local

environmental efforts to state and local entities.”

EPA categorical grants provide much of the funding for

state and tribal implementation, focusing on specific

environmental media, wastes, or pollution sources. The

President proposed to reduce total funding for these grants

from $1.07 billion in FY2017 to $597.3 million in FY2018.

P.L. 115-141 provided $1.08 billion for EPA categorical

grants in FY2018. P.L. 115-123 provided an additional

$50.0 million in emergency supplemental appropriations for

hazardous waste financial assistance categorical grants (and

management of solid wastes) to assist states affected by

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

The President’s request to reduce funding for the

remediation of Superfund sites was also an issue. The

President proposed to reduce the Superfund account from

$1.09 billion in FY2017 to $762.1 million in FY2018. P.L.

115-141 provided $1.15 billion for the Superfund account,

including $1.09 billion in Division G, Title II, and $63.0

million in Title IV (§430). P.L. 115-123 provided $6.2

million in emergency supplemental appropriations to

address impacts at Superfund sites affected by Hurricanes

Harvey, Irma, and Maria. P.L. 115-123 also provided $7.0

million for the LUST account to address impacts from the

hurricanes at petroleum underground storage tank sites.

Combined, Titles II and IV, Division G, of P.L. 115-141

provided more funding than the FY2017 enacted and

FY2018 requested levels for EPA water infrastructure. Title

II provided $1.39 billion for Clean Water State Revolving

Fund (SRF) capitalization grants, the same as enacted for

FY2017; $863.2 million for Drinking Water SRF

capitalization grants, $100.0 million less than the FY2017

enacted level; and $10.0 million for the WIFIA program

account, $20.0 million below the FY2017 enacted level.

Title IV (§430) provided an additional $600.0 million

($300.0 million each) for Clean Water and Drinking Water

SRF capitalization grants and $53.0 million for the WIFIA

program account. Title IV included $50.0 million for grants

authorized in the Water Infrastructure Improvement for the

Nation Act (P.L. 114-322), for which funding had not

previously been appropriated.

P.L. 115-141 also continued funding in FY2018 for water

quality restoration programs in specific geographic areas

that the President proposed to eliminate, including the Great

Lakes Restoration Initiative, Chesapeake Bay program,

Long Island Sound program, National Estuary

Program/Coastal Waterways, and several other specific

water bodies. P.L. 115-141 funded most of these programs

at the FY2017 enacted level and increased funding for the

restoration of Long Island Sound, Gulf of Mexico, and

Lake Champlain. Funding for these programs constituted

over half of the requested decrease for the EPM account.

Funding for scientific research to inform EPA regulatory

decisions and standard-setting was also an issue in the

FY2018 appropriations debate. P.L. 115-141 provided

$706.5 million for the S&T account, continuing funding at

the FY2017 enacted level. The President had proposed to

reduce funding for this account to $450.8 million.

Agency Staffing

Although Congress does not set specific staffing levels for

EPA in annual appropriations acts, the size and structure of

the agency’s workforce was a topic of debate for FY2018.

P.L. 115-141 did not fund the President’s request for EPA

“workforce reshaping.” The Explanatory Statement also

expressed the expectation that EPA would not “consolidate

or close any regional offices in fiscal year 2018.”

Regulatory Prohibitions

Several EPA regulatory actions also received attention.

Division G, Title IV, of P.L. 115-141 prohibited the use of

FY2018 appropriations for certain actions, including the

permitting of air emissions from livestock production

(§416), reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from manure

management systems (§417), regulating the lead content of

ammunition or fishing tackle (§418), permitting of

discharges of dredged or fill material for certain agricultural

activities (§432), and regulating air emissions from small

remote solid waste incinerators in Alaska (§433). Although

P.L. 115-141 prohibited funding in FY2018 for these

actions, EPA has not pursued rulemaking in some of these

areas to date (e.g., lead content of ammunition or fishing

tackle). Division S, Title XI (“FARM Act”), also exempted

farms from statutory requirements to report air releases of

hazardous substances emitted from animal waste.

Program Reauthorizations

P.L. 115-141 reauthorized two EPA programs. Division M,

Title IV, extended the collection and use of fees under the

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

through the end of FY2018. These fees augment

appropriations for the regulation of pesticides. Division N

(“BUILD Act”) reauthorized appropriations of $250.0

million annually from FY2019 to FY2023 for the EPA

Brownfields program, amended the grant criteria and

eligibility, and provided liability relief for certain categories

of parties. P.L. 115-141 funded the Brownfields program in

FY2018 at the FY2017 enacted level of $153.3 million.

Robert Esworthy, Specialist in Environmental Policy

David M. Bearden, Specialist in Environmental Policy

IF10717

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) FY2018 Appropriations: Congressional Action

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