EPA's 2017 Budget Request Aims to Protect Nation's Waters, Other Resources

The Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget announced for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lays out a strategy to ensure that steady progress is made in addressing known environmental problems and ensuring the agency and its partners in environmental protection, states and tribes, are positioned to meet the challenges of the future. EPA’s FY 2017 budget request of $8.267 billion provides resources vital to that overarching vision. The request is $127 million above the agency’s enacted level for FY 2016.

“For 45 years, EPA’s investments to protect public health and the environment have consistently paid off,” said EPA administrator Gina McCarthy. “The proposed budget reflects an understanding that a strong economy depends on a healthy environment. The administration is committed to continuing crucial work to curb climate change while improving air quality, protecting our water, conducting rigorous scientific research, maintaining an effective compliance and enforcement program and making sure the public is safe from toxic chemicals.”

Protecting the Nation’s Waters

Protecting America’s water resources is a critical part of EPA’s mission. In FY 2017, the agency will continue to build upon decades of work to ensure our waterways are clean and our drinking water is safe. There are far reaching effects when rivers, lakes, and oceans become polluted. Polluted waters can endanger wildlife, make our drinking water unsafe and threaten the waters where we swim and fish.

Building on the strong funding level of $2 billion provided through the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, $42 million is included for loan financing, technical assistance, training and other efforts to enhance the capacity of communities and states to plan and finance drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvements. Twenty million dollars and 12 staff will support the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. WIFIA will expand water and wastewater infrastructure work by making loans for large innovative projects of regional or national significance. The WIFIA program will also work to support investments in small communities and promote public-private collaboration. The $15 million increase in the budget is the beginning of funding for WIFIA projects and the program is designed to highly leverage these funds. The budget also provides $7.1 million for the Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center to continue helping communities across the country focus on financial planning for future public infrastructure investments, expanding work with states to identify financing opportunities for rural communities and enhancing partnership and collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on training, technical assistance, and funding opportunities in rural areas. The center is part of the Build America investment initiative, a government-wide effort to increase infrastructure investment and promote economic growth by creating opportunities for state and local governments and the private sector to collaborate on infrastructure development.

Protecting Our Land

EPA strives to protect and restore land to create a safer environment for all Americans by cleaning up hazardous and non-hazardous wastes that can migrate to air, groundwater and surface water, contaminating drinking water supplies, causing acute illnesses and chronic diseases, and threatening healthy ecosystems. We preserve, restore, and protect our land, for both current and future generations by cleaning up contaminated sites and returning them to communities for reuse. Our funds will assist communities in using existing infrastructure and planning for more efficient and livable communities, and encouraging the minimization of environmental impacts throughout the full life cycle of materials.

In FY 2017, we will increase the Superfund Remedial program by $20 million to accelerate the pace of cleanups and fund additional construction projects, supporting states, local communities, and tribes in their efforts to assess and cleanup sites and return them to productive reuse, and encourage renewable energy development on formerly hazardous sites when appropriate. We also will expand the successful Brownfields program, providing grants, and supporting area-wide planning and technical assistance to maximize the benefits to the communities. In FY 2017, EPA is investing $90 million in funding for Brownfields Project grants to local communities, increasing the number of grants for assessment and cleanup of contaminated sites. The investment in Brownfields builds on the program’s successful community-driven approach to revitalizing contaminated land and further supports the agency’s efforts to make a visible difference in communities.

EPA’s Commitment to Innovative Research & Development

Environmental issues in the 21st century are complex because of the interplay between air quality, climate change, water quality, healthy communities, and chemical safety. They require different thinking and solutions than those used in the past. In FY 2017, we will continue to strengthen the agency’s ability to develop solutions by providing $512 million to evaluate and predict potential environmental and human health impacts for decision makers at all levels of government. Activities in the FY 2017 Budget include providing support tools for community health, investigating the unique properties of emerging materials, such as nanomaterials, and research to support the nation’s range of growing water-use and ecological requirements.

Source: EPA