EPA's FY 2016 Budget Proposal Increases Support for Communities

The Obama Administration Fiscal Year 2016 budget lays out a plan for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure that all Americans benefit from recent economic recovery. The proposed EPA FY 2016 budget of $8.6 billion provides resources vital to that overarching vision and the request is $452 million above the agency’s enacted level for FY 2015.

Fiscal Year 2016 budget highlights include:

• Making a visible difference in communities across the country; 
• Addressing climate change and improving air quality;
• Protecting the nation’s waters;

Protecting America’s water resources is critical to EPA’s mission. The agency will continue to build upon decades of work ensuring waterways are clean and drinking water is safe because there are far reaching effects when rivers, lakes and oceans become polluted. They can endanger wildlife, making drinking water unsafe and threaten bodies of water.

Building on the funding level of $2.3 billion provided through the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, $50 million is included for technical assistance, training and other efforts to enhance the capacity of communities and states to plan and finance drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvements.

In January 2015, the agency launched a component of the expanded effort: the Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center. It will help 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 Water Infrastructure and Resilience Finance 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.

• Taking steps to improve chemical facility safety;
• Protecting U.S. land;
• Ensuring the safety of chemicals and preventing pollution;
• Continuing EPA’s commitment to innovative research and development;
• Supporting state and tribal partners;
• Maintaining a forward-looking and adaptive EPA; and
• Reducing and eliminating programs.

Details of the EPA FY 2016 Congressional Justification.

Source: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency