The Obama Administration proposed a Fiscal Year 2014 (FY 2014) budget of $8.153 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on Wednesday. The request is $296 million below the EPA’s budget for Fiscal Year 2012.
“EPA’s FY 2014 budget reflects our firm commitment to keeping American communities across our country healthy and clean, while also taking into consideration the difficult fiscal situation and the declining resources of state, local and tribal programs,” said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. “Our request takes a balanced approach to funding the agency, including increased investments in more efficient technologies as well as necessary program eliminations or reductions.”
EPA’s FY 2014 request will allow EPA to continue addressing climate change; supporting sustainable water infrastructure; and assuring the safety of chemicals.
Fiscal Year 2014 budget highlights include:
The FY 2014 budget includes a total of $1,135.8 million in categorical grants, an increase of $47 million over FY 2012 levels. Funding to states and tribes in the State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) account continues to be the largest percentage of the EPA’s budget request, at nearly 40% in FY 2014.
EPA is proposing $176.5 million for the agency’s work to provide information and tools to cut greenhouse gas emissions. These funds will support reducing emissions in the U.S. and abroad through rulemaking and voluntary programs that focus on the largest entities.
These funds will allow the agency to continue utilizing approaches like ENERGY STAR, the Global Methane Initiative, the GHG Reporting Rule, and state and local technical assistance and partnership programs, such as SmartWay. The budget also includes $20 million for research to understand the impacts of climate change on human health and vulnerable ecosystems. This research will evaluate the interactions between climate change and air quality.
The agency’s proposal requests $175 million to meet its court-ordered deadlines to develop, implement and review statutorily mandated ambient air quality standards and guidance and air toxics regulations.
The budget includes $54 million in savings by eliminating several EPA programs that have either completed their goals or can be implemented through other federal or state efforts.