Politics
New Spending Bill Would Take Shears To EPA’s Budget
Environmental Protection Agency EPA. Photo: mccready https://www.flickr.com/photos/mccready/2428323462/in/photolist-2jJwUgR-2n2snzo-2jJstwK-2j6c6X4-2jJw4jS-2j5SDjL-fofmFg-fofn1F-9PCtuD-4GzMXU-Pfivk6-9JejcM-5RfANX-fgYqUx-4ECcHT-fhdELq-2ohrmpc-fgYroV-fhdFP9-fhdG29-eStXqE-zx6aX-9EtWB-2hKgKHi-fgYrEn-fgYrcc-fgYr2a-6xWyBy-ffXVfH-fgdmVN-fgdpeu-ffYbJD-fgdqob-ffYdVc-fgdu1L-fgYrg4-fhdFbU-fhdF5E-fgYqRB-fhdEYS-fgYry2-fhdFv9-fgYrXa-k4ANJB-ffY4pe-ffXW5z-ffXWFP-fgdbQC-fgdtUL-ffXXNr
The GOP spending bill revealed Sunday would make significant budget cuts to the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the bill’s text.
The funding bill — which will need to pass by Friday in order to prevent a partial government shutdown — proposes to cut fiscal year 2024 funding for the EPA by about 10%. The legislation would give the agency nearly $3 billion less than President Joe Biden asked for in his budget request.
In total, the bill would appropriate $9.158 billion to the agency to carry out its business in fiscal year 2024, according to its text. That figure is $976.5 million below the enacted EPA budget for fiscal year 2023, according to the agency’s website.
In addition to moving to slice the EPA’s budget, the proposed appropriations package would also cut the Biden administration’s requested “environmental justice” budget by about $275 million and includes a provision to ban the sale of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) to Chinese companies.
The agency’s budget has increased every fiscal year since 2017, according to its website. The EPA is looking to add hundreds of employees to its ranks to help implement programs created by the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Biden’s signature climate bill, according to E&E News.
The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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