The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's portion of President Joe Biden's proposed fiscal 2023 budget will include billions for environmental programs nationwide, agency Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a recent news release.
The Biden administration's proposed budget for fiscal 2023, submitted to congress March 28, includes "historic investments" that would advance priorities in the 118-page 2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan, the release stated. Those priorities include addressing the nation's share in the world's climate crisis, "advancing environmental justice," protecting air quality and water infrastructure projects.
"The president's budget request for EPA reflects this administration's unwavering commitment to protect people from pollution, especially those living in overburdened and underserved communities across America," Regan said in the release. "It funds a broad suite of transformational programs enacted by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and it will enable us to implement the president's historic Justice40 commitment, among other key priorities."
Biden's proposed budget includes $5.7 billion that "will support tribes, states, and localities, reaffirming EPA's commitment to work in concert with our partners and local communities to tackle the climate crisis and ensure that no American family has to worry about the air they breathe, the water they drink, or the environmental safety of their homes and workplaces," Regan said.
Regan was sworn in as EPA's 16th administrator in March of 2021. He is the first Black man and second person of color to hold the job, according to his biography on the EPA website.
The agency’s share of the proposed budget would include money for nine focus areas consisting of "critical investments in the American people that will help lay a stronger foundation for shared growth and prosperity for generations to come," the news release stated.
Those investments include $4 billion to upgrade drinking water and wastewater infrastructure nationwide, $1.1 billion to improve air quality and reduce localized pollution, and $100 million to be granted to tribes and states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the release.
