WASHINGTON, D.C., July 6 -- House Appropriations Committee Ranking Democratic Member Rep. Norm Dicks made the following comments after release of the FY2012 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill text:
“The Republican leadership proposed an exceedingly low subcommittee allocation that has now resulted in a bill that would be devastating for the environment and for the preservation of America’s natural heritage, including the lowest level of spending in the Land and Water Conservation Fund in more than 40 years.
“Overall, the allocation for this bill is 7 percent below the amount enacted in the current year -- an irresponsible level that will have a negative impact on our natural resource agencies and on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). After the EPA took a substantial cut of 16 percent in the current fiscal year, the Republican Majority is now proposing a further reduction in the agency’s budget of 18 percent.
“This bill would substantially diminish the capacity of EPA to carry out its responsibilities - which may actually be the goal of some of my colleagues on the other side. But the repercussions will be felt across the nation, including an ever-growing backlog of water treatment infrastructure projects and a decline in air and water quality.
“As was pointed out in a recent Washington Post article, the vast majority of the EPA’s funds pass through to states and localities that are already squeezed by budget cuts. These infrastructure projects create jobs in communities all across the country and provide one of the most basic services taxpayers expect: clean water. The Bush Administration’s EPA Administrator estimated that there was a $688 billion nationwide backlog of clean water infrastructure projects, and that total is even larger today. That backlog will not disappear if we just ignore it but, as we have seen in so many cases this year, the Republican leadership has decided to push this problem farther down the road.
“In addition to the clearly insufficient levels of funding across the board in this legislation, we were surprised that the Majority also included a wish list of special-interest riders to the bill that will handcuff the EPA and the Department of the Interior. One of these riders is language that would effectively block any funding for new listing activities under the Endangered Species Act. These types of riders are largely ideological, have no impact on deficit reduction and most will be rejected by the Senate and the President."
Below is a brief summary of funding levels and other key provisions in the Interior and Environment bill:
Total Allocation: $27.47 billion | $2.09 billion below the FY2011 enacted level | $4 billion below the President’s FY2012 Request.
Environmental Protection Agency: The bill provides $7.1 billion total, $1.5 billion below the FY2011 enacted level and $1.8 billion below the President’s request.
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: The bill provides $829 million total, $134 million below the FY2011 enacted level and $161 million below the President’s request.
Clean Water State Revolving Fund: The bill provides $689 million total, $833 million below the FY2011 enacted level and $861 million below the President’s request.
Department of the Interior: The bill provides $9.85 billion total, $720 million below the FY2011 enacted level and $1.2 billion below the President’s request.
Land and Water Conservation Fund: The bill provides $62 million total, $256 million below the FY2011 enacted level and $838 million below the President’s request.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: The bill provides $1.19 billion total, $314 million below the FY2011 enacted level and $506 million below the President’s request.
Bureau of Indian Affairs: The bill provides $2.53 billion total, $64 million below the FY2011 enacted level and $29 million above the President’s request.
Indian Health Service: The bill provides $4.46 billion total, $393 million above the FY2011 enacted level and $162 million below the President’s request.
Legislative Riders
* Curtails ESA listing activities: Contains language prohibiting funding for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to list new species and to designate critical habitat for their recovery under the Endangered Species Act.
* Pesticides in Rivers and Streams: Contains language amending current law to eliminate requirements for chemical companies and large agricultural operations to obtain permits for pesticides entering rivers and streams.
* Blocks Mountaintop Removal Regulations: Contains language prohibiting the implementation and enforcement of specific mountaintop removal mining regulations. The Office of Surface Mining is prohibited from updating the Stream Buffer Rule which would protect rivers and streams from the environmental impacts of mountaintop removal mining.
* Blocks EPAs Ability to Regulate Greenhouse gas: Contains language prohibiting the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas from stationary sources. The language also blocks civil tort or common law lawsuits and also prevents any applied-for permit from being federally enforced.
* Blocks Greenhouse Gas Reporting: Contains language prohibiting EPA from implementing a rule requiring reporting of greenhouse gases from manure management systems for large livestock operations.
* Delisting Wolves as an Endangered Species: Contains a provision that protects from judicial review any decision of the Secretary of the Interior to delist wolves in Wyoming or the Great Lakes region.
* Blocks Regulation of Coal Ash: Prohibits the EPA from regulating fossil fuel combustion waste, or “Coal Ash," under the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
* Impedes Implementation of Clean Water Act: Prohibits EPA from changing or supplementing guidance or rules related to the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act.
* Blocks the Secretary of Interior from Protecting Grand Canyon from Uranium Mining: Contains language that prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from implementing a land withdrawal to protect the Grand Canyon from new uranium mining claims.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
