What’s at Stake in Proposed Cuts to the EPA?

POLITICS

What is at stake as Congress considers the EPA budget? Far more than climate change. (New York Times)

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Waste rock from long-shuttered lead and zinc mines rises above an abandoned Little League field in Picher, Oklahoma. The EPA has called Picher, part of the Tar Creek Superfund site, one of the most toxic areas in the U.S.
Photograph by Fritz Hoffmann, National Geographic

Discussion Ideas

The NY Times article outlines proposed cuts to the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency. What is the EPA and what does it do?
- Established in 1970, the mission of the EPA is to protect human health and the environment.
  - To accomplish this mission, the EPA:
    - develops and enforces environmental regulations and sets national environmental standards.
    - gives grants to state and local environmental programs, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions.
    - researches, identifies, and works to resolve environmental problems.
    - sponsors partnerships with businesses, non-profit organizations, and state and local governments.
    - teaches about the environment by providing clear information to citizens.
    - publishes information about its activities.

Illustration courtesy National Priorities Project

The Times article says the EPA faces proposed budget cuts, but the federal budget has not yet been signed into law. What is the process for finalizing the federal budget, and shouldn’t it get done quickly? It’s already April.
- The government has until October 1 to pass the federal budget. It that doesn’t happen, the government can shut down until a budget is passed. This last happened in 2013.
- The budgeting process is pretty complex, but can generally be broken down into five big steps. Those steps are nicely outlined here.
  - 1. The president submits a budget request. This request is what the NY Times is analyzing in the article. Sen. Lisa Murkowski “pointedly reminded Mr. Trump last month that his budget request was just ‘the first step in a long process.’”
  - 2. The House and Senate pass budget resolutions. These resolutions, like the presidential request, are just proposals.
  - 3. Appropriations committees and subcommittees draft appropriations bills. Appropriations bills outline specific budgets for specific programs within the larger framework of the Congressional budget resolutions. There are 12 subcommittees in each house of Congress. For example, the EPA will be considered as part of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies subcommittee. In the House, the chair of that subcommittee is Rep. Ken Calvert (R-California). In the Senate, the chair is Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
  - 4. The House and Senate vote on appropriations bills. The full House and Senate discuss and debate the 12 appropriations bills drafted by their subcommittees.
    - 4a. A conference committee (made up of members of both the House and Senate) compare the House and Senate versions of the same appropriations bills, and reconcile the two.
  - 5. The president signs or vetoes each of the 12 appropriations bills submitted by Congress.

Where are the EPA cuts in the president’s proposed budget?
- tap water. The budget proposes to decrease grants that help states monitor public water systems.
- criminal and civil enforcement. Budget cuts “could curtail [the EPA’s] ability to police environmental offenders and impose penalties.” Penalties imposed by the EPA are almost always hefty fines aimed at corporations responsible for spills or leaks.
- geographic programs. The proposed budget nearly eliminates programs addressing regional (often, interstate) concerns, such as pollution in the Chesapeake Bay or Great Lakes.
- superfunds and brownfields. Superfund and brownfield sites are areas that have been contaminated by hazardous or industrial waste and pose a threat to human health or the environment. Much of the Superfund program forces polluters to pay for the clean-up, and cuts to the program would reduce such enforcement.
- endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can interfere with the production and regulation of hormones. They can be found in everything from pesticides to household products. Proposed cuts would reduce medical research into the effect of endocrine disruptors, which have been linked to cancer and birth defects.
- climate protection. Funding for familiar programs, such as the Energy Star program for energy efficiency, could be reduced by the proposed budget.
- fuel efficiency and emissions standards. The proposed budget suggests automakers pay for vehicle tests and certification.
- nonpoint source grants. These grants help states deal with pollutants from nonpoint sources not directly regulated under the Clean Water Act. These grants might help communities combat harmful algal blooms fed by fertilizer runoff not attributable to a single farm or factory, for example.
- radiation response. Proposed budget cuts would reduce the ability of the agency to assess and respond to fallout from nuclear accidents such as the Fukushima meltdown. (Regulation and disposal of nuclear waste is not a part of the EPA mandate, however. That falls to the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management.)