Karen Frantz
GHG Monitor
3/07/2014
Although the Obama Administration trimmed overall funding for the Environmental Protection Agency in its Fiscal Year 2015 budget, released this week, addressing climate change and improving air quality were named as top funding priorities, with the Administration requesting $1.03 billion for such efforts, $41 million higher than FY 2014 enacted levels. The EPA’s request includes $234.6 million for addressing climate change, an increase of $45.2 million from current levels. Funding for improving air quality would be set at $741.9 million, a decrease of $2.5 million from current levels.
The FY 2015 request also would provide an additional $10 million and realign 24 staff members to support implementation of the President’s Climate Action Plan, enhance education and outreach, and foster state engagement and partnership. The Climate Action Plan sets out ambitious goals across federal agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the key pieces of the plan is to set carbon emission standards for new and existing power plants, a task already underway by the EPA. “Realigned resources will support the development of GHG standards, regulations or guidelines, as appropriate, for modified, reconstructed and existing power plants,” the EPA request says. “This will require extensive engagement with the states as they develop and implement their plans. This realignment will also support developing and implementing the President’s interagency methane strategy, which requires the assessment and collection of emissions and control technology data to inform our reduction programs and measures.” The budget request also includes $19.8 million for state capacity development and implementation of the “key work” under the Climate Action Plan.
White House Proposes Overall EPA Cut
In the FY 2015 budget, the Obama Administration cut funding for the EPA by about 4 percent from 2014 enacted levels, asking for $7.89 billion for the Agency, down from $8.2 billion. While the request notes that the proposed cut reflects “very difficult decisions impacting the Agency workforce and water infrastructure funding,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in a statement that the budget focuses on “the things that really matter” to the country. “We will seek to make a visible difference—whether it is protecting our precious waters and leaving our children a legacy so they can safely drink water from their small community water systems and fish and swim in their local rivers; reducing air pollution along roadways and neighborhoods; or cleaning up communities to maximize environmental and economic benefits,” she said.
The budget request also calls for an increase in funding for categorical grants for states and tribes, the vehicle for which states, tribes and local governments implement EPA’s clean air rulemakings and programs. The White House requested $1.1 billion for the program in FY 2015, a $75.9 million increase from FY 2014. In addition, the budget calls for $101.9 million for the Air, Climate and Energy program, which conducts research on “environmental and human health impacts related to air pollution, climate change and biofuels.”
