Congresswoman Johnson Warns Against Cuts To EPA

A reported proposal by the White House to sharply cut the budget and staff of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to zero out a number of agency programs has drawn a sharp rebuke from Democrats, scientists, and environment groups.

The proposed plan from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for fiscal year (FY) 2018 would reduce EPA’s budget by about 25%, from about $8.2 billion to $6.1 billion annually, and trim staff by about 20%, from about 15,000 to 12,000, according to the Washington Post and confirmed by Eos.

The plan, which comes at an early stage of the budget process, recommends zeroing out many agency programs and grants, including initiatives focused on global change research, implementation of the Clean Power Plan, clean diesel funding under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, environmental justice, and environmental education. Funding for other programs that address human exposure to radon, the cleanup and reuse of “brownfield” properties, and energy conservation through Energy Star grants also vanishes in the proposal. In addition, the Chesapeake Bay cleanup project would drop from $73 million to $5 million in FY 2018, according to the Post.

The proposed cuts “would be devastating to EPA’s ability to carry out its mission of protecting human health and the environment.”

“If the reports on the planned cuts to EPA’s budget and staffing are accurate, they would be devastating to EPA’s ability to carry out its mission of protecting human health and the environment,” Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), ranking member of the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, said in a statement released to Eos. “They would also show that President Trump was not at all serious when he pledged to ‘promote clean air and water’ in his address to Congress. I will do everything that I can to work against this pernicious ‘budget blueprint.’”

SOURCE: Earth & Space Sciences News