16 June 2015

On June 16, the House Appropriations committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2016 appropriations bill setting funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Bureau of Land Management, and others by a 30-21 vote. H.R 2822 would provide a total of $30.17 billion, $246 million below FY 2015 enacted levels.

Most of the spending cuts in the bill target the EPA, which would lose $718 million from FY 2015 levels. This represents a nine percent cut in overall funding for the EPA. Some of its funds would be diverted to the U.S. Forest Service for wildfire suppression and road maintenance. The bill would fund the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at $1.05 billion, equivalent to FY 2015 enacted levels.

The bill contains provisions that would curb EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants; circumvent an EPA proposal to expand the Clean Water Act; extend a ban on placing the sage grouse on the Endangered Species List; cut the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Funds by 23 percent; defund implementation of the Waters of the United States rule; constrain land-use restrictions by DOI and the US Forest Service; and defund land acquisition by the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell criticized these provisions after the bill’s release, as did a consortium of 26 environmental groups that included the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society.

The bill must now pass the House floor, which will continue voting on amendments after the 4^th of July recess.

Sources: E&E News, House Appropriations Committee

Updated on July 6, 2015