House Democrats hit back at the proposed budget cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency a day after Republicans touted keeping the agency at its lowest staffing level in 30 years.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said in a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee’s Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee that the $32.1 billion budget would hurt the EPA’s ability to do its job. The budget proposes spending $164 million less on the EPA than last year and almost $300 million less than President Obama proposed in his fiscal 2017 budget proposal.
“This cut will impact the agency’s ability to protect human health and the health of our environment, and to ensure clean air and clean water for our families and children,” she said.
The appropriations bill, which includes funding for the Department of Interior, EPA, U.S. Forest Service, Indian Health Service and other agencies, totals $32.1 billion. That’s $64 million less than last year and $1 billion below Obama’s request. The subcommittee sent the bill to the full House Appropriations Committee on a voice vote Wednesday.
The bill also includes a number of provisions that would block EPA regulations. The bill would block the implementation of the Clean Power Plan, kill new methane regulations, prohibit regulation of lead in ammunition and fishing tackle, and not allow the EPA to implement the Waters of the United States rule that is currently blocked by a federal court.
That seemed unpalatable to Rep. Nina Lowey, D-N.Y. She said those riders would cause negotiations to stall.
“Neither Democrats in Congress, nor President Obama, will agree to poison pill riders that cause harm to our environment our public health,” she said. “These riders put the appropriations process at risk.”
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., defended the bill against Democratic criticisms by saying Republicans in Congress are concerned about EPA regulations being handed down as Obama’s time in office ends.
He said the agency is taking too many steps to accomplish Obama’s environmental goals through regulatory action instead of legislation. That needs to stop, Calvert said.
“For this reason, the bill includes a number of provisions to address these concerns, and to stop unnecessary and damaging regulatory overreach by the agency,” he said.
Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., added that the Obama administration’s environmental regulations are killing his home district, where 11,000 coal miners have lost their jobs since 2008.
He said the riders blocking EPA regulation need to be included in the budget bill because the agency’s rules are strangling coal country.
“These regulations will force us to move away from our nation’s cheapest and most dependable source of energy in favor of more expensive and less reliable options, meaning higher bills and less certainty for hard-working families everywhere,” he said.
Calvert argued the bill places spending where it’s most needed: fighting wildfires, improving drinking water systems, investing in Native American communities and increasing the amount of funding for the National Park Service.
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., praised the budget’s investments in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Education and the Indian Health Service, which he sees as a necessary way to end the practice of neglecting native communities.
“We’ve made substantial progress in the right direction,” he said.
