The Environmental Protection Agency’s budget places a high priority on more investment in fixing the nation’s drinking water infrastructure with a $2 billion request for an advanced water system.
The agency reduced the amount of money it requested for water projects in fiscal 2017 compared with last year, but it shifted more focus to the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Resolving funds. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the agency made the shift because it sees increased need for clean drinking water infrastructure.
“This is a continued recognition that our infrastructure needs to be invested in, but there are some creative opportunities we should be investing in,” she said.
The EPA has made an $8.27 billion budget request for fiscal 2017. That’s about $267 million more than the agency received in fiscal 2016.
McCarthy said the added emphasis on drinking water was not necessarily sparked by the lead-contaminated water in Flint, Mich. But she acknowledged that Flint and its aging pipes could be a sign of things to come if more work isn’t done on infrastructure.
“Flint and other communities show a clear need to update our infrastructure,” she said.
The fund gives low-interest loans to states to help communities start water infrastructure projects.
The budget spends most of its money on grants to states. About 30 percent of the budget, or $3.3 billion, will end up in grants to state and tribal authorities.
The Government Accountability Office released a report in September detailing problems with how the EPA administers its grant program, including a lack of oversight over groups that received grants.
The EPA’s budget also contains a number of initiatives to help advance President Obama’s climate change plans.
The budget includes $25 million in grants for states to implement their Clean Power Plan strategies. The Clean Power Plan is President Obama’s signature environmental regulation that places carbon emissions reduction goals on states for new and existing coal power plants.
The rule is under siege and is being challenged in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals by 29 states and a number of interest groups.
EPA officials also want $350 million for a program to “retrofit, replace or repower” diesel vehicles to cut carbon emissions, McCarthy said.
“EPA is not slowing down,” she said. “There’s a lot more we can do and we’re going to have to do.”
