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March 14, 2007

Subcommittee Questions EPA Budget Cuts

Members of the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Energy and Environment Subcommittee today questioned the effects of projected federal budget cuts to environmental research programs at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The President’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08) reduces the agency’s overall budget to $7.2 billion, a 5.5 percent cut compared to FY 06.

The overall spending by EPA’s research programs has been declining for several years, with a 5 percent reduction four years ago, and a 2 percent cut in FY06.  Between 2004 and the proposed 2008 budget, the overall support for Research and Development at EPA has declined by 25% in inflation-adjusted terms.

During the hearing, Energy & Environment Subcommittee Chairman Nick Lampson (D-TX) expressed concern that these cuts will prevent the agency from adequately supporting the research and development needed to creatively solve our country’s environmental problems.

"It’s not about partisanship.  I don’t know if my kids are going to grow up to be Democrats or Republicans, but I want them grow up healthy," Lampson said.  "Unfortunately, for the fourth consecutive year the proposed budget falls short when it comes to enabling our nation to achieve further success in environmental protection."

Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Inglis (R-SC) spoke of the importance of R&D in developing environmental regulations, saying "Research from the Office of Science & Technology Policy and the Office of Research & Development is used to improve the regulatory framework of the EPA.  I trust that the objective of that research is the use of science to achieve continual improvement in the regulatory framework.  By investing in EPA’s scientific research and development today, we can get better regulations for tomorrow."

Critics of the budget, including EPA’s Science Advisory Board, have argued that EPA’s core research programs are being eroded in ways that will limit understanding of the environment and hamper the agency’s ability to formulate sound policies.

Specifically, the Administration’s FY08 budget request for Science & Technology programs:

  • Eliminates both the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program and the Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) program – each of which support developing and testing innovative technologies to cleanup hazardous substances.
  • Merges the Air Toxics program with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards program to form the Clean Air program which will focus on multi-pollutant effects, instead of individual pollutant sources.
  • Contains a 31 percent reduction to the human health research program which focuses on risk intervention and prevention strategies that aim to reduce human risk associated with exposure to environmental hazards.

The Administration’s budget plan would also cut $10 million from the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant program, which provides research grants and graduate student fellowships.  While the bulk of the program’s remaining funds have been allocated to competitive research grants in targeted mission-critical areas, a smaller amount is going toward fellowships and exploratory research on the next generation of environmental challenges.

"Cuts to the STAR grant and fellowship program not only reduce funding for research, they reduce essential funds for training the environmental scientists of the future," Lampson said.

Lampson and Members of the Subcommittee heard from four witnesses at this afternoon’s hearing: Dr. George Gray, Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency; Dr. M. Granger Morgan, Chair, Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board; Dr. Jennifer Sass, Senior Scientist, Health and Environment Program, Natural Resource Defense Council; and Dr. Bruce C. Coull, Carolina Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus, School of Environment, University of South Carolina.

"Without investment in science and in scientists, there can be no science-based decision making," Coull said.  "In real dollar terms, EPA’s funding of science is nearly unchanged since at least 1990, and has been steadily declining since FY 2004."

The Administration has argued the EPA S&T funds have been focused on emerging priorities, while programs that are not as pressing or effective have been scaled back.  EPA is one of two agencies that are cut in the President’s FY08 request for federal spending.

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