Waste Issues Addressed in EPA’s FY 2010 Budget Proposal

On May 12, 2009, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson testified before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on EPA’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2010. Administrator Jackson announced that President Obama is requesting $10.5 billion for EPA’s FY 2010 budget. The Administrator stated that: “This budget represents a 37 percent increase over [the agency’s] FY 2009 budget -- the highest level ever for EPA.” The budget proposal includes funding for a number of waste-related issues, including research and development, programs focused on the cleanup of contaminated sites, and funding for EPA’s partnerships with state, local, and tribal governments.  

Among U.S. EPA’s research and development programs, the FY 2010 budget proposal contains $14.5 million to enable the Integrated risk Information System (IRIS) to increase assessment production and reduce the agency’s backlog of assessments for chemicals previously identified as priority needs. This is $5 million increase over EPA’s FY 2009 budget. 

With respect to EPA programs focused on the cleanup of contaminated sites, the budget request contains funding for EPA’s Superfund, Brownfields, and Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Programs. For Superfund, the proposed budget is $1.3 billion, an increase of $24 million over last year. Administrator Jackson testified that the funding would be used to enhance enforcement and removal work as well as support in the Superfund program. The budget request also includes a proposal to reinstate the Superfund Tax that expired in 1995. Beginning in FY 2011, EPA projects that the taxes should generate $1 billion per year, rising to $2 billion per year by 2019. In addition to the Superfund budget, the proposal for the Brownfields program totals $175 million, a $5 million increase from FY 2009. This funding proposal includes $149.5 million for Brownfields State and Tribal Assistance Grants to continue to provide Brownfields assessment, revolving loan fund, clean-up, and job-training grants. The $128 million LUST budget includes $113 million for the LUST Trust Fund. Administrator Jackson testified that while almost 80 percent or 377,019 of all reported leaks have been addressed to date, a backlog of almost 103,000 cleanups still need to be addressed. 

The 2010 budget also includes funding to support EPA’s partnerships with state, local, and tribal governments. EPA is requesting $106.3 million for Hazardous Waste Financial Assistance Grants. These grants are used for implementation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act hazardous waste program, including permitting, authorization, waste minimization, enforcement, and corrective action activities. The 2010 budget also provides $14.6 million for lead grants. Administrator Jackson testified that the funding will be used for work under the new Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule to prevent lead poisoning through the training of workers who remove lead-based paint, the accreditation of training programs, the certification of contractors, and renovation education programs.  

Finally, EPA’s FY 2010 budget proposes $600 million for enforcement and compliance across all environmental media and EPA programs. This represents the largest enforcement and compliance budget in history and an increase of $32 million from FY 2009. For additional information on EPA’s FY 2010 Budget Proposal, contact Gale Lea Rubrecht at 304-340-1200 or galelea@jacksonkelly.com. 

This article was authored by Gale Lea Rubrecht, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the author see here.