The House Appropriations Committee approved a $32.1 billion environmental appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017 on Wednesday that was led by U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA).
The bill, which would fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Forest Service, Indian Health Service, and additional independent and related agencies, would allocate $64 million less than the fiscal year 2016 bill and $1 billion less than the president’s budget request.
“Our bill takes a number of important steps to protect the American economy, our natural resources, and the safety of communities threatened by wildfires and earthquakes,” Calvert, the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee Interior and Environment, said. “I’m especially pleased that the committee voted to include much needed provisions to address California’s water challenges. My California Republican colleagues and I are committed to advancing these water solutions in any possible legislative vehicle.”
The bill would fund the EPA at $7.98 billion, $164 million less than in fiscal year 2016, and would fund the U.S. Geological Survey at $1.1 billion, $18 million less than in fiscal year 2016.
Additionally, the bill would fund wildland firefighting and prevention programs at $3.9 billion, which is the full amount of the 10-year average of suppression costs for the Department of Interior and the Forest Service.
“Job creation and wage growth continue to be stifled because American job creators wake up every day worrying about what new regulation the Obama administration will issue next,” Calvert said. “The EPA’s overreach continues to cause economic harm, and this bill denies funding for more job-killing regulations while providing necessary resources to effective programs that actually improve the environment and protect our natural resources. In addition, I am pleased that the bill will once again provide increases for our incredible National Parks as they celebrate their Centennial this year, and continue progress on a functional Earthquake Early Warning System.”
U.S. Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-FL) secured $26.7 million for the National Estuary Program, $50 million to support Land and Water Conservation Fund conservation easements and land acquisitions, and $55.5 million to support the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund grant program.
“The infrastructure projects funded by this bill are critical to keeping Florida beautiful and maintaining our state’s economic growth,” Rooney said. “This bill saves taxpayer money by prioritizing funding for programs that benefit our communities rather than padding the pockets of Washington regulators, and includes critical provisions to reduce the endangered species delisting backlog, fight invasive species that threaten our local ecosystems, and eliminate unnecessary job-killing regulations. Notably, this bill continues to push back against the EPA’s Waters of the US Rule, a classic example of federal government overreach that would cost Florida farmers and local governments billions of dollars, and holds EPA’s staffing levels at their lowest since 1989. I’m hopeful that when this bill comes to the floor my colleagues on both sides of the aisle can put politics aside and come together in support of it.”