Monday, May 11, 2009

Administration Increases EPA´s Budget by 34% for 2010

May 8 -- The Obama administration´s proposed budget for fiscal year 2010 includes $10.5 billion in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, a 34% increase compared with 2009 funding. The agency is receiving $7.8 billion for the current fiscal year.

More than one-third of the 2010 budget -- $3.9 billion -- would go toward improving the nation´s water and wastewater infrastructure, according to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who discussed the budget during a telephone news conference May 7.

The budget also would allocate $475 million for the multi-agency Great Lakes Initiative to protect and clean up the lakes and control invasive species.

The EPA would receive $17 million for creating a greenhouse gas registry, a first step toward limiting emissions of the gases. The agency will receive an additional $2 million to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions.

The Superfund program would receive $1.3 billion to increase the number of hazardous waste sites eligible for cleanup. Also, beginning in 2011, the federal government plans to reinstate the Superfund tax on businesses. The ax would generate $1 billion of revenue a year, rising to $2 billion a year by 2019, Jackson said.

The budget also proposes $175 million for the brownfields program.

And the EP plans to have enough money to hire 30 additional enforcement staff members in the EPA´s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance program.

"EPA´s new budget reflects the president´s commitment to growing a clean energy economy while protecting human health and the environment," Jackson said.

Details about President Obama´s proposed fiscal year 2010 EPA budget -- which will next go to Congress -- is available online at www.epa.gov/budget.

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Source: Waste & Recycling News, May 11, 2009