Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/energy-environment/index.html

On October 28, 2009 Robin Bravender and Taryn Luntz of Greenwire reported in the New York Times that

House and Senate conferees yesterday approved a $10.3 billion spending plan to fund U.S. EPA for fiscal 2010, a 36 percent boost over last year's levels. Included in the conference report are significant boosts over fiscal 2009 for EPA programs to address climate change, drinking water and Great Lakes restoration. The package also includes controversial measures that stalled negotiations over the spending bill, including two measures to limit EPA's regulatory authority over air emissions and another to impose wage requirements on federally funded water infrastructure projects.

The rider from House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) would exempt 13 steamships that operate on the Great Lakes from pending EPA regulations that set limits on the sulfur content of fuel used in internal U.S. waters and along U.S. coastlines. It would also allow EPA to extend waivers to certain ships if their operators show that they would otherwise go out of business, Obey said. Obey's rider has drawn the ire of environmental groups and air regulators, who have cautioned that such a measure could disrupt pending international negotiations over shipping emissions.
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The final conference report also includes an amendment from the House-passed bill to exempt manure management systems at factory farms for one year from an EPA rule requiring greenhouse gas emissions reporting. ...

The merged spending package represents a compromise between the $10.2 billion allotted in the Senate-passed bill and the $10.6 billion in the House version. Next it must win approval from both chambers before it heads to the White House for final approval. President Obama recommended $10.5 billion for EPA in his fiscal 2010 budget request.

The conference report contains an enormous boost for clean water projects, an issue that has enjoyed broad bipartisan support in both chambers. Conferees allotted the less generous Senate number of $3.6 billion to the line item, about $300 million less than the House approved but still more than double last year's funding level. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which finances local sewer improvements, garners $2.1 billion under the measure. The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund wins $1.38 billion, and the bill allots $157 million for direct water grants to communities.

The report includes a compromise provision that imposes Davis-Bacon wage requirements on state revolving funds for one year. The wage requirements -- ... compel federal contractors to pay employees at least the area's prevailing wage.
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The conference package awards $475 million to a major initiative to restore the Great Lakes, which matches the House-approved number and is $75 million more than the Senate included. The project aims to restore water quality in the world's largest freshwater system, which has been struggling with invasive species, pollution and contaminated sediment.

Hazardous waste and toxic site cleanup receives $1.5 billion in the bill, $200 million more than both the House and Senate approved in their separate packages and a $25 million boost from this year's level. The report awards $605 million for Superfund cleanup activities, $113 million for inspection and cleanup of leaks from underground storage tanks, and $100 million for Brownfields cleanup.
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Climate change programs at EPA, the Interior Department and the Forest Service would receive $385 million under the conference report, a $155 million increase over 2009 levels.

At EPA, $21 million would be used to meet the requirement that the United States produce 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022 and $17 million would go toward the agency's greenhouse gas registry.

The agency's Energy Star program would receive $51 million under the bill, and $10 million would be slated toward agency grants that encourage local communities to find ways to slash their greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill would allot $7 million for U.S. Geological Survey carbon sequestration research, $67 million for priority climate change research at USGS, and $15 million for the National Global Warming and Wildlife Science Center at USGS for wildlife adaptation to climate change.

Interior land management bureaus would receive $55 million for monitoring and adaptation programs in national parks, national wildlife refuges and other public lands. The bill would also slate $58 million to promoting the development of renewable energy sources on federal lands and waters.

The Forest Service would receive $32 million for climate change research -- an increase of $5 million over 2009.

by Robin Bravender and Taryn Luntz
FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/10/28/28greenwire-conferees-vote-to-increase-agency-funding-by-3-65590.html
The New York Times www.NYTimes.com
Published: October 28, 2009