In June, a House Appropriations Subcommittee approved a spending proposal for FY25 that would cut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) budget by $1.8 billion, bringing the total appropriation for the agency to $7.36 billion for the next fiscal year, down from $9.16 billion in FY24.
The House spending proposal – the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act – would provide a total discretionary allocation of $38.478 billion, which is $72 million (0.2%) below the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted level and $4.407 billion (10%) below President Joe Biden’s budget request.
According to the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), the House proposal would allocate $883 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and $1.203 billion for the Clean Water SRF (CWSRF). AMWA said those levels are both significantly reduced from the FY24 levels of $1.126 billion for the DWSRF and $1.639 billion for the CWSRF. Of the total $2.086 billion SRF appropriation proposed for FY25, $1.033 billion would be set aside for 895 drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater management project earmarks, according to AMWA.
Then in July, Senate appropriators approved an alternative proposal that would keep EPA and SRF funding intact in FY25. According to AMWA, the Senate version would fund EPA at $9.29 billion, which is slightly above its current level of $9.16 billion. It would maintain SRF spending at $1.126 billion for the DWSRF and $1.639 billion for the CWSRF. AMWA said these amounts are in addition to the $3.25 billion allocated to the SRFs in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in FY25.
The Senate proposal also sets aside approximately $600 million of the bill’s SRF funding for 330 drinking water and clean water project earmarks.
Earlier this year, six associations representing the water utility sector including AMWA wrote to Congress asking to fully fund FY25 water infrastructure programs, urging against cuts to the SRF programs.
Congress will now negotiate a final spending plan for the 2025 fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, but AMWA has said it is unlikely a final FY25 appropriations agreement will be reached by then.
Sources: EPA Water, AMWA
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